An Orange ladybird has 12-16 spots...whilst a 16-spot ladybird has 13-18 spots, does that make any sense?

Having recently introduced some random logs to the garden, in order to both provide a low feeding perch for the birds and to encourage more bugs, they have already started to pay dividends...

This rather large ground beetle was scurrying around one morning and with patience, I managed a few shots. As usual with these Carabid beetles, I can't be certain of an ID...

An Orange Ladybird (Halyzia 16-guttata)

Also known as Halyzia sedecimguttata. This ladybird was tucked away on one of the evergreen shrubs in the garden. The species usually sports 16 white spots, although it can be as few as 12 and is one of the ladybirds that gets attracted to the light of my moth trap in summer.

We've had some hard frosts and even a little snow of late and so the bug finds have been few, but I did get out one morning to take some pictures of the ice etc..

    

It seems that I really need to add a small tree of some description to the back garden, if I want to get as many species of wild birds visiting as possible. Most aren't keen on feeding in the open. Until that happens, I've placed a couple of feeders in the tree beside our front drive and in no time at all, have had good numbers of visitors that include these amazing Goldfinches...

 The usual reminder here that these videos won't appear in the e-mail version of this update-you will need to view online.

Amongst the ground feeding birds was this lovely Dunnock...

They are quite well camouflaged once they get into the leaf litter...

The Blue tits and Great tits have also been enjoying the sunflower hearts...

You are supposed to be able to tell in the summer months, how many yellowy-green caterpillars a tit has eaten by the yellowness of the male blue tit's breast.

They were certainly having a good feed of seeds and have been regularly emptying the feeder in less than a day; I even spotted one checking out one of the nest boxes...

Amazingly, there are still aphids in the garden too...

I suppose it is conceivable that this is the very same snail-eating beetle I found in the garden a while back? 

Silpha atrata

Silpha atrata 

Erm...what else have I come across in the garden since my last update? Well there was this rather beautiful moth cocoon...

Again I couldn't say with any certainty which moth this might be but I aim to find out. I have placed it in a small open-top container in a quiet corner, so that I can keep tabs on how it is doing come springtime.

I do know what this one is though; a butterfly pupa this time-the pupa or chrysalis of an Orange-tip butterfly in fact...

You can see in this photograph that the silk girdle has been broken; probably by the strong winds and rough weather we have had. However, the cremaster (that little dome between the stem and the pupa) is still holding the pupa fast against the twig and so I think all is well.

Macro photography offers huge rewards and satisfaction and a real sense of achievement when things are going well, but one of the curses of macro-photography is undoubtedly sensor dust. It is almost an occupational hazard that we all have to confront at some time and that time is now for me...

  

Cleaning your camera's sensor can be an expensive business with most stores charging an average of £50 per clean. For most jobs, these quality swabs are the alternative I choose to use: Costing me around £23 including delivery, they should be enough for 4 sensor cleans. That's my job sorted for this afternoon then...

Until the next time...

Part two....

As I mentioned in my last post, I had too much for one entry and so here goes with part 2...

I'm at last starting to see a good variety of hoverflies here in Kent. 

CLICK ON ANY PHOTO FOR A LARGER VIEW

Helophilus pendulas-female

This one was a nice, clean example and my guess is that it had not long emerged.I've read that it's scientific name means 'dangling sun lover' 

A close-up shot shows the facial strip nicely that can be used to help identify the species.As this fly seemed oblivious to my presence, I decided to try a natural light shot as well...

It didn't occur to me at the time, but later wondered if there was something wrong with this one because when I walked the same route early the next morning, it was still in the same place.

It even allowed me to lift it on to my finger for a photo...

It sat there quite happily whilst I wondered what I should do when it suddenly lifted-off and was gone:possibly it was as simple as it being late in the day when I first saw it (hence, coldish) and by the time it had recovered from emerging and its wings were ready for flight, it was too late and so rested there overnight.

As you'd expect in springtime, there are  things emerging all the time and so I have another freshly emerged fly photo to show you next. This one was very fresh, as witnessed by it's teneral colouration...

CLICK ON ANY PHOTO FOR A LARGER VIEW

Tachina fera

I'm fairly sure the identity is right.It belongs to the Tachinidae family of flies and is quite a large thing at 12-15mm. They are all parasitoids, with larvae that grow up inside other insects. This particular one is know to parasitise caterpillars.

Here's another shot of it from a little later one when it has coloured up.....

And another view, a dorsal shot ...

Enough with the flies already! 

Rhopalus subrufus

The rhopalid bugs are back in the garden at last. There are four species of these in the U.K. and all are rather hairy with wings that are reddish in colour.

This profile view (above) shows just how hairy they are. I've only found two species in the garden thus far, this one and the striking, red and black Corizus  hyoscyami.

What next? Oh yes-I wanted to show you a photo I'd forgotten about until now. It's of Goldfinches on a bird-feeder in a friends garden from a few weeks ago. It's taken with a point and shoot and through the window but still shows just what beauties these little birds are...

From something of beauty that can be appreciated with the naked eye, to something that would be impossible to see with the naked eye but is just as wonderful when viewed through a microscope...

Orange-Tip Butterfly Wing

This is an ultra close shot of an orange-tip butterfly wings seen through a microscope lens that I managed to attach to the camera. I have to say that I've been wanting to try shots like this for a while but wasn't expecting too much from this first attempt. It's a really tricky process and the lens that I used could hardly be described as top quality: in fact, it came from e.bay and cost me just £1.04 plus postage!

 Even so, the result made me smile, it's something unseen without the aid of a microscope and once revealed is stunning-alright, the quality of my photo could be better (and probably will be as I progress) but who would have imagined that a butterfly wing would look like this?

Here's another photograph showing a different area...

The thing that struck me about this is, when we see orange-tips in the wild they appear to have shades of green on their wings for camouflage. What it actually is though is yellow and black and that makes me wonder why mother nature didn't just use green if that's the effect she was looking for?

Sightings of butterflies have been pretty sparse through April but I did manage a shot of a comma a few days ago...

A Comma Butterfly

Well this blog entry is starting to reach epic proportions itself now and so I think it may be time to add a final image and then high-tail it outta here!

A Wood Ant

That's it-quite a variety bag for this edition and I already have some nice and hopefully interesting items for the next one.

Until the next time then...