Football v Nature...

Here in England, there is no escape from 'the beautiful game' (yeah, right) that is the FIFA World Cup. Apparently, erstwhile England manager Bill Shankly, once said that football is more important than life and death. If however you are one of the minority who even dares to admit that football leaves you cold, then may I suggest that you come on in to my latest blog update right now! 

It's lovely in here, honest it is: it even smells great, like wild English honeysuckle after summer rain. Despite what old shaky-Shankly thinks, there is more to life than kicking a pig's bladder around a park!  And as Van Gogh once said "If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere". C'mon, do like Robbie Williams did at the opening ceremony, stick a middle finger up and...."Let me entertain you"...♫♫♫

(Click on any photo for a larger view)

Scathophaga stercoraria

What better to begin this update than this beautiful..........DUNG Fly! 

Yes, as its common name suggests, this fly is not only found on the feces of large mammals, but it also breeds there. If you find this abhorrent, then consider the following: the abundance of these flies has been directly influenced by intensive farming by us humans: and so now they are  integral in the animal kingdom, due to their role in the natural decomposition of dung in fields.

Shall we progress to something that is truly beguiling...

OK, I know it's only a fly, but come on, even flies look good in the right light huh? 

These few photographs are all from an early morning trip that I took to Marden Meadows recently. Marden Meadows is a nature reserve east of Marden here in Kent, and is managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust. It is also a site of special scientific interest. 

A Hoverfly (Estralis species)

The hoverfly pictured above, on one of the many large, white daisies that litter the meadows right now, is trying to emulate a honey bee. They are quite good mimics, but unlike the bees,  have only one pair of wings, and no sting. They can be tricky to tell apart, but I think this one is E.tenax.  

Whereas these next photos are of a honey bee, and a very wet one at that!

I also came across this tiny creature: I think this is a leaf beetle larva...

You can possibly tell from these photographs that it was quite a dewy morning. It must be a  fairly vulnerable time for the bugs as they cannot fly until all that water has dispersed, or has been evaporated by the sun,  from their wings. 

Way back in July of 2014 I blogged about a species of weevil called Hypera rumicis, I described the pupal cases of these weevils as being like 'wild spun sugar' (that blog entry is HERE by the way, if you would like to come back and view it after reading this update). Well, I managed to photograph some more of these structures, at Marden Meadows this time. As with everything else I found, they were covered in dew drops...

You can clearly see the larva inside this case

I walked across an empty land
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand
I felt the earth beneath my feet

I looked up and saw this ladybird so sweet...

I wonder if male ladybirds mind being called ladies?

And if all of these pictures haven't been enough to hold your interest...well, you won't be reading this I guess! Assuming that you are though, my final offering from my early morning photo shoot is this voyeur image of two bonking beetles. 

This next photo is one that I took closer to home a few days ago...

Pentatoma rufipes

This is a final instar (the last stage before becoming an adult bug) of the Red-legged Shieldbug. They are quite large bugs when adult; you can see an adult HERE in a post from 2011 that I wrote about bugs moulting.

Yes, time to blow the whistle on this particular update before we get into injury time. I shall leave you with a final thought on 'the beautiful game' (that's football, in case you were confused) from a guy called Graham, who called the radio show '5 Live Breakfast, to share these pearls of wisdom..."The game is run by spivs, chancers and gangsters, it's played by morons and it's watched by cretins". Phew! So pleased my name is not Graham...heresy! 

How about a triptych ending then? (couldn't be bothered keeping the football analogy going by calling it a hat-trick) Applying the term loosely of course; here are three photographs I took of a fabulous Puss moth larva...

If you are thinking that it is quite an odd looking caterpillar, just take a look at how it looks immediately prior to pupating...

That'll be all for now chums. Take care until we meet back here for update number 221 in which I will attempt to alienate all cricket lovers, by suggesting that it is the most boring sport...

My good 'Flickr friend' Jason, has some lovely photos of the green veined orchids at Marden Meadows that you might like to check out HERE

2016 without a shadow of a doubt...

I blogged for the first time ever on December 18th 2010 (I think it was) and here we are 5+ years later still doing it. Alright, it has been erratic and sporadic at times but then, so has my life.

What will 2016 hold? Who knows, the only certainty is that it will once again be different from the preceding year(s). It has started differently without a shadow of a doubt.

What does a shadow of a doubt look like do you think?

Alright then, shall we crack on with the first update of a new year? Please say yes or.......oh, you did! good show...

Whilst reminiscing about the, what would it be, close to 2000 days since I wrote that first blog entry? Perhaps I will indulge myself and share a few of my favourite photographs. Of course you may have different ones altogether. Or possibly none at all... 

But as Mother Teresa famously once said: “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”

Scathophaga stercoraria is the name of my first insect find of the year. I might be forgiven for using only the scientific name in this instance? Why so? Because the more common name is the Yellow Dung Fly, and we don't want to start a new year in the s...surely not!

March to November is what my book says. In truth, I have found them in February before, but even so, January seems very premature. I have more shots to share as there is a bit of a way to go yet before bugs are once again abundant and I have to pad this blog out somehow...

You could forgive me for not using the common name for that fly, but can you forgive me also for informing you that it was my first insect find of the year when really, this one was...

I'm sharing it still on the camera because the photo is, how can I best describe? Pants! Yes, that's it...Pants, with a capital P. It took me by surprise, it was a very dull day, I only had the camera and no flash with me, it only allowed me a couple of quick shots before it was off, I had to use f5 and 1600 ISO to get enough light, I.....blah, de blah, de blah......Oh OK...here's the bl**dy photo...

There...I did warn you it was pants. (I must apologise for the 'p' in my pants, I forgot to use a capital that time.) All the same, what a treat to find Corizus hyoscyami in mid-winter like this. I know they are listed as being around all year and do overwinter as adults, but I have never seen one in winter until now. (Yeah, and then you messed up on the photo JJ!) 

Maybe it's time for the first mystery find of 2016? Well that's what is coming next anyway, so ner, ner, ner, ner...

When I was sifting through some leaflitter (don't you?) I came across this little object; at first I suspected it was just a seed, or maybe a key. I almost rejected it but then noticed that it felt too soft and squidgy for either of those. I gently pressed it. Not as gently as I thought I had actually, because as I did so, this happened...

And so I am ashamed to say that this has now changed from a 'what is it' to a 'what was it'. Assuming it was some kind of larva?

And the second mystery object is?

All I can tell you is that it was found on a pine tree and is hard to the touch. Insect construction, or plant material?

And the third object(s)...

My own guess for these would be, let me see, something like hoverfly eggs from last year that failed to hatch? Although I am not sure if hoverflies lay eggs in this random pattern. The shape is reminiscent of ones that I have found before though.

In my local woods the other day, I found a hazel tree that still had some green leaves...

I turned over a few leaves and found these orange ladybirds...

Those are just phone grabs by the way, because that's all I had with me.

And so here I am at 10.30 on a cold January evening in 2016 just about to wrap up.

Oh hang on...I didn't complete that sentence. Just about to wrap up another blog entry, leave cyber world behind for today, shower and hit the hay for another night of fitful sleep and weird dreams. Just before I do though, I will share one last picture. This again is from the garden and is a springtail that I spotted apparently eating its own moult; I had no idea they did this...

Until the next time...

Apologies to my overseas readers who won't get this reference because you will have a different name for the above vegetable? Apologies also to UK readers who probably won't get the reference either, 'cos it's pretty lame!