This post contains some trash, and a candid photo of JJ...

I first became aware of the poet Thomas Hood through the Bonzo Dog Band and their song called 'Shirt'. Viv Stanshall and the lads in turn went on to influence Monty Python...'That's just the name of the shop Sir..' Anyhow, Thomas Hood was famous for "Bridge of Sighs", but also "The Song of the Shirt". Thomas himself turns out to be a bit of a joker, playing practical jokes on his wife.

What's all this leading up to? Merely that today (as I write) is May 4th (no Star Wars jokes here) and I thought I would mark the entrance to this favourite month with another of his works: this one is luckily entitled 'May'...

I'm pleased to be able to report that the blue-tits that have been checking out the garden nest box since late winter, have decided that it would once again make a suitable home for them and on April 26th I took this photograph of the 8 eggs already laid by the female.

I checked the box this morning and although there are no signs of imminent hatching, they do all still look good and intact.

Here's hoping for a successful brood, with no visits from the 'hood cats. The defence system is still in place, so fingers crossed.

Now that there are so many wild flowers blooming, there is pollen to be had by any hungry insect. This next photo is of what I like to call a pollen beetle. To be correct though, I think it is a beetle from the Byturidae family, called a Fruitworm Beetle. There are just 2 species here in the UK and I think this one could possibly be Byturus ochraceus.

The increasing amount of sunshine has also tempted out lots of little jumping spiders; at least it has in my garden...

 Salticus scenicus - A Jumping Spider

To Sprawl (verb):

If you sprawl somewhere, you sit or lie down with your legs and arms spread out in a careless way.

This is the larva of a woodland species of moth called Asteroscopus sphinx. Its common name of 'The Sprawler', is said to come from the larva's habit of throwing back its head in a defensive attitude. These moths occur in Spain, Italy, Greece, Sweden, Turkey and even Moscow. 

Luckily, I found mine (at least the larva) in the woods not more than a mile from my house! The larvae feed on various deciduous trees; this one was on oak.

I found this next beast on a gatepost: all I can tell you is that it's a fat bee! I think somebody once called me that...oh no, wait a minute, that was 'a Fat B' come to think of it. I suppose I can also tell you that this is a female. As for pinning down a species though; there's more chance of me listening to a Justin Bieber album on repeat.

When you have been hooked on bug hunting as long as I have, it's always a special day when you find something that you have never seen before. I have found quite a few species of harvestman now, (I'm never quite sure if the plural should be written as harvestmen?) but this is a first for me...

Homalenotus quadridentatus - A Harvestman

Homalenotus quadridentatus mainly occurs in the south and southeast of the UK. Only limited information is available on phenology, but it is said to be found all year due to adults living for more than one year. Breeding is likely to occur in mid-summer. Quite a spiky harvestman.

Time to reveal my next bug find: this one may surprise you. It's kinda strange looking. Here's a clue to its identity...

Yes, this bug recycles its own waste. Basically, instead of discarding  any unwanted 'packaging', it makes good use of it as camouflage. Once it has located its prey; consumed all the edible parts by...well, I won't bother you with the gory details, but once done, it hoicks what is left onto its back. It does this each time it eats and the resulting trash deposit soon becomes quite pronounced.

 But what is this insect, what will it become?

Yes! A bit of a Cinderella story really: this odd looking 'Trash Bug' morphs into a beautiful and delicate Lacewing. Another of nature's marvelous inventions. The one thing that bothers me a little about calling them nature's recyclers,  is that eventually, they will undergo one final moult to become the adult insect; that will leave behind the exoskeleton (exuvia) along with all of the detritus and so the cycle/recycling is not quite complete?

I wish to make it clear that the portrayal of myself as 'fat' was purely a rather feeble attempt at comedy. I am actually sylphlike. Oh! Hang on though, that is a feminine term right? Erm, svelte then, is that applicable to males of the species?

Just in case I have chosen badly with both of those descriptions of my...frame, here's a rare candid photograph that proves beyond doubt that I am no Billy Bunter...