[New shoot]

I was out in the garden earlier picking some herbs to go in our tea and I saw a wasp do something I haven't seen before.  It landed on a spider web right where the spider had wrapped up its prey.  It then proceeded to cut it out and fly off with the spider's dinner   

[sunshineband]

I was out in the garden earlier picking some herbs to go in our tea and I saw a wasp do something I haven't seen before.  It landed on a spider web right where the spider had wrapped up its prey.  It then proceeded to cut it out and fly off with the spider's dinner   

Clever little fellow 

Found an Elephant Hawk moth caterpillar walking along the drive this morning, looking for somewhere to pupate. He now has  cosy home with moss and dried leaves on some soil so I hope he is happy with his new quarters

[Beekissed]

I was out in the garden earlier picking some herbs to go in our tea and I saw a wasp do something I haven't seen before.  It landed on a spider web right where the spider had wrapped up its prey.  It then proceeded to cut it out and fly off with the spider's dinner   

Now THAT was cool!  I love seeing things like that.   

These are some pics of a fawn sneaking past the garden and house, drawn in by a wonderful smell....I apologize for the poor quality of the pics, but these were taken through windows and screens and in a hurry. 

First approach...



Sneaking up on the source of that lovely smell!



Got spooked by the crazy lady in the house trying to get his pic...



Second approach...the smell is just too tantalizing!



This one is awful blurry, so if you can make out that brown blob in the background behind the fawn, there lies my dog, Jake, just resting and watching the show.    He doesn't mind deer...I think he's lonely enough that he enjoys their company. 



What is he sneaking up on?  Our truck, parked in the shade, with a bed half full of apples! 

[tosca100]

How lovely. Deer are something my sister was so happy to see in her garden when she moved to the Lake District, but once they started to lick the garden into shape and spend money on plants it became a bit of a problem and they much preferred seeing them in the fields or woods! However, when we stayed with them we loved seeing them in the garden, and the badgers digging up the lawn...and the heron fishing in the pond.

[cardoon queen]

Young dog fox today scooting around me as I dug over some beds ... really cheeky boy!  digging underneath some old carpet piles probably for mice.  Doing that leap up into the air and diving into the pile ... really enjoying the sunshine and no real fear at all!
Then suddenly shooting behind me and lo and behold!  cheeky b*** had gone off with one of my gloves .. tossing it into the air, throwing it around .. great fun!  finally managed to spook him so much that he ran and I managed to get it back then 5 minutes later he's back behind me trying to find the other one probably!  Bit mangey on one thigh though but cute as any young animal.
Ran off having a mad 5 minutes going up and down the path in the sunshine.  The parakeets were most disapproving!
I think spring is definitely coming ...

[Snoop]

What a lovely interaction, Cardoon queen.

[sunshineband]

Saw a Peacock butterfly yesterday morning ... first one of these this year ... and then two Housemartins

[Trikidiki]

Found this fella in the greenhouse this week, I believe it is an Angle Shades, perhaps any lepedopterist could confirm that.

Incidentally does anyone know the name of the small 'beetle' type creature that you tend to get a lot of on concrete paths. They are blood red and about an eighth the size of a ladybird. I have started getting a lot of them in one of my greenhouses. I seem to recall being told many years ago that they were harmless to plants.

[mumofstig]

Could they be Red Velvet mites?

[Trikidiki]

Ha! I think they may well be, funnily enough I was going to describe them as looking a bit 'velvety'. I thought it was my eyes when I was counting eight legs but it appears they are arachnids. Apparently they feed on other mites, maybe they'll munch the red spider mites I get in that greenhouse.
Cheers mum.

[sunshineband]

and yes, it is an Angle Shades moth, rather nicely coloured too. They can vary in colour quite a lot I've found

[New shoot]

There are signs of life in my tiny wildlife pond.  Dozens of tiny little wiggly black tadpoles who were all over the place, including bothering a large grump frog, who eventually got sick of them and climbed out for some peace 

[sunshineband]

There are signs of life in my tiny wildlife pond.  Dozens of tiny little wiggly black tadpoles who were all over the place, including bothering a large grump frog, who eventually got sick of them and climbed out for some peace 

Nice! I have taken some of ours out so the fish do not eat them.

Had an amazing one today --- in the partly rotted, worm rich leaves the council guys kindly brought round to our plot for us today, was a heavily pregnant female mole!!!!

She was a bit disorientated as Mr Sunny dug her out of the huge pile, but she was able to burrow under the grass further along the verge, where I put her. Lovely to see.

[New shoot]

a heavily pregnant female mole!!!!

I read in your diary about the mole and wondered how you knew it was female.  I thought that must be tricky to work out on a mole being all streamlined and all     Not that I have ever tried, but you know ..... 

[Trikidiki]

......... in the partly rotted, worm rich leaves the council guys kindly brought round to our plot for us today, was a heavily pregnant female mole!!!!....................

Or an extremely overweight male who has been gorging on all those lovely worms