Dagger fly

Empis livida

Right around this time of year, we start to notice dagger flies (aka dance flies) hanging around the composite flowerheads in the garden. The most regular of these is Empis livida, identified by its red-orange legs and the three dark stripes on its brown thorax (visible in the picture above). Females have clear wings (as below), while those of males are slightly cloudy. As you might guess from that wicked looking proboscis, this is a hunter-killer. It lurks around on flowers waiting to stab any unsuspecting insect that wanders by – though while it waits, it's more than happy to sip a bit of nectar from the flowers. They fly from April through July across much of England and Wales but are far less common in Scotland. Elsewhere, they're found throughout temperate and northern Europe, making them one of the most widespread flies in their genus. They've been shown to be quite effective pollinators, which isn't surprising, I suppose, considering their general hairiness (particularly on their legs) and their habit of hanging around on flowers. Their larvae are carnivorous, feeding on things they find in the damp soil and leaf litter where they grow to adulthood.

And tail of the dog

Crested Dog's-tail (Cynosurus cristatus)

Last week, I introduced you to Smaller Cat's-tail (Phleum bertolonii), one of the grasses currently flowering in our pocket meadow. Today, I'm featuring the canine equivalent (ha ha), the Crested Dog's-tail (Cynosurus cristatus). This lovely, short-lived perennial grows in rich lowland grasslands across much of the British Isles. We had only one small patch the first year we let our meadow grow, but it has since spread to several other corners of the grassy patch. It tolerates a variety of soil types, but doesn't like to be waterlogged, so our rather porous soil suits it just fine. Each plant forms a low, compact tuft of hairless, flat leaves which are narrow and somewhat stiff. The panicles (a fancy botanical word for a flower spike with branches) are flat on two sides with flowers radiating out in a flat plane in two directions. I'm not sure why somebody thought that looked like a dog's tail, but there you go! The plant is native to Europe and southwestern Asia, but has been widely introduced elsewhere in the world. In Europe, it is sometimes used as sheep fodder, while in North America, it is typically used for revegetation projects or as an ornamental. It serves as the host plant for the caterpillars of several species of butterfly in the browns and skippers families – reason enough to appreciate its presence in the garden.

Songster

Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos)

These days, we're being regularly serenaded by our local Song Thrushes (Turdus philomelos). They start about 4:00 in the morning (if not earlier) and are still singing at 9:30 in the evening. We don't mind much, because it's the sound of summer. The song reminds us a bit of that of North America's Northern Mockingbird; it's quite varied, with each phrase repeated multiple times before the bird switches to another phrase. (To hear the song, click on the link below; I recorded a male singing near the house last month.) The spotty-breasted thrushes often sit high atop a treetop or bush to belt out their song. This is one of the UK's more widespread resident species, found everywhere but the highest peaks in Scotland. That said, it's declining fairly precipitously in both rural and urban environments (a more than 50% drop), so we're happy to have an apparently healthy local population here.

Song Thrushes build mud-lined cup nests and lay 4-5 speckled blue eggs. We haven't found a nest yet, though we think one pair may be raising a brood in one of the laurel bushes at the bottom of the garden. In a good season, a pair may successfully raise as many as three broods! The birds are omnivores, with snails among their favourite meals; that definitely makes them popular with gardeners across the western Palearctic. The birds use stone "anvils" to break open snails' shells – and no, we haven't found an anvil yet, either. The Song Thrush is the smaller of the UK's two spotty-breasted thrushes; its dark spots are shaped like arrowheads rather than being round, like those of the Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus). It's smaller and browner than the Mistle Thrush too. Our birds here are resident, but those elsewhere in northern Europe are primarily migrants. We see an influx of them in the fall and winter, with some staying and others continuing on to Africa. Domestic cats continue to be a major problem for Song Thrushes. Sadly, we've lost at least one to neighbourhood pets prowling in our garden. But their biggest problem is loss of habitat, particularly in areas of intensive farming. They need hedgerows or woodland in which to breed (both ripped out by many farmers) and good supplies of snails and earthworms to eat (both suppressed by the heavy use of pesticides). We're hoping ours continue to find what they need here.

Megan Edwards Crewe · Song Thrush - Norfolk UK

Tapping nettles

Nettle-tap (Anthophila fabriciana)

We've been very light on moths so far this year; our cold, wet spring and (so far) cool summer hasn't been very conducive for moth-trapping, and we're seeing very few moths in the garden. But a foray last Saturday afternoon turned up this little visitor – a Nettle-tap (Anthophila fabriciana), which measures a mere 5-7mm (about 1/4-inch) long, with a 10-15mm (about 1/2-inch) wingspan. The two white marks along the edge of its forewing, and the sharp point in the white-edged band that crosses its wing help to identify it from other similar species in the same family. (It's related to the Apple Leaf Skeletoniser we recorded last year.) As its name suggests, its larvae feed on various nettles, including the Common Nettle (Urtica dioica) which is scattered in many weedy corners of our garden. We'll have to keep an eye out for their cocoons, which are conspicuous webs on the upper surface of the leaves, often with the leaf edges drawn together over them. Adults feed at many flowers, including the Ox-eye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare) that it's pictured on here. There are at least two broods a year, with adults flying from April through November. It's one of the most common and widespread "micro-moths", found throughout Britain. Elsewhere, it's found from Europe right across to China, including up in the Himalayas! Unlike most moths, it's active during the day, though it's reportedly also occasionally attracted to lights. We haven't previously recorded one here, so it's another new species for the property.

Bumblebee magnet

Giant Viper's-bugloss (Echium pininana)

Among the plants flowering in the garden at the moment are a trio of Giant Viper's-bugloss (Echium pininana). I say "at the moment", but in reality, they've all been blooming for well over a month now, slowly thrusting upwards as row upon row upon row of blossoms open. The tallest plant now stretches nearly 14 feet (more than 4 metres) skywards! The thousands of individual flowers attract hordes of bumblebees. Hoverflies find them equally irresistible. The plant is a biennial, sprouting up about 3 feet (a metre) in the first year with lots of hairy lance-shaped leaves, and developing its prodigious flower spike the second. It will die at the end of the summer, but hopefully by then it will have produced masses of seed which we can plant elsewhere in the garden, and share with other gardening friends. It's toxic to horses, so definitely one you don't want to plant near pastures. Apparently, it doesn't do human digestive tracts much good either, causing stomach upset if eaten. These drought-tolerant giants are native to the Canary Islands. They're not really hardy (it's recommended that they be protected from frost) so it's pretty amazing that all three survived our heavy snows and weeks of sub-freezing temperatures this past winter, considering we did nothing to help them along.

Surprise migrant

Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii)

A mid-afternoon walk around the property last Wednesday turned up an unexpected visitor – a Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii), which is a migrant to the UK. There have been a fair number reported in the county over the past few weeks, but ours is the first one in our corner of Norfolk. When I entered our record in the national database, it told me it was "outside the known range" of the species! That's a bit hyperbolic if we're honest, considering there are records in both directions from us along the coast. This is a young male, which hasn't completely coloured up yet; as a full adult, he'll be bright scarlet. But he's already showing his distinctive red wing veins and black-outlined red pterostigma (those bright patches of colour near the tips of his wings), and the blue lower half of his huge eye is distinctive. Normally, this species is found in southern Europe and northern Africa. In the UK, it most often shows up in southwestern England, but has been recorded as far north as Scotland. Though it breeds in Britain nearly annually, no permanent population has yet been established. It's a strong migrant, and has been found well out to sea. The Field Guide to the Dragonflies of Britain and Europe says that in invasion years, Red-veined Darters can be quite common in northern Europe, and that such invasion years are becoming more frequent. We certainly seem to be in the throes of one this year.

White clover

White Clover (Trifolium repens)

The paths through the garden are currently awash in White Clover (Trifolium repens) blooms. These probably rank among the best-known flowers in the Northern Hemisphere; even people who know little about wildlife are often familiar with them. Bumblebees absolutely love them, crawling from one flower to the next, working their way all around one head before moving on to the next. We can't bring ourselves to mow the paths while they're attracting so much "passing trade"! (See below.) In the UK, it is pretty much ubiquitous in grassland areas (including lawns), though it doesn't grow well in shade or among taller grasses. Because it's tolerant of trampling, heavy grazing, drought, and frequent mowing, it's often added to informal lawn mixes and pastures. Native throughout Europe and east to central Asia, this low-growing perennial has been introduced to North America, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, and is widely grown as a forage crop elsewhere. It is said to be the temperate zone's most imporant forage legume. Like most legumes, it contains nitrogen-fixing bacteria, which allow it to pull nitrogen from the atmosphere; when the plant dies, its stored nitrogen is released into the soil, thus helping to enrich it. Humans have used the plant as "emergency rations" for centuries. In India, it is used to treat intestinal worms. And, of course, carefully scanning the many sprawling patches stretched across the garden paths may yield a "lucky" four-leafed clover!

Flowers slowly go pinkish or creamy as they age.

Fake hornet

 Hornet Mimic Hoverfly (Volucella zonaria)

I finally connected with Britain's biggest hoverfly – the Hornet Mimic Hoverfly (Volucella zonaria) – on one of our flowering shrubs this week. Mike saw several in the garden last year, but I managed to miss every single one of them. It clocks in at a chunky 15.5 - 25 mm (up to an inch) long, which is pretty big for a hoverfly. It looks (and sounds) remarkably like the European Hornet, which helps it to avoid being eaten; most predators won't mess with prey that might sting. The hoverfly, however, has no sting. It spends its adulthood sipping nectar from a variety of flowers, while its larvae live inside wasp, hornet, and bumblebee nests, eating waste and debris. Hornet Mimic Hoverflies first arrived along the south coast of England in the late 1930s. By the 1940s, a population had become established, primarily around London. Since 1995, its range has expanded greatly as climate change warms the UK, and it is now regular across the southern and southeastern England, with scattered records as far north as Scotland. Adults fly from May until November (though primarily in July and August) so we have plenty of time to see others.

Tail of the cat

Smaller Cat's-tail (Phleum bertolonii)

Many of the grasses in our pocket meadow are currently flowering (to the dismay of those who suffer from hayfever, I'm sure) or getting ready to flower, including a little stand of Smaller Cat's-tail (Phleum bertolonii) along the edge of one of the paths. This perennial grass is typically found in more mature grasslands, such as old pastures, downs, and old meadows, though it can also be found along roadsides and in waste places. It occurs throughout much of the UK, though not in the far north and only patchily in Northern Ireland. Its tight cylindrical flower heads, which are seen from June through July, are distinctive. These resemble the flower heads of Timothy (Phleum pratense) but are smaller, maxing out at 6 cm (about 2-1/4 inches). Most of ours measure considerably less. The flower spikes rise from a tuft of pale grey-green leaves, which are hairless and flat. The larvae of several small species of moth, including the Red-brindled Dwarf (Elachista rufocinerea), which we haven't yet recorded in the garden, feed on its leaves. It's a bit more "well-behaved" than some of the bigger, more aggressive grass species with which it shares the meadow, so here's hoping it maintains – or maybe even expands – its toehold!

Thistle weevil

Thistle-head Weevil (Rhinocyllus conicus)

While poking around in the garden recently, I came across a speckled beetle I didn't recognise – actually two beetles, busily making little beetles. I took pictures from every possible angle and retired to our in-home library to try to figure out what they were. A bit of research showed them to be Thistle-head Weevils (Rhinocyllus conicus), a distinctive short "nosed" species that specialises on various species of thistle. Their overall colour is brownish-black, with a regular pattern of pale speckles across their elytra (the hard cases that cover their wings). As you can tell from the ant in the background, they're pretty small, measuring at most 7mm (about 1/4 of an inch). Native to southern and central Europe, northern Africa and western Asia, they've spread significantly northwards in recent decades, including into the UK. Initially found only in southern coastal areas, they've further expanded their range, and are now locally common throughout much of England and Wales. They were introduced into North America, in a misguided attempt to control introduced thistles; while they did indeed feed on those introductions, they also attacked native thistle species and have become a serious invasive pest. They feed on leaves, primarily those near the flower heads, chewing a series of round holes. After mating, the female lays up to 200 eggs onto the bracts of flower buds. These hatch about 10 days later, with the emerging larvae developing for some six weeks before pupating. After a further week, the new adults emerge; most of these will overwinter. Given the number of thistles we have in the garden, I expect we'll be seeing a fair few of these weevils in the coming years.