The wildlife
Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum)
Attracting wildlife and identifying them is going to take a while. We’re helped in the identification, thanks to an excellent series of laminated guides produced by the Field Studies Council. Thus far, we have their guides on bees, dragonflies and damselflies, and butterflies.
Laminated guides produced by the Field Studies Council
Here’s what we have seen in the terrace garden:
Many hoverflies and bees, especially bumblebees. The dark mullein - Verbascum nigrum - has been a bee and hoverfly magnet.
A few ladybirds
One Small White butterfly (Pieris rapae) and a Large White (Pieris brassicae)
Two damselflies - I think they were both the common blue (Enalogma cyathigerum)
Many spiders - I need a guide to spiders
Two regularly visiting crows, until they stopped visiting altogether (we called them Blacky and Blackette)
Many wood pigeons who drink from the water bowl we put out for them, and eat the seed that we occasionally leave out.
A bird (species unknown) that I saw at the bird feeder.
As the two trees (field maple, crab apple), and shrubs and hedge grow (holly, yew, box, bay, privet, and burnet rose), we expect to get more wildlife.
Right now though, we probably have around 15 bees and hoverflies on the terrace, and I’m feeling pretty darn pleased with myself!
I believe that this is a honeybee (Apis melifera)
A Large White (Pieris brassicae)
Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)