Argyresthia conjugella

It has got a fancy name but it makes me both sad and mad. The few apples I usually can harvest are in danger of being food for a small insect that digs a small hole in the apples before they are ripe and leave me with nothing. Not fair.

Butterflies

I am not the only one who is attracted to Mrs Bear. Today, when painting windows, a butterfly landed on her arm, rolled out its trunk and started to "nibble" on her arm. It seemed very secure and comfortable and did not move until I had fetched my camera and taken some pictures. If you click on the picture, you will get an enlargement and can see that it has a small droplet on its trunk. Is it sweating?



Half an hour later, a second butterfly landed on her hat and spent some time just sitting there, enjoying the nice weather we have. The trunk was now rolled up or is it a ring in his/her nose?

Holes

The badger has not done any damage to the lawn for a while but I strongly suspect that he has started to dig big holes in, at least, two places. I am not sure why but guess that his search for food has made him go much deeper than he used to. They are big enough to be dangerous if you happen to stumble into one of them so I have had to fill them to prevent people from breaking their legs.

Hops

My hops pole is a constant source of joy and reflections. First it is amazing how fast the plants grow and the intricate way they wrap themselves around the pole. Secondly, when the top is reached (4.4 m !) they continue out in thin air until gravity brings them down or at least sideways. Just like we all do when we have climbed fast thanks to solid support and suddenly are on our own.

Drying the foot?

Why do swans put one foot on the back when they rest? I noticed this when looking at the swans but have not managed to find out why? Anyone who knows? It was not just this one but almost half of them did the same thing. Cold water?