Toft Garden Spiders

 I am a bit behind identifying the various mini-wildlife in the garden, so these spiders were from a warm day last week. No certainty on species as very difficult without capturing and dissecting various parts but hopefully the genus in each case is ok

Garden Species 18-20th April

Some garden species photographed over past 2 days - good to see a small Cuckoo wasp and the first Holly Blue. Otherwise a mix of species. First Red Damselfly in the garden today but wasn't carrying camera at the time (dates for previous years range from May 25th in 2010 to April 13th in 2020).

Activity After the Rain

As well as the expected snail activity, there were quite a few insects that became active once the rain had eased off. The Bee Grabber fly was waiting patiently near the comfrey flowers for a passing Bumble Bee to jump onto and get taken back to the bee nest where it will lay its eggs. The larvae then consume the bee larvae food and the larvae themselves. A new plant bug Dicyphus bolivari? and some strange antics by the Long-Jawed Orb Spider - need another opinion on what is going on - ? shed skin or the end of a brief encounter with a male!!

First Insects etc of the Year

 The warm sunshine yesterday brought out quite a lot of flies, spiders and bees in the garden. Recovering from surgery is frustrating as I can manage the camera and macro lens but no fill-in flash and chasing bees is definitely out! Anyway here five invertebrates to start 2025 garden records

Toft Garden Trees 1

After sessions at Paxton Pits identifying trees, I decided a catalogue of what is in my Toft (Cambridgeshire) garden would be a good plan. Hopefully this first batch are correct - note to self - label twigs as I remove from tree/bush as some are very difficult to distinguish.  We start with an oak kindly given to me as a birthday present about 20 years ago, now a fair-sized tree that needs the leader shoot cut back every year or two - host to a huge number of insects - thanks Tricia Kreyer