The Curmudgeonly Old Bugger is born...

Before we get into this, I want to apologise dear reader if the text is messy regards some being centred, some ranged etc. Blogger is playing silly buggers again and I have no control!

I am going to be honest and upfront about the fact that this update is going to be something different. You may, or may not like the change, but it's only something I plan to include occasionally and as Coco Chanel once said: “In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.” - I "should Coco, Coco!" 

The seed for this was planted in a little comment from an old friend on social media recently, who, when I myself commented that I didn't care for something, wrote this..."Yes, but you are just a curmudgeonly old bugger!"

I had to agree, there are things about everyday life that 'get my goat'. So why not create another blog where I could vent all these issues? I soon had second thoughts about that one though - who wants to read a blog where the author just rants! 

As a compromise, I decided I would trial something I am calling a blog within a blog. Here then is update number one of...

 David Attenborough!

Holy crap JJ! You are never going to begin by ripping into a national treasure, surely? Not exactly no. I wouldn't dare. And besides, Sir David has single-handedly done more to make us aware of the natural world and its frailties than any other human I can think of. BUT, take a look at this very short video if you will...

Cute kids asking Sir David questions on BBC Breakfast recently. That's cool. But David...it's what you say in reply that irks me somewhat. Perhaps your memory is failing in your dotage? Or were you just trying to protect youngsters from the facts? You have immense knowledge; you know about spiders. You have one named after you in Australia. You must therefore know that it simply isn't true that "there are no spiders in the UK that will bite you". 

Okay, we can discuss just how many there are, but isn't it incontrovertible that there are some? Let's take a look at some of the evidence shall we. You were appearing on the BBC: here is a piece on spiders from that very organisation...

The tabloid press would have us believe that there are many more biting spiders in the UK...

I think we can put our trust in The Natural History Museum though...

Then there is the much-respected British Arachnological Society view...

And so Sir David, can we agree that whether its three, twelve, or fifteen, there are SOME that can bite! 

Apologies to anyone outside of the UK who probably won't have a clue as to what that normal service picci is all about. See HERE for answer: but not now eh? 

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It can be tricky to know what to blog about at times. Sometimes however, a subject literally drops down from the sky. The following photo might help explain...

That white area is my notepaper where I had been writing down ideas for this update, when suddenly this tiny critter dropped out of the air (ok, so sky was stretching it a bit) and although it was minute, I didn't immediately recognise that a*se! I tried to get a better picture with my kit lens, but couldn't get close enough of course...

Time to get out the macro kit and snap a few more images...

It looks a little similar to this don't you think?

Not really JJ, no. That's a micro-moth isn't it?

Well yes, it is actually, and my little visitor was not a moth.

Trichadenotecnum sexpunctatum. If nothing else it'd use up all of your scrabble letters. I managed a 16-letter word: 'Counterstatement', can you do any better?  Trichadenotecnum sexpunctatum is what I think this could be. I say think because there are several similar ones and I am no expert on Barkflies. I think I am on solid ground by naming it as a Barkfly; but couldn't say for definite which one. Sure is a pretty little beggar compared to most I have seen though. Oh, there was that cool little nymph I found a few years back...

Meanwhile, this cool little juvenile jumping spider appeared in the house recently...

It couldn't have been much more than 3mm at a guess and so not sure of species; Fencepost Jumping Spider perhaps.

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Erm, I want to take a moment here to thank the anonymous person who left such a lovely comment on my last blog update...

Not only was it a joy to receive and read, but unbeknown to the poster of this comment was the fact that it was  the one thousandth comment on my blog!

Just before I get my coat, I teased you with the micro-moth, saying it looked similar to the Psocid (Barkfly) which of course was kinda tenuous really. However, I do have another choice that I would like to substitute, and is more deserving of being labelled as a lookie-likie...

Leaving aside the fact that this particular one is greenish in colour; there are definite similarities. Both have  kind of bug-eyes, both have long antennae and both fold their wings over their backs in a kind of tent fashion.

This is not a Psocid though: rather a Psyllid. Psyllids are known as Jumping Plant-lice. By the way, you may be interested to know that there are two distinct groups of Psocids: species that occur outdoors are known as Barkflies, and those that are only recorded indoors are Booklice.

And so now it really is time to put this update to bed. One final thought, I wonder how this year has been for Damselflies? Locally I have to say, it has been very poor. Sightings are way down. I think these two mating White-legged Damselflies might well be the only ones I photographed this year...