Such a beautiful last day of August. We popped out this morning to take two boxes of bits and bobs to a charity shop where we could park near the donation point as they were quite heavy. Back home work has been done in the garden followed by the treat of an ice cream eaten in the shade at the top of the garden.
The sun has encouraged butterflies and dragonflies to visit the garden. Including the ubiquitous white butterflies, two small brown ones flitting around each other plus a Red Admiral and a Peacock butterfly.
Peacock
Red Admiral
We were also visited by a Common or Red Darter dragonfly.
It seemed to enjoy lazing in the sun on top of the bean sticks.
Paul's photo (above) is far better than mine, he identified the dragon fly.
Earlier this year we saw the Bug Snugs at Trentham, I think I mentioned them in a post at the time.
We decided to build our own bug snug in the garden using the cuttings from the meadow area at the top of the garden now it has been cleared.
It has been inspected by the foxes and badgers and also some of the local cats but it is still standing. It will be a nice warm habitat for insects over winter.
All for now, see you in September, I hope.
Lovely to see all your blooms. The Peacocks clearly are making an appearance all over the British Isles at the moment. It’s lovely to see them. I bet that ice cream was much needed :) B x
ReplyDeleteThank you B. Not too many blooms but the ones we have are doing well. The Peacock didn't come back but we had two or three Red Admirals at the same time. We did enjoy the ice cream:)
DeleteLovely flowers in your garden Rosie. The lack of insects this year is really rather depressing - not just butterflies but bees and hoverflies too. I did see the first garden Red Admiral of the year today and a Speckled Wood but so many other species have either failed to appear or been low in number. The main ladybird I see these days is the Harlequin and not native species :( I love the idea of the bug snug :) I am sure it will be well used!
ReplyDeleteThank you RR. Three Red Admirals today, all clustering on the Buddleia. I think I've seen the brown butterflies again today, probably are Speckled Woods but they don't stay still long enough to check. I can't think I've seen a ladybird in the garden for ages, such a shame:)
DeleteHow lovely to spot the butterflies and dragonflies, not so much the greenflies! There still aren't many butterflies here and Monty Don was saying there aren't many wasps about either. I love your cosy bug snugs, what a great idea. I love the weather at the moment (not the thunderstorms predicted!) Happy Sunday 😊
ReplyDeleteThank you CK, it is usual to see wasps around especially in August, I remember them around the waste bins near ice cream vans at the seaside when I was a child and being scared of them. We too were supposed to have thunder storms but none so far:)
DeleteYou still have lots of lovely flowers in your garden Rosie. We've had quite a few ladybirds this year but not so many bees or butterflies. A lot of our green bean flowers didn't even get pollinated! One thing we do have every year though are stag beetles! We have a lot of rotting wood for them to live in! x
ReplyDeleteThe flowers have been lovely although some are looking a bit jaded now. How wonderful to have stag beetles, I've never seen one, are they endangered or quite common elsewhere? We have log piles at the top of the garden for insects as well as the bug snug. We do see a lot of shield bugs here:)
DeleteStag beetles are a protected species Rosie. I found a large grub in some rotting wood and when I looked up what it was found out that it was a stag beetle larvae. They live as larvae for 3 to 5 years eating rotting wood and roots. When we see them as adults they only live between May and August and cannot use their jaws to eat at all! They use their tongue to get moisture from sap and rotting fruit! I find them fascinating as you can tell! :-)
DeleteI thought they might be protected. Their lifecycle sounds interesting no wonder you are fascinated with them. Do you ever draw them? There are some carved ones around the lake at Trentham, made from old tree trunks:)
DeleteI've never drawn them. I like to look from afar! I bet the carved ones look impressive!
DeleteThere's a huge carving on top of a trunk still in the ground and then smaller ones on a fallen trunk. I haven't seen them recently so must look for them next time we visit. They usually have mums and children around them. There is a photo somewhere on this blog, taken a few years ago. I'll try and find it:)
DeleteThe last time we had a dragonfly in the garden it seemed to enjoy sitting on the top of a garden cane too. I like the bug snug. I'm sure the insects will be very grateful to use it over the Winter.
ReplyDeleteThank you Beverley. Tops of canes are a good vantage point especially if they are in sunshine. I keep expecting the bug snug to be pulled at by the foxes as they play with everything, so far it seems to be standing. I hope some of the insects enjoy it although not so many around this year:)
DeleteLovely Sweet Peas! Really pretty. I was always told that if you picked them frequently then you wouldn’t get the greenfly as often. Just like you, we’ve had few butterflies. And I’ve not yet seen a wasp! BTW, I love the bug snug idea! Sal 😁
ReplyDeleteThank you Sal. I did start by picking them quite often, then missed a few days when we went away, so perhaps the greenfly took advantage. I'm really pleased with the bug snug:)
DeleteI've never seen a bug snug before. Very interesting. Such pretty flowers and such nice photo's of the butterflies. We just don't see as many as we did when I was growing up. Still I think things are improving as people are trying hard to plant for them, and help populate them.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sandy, the annual butterfly count over here suggests that butterfly numbers are decreasing due to weather patterns and other things like agricultural crop sprays which also affects bees. I hope numbers improve next year:)
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