@tandjwood
Recorders & photographers all types of wildlife but especially Dragons & Damsels, Bees, Butterflies, Hovers, Bugs, Wasps, Flies, Moths, Birds, Mammals, etc, etc. Have a wildlife friendly (very!) garden in Northants. Also love travel, music, art & lots more
They will be around soon so long as they have survived this soggy winter! - a mason bee has used a hole in our front gate and the mud plug has been washed away... Even wetter down your way!🌧️
Yes, lovely characterful bees 😊
😊
Female Hairy-footed Flower Bee
1st HFFB! We have seen Hairy-footed Flower bees (Anthophora plumipes) in late February before but always males, so surprised to find a female buzzing around the Pulmonarias yesterday before taking a break on a rustic leaf 🐝🙂. @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social
They are spreading but it doesn't look like there are any records for Oxfordshire yet but it probably won't be long. At the moment our garden appears to be the only reported site in Northants but there must be more somewhere around.
A new phenomenon with a 2nd Mottled Shieldbug (Rhaphigaster nebulosa) found in the bathroom! Not sure where they have been hibernating - we suspect they crawled into the air brick below the bathroom and found their way up through the floorboards 🤔.Like the 1st one, put outside in a sheltered spot.
Hawthorn Shieldbug (Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale)
A well travelled Hawthorn Shieldbug (Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale). Found on the pillar behind the doors of the car on our return home after a 60 mile journey. Placed back in the wildlife hedge next to the car where it probably came from.🪲🚗 @rockwolf74.bsky.social
😊. Counted over 40 in the garden today with some pottering about in the sunshine but this bunch were staying put.😴🐞
A "loveliness" of over 30 7-spot Ladybirds (Coccinella septempunctata) overwintering in a pyramidal formation on a rather wobbly old Purple Toadflax stem in the garden.🐞 @vc40ladybirds.bsky.social
They appear to be doing well in our garden - still the only recorded site in Northants! We guess this individual was hibernating somewhere indoors and awoke.🤔
A surprise find yesterday with our 1st Shieldbug of the year on the windowsill in the bathroom! - a Mottled Shieldbug (Rhaphigaster nebulosa). Put outside in a sheltered spot. @rockwolf74.bsky.social
Well done Casey! A real 🌟!
Beautiful lizards shouldn't be sad. 😉
Love the effect the raindrop gives with a super wide angle upside-down world! Will have to give it another go🙃
7 spot ladybird
We found over a dozen 7 spot ladybirds (Coccinella septempunctata) around the garden yesterday. The Phlox seedheads were very popular including this individual which was particularly damp after the rain on Thursday🌧️🐞🐞 @vc40ladybirds.bsky.social
It's an excellent book. Well recommended 👍
Thanks Maria.
Have just checked "Life Cycles of British and Irish Butterflies" and it appears to line up with Speckled Wood as @rockwolf74.bsky.social suggests. Your photo shows the "subtle white markings on the abdomen". Also they do appear on garden objects like seats, pots, fences, etc.
Found in the kitchen yesterday (guess it came in on our clothes) - a rather small bug c.4mm long which appears to be a Dicyphus pallicornis but tibia spines are long?. Not seen one before so confirmation or otherwise would be appreciated @britishbugs.bsky.social @rockwolf74.bsky.social
Thanks
Many thanks Maria and belated Happy New Year! Hope you see even more wonderful wildlife in 2026😊
As far as we can see they are all Harlequin Ladybirds. @rockwolf74.bsky.social will be able to confirm🐞
A - Dark-edged Bee fly
B - Dotted Bee fly (never seen one)
C - Mottled Bee fly (never seen one)
D - Dune Villa (never seen one)
Bit of a pattern there but maybe this year🤞.....😊
It looks like an Eriothrix rufomaculatus! Great shot!
Thanks for all your contributions James and best wishes for the new year.
We love them too. Great characters and totally reckless! Here's a couple from April this year. Won't be long before they are about as we have seen them as early as late February.
A beauty. One we are yet to find.
A great plant. We have one too and it is being visited by Buff-tailed workers at the moment (we have a winter active nest). The Lonicera flowers for such a long period too - loved by Hairy-footed and many other bees in early spring.
Looks correct to me but @suillia.bsky.social will probably be able to confirm.
Christmas is the time for giving and there are many very worthy causes, but LOHP would really appreciate a donation, however small, to our fundraising to cover the purchase of the new stretch of land in Blo’ Norton and enable us to restore the habitat and wildlife. www.justgiving.com/campaign/pri...
What beauties - stunning, indeed!