More Small Invertebrates

Pruning the Buddleias yesterday took a very long time as each branch needed to be beaten to dislodge any insects etc, some of which I photographed and most of which were minute like this exquisite Leafhopper and the Rough Woodlouse. The Spider and Centipede were dislodged from our low brick wall while tidying the ivy - wonderful brick coloration!

Insects in the Autumn Garden

Although the night-time temperatures dipped to near freezing the last two days, the sun has been warm and yesterday I recorded a large number of active insects including these very small Weevils on the hollyhocks, one of which appeared to be egg laying.

Toadstool Time at Paxton

The rain earlier this week has produced a good crop of fungi at Paxton Pits. Here are a few including resident flies and the very strange Green Lacewing larva covered in debris

Life in Miniature in the Garden

I decided last week to do a bit of sweep netting on the cut meadow and margins to see what lives at ground level. Before I started the sweep my eye was taken by this very small Pond Olive with spectacular eyes, a relative of the Mayfly. The Leaf Hopper is a miniature version of the Common Leafhopper

September Survey, Paxton Pits 1. The Gully

Yesterday was our final survey for the year at Paxton Pits and we split this between a gravel area with a strip of reeds along the centre, known as the Gully and another gravel area. The sun was slow to come out but it was warmer than recently and plenty of insects etc to record.