Idle Valley Nature Reserve

 My stepfather and I recently took a trip out to Retford to visit Idle Valley Nature reserve, the biggest Notts Wildlife Trust reserve, larger even than Attenborough. It was a typically blustery September day for 2024, although the rain just about stayed off us for the afternoon. 

After a wrong turn, we arrived at the site with its colourful mural, and, er, sculpture of a beaver made out of drinks cans. For beavers are the big stars here, introduced in the last few years but kept in a corner of the reserve where visitors are only allowed on special occasions. 

Perhaps to be fed to the beavers, I have no idea. 

After a sausage sandwich in the cafe, it was time to head off for a circuit of the large main lake. As ever with these sorts of places, the more interesting the wildlife, the further you have to trek to find it and the harder it is to see, so we just kept to the short path through a farm of chunky black sheep and viking horned cattle, and then around the water. 

There wasn't a huge amount to see out there, just the standard canada geese, swans and mallards with a few tufted duck thrown in, but what there was in large numbers where the lake is skirted by the clean flowing River Idle, by golly were there lots of dragonflies. 

The rulers of the dragonfly clans are the emperors, large neon blue creations with the ability to fly seemingly faster than the eye can see. One minute they would be eyeing you up from a few metres away, then they'd immediately be on the other side of the river as if they'd been teleported. 

Then there are the inquisitive southern hawkers, nearly as large but a bright yellow-green colour. They like to fly up close to you and give you a good going over with their eerie large eyes. The migrant hawkers, a slightly less vivid blue than the emperors are the most numerous big dragonfly species in the area, and the blood red common darters like to pretend to allow you to photograph them before cheekily flying off when you get near enough to get a shot off. 

A new species to me was a delicate, glittering willow emerald damselfly, but these things are like ghosts, you just can't get them in focus. 

Lack of quality photos aside, we had a lovely afternoon, and I'd love to visit again to explore the further reaches of the reserve. 

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 02.10.24

The Ivy Mining Bees are Back

 It's hard to believe that Saturday was a beautiful day, seeing as rain has now been falling continuously for over 24 hours, but I got out for a trip down the park to read "Dune" - well, it had to be done eventually - and also to scan the flowering ivy to see if any ivy bees were about. 

I found a bush near the park, and the bees were all over it! Beautiful bees, with their gleaming yellow bands on the abdomen and in my view second only to the tawny mining bee in terms of their good looks. 

With it having been such a grim summer for pollinators - I can't remember seeing a single tree bumblebee this year - it is nice to see some insects in decent numbers. 

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 22.09.24

Tiny Moths and Tiny Hoverflies

 A few days of very pleasant weather this week, which has brought out various insects to the remaining flowers in parks and gardens around town.

One such specimen, a tiny pepper type moth, found its way to random groundsel growing in one of my planters, while an equally tiny glodetail hoverfly visited cranesbill in a church planter. 

In the park, there's been shield bugs reading my book, and ladybirds watching me drink shandy.

It has been a rare good week for nature this week, I'd say. 

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 19.09.24

A Silver Y in my Marigolds

 Went into my little stamp sized garden this morning, and immediately my attention was drawn to the planter where I repotted marigolds I bought from the local flower shop a couple of months ago. 

They've done very well, but they are fading now. Best £2.40 I've spent on plants. 

What I initially thought was a bit of dead flower on the edge of the planter turned out to be a sleepy silver y moth! It went and hid under the flowers for a little while, before coming out to sun itself on a flower head, fibrillating its wings as it warmed up, before flying off. 

However, before it did so, I did manage to get a decent photograph of this day flying moth. 

It was a busy day, flutterer wise. The top flowers on my buddleia are being visited by red admirals, and I found a small tortoiseshell sunning itself on my wall, leaving a very gothic looking shadow on the brickwork. 

I add in a few pictures from the library gardens yesterday too. We've had a couple of nice days since the hailstorm insanity earlier in the week. 

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 14.09.24

Rare to see Colourful Butterflies this Year

 The weather we've had over the last few seasons, with so much flooding and wet weather around, certainly seems to have affected our butterflies for the worse. 

Not the high summer species like meadow brown, ringlet and small skipper - there's been plenty of those about - but the butterfly species that hibernate in their imago state that also tend to be the most colourful. Barely a brimstone, small tortoiseshell, peacock and comma to be seen in the spring, which has had a knock on effect on the butterflies seen in late summer. 

Hardly surprising!

However, I did come across this small tortoiseshell, a very vivid and beautiful one, that brightened up my day rather.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 09.09.24

An Old School Cricket Story

 Last Sunday we entertained our friends from Cropwell, a very nice bunch of lads who are big fans of bashing the ball hard and playing nice short 30 over games before retiring to the bar for a well earned couple of beers. 

Things were looking awkward for us as we only had nine players as we assembled at Kelham Road on a fine afternoon. However, a young lad, a major superfan and under 15s wicket keeper, was at the ground. He is desperate to play, but he is still "officially" too young to play senior hard ball cricket. 

However, things are slightly different on a Sunday, and on asking him if he fancied a game, and a quick call to get his kit driven over and for me to assure his family that Cropwell were a gentle team who had no bowlers who could kill him, he was in. 

I promptly lost the toss, and as feared, Cropwell decided to bat, where their big gun opening bat who has never failed to score 50 against us took to the middle, and with his partner, proceeded to wallop our bowling all over the park, with particular attention to the straight boundaries. 

I think they raised the 100 after about 11 overs. The chairman had a bowl, and finding no luck with his usual seam up stuff, decided to have a crack with his "sunday off spin" - actually googlies - but this resulted in more boundary peppering, although admittedly our fielding wasn't the best at times and we were a player down. The chief basher had got to his 50, but he was then replaced by another one.

Luckily, we had an old hand whose controlled medium pace I had decided was the right tactical move - that's one thing I've got right this year then - and he took three wickets with considerable skill. 

He knows exactly how quickly he is going to bowl, and exactly where the ball will land, which is entirely beyond my pay grade in this game. Our young guest, meanwhile, had taken over wicket keeping duties and was doing a stellar job, which augurs well for the third team next year, 

I had come on to bowl at this point, and was doing ok if not spectacularly, wickets, once again, evaded me, That was all happening at the other end, where the young second team opening bat was now proving highly effective with his rarely bowled off spin. 

Damn, they all make it look so easy.

So they closed on 199. 

Our innings did not start well, and we found ourselves in a very unwell looking position of about 40 for 5. However, the chairman, in conjunction with our young guest, proceeded to batter a fine 50 before the enforced retirement, a sort of "Sleep" in "Logan's Run" for batters in friendly games. 

The wicket by now was being rather tricky, so well done to them for scoring runs. It was very heartening for the young player's grandfather arrive in time to see him hook a head high beamer for four. 

I did get to have a little bat, I say little, I batted for 10 overs to score 13 not out. Lluckily for the watchers, the entertainment was coming from the other end. 

We lost, but it been all good fun.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 23.08.24

More Photo Diving - Bumbles and Butterflies

 Well, as the amount of wildflowers out there diminishes as autumn prepares to drape its rust and gold wings over the land, there has nonetheless been some hot days that have brought pollinators out to coralberry, marigold and coreopsis at work and at the park. 

Butterflies have been in desperately short supply this summer, and now that the meadow browns, ringlet and gatekeepers there is very little out there. My own buddleia has had the odd peacock dropping in, but small tortoiseshell and comma have been virtually non-existent where I have been pounding the tracks or having a gentle walk. 

I hope my readers have had better luck. Certainly some local folk here have found silver washed fritillaries in town, which is unheard of before. 

Of course, I haven't seen them. 

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 21.08.24

A Kinoulton Visit

 A drizzly Sunday saw us head out for Kinoulton, eleven intrepid players looking forward to the first Sunday game we'd managed to get on for a few weeks. 

Kinoulton is a well appointed ground with good facilities at the north edge of the village, and a car park that shrewder players realised was well within range of bigger hitters out in the middle. Cars were moved to more shielded spots. 

We batted first, with what looked a decent side on paper, in a thirty over game. After one ball, the leg stump fell over, and there long followed an amusingly farcical Spinal Tap moment, as first of all the hole was dug out with a teaspoon to try and remove a riotous bit of rock, before very large sticks were employed to pile drive the leg stump back into the ground with such force it was now a half inch shorter than the others. 

It's a friendly, no-one cares. 

Events started very positively for us, hardly surprising as we had the first and second team opening bats first up. It became evident very quickly that the outfield was as fast as treacle, and so our first team opening bat realised quickly that the key to fast scoring was going aerial. 

Which is how he hit his own car, although fortunately without damaging it. 

He retired on 50, no doubt setting his form up for the 131 he scored in the next first team game - who says Sunday cricket isn't important eh? 

When his partner got out for about 28, we were well set, but alas, things got a bit sticky from there on in and run prediction dried up as we ran out of power hitting, not helped by Kinoulton putting their most experienced bowlers on last. 

We closed on 120 for 7, defendable if we bowled well. Me, of course I hadn't batted, choosing instead to umpire and watch yet another cricket ground be visited by a red kite, and poking around the flowers at the edge of the ground. 

I won't ever change. 

The idea that our total was a good one was sadly dispelled in about 10 minutes, as one of Kinoulton's openers went absolutely mad and smashed 50 in about 25 balls, with the pavilion taking a fairly serious battering in the process. Even after he retired, we couldn't stem the runs, although I did take a wicket thanks to a great catch from my co-captain. 

However, we had an exciting mini finale when our youngest players, and the first team opening bat turned off spinner, made them work for eight overs for the last few runs. We were desperate for the young lad to get a wicket, sadly it was not to be. 

Yes a loss, but it was a really enjoyable game with a really nice bunch of Kinoulton lads, who were well worth a drink with after the game. 

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 13.08.24

Random Photo Dive

 Let's see what I've found the last few days in various places; on dull days, bright days, hot and humid and sticky days. 

Bright, buzzy and fluttery, I hope.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 06.08.24