November in England is not generally noted as a prime time for insect sightings, but a combination of warmth and sun brought them out today.
I mentioned yesterday that it was unseasonably warm. The trend continued today, and unlike yesterday, which was virtually unremittingly grey, it has been sunny for much of today. The combination of sun and warm temperatures has brought the insects out in some force.
THE FIRST SIGN
The very first picture I took this morning was a portent of things to come…
A blurry picture of an insect on a green leaf. The tree, to which this leaf is still attached, is on the private road that runs behind my house.
THE FIRST HUGE SURPRISE: A BUMBLEBEE
It was during my second walk of the day, in the early afternoon that things really became strange for an English November (which month we are now into remember). In the Kettlewell Lane woods I spotted a large bumblebee, not a creature that one normally sees at this time of year in England.
A large bumblebee at rest on a big green leaf. In the bottom left of the picture as you look is a fly, large by the standards of such creatures but significantly smaller than the bee.
A RED ADMIRAL
Walking on the path alongside Bawsey Drain (the section between Losinga Road and Columbia Way) I was given another way off-kilter sighting – a Red Admiral Butterfly. Given its physical state it may possibly be a freakishly long lived survivor, but to see such a creature around in November is frankly ridiculous, and more than a little disturbing.
A red admiral butterfly resting against a wooden fence This one is in very poor physical condition, with major damage to its wings.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
The first of three good pictures I got of last night’s half moon. A hover fly on a leaf (see next pic for a closer up version)A squirrel on a tree trunk.A wasp and two flies on a tree trunk.The bumblebee.Hoverfly on a thistle flower.The first of three shots of the Red Admiral
An account of the grand finale of the 65th King’s Lynn Festival, some splendid pictures from in and around King’s Lynn, a plethora of important links and some cool infographics.
INTRODUCTION
Hello and welcome to all who read this, old and new followers alike. As well as my title piece I have some excellent photos from in and around King’s Lynn, some very important links and a few infographics to share. I hope that some of you will be inspired to share this post in its turn.
A FINAL FLOURISH
Last night’s concert at the Corn Exchange, which brought the curtain down on the 65th King’s Lynn Festival was an unexpected pleasure in two ways. First of all, we had not (my mother and I) originally been going to attend it, but then at a previous concert a family friend had two tickets for this one that she could not use, so we ended up with them. The second sense in which it was an unexpected pleasure was that the star attraction of the evening was pianist Freddie Kempf and I am not the world’s greatest fan of piano music, so I had been a little concerned as to how the evening would go.
The stage pre-performance (obviously no pics once the evening was under way!)
I need not have worried – the Flanders Symphony Orchestra were quite magnificent, and at no point save in sections which were supposed to be solo did the piano (on which Mr Kempf delivered a spectacular performance) drown out the rest of the orchestra.
All in all, this was an excellent way for a great festival to end. I have mentioned before in this blog that King’s Lynn as a town is good at public festivities, and it really showed with this festival.
A PICTORIAL INTERLUDE
Before moving on to the links section, here are some pictures from in and around King’s Lynn…
A huge black backed gull at close range.
A close up of the frontage of the new visitor’s centre at King’s Lynn bus station.
The new seating areas between the bus station shelter and the Lynn Museum
Two boats moored at the jetty yesterday, this one, Blue Bird 2, which I had not seen before, and Kalyptos, a regular visitor.
This year’s blackberry harvest is going to be super massive if these bushes in Hardings Pits are anything to go on.
An albino duck
One brave duckling spurned to wooden walkway down into the water!
Some entertainment in central King’s Lynn yesterday lunchtme.
“Of course the comfy chair is for me – I’m a cat”
LINKS
I am going to start with coverage of various petitions that are running at the moment.
PETITIONS
Within this subsection I am dividing things up yet further for reasons that I hope will become obvious.
TWO PETITIONS THAT RELATE TO WOMEN’S RIGHTS ISSUES
First in this little section, an update on the petition to get the Canadian authorities to deny “Roosh V” entry to their country, as we in Britain denied entry to Julien Blanc:
2)Simultaneously introducing what is to me a new blog, extremecrochet, and pointing you to an excellent piece, posted on that blog, that connects to the above petition.
NEWS ON THE GROUP B STREP PETITION
I am giving this a section to itself because as well as two links to share, I have some news of my own. Namely, that having responded to a call to write my MP I have received a response from Mr Bellingham indicating his willingness to support the Early Day Motion that relates to this petition. The links I have to share are as follows:
My last petition calls on David Cameron to remove Jeremy Hunt from his position on account of his offensive and out of touch comments about NHS workers.
POLITICS
First up in this section, a piece detailing some truly outrageous expense claims on the part of the Downright Dishonourable John Bercow. For the full details you will have to read the piece, but the single most outrageous claim was for £130 for a journey of 0.8 miles in each direction (i.e. 25 minutes walking time for both journeys combined given that Bercow is an able bodied man).
Next up, Vox Political’s latest post about the perfidies of the politician that site calls the Gentleman Ranker in honour of his previous military career.
aspiblog 