Possibly four days too early...

Hard to believe, but it was almost exactly seven years ago that I  sat down and wrote my very first blog update. Saturday December the 10th 2010 to be exact. 

The winter of 2010 was very cold with lots of snow...

If I publish this latest update on Dec 10 of this year, then it equates to about 2550 days or over sixty one thousand hours between then and now. It occurred to me that as a long-term sufferer of migraine headaches, I calculate if my average count per month is 6 (and sometimes it can be as many as 13) then during those years I have experienced at least 500 attacks. A sobering thought, and seeing it written in black and white like this, makes me wonder how I have remained at all sane!

Comfort's Wood in the grip of winter 2010

On a lighter note, most people it's said pee between 6 and 8 times per day. Let's call it seven shall we. That would mean I have emptied my bladder almost eighteen thousand times. I would tell you how many times my pulse  beat in those seven years, in fact, once I find it, I will! By the way, who was it that recently said that they thought 'PPI' was what you got at the swimming baths?

That's more than enough about my medical frailties, this isn't 'Ask The Doctor'. Let's 'crack on' (unless that is also a medical condition). Now that winter is threatening the lovely county of Kent, finding bugs to blog about is becoming a real challenge. The stars did align one day recently though and I had an hour to spare when the weather was behaving, so dusted off the macro and headed for the high weald, high veld.... 

 Dicyrtomina saundersi (Collembola)

Yes, one thing you can rely on being able to find come winter, Collembola. You'll need keen vision though, most are about 2-3mm as adults. Here's another of the same species that I found...

 And a similar, yet different species...

Dicyrtomina ornata

These tiny creatures that are also known as springtails come in a huge variety of forms. Here's the funky spacehopper edition...

Monobella grassei

This species can be located under rotting wood that you find lying around the countryside - don't you? Well, you should then! More photos? Certainly...

Before we move on from these fascinating critters; you might remember some time ago I found a springtail that had an image of Michael Jackson on its abdomen. Well, I thought it looked like him, there were other suggestions, I think 'are you sure it's not a pigment of your imagination' might have been one of them...

I think Jagger and Jim Morrison were also what other people thought. The point is that it was the strangest one I had ever found. That is until I spotted this next oddity...

Dicyrtominia trumptonia

Curious huh? Not even too sure which is the front end!

Moving on before I make an arse of myself; just about the only other thing I found whilst out with the camera, was this teeny plant hopper...

Unfortunately it seemed to have been affected, and indeed, infected, by fungus... 

My final discovery was of this hairy snail: yes, there is such a thing as a hairy snail...

Trochulus hispidus - A Hairy Snail

That's about it for this update. It's getting colder by the day and my cockles need warming. IF I am not back here with another update before the Christmas season begins, I would like to wish you all happy holidays and offer my sincere thanks for supporting me through yet another year of blogging.