Pick of the bunch
Post categories: Flickr
| 11:13 UK time, Monday, 28 June 2010
Summer seems to be well and truly under way now. I spent the weekend down Gower and the weather was outstanding.
I didn't notice much in the way of nature as I was on a friend's stag weekend...but I definitely saw burnet moths on the morning after the night before and plenty of bats over the weekend but please don't push me for any formal identification.
A golden moon over Worm's Head looked particularly supernatural on Friday evening.
Here are a few that have caught my eye on recently:
This grass snake in water was spotted by 'Rat Salad'. Interestingly the only time I've seen one was also in water - a rather large specimen in my parent's pond who still refuse to believe I actually saw one.
They are of course, completely harmless - unless you're a frog, so you should feel very privileged if you're lucky enough to ever find one in your pond.
This next amazing macro shot shows what I believe to be a harlequin ladybird about to devour an aphid - something to help raise gardeners spirits during this dry spell.
You can currently take part in a UK ladybird survey.
Charles Dawson has been visited by a hedgehog recently. It seems slightly bizarre to feature hedgehogs as 'unusual' when you consider how common they once were?
Let's hope they can claw their way back. There's plenty you can do to help though.
Ìý
Modern gardens and fencing make it tough for our little prickly friends to move around so consider leaving a gap or a hole for them in fence panels. An adult can travel up to two miles a night so they like to stretch their legs.
Old piles of logs and leaves in a wild area of the garden will also provide a nice home for them.
Avoid using slug pellets as hedgehogs will often eat dead or dying slugs and snails by mistake, thus ingesting the poison. You could also consider using eco-friendly pellets.
A healthy hedgehog will be far better for your garden than any pesticides.You can even for your garden.
And finally a baby smooth or common newt was spotted by Joy in Carmarthenshire recently.
It's around this time of year that the adults begin to leave the water and hide out in long grasses and under stones near to the water. This is known as the 'territorial stage'.
That's it for now. Keep the photos coming and take a look through our beautiful butterfly gallery if you haven't already done so.
Gull
I didn't notice much in the way of nature as I was on a friend's stag weekend...but I definitely saw burnet moths on the morning after the night before and plenty of bats over the weekend but please don't push me for any formal identification.
A golden moon over Worm's Head looked particularly supernatural on Friday evening.
Here are a few that have caught my eye on recently:
This grass snake in water was spotted by 'Rat Salad'. Interestingly the only time I've seen one was also in water - a rather large specimen in my parent's pond who still refuse to believe I actually saw one.
They are of course, completely harmless - unless you're a frog, so you should feel very privileged if you're lucky enough to ever find one in your pond.
This next amazing macro shot shows what I believe to be a harlequin ladybird about to devour an aphid - something to help raise gardeners spirits during this dry spell.
You can currently take part in a UK ladybird survey.
Charles Dawson has been visited by a hedgehog recently. It seems slightly bizarre to feature hedgehogs as 'unusual' when you consider how common they once were?
Let's hope they can claw their way back. There's plenty you can do to help though.
ÌýModern gardens and fencing make it tough for our little prickly friends to move around so consider leaving a gap or a hole for them in fence panels. An adult can travel up to two miles a night so they like to stretch their legs.
Old piles of logs and leaves in a wild area of the garden will also provide a nice home for them.
Avoid using slug pellets as hedgehogs will often eat dead or dying slugs and snails by mistake, thus ingesting the poison. You could also consider using eco-friendly pellets.
A healthy hedgehog will be far better for your garden than any pesticides.You can even for your garden.
And finally a baby smooth or common newt was spotted by Joy in Carmarthenshire recently.
It's around this time of year that the adults begin to leave the water and hide out in long grasses and under stones near to the water. This is known as the 'territorial stage'.
That's it for now. Keep the photos coming and take a look through our beautiful butterfly gallery if you haven't already done so.
Gull
Comment number 1.
At 21st Jul 2010, john newton wrote:refering to the person who saw a grass snake in his pond: I've just saw a grass snake swimming up our local canal. I'm just about to call back up there to get a photograph...
Complain about this comment (Comment number 1)