Ramblings, photos and thoughts from the village of Bepton, West Sussex – plus Midhurst, The South Downs, Chichester and surrounding areas.
They’re one of my favourite moths, and if you’ve ever seen one you’ll know exactly why they get their name. In fact, they look and behave so much like their feathered namesake that every year the RSPB get phone calls from worried members of the public reporting that they’ve seen escaped Hummingbirds!
Continue reading “I planted Red Valerian to attract Hummingbird Hawk Moths to the garden…”
This Painted Lady butterfly has been in the garden all morning – she’s looking a bit battered around the wing tips – but given that she’s just flown here from Morocco I reckon she’s in pretty good nick!
The House Martins seem to return later and later every year. And this year they’ve come back to a broken nest site. The side fell out of it during the winter – it’s a home renovation project if ever you’ve seen one!
This map shows the scale of the proposed quarry on the edge of Midhurst. The proposed location is marked in red, Midhurst is in blue. It’s a vast area, right on the edge of town.
Continue reading “Proposed Sand Quarry at Severals Woods, near Midhurst”
This really is a horrible sight. This is what happens when a deer traps a leg between the top two wires of a stock fence. It leads to the slow, painful and agonising death of the deer. It’s upsetting to see – especially when (like this) it happens twice in a week. But worst of all, it’s totally avoidable. Let me explain why.
Continue reading “Deer with leg trapped in top of barbed wire fence”
This foggy view isn’t unusual over Midhurst and the Rother Valley. It’s a temperature inversion in the atmosphere. As air rises it normally gets colder, but if the temperature is only a couple of °C and there’s no breeze and clear skies, the reverse can happen and the air nearest to the ground gets stuck there – trapped under a layer of warmer air above it.
I discovered this mighty beast walking up the hall this evening. Not a word of a lie it was at least 6 feet from front to back toe. An absurd monster, stalking around the house seeking to eat anything in its way. Giant teeth. Growling too. It attacked my dog, thank goodness I don’t own a cat!
I’m going to hazard a guess and say this is a Dark Bush Cricket. Might be wrong but it’s definitely a Bush Cricket and from the size of the ovipositor I’d say she’s a lady.
In case you’re wondering I scooped her up and put her outside 😃 She savaged my arm but I’ll be ok.
Another magical autumn morning on The South Downs.
I had to make a brief stop on the way to work this morning to run into the woods with my camera! I got a few funny looks….
Spotted this very grey-looking Rook in the tree this morning…
Bepton Ranger 