2020 - A bad year for blogs, but a good year for bugs

It has been a bad year for blogs, but a good year for bugs.

 

I have not written here since June, not for lack of motivation, but because life has become busier thanks to this Year of the Virus.

The virus has been deadly for far too many humans. But the lockdown has helped nature to thrive, starting with the insects. Here are a few examples:

First, a remarkably white spider.

...and the murderer was...Mrs White, in the Conservatory

 

Then - a reassurance for what you are about to read - two pollinators on our enthusiastic Cardus thistle.

 

This gives me a buzz, honey...

A beautifully camouflaged Hawk moth - I think it may be a Lime Hawk moth, Mimas tiliae, on the donkey stable door.

Green Hawk Down

 

And now for the bad news. My bees have died, victims of the Asian Hornet, Vespa velutina. Despite my best efforts with a solar-powered electric trap, and netting, the hornets got into the hives and killed all of the occupants.

To be, or Not to bee

 

I found the last hornet, itself killed by the bees, on the 6th December. 

The gory remains

 

I am going to take some time before I start see-keeping again. It's fascinating, but I don't want to risk starting again, until I understand better how to manage this new predator.

 

So 2020 - a bug year..

Furry annoying invader

We have an invader. And we think she's American. Yesterday she killed another chicken - Cheepy, one of our favourites. We had already lost two other chickens and a duck over the last couple of months.


Luckily, she left evidence:

Dark and deadly

This looks like American Mink (Neovison vison), according to Animal Tracks and Signs, the wonderful book by Preben Bang and Preben Dahlstrom.

So on Friday the lovely Agents Rurals Quico and Oriol came up and helped us lay a live trap.

This way, please

We've baited it with chicken and sardines - a feast for a mink - and we await results.