Beauty in Nature - 21 days in July

Sometimes it is awe inspiring to consider the variety in nature that surrounds us, and which we often take for granted, or just plain `don't see`! The images that follow were all taken by me in a period of 21 days in July and could pass unnoticed if I had been in a rush. Unfortunately, for many people there is little alternative to the modern day hustle and bustle. I am one of the lucky ones, I know. Firstly, the star of the week for me ......

....... the Fen Raft Spider. The Raft spider is a large, chunky spider that lives around the edge of ponds and ditches, and on wet heaths and bogs. Adults sit at the edge of the water, or on floating vegetation, with their front legs resting on the water's surface in order to feel for the vibrations of potential prey. Using the surface tension of the water, they chase out on to the water to catch their prey, which will even include tadpoles or small fish. Raft Spiders will also swim underwater, often diving beneath the surface when threatened. 

The much rarer Fen Raft spider is similar to the Raft Spider, but is only found in two places in the UK, one of which is a Suffolk Wildlife Trust nature reserve, which is where I took these images. If you want more information on these fascinating creatures, follow this link. 

Bee gathering nectar.

The Ringlet butterfly

The Speckled Wood

Pest or not, the Garden Snail

Brown Argus

Brown Argus with wings open

Common Green grasshopper

Small White

Common Blue

Small tortoiseshell butterfly

Essex Skipper

Cinnabar moth caterpillar

The beautiful Banded Demoiselle

A Green Veined White - up to its neck!

Stag Beetle or Lucanus cervus if you are into your Latin

Peacock

Four Spotted Chaser

And last, but by no means least - Reed Dagger Moth caterpillar

All in all a great collection of creatures with all their differing colours and habitats, many more I possible passed by. These are the potential casualties to our Climate Change problem, if we don`t start doing something now.

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Fire! Fire!

A Sunday morning walk around the lanes of Layham and Shelley was a fairly regular route at the weekend, but the rather close sound of fire engines was certainly not normal! So, looking around at the skyline, I soon spotted a plume of smoke, luckily blowing away from me. It appeared to be only a couple of fields away. As luck would have it I was carrying my camera, so made my way toward the fire. 

In the village of Shelley lives a man who is a thatcher by trade, and unfortunately it was his store in a nearby barn that had caught fire.

By the time I arrived, the building was well alight.

At this stage the building was standing - to a degree.

One fireman pours water into the building.

 The owner looks on helplessly - it's all in someone else's hands.

  

Gradually the whole building collapses into a burning heap.

 All the firemen can do is keep it under control, and dampen down.

When you stand outside the site of the fire, you can see the close proximity of the fire to a thatched residential property! Good job the wind was blowing away from the house.

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The seaside town of Cromer in Norfolk

Cromer is a traditional seaside resort and is famous for its pier, home to a lifeboat station and Pavilion Theatre, where the UK’s only remaining traditional end of the pier variety show takes place each Summer and Winter. The pier is an enduring example of Victorian architecture, having withstood many storms, tidal surges and even an attempt to blow it up by the Government in WW2 to prevent the pier being used as a landing strip for enemy invaders! Glad they decided not to! This was a passing visit so had to take a few images.

Firstly the famous pier with a stormy sky in the background

A couple of images of the cliffs and beach huts.

On the path leading down to the promenade, a peek over the edge revealed these steps which instantly appealed to me. The curves and lines just said `take a picture of me` - well, not literally.

At the bottom of these steps was this `compass` which this couple obviously `took a shine` to as well. The whole area was in front of the pier and very tastefully laid out, if that is the correct word. Shame I didn't get a photo of the whole thing!

St Peter and St Paul, Cromer, not a church we looked at but an illustration of one of the small back streets. Just a brief visit and I am sure will return to explore further.

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Bugs galore - nature's little wonders

The end of May and beginning of June are great times to see some of the many insects that we have and which are still in good numbers. These images are all taken near home again, and highlight a small but stunning world, most of us are almost unaware of in our busy lives!

This little chap is the red-headed or 'common' cardinal beetle (Pyrochroa serraticornis). It is a red to orange beetle with, as the name suggests, a red head. It is about 20 millimetres (0.79 in) long, and is found throughout Britain

A scarce chaser (Libellula fulva) is a species of dragonfly. This one I believe is either a juvenile or a female. The adult male has a bright blue abdomen with patches of black, while the adult female and juvenile male each have a bright orange abdomen. It is about 45 mm in length with an average wingspan of 74 mm. This dragonfly is considered a species of special concern in Great Britain due to loss of its specific ideal habitat. 

Banded Demoiselle 

The Bloody-nosed beetle is a large, round, flightless beetle with long legs that can often be seen plodding across paths or through grass. It can be found during the spring and summer in grassland, heathland and along hedgerows. One of our largest 'leaf beetles', adults feed on the leaves of Lady's Bedstraw and related plants, and the larvae can be seen hanging from these species. Adults are mostly active at night. The strange name of the Bloody-nosed beetle derives from its unusual defence mechanism: when threatened, it secretes a distasteful blood-red liquid from its mouth. 

The soldier beetles (Cantharidae) are relatively soft-bodied, straight-sided beetles. One of the first described species has a color pattern reminiscent of the red coats of early British soldiers, hence the common name which has stuck. 

Female Stag Beetle (Lucanus cervus) 

Stag beetles are one of our most spectacular insects. The male’s large jaws look just like the antlers of a stag. They spend most of their life underground as larvae, only emerging for a few weeks in the summer to find a mate and reproduce. Stag beetles and their larvae are quite harmless and are a joy to watch. Males are often seen flying around at dusk searching for a mate. They will wrestle or fight other males using their enlarged antler-like jaws. Although they can fly, female beetles are most often seen walking around on the ground. Once they’ve mated, females return to the spot where they emerged, if there is enough rotting wood to feed their young, and dig down into the soil to lay their small, round eggs in rotting wood such as log piles, tree stumps and old fence posts. 

The most obvious problem for stag beetles is a significant loss of habitat. For example, many of London’s surviving open spaces have sadly been developed, including many woodlands. Development will continue to reduce stag beetle habitats, but increased awareness of their existence can help defend the beetles against development. 

In addition the tidying of woodlands, parks and gardens has led to the removal of dead or decaying wood habitats which is the stag beetle larvae’s food source. Tree surgery operations such as stump-grinding of felled trees removes a vital habitat for the beetle. Although tidying up still continues in gardens, woodlands and park managers are now much more aware of the need to retain dead and decaying wood as part of the woodland ecosystem. 

Humans are, unfortunately, a direct threat to stag beetles. Adult beetles are attracted to the warm surfaces of tarmac and pavements, which makes them particularly vulnerable to being crushed by traffic or feet. Stag beetles have a fearsome appearance and sometimes people kill them because they look ‘dangerous’. 

And last, but not least, a Meadow Brown 

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Red, yellow, white and blue - Colours of Spring

The world seems full of colour so far this year and I have found it difficult to know quite where to point the camera sometimes! We have Poppies, Oilseed Rape, Wild Garlic, and Bluebells, all seen in profusion around the county. We sure live in a beautiful world!

Once considered a weed of arable fields, the development of intensive agricultural practices has resulted in the decline of the Common poppy (also known as 'Corn poppy') in the wild. This familiar, showy flower is now most likely to occur as part of intentional wildflower seeding, or as the result of the disturbance of soil containing old seed banks. Its strongholds remain roadside verges, scrub, waste ground and farmland. 

The pictures here however, were taken in a field near home which had another later crop growing in it. Some years I guess they are killed off, but 2011 was a good year for them.

The same field which had the Poppies in it, also has this pungent Oilseed Rape (Brassica napus subsp. napus) fairly frequently. 

The Daily Mail ran an article which makes you think, even if it was a tad dramatic. 

"But this agricultural love affair with rape has come at a heavy price. Oilseed rape needs much help to grow, in the form of nitrogen-rich fertilisers. 

That means that the run-off from fields of oilseed rape into water supplies is polluting streams, rivers and underground aquifers. 

Back in 2004, a report from the Office for National Statistics revealed that each year, a single oilseed rape crop receives an average of three sprayings with herbicides, two of fungicides. 

However, it is thought the plant may now be developing resistance to some agricultural chemicals. 

And it gets worse. Oilseed rape is also very vulnerable to attack by insects — which means it needs to be regularly sprayed with chemical insecticides as well. 

These include the notorious neonicotinoids, known to be causing a decline in many species of bees. 

Ironically, those gaudy, yellow, nectar-rich flowers are irresistible to insects. 

In the words of Steve Benbow, author of The Urban Beekeeper, oilseed rape is like crack cocaine for honeybees. But if the plants have recently been sprayed with chemicals designed to kill insect pests, the bees may then be poisoned, as Benbow himself has witnessed." 

If you’re walking through a patch of countryside where wild garlic grows your nose will alert you. The garlicky scent is hard to miss. Wild garlic grows across the UK from late winter until the end of spring. The leaves can be eaten raw or cooked and taste milder than shop-bought garlic. We have several areas where it grows on a regular basis. There is a moderate sized area not far from where the poppies and rapeseed grow in our village. 

Well everyone notices Bluebells don't they. Again, several local displays near to home and despite having witnessed many years of Bluebells growing, I still look forward to spotting the first ones! 

And so to another few images on the same topic. 

Poppies against the beautiful sky 

Blackthorn in all its glory. 

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