Sunday 6 May 2012

Mostly beasties & phenomenon

Well, we got up to the allotment at 4:15am ready and waiting for the 'supermoon' only to be disappointed because there was thick cloud cover - such a shame, it could have been a goodun!
We fleeced up our potatoes yesterday expecting a frost but due to the clouds there wasn't one though it was pretty chilly - that was an amazing thing too; the temperature was 5.5° at about 5:15am then it dropped suddenly to 2.8° just before the sun rose (though we couldn't see it).

Being at Marsh Lane for the dawn chorus, including a very noisy cuckoo, was fabulous. The birds are going crazy at the moment - we've been watching a robin feed his mate over the last couple of days. She's quite demanding!

This male blackbird was warming itself on the warm stones pile
Anyway, after that early start we did get back up the plot later today to do a bit of faffing and chatting.
Here are some pictures of interesting beasties I snapped yesterday and today.
A queen wasp who got splashed with dirty water, so she was cleaning her antennae
One of the many crane flies around site at the moment
I think this is a 16-spot ladybird - really tiny, ~3mm
I posted the ladybird to the UK Ladybird survey site as I'm not absolutely certain of it's identity.

2 comments:

  1. Excellent wildlife pictures. Thick cloud cover here also. I think it's permanent now along with the rain??? The Ladybird certainly looks like a 16 spot. The size is right & the thick black line down it's back also.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Rooko! I've just about got my Super-Macro button sussed - thank goodness for digital cameras and being able to take lots of shots of the same subject!! The ladybird was a toss-up between 14 or 16-spot - great looking little bugs aren't they :-)

      Yes, I think we've had enough rain for a bit - could do with a few more sunny days. I hope your plots have been able to dry out somewhat (will take a look shortly).

      Delete

If you visit, please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you. Thank you for your interest.
Belinda