Gravid
May seems to be going out much as it arrived: windy, cold, and overcast. Obviously this isn’t particularly enticing for invertebrates, or for people like me who chase around after them with macro lenses. But in any case I was … Continued
This female Holly Blue was resting on the laurel hedge in the secret garden at lunch time, and obligingly opened her wings enough for me to see her diagnostic black forewing marking. Apart from a couple of nicks out of … Continued
“There’s an interesting hoverfly here,” I called out to the menfolk, who were watering the patio plants. (Or at any rate, the patio.) “Shall we go and see what Grandma’s found?” said R to the Boy Wonder. And then, a … Continued
I kicked off my tenth year of blipping in good style today, by visiting Chartley Moss in Staffordshire. This floating peat bog is a privately owned site that’s currently managed by Natural England, and can only be visited under their … Continued
“What are you going to do for your nine-year thingy?” enquired R yesterday. “Oh, bugger,” I said. “I’d completely forgotten.” And then, “I’m going to go to Trench Wood, and find nine interesting invertebrates.” Several things occur to me about … Continued
I woke up this morning feeling completely wrecked. I think I’ve been overdoing things a bit recently, plus I currently have a virus that’s bad enough for me to have felt that I should do a Covid test (negative, luckily) … Continued
R and I got up at 7am today, and by 7.10 the wheels had fallen off the day, with the discovery of a dead muntjac on the top lawn. I’d been planning to zoom off to Wiltshire straight after breakfast, … Continued
This is the largest UK species in the Empididae family, which are commonly called dagger flies, balloon flies or sometimes dance flies. The first of these names is the one that makes most sense to me, because they mostly have … Continued