What wildlife have you seen?

[ardcarp]

There's a thriving thread for birds, and one for wildflowers somewhere, but I wonder if a general wildlife thread might be a good idea. Lots of delights in Autumn, including leaves, fungi, etc, etc. How about this for a starter?



...and this. Job done...he/she has gone off to lie in wait.



(Photos courtesy of Mrs A.)

[Richard Tarleton]

Gorgeous photos ardcarp - congrats to Mrs A. I think you can get spiders identified online - unless you already know what they are - including just by the web - send the photos to this lot.

I had a good summer photographing butterflies and dragonflies, and this year we trapped moths in our and neighbour's garden once a month for 6 months, with a resulting species list of around 200. Here are two of the autumn species, the Dusky Thorn and the Pink-barred Sallow (moth names are a thing of wonder in themselves )

[Ein Heldenleben]

The spider is a Garden Cross - a real harbinger of autumn . There’s one on my window which has wrapped a wasp in a cocoon ready for later consumption.

[cloughie]

The spider is a Garden Cross - a real harbinger of autumn . There’s one on my window which has wrapped a wasp in a cocoon ready for later consumption.

Do spiders eating wasps have any problem with the sting?

[Ein Heldenleben]

I think they have do have to be careful . They don’t so much eat it as slowly digest it with digestive juices . I think they usually start with the abdomen. There are also wasps that specialise in eating spiders . It’s a bit of a tough old world out there....

[Serial_Apologist]

I've just had my lunch..........

[ardcarp]

The spider is a Garden Cross - a real harbinger of autumn

Thanks, Helden. I was told it was just a 'garden' spider. What identifies it as a garden cross?
In the top photo, I'm quite intrigued that its back four legs are paired up to look like two thick legs. Are they doing something with them to manipulate or hold onto bits of web?

[vinteuil]

Thanks, Helden. I was told it was just a 'garden' spider. What identifies it as a garden cross?
In the top photo, I'm quite intrigued that its back four legs are paired up to look like two thick legs. Are they doing something with them to manipulate or hold onto bits of web?

... surely those are its four front legs?

What worries me more is that it seems to have lost its head...

https://www.google.com/search?q=garden+cross+spider&rlz=1CAIUCU_enGB828&sxsrf=ACYBGNSRGB1xm5tMrCw3wZhPZ2c2T9KDMA:1571320201575&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjYu8Xzt6PlAhXDgVwKHSh1Bm4Q_AUIEygC&biw=1093&bih=487

.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araneus_diadematus

.

[ardcarp]

Curiouser and curiouser....

Mrs A isn't here at this minute, but when she gets home I'll ask about it. I understood that she took the pics while web-construction was in progress.

Edit: PS Mrs A back; and the spider is at home too, smack bang in the middle of its web. It is very much alive! Too dark for more photos.

[oddoneout]

This has more info

https://www.uksafari.com/cross.htm

I'm surprised at the 'rare' under distribution as they have always been in evidence in my gardens and allotment.
This I've just been looking at https://www.uksafari.com/spiders.htm (got sidetracked as one does...) and discovered that the furry spider I see quite a lot is called a mouse spider - unsurprisingly.
Thank you by the way Ardcarp for starting this, I was thinking the other day that there is more to wildlife than birds but nowhere to post.

[Bryn]

A Belgian Garden Spider was featured on the Channel 4 News just now. Catch it again at around 4 minutes past 8 on Channel 4+1.

[Constantbee]

According to a recent feature on BBC Tees (where else) it is mating season for spiders at the moment Male spiders have been making their way indoors looking for mates, especially if there’s been a lot of rain and they’ve lost their outdoor home They tend to like environments that are warm and dry, and don’t like being disturbed.

[jayne lee wilson]

In the conservatory at 1300 hrs with coffee & milk (no cognac as a feature-length dental appointment awaited me; Valerian instead...) I was surprised to see a little brown bundle appear on the floor before me. Mice are a commonplace here but this cute little beastie was a Vole! I hadn't seen one here for a few years.

Whether Bank or Field I wasn't quite sure (despite consultational leafings...) but a very dark brown colouring indicates Field. It was no more than 7 or 8cm, possibly a youngster. It chewed away at some greenery that had fallen inside, when I was trying to hack an opening to the door through the jungle-shrubbery that surrounds the glass.
I opened the door and it soon found its way out, disappearing into a bullrush.. I've kept the garden very wild this year and hope that this is another of the rewards....

There's still the little matter of what unknown crack or hole allowed it in after so much rain.....less welcome than the Voles themselves, but some consequences will always be unintended..........

***
A stripey Garden Spider came into the house with me one wet afternoon. I gently put it on a large begonia where it has since developed a good window-web. I hope it controls the numerous late-autumn mosquitoes...I had more bites than ever this year.

[ardcarp]

I've kept the garden very wild this year

So have we.

[Serial_Apologist]

So have we.

And us, in this 'ere flock of blats - actually the consequence of one resident complaining about an escalation in the gardening portion of the management bill: the gardener just said, "Well, if that's what some people feel, I'll just not weed or cut the grass as often".