ABtrees

Thanks Paul. They are a bit variable - The one above has a lot more black on it than most of the other pics I can find, but I guess it makes sense as we do get them here. (see my post on 21st April in Pictures of Spring thread).

Can anyone help me with an ID on this caterpillar please ? Originally thought swallowtail but now pretty certain it isn't. So some kind of Hawkmoth maybe ? Seen on bramble and don't forget - taken in France !

You're right - that isn't a great picture - looks like some of the crap pics I end up with ! That said, they may be some sort of Sawfly - there's loads to choose from ! Your best bet on here is to ask @Anno

I initially had a similar issue - getting carried away with the 2in1. I have found what works best for me is to use a round file in the holder for two sharpens Stihl File Holder With Round File SKYLANDEQUIPMENT.COM The Stihl file holder comes with the correct depth and angles to make life that little easier when sharpening your chainsaw chain. This is particularly good for the small 3.2mm chain as... then every 3rd sharpen I use the 2in1 to take the rakers down - keeps it all sweet ! For the sake of £10 - give it a go and see how you get on - it's just trial and error till you find something that works for you and gives consistent results. Practice, practice, practice !

Hi Tom I thought I'd seen this topic before. If you put Harkie Defiance in the search box, there already quite a bit of opinion on them on here. Not having a go - just trying to help ! AB

However ..... a few more interesting fauna !

As we're now on flowers, here are some 'Whitebells' and some 'Pinkbells'

You know spring is here when these guys turn up !

Hi Beth, I'm no expert but those do look like Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica Alni), and you certainly seem to have plenty of them ! And it seems once you've got them, you've got them ! Roughly whereabouts are you (in the UK ?)? I'm not sure what you aim is - to 'protect' the trees / other plants or just to get rid of the beetles ? I am in France and we have loads of these but don't notice so much because we also have loads of Alder trees (200 +) along the brook. Because they're endemic here we also have loads of predators (and therefore a nice ecological balance). These beetles were (very) rare in the UK until a decade or so ago and it may well take time for the local predators to catch on ! I attach a link to the RHS website which basically says that it is unlikely that they will kill mature trees, spraying anything other than small trees / shrubs is likely to be ineffective as well as damaging to other (possibly predatory) insects. It also mentions other host plants . Good luck ! AB https://www.rhs.org.uk/biodiversity/alder-leaf-beetle

A few follow up pics Oily, adult slow worms then youngster. And a butterfly found in a tree (i know it doesn't really belong here).

I have a few dodgy phone pictures - will try to get out with the proper camera tomorrow. 20+ degrees here (in central France) today and suddenly loads of stuff turning up. Was out in the woods this pm and in no particular order in 2 hours i saw all 3 spotted woodpeckers (my wife saw the black one on Tuesday), Oil beetle, Lots of early season butterflies (Red Admiral, Peacock, Brimstone, Large Tortoiseshell and male Orange Tip) and finally under a bit of matting a mum and 2 baby slow worms. Not bad for one afternoon. Oh and one of my daughters saw loads of Palmate newts in the old millstream !

Hi All Mick, I have to pick you up on that - we had a guy come round and he had done exactly that , (as described) last year. Took out an Asian hornet nest (at about 40-50 feet up) in a field on the outskirts of a local village with said paintball gun. We passed by a few days later - no activity at all. To be fair it wasn't your average gun, some higher powered version and surprisingly accurate. It does work. On a separate note, we have had Asians for (at least) the last 4 years - never had any trouble from them apart from grabbing my bees as they returned to the hive. I found letting some grass stalks grow tall in front of the hive seriously reduced their chances of catching one though, and must confess to an adrenaline fuelled 20 minutes with a badminton racquet !!!!!

Must have missed this post AJ. Here's my version of the same thing just about to depart !

I just thought it looked like an early version trail camera - put there by the council to see if they could spot any wrongdoing - you know dropping litter, in a traffic jam with your engine running, going over 20mph etc etc !!!!!

Morning - busy week ! I think they go as follows: Southern White Admiral Swallowtail Queen of Spain fritillary Map (these butterflies are really curious - i think these are 2nd or possibly 3rd generation but i have never seen so many together at once). Then: Black veined white Large skipper Sooty copper Map (underside - which gives them their name) - landed on my glove ! And yes, the elusive wood white Finally: Hummingbird hawk Common blue Weavers (AKA violet) fritillary Southern white admiral again - underside v. similar to Purple Emperor and Lesser Purple Emperor (which we also have !). I have (so) many more butterfly pics (of varying quality it has to be said) - maybe I'll dig out some of the rarer stuff and post it - if you'd like ? !!!!