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| Hairy-footed Flower Bee |
There is so much going on in the garden now and it is impossible to use all of it in a one hour talk.
The evolution of a formal garden to a nature reserve is the title of my latest talk. To supplement that for anyone interested, a series of blogs starting now, will show what happens when chemicals are shunned and wildlife left to thrive.
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| Common Carder Bee queen. |
Yesterday the first Hairy-footed Flower Bee of this year was observed (a solitary bee) and a Common Carder Bee bumblebee queen. Buff-tailed Bumblebee queens have been around for weeks already.
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| Mating Water Beetles |
In a pond, water beetles are mating -- upside down and under water.
Under apples trees a profusion of cowslips is invaded by primula cultivars from next door.
In the past these gaudy plants were hand weeded but now I shall leave them and see how the cowslips respond. No doubt loads of hybrids will appear but that can't be helped.
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| Cowslips |
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| tadpoles |
The tadpoles seem to be doing well -- prey for the numerous newts and dragonfly and damselfly larvae. Click any picture to enlarge it.
