Painted Lady butterfly
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!
Martin’s back
Day 1. Martin’s back. And he’s got some building work to do!
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!
Proposed Sand Quarry at Severals Woods, near Midhurst
IMPORTANT: you must register your opinion about the proposed Quarry at The Severals before 18 March 2019
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.
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Deer with leg trapped in top of barbed wire fence
Fallow deer killed jumping a fence in The South Downs National Park
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.
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Fog on the Rother
Fog all day, but not on The South Downs
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.
Beast in the house
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.
Oak and stubble
South Downs mist at Heyshott
Another magical autumn morning on The South Downs.
Autumn mist in Severals Woods
Trees in the mist
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….
An odd looking Rook
Rooks and Heron
Spotted this very grey-looking Rook in the tree this morning…
Autumn’s arrived…
Bepton Tunnel
Here’s a photo from early morning on 1st September 2018… one of those perfect Autumn mornings when the mist settles under the Downs, the trees are turning and there’s a nip in the air.
Got to love Autumn… view this image at full size on Flickr.
Happy September!
