On the 1st day of August it was my Auntie's Birthday. I took a few hoverfly pics in the morning, then we went for a scrummy lunch in Canterbury in the searing heat. Then a late evening dog walk to avoid the intense heat. He thought he would pretend to be a pig and wallow in one of the only puddles around to cool off. He full on rolled in it. Yucky stagnant watery sludge. How delightful. Nose to tail smothered in vile smelling mud and boy did he pleased with himself. Not so smug when we had to wash him when we returned. Mum and I resorted to tipping bowlfuls of water over him out the front of the house.
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| Episyrphus balteatus commonly found in gardens and here seems to be enjoying our lovely Tansy plant (Tanacetum vulgare) |
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| Is that a grin on your face young Bracken?! |
On the 2nd day of August mum went to water the plants. It was early morning and this moth made a wise choice clinging to the wall. CT am I right in thinking this is a silver Y?? I also had one on my bedroom wall last night so they must be quite prevalent around here! You will also be pleased to know that on Sunday night I saved a huge moth from the horrible fly fryer in the pub kitchen. While my boss stood waiting for me to leave so he could lock the doors, I was jumping around trying to gently catch the moth in my hands to release it outside. Not sure what it was, but guessing it was some kind of hawk moth!
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| Silver Y |
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| Buddleia in the morning sunlight |
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| The individual flowers of the agapanthus are almost all out now. I thought it looked pretty with the highlighted spider spindly web |
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| Worker honey bee (Apis mellifera) on the Tansy plant |
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| Another species of hoverfly - Sphaerophoria scripta |
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| Male house sparrow looking rather inquisitive |
In the afternoon of the 2nd we made an impromptu trip to Oare. After first having a drink in the Three Mariners and Lunch in the Castle due to the former being fully booked for lunch, we drove the short distance to the Kent Wildlife Trust reserve and took a wander around. Lots of nice boats and barges which kept my Dad entertained. Lots of bugs and birds which Mum and I enjoyed. All happy!
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| Not sure of this species... Edit: Wild carrot (Thank you Brian) |
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| Ruddy darter - male |
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| Hundreds of godwits, a couple of avocets and a scattering of coots |
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| Sea lavender in the foreground. On the other side of the creek is the saxon shore way - a route we walked on the 4th day of August ... separate blog post to follow. |
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| Does anyone have a clue what this red stuff is on the rose leaves? Some sort of parasite or fungi or disease??? |
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| Big spider alert.... a funnel weaver which is a member of the Agelenidae family |
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| Agelena labyrinthica |
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| Summer plumage golden plovers, avocets, black headed gulls and a lapwing all on one little island |
Thank you to everyone who reads and comments, much appreciated. My next post will have photos of our 5 hour long walk along the saxon shore way and news on recent KWT volunteering :)
