No, not really THE last post, but the final one of the year. I’ve left it rather late and being so close to the New Year celebrations, I couldn’t come up with a better title.
I‘ve spent the past few days wondering what I could write about. Scotland was wonderful, but it seems such a long time ago. I still have images from the Peak District and maybe I’ll write a bit more in the coming weeks. The days are really short now and on this dull and cloudy day, I can admit that I’m finding the zoo a struggle. It’s always hard caring for outdoor animals during the winter, but it’s getting worse. The endless rain means our four goats haven’t left the field shelter for weeks and the clean, fresh straw put down for them to sleep on, is instead eaten in a matter of hours. The short days are getting to me as well. We are so remote that you can’t see another property from our land and with no street lights for miles, we struggle through the pitch dark with a single torch. I long for spring. To leave the llamas and goats grazing, with the hay racks untouched and the field shelter hardly used by the following morning. Spring is just two months away.
I thought I would share some photographs taken with my macro lens over the course of the previous spring and summer. I visited up to five reserves a week, spread over Kent, Sussex and Hampshire. They were all special and all very different and I have wonderful memories from each and every one.
The image featured at the top is by far my favourite bug of the year. I didn’t even know they existed until I was trying to identify him later that evening. He is a golden bloomed grey longhorn beetle and I discovered him quite by chance in a local country park.
Below is a fly on meadow salsify. I was captivated at how the insect was able to balance on such a fragile structure.
Taken at the same time – a Small Heath butterfly on a barley stalk.
Another outing and another reserve found these two delightful bugs. A marbled white butterfly and a slender footed robber fly (with lunch).
And finally a couple from a special place I intend to visit again next year. A comma butterfly and a harlequin ladybird. Found not in a reserve, but a small corner of an overgrown field tucked away at the end of a tiny village. Sitting beside a small river, it is a haven for bugs on a warm, still summer’s day. Here’s to many such days in 2020.
Steve Cullum
31 Dec 2019I really do not like this time of year – cold, damp and horrid. Roll on Spring with the butterflies, bugs and other wildlife.
Keep up the good work with your photography and we shall all have to meet up soon for a natter and taking decent shots of our local friends.
Happy new year to you both and here’s to a good 2020 🙂
Zooey
1 Jan 2020Oh, mostly I love the winter, but this wet isn’t normal. To top things off, one of our goats knocked a horn off yesterday. The little core that is left (and will grow) is now pointing down to his skull. They certainly know how to give us problems! Happy New Year to you too and yes… we will meet up soon to photograph butterflies and bugs 🙂
Sid
31 Dec 2019Spring will come, I am sure 😉
And butterflies, and your stunning photos, too!
Must be a little bit patient. Meanwhile, have a great winter because a great winter announces a great spring 😜
Happy New Year 💖
Sid
Zooey
1 Jan 2020I will be patient Sid and I promise I will be there chasing the first butterflies of the season. Happy New Year to you too! 🙂