Category Archives: Lockdown Diary

Hoverflies are just not easy… the variations of individuals make it tough when some species are very similar. I leave it to the experts; I can only approximate confidence. However, I’m taking the plunge! The top species I am sure … Continue reading →

So, I was chasing this bumblebee around the garden knowing it was a new one for this year. Eventually, it settled to feeding on a spike of salvia and I readied the camera and took a quick picture even although … Continue reading →

Chasing after a bumblebee that would not let me photograph it, I saw this hoverfly out of the corner of my eye. Not new but resting and easy to photograph pretty well… far better than previous pictures. Pied Hoverfly Scaeva … Continue reading →

Late June to early July is a ‘funny old time of year’. For birders it marks the start of Autumn in as much as non-breeding waders start to trek south from the Arctic and far Northern European breeding grounds. Breeding … Continue reading →

By Chris Jones Cornwall Beaver Project, supported by the Beaver Trust*, like the rest of the world, has been in  lockdown for months now, but as in so much of life there are all sorts of nuances to think about. Of … Continue reading →

To celebrate National Meadows Day, I ordered a bunch of wildflowers which I will plant out today. I have too small a garden to have a lawn, let alone a meadow, but every garden, even a window-box has space for … Continue reading →

I really like geraniums. I need to qualify that as, confusingly, pelargoniums are also referred to as geraniums, and I really dislike them! The genus has no less than 422 species and many, many more cultivars (garden varieties). Perhaps I … Continue reading →

I have it on good authority that this bee is definitely a female of the Lasioglossum (sweat bee) genera. Pouring over my shiny new bee book with several poor photos of the bee in question leads me to believe I … Continue reading →

Old bee, new flower… Gazania’s or African Daisies are also known as treasure flowers. The cultivars are often really gaudy, candy-striped affairs and all are bright colours. The flowers close when the sun goes down or in gloomy weather but … Continue reading →

For years, every time I bought a plant I kept the label that identified it. An accumulation of plastic in my shed grew until last year I had a clear out. Being an idealist, I thought ‘why am I keeping … Continue reading →