Lichens at RPSB Sandy

As often happens when I am out with my camera, I got fixated on the variety of lichens growing on the sandy soils in the reserve. Not great quality images as they are all very small and these in-camera stacks don't give enough depth of field in most cases as it is restricted to 8 shots. I will return and try again taking 20+ stacks to process in the computer. There were lots of ladybirds and very very small spiders (Mangora acalypha)

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!

Mini Garden Invertebrates

An interest in invertebrates can be a serious impediment to any gardening activity. I started to cut down some of the dead plants in the garden but decided to shake them to dislodge any creatures before putting in the green waste bins - a mistake as an hour later I was still photogaphing the abundant spider, snail and other mini-life - some 10 species of spiders alone!!

Autumn in the Garden

The Ivy is now in full flower and full of Ivy bees - first recorded in UK in 2001 and in Toft in 2017. Also full-grown Dark Bush-Crickets enjoying the berries, large number of Spiders and Carder Bees in the Michaelmas Daisies show autumn is really here now.

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