Various flying insects have been on the wing recently but some have been easier to photograph than others.
The St Mark's fly, named after the saints's day on 25th April, when it generally takes to the wing, have been seen in large numbers recently, especially in the shady areas along Greenway. They are black and fly with their legs dangling, so are quite distinctive.
You will need to click on this to zoom in on this picture to try and see them though!
Various damselflies have also been emerging recently, such as the large red damselfly (left) and, what I believe is a blue-tailed damselfly.
The difference between these and dragonflies is that their wings are closed at rest whereas the dragonfly's wings are open when at rest.
One or two other interesting insects that I have seen recently included this Orange striped stonefly. (Thanks to my friend Colin who identified it for me!). Its wings have a beautiful pattern and I don't ever recall seing one before. Apparently they are widespread in the SW and like to breed near fast flowing streams.
Not so great to have seen as it is a non native invasive pest, is this red lily beetle. It devours lily leaves and stems and I saw this one on the Stonydown footpath, so if you have lilies in your gardens watch out!
I'll end this post on a spider. I think it is a woodlouse spider and this chap was actually in our house but I evicted it as it is one of the few british spiders that will give you a nasty nip! .
I have continued to put my night vision trail cam out in the garden, apart from on very windy nights, and the pictures I have caught have been mainly cats wandering through and often spraying the vegetation. (note to self to always use gloves when gardening in future!).
However, last night I was surprised to find, amongst the cat images, these two clips taken about 40 minutes apart, one at 1.30 am and the other at 2.09 am. Something seems to have spooked it but nothing else appeared in the rest of the night's clips.
I realise that not everyone might be delighted to have badgers visiting their gardens, but I am, although I hope they don't put the hedgehog off visiting again as badgers are their main predator and hedgehogs will usually avoid areas where badgers live.
Over the last few weeks of lockdown the local countryside has changed from bare trees at end of the winter to full blown spring and busy farming activity, and the views have been beautiful throughout.
In this post I have decided to just post a few views, in no particular order, that have made my recent daily walk feel so worthwhile, and to remind me why I am so lucky to live here!
I have seen some newly arrived summer migrant birds in the last few days such as Whitethroats, which I have found at three different sites for within ten minutes or so from the centre of Combe. I could be wrong, but this seems to be more than in previous years.
This one looks like he/she has some nest building material in its beak so they are wasting no time in setting up home.
I have also heard a garden warbler singing in its rather breathless way near Sticklepath, but try as I might, I couldn't get a picture as it seemed to be skulking in the centre of a bush! I did record its song but it is a video which is too big to upload!
Speckled wood butterflies are beginning to appear now, as are holly blue butterflies, but apologies for the photos, they don't stay still for long, like many of the other species I've already mentioned in earlier posts.
A flower that doesn't seem to thrive in many places around the village area is the White Campion, so I was pleased to see this patch along the main road at the top of Stantway. This is not a route I would usually walk but the current lack of traffic makes it quite possible without the usual fear of being run down!
One flower that is in abundance at the moment though is Ramsons. The flowers are really pretty, but don't be tempted to pick them for a floral arrangement or you will find the house reeks, as this is of course wild garlic!
The last flower I will mention today is Yellow Flag which is now in bloom in the Underway Meade pond. It is just a small patch but a welcome sight anyway.
On my walk yesterday there were plenty of squirrel sightings and this one posed beautifully before dashing off and up the nearest tree!
Later in the day, when the sun was really warm, this slow worm spent some time moving along our conservatory wall before finding a new hole in the wall to take refuge. It was the biggest one I have even seen in our garden, at least 50cm long, and once it got moving, it was not slow at all!
The more time I spend at home or just going on local walks, the more interesting wildlife I find.
I was recently given a trail cam with night vision for my birthday by my husband. At the weekend I decided to set it up to see what, if anything, visited our garden during the night.
Apart from rather more cats than I expected, at about 3am, there was this little guy bustling around on the lawn!
He/she scuttled off, perhaps disturbed by another cat and there were no further sightings that night of this little hedgehog. Fingers crossed it makes another appearance soon!
To encourage it I am leaving out a bowl of water under the bushes where it disappeared into and I am going to put down some cat or dog food, in a place that cats can't reach, to encourage it to visit regularly.
If anyone can recall ever reading Derek Tangye's Minack Chronicles, they may remember the first one was called " A Gull on the Roof". It is set in Cornwall in the 1950's and is a delightful story of couple who escape London and move to Cornwall to grow flowers and potatoes.
Why do I mention this? Because in the last few weeks, since the very windy weather, we have had a lot of visiting Herring Gulls ( NOT SEAGULLS please!) around the area and some of them seem to be pairing up now, possibly with a view to nesting on roofs in the village!
Yesterday I came home from my walk to see this pair on our roof and they are also spending time up on the old rectory roof opposite. and it reminded me of the book!
A close up shows the red dot on the bill which the young will peck at to get the parent bird to regurgitate food.
They are omnivorous and will eat any sort of food or waste, though they also congregate on playing fields and pasture land to "charm" the worms!
Although not always appreciated by mankind due to their droppings and screaming, the herring gull must be regarded as a "natural cleaner", and just as with crows, they help by keeping rats away from the surface in the urban environment, not by killing rats, but by eating the potential rat food before the rats get the chance!
This once common gull of the seaside is now a red list species of conservation concern in the UK owing to its population declining by more half in the last 25 years. This means they are protected, so please be aware that tampering with nests is illegal without a special licence.
The St Mark's fly, named after the saints's day on 25th April, when it generally takes to the wing, have been seen in large numbers recently, especially in the shady areas along Greenway. They are black and fly with their legs dangling, so are quite distinctive.
