Being as that corner of the garden is no longer woodchips, as previously discussed – but it’s busier, much busier, with fancifully-proportioned protagonists surveying their new kingdom. They come with antennae:
Yellow and black longhorn beetle
And as streamlined as a needle:
Blue-tailed damselfly
And with thighs that should probably win an award.
Swollen-thighed beetle
And even with good childcare skills. Nursery web spiders are highly maternal, carrying their egg sacs in their jaws before weaving a silk cacoon to protect the little spiderlings. This one is currently guarding her nursery.
But the most dramatic guest to date had none of these showy characteristics. Spotting a small butterfly on a wild carrot yesterday, I crept closer and managed to grab a record shot.
It’s a white-letter hairstreak, an elusive butterfly whose life cycle is wedded to elms – which is unfortunate because elm trees have suffered catastrophic losses in the UK since the arrival of Dutch elm disease. Without the plant that feeds their caterpillars, this hairstreak has declined by 93% since the 1970s and is considered a national Priority Species for conservation. So, in short, I wasn’t expecting to find one nectaring on a wild carrot in a meadow that is less than two years old.
After a bit of hunting, I found that I do in fact have an hitherto overlooked elm in my garden, and for the moment at least it’s still healthy. Hopefully I’ll be honoured by some more glimpses of the white-letter hairsteak’s quiet charm.
A Walk with Wildlife 
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