Caddis Fly - Limnephilus vittatus

Another bicatch from Sunday's moth trap was a Caddis Fly. Having someone to id it for me was crucial as there are around 200 species in the UK and most don't have English names. This one is one of the group known as Cinnamon Sedges due to the colours.

Shield Bugs

I have seen Shield Bugs around but haven't stopped to identify and record them. Yesterday I recorded moths from a moth trap and ampngst the moths were two Shield Bugs so I bothered to identify them this time. They were Red-legged Shield Bug (Pentotoma rufipes) and Birch Shield Bug (Elasmostethus interstinctus). There are 40 plus species in the UK so this may just be the start!

Juvenile Green Woodpecker

Green Woodpeckers are definitely one of the smartest looking birds and one we see a lot of here. This is a juivenile who has not developed its final colours yet.

Banquet for the spiders

The wasp colony has obviously grown a lot in size over the summer with a result that somehow a few wasps are fining their way indoors. Good news for these spiders who have wrapped one up for later consumption.

Slow Worms

This seems to be a good year for them - I keep seeing them on a regular basis. I think the large compost heaps of hay provide a great winter site for them and I guess the range of slugs and snails we have is a good food source for them. Old photo

Foxes and fawns interacting

I woke up early at 6am and looking out the window saw the Fallow Deer fawns playing in the East Field. It is entertaining watching them leap vertically kicking out their back legs as they egg each other on. As I was watching suddenly two foxes entered the scene and I suspect they were eyeing up their chances with one of the fawns so we had a swirl of deer and foxes like something out of a Disney film. The fawns weren't having it and even chased a fox briefly. After a few minutes the foxes retreated and sat in the long grass wondering what to do next. I imagined they were looking glum! Only managed one photo that included both animals and it's not a very good one.

New Species - Plum Fruit Moth

It's a bumper plum year this year so I am currently filling the freezer with them. Every so often there is a tiny orange and pink caterpillar in the plum and looking this up I find it is the Plum Fruit Moth larva (Grapholita funebrana) which was not on my moth list. We have four plum and damson trees but the moth also uses Blackthorn as a larval food plant so I expect there are plenty around here.