Wow, time flies and all that. I've been keeping myself busy, though it doesn't
feel like I've ever got near to being ahead on work, chores and tasks. So
having not posted for a couple of weeks or so, and seeing as I'll be heading
back on Wednesday to see if that surgery gets done this time, here's a mix of
stuff.
First up, although these photos are from back on 29/05/2022, you may recall I
mentioned making a mini-pond using a raised planter. It's a c64x54mm
rectangular box, and I've got the water at c20mm deep. It is far from an ideal
pond, and of course I have no intention of it being anything other than
(hopefully) a habitat for small inverts. I washed some stones and laid them
on the bottom, filled it up and left it for a couple of days before adding
some oxygenating weeds and then another couple of days or so before adding
some potted marginal plants. Other than these plants, I'll not be deliberating
adding anything .... but it was inevitable that the plants would have brought
something.
The plants are a Water Forget-me-not, Water Mint with a bonus Monkeyflower
that has appeared in the same pot, and a couple of irises. As expected, it
seemed to develop a load of algae quite quickly, and then almost as quickly it
cleared and I started to notice things. I was certain that the first things to
turn up would be fly larvae, and sure enough a load appeared. So whilst it
felt completely wrong, I decided to take the plunge as it were and shove the
TG-6 below the surface. It survived .... despite me forgetting that I was
supposed to remove the light guide.
Lots of mosquito and chironomid larvae making light work of the algae. Whilst
these probably arrived naturally, I also noted that there were actually loads of
snails that certainly arrived with the plants. I also noted some water boatmen
nymphs which again I assume arrived with the plants ....
Whilst I was messing about trying to get shots of these, I noticed a
completely unexpected 'newtpole'. In fact I've since seen at least five at the
same time. I will have to ensure they get out once they're ready, but the
whole point of this being raised was to ensure it doesn't attract frogs or
newts!
So the scene is set, and I'll enjoy staring into the nooks and crannies etc
waiting for the odd beetle that will hopefully turn up in due course.
Talking of beetles, I saw this one scuttling about in the garden on 07/06/2022
and luckily had a pot to hand. I could see that it was a small Carabid, but
that was it until I got a couple of shots and then it was quite simple to sort
out ....
It keys through to Asaphidion curtum, a new one for me.
Over the completely ridiculous nonsense that was the Jubilee bank holiday and
weekend, we nipped down to Devon. The weather wasn't great, but I'd decided to
take a light trap and was intent on using it regardless. I managed to set it
up under the overhang of the garden summerhouse, so the trap stayed dry
despite a bit of heavy rain in the early hours. The catch wasn't massive, but
there was a good mix and a couple of new moths plus a couple I've only seen
away from Leics. before. The two ticks were ....
Toadflax Pug
Double Line - sadly a bit knackered!
And a couple of nice species I don't see here ....
Small Seraphim
Sharp-angled Peacock
There were few micros, but there was this Grapholita sp. that I've
retained for gen det ...
It may well be Grapholita funebrana, and this one from the garden on
02/06/2022 probably is too ....
Whilst I'm posting tortrixes, here a couple more from the garden ....
Grapholita janthinana - one of five flying about in the garden today
Gypsonoma oppressana from the trap last night
Clearwing lures in the garden have so far brought both Currant and
Red-belted - so good to confirm that last years purple patch with the garden
lures was not a fluke. I've also managed to see a few new species whilst out
and about including Solomon's Seal Sawfly, Broad-leaved Helleborine and
Stigmella floslactella.
Otherwise, here's some larval life from Watermead CP North on Saturday ....
Mullein
Willow Ermine
We went to see The Wonder Stuff on Saturday night, and they were absolutely
brilliant - it was just like stepping back 31 years to when we last saw them.
We were also meant to see Manic Street Preachers at Peterborough but that got
cancelled at the last minute due to James Dean Bradfield having Covid!
For a musical interlude though, I've been listening to loads of the
ridiculously massive works of Klaus Schulze. c50years of electronic ambient
stuff. Another one that is gone this year along with Vangelis.
On Friday we headed down to that there London, not just any old bit of London
either - the swanky expensive more money than sense bit. We travelled down in
bright sunshine, parked up at Stanmore and jumped on a tube straight to Sloane
Square station, and then tootled into the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. We had a
great day; I've fancied going there for some time and we absolutely struck
lucky with it being such a glorious day too. I could share loads of photos,
but really it's kind of 'you had to be there' to properly appreciate it. And
anyway, if you're interested you'll seen Monty present it all last week.
I'd already planned to head to Ketton Quarry on Saturday to look for a load
of Wild Liquorice and check it out for
Grapholita pallifrontana - no previous VC55 records. It's one that I'd
looked for before about a decade ago on a small plant at Croft Hill, but I'd
not realised the plant was now well established at Ketton until last week.
Sadly I was beaten to it, albeit the recorder on Friday failed to get any
photos or a specimen so I still needed to head over and have a look anyway. I
got details for the area and soon realised that I must have walked past his
substantial clump on many occasions previously and not noticed - it's not the
most attractive plant when not in flower.
It was a bit overcast with brief sunny spells, and luckily just as I got there
the sun was out and I saw a couple of the moths immediately. As soon as the
sun went in, the moths disappeared under leaves and over an hour or so I only
saw one more and managed to net one with a bit of very light sweeping (the
plant is not substantial enough to take a proper sweep!). This really seems to
be an easy moth to overlook, as they were completely inactive and hidden away
with no sunshine.
Whilst mooching about and around the Liquorice, I pointed the camera at a few
bits - by far the best of the bunch being this ....
The is the second time I've recorded Cryptocephalus bipunctatus at
Ketton Quarry, and this is the sixth VC55 record. The fifth was also from
Ketton Quarry a little earlier this May. Aside from this, the flowering plants
and foliage around the area were busy with the usual suspects for the site -
all metallic green ....
Cryptocephalus aureolus
Swollen-thighed Beetle
Ischnomera cyanea
Also flitting about the Liquorice was a trio of beefy-looking hoverflies that
I recognised having seen them here before. I netted one for an in-hand shot
for the record ....
Crysotoxum cautum
A small moth that I netted in flight turned out to be a male
Psyche casta, and to be fair the twig-cloaked larval case is perhaps
more visually appealing ....
Amongst the other day-flying moths seen was Burnet Companion, but the
lack of sunshine and warmth made it feel generally quiet and there were very
few butterflies knocking about.
Keith Tailby rocked up after I'd been there a while, and after a natter and
such like I left him to it, and as I headed home the sun came out ....
I felt sure there would be some obscure but listenable track with Liquorice
in the title, not that one sprung to mind at all. A quick internet search
brought up a few tracks, and I found them all to be a bit shite. And then I
found this quirky and pleasant acoustic tune on Youtube which somehow sounds
like a perfect accompaniment for searching for inverts in the field in
spring ....
As I am sure long-time visitors to this blog will be aware, for over 40 years
I've been listening to and thoroughly enjoying the works of Depeche Mode. During that that time, their line up has
been more stable than any other band of similar longevity that I can
think of. Vince Clarke left very early on, Alan Wilder replaced him for 13
years and from then on the band has been the three ever-present core of Dave
Gahan, Martin Gore and Andy Fletcher. They've had a consistent touring members
Christian Eigner on drums since 1997 and Peter Gordeno on keyboards since
1998. Today, far too young, Andy Fletcher (60) died. Andy was pivotal to the
success of the band: not as a songwriter, not as the voice or the face of the
band, but he certainly was the glue and the heart of the band keeping things
together through inevitable rough patches. Whilst I sincerely hope that this
is not the end for Depeche Mode, it will be in many respects.
It was even longer ago that I heard and liked Yes, albeit thanks to my Dad
playing them incessantly. I've not listened to them regularly over that time or kept pace
with everything they've released, and their line up is far from stable or
consistent. But one of their most persistent members was drummer Alan White -
ever-present from 1972. Alan (72) also died today.
Here's a few suitably sombre looking moths from the garden last night ....
So as some may have picked up from posts on Twitter and Facebook, or my
comment on the last post, my planned surgery did not happen. Which was bloody
frustrating to say the least, and left me feeling a bit bewildered after
having got myself psyched up and ready. I'd spent a couple of hours in the
surgery pre-prep area being checked, interrogated and having had a chat with
the surgeon - during which he helpfully told me that my pre-op scans had shown
that the x3 growths had indeed grown a bit more during the c4wks since the
last scans. The op is very high risk, mainly due to excess bleeding, sepsis,
possible damage caused by the surgery etc, so they absolutely know I will be
in ICU for a couple of days. The op is also a long procedure, at least 8hrs.
So to go ahead, the team of surgeons/consultants involved (there are four
completing various parts of the surgery within their area of specialism) all
need to be available, the theatre needs to be triple-booked for the longer
time, and there needs to be a confirmed ICU bed available. They can plan the
surgeons and theatre, ICU is completely down to chance and given that the
hospital has the only A&E department in Leics. then it is always likely to
be busy. So I was left thinking the worst - what if the next date is another
six or seven week wait, will that be too late to have the best chance of
success ....
Once I'd had something to eat and drink, and pottered in the garden sunshine,
I pulled myself together enough to nip out for a brief walk at Croft Hill.
Whilst out I remembered that I had a ticket to see Gary Numan that I'd
obviously expected to miss and had not been able to pass on. So when I got
home I decided to sort myself out, get the moth trap set and bugger off for a
beer and some noise. A great gig, and complete contrast to the more sedate and
intricate Divine Comedy gig I'd been to the previous weekend.
Anyway, I got a call from the hospital yesterday and have a new date - 15th
June. Not as soon as I'd like but at least not as far off as I feared. I'm
back to how I was before this debacle and just focussing on the now, including
getting back to work after a week out.
The moth trap on Thursday night was fairly busy, but best of the bunch was a
not particularly spectacular looking pug ....
Angle-barred Pug (f. fraxinata = Ash Pug)
I nearly overlooked this in the early morning light, but noticed the straight
costa, narrow long-winged look and that the weak markings were a bit too
uniform to be due to wear. Of course in decent light and with a fully awake
mind it's obvious what it is - though I wonder if I've overlooked it in the
past. A first for the garden and the first I've seen in VC55, having only seen
it previously in Devon.
A few others from the trap ...
Oak Hook-tip
Lime Hawk-moth
Flame Carpet
I pointed the camera at a couple of bits up at Croft Hill too. Back on 12th
May whilst unsuccessfully dangling lures I found a handful of first instar
larvae on small Aspen saplings. I was sure they were Puss Moth, but had no
camera and wasn't going to take a couple to rear knowing I'd be away for a
while. So I had another look and very quickly found another handful on the
same area of Aspen saplings (there are loads), now in what I think is early
third instar. This seems very early, but would mean the eggs were laid in late
April and over the last five years at least we've been seeing Puss Moth adults to
light from c20th April, so a clear shift in phenology.
There were plenty of Cantharids knocking about too, though only Cantharis
rustica got snapped ....
The garden trap last night was not so busy, but the diversity is still picking
up.
Rustic Shoulder-knot - a particularly dark individual
Brown Rustic
Poplar Grey
Given the move in surgery date, I'll also be able to go and see The
Wonder Stuff in June - but I'll still be missing the Isle of Wight Festival.
Today we said farewell to Adrian at a very calm and celebratory ceremony, with wall to wall
sunshine outside and a strong attendance. It was good to see a few faces for the first time in a long
while thanks to Covid etc, but clearly not in the circumstances we wanted to
be meeting.
That should have been the toughest part of the week, but it isn't.
I'm not going to lie, whilst I've been putting on a brave face and fronting
things for a while now I'm pretty apprehensive about what's coming.
My life has been a rollercoaster since early 2019 when I was suddenly very ill
indeed, got diagnosed with rectal cancer and since then I've had three separate operations, two different lots of radiotherapy and two lots of chemo. The last surgery in October 2020 was radical and
life-changing - I've not spelled it out before but I'm sure some realise that
I have a permanent colostomy with absolutely zero chance of reversal. You'd
think by now I'd be over it, but it seems that all of the treatment and
surgery so far is not quite enough. My cancer is starting to come back - right
in the place where it would have been before having body-parts removed.
Thankfully for now at least, there is no sign of any spread; whilst it is a
pretty resilient cancer it doesn't seem to be malicious enough to try and
finish me off. Not just yet at least. So I have another shot at getting rid of
it for good, but this time I am facing even more major radical surgery and at
the end of it I'll be pretty empty below my navel - no bladder or prostate,
but helpfully I'll have another bag to balance me out ....
I've come through surgery and just about got back to as near a normal life as
possible. I've not been as constrained as I may have been, and I've been able
to enjoy stuff like festivals, gigs, West End shows, football matches home, away and abroad, beers and curry and -
not least - getting out and about to enjoy nature when time and weather allow. I know I will
do all that again, even though it will be tough again, but that doesn't clear
the nagging doubt in the back of my mind about what if this doesn't work.
I'm
not planning on going anywhere any time soon though, and certainly will not be
going without kicking and screaming. But you can expect this blog to be quiet for a while. I go for surgery on Thursday and am
likely to be in the hospital for a couple of weeks, and then I am back at the
start of the long road to recovery again. Whilst I'll be trying to get back
connected to the world asap, I doubt I'll have anything to post for a while.
But of course as soon as I can, the garden light and pheromone traps will be
out again so you never know.
For now I'll share this one, a beetle that has few VC55 records and was a
complete surprise in my garden pheromone trap this afternoon (with FOR lure
deployed hoping for Red-tipped Clearwing). This is Triplax russica -
new for me, and perhaps just the fifth or sixth for VC55 (four reliable records, a possible fifth, last in 2005).
Excuse the moth scales that it has picked up whilst having a jolly time in the
pheromone trap.
Yesterday I had to get my car in to the dealership for service and MOT,
meaning I had a couple of hours to fill. There is only so much Morrison's
coffee and table space you can take, so around a couple of calls and various
e-mails I headed off for a walk. For context, here's a map showing the south
side of the City ....
The cyan dot is the King Power stadium, yellow dot is the Leicester Tigers
stadium, green dot is Leicester Railway station and the red dot is the Toyota
dealership. So I opted to have a squint around the green space around the white
dot, which happens to be
Welford Road Cemetery.
I have never been there, though I was vaguely aware that it was perhaps a
little 'wilder' than your typical inner-city municipal cemetery. I was also
aware that a distant relative of mine, John Fergus Skevington (my Great Great
Great Grandfather no less) was buried here though I had no idea whereabouts.
I was quite surprised at how much it has been allowed to grow, with many of
the graves in the more open parts on the north side almost secondary to the
meadow-like flowers. Even the more regimented plots were allowed to overgrow
with wildflowers. It was also a lot bigger than I realised, and surprisingly
peaceful despite the adjacent busy road and railway line, perhaps helped by
the wind blowing through the leaves. But I was only there for a quick walk;
with proper time and a bit of forward planning rather than a spur of the
moment visit it would be good to have a proper look around. Of course then I
may actually find the grave; there is a visitor centre that has all of the
plots catalogued but as I found it is only open on Fridays and weekends.
