It seems the cavalry has finally arrived on my runner beans in the form of dozens of ladybird larvae
and pupa
but by the time they emerge as a full fighting force it'll be too late to save the last of my beans which are being overrun by blackfly. Useless sods, they have one job ...
Sometimes wildlife just does not know how to help itself. If it got on with its job efficiently there would be no need for sprays that would presumably take out the ladybirds with the blacklist. My garden is overrun with slugs and snails and I don't like using chemicals to control them. A permanent full-on dining experience for hedgehogs. And with allotments behind the gardens there is plenty of road-free space. But they just can't be bothered...
are the boundary fences, between you and the allotments, hedgehog friendly? All that bounty is irrelevant to them if they are blocked off by fencing e.g. with barge boards at the bottom
I realise this is not strictly London Wildlife, but had to share this. Eight Blue Tit chicks from our nest box ready to fledge at any time now.
rub it in why don't you - the ungrateful tits around here have resolutely declined either of our nest boxes for the last 5 springs in a row - and we wouldn't even dream of invading their domestic privacy with a camera
About 3 years ago we had a squirrel stop visiting, presumably moving on to pastures new. She had a distinctive cut in her left ear and an insatiable taste for monkey nuts.
In the meantime Nutkins 2020 came by, Cyril, Ainsley and many more. All hungry for monkey nuts, some even climbing on our window seal, but none so brazen.
Well, Legacy Nutkins is back and no window in our house is safe.
About 3 years ago we had a squirrel stop visiting, presumably moving on to pastures new. She had a distinctive cut in her left ear and an insatiable taste for monkey nuts.
In the meantime Nutkins 2020 came by, Cyril, Ainsley and many more. All hungry for monkey nuts, some even climbing on our window seal, but none so brazen.
Well, Legacy Nutkins is back and no window in our house is safe.
ghastly invasive species critically predating our native songbird population - tasty roasted with rosemary tho
About 3 years ago we had a squirrel stop visiting, presumably moving on to pastures new. She had a distinctive cut in her left ear and an insatiable taste for monkey nuts.
In the meantime Nutkins 2020 came by, Cyril, Ainsley and many more. All hungry for monkey nuts, some even climbing on our window seal, but none so brazen.
Well, Legacy Nutkins is back and no window in our house is safe.
ghastly invasive species critically predating our native songbird population - tasty roasted with rosemary tho
Best I keep them well feed then so they don't get desperate and eat birds' eggs.
I realise this is not strictly London Wildlife, but had to share this. Eight Blue Tit chicks from our nest box ready to fledge at any time now.
rub it in why don't you - the ungrateful tits around here have resolutely declined either of our nest boxes for the last 5 springs in a row - and we wouldn't even dream of invading their domestic privacy with a camera
Lol.This is the first season in the five that we've lived here that we've got this far. Every other year was a disaster. Absolutely spot on parents have been working their little tits off to keep this lot fed.
I realise this is not strictly London Wildlife, but had to share this. Eight Blue Tit chicks from our nest box ready to fledge at any time now.
rub it in why don't you - the ungrateful tits around here have resolutely declined either of our nest boxes for the last 5 springs in a row - and we wouldn't even dream of invading their domestic privacy with a camera
All left the nestbox safely yesterday morning. First time we've had a success like this.
This huge moth turned up in my back garden the other day. It looked about 6-7cm long. Googling ‘large brown moth uk’ suggested that it could be a species called Old Lady, but not 100% sure on that. Are there any moth experts on CL? I couldn’t get a close up shot because it was about 15 feet off the ground, on a chimney breast of a ww2 damaged Victorian terrace - this pic was taken out of an upstairs window
It looks like some form of Carpet Moth to me, subfamily Larentiinae. There are about 150 species in the UK alone, I wouldn't like to say which one this is though.
I thought this crab looked a little different to the usual ones seen here of the Essex coast. Turns out to be a Brush-clawed shore crab. They are natives of the Asian Pacific. It is believed the first ones in Europe were dropped from the dirty hull of a boat sailing between Asia and Hamburg in 1993. The first known sighting in Britain was on the Medway Estuary in 2014. I'd never heard of them before seeing this one. It will be interesting to see if any more turn up.
This little chap wouldn't let me get out of my car to pick up my Chinese the other night in Barnehurst. Would have given him a sweet and sour prawn ball if he weren't being such an arse.
Our neighbours across the road feed these buggers... they then come back through our garden to the woods behind and have a shit in our garden. I now deposit this deposit in their front garden. If foxes and cats disappeared from the planet my garden would be cleaner
You're a right old ray of sunshine aren't' you.
If you put shit in my garden then you'd be getting it fed back to you.
Comments
Given the comings and goings I'm almost certain it is a blackbird nest.
Lol.This is the first season in the five that we've lived here that we've got this far. Every other year was a disaster. Absolutely spot on parents have been working their little tits off to keep this lot fed.
All left the nestbox safely yesterday morning. First time we've had a success like this.
I photographed it from the top and the bottom and looking at the photo the most obvious thing is how much my windows need cleaning
Huge problem with reflections, but you get the gist ... I have no idea of it's name.
I thought this crab looked a little different to the usual ones seen here of the Essex coast. Turns out to be a Brush-clawed shore crab. They are natives of the Asian Pacific. It is believed the first ones in Europe were dropped from the dirty hull of a boat sailing between Asia and Hamburg in 1993. The first known sighting in Britain was on the Medway Estuary in 2014. I'd never heard of them before seeing this one. It will be interesting to see if any more turn up.
If you put shit in my garden then you'd be getting it fed back to you.