Pastures and Stonewalls

Even though Spring only just began, this past weekend we all enjoyed tidings of summer with temperatures as high as 18 degrees (C).

View over the hills - a new place to make new friends with our small fellow beings.

After having spent month in layers of clothing in- and outdoors, it is invigorating to feel the warmth of the sun on the bare skin of arms and face. The skin is literally soaking up the sunbeams, which flood in streams of energy through the body and make you feel alive.

And of course this applies to all animals, not just the humans.

After a freezing cold night (my washing was frozen on the washing line outside), the temperatures climbed up to 16 degrees C and more very quickly. The sudden temperature change created a think haze, almost like fog. But the air cleared up eventually, and there was not a single cloud in the sky. The only reminder that it is still spring was a gentle breeze that would catch you every now and then. 

Who can resist this inviting sunshine? I surely couldn't and was keen to go and meet up with my small friends. Who will have made an appearance now the warmth is waking up nature from its winter sleep? Time to go and find out!

A public footpath right behind where I currently reside leads to nearby open fields. The path is sided by stone walls, it looks as though it was once a stream. The first part of the path is well used but soon it turns very muddy and most (dog) walkers seem to avoid it if they can. 

Nature always finds a way - this tree appears to have come down some time ago during a storm, but that doesn't stop it from growing ... part of the main stem is hollow and covered with moss, giving home to a varied selection of insects.

This of course is perfect for me. I seem to be a magnet for dogs when I am out with my camera. They all come running up to me. Usually because they are scared at first and cannot make out what this human is doing crouching on the ground - I could be another predator afterall ! - so they come and check me out, accompanied by much barking, followed by a very embarrassed owner shouting "(insert dog's name)! Come here!". 

This is of course in 95% of cases completely ignored. The dogs soon realise I am not a threat of any sort and then they want to be friendly. Too friendly! Now again, I don't mind that at all BUT NOT when I have just spotted a very rare insect about to take of or do something else of importance.  And why do they have to wee on the spot I just looked at?

On this particular day I even landed up with a collie dog following me for a good 40 minutes. At first I thought it's owners must be somewhere on these paths or perhaps it's a farmer's dog. It was extremely well behaved and it acted as it was supposed to be my dog. Eventually I noticed a dog tag with a number. It was clear that the owners were not anywhere near so I rang the number. Indeed the dog had escaped from her (it was a girl dog (I don't like the 'B' word) garden in the nearby village. I arranged to meet up with the owner somewhere halfway. The dog reluctantly went back home.

So, no dogs makes it quite a bit easier to concentrate on the small fellow beings.

The damp conditions are great for mosses and the banks are covered in a velvety carpet. Interupted only by the odd patch of yellow where the Lesser Celandines are growing; one of the first spring wildflowers to show its glossy little heads.

Lots of little micro worlds in the moss among the tree roots.

The air is filled with the scent of spring; blossoms, cut grass, the scent the skin gives off when exposed to the warm sunshine. All that lives is full with life. Just before reaching the open fields the path leads past some blackthorn bushes which are blossoming. Its white flowers are a great attraction to many buzzing beings, such as this tiny ensign fly. At first a little shy and hiding ...

... but it can't resist that delicious nectar for long and it just has to 'dig in'. 

One of my favourite spots to 'hang out' are stonewalls. If you sit still long enough, you will soon be surrounded by other life. The longer you are still (in mind and body) the more you see. The eyes soon adapt to even the slightest movement. It's now matter of catching it with the camera without disturbing them in their daily business. That is why I never use a tripod (no time and never get the angle right anyway) and no flash or light rings. If I could I would levitate so as not to trod on anything but there is a limit in my abilities ... 

Stonewalls are a much loved habitat for insects of all kind. Spiders love it for catching flies and small bugs, mostly blown into their silky strands and webs by gusts. Some of the very small insects have a hard time clinging on to the stone.

The above small creature was unidentified for some time but with help by knowledgable people on Twitter and also the Natural History Museum's ID forum we have come to the conclusion that it is a nymph, most likely a Heteroptera nymph.

A windswept 'Oulema obscura' - tiny leaf beetle

Ever so inquisitive jumping spiders - first pretending to run off only to return and eagerly examining the lens, first in mild  annoyance which quickly seem to turn into curiosity. One of the few where it is very easy to get a portrait shot. ;)

And of course the ever present jumping spiders! When I for the first time saw these close up I was totally taken by just how 'cute and fluffy' they look. In fact macro photography helped me overcome my phobia of spiders all together. Even the bigger ones I can now quite happily accept in the house. Sometimes I name them, just for the fun of it but I no longer break out into a heap of shivering sweating mess. Instead I have learnt just how much good they do, like every other insect and that they play all their part in nature.

After having spent some time, sometimes hours, observing what is small, bigger beings almost seem huge, such as this hover fly, coming to enjoy the warmth given off by the stone. I too enjoy sitting on stones, in the shelter of the stonewall, giving off heat which they stored from the sunbeams charging them up: nature's storage heaters.

There are so many different types of flies ... I am not very good ad ID'ing them. It's brown ... and hairy. And actually quite handsome. That's as far as I go. ;)

Spring time means of course mating but also the first appearances of all young ones, such as this juvenile Sawfly. Not sure which variation of the saw fly this will develop into though. Sawflies belong to the same insect group or order as Bees, Wasps and Ants. (News to me!)

They are apparently a pest for many gardeners but to me they are very beautiful. They were present in abundance last year in a meadow that was kept 'wild' for 2 years and I had the joy of being able to observe many different types of sawfly going on with their daily business of mostly hunting for prey in shape of other beetles, namely 'Soldier Beetles'. You find plenty of photographs on this matter in older blog posts.

On my way back to 'base' I spend some time in the open (and empty) grazing fields. Where there are dock plants, there are dock beetles; our natural weed killers. Little green jewels in our pastures. At this time of the year they only have one thought: mating. Some years ago I actually captured on camera a dock beetle male mating a ladybird ... I wonder how nature regulates cross species breeding .. I'd like to imagine a green sparkly bug with black spots! You will often find them in groups of three: one female and two males. The two males usually are wrangling over who is going to 'do the job'. They make for most entertaining observations and I have dedicated a specific page just to the dock beetles, one of which is shown below.

And lastly, for today's entry: let your lawns go wild especially in spring. The dandelions are an important and much needed source of food for all the bees who have woken up after the long winter months.  Dandelions are one of the first flowers to pop up and their sunny little heads pop up all over the pastures.

Well that is it for now, I have another entry to follow at somepoint soon about my 2nd visit to the magic area of woodland which is also very near to my 'base'. 

The bluebells will be out in large numbers very soon!