A Birthday/Fathers Day Weekend

It is always nice around my Birthday. Close to Fathers day it is always a double celebration and always with my incredible family. The weekend started on Friday evening with a reunion with friends who I used to work with in my time as an engineer. We last worked together 21 years ago and some I have known for over 40 years. My sides still ache from all the laughing!

But, as always, a little wildlife had to figure in the weekend. A shorter blog than usual as I try to think of some new twists to add interest to my posts (so please keep watching).

Just a few pictures to keep you going from 3 very different locations.

 1. Studland Beach: This was meant as a walk rather than a wildlife trip, but we did take a snaps along the way.

Catching some rays!

A Tragic Loss

Sadly, we came across hundreds (no exaggeration)  of dead jellyfish. As you can see they were impressive specimens. Starting just over the ferry, they were everywhere right up the National Trust cafe at Studland. Alogside them were something we had not seen on this particular stretch of beach before. Dozens of dead spider crabs. All tiny specimens with shells 2-3 inches across as you can see in the picture below where we placed 2 next to yet another jellyfish. Scrubbed and cleaned, the shells are now a part of our Grandson Ewans proud marine and fossil collection.

2: Our own back garden.

And so back to our garden. A common feature of my blog, it never ceases to amaze me how many species we are privileged to see in an average urban environment.

Standing Guard?

 

 

 .
We found this rather beautiful moth (above and below) struggling in the edge of the water on the bird bath. Quickly rescued and left on a leaf to dry, he (or she) quickly recovered and flew off .

Can you guess what the next picture is? (answer below the 2 pictures).

A Strange Beast?

 

I must admit that when we found this strange beast (above) we did have to look it up to find out what is was. When we did find out, we were amazed that we had not come across one before especially given my obsession with spending time bug hunting! It is the larvae of nothing more than a ladybird! Now you know!

Sunday morning - fathers day - as always, a quick trip down the garden with the camera. There we found quite a number of these strange but stunning wasps. Just look at the colours! I have pictures of a similar wasp taken in the cloud forests in Nicaragua but here they are in my own garden. A pleasure to see.

A Stunning Wasp!

Look at the Colours!

No blog section about the garden would be complete without a couple of shots of our star attraction. I love the pose in the first picture and the colours in the second. A stunning creature! The difference in colours is caused by the different times of day she visited for the 2 shots (You may have seen the second picture on facebook a few days ago but it is such a satisfying shot that I had to include it here).

en

3: Avon Heath Country Park.

Finally - later on Fathers day, a trip with children and Grandchildren to Avon Heath Country Park between Ferndown and Ringwood. The whole park has been designed with Wildlife in mind and they do a lot of great work to try to educate visitors and children about wildlife and it's behavior. So many people, both in towns and country have so many misconceptions about various species and subsequently so many are persecuted. Remember - NONE are as destructive to our environment as Man.

 Again, today was about walking and family so just a few of the best shots for you here.

Son Neil & Grand-Daughter Olivia

 Proving what should be our family motto - you are never to small or too big to climb trees - and boy do we live by our motto!

Grandson Ewan, Living rhe Motto!

One of our rarer species - the Sand Lizard

 These stunning lizards (above) are thriving on this heath. Overall, they are at risk because of Mans activities but if you spot one, there is no mistaking it.

Below: a REAL stroke of luck. Even rarer than the sand lizard, this is the 'Smooth Snake'. It is the second we have seen at this heath. Not the best picture as its head is out of shot, but we did not want to disturb it any more. You certainly wont see this on too often in my blog - it is only the third I have seen in the wild - a real treat!

Below: We see these quite often at this time of year. A female spider carrying her egg sack (the big white ball on her stomach) in search of a suitable place to rear them. She will protect them until they hatch - then they are on their own...hundreds of them!

Finally (and sorry, yet again...) one of my favourite subjects. Dragonflies. But how could we leave this one out. She was really big - about 3 inches long and a beautiful golden colour rather than the usual green or blue.

As you can see from this sequence of shots, she posed perfectly and allowed me to get closer and closer until the final couple of shots where the camera was within an inch of her. Hope you enjoy!

 Remember, there is NO animal that comes close to being as destructive as man where nature is concerned. Every living thing has a right to life and everything has its place in nature. Respect the wildlife you see, learn about it and enjoy it. You will make the world a better place!

Please leave comments or email me at iantesco@yahoo.com

Bye until next time.

Ian