Category Archives: Animals

Butterflies on Salisbury Plain

John Solomon, 08/06/2021           I’m not too familiar with Salisbury Plain but David visited there last year and, so he told me, saw huge numbers of Marsh Fritillaries. A plan was hatched. He knew where they were and I had the toy, a small, two-seater sports car with rather too much engine, endearingly known asContinue reading “Butterflies on Salisbury Plain”

The Natural World in Photographs – 4, Dragonflies.

Note: The INDEX is with Rocky Mountains, USA. You will have a list of nearly 90 posts about wildlife. Information free of adverts. Photographs by John Solomon, 2020. Dragonflies are aquatic during their immature stages. Locally, they live in fairly still freshwater. The immatures, like the adults, are fiercely carnivorous and in garden ponds canContinue reading “The Natural World in Photographs – 4, Dragonflies.”

The Natural World in Photographs – 3

Images by John Solomon NOTE: over 90 articles available, free of adverts. See: nwhwildlife.org – Rocky Mountains, USA and Index. The legs bear many spiky hairs, seen beautifully in this image. The venation of the wings shows clearly here, as does the metallic colour that seems to occur across all the odonata. A leopard ofContinue reading “The Natural World in Photographs – 3”

The Natural World in Photographs – 2

NOTE: over 90 articles available, free of adverts. See: nwhwildlife.org – Rocky Mountains, USA and Index. John Solomon’s images from 2020. We can all look at a damselfly and say to ourselves, “Sure, it is only another damselfly.” Today, you have the chance to take a second look at these British species, and to enjoyContinue reading “The Natural World in Photographs – 2”

Feeling sleepy? How about being awake for only a few weeks each year … and it is a European mammal!

Adverse conditions David Beeson, January 2021 The weather changes in the UK from day to day and with the seasons. With the Earth at a moving orientation to the Sun throughout the year, the input of energy in a particular spot changes. In the UK winter, the constant energy output from our Sun is spreadContinue reading “Feeling sleepy? How about being awake for only a few weeks each year … and it is a European mammal!”

Wildlife Encounters

Encounters David Beeson, 15 /12 /20 It was in my early days of wildlife watching and I had a brand-new telephoto-lens. And I needed mammal photographs for a lecture course I was about to teach. So, I drove out to a stream just outside Salisbury – near Odstock, where watervoles had been spotted. Now, myContinue reading “Wildlife Encounters”

A Trip to South-east USA

Like nowhere I had seen before – The Florida and Georgia Wetlands Everyone seems to rave about Florida. Not me, and I’ve been there too. Now, I admit to no longer being a youngster, so I am not ‘into’ theme parks, over-crowded beaches or built environments. Yup, I am an old grouchy! But, give meContinue reading “A Trip to South-east USA”

Harewood Forest

A Walk through an Ancient Forest, 1. RE-posted 1st November 2020 A walk from the B3400, south along the footpath from Andover Down to the Middleway. SU403463. Pisa Cottage stop on the 76 bus route from Andover to Whitchurch and Basingstoke. Harewood Forest has been woodland forever. It is in north-west Hampshire near the marketContinue reading “Harewood Forest”

A Brilliant Day!!!

Dormice David Beeson Hazel dormice are not common in the UK, but they are slowly being reintroduced, with some success. My area is a comparative ‘hot spot’ for the species and I have found live animals and nests in the past. The nearest nests have been within 1Km, but species-specific nest boxes and searching forContinue reading “A Brilliant Day!!!”

Dorset heaths

The Dorset Heathlands David Beeson My part of Southern England is dominated by a chalk geology. That results in thin, calcium-rich soils and a characteristic ecology. Much of south-east Dorset has sand and gravels beneath the surface, and these generate very different conditions. I was based a few kilometres north of the walled, Saxon townContinue reading “Dorset heaths”

Here be DRAGONS and DAMSELS! A major article.

A major article by John Solomon, August 2020 A guide to the ODONATA of the ANDOVER region. Introduction Odonata is the Latin term for the insects more commonly known as Damselflies and Dragonflies. While superficially very similar they do differ in several ways. Firstly, Dragonflies are larger than Damselflies and when they rest they alwaysContinue reading “Here be DRAGONS and DAMSELS! A major article.”

Children

Freshwater wildlife July 18th 2020 David Beeson As much as many of us enjoy seeing and recording wildlife we need to engage others – especially young people. Big Butterfly Count and RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch are following that approach although the oldies tend to dominate. I do not believe the results are taken really seriouslyContinue reading “Children”

What do your insects eat?

A photo-essay 17th June 2020 David Beeson As you know Forest Edge aims to be an eco-friendly garden. It has a range of habitats that change through the year. It has a native and non-native flora. But, who eats what? Great project here for children? Our butterflies today are small, large and green-veined whites, redContinue reading “What do your insects eat?”

You Should Read This! Ticks.

Ticks – what every wildlife enthusiast should know David Beeson If you wander the byways and grasslands almost anywhere in the world you will soon encounter one of these arachnids. Eight-legged little delights! Relatives of the spiders. They are common locally but I’m unaware of Lyme Disease here. There are over twenty different species ofContinue reading “You Should Read This! Ticks.”

Longparish on the River Test

Longparish Mill or the Hunt for a Golden Bloomed Longhorn Beetle John Solomon What am I doing here? There is a blustery breeze and nobody would describe it as warm, perhaps 19C but not over 20C. I didn’t get rained on driving out but some of the heavier clouds threaten to spit on me beforeContinue reading “Longparish on the River Test”