Ladybird - early or late ?

[marcusleftthesite]

*******************

 

[Bushwhacker]

They never went away.

 

[nuggets]

I had a wasp sitting on my fence yesterday ??? basking in the sun !!!!

 

[blacktimberwolf]

Adult ladybirds hibernate so this is an 'early bird'

I saw a wasp too on monday, not at all groggy on a pear tree, it was actively looking for something along the thin shoots & if I didn't know better I'd say it was on the hunt for aphids or caterpillars, which would mean larvae to feed which would mean Arrrhhhh, ....no impossible

 

[Bushwhacker]

I haven't seen much evidence of hibernation, they've been on my fence posts since summer.

 

[resnikov]

Saw this lot of ladybirds (what's the word for a group of ladybirds?) On Christmas Day. There were a few others there as well wandering about.

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk

 

[blacktimberwolf]

(what's the word for a group of ladybirds?)

A' loveliness of ladybirds'

 

[the interceptor boy]

ladybird on my wooden floor, cherry blossoms on the tree, and there is a tree full of birch like cat tails all over it outside the house, wird stuffs all around. and plenty of green wood peckers and parakeets. cheers the interceptor boy.

 

[marcusleftthesite]

The seasons have totally gone mad eh ? Just found green blackberries and blossom on one plant and a ripe black one on the next !!

 

[Old Bones]

While repairing my fence after the high winds last week, I found about three or four ladybirds ambling around. It was a nice warm day, and pretty unseasonal for January, but I'm a bit worried about a cold snap now, because they probably won't make it. Later the same day, while picking up my son from school, I was amazed to see a bumble bee flying around.

Its too warm, too early - not good for anything that should still be hibernating.

 

[Jackdaw]

I have been involved in a couple of hibernation roost surveys for bats and have noticed the little critters are unusually fat for this time of year. They have obviously been taking advantage of the wamer temperatures to pop out and feed. Bats don't truly hibernate all winter in this country and can often be seen out during the winter months but this is believed to be normally due to their need to hydrate and to kick start their immune system.

I once saw a Brown Long-eared bat out at -3 in a snow storm. Dropped onto the road in front of my headlights then took off again after a couple of seconds. Prior to that I had thought (as I had been taught) that bats hibernate from November to March and are not seen during the winter months. Amazing what a couple of weeks of researching the appropriate scientific papers can tell you.

Oh, and I too saw some 7-spot ladybirds out last weekend. I shouldn't worry about them. The climate has been in variance for a lot longer than this species has been about and I suspect we'll see an abundance this year due to the rather warmer winter we've had. Caveat - unless a cold snap is on the way!

Jack