The Blossom is Back

 Walking through Sconce Park Orchard on my way for a cup of tea at Rumbles cafe, I walked through the orchard area to find that the trees are all covered in blossom. 

Not only did it look beautiful, it smelt beautiful too. 

My favourite blossom arch is back, and the birds are in full song, with blackbirds, blue and great tits, and robins flitting through the trees. Any day now, the chiff chaffs will be calling again. 

Sadly, it was slightly chilly and dull, so pollinators were in short supply, but there were plenty of ladybirds to be seen on red dead nettle. I've got a new Google Pixel 10a, so I'm hoping my photography will upgrade, so the lack of buzzy or fluttery targets is frustrating. 

We will just have to make do with flowers for now! 

Si 

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 09.03.26 

Tawny Mining Bee, Among Others

 Well, we are in a spell of lovely weather, and spring feels like it has properly sprung now, with butterflies on the wing today - of which more in another post. 

I've been loving visiting Sconce Park, reading and drinking tea at the cafe while listening to cricket on the radio, before walking through the park wildlife hunting. This weekend has been superb, with the highlight being my first ever capture of a tawny mining bee feeding off blossom. 

These stunning yellow and deep gold solitary bees are usually seen flying around at low level around the patches of dry dirt where they make their mini-volcano like homes, but I managed to catch one on the lovely crisp white blossom, and somehow got decent photographs despite my phone camera really struggling with the sun. 

There were other small bees about too, one in the old oak wood being a suspected short fringed mining bee, while another on blossom being perhaps an early mining bee. 

All hail iNaturalist!

Well, I hope you are finding some rewarding spring sights as well!

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 07.04.25

Wading Time

 Sadly not a post about spotting wading birds, but rather a walk at the weekend in the rain.

I've had a sore back the last couple of weeks, as well as a cold, so I've not been out too much. Determined to go out on Saturday despite the rain, I went out in full waterproofs and wellingtons, wellingtons I've only worn once before, and headed down to the park to see how the flooding was going. 

Well the water has receded somewhat, but the heavy rain that day was making them rise again, and a lot of the path by the River Devon was underwater. However, with wellies on, I was able to power on through! 

I felt ever so slightly adventurous, rather than slow and lazy for a change. 

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 06.11.23

Commas and Damsels

 I've been a little unwell, having eaten some ice cream which I didn't realise had a sweetener in it that acts as massive trigger of IBS symptoms. 

Oof. Not nice. 

The sun has decided to make a few rare appearances in the last few days, and that has meant that some nice insects have made an appearance. Such as the lovely male banded demoiselle I found having a restful moment on the pavement of all places. and then a comma enjoying the sun by the River Devon while having a chat with a bee.

By lucky chance, this is one of the best shots I've ever taken. 

I myself then went to enjoy the sun at Rumbles cafe, although unable to sit on a flower like the comma did.

Fraction too heavy, you see. 

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 08.08.23

Sconce Park Butterflies

 No cricket for me, as yet again the match I'd spent days preparing a team for an organising was cancelled by the opposition, officially due to overnight rain - the ground was bone dry at 10am - but more likely due to a severe case of couldn't be arsed-ness. 

Much disappointment for my team-mates and myself. We've only been able to play 5 games out of 11...

Si, in bright warm sunshine, I took myself to the park, to take in the open air, have a cup of tea, and photograph the plentiful butterflies that were around. 

A beautiful newly emerged comma would not co-operate, chased away from its perfectly posed spot by a marauding specked wood, but I managed to get some decent shots of other species - small tortoiseshell, holly blue and a rather tatty green veined white. 

I got a cup of tea, and settled down on my usual bench at the cafe to read. I've suddenly regained my love for reading which I seemed to lose during the pandemic, and take joy and peace in reading outside, be it at the park or in my garden in the early evening. 

So I was still able to make something positive out of a disappointing day.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 11.07.23

A Stunning Orange Tip!

Hello!

I'm just back from Berlin, where I had a wonderful time in wonderful city. More of that later though. 

For now, I just want to show you something that was shown to me just before I left for Germany. I was sitting on a bench at Rumbles cafe when a little girl walked up to a plant, and deposited an orange tip butterfly on it. 

I've never seen an orange tip sit so still for so long, I'm guessing it was newly emerged and still waiting for its wings to properly dry out when she found it. Hence I was able to finally to get decent photos of one of these beauties for you. 

I hope you like them.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 24.04.23

The Treecreeper

 I've been housebound by a combination of both terrible weather and a terrible back spasm. Really not happy about my exercise level lately and diet too; feel rather chubby with my trip to Berlin upcoming. 

On a day when I was able to get out I was however fortunate enough to have a rare good view of a treecreeper in the Old Oak Wood by the River Devon. They are incredibly hard birds to see against a tree trunk, only the flash of white belly giving the bird's appearance away usually.

As ever, it was spiralling up the tree trunk with it's almost claw like tail acting as a third leg. 

Not rare birds, but a rare sighting!

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 01.04.23

Why are you Guys Still Out?

 Been off work for three days. Two of those have been misty, mizzley, cold and grey, weather to hide from. Get the TV on, pull the fleece blanket up round your neck on the sofa and stay as cozy as you can.

Saturday, however, was just glorious. Mid November, and it was shirt sleeves weather. I went to Rumbles cafe at the park, and watched a red admiral - always the last butterfly on the wing each autumn - flutter over my head as I sipped on my tea. 

Because of this warm November, there's still some flowers in bloom in the lovingly cultivated beds outside Rumbles, and unbelievably there's still some other pollinators on the wing. 

A hoverfly and a honeybee, still awake and feeding! 

It's an absolutely beautiful thing to see and a privilege to photograph it. But really, is this what we should be seeing so deep into the autumn? Flowers in bloom and insects feeding off them? 

I know that a lot of nature lovers are worried about this too. They wonder why there are trees in bud, orchids sprouting in meadows and other manifestations you would expect in March, not November. It feels wrong to them. It feels wrong to me. 

Something isn't right out there.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 14.11.22

Geese on the Move

 It's the early autumn, the time of year when waterfowl start to return to our local waters for the winter to join the local birds who were too lazy to go on holiday and decided to have a staycation instead.

The first skeins of pink footed geese have been seen all over the county, high in the air with the harshness of their honking rendered more mellifluous by the height. I myself saw a twilight flight of about 60 make their way over the cemetery as I was out trying to film bats - apparently the chapel holds roosting pipistrelles and noctules. 

Of course, the most dominant geese locally are the greylags and the canadas, with the canadas being the dominant birds in terms of numbers. They have a large daily festival on the muddy banks of the Trent opposite the South Marina, where they entertain boat dwellers with their trumpeting racket. 

Then in the evenings, large numbers of them take off and head for their roosts who knows where, and their echelons make their way over the park and the river. I'be veen lucky enough to catch a few of them in flight, and they are far more beautiful in the air than they ever are on land or water. 

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 28.09.22

New Camera Phone

 So, I got a Google Pixel 6A half price through work, as 1) My Moto G7 is three years old and the battery is very shaky now and 2) I wanted the camera.

The camera specs aren't mega impressive in their own right - 13MP rear cameras - but with Google phones it is the photo processing that is key. 

So I've read!

The exciting thing I've found is the ability to take night shots of the stars, but for now let's see some insect shots I took today. I don't think the photos are any more detailed than my G7, but the focussing and response is just so much better.

Let me know what you think, especially if you have a Pixel 6A yourself.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 07.09.22