The Last Bees of the Year

 The weather is misty grey and damp, but it is also rather mild. Hence I've been able to get out and take a look at the ivy plant at the far end of the campus badlands, and see who is about. 

We don't get ivy mining bees on this ivy bush; it might be a bit noisy and dirty for them here as the heavy traffic thunders by on the A46 emitting heaven only knows what pollutants into the air. But the honeybees were feeding off the remnants of the ivy flowers. 

Because it isn't exactly high summer, the bees were quite low energy and were thus fairly easy to photograph. 

They can't be on the wing for much longer, and the sad months of the year start. October and November, everything goes to sleep, and the colours of campus become green and brown, with the stark remains of this years teasel silhouetted against the sunsets. Late December, the first snowdrops emerge and the cycle begins anew.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 16.10.24

An Aurora Storm

 Was just about to write a post about autumn colours, when I looked outside, and noticed a faint glow in the sky. An initial photo seemed to reveal a faint pink glow, but when I went out again about 15 minutes later, the glow in the sky was visible to the naked eye.

Turn a phone camera to it in night sight mode, and by golly, you get spectacular results!

Idle Valley Nature Reserve

 My stepfather and I recently took a trip out to Retford to visit Idle Valley Nature reserve, the biggest Notts Wildlife Trust reserve, larger even than Attenborough. It was a typically blustery September day for 2024, although the rain just about stayed off us for the afternoon. 

After a wrong turn, we arrived at the site with its colourful mural, and, er, sculpture of a beaver made out of drinks cans. For beavers are the big stars here, introduced in the last few years but kept in a corner of the reserve where visitors are only allowed on special occasions. 

Perhaps to be fed to the beavers, I have no idea. 

After a sausage sandwich in the cafe, it was time to head off for a circuit of the large main lake. As ever with these sorts of places, the more interesting the wildlife, the further you have to trek to find it and the harder it is to see, so we just kept to the short path through a farm of chunky black sheep and viking horned cattle, and then around the water. 

There wasn't a huge amount to see out there, just the standard canada geese, swans and mallards with a few tufted duck thrown in, but what there was in large numbers where the lake is skirted by the clean flowing River Idle, by golly were there lots of dragonflies. 

The rulers of the dragonfly clans are the emperors, large neon blue creations with the ability to fly seemingly faster than the eye can see. One minute they would be eyeing you up from a few metres away, then they'd immediately be on the other side of the river as if they'd been teleported. 

Then there are the inquisitive southern hawkers, nearly as large but a bright yellow-green colour. They like to fly up close to you and give you a good going over with their eerie large eyes. The migrant hawkers, a slightly less vivid blue than the emperors are the most numerous big dragonfly species in the area, and the blood red common darters like to pretend to allow you to photograph them before cheekily flying off when you get near enough to get a shot off. 

A new species to me was a delicate, glittering willow emerald damselfly, but these things are like ghosts, you just can't get them in focus. 

Lack of quality photos aside, we had a lovely afternoon, and I'd love to visit again to explore the further reaches of the reserve. 

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 02.10.24

The Ivy Mining Bees are Back

 It's hard to believe that Saturday was a beautiful day, seeing as rain has now been falling continuously for over 24 hours, but I got out for a trip down the park to read "Dune" - well, it had to be done eventually - and also to scan the flowering ivy to see if any ivy bees were about. 

I found a bush near the park, and the bees were all over it! Beautiful bees, with their gleaming yellow bands on the abdomen and in my view second only to the tawny mining bee in terms of their good looks. 

With it having been such a grim summer for pollinators - I can't remember seeing a single tree bumblebee this year - it is nice to see some insects in decent numbers. 

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 22.09.24

Tiny Moths and Tiny Hoverflies

 A few days of very pleasant weather this week, which has brought out various insects to the remaining flowers in parks and gardens around town.

One such specimen, a tiny pepper type moth, found its way to random groundsel growing in one of my planters, while an equally tiny glodetail hoverfly visited cranesbill in a church planter. 

In the park, there's been shield bugs reading my book, and ladybirds watching me drink shandy.

It has been a rare good week for nature this week, I'd say. 

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 19.09.24

A Silver Y in my Marigolds

 Went into my little stamp sized garden this morning, and immediately my attention was drawn to the planter where I repotted marigolds I bought from the local flower shop a couple of months ago. 

They've done very well, but they are fading now. Best £2.40 I've spent on plants. 

What I initially thought was a bit of dead flower on the edge of the planter turned out to be a sleepy silver y moth! It went and hid under the flowers for a little while, before coming out to sun itself on a flower head, fibrillating its wings as it warmed up, before flying off. 

However, before it did so, I did manage to get a decent photograph of this day flying moth. 

It was a busy day, flutterer wise. The top flowers on my buddleia are being visited by red admirals, and I found a small tortoiseshell sunning itself on my wall, leaving a very gothic looking shadow on the brickwork. 

I add in a few pictures from the library gardens yesterday too. We've had a couple of nice days since the hailstorm insanity earlier in the week. 

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 14.09.24

Rare to see Colourful Butterflies this Year

 The weather we've had over the last few seasons, with so much flooding and wet weather around, certainly seems to have affected our butterflies for the worse. 

Not the high summer species like meadow brown, ringlet and small skipper - there's been plenty of those about - but the butterfly species that hibernate in their imago state that also tend to be the most colourful. Barely a brimstone, small tortoiseshell, peacock and comma to be seen in the spring, which has had a knock on effect on the butterflies seen in late summer. 

Hardly surprising!

However, I did come across this small tortoiseshell, a very vivid and beautiful one, that brightened up my day rather.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 09.09.24