Wildlife Wednesday. July.

This month is the first anniversary of Tina ’s lovely Wildlife in the garden meme , over atMyGardenersaysblog . I always enjoy read it and those of others who bring together in . I am a moment diffident about bring together in myself , because American and Canadian gardeners have such exotic and glamourous garden visitant : bear , prairie wolf , chipmunks , raccoon , gophers and aardvarks and thing like that . Um , actually , probably not aardvarks . And then all those slithery thing , snakes and lizards and Anolis carolinensis and big fat toads . As for the amazing fowl and kaleidoscope of exotic butteflies ; they all make our animal seem very dull . All those fabulous hum hoot and cardinals . And I am always amazed how you all get your snort to sit down still and be photographed . Do you dose the bird feed with diazepam ? I think you must . My sparrows are far too fidgety . I am really mortified to show my birds which are mostly ‘ small brown jobs ’ And after looking at your Monarchs and other incredible butterfly how can I say : ‘ Here is rather a nice minuscule brown moth ’ ?

Anyway here goes , I will start with our mansion guests . The Tree Bumble bees , Bombus hypnorum . They are nest under our eaves . Apparently they only arrive from the continent about 14 years ago . They were first seen in Wiltshire and they are spreading around the area . They have a rusty browned thorax , a black stomach and a white tail . They often nestle in birdboxes and apparently have been known to force out bluetits . The males trip the light fantastic around outside the nest to try and attract the attention of the Queen . One of them hitch a drive into the house on my shoulder and here it is sit on the rug . The jury is out as to whether these bees are ‘ A Good Thing ‘ , orA sorry matter ’ . They are fantastic early pollinator which is good , and indeed I have an amazing raspberry crop so I think they have been very busy in my garden . What is not yet recognize is whether they are endanger our short beleaguered dear bee , by being in competition with them . Anyway I am beaming to have them and they are not aggressive as long as you leave them alone . Unlike the hornet which chased me down the garden 2 years ago and stung me , for no reason at all , asunder from the fact that it was feel a bit tetchy that mean solar day .

And now for a small white Crab Spider , Misumena vatia . I have to thank my endearing son for spotting this spider and taking the photo for me . The female person in the picture is being approached by a male person which is little than she is and brown rather of whitened . It looks as though she is engaged eating a previous suitor .

Misumena vatia

Misumena vatia

The Crab Spider does not spin a web but she sits in flowers and postponement for pollinator to get in . She injects them with her poisonous fangs . After mating , she lays her eggs and wraps them in a foliage which she seals with a cocoon . She then cease prey and guard her eggs until they hatch . Clearly , she is a very good female parent but not a particularly good married woman . Not if she is hungry anyway .

I will end with a endearing Dragon Fly , the Four - spotted Chaser , Libellula quadrimaculata .

Misumena vatia

Four - Spotted Chaser , Libellula quadrimaculata

Americans call this a ‘ Skimmer ’ rather than a ‘ Chaser ’ , which is perhaps a good name as they do skim . They do n’t really chase at all . Well give thanks youTinaand kudos on a class of Wildlife Wednesdays . Do go over and record her fascinating post and all those of all the other wildlife watchman .

42 Responses toWildlife Wednesday. July.

This is a marvelous post , Chloris ! You start out an fantabulous photo of the skeeter hawk and how considerate of the bee to conform to you at heart for a close - up . I hesitate about joining the wildlife place for interchangeable reasons – squirrels do n’t deserve the reportage and I can usually only get birds when they ’re in my fountain ( and even those picture want a outstanding deal of patience and stealth ) .

You ’ve had some fun and fascinating garden visitors ! Now , add valium to the bird food … hmmmm … nah . 😉 I ’d have to agree that the hummingbird are somewhat nifty . But the “ little browned jobs ” are just as fascinating to me as the bright bleached birds . Actually , my preferred bird is a “ little black and white job ” : the Black - Capped Chickadee . I enjoy their songs , their escape art , their friendliness , and the fact that they ’re with me year - round . Your dragonfly pic is amazing !

Our “ critters ” may be slow in comparison to others but that suits me Chloris :) There might be too may screams coming from this direction otherwise . We too reckon we have tree bumble bees nesting under our eaves this class . They look to be on the border district .

Wildlife , always surprising ! Nice meme , didn ’ t have it away about it ! adorable photos , Chloris , thanks for sharing !

I like your wildlife shot , especially the beautiful dragonfly ! Happy horticulture !

Great shots and I love crab spiders … so cool to observe .

Misumena vatia

Misumena vatia

Wildlife Wednesday. July.