Whistle-stop wildlife

We've been on holiday, experienced some rather pleasant weather, caught up with family and friends and returned home just before Storm Whoever hit Orkney. Now, here I am writing a blogpost whilst rain lashes the windows and all thoughts of colourful leaves have disappeared downwind at a rate of knots. In our absence, Cookie and Mocha were well looked after in the comfort of their own home by Auntie Kat who, despite an allergy, is not anti-cat.

It all started very early one morning, bleary-eyed and barely awake, stumbling out of bed at 5am to catch the morning sailing from Stromness to Scrabster. This was followed by a chilly drive to Inverness as the climate control module doesn't work in my car and, although at any point during the Summer I could have arranged for it to be fixed, we're now into Baltic season and a second hand unit off Ebay is awaiting the services of a skilled mechanic. Once in Inverness, I dropped off some books at Leakey's Bookshop and we hit various clothing emporia to freshen up our wardrobes. After a pleasant lunch at an Italian restaurant, Megan purchased a new suitcase and we headed to the airport to catch an evening flight to Luton.

Unlike our usual holidays, it hadn't been very wildlifey as yet, but that was about to change. As we trundled our cases from the long stay car park to the main terminal, Megan let out a yelp of surprise, as she spotted a Ruby Tiger caterpillar making its own way through the man-made infrastructure.

The late afternoon sunlight certainly added to the ruby-ness. Photo by MT

The flight was delayed for a while due to "reasons", but as night fell we were finally ensconced in an aircraft and trundling around the airfield towards the runway. The regular flashing of the plane's lights illuminated a Brown Hare running through the grass alongside the taxiway, keeping pace with the aircraft and lifting our spirits.

Younger daughter Ruth picked us up from Luton Airport and delivered us to our lodgings, where we fell into bed, exhausted after a long day's travelling.

The next morning saw us (Ruth, little Louis, Megan and I) heading to Belton House near Grantham for a meet-up with elder daughter Sally. The day was overcast with a chilly breeze, but numerous visits to the cafe kept us going, between walks through the grounds.
 

Fishing Lodge at Belton House

ObsIdentify reckons this is Gymnopilus junonius

The following day, we needed to rest our weary selves which we did by staying local. The sun put in appearance as we headed to the nearby RSPB HQ at The Lodge in Sandy. Pottering along at Louis' pace, we were able to stop and identify some of the flowers which were still in bloom, listen to the various bird calls and generally unwind. Megan found a couple of Southern Hawker dragonflies which were engaged in an aerial battle over the territorial rights to a small woodland pond, and a bit further on, when we stopped for a breather, we had the most fabulous wildlife experience (sorry, dragons, it wasn't you).

Where a woodland path wound up the side of a valley, and in a patch of sunlight, there at the side of the path was a Grass Snake. Megan, Louis and Ruth had walked by it, but I happened to look down when we stopped to catch our breath. As it was out in the open and hadn't scurried away at our presence, I presumed it was dead, so tapped Ruth on the shoulder to get her to turn round to see it. As it happens, we now know she's not great with snakes.

Also, it wasn't dead.

After lunch at the RSPB's excellent new cafe, we spent some time watching the bird feeders so that Megan could see her very first Nuthatch. The warm weather was encouraging many Harlequin Ladybirds to seek out a place in which to hibernate. The south-facing wall of the building housing the RSPB shop was absolutely swarming with them. Meanwhile in a Lavender border, there were several 7-spotted Ladybirds and this pair of Rosemary Beetles.

That evening, Ruth, Megan and I headed to The Junction in Cambridge to see Afro Celt Sound System who are touring their latest album, Ova.

The next day dawned even peachier, and we headed back to The Lodge for more wildlife wonders. Autumnal colours and shafts of sunlight are a delightful combination, all the more so because the warmth was energising lots of insects.

A female Common Darter dragonfly on my head. Photo by MT

A Forest Bug in the gardens of The Lodge

A female Dark Bush-cricket

On a fence post by the footpath, we came across a large ichneumon wasp. My photos weren't good enough to help with an ID, but there was no doubting what it was up to. Mrs Ichneumon was busy trying to locate a beetle larva within the post, for she intended to lay one of her eggs on it, so her offspring could devour the beetle larva before itself pupating and emerging as an adult wasp. The long appendage pointing up and to the right is the sheath for her ovipositor. The ovipositor itself is running along her body, between her legs and is being pushed into the wood. It all sounds faintly gruesome, but this is one of the reasons why we're not knee deep in beetles all Summer, so all's good. No, I don't know why she's upside down either. 

A male Common Darter

On our last morning in Bedfordshire, we met up with Ruth and Louis for brunch at a local cafe, then had a wander through Potton, along lanes and beside streams. Ruth found this Zebra Spider with prey on the platform of a slide in a playpark.

A Sweet Chestnut tree in full Autumn mode

Friday evening saw us at an airport hotel for a 4am start, meaning that we had plenty of time on Saturday afternoon to saunter from Inverness to Scrabster. The Autumnal colours along the route were wonderful, although I do wonder whether any of the leaves are still attached to their trees after the storm rolled through on Sunday and Monday.

The Old Skating Pond at Golspie

Sky view through the trees at Golspie

It goes without saying, but now I need a rest to recover from the holiday.