Unidentified specie: (please let me know if you can identify this fly for me by leaving a comment underneath the post.)


Blackberry. Rubus fruticosus





The groundcover of speedwell. Which specie it is I do not know yet. The height of the creeping stems is about 80-100mm. The flowers are between 6 and 8mm.



There are great crops of the berries everywhere. Well they will be in big demand as soon as the snow sets in. (did I hear it right, that this might start as early as next month?



Herb Robert, Geranium robertiatum



I have hardly seen any spiders in my garden, and I am afraid that many were killed by the severe winter we've had. To my surprise and delight, I spotted Garden Spiders everywhere along my route, without searching for their webs. So well done to them; that aspect on its own made my day


Spear Thistle, Cursium vulgare





In the distance is Mount. Gabriel, with the two radar domes on top. making sure that air traffic to and from the Americas don't bump into one another.



Crocosmia



Upright Hedge Parsley, Torillis japonica

Ragged Robin, Lychnis flos cuculi.

Most Ragged Robin flowers were well past their sell-by date, yet they were still very popular by all sorts of insects.
This hoverfly has lovely markings in very strange shapes, not at all like the ones I've seen before. So, if you know who or what it is, please leave a comment at the bottom.

Rhingia campetris


Just now, I came upon this website on hoverflies. Looks very interesting. I'll have a look in the morning because it is now 11pm.



A very late Common Honeysuckle, Lorica periclymenum


Greater Stitchwort, Stellaria holostea


And as you enter the village again, the Prickly Sow Thistle, sonchus asper, greets you again.

Grey Heron. Ardea cinerea

hooded Crow, Corvus cornix

A few more Halloween Birds

Well, I do have a thing for Gulls, so what do you expect..


In the hotel room, I'd take up my posiyion each morning with bins and camera to see how the harbour would awake. Here are another few pictures from the birds.
From early morning a Grey Heron would be standing here in the harbour, together with a little Egret. Is this Egret the same one as the one which visits Dunmanus Bay?
Here I love the large foot of the Little Egret, as it keeps it just above the water, with its reflection also.

Or, with a a fish in its bill as it has in this picture


One day, after I'd been on the road, I returned to a Little Egret which was just a few metres away from me, looking for food and it kept walking so fast, it was incredible how quick these can strut from here to there, and foraging whilst doing so, too..

And its cousin, the Grey Heron,

And last a few pictures of the Mallards- such a handsome bird and like the Chaffinch very much underrated.







I already said that I would split the photos from our little 'holiday for Halloween.

Hedgerow Illuminated

I've always loved hedgerows; they are so alive with little colonies, and are in fact a warren of different lifeforms, all varying in size, specie or source of food needed to keep them alive. And ecerytime I am astonished to see predator and prey living quite close together within these living high rise communities. Here a House Sparrow takes advantage of the veggies growing in his roof terrace, and whilst waiting for the crop to ripen he feeds on the Insects attracted by the safety the leaves and buds of this Wild Ivy offered. Which in turn had to fight the Holly for space on the hedgerow to growAnd although seeing Holly with its berries delights me, I am not so sure of the fruit the next hedgerow offers to us and more importantly, the Birds and other creatures depending on them.And down the far end of the bay, where I usually stop for photos of Herons or Little Egrets, something else seemed illuminating the landscape today, right on the inner most bank I found these Nasturtiums, obviously escaped from either garden or more likely a tidy towns' planter, These Nasturtium would have the perfect view over the bay from where they grow and look at this,
While this is the view eastwards into the heart of Dunmanus from the bridge at the COI.
also this gives a good indication of the width of our cosy bay, and the distance my Lumix needs to cover to capture Herons, Egrets or Cormorants; all favouring the deeper end which runs along the far bank with the trees.
I could not resist a picture of this late blooming BrambleOne thing is for sure: One truckdriver is not very happy to fork out the money for new lights and whatever damage he caused to his truck. And I wonder what will be living in these lights in a year, say.