The same came be said in the lepidopteran world. Butterflies seem to have had a shocker. Transect survey results I have seen were atrocious. This is backed up with anecdote aplenty from fellow natural historians. There was a brief window of Vanessid-joy in August, but Peacocks were a rare sight. The only glimmer of hope I saw was with second generation Large Whites, every one of which seems to have descended on my brassicas over the last month. Perhaps I should do a better job with the netting next year.
Their nocturnal buddies have had a similar rough ride. When I have been able to set the moth-trap during gaps in the weather, catches of typically abundant species like Vine's Rustic, Turnips and Large Yellow Underwings have been the merest of blips on the radar.
But wait, autumn is here and warm colours are edging out the various shades of summer green. Over the last week, the canopy of an acer viewed from our kitchen has caught the eye. Today, it is verging on scarlet. Beautiful. In the front garden, the five metres of mixed, native hedge planted last winter is on the turn. The Spindle has already reddened, but my favourite autumn colour, the lemon-yellow of field maple is only now just starting to appear. What on earth would we do if we couldn't guarantee a bit of autumn colour?
We have had some decent bursts of rain over the last couple of weeks and this has been a boon for fungi. Hurrah! At last, something to celebrate. The problem for me is a rather substantial knowledge-gap in this field. But I am getting to a stage in life where I don't lose too much sleep about this sort of thing. For the moment, I shall just do what I can to get out and have a rootle around and enjoy it. I think you should do the same.
Parasol mushrooms (so I am told)
No comments:
Post a Comment