Thursday, August 4, 2022

04/08/2022 A few more photos from July to let you know I am still here!

Yet another month has gone by and now we are in August.  It is too hot to do anything and the house downstairs is the only cool place.  Even the insects seem to have gone into hiding. The office is in the roof with Velox windows, and working on the computer is not much fun.  Temperatures are anything between 32C and 40C with no sign of rain.  This could be a record drought year so they say!  Having said that I still prefer too hot to too cold!!

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)...

As above...

As above .

Small white (Pieris rapae).

Gatekeeper or Hedge brown (Pyronia tithonus)...

As above.

Yet another Goldenrod Crab Spider (Misumena vatia) see my last entry...

As above.

Jersey Tiger Moth (Euplagia quadripunctaria)...

As above with open wings - so spectacular when in flight.

Collage of the garden that is somehow hanging on in the high temperatures.

A lone cornflower (Centaurea cyanus).

Mallow (Malva sylvestris).

Thistles with what might be a Sweat bee.

Garden Insect - Bug - (Genus Planuncus). Maximum length without those long feelers 5 mm. Taken last month after a very light shower of rain! we have not seen rain since.

Coreopsis,  A member of the Asteraceae family.

European Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola).

The vegetable garden is still producing, luckily we have a lot of big trees and the shade is helping!

I have masses of photos taken on the Trail Camera of birds, especially the Nuthatch.  Sadly because of our very low Wi-Fi speeds, I cannot share them.

My local list of wildflowers. (91 Species 02/12/2021).

See also my


 

29 comments:

  1. Very happy to see you posting again. Your photos are as lovely as ever. Sounds like you have had a busy time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not really sure that I am back posting, but if I can get around to one a month it is better than nothing. Maybe when winter arrives I will have more time 😊 Keep well Diane

      Delete
    2. Then I will look forward to the winter :)

      Delete
  2. Hello Diane. It's good to see you are finding time to take photos and to blog. It's interesting that you say even the insects are in hiding in the hot weather and it made me wonder if they do do that? I really need to discover more about butterflies as I thought that your Gatekeeper is a Meadow Brown, or is that the same thing? The Jersey Tiger Moth is incredible but not one I would expect to see up here in Lancashire.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Phil, time is really not on my side but I am trying!!! That is a Gatekeeper for sure, the Meadow Brown only has one white spot so not they are not the same thing! The Jersey Tiger Moth is always a joy to see and we appear to have had more than usual around this year. Odd, as we have had few butterflies!! Keep well and take care Diane

      Delete
  3. Hello Diane, thank you for your visit and great to see your posting. As always, your photos of critters and flowers are gorgeous. Our days are hot and humid but today, we are having overcast sky and not very warm.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am just extra slow posting at present but maybe when winter arrives...... The next week here looks much the same very hot and no rain. The land is drying up, very worrying. Keep safe and thanks for the visit, Diane

      Delete
  4. Hi Diane - look at all those delicious fresh veggie - your garden produce always delights me ... taking me back a few decades. Stunning photos you've given us ... so bright and cheerful ... a blessings those shade producing trees ... we too have had practically no rain down here in Eastbourne ... cheers Hilary

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think I have had a veggie garden going ever since I moved away from my parent's home and they did use to have a small patch. I so prefer homegrown vegetables, they taste so much better. Another week looming up with very high temperatures and no sign of rain, it is worrying. Thanks for the visit and the comment, keep well, Cheers Diane

      Delete
  5. Prachtige foto's joh! Ik ben blij dat je deze post. Wat hou ik van de natuur. Geweldige oogst ook uit je moestuin. Liefs uit Nederland. Ook van Ralph.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Aritha, good to hear from you and also from Ralph. Lovely comment thank you and much appreciated. Keep safe all the best to you and the family, Diane

      Delete
  6. As always, Diane, great images. I especially like seeing the crab spider lying in wait for some unsuspecting pollinator. Your garden has provided a great yield but I know that you invest a lot of time and effort into it. Take good care and stay cool. All the best - David

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bonjour bon ami, I was very patient with that crab spider and it was still there the next day. Not sure if it gave up, or hurried if it away with a meal when I was not watching!
      There is a lot of time and effort gone into the garden, but it is very depressing watching it now with high temperatures, and no sign of rain anytime soon. Not sure how long it can cope, even with the huge amount of shade we have with all our trees. Hopefully, the trees will survive. Best wishes to you both Diane

      Delete
  7. Gorgeous images, well up to your usual extremely high standards, Diane.

    In case Phil's comment above threw you into any doubt about your ID of the Gatekeeper, you are spot-on - literally! The two white spots on the underside of the forewing are diagnostic of Gatekeeper. Also, it's a male, with the dark 'sex brand' on the upper side of the forewing.

    I'm jealous of your Jersey Tiger. It's a species that shows up in England, but I have never seen one.

    I don't want to make you jealous, but have you looked into the possibility of installing one of those air-source heat pump air-conditioners? We did last year, and use it to heat the bedroom in the winter and cool the bedroom in the summer. While it was 39°c outside last month, we slept soundly in a room that was kept at a wonderful 22°c !!! The only downside is that they don't look terribly attractive mounted on the outside of a biuilding.

    Best wishes - stay safe - - - Richard

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Richard I just wrote you a full answer, flicked to answer a call and lost my comment ☹

      Regarding the Gatekeeper I was never in doubt, I was uncertain about its sex though, but I thought it was a male. Thanks for confirming.

      There seems to be quite a lot of Jersey Tiger Moths around this year, friends in the Dordogne are commenting the same. I have never managed to get a shot of one before with wings open showing the bright red, this was just pure luck.

      Re the air-source, we spoke to our heating engineer about 18 months ago and he said it would not be efficient here. We have metre thick stone walls that are not insulated. We have put in double glazed windows (oak frames made to fit each odd-sized window) which were not here before, and we have replaced the three doors that lead to the outside. (Also had to be hand made all odd sizes) !! He says our radiators are not re-usable. The radiators in the main house are all very old oil run, the main bedroom is electric. We have a very efficient wood fire in the lounge. Upstairs (only the offices) is perfect in winter with the heat rising from downstairs and the sun shining through the Velux windows. In summer it is very hot and we have a fan, still pretty hot though! The house downstairs stays cool all summer no matter what, but in winter it can get chilly if we do not have the radiators running. We cut back the timing last year that they run, we cannot cut back much more. The house is over two hundred years old……. I will not tell you what the last load of heating oil cost thanks to Putin!

      Best wishes to you both and the family. Keep well Diane

      Delete
  8. Despite the heat you're still getting out for some awesome insects and flowers plus harvesting from the garden.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks I just wish it would rain! . Cheers Diane

      Delete
  9. Beautiful pics....you can keep the spider though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The little ones I can put up with but the big ones....... Keep well Diane

      Delete
  10. Your garden haul is impressive. I really love the shot of the small white (Pieris rapae). It's eye looks so cool.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just one problem with the small and the large white, they lay eggs on the vegetables and the caterpillars gorge themselves on our food! Keep well Diane

      Delete
  11. The colors are magnificent, Diane! And I especially like the little bird sitting up on top, amazing. I hear you about summer but also like you prefer the heat than very cold winter. Your vegetables are really doing well, too. We've finally gotten some rain here after quite a long while. Hugs for you and Nigel. xoxo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sally we are still very hot and almost no rain for 3 months, the outlook is pretty serious. Hope you are well Diane

      Delete
  12. I've been away from bogland too. Love your photos.You have a decent harvest there. Well done.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is a reasonable harvest but half of what it would have been if we had of had some rain! The situation here is not very good at present. T'other Diane

      Delete
  13. So sorry to hear about your father in law Diane. It's a troubling time for you both. I hope that everything goes smoothly for you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Phil and I apologise for being slow in replying. Time is just not n my side. Keep well Diane

      Delete
  14. You had quite a warm summer, didn't you?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is an understatement, Too many days in the 40Cs for the garden with no rain! Have a good week, Diane

      Delete

Thanks for taking the time to visit and pass a comment. Every comment is appreciated and I try to reply to each and every one. All comments are verification free but will come to me for approval first :-)) PLEASE DO NOT ADD LINKS TO YOUR OWN WEB ADDRESS FOR OBVIOUS REASONS THEY WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED. THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING
No anonymous Users!