Who am I?

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An individual, of no great importance, who is unable to see the natural world as a place for competition. I catch fish, watch birds, derive immense pleasure from simply looking at butterflies, moths, bumble-bees, etc - without the need for rules! I am Dylan and this is my blog - if my opinions offend? Don't bother logging on again - simple!

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Friday 4 April 2014

Life in a non-descript hedge

My routine, for the majority of my working days, involves me walking to and fro between our West Dumpton bungalow and Pyson's Road Industrial Estate, via the footpaths; and excepted field boundary tracks. Just at the end of Vine Close is a the remnants of a hedgerow which consists of Ivy clad blackthorn and wild privet, for the most part. There are a few plum trees, at the very start, but they are well past their best. An under layer of umbelifers (Alexander is what I'm led to believe) has just started to flower and is attracting insects in decent numbers. Although it wasn't sunny today my walk home, at 13.00 hrs, allowed me to note good numbers of Tawny Mining Bees and other Andrena sp. taking full advantage of the bounty along this very short section, being sheltered, as it is, from the gentle westerly that was blowing.
Tawny Mining Bee 

The opportunity being too good to pass by, I grabbed my camera gear from indoors and returned within a few minutes. With more time it was amazing to discover the array of species utilizing the food source and my camera was kept busy as I sought to get a few shots for this blog. I am still, very much, at the beginning of this particular project and my results are far removed from the standards set by many of my fellow "Bloggers".


I'm not sure if these two aren't male and female of the same species?
It was a "bad hair day" for both of them!
I was probably out for 40 minutes; and took 146 images - of which most were total crap! It matters not a jot; I was outside and enjoying the experience (photos are a bonus) Given my reticence, the id of, much that I encountered, will remain a mystery. I did, however, make a few cyber enquiries and have managed to get a "best guess" for a couple of the subjects. Whatever the result - it was really good fun!

A sawfly sp. - I'm sticking my neck out with Dolerus gonager as my conclusion?

The distance I walked was probably no more than 300m (and that is from our front door!) - it is simply mind-blowing to spend time looking into this micro world that co-exists within my local patch. The "Pan-Listers" of the UK rejoice - Dylan has just signed up? Not a chance - I'll just continue to do what I've always done - look and be amazed!

What am I doing looking at this?
The beautifully marked Caloptilia syringella - a very common micro (Wild Privet being the local key7?)




1 comment:

  1. HAHA!!!! We'll welcome you into our ranks one day mate - you just see!!! :)

    PS I'd be wary about naming that sawfly, complete buggers to tell apart. Be better to find the larva, hostplant is a very very good clue to the species involved.

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