Back on the patch with some new surprises

I was back at Cranford Park on Friday. My last visit was only 12 days ago but the park has changed so much. Trees are now in full leaf and there are whole swathes of Red Campion and other flowers. It was a short visit so I only done a walk from the wood circle to the Secret Garden and on to the River Crane and back.

 

At the wood circle I found an 'ant farm', yes you read that right....an 'ant farm'. Aphids feed off a host plant like a nettle, and secrete a form of honeydew. Ants often 'farm' aphids and feed off the honeydew that the aphids release. In return the ants protect the aphids from predators such as ladybirds.....

 

 

I saw several butterflies today, mainly Speckled Wood and Holly Blue (as below), Orange Tips and Green-veined Whites but I also saw a lovely Red Admiral which is one I haven't yet photographed this year, and it will stay that way for now as the little beauty refused to settle for a photo..

Speckled Wood

 

Holly Blue - female

 

 

Insect season is definitely underway. There were lots of Green Flower Beetles in the buttercups and I'll get some photos of the males and females on my next visit, but the most prominent beetle sighting today was of the stunning Cardinal Beetle....I spotted 13 of theses harmless critters on my walk...

 

This is the Common Cardinal and later in the season I often see the Black-headed Cardinal too.

 

I popped into the Secret Garden to see if the Great Tits had fledged, and they have. They were using the nest box nearest to the wall 12 days ago, and the front nest box was empty. But today the front box was occupied by a new family of Blue Tits and the back box was empty. I managed to get two shots but from a distance as I didn't want to disturb the birds....

 

 

Also in the Secret Garden, nicely perched on a Greater Celandine flower, was this stunningly marked Speckled Bush Cricket....

 

 

and the pond was alive with several hoverflies, this one being a Helophilus species...

 

 

At the drained wildlife pond in front of the Information Centre, despite there being no water in there at the moment, there was plenty of critters in the vegetation.

 

A Fourteen-spot ladybird....

 

a pair of mating flies...

 

and the prehistoric looking Dock Bug....

 

I didn't see this caterpillar at first, I was looking at the little black blobs which I recognised as caterpillar poop (I kept caterpillars for a season three years ago so recognised the poop straight away) and then I spotted the fairly large (two inches long) caterpillar nearby....

 

 

Its the pupae of the Copper Underwing moth, although it could also be the pupae of the Svensson's Copper Underwing - apparently they can only be truly identified just before the caterpillar goes in to the last stage of pupation.

 

Whilst I was trying to get the best angle on photographing the caterpillar, a family of Long-tailed Tits arrived above me chattering away. It was a large flock of around 20 birds, most of them juveniles. One of the ridiculously cute youngsters sat on a twig just above me, waiting to be fed....

 

 

Along the River Crane there were the usual couple of Mallards and a Moorhen, but there was also this lone male Mandarin. This is only the third confirmed sighting of a Mandarin on the river. I had a brief glimpse of one last year and Sue saw a pair a few weeks ago. The male was on his own, which did make me wonder if the female has found somewhere to nest. They nest in hollows in trees, not on the ground. He wasn't bothered by me or the couple that also stopped to admire him, and I hope he sticks around as he's a stunning duck.....

 

 

Up by the iron bridge there were quite a few Large Red damselflies.....

and in the tree canopy above a pair had started mating. If I had hung around I would have probably seen them go down to the water and lay eggs...

 

Again, there were plenty of small fish in the clear water, not a great photo below but it's of a shoal of around 30 Sticklebacks, plus I spotted at least three Minnows too...

 

 

The vegetation along the river is also rich with insects and butterflies. I found several stages of ladybird larvae, including this one below though I've not been able to narrow it down to any definite species yet.....

 

 

Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, Song Thrushes and Whitethroats were all singing along the river, and I managed to track one Common Whitethroat out in the open singing it's little head off.....

 

I wasn't at the park for long, but there was plenty to observe.

 

Also seen but not photographed were three Great Spotted Woodpeckers, two Green Woodpeckers, Common Buzzard, male Kestrel, a distant Hobby, Pied Wagtail, several Linnets and a pair of Mistle Thrush.