Welcome Spring!

Spring is in full swing and the landscape changes quickly; the fields change from muted green and brown into juicy green pastures. The grass blades glistening in the sunshine, with cheery yellow spots where Dandelions are eagerly greeting the warm sunshine, opening their fleshy heads wide to invite all the buzzes and crawls.

Although most pleasantly warm, there is a breeze in the air which makes it tricky to photograph out in the open and I will have more shelter in the nearby woodland. It covers only a small area but I can spend hours in there as it has so many different micro-climates. The only visibly maintained parts are some of the foodpaths. The trees, shrubs and bushes are left to do as they please. A fair amount of trees have fallen in the storms. While upright, home to birds, now on the ground they will be home to many insects and spiders. Nothing is wasted.

(Photos of the landscape are taken with mobile phone and therefore of lesser quality)

Right at the entrance of the woodland are several burred trees. This 'lumps' are caused by grain growing in a deformed manner and it is apparently caused by the tree experimenting some form of stress, either environmental or through human influence. From a woodworking point of view though, bur wood is highly appreciated for its beauty. 

As one wanders deeper into the woodland, the grounds is covered with the first spring wildflowers. The yellow patches make a joyous contrast with the green background. 

(lesser) Celandine

 The footpath winds its way through the woodland, sometimes splitting into two or three and being interrupted by little streams that make their way downhill. The further one ventures into the woodland, the more overgrown the paths are which of course means there are less walkers and more peace for the wildlife.

New 'worlds' await around each corner and the air is filled with the sweet scent of wood anemones and the burbling sound from the stream. The stream is 'decorated' with stones and rocks of all sizes, many of which are covered in mosses and other forms of vegetation. Large fallen branches and sometimes entire trees make for a perfect bridge for wildlife to cross the stream.

One of my favourite spots is an section of the stream that is filled with stones and 'dead' branches. The stones are overgrown with 'Euphorbia' and the wood ants are very keen on these plants. They use debris in the water to cross the stream to move from stone to stone. 

Each year I seem to have a favourite subject: in 2016 it was the soldier beetles, this year so far it seems to be the wood ants. And I am quite grateful that I have not yet been bitten as I have mostly kneel and crouch on the ground to take some of these photos. I'd like to add that I am ever so careful where I place my feet as the floor is covered with these little fellows; which can take a while ...  

All the nearby trees are covered with streams of ants going up and down. While standing there watching them climb I have noticed that many of them just fall off ... not entirely sure if that is because they are bad climbers or because they want to save time ... having observed the ants one thing I have noticed: no time or matter is wasted. All is very organised and purposeful. 

Ants meet up to exchange information about food availability via their antenna and it also give them information about the other ant's ID. Sometimes they do also exchange food.

Shadow dance ...

What's up doc?

With spring progressing, the wood anemones will be disappearing soon to make room for the bluebells which have not yet quite opened up.

Tiny Hoverfly enjoying the pollen of a wood anemone.

The wood anemones fill the air with their sweet scent of vanilla and honey and clearly attracts a great variety of insects.

Photobombed ... this little beetle decided it wanted to be on the picture ;)

A very young 'Stretch Spider' sunbathing on the petal of a wood anemone. I spent some time watching it; so delicate, yet the petal can support the weight of this little spider. Just how clumsy are we humans!!

And the first 'Greater Stitchwort' flowers have made an appearance, it cannot be long now before the bluebells are out. 

Weather and light conditions permitting, I may be able to re-visit the woodland and return with news from the bluebells. 

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! 

Ants and Woodland

It has been a while since the last blog entry. Other matters have taken up time but now with the days already wonderfully long - daylight from 6am till 8pm - I have a little more time to go and explore and observe once more.

Having moved, new 'hunting grounds' are available. One of which is an area of woodland only 5 minutes from my doorstep. Parts of it are said to be ancient.

It appears 'from the outside' a small area but once inside, it is an never ending oasis of small worlds to discover. It is riddled with wide and narrow footpath, some frequently used, others hardly visible. A stream enters the woodland, gently making its way over stones and filling the area with relaxing sounds of water as it flows over stones. The stream makes its way through the woodland, its winding path offering some great views with its banks full of Woodland Anemone. Soon the ground will be covered in bluebells.

The woodland has many 'micro' worlds, offering home to many creatures and it is filled with the sing song of birds. I shall film it one day.

Now covered with Woodland Anemone, soon to be followed by a carpet of blue bells.

But my main reason for coming here are a very particular type of insect: the woodland Ants. There are at least 4 huge nests in this woodland and all the ants are busy going about their daily tasks. If I time it right I can 'catch' them while they still 'wake up'. 

The ants are very sluggish early in the morning, just like most of us once we have managed to crawl from under the duvet. While in our case its mostly tiredness, in the ant's case it is most likely due to temperature rises; I have noticed them being much slower in cold temperatures, but when I go and re-visit when it has warmed up, they all move much quicker and in far greater numbers.  This in turn is a challenge for my photography as I don't use a tripod or any other help but my steady hands. But there is a limit to how calmly I can follow an ant racing up and down the stem of a tree ... hence why I prefer to visit them early when they are slower, and less bothered by my presence.

 Some sort of exchange - whenever two ants cross paths, a quick exchange of some sort takes place, it doesn't always look friendly. Perhaps the ant on the right is being told off for being lazy ... ;)

This little excited chap above was not at all keen on my lens being so close up. They are certainly not shy! While other insects fly off and go and hide, these little creatures are a feisty bunch and stand their ground; size doesn't matter!

While others are far more interested to make a good appearance ... such as this little ant here, not at all bothered by my lens and it spent ages grooming itself.

The woodland is filled with very old fir trees. Their bark is a fantastic background! I spent some time observing this ant (above and below) and wasn't quite sure what it was trying to do; you may just be able to make it out: there are some strands of spider silk spun across the bark. For some reason, this ant kept walking into them, only to then spend ages struggling to get out. It did this several times. Not sure what the purpose of the exercise was.

If meant to be I shall return to my little friends over the weekend. A most amusing and astounding bunch to observe.

And nature always is

Matters have settled down a little and with the days now becoming longer there is more time to photograph. Life is still quite, so it seems ... but upon closer inspection it has of course never stopped.

Although there are not yet many insects about - though I have seen some tiny types of woodlice - other life forms continue being.

It was a frosty morning and I was waiting for the sun to be up high enough in the sky so it could warm up the ground a little. As that didn't happen, I found some warmth near the stonewalls. In the heavy stroms in 2014, two huge chestnut trees had come down and they have by now become home for all kind of fungus and no doubt will be visited by countless insects when it warms up.

The above I only spotted because I was curious as to what the tiny orange blobs are on a fairly sizeable piece of 'old' tree branch lying on the wet ground. Getting close up I realised that it was some type of fungus. I am no specialist in this are so am yet to find out what type of fungus it is. Any knowledgeable reader is welcome to share of course.

Further on, the actual fallen tree (which was huge) is slowly being covered by all kind of different fungus - none of which I yet can ID but am in progress of finding out. This specimen here caught my attention because of its warm cream/brown/orange colour and I was surprised to find that their texture is of the velvety fury kind.

And of course ever abundant around here on stonewalls and 'dead' wood - lichen (and moss). Lichen being one of the oldest life forms on this earth ... there is a specific page on this blog that I have reserved for it. 

And lastly this bit of green vegetation, covered in hundreds of sparkly dew drops that have just de-frosted.

Time Flies

I have not had much time recently to post here, partly due to working 7/7 but also because the 'hunting' ground has been cut down to make haylage. This means the habitat of all the insects that I had the pleasure to observe has been removed and with that the insects too have dissapeared.

Therefore I have to travel further and find different spots, otherwise I am seeing the same insects over and over as there is now not much variety in the grazing fields.

Still, I do get the odd moment when I have time and the weather is suitable (i.e. light and windstill) but the majority of photographs is posted on Instagram:

For those that don't know: instagram is a handy little social media app where people worldwide share photographs. Why not join POTR on instagram to keep up-to-date?  Username:  pixelsontherocks

Perhaps see you there! :)

I will post here and share all the discoveries from the summer months once the days are shorter and the evenings draw in. But while the sun is shining, I make the most of it by being outside!

Till very soon ...

Haylage Meadows - Habitat Gone

It is the time of the year ... July is THE month for all the haylage making nearby. While this is great news for the farmers and their livestock as well as all horse owners, it is quite bad news for all the insects that have taken up residence in the long grasses.

Indeed one of my favrouite hunting patches has fallen victim to haylage making. Early this week, near midnight even, the tractors were out, cutting down all the fields that had been left untouched for nearly 2 years.

I woke up and when I saw it I was close to running out and to lie down in front of the tractor!  All the caterpillars that I had watched up there, all the little spots for various bugs that I had found and repeatedly visited, all gone.

The weather since hasn't been good enough to go and visit the fields again, at least along the stonewalls some of the long grasses are still there and of course all those insects that took up residence in the brambles are fine. No machine messes with brambles!

The most unfortunate part of it is this one cocoon (below) that I had been watching for weeks - the cocoon of a burnett moth caterpillar. I saw it make it and went to visit it every week. It would have been time just about now for the moth to emerge but it won't have survived the tractor wheels and the cutting. Just a day before they were cutting I went to visit it and it looked as though it was just about ready ... A great shame really as I was hoping to photograph it's last stages before emerging.

But alas, the world keeps turning and life goes on in other places. Below the larvae of a thistle tortoise beetle. They are so hard to spot! Tiny specks of  moving 'dirt' at first and only by closer observation can you see the spikey larvae. The thistles are full with them at the moment.

And this below rather unusual and fairly rare being is a Slender Striped Robber Fly. At first it looked like a cranefly and it flies in a similar manner but its somewhat long body remained me of a damselfly. Close up from the front, its eyes are blue and it has a little 'moustache'. Unfortunately the portrait shot is not sharp enough, it was a breezy day.