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
A look at yesterday’s Women’s Six Nations rugby match between England and Italy and a splendid photo gallery.
The Women’s Six Nations rugby got underway this weekend. Yesterday saw England facing Italy.
A MATCH OF TWO HALVES
England have not lost a Womens Six Nations fixture since 2018, and last year they kept Italy scoreless. The first half hour of the match continued this pattern, and by that stage England had already secured the bonus point for scoring four or more tries. One of those was 35 year old Emily Scarratt’s 55th international try. Rosie Galligan had a try chalked off for not being fully in control of the ball, but the replay also showed an earlier Italian infraction which caused the referee to award a penalty try (seven points, since one of the rules governing penalty tries is that they are always considered to be converted, without the kick having to be taken) and send the Italian offender to the sinbin for 20 minutes. Near the end of the first half Italy did actually score, with Francesca Sgorbini touching down, but that made little difference to the overall score line, which reflected England’s dominance.
The second half was very different, with Italy fighting like tigers. Sgorbini briefly thought she had her second try of the match but it was chalked off bu the TMO. England also had a try disallowed. Over half an hour into what was threatening to be a scoreless half Amy Cokayne scored an undisputed try. The final score was England 38 (six tries, three conversions and the automatic extra two points for the penalty try) Italy 5 (Sgorbini’s unconverted try) and England fully merited their win, but Italy deserve credit for the fight they showed in the second half, when they might have caved an allowed an absolute monster score to be posted against them.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off (don’t forget that you can view images at larger size by clicking on them)…
My sister had booked a table at this establishment for Sunday dinner last night.A redshank near the Nar outfall (as you will see I took several photographs of this bird).two for one on bees!Close up emphasising the two bees.The full picture…from which this (one spider, two bees and some purple flowers)……this one (close focus on the two bees)……this one (focus on the smaller bee, with the spider also on the image)……and this one (the bumblebee the solo star) were all extracted.
aspiblog 