In another time and place, I used to think that a good blogpost needed three connected events or incidents, circling around on themselves to create a satisfying denouement. It wasn't a well-researched theory, or a plot device from a writing course, it was just a vibe that seemed to work more often than not. Of late, that sort of thinking hasn't been to the fore, NaHaL posts seem to be more a diary entry or chronological list of events. In fact, the post I was going to write this evening was exactly that, a recap of wildlife moments from the past week, culminating in yesterday's beetle survey and a Volunteer Thank You event with the RSPB. Now, what with war, genocide and files, the world's not at its best at the moment apart, perhaps, for the resounding success of the Green Party of England and Wales in a by-election. I suspect that, like many other folk, a bit of gentle escapism from the constant stream of terrible news headlines is an absolute must to maintain some so...
Yesterday, whilst pottering to the garage to sort out the recycling ahead of this week's bin collection, I spotted a wee creature on the paved path at the front of the house. It was about 20mm long and my initial reaction on profile and colour was "centipede". Putting down the recycling out of the wind (I'm not making that mistake again!), I nipped back into the house for my phone and compact camera, the former to use ObsIdentify, the latter for better close-ups. Phone photo for ObsIdentify Compact camera set to Macro A vaguely in-focus antenna A pointy bum ObsIdentify gave me a virtual eye roll and said "100%, it's a millipede from the Family Polydesmidae indet ". Somewhat chastened, I recalled that I had previously photographed a flat-backed millipede in 2021, when we lived in Houton. I think this is the first one I have seen at Burnbank, but the "indet" means that arriving at an identity to species from a photo will be impossible. Looking a...