Les Dawson, Tony Blackburn and Lady Ga Ga drop in...

Even so, I eventually made it back here to publish another exciting blog update. Alright then, a moderately arresting update!

Yes! At long last spring has decided to poke its head out from behind a cloud and give us all a big, warm hug...

“Awake, thou wintry earth. Fling off thy sadness! Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth your ancient gladness!”- Tony Blackburn

You may want to check the validity of this attribution: it may not have actually been the owner of a grin so cheesy that it's cheesier than a lump of cheese wrapped up in cheesecloth inside a cheesy sock!

Before I get to the update, I guess I should provide an answer to my mystery object from a couple of updates ago: You might recall it looked like this...

Well it wasn't some kind of plant as was suggested to me, and it wasn't fungi or slime mould. So here is the full image that I cribbed (or should that be cropped) the picture from...

The Alder moth and caterpillar (Acronicta alni)

Yes, just a little caterpillar/larva of the alder moth.

This video will not show in the e.mail version of my update; you need to view on the internet site...

One of my emperor moth cocoons has been twitching a little and so I have been watching closely to see if it may eclose soon: so far no signs that it will though.

However, I did find that one of the large white butterflies had emerged...

I had to keep it for a couple of days whilst I waited on the weather, but then was able to release it on a sunny day and saw it fly off quite happily (although, I am not sure exactly what a happy butterfly looks like to be honest).

And I think it was on a willow sapling that I spotted this tiny wasp. I wondered if it was egg laying and that got me to wondering if this is perhaps a gall wasp? I do know that willow leaves very often have galls attached, but seem to remember that they are usually produced by sawflies? 

Now that spring has officially sprung and there is even an upturn in the weather, as if it knew what was expected of it, I have been finding increasing numbers of invertebrates to observe and try to hone my photography skills on. After what seems like an inordinate amount of time passing without even picking up the camera, things are on the move...

At first I found a bee...

Then I found a fly...

Then I found...a bee-fly... 

Then I found a lady...

Then I found a bird...

Then I found a ladybird...

10-Spot Ladybird

I think I may look for the meaning of life next!

A Brimstone Butterfly

My butterfly count is coming along for this year. Okay, so they are the species that you might expect to see early spring; being the ones that hibernate, but still, so far I have seen comma, small tortoiseshell, large white, peacock and brimstone: in fact there already seem to be above average numbers of brimstone butterflies locally this year.

The last thing I can update you on is the progress of the nesting blue-tits in the garden. They are doing well actually. I think the nest building stage may be nearing completion: the tempo has certainly increased over the past couple of days and there was still nest material being added at well after 7pm tonight...

Even if at times there has been a struggle to enter the box...

This video will not show in the e.mail version of my update; you need to view on the internet site...