It’s been a while since I posted something buggy, so here’s a little leaf hopper hanging out on a blade of grass. I liked the way the background has the same two colours as the grass blade only the other way up.
Leaf hopper
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Category Archives: garden
Tiny spiders on Autumn leaves
Autumn is spider time. The monster house spiders invade our homes and scare us arachnophobes silly. But in the garden, their smaller and far less intimidating brethren hang out on and even in Autumn leaves. The green orb spider didn’t stay long enough for me to get its legs in focus, but I like the shot anyway, for the colour.
This next one, sitting in a hole in a cherry leaf, is probably the smallest spider I have ever photographed.
The last shot is an old one but it fitted the post, so I thought I could get away with repeating it.
We are away on holiday at present so I am not doing a very good job of keeping in touch with everyone’s blogs. I will catch up on our return.
Little nymphs
Is this not a cute little thing? This is a psocid nymph, pottering about on a dogwood leaf. These are so small you hardly notice them, unless you spend a ridiculously long time staring at leaves, risking ridicule or at least benign amusement from your family.
This little nymph has a parasite in its belly, which I understand is very common for these little critters. But if you ignore the parasite, it tones quite prettily with its colourful Autumn environment. Perhaps that’s just me…
Flowers in the Rain
Woke up one morning half asleep
With all my blankets in a heap
And yellow roses scattered all around
The time was still approaching
For I couldn’t stand it anymore
Some marigolds upon my eiderdownI’m just sitting watching flowers in the rain
Feel the power of the rain making the garden grow
I’m just sitting watching flowers in the rain
Feel the power of the rain keeping me goodSo I lay upon my side
With all the windows open wide
Couldn’t pressurize my head from speaking
Hoping not to make a sound
I pushed my bed into the ground
In time to catch the sight that I was seekingI’m just sitting watching flowers in the rain
Feel the power of the rain making the garden grow
I’m just sitting watching flowers in the rain
Feel the power of the rain keeping me goodIf this perfect pleasure has to be
Then this is paradise to me
If my pillow’s getting wet
I can’t see that it matters much to me
I heard the flowers in the trees
Make conversation with the trees
Relieved to leave reality behind me
With my commitments in a mess
My sleep is not a way of rest
In a world of fantasy you’ll find meI’m just sitting watching flowers in the rain
Feel the power of the rain making the garden grow
I’m just sitting watching flowers in the rain
Feel the power of the rain keeping me goodWatching flowers in the rain
Flower in the rain
Power flowers in the rain
Flower power in the rain
Roy Wood Flowers In The Rain (1967)
Pretty in yellow
Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But to me this little yellow psocid, hanging out against a complimentary background, is a thing of beauty.
Its common name is rather less attractive – it is a bark louse.
Unlike its relatives who live as pests in the home, this critter eats organic matter in the garden and really isn’t interested in coming indoors. It is very small indeed, about the size of a garden ant.
Psocids in the garden are often mistaken for aphids, but they can be distinguished by their large jaws, resembling those of crickets, and long antennae. If you can squint closely enough. Really, these details can only be noticed with the aid of a macro lens, or a magnifying glass.
I took far too many shots of this little critter. I need just one for a panel I am working on. Which do you like best?
A last gasp of Summer
A beautiful sunny day today, if a little cold, and the hardy carder bees made the most of it. As did the hardy carder bee photographer.
Autumn by the lake
I had to bring my week of Autumn themed posts to an end with this shot from Painshill Park in Cobham, Surrey, a personal favourite location.
Autumn fire
Continuing the Autumn theme, this post features images of my sumach tree. The leaves turn the most gorgeous shades of orange, red and even pink at this time of year. As the tree catches the last rays of sun to leave my garden, it is a popular spot with the garden’s minibeasts too.
A few days ago, I featured a tiny green spider which I misidentified as the cucumber green orb spider. I really should stop trying to identify minibeasts because I get it wrong oftener than I get it right! I now think that little critter was nigma walckenaeri. Oh well. I am, therefore not even going to try to identify this little gem of a spider crouching under a sumach leaf. Any spider experts out there, by all means chip in! Suffice it to say it’s a pretty little thing, for a spider.
Here it is again, toning in rather nicely with its colourful surroundings. I was trying to get under the tree to photograph the little fellow when an altogether more conventionally beautiful surprise visitor alighted on another leaf.
This delight is a ‘small copper’. I have never seen one of these in my garden before. It rested for a few seconds, just time for me to get a couple of hasty grab-shots.
What a beauty, its colours perfect for Autumn! Seeing it quite made my day.
I was planning to fell this tree as it is in the wrong place for all sorts of reasons. It has made tons of small sumachs which I can plant in a better place. But, after all this colour and buggy action, to fell it seems rather ungrateful, doesn’t it?
Autumn’s winged messengers
As Autumn sets in, leggy crane flies start to blunder into homes, mimicking moths in their attraction to light. They are not the most stylish of Nature’s creatures but this one manages to look almost elegant hanging under the pastel Autumn leaves of my sumach tree.
This is probably a female specimen of the UK’s most common variety, tipula paludosa. Not a thing of beauty, but an important part of the ecosystem. Its grubs, known as leatherjackets, feed on the roots of grass, which does not please those who love their lawns. However, they are a valuable source of food for many birds. I enjoy watching the green woodpeckers drilling for them. The crows quarter my lawn systematically, voracious terminators of leatherjackets. In the process, they incidentally save me the job of aerating the lawn and lifting the moss.
Needless to say, there are several varieties of crane fly in the UK. The best place I have found for identification is Nature Spot. I think this little crane fly resting on sedum flowers may be tipula confusa. And yes, I am confused.
This one is a little more impressive. It could be nephrotoma appendiculata, the spotted crane fly. Or it could be nephrotoma flavescens.
But I think it is, in fact, nephrotoma flavipalpis. This is the first time I have noticed one of these in my garden.
Tomorrow’s Autumn post will be prettier, I promise.
An Autumn garden
Sheffield Park is an eighteenth century landscape garden in East Sussex owned by the National Trust.
Sheffield (meaning sheep clearing) Park is mentioned in the Doomsday Book. The garden was landscaped first by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown and then Humphrey Repton.
In the nineteenth century planting for an arboretum was begun. Arthur Soames purchased the estate in 1910 and continued the massive planting programme, much of which still exists today, and is particularly regarded for its Autumn colour.
We were a little early for the best leaves but there was still plenty of colour. If you live anywhere within striking distance of this beautiful garden, I recommend a visit. Just don’t forget your camera!
More Autumn colour tomorrow.
Focused Moments 