It's a braw, bricht, moonlicht nicht

As it's almost Christmas, a time for fun and frolics, I shall begin this update with 30 seconds of funny British TV advertising from the 1990s (you'll need your sound on for this)...

This video will not appear in the emailed version of my update. You need to view online blog in web browser

I of course, being slightly older than Methuselah, recall the original tune which went like this: Lord Rockingham's XI – Hoots Mon Lyrics: Hoots mon, there's a moose, loose, aboot this hoose...

But as any true Scot, and even most Sananachs could tell you, moose in this instance, does not refer to the North American Elk, but to a tiny rodent...

I can even give you the scientific name and a brief description of the species I want to talk about: Mus musculus: Characteristically having a pointed snout, large rounded ears, and a long and hairy tail. What do you mean it sounds like a description of me - I don't have a long and hairy tail!

EDIT: I now believe these to be Field/Wood mice rather than house mice. 

So what's this all about with the 'Moose, loose' thing then JJ? 

Well I'm afraid I have had to evict a moose from my hoose - yes, it was keeping me awake at night with its nocturnal shenanigans in the loft. Not just one actually, not even two, but three...thus far!

I did use a humane trap though and have now safely re-located them away from the house. All I need to do now is to check tonight for more, and then start the search for where they are entering the house, to prevent a repeat performance.

Cute little buggers though...

I must admit to being slightly puzzled as to how they managed to bring all of that loft insulation into the trap though. Impossible all at once, therefore they must have made several journeys. If they did that, managed to get in and out of the trap, why were they still there when I found them? 

Oh well, it's not the only thing that puzzles me in life: I have lots of 'why is' questions that remain unanswered. Look what happens if you Google that phrase:

Moving along then: there isn't too much left of this year and I do intend to publish this update before December is out                        . (apologies for the full-stop being right over here - my period was late!)

Once again this year I have been finding quite a few springtails in the back garden. December is a good month for them and they can even withstand the cold, so can be spotted on frosty days too. 

Unfortunately I have failed to spot any of the spectacular 'Katianna' species that I was finding 5 years ago. They look like this...

I shall carry on searching though: I reckon they are like my brain cells, I know they are there somewhere! "In the wardrobe of my soul, in the section labelled shirts" perhaps? (Thanks Viv.)

Speaking (or writing anyhow) about brain cells: do you know what a 'Haiku' is?

Wiki says: Haiku is a very short form of Japanese poetry in three sentences going in the order 5 syllables 7 syllables and then 5 again.

Not sure what syllables are? Here's a simple explanation (not!)

How do you count syllables?

Count the number of vowels (A, E, I, O, U) in the word.

1. Subtract 1 for each diphthong or triphthong in the word.
2. Does the word end with "le" or "les?" Add 1 only if the letter before the "le" is a consonant.
3. The number you get is the number of syllables in your word.

To (miss)quote Ronald Reagan: "I'm buggered if I know." Luckily there is a website that will generate a Haiku for you; here's mine...

Springtail - A Haiku

by JJ

Garden wintertime

before tiny springtail jumps

above the purple

There, and not a dippy/trippy thong in sight!

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Shall we return to the subject at hand? I think we should. You are not going to believe the caterpillar I found the other day in the orchard behind my house...

You're not going to believe it are you? Good, because I was only dreaming.

I did actually find a caterpillar, but it was dull as dishwater by comparison...

Not a great photo either, right. My flash misbehaved that day and would only work on full power. But still, great to see a caterpillar of any kind this late in the year. It looks like it was preparing to pupate.

Yes, if you don't like our eight-legged friends then I suggest you skip this part. Treat yourself to a mince pie and a glass of mulled wine and come back further down the page. 

Spider is just here

Yes, this little one turned up in the house the other day (which is the 'other' day?) and I thought it was possibly Lathys species: however, ace spider man Tylan Berry kindly informed me that it is actually a young Amaurobius species.

It wasn't the only thing looking to find a nice warm winter home either. This lacewing was also in the house. Sadly it seems to have a damaged wing and so I re-sited it in my studio in the garden, where it should be fine until spring...

I think that's about enough for now, for this year in fact. I just want to thank all of you who have been kind enough to support my blog through yet another year. I know most of you no longer have the time to comment, but can see from my stats that the blog is well read in many countries.

I'll leave you with what was the only Monarch butterfly I saw whilst in America recently; even then, I was not lucky enough to get close to it - at least, not as close as I would have liked...

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. 

The shorter days are coming to an end...

It's early January 2017 and here we go then, another year of blogging begins right here. This will be year seven. What can I offer at this slack time of year? Well, let me see, how about a couple of garden finds...

Assuming this is a cocoon of some description (I think it is) I really have no idea of what could have constructed it; it is just 3mm long and found on cranes-bill.

Then there was this teeny springtail that was under a broken pot in the garden. As a clue to its size, the photo below is taken at x5 and uncropped...

Looking through some old pictures from 2014 I found this one that was also taken in the garden. This time with the point and shoot camera...

Mullein moth larva

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8th February 2017

Nellie the Elephant packed her trunk
And said goodbye to the circus
Off she went with a trumpety-trump...

Yes, I am afraid that I began this update around a month ago and am only just now finding time to complete it. Never mind, that's life I guess, enough frivolity; let's crack on shall we...let's talk turkey!

  

When I saw this monster of a turkey at Heaven Farm in deepest Sussex recently, I couldn't resist a photo or two. Did you know turkeys have wattles, caruncles and snoods? In fact, I read the following on Wikipedia: In anatomical terms, the snood is an erectile, fleshy protuberance on the forehead of turkeys. Most of the time when the turkey is in a relaxed state, the snood is pale and 2-3 cm long. However, when the male begins strutting (the courtship display), the snood engorges with blood, becomes redder and elongates several centimetres, hanging well below the beak. Blimey! I hope he didn't fancy me.

Meanwhile, back in the garden, another tiny pupa...

This one was again only about 3mm long but this time, found in the soil. I may keep this one to see what eventually emerges.

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I have a number of emperor moth pupae that are overwintering as these fragile looking, papery, pear-shaped cocoons. I am hoping that these will be of mixed sex so that I get the chance to observe both adult moths at close quarters...

Late April onward should see the moths emerge if all is well. Not long now.

I now have another skull to add to my collection! This one is a badger and came to light on a walk through Ashdown Forest. A couple of phone pictures (I have been lazy about using the macro through this winter)...

And one of it beside the red fox skull...

And I think that about wraps up this bitty little update. The longer and brighter days are just around the corner though and so I am hoping that the invertebrates will soon be returning. I have already seen a couple of bees on sunny days. 

I will leave you with a photo of this beetle larva I spotted under bark whilst looking for flat bugs. I am undecided as to exactly what it might be, not large enough for a stag beetle but perhaps one of the longhorns?

Until the next time...

Oh! One last thing: I am pleased to be able to report that Magnet magazine have asked me to write for them for another year and my latest article has just been published...

The online version that can be enlarged for easier reading is available

 HERE (page 22)