morning cocktails

The amazing scorpion fly. I am not quite sure what it is doing, or what it has got its head in, but they have a reputation for drinking fermented fruit juices and getting drunk.

mother and children

one careful spider mother (probably pisaura mirabilis, the nursery spider) and dozens of babies

gathering 2

A wave of meadow brown butterflies is sweeping through the lanes, maybe it is going to be a very good month for butterflies.

the gathering

the rooks have heard that some people are complaining about the noise they make early in the morning .... they are planning their next move. Hitchcock eat your heart out.

on the mend

Our hedgehog is definitely on the mend, eating and drinking and doing a bit of stomping about (and increasingly ignoring us). Still not quite sure it is 100%, but we will release it late tonight if all seems OK.
But sadly not on the mend enough. He gradually became more withdrawn and listless. He was taken to our nearest vet this morning where he was found to be very anaemic and emaciated. The state of his teeth suggested he was an elderly hedgehog. He died under an anaesthetic  while being examined with a view to treatment with antibiotics and steroids.

bit of bread and butter no cheese

The air is full of the calls of yellowhammers. They are fairly easy to spot because they like to sit on the top of bushes, trees and telegraph poles to broadcast their presence. There seem to be a lot around locally even though they are becoming increasingly rare nationally (see link).