A few birds feeding in our garden

This female blackcap (sylvia atricapilla) was feeding on honeysuckle berries outside our dining room window.

and we have had a robin on our fat feeder

and a blue tit on the seeds, but very few birds are interested in our garden at the moment.

Judging by the shorter antennae I think this is the female that the males were trying to attract yesterday with their dance. These nemophora degeerella are also known as “fairy” longhorns. The dance I saw yesterday was certainly reminiscent of fairies, so this is probably how they got their nickname.

Dancing day-moth

A group of insects had me baffled for a while this morning. Above the woodpile at the back of my pond they pirouetted whilst moving up and down about 2 feet at a time. Here is a short video of one of them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKcYloz0E0Y

I watched for a while before one of them settled and I could identify it as a nemophora degeerella

Apparently swarms of males dance in the sun to attract females.

Finally succummed!

The greater spotted woodpecker who regularly feeds next door has finally succummed to the temptation of my nut feeder!

 

Last caterpillar

This was the last caterpillar this morning, and this evening there were none. No obvious chrysalids either. Mystery.

Mystery caterpillars leave the nursery

The mystery caterpillars are starting to move away from the leaf where they all spent so long, with one or two caterpillars to a leaf.

And some ladybird eggs I have been following hatched out yesterday while I was out for the day. I’ll have to wait for the next batch to film the eggs hatching.

  

These caterpillars just get better

1st and 2nd instars of the mystery caterpillars. I love the crossed bands.

Patience is rewarded

Iris finally flowering. I planted this in August 2008 and this is the first time it has shown any sign of flowering. I was sold it as a purple iris but it seems a bit late to complain now!

Something is happening to my caterpillars…

…and it doesn’t look good 😦

But the commas are growing well, and there is a comma caterpillar under most leaves of the hop plant

Down at the Bottom of the Garden

At the bottom of the garden by the shed I lifted a plastic seed tray to find this caterpillar in a damp patch of ground elder.  Identified via iSpot as a Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing (Noctua fimbriata) caterpillar.