Feeding/Waiting >River fest

 2 June 2025

Feeding/Waiting >River fest

Wild animals are frantically feeding... or waiting and still. Bumble Bees stock up their pollen baskets from Columbine (Aquilegia) – cultivated 


or wild. Foxgloves really do act as gloves, sheltering insect or valuable pollen prize and nectar

Lower flowers on the foxglove stem often have lots more pollen than nectar, which encourages the pollinator to go on up to higher flowers in their nectar search, and so distribute pollen further up the plant to higher flowers. And there is a smaller less obvious visitor too, looks like a beetle!


 Superb moth camouflage allows them to just wait for night darkness to hide them. This moth would be invisible against bark or amongst shady foliage... it is in a collecting tube and about to be released, having been identified (Common Marbled Carpet Moth) for county records for assessing insect biodiversity.

By the garden pond, a newt 


sits it out in the shade.

Two-spotted Water Hoglouse 


feed on decaying plants and animals. It is a recycler, important in ponds and rivers, too. Creatures from beyond the pond venture close to drink or simply fall in... food for the Hoglouse and other residents.

Several species of spiders live in and around fresh water, but only one habitually lives beneath. I am not sure about the provenance of this spider 


amongst the duckweed, but it was an unexpected sight!


Another unexpected visitor at a garden pond under construction - a hungry (disappointed) Heron waits for an enticing movement below the surface. It would have been a better bet to fly on to the river... plenty of fish there... 

This is a Bullhead, an omnivorous bottom dweller with vigilant eyes - well placed to see prey or predators! (It was ID’d in a ‘state of the water’ assessment and returned to the Midford Brook.)




 – See yet more on the Midford Brook River Walk...!

Wednesday 11th June 10:00-14:00

Guided Walk Along the Midford Brook

What3Words neon/spoon/care

Tickets available via ataafishing.net

More details of watery events www.wildwatersfestival.com

Photo and ID Credits: 7 Andrew Scourse; 8,9,10 Phil Chant; Others Nicolette Scourse. ID moth Elisabeth Love Allen; fish

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