Tuesday 6 April 2010

Firsts for 2010

Spring is well on its way and every day we see species that we hadn't previously seen in 2010.

Our first small frog of the year hopped into a hole shortly after Ian had finished digging:


I found my first dragonfly larva (a broad-bodied chaser) of the year in the pond a couple of days ago. Of course it (and hopefully several others) was in the pond all winter, but I'd failed to find any on previous dips this year. I wonder if my finding it this time was due to a change in its behaviour (e.g., the depth it chose to occupy) or to my simply being able to stand the water temperature for longer than earlier in the year!


I fished my first ladybird of the year out of the pond and was pleased to find it both still alive and also a new species for Frog End - the 4-spot pine ladybird (also found to feed upon insects on Ash trees, there being one only a few meters from the pond):


Today a pair of peacock butterflies were sunning themselves on one of the paths

6 comments:

GB said...

The weather must have improved substantially for the butterfly to be around. Is it not a bit early? Or am I out of synch?

Helen said...

GB it's not particularly early, especially since we're in the South. There's a timeline of sightings on the woodland trust's nature's calendar at http://www.naturescalendar.org.uk/map/current.htm?rsid=175&reid=12&ry=2010&rs=S

Randy Emmitt said...

Helen,
That Peacock is awesome! I saw my first bluets today and dragonflies are out everywhere too.

ADRIAN said...

Helen, yours is a different world. I've yet to see a frog never mind spawn. As for butterflies I suspect another month at least. Smashing pictures.

holdingmoments said...

Lovely shot of the Peacock Helen; a real beauty.

Scriptor Senex said...

Hooray - the world is brightening up.