Ash Die-Back and Woodland Birds

Hardwick Wood is one of East Anglia's Ancient woodlands and its Ash trees are suffering badly with Ash Dieback - the tell-tale white twigs can be seen in the woodland panorama with close ups to follow. The fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus causes the lethal disease and represents a substantial threat. It was detected in the UK for the first time in 2012 and is now very widespread. The fungus blocks water and nutrients moving in the tree's vascular system, causing a restriction in water movement that leads to a significant leaf loss, bark lesions and then the dieback in the crown of the tree itself (hence the name). The loss of the Ash trees will affect the wood - there will be fewer trees for the nesting Buzzards and Kites though hole-nesters such as the Tits, Woodpeckers, Nuthatches and Tree Creepers may gain temporarily 

Moon Set, Sun Rise

I went out early to catch the moon setting this morning and, as the moon reached the horizon, a fiery 

sun rose opposite. Lovely colours in the sky and landscapes today, from soft pinks to bright yellows and oranges

Garden Birds

A lot of activity in the garden today with up to 6 goldfinches feeding on the various seed heads (so glad I haven't been tempted to clear these away yet). They were joined at the feeders by Longtailed Tits - now in pairs as breeding starts, Greenfinch, Starlings and, for the first time this year, a Siskin.

Bees, Ladybirds and Spring Bulbs

Reassuring to see large numbers of Honey Bees at work collecting pollen and nectar from the Anemones, Scilla and  Puschkinias. Interesting that the Scilla (fewer stamens) have blue pollen (you can see it on the bee's back leg) while the Puschkinias have the more usual yellow pollen (images 5 and 6). Even one of the Ladybirds had found an aphid to eat. 

 

Getting in Close

 In 'normal' years, I try to record all the wildlife that I can in our local wood, churchyard and garden during the year. However, with lockdown, this has become more obsessive! I am now starting on the very small creatures that are too small to identify with the naked eye and some are so minute as to require peering at through the microscope. Here we have 4 beetles and a member of the Collembola - a group of Arthropods separate from insects. The first image is using a closeup filter on my macro lens and is a Pollen beetle. The rest are my first attempts at recording with a USB microscope and I did not record the magnification but the beetles are around a 2 mm each.

Great Year for Snowdrops

Snowdrops are putting on a magnificent display everywhere around us including our village. Here are a few from our churchyard including a ladybird making the most of the warmer weather. Also saw our first Brimstone today though didn't manage a photo. Similar views are using different apertures to see what works best in terms of throwing the background out of focus but keeping the subject sharp.