Birds

A single Redwing seen at the top of the garden Hawthorn tree around mid morning.
Two Great Tits visited the garden and a single Goldfinch took a few nibbles of the Nyger seed.

winter birds

A pair of Redwing spent a few minutes in the Hawthorn tree taking a breakfast snack on the ripe Haws.

Long-tailed Tits

A small group of four Long-tailed Tits spent about half an hour of the morning scouting through the shrubs in the garden and the Hawthorn tree.

Gold Finches

Refilled the Niger seed feeder tube today. Niger seed is derived from a relative of the the sunflower and is prefered by Goldfinches. It is a small black elongated seed that requires a special feeder with pairs of small slits in the tube.

Buddleia

A dark mauve Buddleia is attracting local butterflies. There have been three Red Admirals on the bush at one time. Other visitors have been individual Comma and Peacock.

bug 1012 (magnified)

bug 1012 (magnified), originally uploaded by Ray-of-Sun.

This insect was found crawling on the greater Willowherb in the garden.
I think it is some sort of Weevil?

Update

The dark mauve Buddleia flowers atract a lot of flying insects, including Hoverflies, Moths and Butterflies. Today I observed a Peacock and a Red Admiral talking nectar from it.
early this morning a Vollucella hoverfly was seen warming up on the bare branch of a Box tree.
Recent rain has kept insect activity down, it is good to get some interesting wildlife into the garden!
There has been no shortage of Mollusc activity, slugs and snails have been very busy!

Compost for Wildlife

While I was moving some well rotted compost a small Toad came to the surface, I moved it to safe spot in the compost.

hoverfly

hover 0850, originally uploaded by Ray-of-Sun.

It looks like Xanthogramma pedissequum.
I found it behaving as if it were egg laying around the rotting wood pile near the pond

Common Darter

A Common Darter dragonfly appeared in the garden, this is the first one I have seen this year.

2 HB

2 HB, originally uploaded by Ray-of-Sun.

Pair of holly Blue butterflies find each other in the garden!

Moth Night?

This is the first calm windless evening for weeeks, as the darkness falls moths will gather on the flowers of the dark purple Buddleia, I saw some there a couple of nights back when the wind was relatively gentle. I could identify that some were the Orange or Yellow Underwing species. I have seen an Emerald when I placed a bright light outside.
I may try with a white sheet and bright light tonight.

spiderling

spiderling 0728, originally uploaded by one-step back.

Well read spiders!

small skipper

small skipper 0667, originally uploaded by one-step back.

This arrived unexpectedly today, it felt right at home on a stalk of Yorkshire Fog grass, by the side of the pond

alder buckthorn

alder buckthorn 0680, originally uploaded by one-step back.

meconopsis cambrica 0687

meconopsis cambrica 0687, originally uploaded by one-step back.

One stray plant has appeared in a shady corner in loose gravelly ground

spurge

spurge 0689, originally uploaded by one-step back.

This pops up in almost any bit of waste ground, several have appeared in the past week in pockets of stoney ground

Wildlife survey

I'm doing a survey of the wildflowers in the garden, for reference I have used the book "Wildflowers of Britain and Northwest Europe - Christopher Grey-Wilson", and then using Google spreadsheets for the data, this is the result to date but is not finished.
Some of the plants arrived unplanned but the majority I have planted.
A second sheet has been added, this will be used for records of animal life in the garden.
It would be interesting to know what readers think about the idea...so please feel free to comment

Weather

The week has been wet and windy.

ectemnius 0652

ectemnius 0652, originally uploaded by one-step back.

close up showing pinched waist!

Wasp - Ectemnius spp.. I think

Wasp - Ectemnius spp.. I think, originally uploaded by one-step back.

This Solitary species of Wasp seemed to be hunting on the leaves of this Contorted Hazel bush

Sunday

Overcast and breezy weather in the back garden and a fresh looking Meadow Brown butterfly came looking for a place to rest. I was able to observe it through binoculars while it sat on a clematis leaf in a sheltered corner.

Wet

Not a good start, rain falling steadily through the afternoon

Post One

I hope to keep a diary of the wildlife in my garden
A link to Flickr where I have labeled areas of the garden