Garden Project 18 - Maturity

 I try to remember to document the garden through the year as part of my project to produce a Wildlife garden with as many habitats as I can in the smallish area of my front garden. Here a snapshot of a (late)summer garden when flowers are beginning to die back but still plenty of wildlife in the Herbaceous borders, Pond, Hedgerow, Woodland and Meadow. Some of the inhabitants are shown with their chosen plant.

Recent Garden Records

Latest batch from the garden - still producing some new records like the first image which identifies as Haltichella rufipes which hasn't many observations in the UK though common in continental Europe, the furrow bee species Lasioglossum sexnotatum Ashy Furrow Bee. and Southern Hawker dragonfly.

Latest Garden Safari

Some of the species recorded in the garden in the last couple of days including two new species the Square-headed Wasp and a minute White Fly that looked like a piece of detritus until it landed for a photograph.

Bugs Alive in the Garden

Half an hour in the garden yesterday produced a good number of bugs (Order Hemiptera). Here photos of  two plant hoppers - the common meadow Leaf hopper and a Lacebug and among the plant bugs Orthops basalis (2 views), Heterogaster urticae, Heterotoma planicornis, Plagiognathus arbustorum (3 views) and Closterotomus norwegicus.

 

My Garden: Interesting Moths, Bees etc

Great to see the Currant Clearwing back in the garden this year - I like the way the sheen on its tail plumes echoes the Anchusa flowers. It was joined by another relatively scarce moth the Orange Conch ,which was climbing up its foodplant, Ragwort, in the front lawn/meadow. Several new bees were also observed this last week - the Blue Mason Bee my favourite. Both Southern hawkers and Broad-bodied Chasers around the pond during the week.