PhotoDiary

Thursday, July 15, 2021

15/07/2021 Just a few photos - so much rain.

The maximum temperature here today 23⁰C, minimum 14⁰C. Lots more rain over the past week - we have had over 700mm to date this year; last year at the same time we had only 500mm. Wind 11km/h Westerly winds with gusts up to 27 km/h.

Today is the first time we have seen the sun since I last posted a blog, very few photos have been taken. The garden is waterlogged and the vegetables are not looking happy, well most of them are not, though the courgettes seem to be doing better than the rest. Blight is a problem with potatoes and tomatoes.

Hummingbird Hawk Moth (Macroglossum stellatarum).

Hydrangea, Love in a Mist, Calendula,

European umbrella milkwort plus bee with large pollen sacs, Poppy, Rose.

The Passenger Moth (Dysgonia algira).

It was in a dark corner of the house on one of my cutting boards. I tried moving the board after this shot to a lighter place. It flew off never to be seen again!

A drive-by shot the other day of the sky taken on the phone.

A friend commented that it looked like a steam train behind the clouds, sadly no, it really is a cloud.

I cannot pronounce this little fellow's name but you are welcome to try - (Deraeocoris ruber).

It was wandering around on my courgette plants.

Poppy, Love in a Mist, Cosmos (+ Tawny Longhorn Beetle [Paracorymbia fulva]), Potato flower,

Courgette, Sempervivum tectorum, Clematis, Fungi.

Love in a Mist (Nigella damascena) and wasp.

Two for the price of one.......

Longhorn beetle (Stictoleptura cordigera) and hoverfly (Sphaerophoria scripta).

Bush Cricket nymph....Munching away on the poppies!

Bumble bee (Bombus lucorum) I think!

As above

We have had a French stone mason here over a few days. The wall in the big barn had a crack, not serious but if not treated might well have become a problem. He and his mate have done a fantastic job and the finished job looks very good.

They did an amazing job of cleaning up, the barn is probably cleaner now than it has been for ages!

Take care everybody, keep well and stay safe.

My local list of wildflowers. (91 Species 20/06/2021).

Thursday, July 1, 2021

01/07/2021 Trying to find the very little guys hiding in the garden.

The maximum temperature here today 25⁰C, minimum 11⁰C. Lots more rain over the past week - 636mm to date this year; 120 more than last year at the same time. Wind 10km/h North Westerly winds with gusts up to 23 km/h. More rain forecast for Saturday and Sunday!!

Lots of very tiny bugs follow. Nigel has bought me a MEIKE MK-N-AF1-A Macro Electronic Mount Auto Focus Macro tube extension. So I have been playing with it!!! Photos are not perfect, I need lots of practice.

I think this is (Sphaerophoria scripta), the long hoverfly.

Again I am not sure, but I think this is a member of the Wolf Spiders Family Lycosidae plus egg.

This little fellow with the huge captured meal was all of 2mm in size. So small I would not have seen it if it had not been for the prey. (Nigma puella)...

As above.

This one refused to let me take a shot head-on, every time I moved it turned away from me!

Cricket-bat Orbweaver (Mangora acalypha)....

As above.

Harvestman. It is one of the Opilones, a group of arachnids closely related to spiders. Unlike the spiders, it has no silk glands so is not able to spin a web...

As above, I guess its mother loves it!...

As above.

Green aphids or better known as Greenfly.

This slightly larger edition I suspect might be a cypress aphid.

Fire bug (Pyrrhocoris apterus) better know as the Gendarme beetle.

Marmalade Hoverfly - (Episyrphus balteatus).

Oedemera noblis male, the female does not have the muscular legs...

As above giving some idea of how small it is and the carpet beetle to its right.

Varied Carpet Beetle (Anthrenus verbasci). The two photos above were taken with the TAMRON Megazoom - 18-400 mm as are the two below,

Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)...

As above.

Take care everybody, keep well and stay safe.

My local list of wildflowers. (91 Species 20/06/2021).

Monday, June 21, 2021

21/06/2021 The last of the photos waiting from May!

The maximum temperature here today 23⁰C, minimum 13⁰C. Lots of rain over the past week - 79 mm. Wind 14km/h North Westerly winds with gusts up to 40 km/h. More rain forecast.

Love in a Mist (Nigella damascena). Californian poppies in the background.

Hoverfly next to the Rhododendron flower.

Dog roses (Rosa canina). They are wild here, but we have them growing vigorously in one of the cotoneaster shrubs

Viola (Violaceae family).

Chafer beetle (Oxythyrea funesta).

Common Wall Lizards (Podarcis Muralis)... spot that new tail!

As above...

As above. She looks like she might well be pregnant!

Black vine weevil (Otiorhynchus sulcatus). I think, or Dark Vader from outer space.

I was about to throw these roses out that were in a vase in the house, (they had survived 2 weeks so they had done very well), and then I spotted an intruder.

Eurasian Running Crab Spider (Philodromus dispar)...