Blog Archives: WildWivenhoe

The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: a last blast of summer

Beth Chatto Gardens, Britain's Wildlife, WildEssex, WildWivenhoe

My final Wandering Naturalist events of the summer were bizarrely on one of the warmer days of the summer, despite the equinox fast approaching; around 45 visitors over the two walks went away (hopefully) satisfied!

Not only warm, but as busy as I have seen it all year both for people and for butterflies. The latter were mostly Large and Small Whites, with a very few Speckled Woods, Red Admirals and Commas.

The butterflies mostly favoured Verbena bonariensis, which also fed many a bumblebee…

Migrant Hawkers and Common Darters provided flashes of dragonfly colour, with Willow Emerald damselflies more unobtrusive but still stunning in the right light.

A pollen and nectar powerhouse for the past six weeks, Bistorta amplexicaulis in all its varieties was still going strong, albeit slightly past its best but still drawing in social wasps, Honeybees and a host of other insects such as Dock Bugs.

But as summer blooms fade, so the stars of autumn assert themselves, especially Hylotelephium iceplants and Symphyotrichum Michaelmas-daisies, both genera with unfamiliar names (Sedum and Aster, respectively, until recent genetic analysis) and both hugely attractive to flies and bees.

And of course there were still plenty of other nectar and pollen sources, despite the unpredictable weather of summer …

… including just a few bits of flowering Ivy. This is the last great floral bonanza of the British landscape, and plays a similarly key role in gardens, even given the availability of other nectar and pollen resources. Here it is attracting Graphomya maculata, a rather sparsely distributed  relative of the House Fly in north Essex.

Several of the beds were swarming with Turnip Sawflies, actually a type of wasp, more numerous than I have ever seen before…

… and a final selection of flies completes the insect story.

Two however deserve special mention because of their scarcity: Ptychoptera contaminata is a wetland crane-fly which on the maps on the Essex Field Club website has only a dozen or so localities in the northern half of the county, and the snipe-fly Chrysopilus laetus has only one dot in the whole of Essex (and I know there have been more records than that, as I found it in Hockley Woods near Southend a couple of years ago, a spot that hasn’t found its way onto the map).

It’s autumn. Robins singing wistfully, Buzzards mewling overhead, greenscapes being transformed slowly, or indeed rather quickly in the case of Amelanchier, always the harbinger of autumnal russets.

And yes, it is time too for fruits and seeds. Most berries were still ripening, fruiting grasses were taking centre-stage, and ivory-white nutlets of Purple Gromwell added a touch of the exotic to birdfood-fest to come.

If anyone wants to join me on a nature walk around the gardens, I hope that Meet the Wandering Naturalist will be returning next summer.I do have a couple of walks this autumn, but they are special events for Friends of the Garden. If that might tempt to join, you can find full details here! Membership & Vouchers – Beth Chatto’s Plants & Gardens

Blogs of the previous Meet the Wandering Naturalist events this summer can be found here:

April: The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: among the April showers… | Chris Gibson Wildlife

May: The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: the height of Spring | Chris Gibson Wildlife

June: The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: is summer finally here? | Chris Gibson Wildlife

July:  The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: focus shifts to the ponds | Chris Gibson Wildlife

August: The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: Summer peaks, Autumn approaches… | Chris Gibson Wildlife

The Wild Side of Essex: late summer by the Colne Estuary

Britain's Wildlife, WildEssex, WildWivenhoe

As the full group assembled at Wivenhoe Station, things started too look up. The last vestiges of overnight cloud and rain were clearing away eastwards, although the wind was pretty rough, as indeed it remained all day. As the sun evaporated the moisture, humidity increased, and it turned into a very pleasant, hot day indeed.

Our varied day began well with a couple of ‘hot off the presses’ sightings. In the station community garden, Firebugs were eating the Hollyhock seeds. Until about five years ago only fleetingly resident in the UK, despite their abundance on the continent, they colonized the Harwich area (presumably via the port), and since then have consolidated and spread. They reached (or at least were found in) Wivenhoe only a week ago.

Then in the railway underpass, we found European Cave Spiders. So far as is known, this is the only site in north Essex for the species, and it has been known here for only about three months.

Our morning walk took in all three sections of the Colne Local Nature Reserve. Apart from wandering bands of Blue, Great and Coal Tits, an occasional Great Spotted Woodpecker ‘chicking’ and a young Sparrowhawk mewling, the strong wind kept things rather quiet.

But in more sheltered rides and clearings, Speckled Woods were taking advantage of the sun and Ivy, the plant that prepares our wildlife for winter as pretty much the last nectar and pollen source of the year, was just bursting out.

Leaf miners are always there to find, whatever the weather, and we looked at both Holm Oak (a moth) and Holly (a fly)…

… while galls provided hours of fun, searching the leaves for spangles, smooth spangles, silk buttons and cherries, with knoppers on the acorns.

Out into Lower Lodge, the meadows looking a bit forlorn after the past six weeks of near-total drought and searing temeperatures, the main pollen and nectar sources were Wild Carrot and Common Ragwort along with the last few Field Scabious, although the wind largely kept the insects down …

… except in the scrub-sheltered areas where there was plenty of dragonfly activity, with Common Darters flycatching, Migrant and Southern Hawkers hawking and a female Southern Migrant Hawker (another relatively new arrival in these parts some three years ago) perching.

The third section of the Local Nature Reserve was Ferry Marsh, skirted by the elevated pathway on the seawall. But again, little in the way of bird activity given the wind which rather than creating a gentle psithurism  was more like the roar of the wild as it swept through the stands of Common Reed.

But turning seaward, there were birds: Black-headed Gulls, a few Redshanks and Black-tailed Godwits and single Cormorant and Curlew on the half-exposed mudbanks.

Then it was along the Wivenhoe waterfront, with a sheltered and shady spot for lunch, and chance to see the two botanical specialities of the block-paving, Jersey Cudweed along West Quay and Four-leaved Allseed around the Shipyard.

Our afternoon walk was much more exposed, heading downstream into the open estuary; the full afternoon sun and a reducing wind made for a rather hot time. There were very few waterbirds to be seen, due to a combination of the time of year, a very high spring tide and some noisy aerial activity from the Clacton Airshow. And especially the sometimes illegal and always antisocial presence of the ‘Romford Navy’ playing on their jet-skis…

But when it was quiet it was truly sublime, the gently lapping wavelets and squawking gulls complementing the silence perfectly. Time to take enjoy the saltmarsh in flower, with both Sea Aster and Golden Samphire looking especially good.

The seawall itself had fruiting Strawberry Clover and more ragwort, but this time mostly the lemon-yellow, greyish narrow-leaved grazing marsh specialist Hoary Ragwort.

And lingering in the welcome shade of  Grange Wood, there was plenty of time to examine the Small-leaved Elms, both living suckers and dead trees. King Alfred’s Cakes on the latter were rather unexpected as this fungus normally grows on Ash, while Silver Birches had the much more expected Birch Brackets.

All that was left was to wander back through Wivenhoe, some buzzing Ivy bushes and splendid pargeting on the Garrison House rounding off a full, fun and diverse day.

The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: Summer peaks, Autumn approaches…

Beth Chatto Gardens, Britain's Wildlife, WildEssex, WildWivenhoe

My two August Wandering Naturalist events around the Beth Chatto Gardens were at the start and in the middle of the month, and on both we we were blessed with hot, sunny and still weather. In total around 30 customers took the opportunity to be shown the wildlife with which we share the garden.

Of course in practice ‘the wildlife’ means the insects – while birds are always there, apart from Moorhen chicks, those in the garden tend to hide away when the gardens are open. But Chiffchaffs, Goldcrests and Robins were singing, with Swallows migrating overhead, and the local Buzzards mewling around.

The two week period covered by this blog saw the summer peak and start to fade: aside from a 12mm downpour the night before the second set of walks there was no rain, and both day and night temperatures were very high. By mid-August, the garden and its wildlife were flagging – Verbena, Buddleja, Origanum and Eryngium were over in a flash…

… while the daisy family was starting to assert its autumnal supremacy, along with the absolute stars of the show, the various Bistorta amplexicaulis forms which were simply humming with Honeybees, social wasps and patrolling Hornets ….

… and Hylotelephium ice-plants just starting to make their presence felt.

Whilst it was possible to record up to ten species of butterfly a day, none were in large numbers, as has been typical of so many places this year.

And indeed very much the same could be said for all bees, hoverflies and other pollinators: more than anywhere else locally, but fewer than there should be.

Plenty of activity round the Water Garden though, with half a dozen species of dragonfly (including Ruddy Darter) and four damselflies, most numerously the relatively newly arrived Willow Emerald, the one that is likely to persist deep into autumn.

All around the garden, away from the flowers, there were insects basking or, when it was too hot, sheltering:

 

 

And a final selection of goodies included White Crab-spider, Bee-wolf and Hornet Hoverfly.

Even the busiest areas added interest to our walks, with the bee hotel by the tea room a focus for activity, and in the nursery one group was lucky enough to be shown a large Elephant Hawk-moth caterpillar, probably heading to pupation after munching its fill of evening-primroses!

If anyone wants to join me on a nature walk around the gardens, I will be doing just that (weather permitting!) for a final time this summer on September 20th. Once you have paid to come in, the walk is free! Walks commence at 11AM and 12 noon each day, meeting at the Visitor Information Centre. For garden entrance tickets and more information, visit our website Beth Chatto’s Plants and Gardens, and do come expecting to want to buy some of the wildlife-attracting plants I will show you, as well as delicious tea and cakes!

Blogs of the previous Meet the Wandering Naturalist event this summer can be found here:

April: The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: among the April showers… | Chris Gibson Wildlife

May: The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: the height of Spring | Chris Gibson Wildlife

June: The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: is summer finally here? | Chris Gibson Wildlife

July:  The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: focus shifts to the ponds | Chris Gibson Wildlife

Cockaynes Reserve in high summer

Britain's Wildlife, Cockaynes Reserve, WildEssex, WildWivenhoe

At the height of the recent heatwave, an early morning around Cockaynes was very much in order. But even before 7AM it was above 20°C, and the water buffalos were already mudbathing in the shade!

This uncertain summer has turned from soggy to hard-baked almost overnight, and the vegetation is starting to look very droughted, with flowers generally at a premium..

The iconic Heather strip, a symbol of the reserve in the sense that it was the discovery of a relict sprig that helped to persuade the gravel company to adopt a wildlife-focused approach to restoration after gravel extraction, is purpling up irrespective of the weather…

… while Trailing St. John’s-wort and Common Centaury added their splashes of colour to the bleached turf.

Insects and other invertebrates were scarce, by now a familiar situation this summer, but probably more to do with the fact they were already resting in the shade than anything else:

Two were of particular note. First a Buff-tip moth caterpillar: common enough, but just look at that camouflage, pretending to be a fruiting Silver Birch catkin. And second, a picture-winged fly, a Homoneura species, probably the commonest H. notata, although internal examination is probably needed to confirm. But even this commonest species has been recorded in north Essex only once previously, from a site to the west of Colchester.

Out in the open, the only real plants attracting pollinators were Ragwort (Common and Hoary), and Common Fleabane. These were drawing some insects in, especially flies and a few bumblebees.

 

But down in Villa Wood, alongside the Sixpenny Brook, the air was more buzzy, shade from the Alders keeping temperatures down.

Best plant in the valley was Wild Angelica, its domed umbels at times alive with hoverflies, wasps and Yellow-and-Black Longhorn Beetles, and being patrolled by Hornets.

But as always, where there are few insects to actually see, there are often insects to record on the basis of not seeing the animal itself. The open sand had nest holes of digger-wasps; a leaf had a mobile ball of fluff skittering across its surface, the camouflaged larva of a lacewing, clothed in the remains of its aphid victims; and a swelling in a willow stem proved to be the gall of a gall-midge Rabdophaga salicis. seemingly uncommon in England and in fact the Essex Field Club map showing just one previous county record, in the deep south. Indeed, its national distribution as a whole is very sparsely scattered,  away from western Scotland. Always something to find!

Wanderings in Wivenhoe’s Lower Lodge

Britain's Wildlife, Bug & Botany Walks, WildEssex, WildWivenhoe

Midsummer in Wivenhoe and our attentions turn to Lower Lodge, part of the Colne Local Nature Reserve, a riverside area of grassland and scrub, the wilder bits of which are managed on a three-year mowing rotation by Colchester City Council. Rich in flowers, it is one of our areas of greatest insect diversity, so in the month from late June we made four visits there, a recce and with WildEssex and BNA groups.

Actually this year, at least at first, flowering (and hence insect abundance) was poor, a consequence of a cool spring and of the vigorous growth of tall grass, no doubt reflecting the unprecedentedly wet past six months.

But towards the end of July, flowers were coming through, and butterflies were coming out, albeit not (yet?) in the number of variety we have come to expect.

Meadow Browns as always were followed sequentially by Gatekeepers and then Ringlets, with a few Small Heaths around the mown paths …

… Large (mostly early in the period), Essex and Small Skippers (later on) …

… while summer-brood Commas and Green-veined Whites came out on cue.

As far as day-flying moths are concerned, the few Burnet Companions were not at all companionable, coming a couple of weeks before the first Six-spot Burnets: the latter emerged in force on our last visit on 21 July, when we also found a Silver Y at rest.

Despite the abundance of Ragwort, Cinnabar caterpillars were distinctly patchy, perhaps reflecting poor weather during the adults’ earlier flight period. And another ‘caterpillar’ was of a sawfly, many of which have distinctive larvae, but they are generally beyond our identification skills given the lack of readily available identification guides.

Lepidoptera and other insects are at their best in warm, sunny weather and when nectar- and pollen-rich flowers are open. Therein lies the value of this site, from the earlier-season Common Cat’s-ear and Red Clover, to Wild Carrot (with insect-mimic central flowers) giving way to Hogweed and its vast plates of insect food, available to all, and then Common Knapweed and Field Scabious.

Other lovely flowers included Hedge Bedstraw, Smooth Tare and Grass Vetchling, although by the last walk the latter had retreated into anonymity as its flowers had finished.

And also of course the grasses, here Cock’s-foot  and False Oat-grass in full hayfever-inducing glory!

As for other invertebrates, a few to be mentioned by name are Hogweed Bonking-beetles (out in force and living up to their name), Thick-thighed Beetle and Black-and-Yellow Longhorn …

… ‘Common’ Earwig, one of those memories of childhood that few of us see nowadays …

… a nymph Tortoise Bug, not a common species in the county and according to the Essex Field Club map almost unknown east of Colchester, while very similar comments apply to the beautiful planthopper Allygus mixtus, although we have seen that previously around Wivenhoe, in the Old Cemetery.

And then just a selection of others, just photos, no words, although all have been identified and a full list will be given to the site managers.

 

It was also good to see plenty of oak galls – marbles, artichokes, ram’s-horns, cherries and knoppers – with only the spangles seemingly at a low ebb, being small and few and far-between.

And finally, always good to see, dispersing Toadlets, presumably having taken advantage of the spring-line pools created by this year’s weather. We may have complained but every version of our crazy weather benefits something!

The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: focus shifts to the ponds

Beth Chatto Gardens, Britain's Wildlife, WildEssex, WildWivenhoe

It was a lovely hot and sunny day for my July Wandering Naturalist event around the Beth Chatto Gardens. Perhaps to be expected, the sudden intense heat meant that although there were lots of visitors, they were mostly interested in sitting in the shade looking at the garden, rather than being shown insects and other wildlife. And who can blame them?!

Nevertheless, enough people were happy to be dragged around by me to make it worthwhile. In common with the whole of this summer so far, there were fewer insects than expected for the season; notably the two Buddleia, davidii and crispa, next to Beth’s house were pretty much devoid of butterflies and bees, in complete contrast to the equivalent time last year.

But true to form, I saw more insects around the garden than I have anywhere else in north Essex over the past month, testament to the pulling power of a well-planted, large ecological garden.

There were the first tentative signs that at long last insect populations are starting to take off. Ten butterfly species. Including freshly emerged, second brood Painted Lady, Brimstone, Comma and Holly Blue, plus Large Skipper and Speckled Wood is something of a return to form in species richness, if not abundance.

Sea-hollies Eryngium in all their wonderful variety are without exception great plants for pollinators such as bees, hoverflies and beetles. Now starting to attract as the flowers open, these are destined to be a major part of the garden menu for the next month, alongside the larger daisies which too are just starting to reveal their wares…

But it was the dragonflies that were the stars of the show this week. Still plenty of damselflies, including Blue-tailed and Common Blue…

… several Brown Hawkers were sweeping over the ponds on tawny-suffused wings…

.. and the Common Darters that have been around for three weeks or so were supplemented, and outnumbered, by a wave of Ruddy Darters, fresh out and flycatching furiously.

  

To walk around the ponds, watching the activity, the Flowering-rush and Pickerelweed in full bloom, was simply sublime.

Elsewhere in the garden, other insects included Common Scorpionfly, Harlequin Ladybird and several hawking Hornets. But surprisingly, given their abundance nearby over the previous two days, there were no flying ants,  although the Swallows twittering overhead suggested they may have been up there. Buzzards were also noisy overhead, as a Chiffchaff continued in song, a couple of Song Thrushes fed safely away from the slug-killing fields of modern agriculture, and I watched a Grey Heron fishing (successfully) in the Reservoir.

The full riches of summer may yet be to come. And there are certainly a richness of flowers to cater for their needs if they do. My next walk might hopefully see them providing for more insects.

If anyone wants to join me on a nature walk around the gardens, I will be doing just that (weather permitting!) on August 2, August 16 and September 20. Once you have paid to come in, the walk is free! Walks commence at 11AM and 12 noon each day, meeting at the Visitor Information Centre. For garden entrance tickets and more information, visit our website Beth Chatto’s Plants and Gardens, and do come expecting to want to buy some of the wildlife-attracting plants I will show you, as well as delicious tea and cakes!

Blogs of the previous Meet the Wandering Naturalist event this summer can be found here:

April: The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: among the April showers… | Chris Gibson Wildlife

May: The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: the height of Spring | Chris Gibson Wildlife

June: The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: is summer finally here? | Chris Gibson Wildlife

Marvellous moths morning at Beth Chatto Gardens – late July

Beth Chatto Gardens, Britain's Wildlife, WildEssex, WildWivenhoe

Our first moth event of the year a month ago was an eye-opener in this summer of few insects – a surprisingly large haul of moths caught (and released). For our second course yesterday, our hopes were even higher, being deeper into the mothy time of year, following several very hot days and the night itself forecast to be one of the warmest of the year, with increasing cloud cover, and temperatures not expected to fall below 20°C: pretty much perfect conditions.

And so it proved, a bumper haul of 60 macromoth species (plus another 10 or so micros), totalling perhaps 400 individual moths. Our small group of customers, and the handful of interested passers-by as we released the catch were treated to a wide variety of the night life of the garden.

For smaller hands at least the big game proves the most interesting, and today’s stars included three types of Hawk-moth (Poplar and Small Elephant, together with an old and faded Elephant, conceivably one of the fresh emergees we caught last month), a couple of furry Oak Eggars and the large, emerald Large Emerald.

Moving down a little in size, but keeping the intense colours going, there were lots of Rosy Footmen, a few Canary-shouldered Thorns and a single Green Silver-lines.

Black Arches are always a delight, all charcoal scrawls and remarkable antennae, the latter feature also shared by the Vapourer Moth:

Three species of Prominent graced the trap and the willing hands and clothes of the onlookers: Iron, Pebble and Swallow Prominents.

The list goes on, and even the brown and less showy species have plenty to say about the value of camouflage: Blood-vein, Latticed Heath, Scalloped Oak, Oak Hook-tip, Poplar Grey and Nut-tree Tussock.

While most of our captures were of widespread and common species, there were some less frequent ones. The Festoon is no doubt living in the ancient oaks that run alongside the trap site, but it is both nationally scarce and included in the Essex county Red Data List.

A final selection of macromoths includes three of my favourites. Buff Arches might sound plain but in reality it is like no other, almost shell-like in texture; and then you have those moths that are nothing more than animated birch twig (Buff Tip) and bird poo (Chinese Character)!

And that is just the macromoths: there was a variety of micros, although as so often, insufficient time to look at them closely – here are Elder Pearl and Eudemis profundana.

And moths are not the only things that come to moth traps. Our haul included the small Birch Shield-bug (not a common species in this part of Essex and I think the first record for the garden) and the attractive green planthopper Iassus lanio.

Another attraction for our customers on these events is that they get access before anyone else is there. First thing, the gardens are truly sublime: the only sounds are birdsong and the rustle of a dragonfly’s wings, the only feeling pure joy…

And our potter around gave us chance to look at insects going about their daily business. Common Darter dragonflies and Willow Emerald damselflies were among the pondside foliage, early butterflies included Gatekeeper, and this lovely hoverfly Chrysotoxum festivum showed itself to advantage before it had warmed up enough for its daily rounds of the flower beds.

If you are interested in such events, please keep an eye on the Beth Chatto website for similar events next spring and summer. These are run by and in support of the Beth Chatto Education Trust, established by Beth to carry forward her passion for plants and the ecological approach to all.

The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: is summer finally here?

Beth Chatto Gardens, Britain's Wildlife, WildEssex, WildWivenhoe

In response to the question posed in the title, the answer is ‘it blooming well should be!’ as my latest Wandering Naturalist walks in the gardens were on the summer solstice. And what a day to be there! Azure skies, almost windless, hot sunshine almost for the first time this year. The fourteen visitors who joined me were treated to a lush garden, reflecting the spring rains, but sadly few high summer insects: the lack of warm sun thus far has delayed the emergence of many. Hopefully another few days of this will sweep away fears of a Silent Summer.

Butterflies were notable by their near absence, though that is not atypical of the ‘June Gap’: just five species with no more than ten individual of all species put together. Holly Blues amounted to four of those. Day-flying moths were similarly sparse, with just one Gold-barred Longhorn and a couple of Mint Moths. And remarkably just a single dragonfly (a newly-emerged Common Darter), while shield bugs and their relatives were represented only by two Hairy Shield-bugs and a few Dock Bugs, mostly doing what comes naturally!

Honeybee and bumblebee numbers were moderately high, especially visiting Cistus, Knautia/Scabiosa and Veronicastrum, together with Opium Poppies which this year are providing such a spectacle in the Reservoir Garden:

Especially by the ponds, but spreading round the whole garden, damselflies were everywhere: four species, mainly Azure (with my first Common Blue of the summer), plus Large Red and Blue-tailed, including several examples of the very attractive rufescens form.

Although there has not yet been the summer influx of hoverflies from the Continent, numbers are growing, both of the Drone-flies, Batman Hoverflies and others we have been seeing all spring …

… plus a few others  including Chrysotoxum festivum, Xanthogramma pedissequum and Anasimyia contracta, the latter a fly of water margins and very scarce in north Essex.

Another remarkable hoverfly was the Narcissus Bulb-fly Merodon equestris, one that occurs in several colour forms, each of which are mimics of different bumblebee species.

Other flies included a mating pair of Gargoyle Flies, at least that’s what we call them, we think for very good reason!

A final selection of today’s insects includes Thick-thighed Beetle, a click-beetle with a couple of passenger mites, the hairy beetle Lagria hirta, and a few tiny nymphal Speckled Bush-crickets.

There are no doubt lots more to come, and the good news for them is that that there are absolutely masses of nectar and pollen resources awaiting their emergence or arrival.

Having given the gloom and doom messages, I should point out that compared with everywhere else in north Essex I have ventured recently, Beth Chatto Gardens are clearly richer in insect life, a bioabundance driven by the provision of nectar and pollen sources from all round the world and not compromised by the application of pesticides and herbicides.

By way of showing all visitors our ‘live and let live’ organic credentials, there were caterpillars munching unmolested. Our mulliens are covered in holes made by Mullein Moth caterpillars and irises sculpted by Iris Sawfly larvae, while the Martagon Lilies that have had their leaves stripped by Lily Beetles are still flowering happily.

Star turn though among the insects for both walks was a bronzed green, metallic Rose Chafer that remained munching the Corky-fruited Water-dropwort flowers all day. The Colchester area is one of the heartlands nationally for this magnificent beast, and we are so lucky to share our garden with it.

One final highlight was the living roof on the bike-shed, designed and installed by our friend John Little. Never has it looked better, and the solitary bees are making full use of the nesting holes created for them as part of the structure.

If anyone wants to join me on a nature walk around the gardens, I will be doing just that (weather permitting!) on July 19, August 2, August 16 and September 20. Once you have paid to come in, the walk is free! Walks commence at 11AM and 12 noon each day, meeting at the Visitor Information Centre. For garden entrance tickets and more information, visit our website Beth Chatto’s Plants and Gardens, and do come expecting to want to buy some of the wildlife-attracting plants I will show you, as well as delicious tea and cakes!

Blogs of the previous Meet the Wandering Naturalist event this summer can be found here:

April: The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: among the April showers… | Chris Gibson Wildlife

May: The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: the height of Spring | Chris Gibson Wildlife

Marvellous moths morning at Beth Chatto Gardens – late June

Beth Chatto Gardens, Britain's Wildlife, WildEssex, WildWivenhoe

Our hopes for the moth event at the solstice were not high given the general dearth of insects hitherto this spring. However the first garden moth event of the year was blessed with perfect weather conditions, a hot but cloudy and humid night with little wind, preceded by a very hot and sunny day or two. The garden really lived up to what I always say about it: as rich in insect species as any nature reserve hereabouts.

52 species of macromoths and more than a dozen micros (just the ones we had time to identify) amounted to very respectable 200 or so individual moths to entertain and educate our select group of customers. Any night when you catch four types of hawk moth, everyone’s favourites because of their size and/or colour and as they are generally very docile, very amenable to handling, has got to be a good night. Especially when these include two of the larger Hawk-moths (Poplar and Pine) and the two most beautiful (Elephant and Small Elephant).

At least 20 Buff-tips, living ‘broken birch twigs’ was an impressive total, indicating a recent coordinated emergence, a good idea if you want to find a mate:

Large yellowish species included  Swallow-tailed Moth and Ghost Moth…

… while a little smaller but in the same suite of colours were Buff Ermine, Barred Yellow, Common Footman and Barred Straw (with its characteristic bottom-up posture).

Such fascinating moths, with often entrancing names: how about Nut-tree Tussock and Pebble Hook-tip, both exceptionally well camouflaged against bark and similar backgrounds.

Equally well camouflaged but only against leafy backgrounds were the beautiful Green Silver-lines and Blotched Emerald, three of the latter for me the moths of the morning.

Others camouflage themselves by looking like inedible objects (see Buff-tip above) – one of the more frequent forms is to resemble bird-poo, as here with Garden Carpet and Lime-speck Pug.

And to round of a motley selection, a few grey and brown species, here Pale Oak Beauty, Grey Pug and Riband Wave. A full list of those moth species we recorded is appended here bc moths june 24. And before anyone queries whether ‘moth trapping’ is compatible with our desire to be the home of ecological and sustainable gardening, please rest assured all moths were released unharmed at the end of the two hour morning session, away from the attentions of predators such as Blackbirds.

Another attraction for our customers on these events is that they get access before anyone else is there. First thing, the gardens are truly sublime: the only sound is birdsong and the only feeling pure joy.

And it gives us chance to try and find ‘free-range’ moths and other insects. We found the caterpillars of Iris Sawflies munching the irises and proving to all other visitors we don’t poison the planet in our mission to create a beautiful garden.

Always something to see! Blue-tailed and Azure Damselflies were everywhere, scabious heads had Hairy Shield-bugs, and best of all (a rival to the biggest and brightest of the moths) a solitary bronze-highlighted, metallic green Rose Chafer, a real speciality of the Colchester area, munching contentedly on an umbellifer.

All too soon the event was over, but the clouds were gathering, reasserting the typical weather pattern of this summer!

If anyone would like to join us on the next one of these moth mornings on July 20th, 0900-1100am, please book through this link Marvellous Moths! – Beth Chatto’s Plants & Gardens. We can never promise moths, and all are weather-dependent but whatever we will find something to start your weekend in style!

 

The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: May goes out with a splash…

Beth Chatto Gardens, Britain's Wildlife, WildEssex, WildWivenhoe

Spring half-term in the Beth Chatto Gardens, and time for kids’ activities. A day of bug walks was planned, but the weather thought otherwise – persistent drizzle, sometimes heavy and a cool , blustery north wind lending a very unseasonable feel to the day.

So, no kids (indeed, few visitors of any age)…

Lots of dripping  flowers, growing with a lushness fuelled by the damp preceding months…

Foliage bejewelled with mercurial magic…

A few (some very soggy) insects, the bumblebees especially on Salvia, Veronicastrum and Knautia …

… while the Mullein Moth larvae keep munching on, safe in our hands from the bane of pesticide sprays!

And one happy intern on their final day at the garden who had a personalised tour, the gloom lifted by a singing Goldcrest competing for earspace with several Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps, foraging Robins and Song Thrushes, and a low, flyover Red Kite.

But best of all, a call from one of the gardeners to say that one of their rescued Elephant Hawk-moths had emerged! Let’s take this as a portent for a June filled with colour and life,. And some summery weather please…

Cockaynes Reserve in early summer

Britain's Wildlife, WildEssex, WildWivenhoe

Such has been the unpredictability of weather this spring that our walks around Cockaynes have been few and far between. But earlier this week a couple of hours one morning gave me chance for a catch up as to what is happening. And chance also to try out the photo capability of my new phone: about a third of the photos are with that rather than my camera.

Now is the time for flowering shrubs. Gorse is largely over but Broom has taken its place, while Dog Rose is now at its very best. Bramble (in its multiplicity of forms), Honeysuckle  and Elder are coming on well, and destined to be major pollen and nectar sources in June.

Of the lower, showy plants, there were two related semiparasites that take water from the roots of plants around them, Common Cow-wheat and Yellow Rattle…

… with Scarlet Pimpernel, Oxeye Daisy and Knotted Clover also looking good.

But in close up, ever the most undemonstrative of flowers can reveal an inner beauty: here, Ribwort Plantain and Sheep’s Sorrel.

Plenty of insects too even though it wasn’t sunny, from damselflies to awkwardly mating soldier-beetles!

Day-flying moths included Brown Silver-lines and some delightful displaying swarms of Gold-barred Longhorns.

One of the delights of the insect world, indeed all of nature, is that it is always changing, and several of the things I saw fitted that category. Cream-streaked Ladybird colonized this country in the mid-20th century, while Tree Bumblebee and Gypsy Moth followed towards the end of the century…

… while Alder Leaf-beetles have arrived in this country, after several decades of extinction, only in the past 20 years. They were first spotted in Essex here at Cockaynes a couple of years ago, and now seem well-established. Many a leaf has either the holes chomped by the larvae, or a shiny black adult sitting on it – or both. And also on Alder leaves the reddening pimple-galls cause by the microscopic mite Eriophyes laevis are now at their most prominent.

A final word to the true bugs. Forest bugs are growing fast, and several large nymphs were on display …

… while a female Parent Bug guarding her eggs showed why the species is so named, one of the few examples of maternal care in the insect world.

As to the performance of the phone camera, I suspect it will never completely replace my trusty Canon, but in the right circumstances on the right subjects it could prove useful. I just have to get out more and really put it through its paces …!

 

The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: the height of Spring

Beth Chatto Gardens, Britain's Wildlife, WildEssex, WildWivenhoe

It is the start of that precious time of year when the natural delights come so thick and fast that there is barely time to catch up, so this blog of my latest Meet the Wandering Naturalist event is necessarily short, mostly photos and few words. It was a lovely sunny day and the two walks attracted an amazing 35 interested visitors, who I hope all went away with the sight and sound of our garden wildlife etched on their brains and buzzing in their ears.

There are always superstar plats, and this time for bumblebees and Honeybees it was the Cistus and Allium species that were playing that role…

… whereas for hoverflies, beetles and pretty much everything else it was the various umbellifers and the Euphorbias, especially in the Reservoir Garden.

There were damselflies everywhere, especially but certainly not exclusively, round the ponds.

But really there was wildlife in every corner of the garden, from the Buzzards overhead to the singing Goldcrests, Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs, and everywhere invertebrate life…

There were butterflies and moths, including for one of the groups Green Hairstreaks on the Thyme and several Silver Y moths, the latter newly arrived immigrants …

… spiders, including a lurid Stretch Spider and a feisty crab spider Xysticus lanio …

… Common Scorpion-flies

… a myriad of true flies ….

… beetles, including several types of soldier-beetle and a Red-headed Cardinal-beetle…

… and an array of true bugs, with Dock Bugs and Hairy Shield-bugs everywhere ….

… plus the best insect of the day, a single Bronze Shield-bug, a rather scarce bug in Essex and the first time it has been found here. Always surprises to be found!

If anyone wants to join me on a nature walk around the gardens, I will be doing just that (weather permitting!) on June 21, July 19, August 2, August 16 and September 20. Once you have paid to come in, the walk is free! Walks commence at 11AM and 12 noon each day, meeting at the Visitor Information Centre.  For garden entrance tickets and more information, visit our website Beth Chatto’s Plants and Gardens, and do come expecting to want to buy some of the wildlife-attracting plants I will show you, as well as delicious tea and cakes!

Blogs of the previous Meet the Wandering Naturalist event this summer can be found here:

April: The Wild Side of Beth Chatto Gardens: among the April showers… | Chris Gibson Wildlife