A hummingbird visits Cambridgeshire

We had a very lovely visitor to the garden recently - a Hummingbird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum). This is only the third one I've seen in six summers here (although it's likely that others have gone unnoticed).

It didn't hang around for long; for just a few minutes it zipped around from flower head to flower head, accessing the nectar from the tubular flowers (no, I don't know what they are!). I took many, many photos and managed to get half a dozen in focus. Thank goodness for digital photography!

The Hummingbird Hawk-moth is a smallish (wingspan about 2 inches) day-flying moth. They migrate to the UK in the summer from southern Europe and Africa, and it's thought that with a warming climate they may colonise the UK.

If you'd like to help monitor these amazing beasties, Butterfly Conservation is running a Migrant Watch Survey for Hummingbird Hawk-moths and Painted Lady butterflies -  it's easy to add your sightings and contribute to understanding the arrival, spread and departure of these migrant insects.

#30DaysWild, days 26-30, the final few days!

All too quickly it's the final few days for this year's #30DaysWild...

On day 26 I went off for a run along some as-yet unexplored bridleways. Startled a couple of pheasants into flight from right under my feet, and saw a fox too. I also discovered that my hi-vis running vest is a great lure for bugs of all kinds...

Day 27 was an afternoon down at Paxton Pits with the camera and sketchbook. I did get somewhat rained upon....

On day 28 I finished up my nature journal spread from the previous day's wanderings at Paxton Pits (bonus minibeast pics too)

Day 29 - here is our sparrow bush! I don't know what it is about this shrub that makes it so popular with our house sparrows, but it is definitely the place to hang out around here if you are of the Passer domesticus persuasion...

And finally day 30! Pretty much all my arty dabblings are inspired by the wild, so here's a linocut print I finished recently – the design is based on photos and sketches from an afternoon out at my local nature reserve, Paxton Pits.

 

#30DaysWild, days 21-25

Another catch-up post for the enjoyable #30DaysWild!

Day 21 was a visit to a new-to-me nature reserve - Overhall Grove, managed by the local Wildlife Trust and located in a village not too far from me. I've driven through the village many times and noticed the Wildlife Trust signpost, but had never got around to visiting. It's a little gem - woodland, beautifully quiet, muntjac deer barking and buzzards calling.

But the best bit came when I was walking back to the car - a family of foxes, four youngsters and a vixen, on the footpath right in front of me! I was able to quietly watch them for a good while, as they foraged in the leaf litter. The tree canopy was quite dense so the pics I got aren't great, but what a treat that was!

On day 22 I went out for a run for my breath of fresh air, heard yellowhammers calling in the hedgerows and spotted a buzzard. I finished up a couple of nature journal pages from my visit to Overhall Grove.

Day 23 was another rummage around the garden for minibeasts. So many!

Day 24 - I was disappointed that a bug hunting workshop I was going to got cancelled, but was happy to find this strange little mirid bug (Heterotoma species I think), with it's super thick antennae, in the garden. The unexpected free time meant I could go for a run too, and I saw two red kites - don't often get to see them in Cambridgeshire and it's the first time I've seen two together here.

 Day 25 - spot the hopper!