Butterflies and Moths

Posted on May 4, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Animals, Butterflies, Carbon Dioxide, Climate change, Earth, guardians, insecticides, Insects, Moths, Plants, WorldLeave a comment

Will we still have butterflies in a few years?

Soon there should be butterflies and moths flying round the buddlea bushes in the garden. But they, and other insects, have plummeted in numbers over the last few decades. Whether this is due to changes in climate, where their food stuffs emerge earlier than they used to and are not available to them. Or because their food plants are removed or not replaced. Or because insecticides like nicotinamides are being used when they are linked with insect deaths? Why don’t we see sense and try and limit increases in Carbon dioxide? Reduce insecticide use and stop being so destructive.

The bible says man shall have dominion over the animals and plants of the world. I wish that read responsibility for their care? We are the guardians of the Earth. We outnumber everything else and our behaviour is appalling in so many things. We should learn to support the Earth more.

It’s still growing

Posted on August 13, 2022August 13, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Back yard, Bat, Colour, crammed, Flowers, Fruit, Gardening, Hanging baskets, happy place, Insects, Moths, PlantsLeave a comment

Hundreds of flowers. Some fruit, tomatoes, ground to fence. We go mad every year, but this year has been spectacular. We have, I must admit, been using the hose, but will have to use a watering can if they bring in the ban. The heat today was difficult to cope with. When you have humidity caused by the water it seems even hotter. The blueberries are suddenly ripening and we have had a windfall apple. Hopefully the tomatoes will ripen soon. Its crammed with plants and is my happy place in summer.

Tonight we had a visitor flying fast and silently above the yard. It was a bat catching moths and insects. I think the flowers attract them and the bat’s come to feed.

Flowers and us

Posted on June 14, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Colour, Environment, Flowers, Gardening, Insects, Life, Nature, Poem, Poetry, Pollenation, save, usLeave a comment

Beauty in a bloom,

Hidden shapes

Finding nectar

Bee time

Hover flies

Burnished ladybirds

Crawling, flying, scuttling.

Flowers feed them

They feed us.

Save the insects

Saving flowers

Saving us!

Blackthorn?

Posted on April 7, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blackthorn, Blossom, Butterflies, flies, Gardening, Insects, Life, Magazine, March, native shrub, Plants, Quote, Staffordshire wildlife Trust, Wild flowers, WildlifeLeave a comment

Flowers from a bush in our garden, tentatively matched in the Spring 2021 issue of the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust Magazine, page 13 in the Nature Spy section.

It says ‘Blackthorn is one of the first native shrubs to burst into flower around mid-Marsh.’ (I think it means March) ‘Its fluffy white flowers, tinged with pink, provide vital nectar for the first of the years butterflies, bees and flies. See how many different insects you can spot feeding on the blooms.’

Daliah?

Posted on September 5, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Bees, Canal, Colours, Daliah?, Double flowers, Flowers, Insects, Life, Purple, single flowers, Spectrum, Ultraviolet, WalkLeave a comment

Are they? I think they are. Seen by my friend during a walk. They were in a garden along the canal. These were such a bright colour she took a photo of them.

Flowers are wonderful thing, such amazing structures, with colours outside of the visible spectrum that attract insects to pollinate them. They sometimes use the ultraviolet end of the spectrum to show insects where their nectar is. The trouble with flowers like these is that there are so many petals that the insects can’t get at the nectar. The human intervention of breeding flowers could have a detrimental effect on insect life. There are plants that are advertised as bee friendly, but sometimes that’s all it is, an advert. Single flowered plants are probably best.

Posted on July 5, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Bees, Blogging, Earth, Ecology, Flowers, Insecticide, Insects, Neonicotinoids, Plants, WorldLeave a comment

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Bees…

Apparently they are more and more at risk. Bees pollenate the vast majority of flowering plants on the Earth, and their counterparts including hoverflies are also under threat.

What with? Insecticides, that are used to control insect pests. These include Neonicotinoids that have been found to disorientated bees (as well as killing them) so they cannot find food. Without them we would not have fruit and vegetables. But unfortunately big pharmaceutical companies keep wanting to sell insecticides. There have been court cases that stopped their use. But they fight back.

If only we could use non invasive alternatives. Biological treatments that would eat pests. Like nematode worms, for instance. The problem is humans need quick solutions to save crops from things like locusts. But I think we should use these things sparingly. There are many ecological and moral questions and problems. I hope we can sort it out.

Cold garden

Posted on February 26, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Bats, Butterfly, Chilly, Cold, Environment, Frogs, Garden, Hibernate, Huddled, Icy, Insects, Ladybird, Nature, WeatherLeave a comment

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Ladybirds sleep,

Tucked in the crook of a branch.

Butterflies hang dormant,

asleep in shed roofs.

Frogs start to spawn

ignoring the cold and ice.

Plants hunker down,

below the ground.

Fish are deep in the pond,

torpid, sleepy, quiet.

Where are the bats?

Hibernating in a loft,

huddled and shivering,

waiting for warmth.

Last years temperature was 21°C

Today it is 3°C…….

Cold garden

chilled fingers,

icy wind,

frozen nose….

Webs

Posted on September 23, 2019September 23, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Arachnids, Birds, Garden, Insects, Life, Micro poetry, Poem, Poetry, Spiders, Summerhouse, Traps, Webs2 Comments

Someone said its spider mating season

It’s webby in the summerhouse

It’s webby in the shed

There’s more silk than a silk kimono

Slung along the hedge.

The spiders spin such grand big webs

They catch the birds on high

They set great traps for insects,

And grab them from the sky!

A huge big spider

Came to visit

And stayed for a year

Now its little offspring

Are always very near!

Tulips

Posted on February 18, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Bees, Ecology, Flowers, Insects, Life, Pesticides, Plants, Pollination, Tulips5 Comments

Joyful tulips. Gentle flowers.

Mixed with some white flowers that look a bit like roses, but are something else. These were my valentines day present. They are keeping well. I love the way they open up. The stems bend and buckle depending on how much water they have. When the water level falls they droop. I’ve given them a bit of plant food to keep them going

I was thinking about why a lot of my flowers in my garden had kept flowering late into November and December last year. Then yesterday I heard a report that about 40% of the world’s insect population has disappeared in the last few years. Could it be that they are not around to pollinate my garden flowers. And if they are not here for flowers what about fruit and crops.

Recent bans on nicotinoid pesticides may be lifted although they have been implicated in the death of bees.

The world’s ecology must come first. Otherwise the life of all plants that need pollenation by insects may be seriously at risk.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Insects

Butterflies and Moths

It’s still growing

Flowers and us

Blackthorn?

Daliah?

Cold garden

Webs

Tulips