Wet and Dry

 

It had been my intention, on returning from my summer break from blogging, to bring you a whole series of blogs, featuring the diverse wildlife of Scotland, Hungary, Austria and Germany. However, the best laid plans and all that. As we all know, the weather has become ever more unpredictable, and to cut a long story short, Scotland was too wet for wildlife and central Europe was too dry.

The first picture above shows the Falls of Dochart at the western end of Loch Tay where Ishbel, Mattie and I spent four days studying clouds... from the inside. It was only on our return journey, when we visited the lower reaches of the Tay in a vain attempt to find some Bearded Tits, that we spotted a few Fallow Deer. Other than that, a couple of Buzzards, pretending to be Golden Eagles, and a lone Kestrel were all that we could find.

A week or so later, my mother, my sister and I, took a cruise up the river Danube. Here, I was hoping to bring you something along the lines of My Family and Other Animals, but unfortunately, the other animals were conspicuous by their absence. Apart from a handful of wasps, three butterflies and a dragonfly, the only other insect I saw was this Green Shieldbug, who hitched a lift with us somewhere near the Hungary/Austria border.

Of birds, mammals and amphibians there was scant sign, even though I walked the river banks at various stops. This may, in part, have been due to the long dry summer in central Europe. So dry, in fact, that the cruise had to be abandoned at Passau as the river level had dropped so much that the Danube had become unnavigable above that point.

This got me thinking. We are being bombarded with information about climate change and the state of the planet. So much so, that it's hard to take it all in. What I wanted was a short, readable, book that would put everything into context. So I've decided to write one. It will be called British Mammals: Then and Now.

I have a number of antiquarian natural history books that tell me the state of British mammals in days gone by, which I will contrast and compare with current information to try to establish what has happened, why it has happened, and what will happen in the future if we either intervene or let things continue as they are. Give me a few weeks to get the initial research done, and then I'll be back with some updates and a few fascinating tidbits about the 100+ mammals that we have in the UK. (No, I didn't realise we had that many either).

All the best for now.

Steve

PS When I've finished with some of my antiquarian sources, I''l probably put them up for sale, so keep an eye on Steve's Vintage Collectables (which is also a good place to look for Christmas presents. Vintage and antique items are a lot more environmentally friendly than modern, manufactured stuff).

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All the best,

Steve

Babies, Babies, Green Shield Bugs

Wild Gladiolus, Gladiolus italicus

Hello all, and I hope that you all had a good Easter, however you managed to celebrate it. I thought we’d start off with a nice Easter flower, the Wild Gladiolus, Gladiolus italicus, and an explanation of the odd title for this post. While writing this, I am listening to a seventies radio station, and a track came on just now that reminded me of an incident that occurred when I was working in laboratories during that period.

It was lunchtime, I was sat in the somewhat crowded refectory, when a colleague came through carrying a tray. There appeared to be only one vacant seat, at a table of young women.

“Mind if I join you?” he inquired.

“We’re talking about women’s things”, came the rather sharp reply.

“That’s OK”, he said, “I can do women’s talk”.

This was greeted with silence and sceptical stares.

“Babies, babies, green shield stamps?”, he ventured.

He went down under a hail of cottage cheese on Ryvita, the unpalatable atop the inedible. It was not a pretty sight.

Common Vetch, Vicia sativa

Anyhow, as this post is about the new life of Spring, and features, among its participants, Green Shield Bugs (as opposed to green shield stamps) I thought the title rather apt.

Plant babies are their seeds, often within some sort of casing, such as the seed pods of the legumes. This is the seed pod of Common Vetch, Vicia sativa, which is cultivated for animal fodder. It is edible, but there are similar looking pods whose contents are deadly, so they are best avoided.

Green Shield Bugs [3rd Instar], Nezara viridula

Now to the Green Shield Bug babies. This is they, clustered on this mallow. True bugs [HEMIPTERA] like these, undergo incomplete metamorphosis. That is, they hatch from an egg, undergo several moults, called instars, until they attain their adult form and colour. Green Shield Bugs, Nezara viridula, have different colours and patterns with each instar and this is the third instar.

Beetles [COLEOPTERA], on the other hand, undergo complete metamorphosis. They go from egg to larva, (which looks nothing like the adult), then to pupa, where they undergo a radical transformation before emerging in their adult state. This common 7-spot ladybird, Coccinella septempunctata, is a good example.

Everlasting, Helichrysum

A couple of weeks ago, in The Love Life of Flowers, I mentioned that this plant, Everlasting, Helichrysum, is a favourite with florists, because the flowers and leaves, when dried, retain their shape and colour for a long time. However, I didn’t know how long, exactly. I cut and dried some, and a fortnight later, they are still on my mantelpiece and show no signs of fading.

Finally, there is only a week and a couple of days until the end of the month. A good idea to order your copy of The Quick Guide to Creepy-Crawlies for £10 before it reverts to its normal price of £14.99 on May 1st . [Also discounted in dollars, euros, and other currencies].

Steve's Books

See sample pages of all my books and latest blog posts here: http://author.to/SteveDaniels
The Quick Guide to Creepy-Crawlies All you need to know to identify any type of insect, spider, worm or snail very simply and find out more about it.
The Eggs of Saramova A science fiction novella for those who don't like science fiction. A fast-paced thriller that is, literally, out of this world (and it starts right here in Crete).
Not Just For Twisted Women by Steve Daniels  A light-hearted look at life through the eyes of the fairer sex.

Crete Nature Catch-up
Series 1 - Welcome to Lasithi	Series 2 - The Rhythm Of Life	Series 3 - A Journey Begins
Series 4 - The Milonas Valley	Series 5 - This Is Ferma	Series 6 - Upland Villages
Series 7 - The Forty saints	Series 8 - Sunday Strolls	Series 9 -Stormy Weather

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