The largest hawk-moth in the UK came to visit last night. A veritable behemoth. The size of your palm ... the pink, black and brown beauty that is the PRIVET HAWK-MOTH.
Much warmer last night and a few more #moths came out to play. Finally, my first muppet-coloured ELEPHANT HAWK-MOTH and a delicate (if slightly battered) SWALLOW-TAILED of 2024 ... and just for good measure, a SPECTACLE with the biggest mohican you've ever seen on a moth hilariously clearing for take-off...
Well, well, well, my froggy friends coming out in full force just in time for froggy Friday. They normally just like hiding between the plants. #garden#froggyfriday#froggyfriend#frog#wildlife
Remembering Dad (who died a year and a half ago) on #FathersDay. It was Dad who encouraged my early interest in #nature and then, when I was in my teens, my passion for #WildlifePhotography.
Here he is in the #garden he loved so much, with some of the #wildlife he captured on camera there. Thanks Dad, and rest well.
Dad's #garden has provided me with many opportunities for #WildlifePhotography over the years, even when he was no longer able to tend to it. Pics here from 2016 to earlier this year, clockwise from top left: Common #Frog, #Robin, Seven-spot #Ladybird, and Brimstone #Butterfly.
Today in: how to make more manual labor for yourself.
Told the tree crew down the street I'd take the chipped trees they are working on today as mulch (due for a refresh). Going to get a full load, I think. 😂
I'd like a giant load of mulch for free,
Something I've done before you see,
Keeps down weeds, keeps the garden cool
Leaves water in the soil, that's the rule
Now, the only problem with this plan today
Is moving mulch is hard, I must say
It's great and saves you money
But you'll pay in sore muscles and back, sonny
Here's the first leaf-veined slug we've ever seen in our NZ suburban garden. It's the 404th species of invertebrate we've now found in our garden, after over ten years of looking for such things. My wife found it under an old wood heap (over the fence from where our chickens forage).
NZ leaf-veined slugs all eat fungi, and are a welcome addition to gardens, unlike the introduced European slugs and snails that eat NZers vegetables.