So interesting! And I so much like your themes of the month. I absolutely love humblebees and butterflies and after I read your journal I definitely want to learn more. So thank you for your inspiration! 🦟🦋🐞
I can highly recommend the book Extraordinary Insects by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson. Read it last year and loved it, it was fascinating and super accessible!
I was literally looking at this book online a minute before reading your comment! Thanks, you've helped me decide between different books, which is never easy :)
Just the other day I noticed 4 different kinds of bumblebees on the white dead nettle! Then there is the occasional European hornet cruising through the yard at missile-speed, there are thousands of aphids on the rose stems this year, as well as the small green caterpillars that feed on them, and the nuthatches feeding on the aphids and caterpillars. So far I've only seen a couple of butterflies from farther away, but they too will begin flying when the temperatures warm up again. I'm not sure of their names either, but you've inspired me to find them out!
Lovely! That's the best situation, when you can directly compare the different bumblebee species!
I am seeing so many hornets this year - I don't think I've ever noticed that many. I am much more attentive to nature these days, but still - hornets are hard to miss...
Yes, we have plenty of those too! One year they nested in the back of our stable (on the way to the outhouse), so we always had to watch out for one another. But it was okay, knowing that they change nests every year.
That's another very interesting topic! Looking forward to this month! 🦋🐝🐞🪲
I very much enjoy watching insects. If I had to name some favourites (I can't limit it to only one, haha!), they would be bumblebees (so cute and easy to watch), dragonflies and damselflies (looking forward to their appearance in my garden this year, always an event), and firebugs (for their stunning colouring, the interesting pattern and their unusual shape). I saw my first cockchafer of the year in the forest on Sunday. Oh, and I don’t get tired watching the busyness around our new bee hotel. 🐝🐝🐝 Definitely a great month! 🤩
Yay! Yes, it's hard to narrow it down to just a few favourites... I have one absolute favourite damselfly species, but there are a lot of beetles, bumblebees & butterflies I like a lot as well... and even the species I am admittedly not the biggest fan of (house flies?) have something wonderful about them.
Still haven't seen a cockchafer, even though, as any German knows, it's the appropriate month!
I don't know if I'm just noticing more this year because of my focus, but I've seen insects lately I haven's seen before. I had ample time watching a merodon equestris (narcissus bulb fly) sitting on and holding on to a narcissus stem. So interesting to observe! The other day, we had a silpha tristis in the bathroom who had come through the open window. A beautiful beetle!
One other thing is that I'm learning so many new terms since I've been studying birds, insects, etc. in more detail. Not only new English vocabulary, but also German names. And especially when it comes to insects, I sometimes wonder how this came about. Silpha tristis is a "Trauriger Aaskäfer" (sad carrion beetle). Why is it sad, I wonder?
Yes, this IS the appropriate month for cockchafers, good luck spotting one! :)
Yes, there are so many species once you start looking, right? I think it's somehow really cool that by learning relatively few species, you can already feel a lot more familiar with biodiversity in your area because some species are very common - but at the same time, there are also so many rarer species that even 80 year old life-long entomologists will be able to discover animals they haven't seen before! It's perfect somehow!
The sad beetle is so beautiful. Maybe it's sad because it feeds on carrion - that cannot be such a happy life ;)
That's what I thought too at first, but then I wondered, if they are specifically named SAD carrion beetles, are there others which are called HAPPY or PROUD carrion beetles? ;-)
So interesting! And I so much like your themes of the month. I absolutely love humblebees and butterflies and after I read your journal I definitely want to learn more. So thank you for your inspiration! 🦟🦋🐞
Thank YOU so much for your kind comment!!
I can highly recommend the book Extraordinary Insects by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson. Read it last year and loved it, it was fascinating and super accessible!
I was literally looking at this book online a minute before reading your comment! Thanks, you've helped me decide between different books, which is never easy :)
That book sounds great, thanks for the recommendation!
Just the other day I noticed 4 different kinds of bumblebees on the white dead nettle! Then there is the occasional European hornet cruising through the yard at missile-speed, there are thousands of aphids on the rose stems this year, as well as the small green caterpillars that feed on them, and the nuthatches feeding on the aphids and caterpillars. So far I've only seen a couple of butterflies from farther away, but they too will begin flying when the temperatures warm up again. I'm not sure of their names either, but you've inspired me to find them out!
Lovely! That's the best situation, when you can directly compare the different bumblebee species!
I am seeing so many hornets this year - I don't think I've ever noticed that many. I am much more attentive to nature these days, but still - hornets are hard to miss...
Yes, we have plenty of those too! One year they nested in the back of our stable (on the way to the outhouse), so we always had to watch out for one another. But it was okay, knowing that they change nests every year.
Oh wow! I've only ever met very peaceful hornets, but I guess with a nest you do need to watch out!
That's another very interesting topic! Looking forward to this month! 🦋🐝🐞🪲
I very much enjoy watching insects. If I had to name some favourites (I can't limit it to only one, haha!), they would be bumblebees (so cute and easy to watch), dragonflies and damselflies (looking forward to their appearance in my garden this year, always an event), and firebugs (for their stunning colouring, the interesting pattern and their unusual shape). I saw my first cockchafer of the year in the forest on Sunday. Oh, and I don’t get tired watching the busyness around our new bee hotel. 🐝🐝🐝 Definitely a great month! 🤩
Yay! Yes, it's hard to narrow it down to just a few favourites... I have one absolute favourite damselfly species, but there are a lot of beetles, bumblebees & butterflies I like a lot as well... and even the species I am admittedly not the biggest fan of (house flies?) have something wonderful about them.
Still haven't seen a cockchafer, even though, as any German knows, it's the appropriate month!
I don't know if I'm just noticing more this year because of my focus, but I've seen insects lately I haven's seen before. I had ample time watching a merodon equestris (narcissus bulb fly) sitting on and holding on to a narcissus stem. So interesting to observe! The other day, we had a silpha tristis in the bathroom who had come through the open window. A beautiful beetle!
One other thing is that I'm learning so many new terms since I've been studying birds, insects, etc. in more detail. Not only new English vocabulary, but also German names. And especially when it comes to insects, I sometimes wonder how this came about. Silpha tristis is a "Trauriger Aaskäfer" (sad carrion beetle). Why is it sad, I wonder?
Yes, this IS the appropriate month for cockchafers, good luck spotting one! :)
Yes, there are so many species once you start looking, right? I think it's somehow really cool that by learning relatively few species, you can already feel a lot more familiar with biodiversity in your area because some species are very common - but at the same time, there are also so many rarer species that even 80 year old life-long entomologists will be able to discover animals they haven't seen before! It's perfect somehow!
The sad beetle is so beautiful. Maybe it's sad because it feeds on carrion - that cannot be such a happy life ;)
That's what I thought too at first, but then I wondered, if they are specifically named SAD carrion beetles, are there others which are called HAPPY or PROUD carrion beetles? ;-)
Haha, you are right...