Definitely one here to keep an eye out for!

Well, they are easier to photograph than birds and there are lots around at the moment so...

Enoplognatha ovata

Tegenaria species

...and this one, Steatoda nobilis - one of the few spiders in this country that will *bite if provoked. Sometimes called the False Widow. Found this one on the inside of the window frame!

* the following accounts are taken from the Natural History Museum's website:

Bite reports

The bite itself is not usually felt but, within a short space of time, a local burning sensation is followed by radiating pain ('far more severe than a bee or wasp sting', Warrell et al., 1991).

'Sudden onset of intense pain, radiating across thigh. Lasted 20 minutes with some swelling and a developing weal.'

'Bitten on left hand; within 3/4 hour developed swelling of palm including thumb and fingers with tingling in all fingers. Swelling on left side of face with tingling over face. Two small puncture wounds in the region of the swelling, surrounded by local erythema with small bluish tinge a few hours later.'

'Bite on arm (area red) immediate pain. Spread to chest - still stiff 48 hours later.'

'Burning sensation on the right side of ribs. Increased in intensity, like being scalded, stabbing pains spread first to armpit then down right arm. Also flu-like symptoms, aches, sweats, fatigue, perspiring, cold and shaky, sick and giddy (all in first 10 minutes). Face and right arm went purplish and slightly puffy. Bite mark raised with red area c. 5 or 6cm. After 1 hour, responded to Piriton but felt unwell for 3 days.'

'Bitten on the shoulder. Initially the top of my arm ached, then felt itchy. Ten minutes later my armpit became numb. The skin was hot and sticky and looked wrinkled. The tenderness and itchiness lasted for some days' (later said to be infected).

Frequency of bites

Increasing as the species spreads in the south and east of England.

Another monster!!

Ok, well not a monster exactly. In fact it's body length is only 6mm long but it looks pretty nasty! It is in fact a common spider called Zygiella x-notata. What a stunning thing it is too. Click on it and take a closer look.

If the weather improves this weekend as forecast, I might be able to stop taking photos of spiders in my house and get outside instead. Some scarce migrant birds would be nice...

Money spider mystery

Members of the Linyphiidae family of spiders are notoriously difficult to identify without the aid of a microscope and even then they can be tricky! This one was no more than 3mm long (from body tip to tip) but was an amazing little thing to observe. No, I've no idea which one this is...

...answers on a postcard please.

Wader Fest!

Any wader at Chard res is going to be pretty good (for the res) and today there has been a minor 'fall'. I visited early this morning and had very little indeed, just a single green sandpiper and two common sands but by late morning it was a different story... a couple of juvenile black-tailed godwits (only about the eighth record for the res) had appeared rapidly followed by two greenshank! The greenshank remained distant but the godwits came to about 80ft away.

Black-tailed godwits

Black-tailed godwits

One of the two greenshank

greenshank

Apologies for the quality of the video - particularly the greenshank, as it was quite distant.

What next...curlew sandpiper anyone..?

Little gem

Chard res was pretty quiet this morning. Seven common sandpipers and a pair of kingfishers that came and sat above me on the hide roof before flitting down to the nearby perch.

Kingfisher, male

Looking at his mate who was still on the roof above me.

You wouldn't want to bump into this...

Spent ages watching this Salticus scenicus yesterday afternoon on the wall of my house. You really wouldn't want to meet this fella down a dark alley would you? The eyesight on these spiders is very good (four large, forward facing eyes) and they use it to hunt, jumping on their prey as they get close enough. They will also tilt their head to look at you as you approach - fearsome looking thing if you're a small insect.

Great White Wonders...

After a single (first record) in 2008, Dave Helliar found not one but two Great White Egrets on Chard Res. on Friday night. They were only there for a short time at dusk and not seen again but I managed a record shot..

Late yesterday we recorded at least 9 green sandpipers and 5 common (a record green sandpiper count for the res.) Today, yet another scarce visitor in the shape of a ringed plover on the mud in the southwest corner this morning - very distant again but a record shot all the same:

Let's hope the pattern continues - wood sand or curlew sand would be good next.

Sandpipers on the move...

A visit to Chard Res yesterday morning showed that waders are on the move and now that there's mud, they can stop off at the res instead of flying straight down to the coast. There were seven common sandpipers and a green sandpiper in the south-east corner and they eventually made there way towards the bird hide. Thankfully it was early and the legions of mothers, kids and pushchairs hadn't disturbed everything yet...

Juvenile Common sandpiper

Juvenile Common sandpiper

Juvenile Green sandpiper

Juvenile Green sandpiper

Juvenile Green sandpiper

Juvenile Green sandpiper

Terns start to arrive...

Last night saw our first Common Tern through Chard Res since the Spring. Now that the water level has started to drop it's looking more attractive to waders too:

Common tern

Green sandpipers

Distant green sandpiper

Chard res looked great in the evening sun yesterday too

Zebra Spider

I just had to take another photo of this Salticus scenicus. These little hunting spiders are diurnal with extremely good eyesight. They will jump their victims when they get too close - just as this one has.

Wood sandpiper

What did I say on Monday? Cracking find by Dave Helliar this evening at the local gravel pits, I just love these birds. Unfortunately I don't love my photos but in my defence it was a long way away and the light was rapidly failing...at least you can see what it is:

Birds 'n' the bees...and spiders too

Here's my very cropped, poor excuse for photos of a honey buzzard somewhere in Dorset - a stunning pale male.

So today I got my macro lens out and tried something a bit closer...

A few honey bees

and just to round it off, my first attempts at a zebra spider, I love these jumpy little arachnids

Insects on the wing...

Visited some Dorset heathland after viewing the honey buzzards at the weekend. The buzzards never gave good enough views for photos but the insects were more than happy. The birding will no doubt pick up very soon as there seems to be more wood sandpipers being reported each day, things are starting to move.

Common Damselfly

Female Black Sympetrum

Female Common Sympetrum

Grayling

The rain stopped for a day...

Finally, the rain eased off and the sun came out for one day! What a difference a bit of sun makes too. A visit to Chard res produced a redshank (not a common bird here) as well as a couple of reed warblers, a single sparrowhawk, 2 buzzards, 11 tufted duck and 7 common sandpiper at the northern end of the (flooded) res.

Path near the duck feeding area - about 10 inches deep here

The redshank in flight near the hide

With 2 of the 7 common sandpipers at the north end

Later in the day a visit to the in-laws house at Whitestaunton produced a nice peregrine over

and plenty of Azure damselflies on their pond

Unfortunately a not-so-lucky house martin had left the nest early at some point and had succumbed a few hours after it was found...