Butterfliesand moths

One of the advantages of having a conservatory is that you see a great variety of insects who fly in during hot weather and get trapped.  Unfortunately a lot of them die before we can rescue them.  But we do get a chance to look at them close-to.

So for example you can see the club-ended antennae of this small white butterfly

and we can clearly see why this little bundle of moth is called the Silver-Y 
from the mark on its underwing.

Berried treasure

 The season of berries is upon us

The Haws on the Hawthorn will turn to a richer reddish brown as they ripen, colouring the whole bush.  

Excellent food for blackbirds, thrushes and woodmice in winter.

Rosehips rich in vitamin C.

Berries of the Wayfaring Tree are not spherical but slightly flattened

 They will turn from green through almost white to red and eventually black - nature's traffic lights - - - sort of.

And Elderberries. 

 

Cooked with apples they make a delicious jelly

Leaf cutters

The picture below is of some leaves on a Norway Maple in my garden.  Can you notice the large number of semi-circular scallops cut out of the leaf edges?

I'm sorry I wasn't quick enough to photograph the artist.  In a few seconds, before my very eyes, a leaf-cutter bee cut out a neat piece of leaf and flew off with it.  She was obviously finding the thin leaf of the Norway Maple just right to make the sausage shaped tubes to lay her eggs in.  Leaf cutter bees often use pieces cut from rose leaves.

I waited for her to come back for more but in vain.

This video on the link below is American but shows leaf cutting bees at their nests and in the act of cutting, though they are on flower petals rather than leaves.  

Just as I noticed in my garden, when the bee gets to the end of cutting the piece out it can no longer balance and falls over before zooming off.  Very entertaining to watch.  Thank you Pat R, whoever you are.

Leaf cutting bee in action

Blackberries ready

With a drop of rain to make the berries swell and some sun to ripen them, the bramble bushes are offering up their harvest.  Make sure you pick yours before October when the Devil spits on the fruit and turns it sour.

It was on September 29th, St Michael's Day or Michaelmas, that the Archangel Michael defeated Lucifer who fell from Heaven and landed on a thorny bramble bush in Hell.  Now, as the Devil, he was so cross that he spat on the fruit.

Apparently he does it every year so get and pick your blackberries as soon as they are ripe.

Here be dragons

Alan sent me this email with several photos of an impressive dragon fly.

'While I was raking down the woods this afternoon I was accosted by a hawker. Not one trying to sell something but a rather splendid dragonfly that I think is a male Southern Hawker (blue form) (Aeshna cyanea).

It circled me a few times then headed towards the hedgerow near post 19 where presumably being worn out by chasing around me it perched on a convenient stalk and had a rest in the sun.

It has amazingly big eyes which seem to touch each other on top of its head and I think it kept looking at me.'

It uses its legs as a sort of basket to catch other flying insects.  You can see the spines on the legs and the beautiful venation of the wings.  What a creature.

Syrphus ribesii

The Common Banded Hoverfly (Syrphus ribesii), also known as The Summer Fly, is around from March to November, during which time it passes through several generations.  There ae over 270 species of hoverfly in Britain and this one is one of the easiest to identify with its waspy jacket - but that's only for disguise; it doesn't sting.

The adults do a lot of hovering and feed on nectar 

especially from umbellifer flowers like this Hogweed.  

The larvae feed on aphids and are thus the gardener's friends, 

although rather less attractive than their parents.

Here's one with a doomed aphid nearby.

Photo from flickr

Some more flowers at Filnore

 This is Betony, a close relative of hedge woundwort.  It was widely used as a medicinal herb by monks in the middle ages. 

Here are some Greater Willowherb flowers with some Wild Clematis behind.

And here is a closer look at the pretty but understated flowers of Wild Clematis, also known as Traveller's Joy or Old Man's Beard.

And then there is this.  Not sure what it is, though it's a bit like a form of purple loosestrife.  I think it must be a garden escape that found its way to Filnore.  Very pretty anyway.