Frogs, Moths, Garden Flowers and Recent Reading

Frogs have been active in the pond over the course of the last week or so and last Saturday we spotted our first frogspawn.

The next two were taken by D with the Canon Bridge camera.

Common Newts are also starting to move round - two were seen yesterday.

I've not seen any butterflies yet but Tree Bumble Bees are appearing and a few unidentified white-tailed species have whizzed past the kitchen window.



Daffodils are now in flower -

these pretty miniature ones are in the rockery behind the pond.

Primula Belarina Amethyst Ice will be in flower soon. I think there are at least three plants in this pot so will have to split them up later in the Spring.

Bergenia

Shoots on the Climbing Hydrangea

Primulas are dotted round the borders and

Wood Anemone leaves are just appearing above the ground.

I think Wild Primroses are my favourite flower and we have half a dozen large clumps.

I've had the moth trap out three times in the last week or so and trapped 3 species so far. (It is always a slow start here!)

Light Brown Apple Moth (Epiphyas postvittana)

Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica) - two in the trap this morning


and this Common Plume (Emmelina monodactyla)



I know I should have made more effort to get a photo of it out of it's pot - but the micro moths are very lively and after taking this photo it was off like a shot landing on a nearby window.

I finally managed to re-pot it and released it safely




Recent Reading


"Spirals in Time" is a superb book and highly recommended. The book is really well researched and immerses you in the wonderful world of molluscs (although I will be wary of Cone Snails when I am next on a beach!).

I've been wanting to read this book for ages and, although it took me a while to get into his memoirs, I enjoyed it. I will certainly see the Lake District in a totally different way when we next visit!

Good holiday reading

I get inspiration to try new authors from several of the blogs I read and I spotted this author on Rosie's Blog (see here)
I just adored this book (the first in the Doctor Ruth Galloway mystery series) and couldn't put it down!

Another author I spotted on Rosie's Blog was Ann Cleeves and having read all the Shetland Books I have moved onto the Vera Stanhope novels and have just finished the second. It is a really well crafted story and again one you could read at one sitting :)

A Day Out in Warwick

We had a day out in Warwick on Saturday - I was very keen to visit the recently re-opened Market Hall Museum.


We parked by St Nicholas Park under a blossom tree.

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The church of St Nicholas - good to see some "neglected areas" in the churchyard

"Plants in Walls" - Chickweed

Warwick, the County town of Warwickshire, was once a walled town - the only remnants of the wall remaining today are the West and East Gates - the latter which dates back to 1426 can be seen in the photo below.

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A peek inside the Court House

St Mary's, Warwick - sadly no time at the weekend to re-visit.

The Market Hall - a 17th century building which contains collections showing the story of Warwickshire from hundreds of millions of years ago up to the present day. It has only recently re-opened following a £1.5 million re-development. Highlights include the Warwickshire Museum Brown Bear, an Irish Giant Deer skeleton, the Warwickshire Dinosaur, the 16th century Sheldon Tapestry map of Warwickshire, historical musical instruments, an observation bee hive and the second largest early Roman coin hoard in the country.

Meet "Oisin" an Irish Giant Deer who is around 11,000 years old. He was probably put together from the bones of several skeletons found in a peat bog, Limerick, Ireland, in the mid 19th century. Megaloceros giganteus became extinct around 8,000 years ago and they were the largest deer that ever lived. They may have died out at the end of the last Ice Age when they failed to adapt to the warmer climate. Oision can be found on Twitter @OisinTheDeer where he tweets about events at the Museum.

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I loved all the geology and fossil displays - there was a superb timeline showing the history of Warwickshire starting with its formation 600 million years ago.


This is a fossil insect closely related to modern bees and wasps (Apiaria antiqua) from 150 million year old Jurassic limestone layers from Solnhofen, Bavaria. The earliest bees found as fossils are found in rock layers from 100 million years ago.

A fossil Dragonfly Cymatophlebia longialata also from the 150 million year old Solnhofen limestone layers

Fish fossil

Fossilised fern fronds - around 310 million years old from Carboniferous coal measures.

I loved these colourful bowls.

"A Flutter in Nuneaton" - butterflies and moths made from stamps during a drop-in session at Nuneaton Library

Reverend Brodie's Pebbles - the stones are a type of rock called Conglomerate and were collected from Rowington, Warwickshire, in the 19th century by the Reverend Peter Brodie. His research led to the reconstructions of ancient rivers that once flowed across the Midlands. Today, investigations of these pebbles is providing information on ancient climates and environments.

The South Warwickshire Roman denarii hoard - over 1100 silver Roman coins were found in a pot at Edge Hill. They were buried around 1900 years ago.

I was thrilled to see quite a few herbarium sheets on display. (Sorry not the best of photos - it was difficult to get the right angle due to the display cases glass)

The Sheldon Tapestry

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We then went in search of lunch at the Brethren's Kitchen in Lord Leycester's Hospital. Sadly, it was closed for refurbishment!

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We finally found a little cafe that served vegetarian Pieminster pies and chips and then had a look round some of the independent shops.

Couldn't resist another visit to the olde worlde sweet shop and

I could have spent a fortune in here!

Rain finally arrived just as we were about to leave.

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Rain followed by sunshine and rainbows.

If you would like to see posts on my last trip to Warwick which included visits to The Mill Garden, Lord Leycester's Hospital and St Mary's - please see here here and here




Photos marked with an asterisk were taken by D with the Canon Bridge HS50 - I have included them because they were a lot better than mine of the same subjects!