13/11/2020 Friday 13th!!! Part 2 of my walk

  Maximum temperature here today 17⁰C, minimum 10⁰C.  Dry today, but 1 mm of rain measured this morning.   18km/h South-westerly winds with gusts up to 38 km/h. 

I have in fact managed to get out for a walk every day this week, so I have even more photos now!  I can generally just fit in slightly over 4 km within my 1 hour allowed out, and within the 1 km radius that we are allowed to walk (with our timed and dated forms).  Depending of course how many insects or birds I have to chase along the way!

We live at the red dot and the blue track I follow is through farmland.  The full circle is 2.33 km and well inside the 1km radius from home that I am allowed.  I try to do it twice.

The farm track.

Oxeye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare).

Dark Mullein (Verbascum nigrum).

Gorse (Ulex europaeus) not sure why it is flowering in November!

Italian Arum Leaves (Arum italicum).

Striped Toad Flax (Linaria_repens).

Not sure about this one, it looked like an edible mushroom but.....

One of the blue butterflies Lang's Short-tailed Blue (Leptotes pirithous). Thanks Richard for this ID.

Possibly Alydus Calcaratus on Cow grass Clover.

 A slightly battered Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas)...

As above.

Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus).  Flower possibly is (Tolpis staticifolia).

Hoverfly on rapeseed flowers that are growing at random along the roadside.

Spanish Slug (Arion vulgaris).

Sweet Chestnuts (Castanea sativa), and no I did not pick any up.  They were not very big and my walking time is too precious.

European robin (Erithacus rubecula). I have seen four robins on this route. Their territories are about 0.5 of a hectare so two of them have to be a pair as they are always together, the other two are in different places.

Woodlark (Lullula arborea).

Number 104.

The young bull.

Black Knapweed (Centaurea nigra).

I think this is Calamint but I am not sure which one.

Dandelion (Taraxacum).

Pansies in a pot by someone's house when nearly home.

Just down the road.

Back home I saw this Plume Moth possibly (Emmelina monodactyla).

My local list of wildflowers. (90 Species 23/08/2020).

See also my

 Bird blog

Joining up with My Corner of the World.

Photo competition running until 31 December - colourful photos.

B u n t

Let us all join in great fun.

27/04/2020 Day 41 of Lock down.....

Maximum temperature here today 19⁰C, minimum 10⁰C.  Some rain not measured yet.  12km/h South-Westerly wind with gusts up to 37 km/h. 

Saturday we had a big hail storm and 32mm of rain in less than 30 mins.
With the strong winds, the water came under the door in the kitchen so we had a big mopping up operation!

Walking my small loop within the 1 km radius allowed is not all flat - looking up..

Looking behind from the same spot...

and if I am running out of my one hour time allowed, I can cut through on this track but the grass is now getting a bit long there!  I do not want to pick up ticks!!

Cattle enjoying the shade.

The lambs are quite big now.

Thirsty bees...

As above.

Bee on the apple blossom.

Chafer Beetle (Cetonia cuprea).

Spot the spider on the left in hiding (under the petal of the calendula) and the little fly in the centre...

Chomp, little fly for lunch.

I have never seen the Red Robin shrub so full of flower in the garden. 

Hoverfly (Eristalis arbustorum) on the apple blossom.

CommonWall Lizard (Podarcis muralis).

Common Swallowtail or Old World swallowtail (Papilio machaon).

As above.

See also my

 Bird blog

23/03/2020 The rest of the photos from the last walk.

Maximum temperature here today 19C, minimum 9C. Dry.  Frosts forecast for later this week and all our fruit trees are in blossom!!   14km/h South-easterly wind with gusts up to 34 km/h.  

Apologies for the delay in posting this, the sun has been shining and we have both been working in the garden.  Time has been limited at the computer, especially as I have also been inventing meals with what we have available.  We have not been out now for 10 days but will try to get a few necessary items from the supermarket tomorrow, not forgetting to carry our travel permit with us or we could be heavily fined!!

Walkers on the railway line.  Good job this part of the track has been closed for a while!

Forsythia.

Under observation.

What I think is Hawks-beard (Crepis tectorum) with a bumblebee.

Now I wonder who lives here.

Wondering if this giant snail is a deterrent to the smaller ones!

Squirrels on gateposts.

Fast-flowing ditches. 

Reflections in a dam.

  Le Logis de Saint Vincent. Logis (lojh-ee) means "home" or "dwelling" in French. Whilst these walls now enclose the premises of a company whose business is concerned with drainage equipment, we do know that in the 1940's, the large multi-storey complex was used as a type of orphanage. This may have been the original purpose of the building, as it was clearly built much more than a century ago.   The only reason we know it was an orphanage, is because one of the child occupants who now lives in the USA contacted me when he saw a previous post of mine. Interesting to say the least of it

Derelict a little further up the road.  This was a thriving farmhouse in the 40's, the orphan that contacted me re the above, said he was often brought up here when the adults were all playing belote - a French card game.

Returning back home this was the sunset that appeared in the evening.

Back home in the garden the tulips are blooming...

and the few days of sunshine has seen the return of the Common Wall Lizards.

See also my

 Bird blog