Thursday 25 June 2015

Day 22-25: Mostly moths and bugs


Another 4 days of the 30 Days Wild challenge have been completed and it's so close to the end! Here's what I've been up to.

Day 22: Create something inspired by nature

Having been inspired by nature for my May journal quilt, I decided to have a creative evening as it was threatening rain.


The beginnings of a crochet daisy chain. One is slightly bigger than the others because I picked up the wrong hook by mistake. But then daisies are not all the same size ;-)

Day 23: Eat in the garden


Day 23 was Tuesday, the day I go to yoga. I'd been too busy during the day to fit something in, so I decided to eat outside before going to my class. Something light before all that stretching and bending: tea and toast.


From here I could see the progress of the polka dots.


And all the growth in the garden.


This plant has been a surprise. I thought I'd planted honeysuckle but it turned out to be a clematis! It's a darker purple in reality.


The radish are still growing strong but they'll have to get a move on to be ready for the end of the month.


The birds have definitely been getting a move on as there's hardly anything left of the fat ball. I saw a young starling helping himself but didn't get my camera out in time.

After eating, it was so warm and sunny that I popped out for a quick walk and spotted something white on a poplar. I moved in for a closer look and found...


...a Puss moth! My first ever sighting! Apparently its name comes from the fact that it's covered in cat-like fur! It's an odd looking thing but not as odd as the caterpillar (see here).

Day 24: Make a bark rubbing


After the excitement of the puss moth, I decided to go hunting round the trees again with Chickpea and do some bark rubbings at the same time. As well as discovering my inner wild, I'm also rediscovering my inner child :-)


Willow.



Horse chestnut.


Norway maple.

And did we find anything? Well, no sign of the puss moth but Chickpea spotted this......


...a White Satin moth caterpillar. Another new sighting for me!

Day 25: Go on a bug hunt

Fired up with enthusiasm after the moth and caterpillar finds, this evening has seen me out looking for bugs again. Apologies in advance for the rubbish photos but I didn't have my usual camera with me.


After finding both of the moths on poplar trees, they were my first destination. I found another White Satin caterpillar and then this moth, hidden in a crevice. No idea what it is.


On the other hand, I knew what this was straight away, a cinnabar moth. It was in my parents' garden.

Ladybird
 

I need to look the rest up in a bug book.

Some kind of shield bug


14-spot ladybird
Only 5 days of the challenge to go. It's going to be really tough the next couple of days though as I'm working all day and evening tomorrow, and I'm also working part of Saturday and have my Aunty and Uncle's Ruby Wedding celebration. Wish me luck and quick wins! x

8 comments:

  1. Good selection of bugs! I have loved doing this June 30 days of wild - it has made me look at things twice and I think you have been too! :) Nice one :)

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  2. Great post, super shots. Great random acts of wildness Julie, especially the bark rubbings.

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  3. A great few days (I would say that though with all the bugs!). The caterpillar was a great find! Here, you have a nettle weevil and common soldier beetle and I think the shieldbug is a baby red-legged, but I'm not certain on that without investigating!

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  4. Love the bark rubbings!
    I also notice that when you photograph purple flowers, they seem to photograph as blue. I wonder, why is that? Our eyes see the color, why doesn't the camera see the same?

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  5. Some good finds and nature-inspired activities, Julie. It's good to see the growth of plants in the garden over recent weeks.

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  6. What great wild finds!!! I recognised the Cinnabar moth, but not the others, so it was good to learn what they were! I hope you are having a wild weekend! xx

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  7. great idea doing bark rubbings. You certainly spot some interesting moths and catterpillars. I never really see them. Must look closer.x

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  8. The puss moth is SOOOO adorable! I love the idea of bark rubbings! They are really interesting and would be good to compare! You see so many interesting insects. I totally forgot about the shield bug that ended up in the year 3 classroom last week on a girl's neck- she was having hysterics until I calmly removed it!x

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