Alder Leaf Beetle

 

Google tells me this is an Alder Leaf Beetle. We saw it at Alton Towers last year and I had never seen it before. It love how the raindrop look on it.

Hallowe'en Shadow

 

Ashok over at https://ashokism.blogspot.com/ does some really interesting photography and I have been following him for a while now. Recently I have started to notice things I perhaps wouldn't have noticed before due to his inspiration.

This is a shadow of a Hallowe'en sticker on the window. It's a spider's web with some spiders on it. The sun was shining one day at the start of this month and I thought it was so cool. My daughter loved the sticker so I didn't take it down after Hallowe'en!

A Rainbow In My Garden

 

Rain is a common thing in Scotland, yet we don't get a lot of rainbows. This is from the start of the month and I took this in my garden. In the first photo you can see the top of my blackberry bush. My daughter love rainbows so much.

Black Necked Swan

 

This is a Black Necked Swan that we saw at Blackpool Zoo. I had never seen one before this. I have seen a Black Swan years ago but never this type.

Dot, Dot, Dot, Dot...

 

Click to enlarge.

I took this in January last year. Birds flying over the pond, like little dots in the sky!

A Green Lacewing

I posted one of these guys back in 2024 HERE. They are very hyper and hard to catch a photo of! I got lucky!

It is a lovely little insect.

Looking Sleepy

 

This is one of the male Giraffes at Edinburgh Zoo. They have 5 boys and they are a recent addition to the Zoo arriving in 2021. We've not been to the Zoo in a while but with the summer holiday approaching, I think we'll be going there for sure!

Young And Friendly

 

This young swan was quite friendly and was looking for a feed! I took this along the canal. The swans there are used to people!

Ringlet Butterfly

 

This is a Ringlet. They are fairly common over here.

As Snug As A Snail

 

This snail is snug as a bug in the leaves!

Clear Shrimp

 

This is some sort of Shrimp, I think a Ghost Shrimp maybe? We saw this at Sea Life in Alton Towers.

Well Camouflaged

 

This squirrel was hiding quite well but I still managed to spot it and get a photo!

Spider In My Hair!!

I was sitting and my daughter noticed there was a spider in my hair. I investigated. It wasn't a spider, but this little fellow...

It's a little weevil! It was running about my arm and hand so before I put him in the garden, I decided to get a few photos. I explained to my daughter that it's a weevil, not a spider! 

Happy Birthday Jethro

My boy Jethro turns 15 today. Here are some photos of him over the years.

This was him when we brought him home, only 12 weeks old. 

Being a Bengal Cat, he is very chatty and likes to talk.

This is probably my favourite photo, I love his expression!! It could easily be made into one of those Internet Memes things!

These last 2 are from the last few weeks. He has kidney disease and eats renal cat food. He is doing okay considering he is an old man! He still likes to talk and loves cuddles. 

 

First Pano Attempt

 

Click on the image to make it bigger!

This was my first Pano attempt. Kathy over at Timeless Arts & Challenges does a lot of Pano shots so I thought I would give it a try. I took this along the canal at the end of May when we had that glorious weather.

It's Getting Busy

 

This is a Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly and a little Soldier Beetle on this Dandelion. There might be room for one more insect!

Someone Sees You

 

We went to the beach a few months ago and I saw this Spiderman Hat on a bench. He's watching us!

Looking For A Feed

This week I have posted Birds and to finish the week off, we have a favourite of a lot of people.

I think most people love Robins. They are lovely birds and always appear on Christmas Cards! This little one was waiting for me to put some seeds down. 

 

Yeah, I Can See You

 

This Blue Tit didn't really understand the rules of Hide & Seek!

Dinner Time

 

I was lucky to witness this Heron fishing! It caught a fish for dinner!

Ripples On A Rainy Day

 

This Coot didn't mind that it was raining. It was happy to eat the food I put in the pond for it.

Balancing Act

 

This baby moorhen was balancing very well on the twigs! 

In Flight

Following on from my post yesterday.... 

Here we have a gull at the pond in flight. I was lucky to catch this photo too. Gulls are much hated birds but I really liked them and have never had a bad experience with one.

Taking Off

 

I was lucky to catch this crow taking off. Crows are wonderful, I think.

Grasshopper

 

This grasshopper was on the ground and not moving. I was starting to worry about it. I took the photo and then off he went!

Guarding

The Penguin was guarding the egg. I took this photo a few years ago at Edinburgh Zoo. As I have stated before, I have mixed feeling about zoos.
 

Bee On An Oxeye Daisy

 

This little bee was on an Oxeye Daisy. This photo is a few years old. Sadly this year on my walks I haven't seen many bees. I have seen plenty butterflies though but they were moving too much to get decent photos!!!

Like The Sun Through The Trees

 

Click on the image to enlarge it.

This view reminded me of a famous song that Justin Hayward did called Forever Autumn. I really like the song and am a big fan of The Moody Blues, especially their 60s stuff. There is a lyric from the song:

"Like the sun through the trees you came to love me,

Like a leaf on the breeze you blew away."

A Curious Starling

 

This Starling was taking that head tilt birds do to the extreme! Such a lovely bird with a lovely colour. They look great in the sunshine.

Stitch

He is very photogenic and such a cutie.

More Frogs And Toads From March

These are the last photos I have from March. 

 

They were very busy!! I was at the pond last week and sadly there wasn't a lot of tadpoles. I remember a few years ago seeing lots, but sadly not this year. The little baby frogs should be appearing soon!

Loving Mother

 

All I can saw is "Awwww". So very cute. A few of the geese have had their babies. She is protecting it well. This was from a local Loch we took a walk around last week.

Lobster at Sea Life

Christine from Christine's Blog posted an interesting bit about Lobster Anatomy last week, which I found amazing. So I thought I'd post a photo of this Lobster I saw at Sea Life in Loch Lomond. 

This was taken through glass that was dome shaped. I think it turned out okay. I have posted this little guy here before. 

It's A Bit Late For That

 

The male is trying to mate with the female, but she is already pregnant! I have posted a few photos of Pregnant Green Dock Beetles before: here and here. I really like these Green Dock Beetles because they are iridescent and I love anything iridescent.

White Ermine Moth Caterpillar

 

From what I can see online, this is the White Ermine Moth Caterpillar. It was crawling along the ground. Caterpillars can be fast moving at times!

Signs 21st May 2025

Another Signs post this week! Linking to Tom's Signs Wednesday: https://backroadstraveller.blogspot.com/

I saw this little sign at Madame Tussauds in Blackpool when we were there earlier this year. I thought it was nice of the staff to put this up. I said to the girl behind the desk and she said I was the first person to mention it that day. She seemed really grateful for me saying thanks and appreciating it!!!

Checking Me Out

 

This Gull wasn't sure of me at first but he was checking me out in the second photo. I really love that little head tilt that birds do when they are looking at me.