We didn’t get to spend much time in the Garden during May for one reason or another. Which is a shame as May tends to be the month we see the return of our first wave of common visitors. Thankfully, we did get out just enough to welcome back the following regulars.
Our first sight of our garden favourite, the Zebra Spider (5th May), was followed by the appearance of the next generation of small Garden Spiders. Unfortunately, we don’t seem to have nearly as many Zebra Spiders this year as in previous years.
The Swollen Thighed Beetles were first spotted on 24th May and have been around in decent numbers. As we write this on 11th June, only the males have been spotted so far. We hope the females will follow soon, as they did in 2023.
Other insect regulars include Early Bumblebees (25th May), Large Rose Sawfly (25th May), Azure Damselfly (25th May), Large Red Damselfly (6th May), and Mint Moth (25th May).
But our favourite spots were a couple of moth species. Firstly the Small Magpie (24th May), last noted in our records back in 2007. And Syndemis musculana (16th May) last recorded on 3rd May 2008.
The flowers have begun to bloom here and there and any first flowering dates have been added to the species list record page.
One plant worth noting is the Red Valerian. This was a species that, prior to the Garden Wildlife Project (2021), we thought we had eradicated from the Garden due to its invasive nature. In 2021, we only had one record, a tiny stunted specimen in a flower pot. This year it has come back in good numbers. In truth, Red Valerian is a favourite of ours, and these days we will be looking to control its spread, as we do with other species like dandelions, rather than attempting to eradicate it.
And of course there have been a few new records, such as our 25th species of spider, Clubiona spp recorded 27th May. Unfortunately we cannot be sure of the exact species.
The Beautiful Demoiselle (10th May) was a species we had been hoping to see for some time. An amazing looking Odonata, which has likely travelled up from the Nature Reserve at Eastwood Farm.
And Jackdaw on the 5th May has always been about the Garden, we just never thought to record them, another example of wildlife that we often take for granted.
On the subject of birds, one visitor to the Garden we have some mixed views on popped by briefly on the 16th May. The amazing looking Grey Heron, likely with more than half an eye on our gold fish. Thankfully no fish missing and we haven’t seen this guy since.
Despite not spending as much time as we would have liked in the Garden, we did record a wealth of wildlife. A few plants need thinning out a little, particularly docks. Some rather large ragwort plants are developing, but we may just keep an eye on them for now.
DC: 12.06.2024
Wildlife Garden 