Garden Mystery

Such is my distaste for day time telly that once I'd done my daily jobs I settled down into a chair in the garden with a view to watching the Magpies and anything else that came along. Before I sat down I'd noticed three little muddy patches resembling tiny volcanoes that had seemingly appeared overnight but couldn't work out what they were.

Last night's super rose moon.

Putting this little mystery to one side I settled in for the Magpie show with full surround sound. Both birds are still bringing in a succession of sticks though they appear to be getting thinner, I guess that the foundations have been laid and it's time for some finer structural work. It looks as if one of the pair is the main architect as the other passes the twigs for this bird to work into the nest. The pair bond seems to be very strong in Magpies and the pair often move off in unison. On one occasion they lifted off with a flurry of calling as they went to deal with an incursion by other Magpies, the battle with what looked like two other pairs was long and noisy but peace was eventually restored. Only one thing appears to annoy my pair more than other Magpies and that is Carrion Crows, the mere sight of one has them hopping to the top of their hawthorn with tails flicking to an accompaniment of loud chacks.

More Magpie Mugshots.

During a period of relative peace I cast my gaze back down to one of my mini volcanoes and happened to notice what appeared to be a little head peeking out. The head soon became a whole body as a gingery coloured bee emerged from its hole and flew off. I've seen Tawny Mining Bees before but never in my garden. Looks like I'll have something other than Magpies to draw me away from the dire TV!

Tawny Mining Bees.

My exercise walk took me over to the sewage works where I heard at least one Blackcap singing. I also managed to see all six species of butterflies on my 2020 year list with both Small White (1) and Orange-tip(2) joining the familiar four species of Brimstone (3), Comma (1), Small Tortoiseshell (2) and Peacock (5)

Small Tortoiseshell.