We’re Going On A Bug Hunt

This week is National Insect Week so there is NO better time to get outdoors and go on a bug hunt. Not sure where to start? Well, read on to find out how to go bug hunting and some great kit to use…

A bug hotel, there's got to be LOTS of bugs living here!

A bug hotel, there’s got to be LOTS of bugs living here!

What you need:

My lil sis Tilda loves to go bug hunting too!

My lil sis Tilda loves to go bug hunting too!

Where should you go?:

Bugs can be found pretty much anywhere. Have a look in your own garden and you will find all sorts of things from butterflies to beetles, lacewings to ladybirds, slaters to snails. Head off to your local woods to see if you can find something different lurking deep inside. Or I LOVE to visit Jupiter Urban Wildlife Centre which is great for bug hunting and pond dipping.

A brush can help you gently get a bug into your jar to look at

A brush can help you gently get a bug into your jar to look at

What to do…

Well, remember to be quiet and gentle when you are bug hunting so you don’t scare any bugs. Also, be careful where you are going so you don’t get stung by any plants or bugs. Under stones and old logs are great hiding places, look under leaves of plants and in their flowerheads and have a dig in some soil.

Look under old logs for bugs

Look under old logs for bugs

Things to think about…

A magnifying pot is perfect for a closer peak

A magnifying pot is perfect for a closer peak

Nets are great for helping catch flying bugs like butterflies

Nets are great for helping catch flying bugs like butterflies

Consider making a home for some of the bugs you find. Bug hotels are great fun to make with lots of materials you will probably have lying about the garden.

You can do a lot of bug hunting using old spoons and containers from your kitchen (remember to ask your parents before you start digging in the soil with their best silverware!)

Remember to takes notes and draw pictures of what you find

Remember to takes notes and draw pictures of what you find

My favourite items to go bug hunting with are from Big Jigs Toys:

Magnifying glass

Magnifying Glass, £8.49*, perfect for taking a closer look at all those bugs

 

Magnifying Pot, £3.99, A great way to keep bugs safe while you have a good look

Magnifying Pot*, £3.99, A great way to keep bugs safe while you have a good look

 

Bug Net, £7.99, great for catching flying creatures like butterflies

Bug Net*, £7.99, great for catching flying creatures like butterflies

Bug Box, £5.99, perfect for looking closely at those flying creatures 

Bug Box*, £5.99, perfect for looking closely at those flying creatures

If you are interested in reading more about bugs then visit our other blogs:

Save the Frogs

Make Your Own Bug Hotel

How to Make a Bug Hotel

Happy bug hunting everyone!

Lulu xx

*Price correct at time of publication

Beautiful Butterflies

Butterflies are indeed pretty as flowers plus they help pollinate plants whilst they feed on the nectar. Most species of butterflies don’t have caterpillars that eat our crops so we should be encouraging these pretty pollinators in our gardens. As the Big Butterfly Count has just started, I thought I’d find out just what we can do.

Why us gardeners like butterflies

Apart from them looking really, really pretty that is! Butterflies pollinate plants as they drink their nectar. Since a butterflies’ legs and proboscis are further away from their body than those of bees, they are not quite so good at pollinating our plants. But they can fly further and so help ensure our native wildflowers grow in lots of places for lots of us to see. Also they can help reduce the effect of bee diseases on pollination.

Big Butterfly Count 2015

From July 17th there has been a big butterfly study carried out by people like you and me all over the country.  Last year a massive 44,000 people took part. It’s called the Big Butterfly Count and will find out how healthy nature is. Butterflies react really quickly to changes in our environment so they are great  at warning us early of problems. Also it is good to know if any types of butterflies need more help from us so we can make sure they get back to being happy. To take part you just need to try to sit still somewhere nice and sunny (so the hardest part will be finding sunshine in Scotland then!) for 15 minutes. Then count how many of each different type of butterfly you see.  Once you know what type of butterflies you saw you can input your results into the Big Butterfly Count website.  Your work will still count even if you don’t see a single butterfly. If you’re aged between 5 and 10 you can take part in the Count at Jupiter Urban Wildlife Centre on Wednesday July 29th. The Big Butterfly Count runs until 9th August.

I'm taking part so why don't you?

I’m taking part so why don’t you?

Gardening for butterflies

There are 59 different types of British butterflies. But Red Admiral, Peacock, Brimstone, Painted Lady, Comma, Green-veined White, Small Tortoiseshell, Small Cabbage White and Large Cabbage White are the butterflies you’re most likely to see in your garden.To see more butterflies you should plant a range of flowers and herbs to provide them with nectar from March until October. Basically butterflies like bright colours and flowers that provide big landing sites for them. They like you to leave any over-ripe fruit that falls from your trees on the ground so they can feed on the fruit juices. Mummy butterflies also need somewhere to lay their eggs. As silly as it may seem, leaving a bit of your garden to grow weeds in is a great help! Red Admirals love to lay their eggs on stinging nettles and Painted Ladies will lay eggs on thistles. And of course the caterpillars are very hungry when they first hatch so they will munch on these weeds.

Coping with very hungry caterpillars

So the bad bit of encouraging butterflies is caterpillars.  But they are very picky about what they eat and it is only really the Large and Small Cabbage White varieties that like to eat crops that we grow.   They love cabbages and other brassicas (like broccoli) and nasturtiums. So if you don’t like eating either of those, don’t grow them and you’ll not get any pesky caterpillars trying to eat your food!  Just by growing some nasturtiums beside your brassicas can save your crops as nasturtiums are butterflies favourite food (I prefer ice cream myself!) Or you can be very careful about looking out for little clusters of round yellow eggs on leaves and stems.  Just remove these before they hatch into caterpillars. Or you can use insect barrier mesh over your veg beds.  Be careful that the mesh doesn’t touch any leaves as abbage White butterflies can lay their eggs through mesh onto any touching leaves.  You could also use teeny, tiny worms called nematodes or really small wasps that are both natural ways to kill caterpillars.

Butterfly Craft

Butterflies don’t live for very long so how about making a caterpillar that changes into a butterfly for you to keep for ever?

You’ll need:

Cut the egg box down the centre and stick the 2 bits together to make a long thin body for your caterpillar.
Paint the body.
My caterpillar is going be lovely and bright

My caterpillar is going be lovely and bright

Cut out butterfly wing shapes from the white card and paint a lovely bright pattern on them.
Once body is dry add googly eyes to one end to make a face.

Roll up both halves of one pipe cleaner to make 2 antennas and insert these above the googly eyes.

This caterpillar is almost as hungry as I always am!

This caterpillar is almost as hungry as I always am!

Decorate the coloured card and then roll this around the caterpillar’s body to make a cocoon.
Place it somewhere warm overnight.
The caterpillar will have a lovely nap in his cosy cocoon

The caterpillar will have a lovely nap in his cosy cocoon

The next day remove cocoon and use the other pipecleaner to fix the wings to the body.  Unravel the antenna a bit.

It’s even more special if your Mummy or Daddy does this whilst you’re still sleeping.
Ta dah, your caterpillar has changed into a butterfly.
Look what I found when I came down to breakfast!

Look what I found when I came down to breakfast!

Thanks “Local Fun for Kids” for the idea.

Right, It’s sunny outside so I’m off to count butterflies!  If you want to find out more about the different butterflies you can find in your garden have a look at the fab UK butterflies website.  They have loads of great photos.

Big hugs,

Euan

Beautiful Butterflies

I love butterflies (unlike my Auntie Kathleen!) They are so pretty and great for the garden too. This week we have been releasing butterflies at nursery which is great fun. In my latest blog I tell you some fluttery facts as well as three (yes three) cool butterfly related things I have been doing in my garden. Come on, join in…

Look - a butterfly!

Look – a butterfly!

Fluttery Facts

Now, we have all heard that butterflies are good for the garden and we should try and encourage them in. But do you know why?

 

Upcycle Your Own Butterfly Garden
M&D love to do a bit of upcycling and I have decided to have a go myself. Daddy recently had to replace the wheels on his trailer. He used the old tyres to make this funky container for our deck:

The tyres were turned into a funky planter

The tyres were turned into a funky planter

So we were left with the wheel rims and I was sure we could do something cool with them too. We turned them upside down, found a pot which fitted perfectly in the hole in the middle and then filled the pot and the ridge of the wheel with compost.

We sowed butterfly seeds in the rims!

We sowed butterfly seeds in the rims!

We got a packet of butterfly seeds and sowed these and waited for the magic to happen. We didn’t have to wait long – soon our wheels were filled with pretty flowers to attract both bees and butterflies!

Kabloom – Throw a Butterfly Bomb!

The wonderfully clever people at kabloom make really cool “seedboms”. Not only do you get to throw a bomb in your garden (that doesn’t happen every fay, does it?!) it is filled with lots of lovely seeds which grow into pretty flowers which attract butterflies.

Kabloom have a great range of different types of “bombs” and they make lovely gifts too. You can even buy a catapult to sling your bomb with – cooooool! I will be telling you more about the “Catnipbom” in a future blog.

Butterfly Clothes Pegs

Anyone who knows me knows I love a good ole craft project. And what better than to take advantage of this lovely summery weather and to make it in the garden. Here’s how:

You will need:

To make:
1. Paint your clothes peg whatever colour(s) you wish and leave to dry.
2. Draw wings on your card to suit the size of your clothes peg. It’s easier to attach the wings if you draw them on one piece of card with a space in the middle which you can glue your peg onto (rather than trying to attach two separate wings.)
3. Decorate your wings using your pens, paint, accessories or whatever you wish.
4. Once dry, glue your clothes peg onto your wings.
5. Make two antenna out of the pipe cleaner and tuck it between the peg and the wings before the glue dries.
6. Add your googly eyes.There you have it, a gorgeous butterfly to cheer up the inside of your home too!

Our pretty butterflies in the sunshine

Our pretty butterflies in the sunshine

So, have I persuaded you to love the butterfly yet Auntie Kathleen?…

Lulu xx