Bee-utiful Montpelier!

 There were lots of bees and hoverflies to enjoy this morning - it was a pollinator paradise! In Fairlawn Road I was delighted to spot my first Hairy-footed Flower Bee and Common Carder Bee of the year. Nearby at the top of St Andrews Road there were two mining bee - Gwynne's Mining Bee and Grey-patched Mining Bee. There were two different hoverflies - Syrphus and Eristalis pertinax. A Harlequin Ladybird was hiding under a leaf. It was good to see Herb Robert and Ivy-leaved Toadflax in flower.

Herb Robert

Hairy-footed Flower Bee

Grey-patched Mining Bee

Gwynne's Mining Bee

Common Carder Bee

Ivy-leaved Toadflax

At the station there was a singing Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff - these will have only just arrived from Africa. Also a singing Blackcap and a Long-tailed Tit.

Chiffchaff

A Tale of Two Speedwells!

My daily constitutional took me to the wide open spaces of St Andrews Park this morning. In the meadow area there were a couple of flowering Common Field Speedwell plants, their delicate blue flowers a pleasure to see. Nearby there was a very tiny fly probably belonging to the family Sphaeroceridae or the lesser dung flies, whose larvae feed on rotting vegetation. On another leaf was a very small snail which might just be a very young Garden Snail so nothing particularly exciting. A queen Red-tailed Bumblebee zoomed past but was too quick for my camera. She was my first of the year.

Common Field Speedwell

Sphaeroceridae

Possible Garden Snail baby

Back in Montpelier, where the railway footbridge meets Hurlingham Road, another Speedwell was in flower. This was Ivy-leaved Speedwell with flowers much smaller and paler than the Common Field Speedwell I saw earlier.

Ivy-leaved Speedwell

The walls around Montpelier are now festooned with Ivy-leaved Toadflax, now very common but originally imported from Italy.

Ivy-leaved Toadflax

Winter bloomers!

At Bath Buildings there were a couple of plants still in flower, Herb Robert and Ivy-leaved Toadflax. There was quite a bit of Rusty-backed Fern on the wall too - we seem to have lots of this attractive fern in Monty. 

Herb Robert

Ivy-leaved Toadflax

Rusty-backed Fern

 

A Grey Squirrel was commandeering my neighbour's feeders this morning.

Monty Mistle Thrush!

I had about 20 minutes before my train was due this morning so I dashed up to Fairlawn Road to see if I could hear any Chiffchaffs (a favourite spot for them in the spring) but I was unlucky. However, I heard a distant Mistle Thrush singing and I tracked it down to a tree in Old Ashley Hill. Soon after it flew off towards Narroways. I rarely see Mistle Thrushes in Montpelier these days so I was very pleased. Nearby a Dunnock was singing and a couple of Goldfinches were on a TV aerial. I had to rush back to get my train but en route I noted Alexanders and Ivy-leaved Toadflax in flower along St Andrews Road.

Alexanders

Goldfinch

Mistle Thrush

Ivy-leaved Toadflax

Late news from yesterday - an Andrena sp. bee was caught in a spider web along the wall at the station. I tried to rescue it but it was in a very poor condition. I notice from the photo I took of it that the odd Springtail was in attendance.

Andrena bee and Springtail

New Year Plant Hunt!

I did a New Year Plant Hunt today. The Botanical Society of Great Britain and Ireland are collecting records of all plants in flower so I thought I'd target Montpelier. I recorded 16 species in flower:

White Deadnettle
Daisy
Annual Mercury
Groundsel
Wood Avens
Ivy-leaved Toadflax
Ivy
Red Valerian
Petty Spurge
Dandelion
Smooth Sowthistle
Annual Meadow-grass
Cocks-foot
Hazel
Sweet Alison
Common Nettle

Alyssum

Groundsel

Petty Spurge

Redwing

There were a couple of Redwings between the top of St Andrews Road and Fairlawn Road.

Sparrowhawk!

I arrived at the station this morning and almost had to duck as a Sparrowhawk flew swiftly towards me at head height and veered off at the last minute! I normally see them soaring harmlessly overhead but this one was definitely in killing mode!

In Picton Lane this afternoon I saw lots of Forgetmenots (escaped garden variety no doubt) and nearby some flowering Ivy-leaved Toadflax.

Forgetmenots

Ivy-leaved Toadflax

Chiffchaffs and Chocolate

Quite a bit of insect activity in the park this morning with several Syrphus hoverflies around a Horse Chestnut tree.  Also basking on the leaves was a mining bee I was not sure of but it turns out to be Andrena scotica - the Chocolate Mining Bee! This is my first ever and therefore a new bee for the patch.

Andrena scotica

Syrphus hoverfly

At the station there was a singing Chiffchaff which was good to hear as they seem a little thin on the ground in Monty this spring. This one might stay and breed. Also a Blackcap in song at the station.

Some flowers are now beginning to show - Red Valerian, Ivy-leaved Toadflax and Hogweed all noted this morning.

Hogweed

Ivy-leaved Toadflax

Red Valerian

I'm away for the next 10 days - email me with any sightings!