Garden Wildlife 2014

[brianw]

We have Pheasants in the garden most days, not entirely plant friendly, but colourful and largely ignore me if I do the same to them. Just walk past a few feet away, and the males often "chunter" as they walk. Some nights they roost in the trees at the bottom of the garden, with the hen in the tree and the cock on the power line above. How he keeps his balance all night, particularly when it is windy, amazes me. The trees are wild plum, 30 years old.

[fredg]

I caught this pair of Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) in clasp, having a rest.

http://youtu.be/aE8Ybogpu-g

[ChrisB]

This fly was on the windowsill of the hotel I was staying at in Kendal.  Does anyone have an idea what it is?  It was over an inch in length.

[Chris Johnson]

This fly was on the windowsill of the hotel I was staying at in Kendal.  Does anyone have an idea what it is?  It was over an inch in length.

It's not clear enough to positively identify, Chris, but with that banding on the abdomen and the wing venation, I'd say it's a hoverfly.

Chris

[Anthony Darby]

That size, it would have to be Tabanus sudeticus, one of the huge horse flies of upland Britain.

[ChrisB]

Having both your replies I thought I'd look on specialist web sites and found one that was dedicated to hover flies.  The web site owner, Chris Webster sends me this reply:
Hi Christine

   This does look very like a Hoverfly, but in fact it's a Horsefly.
At over an inch long it's the biggest species, Tabanus sudeticus, and certainly
they can be found in the Lake District.
   A recent book calls it the Dark Giant Horsefly, but till I saw that I
hadn't known it had an English name, just the Latin one.
   I think your photo is of a male, with the eyes touching each other, and
they are quite harmless, as only the females bite.

Best wishes..


Chris W.

So you were quite right Anthony!

[fredg]

Here's a short video I took of a Large Red Slug ( Arion ater though some may say Arion rufus) I found in one of my mixing buckets under a greenhouse bench. Unusual I thought in itself as I've never seen this species in the garden before.
I'd like to point out that these videos are all Maggi's fault but I was delighted with the footage I took.
Yes it's a slug but for years I've been trying to get a decent shot of the tiny parasitic white mites that run very rapidly over the slugs skin. Finally here they are, just keep an eye on the slugs rear end. Once you see one you'll spot the rest

[Maggi Young]

A slug in HD - yuck!   Fred- I deny everything! Starting with the assertion that it's not my slug! 

[fredg]

But did you see the mites?

[Maggi Young]

But did you see the mites?

I had my eyes closed........
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-
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but yes, I saw the mites - only  slightly less revolting than the slug

[Tim Ingram]

Just to raise the tone a little after the Horse Fly and Slug (amazing how Latin binomials give such things a respectability) here's something I can't quite identify in Elizabeth Cairn's garden in Kent! The plants are rather wonderful too, and I will feature them in my next Kent Diary on the AGS site, along with Roger Platts' garden which we visited a few days ago.

[fredg]

Is it woodcock?

[johnralphcarpenter]

Or is it plastic?

[Steve Garvie]

Plaster of Parus! 

[fermi de Sousa]

Oh Spare us! 
(Sparras)
cheers
fermi