Friday 10th July 2020, 5.25pm (day 3,242)
When the sun shines, we all deserve to perch on a fern somewhere and stretch out at 5.25pm on a Friday evening. Lockdown or no, it’s been a busy week. And butterflies have a lot still to do.
Being 42
Life, one day at a time
Tag Archives: insect
Horned beetle
Monday 15th June 2020, 4.50pm (day 3,217)
The beetle negotiates the wood crevasse, in its funny little helmet (where are its eyes?) and feeling the way ahead with that unicorn horn, which is so protuberant that here it’s become annoyingly just out of focus. I have no idea what species this is; it’s not a European rhinoceros beetle as it’s the wrong colour and we’re not supposed to have them in the UK anyway. It was about an inch (2.5cm) long.
Grasshopper
Tuesday 2nd June 2020, 4.50pm (day 3,204)
I credit Clare as ‘spotter’ on this one. While on the allotment this afternoon she drew my attention to this insect and said, “Try getting a photo of this one.” And so I did. And thank you my love — I rather like the result. This grasshopper has a sense of nobility I think.
First caterpillar to complete the Pennine Way?
Monday 4th May 2020, 1.05pm (day 3,175)
Well, OK, perhaps it is ambitious to expect that this caterpillar will manage to complete all 300+ miles of the Pennine Way, but if you’ve never been near it, it’s done more of it than you. And it also becomes the blog’s first caterpillar, a singular honour.
In flight
Wednesday 27th November 2019, 12.10pm (day 3,016)
Yes, I know, that makes two insects in a row. But despite visiting the temple of Borobudur today (impressive…) and an Indonesian football match (esoteric…) — I can’t avoid using this one. How often does one capture a butterfly not only in flight, but in focus. I’m rather proud of this picture.
Incidentally this is taken at least 5,000 feet (1,600m or so) above sea level, at the Ketep Pass, east of Borobudur.
Local insect life
Tuesday 26th November 2019, 8.20am (day 3,015)
Was determined to get a picture for today that wasn’t one I could have taken at home, or indeed just about anywhere else in the world. And, for sure, we don’t get critters like this in England. I woke up yesterday having been covered in bites from some man-eating insect or other while I slept: it won’t have been this one, but looking at those mandibles, I’m thankful for small mercies, at least.
Buddleia butterfly
Friday 23rd August 2019, 2.55pm (day 2,920)
The last few days have seemed a bit drab colour-wise. But the blue skies returned today. This peacock butterfly (not a red admiral, as I originally identified it — apparently) was enjoying the local buddleia bounty.
The turquoise bug
Thursday 27th June 2019, 5.45pm (day 2,863)
The sun appears to have arrived in Hebden Bridge, bringing with it the bugs. But whatever bugs actually are, most of them in a British summer are not usually turquoise, with orange legs.
Not a spider
Thursday 20th June 2019, 10.40am (day 2,856)
Working at home this morning, this thing starts crawling up the wall with its extraordinarily long legs. Imagine translating those legs to human size, they’d be thirty feet tall, you’d be one of the tripods from War of the Worlds. But seeing as it only has six of them — a spider this is not….
Dragonfly
Thursday 6th June 2019, 11.50am (day 2,842)
There are over 3,000 species of dragonfly in the world, and they’re probably all a bugger to photograph. But this one sat still just for long enough, in the woods of Agii Deka (‘Ten Saints’), somewhere in the middle of Corfu. They are voracious predators, and this one does seem to have a ‘what are you looking at, asshole’ kind of stance. And yet, so beautiful.
Being 42 