ABtrees

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 ? !!!!

I think i know what this is but feel free to have a guess - it was a first for me.

OK final final pic. Saw this very odd butterfly in flight (apparently upside down) - never seen anything like it before and had no idea what it was till it landed !

Final batch

Trying to go for things of interest

Haven't posted for ages - here is the first batch from the last few weeks - a few more to follow.

I had exactly that with a hornets nest down the other end of the fallen tree i was logging my way along - oh look a hornet ! Within 15 seconds maybe 60 - 70. Just started talking calmly to them and slowly backed off. They followed me at a distance of about 2 metres all the way to the tractor 20 metres away. Made sure i was no longer a threat and then got on with their day. Unlike wasps, made no attempt to sting me - but i'd have been in trouble if they had - out in the wood working on my own ! Just as an aside, i kept the saw running the noise/vibration seems to calm them (maybe ?).

Thanks you two. That was my initial take on it but the leaves are truly massive - that's a regular oak (Q. Robur) to the left for comparison. The only one that is even vaguely close is Northern Red (Q. Rubra) but I'm yet to be convinced.

Afternoon Can anyone help me out with an id on this one please ? The only thing i can think of is some sort of Paulownia - the leaves are big (25x16 cm) but don't quite look right to me. Ideas ?

Do you all see what i mean ? I'd be delighted with Pete's Whitethroat picture ! PW I do get what you mean though, but all modesty to one side, if the subject is in sharp focus, that's half the battle for me. Once I'm getting consistent results on that I can start thinking about composition. Not sure I'll ever get to worrying about light levels - don't think I've got 30 years left !!!!

As Difflock says an Emperor Moth - a male I believe with the fluffy antennae

Every spring seems to bring something new ............... never seen one of these before (and still haven't - I'm in the UK atm !). Mrs B's poor quality pic on her i-phone

..... unless you're @Pete W !!!! Loved the ducklings btw

Nothing to apologise for there - we're all still learning - and you definitely seem to have it sussed ! Love the last nuthatch one.

Only after I'd loaded it into the stove did I realise how sad I'd made this log !

It is something called Aflatoxin. It's not uncommon and there are generally fairly stringent tests for imports. You guys are absolutely right it is produced by a fungus developing if the peanuts get wet (usually whilst they are still in their shells). It pretty nasty stuff and once in the food chain can be passed on. Here's your wiki link : Aflatoxin - Wikipedia

We have far fewer squirrels where we are in the middle of France - but all of them are Red. (As far as I can make out, apart from a few very isolated colonies in the Paris suburbs, there are no greys in France.) The lack of squirrels in general is almost certainly down to there being a lot of 'Fouine' These are a top predatory omnivore - a cousin of the Pine Martin only a much heftier beast - officially up to 54cms and up to 2.3kg ! I'm not sure that I've seen them that size but Tufty is certainly always going to be the loser !!! Consequently tree/ sapling damage is much reduced, all of my bit of woodland is self regen and has been for the last 30+years - roe deer are the only real headache !

Spent the afternoon disentangling / pollarding (!) trees from the telephone line in 17 degrees, when sure enough along comes (my last sighting for the year) - a queen hornet buzzing past and a comma butterfly - it's New Year's Eve for God's sake - nuts ! Tomorrow is going to be 16+ over here so maybe my first hornet of the year sighting on Jan 1st whilst I'm clearing up ! Happy New Year everyone.

Yeah good alternative call