Today was the first day of my Easter holiday, and I definitely did very little. This insect was far busier. I know that even without deeply entering into its lifestyle, or anything.
It’s early in the year to see one of these outside, but here one is, scaling what to it is a substantial crag: actually it’s the capstone of a wall next to a car park. We’re both out and about fairly early, in different ways.
The last of the plums have finally been harvested off the tree. I’m leaving the rest for the wasps: this one’s already made a start on the bounty, as you can see.
This beauty — I have given up trying to identify specific species, I always get it wrong (I thought it was a Red Admiral, but apparently not) — was perched not two feet from the traffic on the Keighley Road this morning. Obviously it wanted its close-ups doing.
Also, a curiosity — this is, almost certainly, the first picture of all the thousands on this blog that I have rotated through 180º. Technically you are looking at this upside down.
A couple of thousand feet up a Scottish mountain (Mount Battock), populated almost entirely by grouse. There were no other people, which meant that the grouse were somewhat surprised to see me. And this beetle was crossing my path regardless of my own intentions, with this determined look on its little insect face. “You’re in my way — move, now.”
Emboldened by the appearance of its fellow moth five weeks ago, this one flew over and demanded I did its close-ups. The plums in the background prove that the tree has eventually borne fruit, despite half of it giving up the ghost.
Unless I’ve miscounted — but you can’t prove this, so might as well take my word for it — this is the 1,499th picture on this blog to be taken in Hebden Bridge. Number 1,500 will be along before the week is out.
You wait ages for a small insect and then two turn up in consecutive days. This fly hung around for a while; clearly it has an interest in Ted Nelson’s Literary Machines this afternoon. As did I.
This moth was tiny, barely the size of my thumbnail. Do you know the basic difference between butterflies and moths? I didn’t, until looking it up today — but apparently, all butterflies have little balls at the end of their antennae. As this creature doesn’t have those, it’s a moth. Now you know.
The bee is the symbol of the city of Manchester (something to do with ‘industry’), so it seems appropriate that this guy and his colleagues were busying themselves on campus this afternoon — certainly they are showing more industry than the human inhabitants are at the moment.
Lately most of the ‘likes’ on this blog have come from bots — can I just say hello to the five or six different accounts, all with the same profile picture, who have supported my efforts lately? Clearly I need to spice up this photo-feed a little, so here’s two beetles getting it on in the springtime. So attached (in both senses) were they that they remained entwined even after I manouevred them up onto my finger, in order to avoid squashing them when sitting down on the bench (at university) on which their amorous activities were occurring. I hope they and their babies are now grateful for this consideration.
Being 42 