On day 4 of the 30 Days Wild Challenge we go outside to watch garden wildlife. The little one and I headed out into the back garden to give the flowers a water and take a closer look at what wildlife we could see while we were out there.
B being very helpful and watering the plants for me
We found many, many bees bumbling around, which was very exciting. I’d like to do a beewalk at some point during this challenge, where you go on a mile walk and record the number and type of bees seen, then log it onto the Bumblebee Conservation Trust’s website.
Buff-tailed bumblebee having his lunch
I think this bee is a buff-tailed bumblebee, according to this bee spotter guide from Friends of the Earth.
And then we caught sight of a damselfly! My toddler was fascinated by it (and a little scared too as he’d never seen one before). Amazing what you can find if you start to look around you. I can’t actually work out what type this is. The British Dragonfly Society has a helpful tool to identify both dragonflies and damselflies, but my find doesn’t match any of these so I’ve emailed them to find out. I’ll report back. Update from the Dragonfly Society: “It’s not a damselfly, it’s a species of Ichneumon Fly/Wasp, and it’s a female because the spike at the tip of the abdomen is used for egg laying.”
The damselfly we found in the garden
I’m planning to go looking for dragonflies soon as well. There are some good places in Surrey apparently to spot them such as Thursley Common, near Godalming. Watching garden wildlife was a lovely way to connect with nature with kids. There is a surprising amount of life in the back garden, and we’ll go out again later on to inspect in the soil next time.
