Late Sunflowers

While I was topping up the bird feeders I had a close look at the Sunflower plants growing from seeds dropped by the birds. Most are tightly shut but one was beginning to show yellow petals.



If the night temperature doesn't get too low and the strong cold winds stay away for a few days more maybe it will bloom.

The bud on the largest plant was tight shut ...



... but at least a Ladybird was finding it a useful place to shelter.

Ladybirds in November

On a nice sunny afternoon a few days ago I ambled round to the churchyard and rested on a sunlit bench to take in some much needed fresh air. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a ladybird running around on one of the arms of the bench:



Then another appeared, but a different variety:



Then to my astonishment a third variety arrived:



In fact I saw four different types of ladybird all rushing about on the same arm. Unfortunately it was too fast for me to take a clear photo. Obviously I wasn't the only life force taking advantage of a sunny, relatively warm corner of the churchyard.

Spotted in the Churchyard

As we walked through the back of the village churchyard something caught my attention:



Someone had placed a very neatly painted peddle in the shape of a ladybird on one of the gravestones.



Lovely to see. It is quite a while since I saw a painted pebble in the village. A sign that things are getting back to 'old normal'.

Invader

I was just about to sit on the bench in the churchyard when I spotted:



I thought it might be a Harlequin ladybird but wasn't sure until I had done some checking. The markings and colouring, including the orange legs, looks right.

Pottering Round the Garden ...

... with the Canon 70D plus 17-85mm macro lens in hand to see what was about on a (relatively) warm, sunny afternoon.

Peeling bark on the old leylandii stump



A pair of amorous ladybirds who throught they were hidden from prying eyes



Lots of tiny pollen beetles, especially on the tête-a-tete.



A pretty pink Dianthus



A button daisy



Finally a rather tatty Peacock Butterfly on the Heather



It was lovely to get out in the fresh air without having to wrap up like an Inuit.
As so often happens the thing I went out to photograph eluded me.
I had spotted a Bee-fly hovering several times but it was camera shy.

Seeing Red

The flowers on a nearby flowering currant bush:





A 7 spot ladybird - usual view



Underside

Buzzing With Life

Yesterday we had wall to wall Sunshine.
The second day where the temperature has reached 14C by the afternoon.
Returning from our mid morning walk the first thing which caught my eye ...



... the various growths on the Hibiscus bush.
Its branches always looks well and truly dead this time of year.

Next spotted were the first opening flowers on ...



... the tete-a-tete miniature narcissus bulbs.

Nearby were in the order of 20 ...



... 7 spot ladybirds scattered about.

I decided to wander over to have a look at my heather plants.
Even more of them there ...



But almost deafening was the sheer number of ...

 

... bees busy buzzing from flower to flower.



Lots of background twittering from the House Sparrows.
Amazing what a bit of warmth will produce this time of year.

Spotted

A couple of nice sunny days, warm out of the cool wind.
Managed to get the grass trimmed yesterday.
Today I was checking how well some plants had survived the winter so far when I saw:



a seven spot ladybird soaking up the sunshine.

Seeing Red ....

.... with a bit of orange thrown in.

Starting the day


Whilst planting some Ice Cream Tulip bulbs
a 7 spot ladybird


In the garden

Chinese Lantern plant


Weeping Cotoneaster


Out and about

Berberis


Acer


Sweet William


Remembrance


Objects


To end the day

Probably an Adonis

Happened to spot one of the few ladybirds I have seen this Summer.
It was much smaller than the common seven spot



Once I enlarged the shot (as seen above) I could count eleven spots.
The problem identifying it is there are a couple about the same size with 11 spots.
The Adonis and the Eleven Spot ladybirds.
The only way to tell which is which is by the markings on its 'face'.
Unfortunately I didn't get that in shot.
The 11 spot is much rarer and more likely to be found around sand dunes at the coast.

On the subject of seeing ladybirds - I found out where my resident ones have been hiding from me. As I was cutting the grass yesterday I saw quite a few crawling in the lawn. I spent nearly as long trying to move them out of the way as I did actually mowing the grass.  Now I have to watch out for young frogs (I saw four leap out of the way) and ladybirds.

There Are Two Sides to Every .....

.......

Story? not this time

Argument? not that either

Coin? nope

What then?

Ladybird of course:

Wordless Wednesday

Black Beauty

No, not a horse.
While talking to my neighbour I happened to spot something black on a metal pole:



The tiniest, blackest, shiniest ladybird I have ever seen.
At 5mm across it must be one of the smallest in the UK:



It was in the most awkward position to get a camera near.
I had to guess when it was in focus as I couldn't see the camera's screen.

At first I though it may have been a Pine Ladybird but discovered the spots were wrong for that.
 In the end I came to the conclusion it was a Kidney-spot Ladybird.

To finish off, a larger black creature.
Penny, catching up on her beauty sleep after another hard day supervising:



I did manage to trim the back lawn so that was one more task off the Round Tuit pile.

Home From Home

A few years ago I installed an insect house but all I ever saw in it were spiders webs.
It has now rotted away and been replaced with a new one:



I fixed the new one in different place a couple of weeks ago. I was wondering whether it was in too much direct Sunlight but as I went to move it I saw it has its first resident already:



A bit closer crop:



Yes, a 7 spot Ladybird.
Needless to say I left the house where it was.

Early Flutters Feeding

Yesterday started cool but the Sun soon came out so I decided to trim some of the evergreens in the front garden. Pleased I had my trusty pocket Nikon with me as I saw some 7 spot Ladybirds:



Some bees enjoying a feed on the Heather:



But what caught my eye was about five Small Tortoiseshell butterflies on the Heather:

 



One looked very much well worn and tatty but the rest appeared pristine.

Minibeasts and a new Planter

It was time to replace an old wooden planter which has stood next to the pond for more than a decade. The wood was beginning to rot but what to replace it with? I had had my eye on a wishing well planter for a while and finally got round to ordering one. It arrived by courier on Saturday morning so I set about assembling it. I had wondered just how much assembly would be needed but there were only 15 parts and sections which needed screwing and bolting together as some sections we pre-assembled. In a bit less than an hour there it was ready to put in place:



Then came the task of dismantling the old planter and finding some wood to make a shallow stand to raise it up a bit. That was when I found the minibeasts sheltering under rotting wood:



Among the dozens of woodlice was a rather splendid beetle:





Seeing how the wishing well would look in its chosen spot next to the pond:



At home on its shallow stand which has spaces underneath for frogs and newts to shelter:



Now all I have to do is buy some more compost and a few plants to finish it off.

To finish off here, here is some hand held video of the minibeasts:



All in all a satisfactory day with afternoon Sunshine and the temperature reaching 16C. I ended up wearing jeans and a short sleeved shirt as it was really warm working where I was sheltered from any cooling breeze.