"it’s a rare treat to welcome this magnificent #butterfly with scarlet wings and four azure wing-tip eye spots. I followed it into the kitchen, planning to offer an energy boost of diluted honey, but it had already settled, with proboscis extended, drinking from a wet washing-up sponge in the sink. Dehydrating central heating had made it thirsty, and irascible. "
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/01/country-diary-theres-a-peacock-butterfly-presenting-the-news #Peacock #nature #CountryDiary

Feeing safe? "This ominous pit is breathing The stillness and chill mean the geothermal gust is even more intense, the odour more emphatic – a scorchy mineral fug somewhere between moulder and solder, with a slight acridity that lingers at back of the throat for hours." #countrydiary #spooky
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/30/country-diary-this-ominous-pit-is-breathing?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

#Countrydiary: A flock of #seagulls " Apart from the occasional ripple as a couple of them decide it would be more comfortable to stand somewhere else, they seem content just to stand there, watching the world, saving energy, doing nothing – #Zen masters in silver and white, setting an example to us all." #birds #nature
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/06/country-diary-a-flock-of-seagulls-and-a-lesson-in-resolve?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

#Countrydiary: A tiny wonder in our midst. "The silky shells are a defence against #birds, mice and other predators, enabling them to escape by slipping out of the grip of a beak or paw. The #snails maintain this smoothness by cleaning themselves with their radulas, the long tongue-like muscle that also helps them scrape up food" #nature #biodiversity
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/04/country-diary-a-tiny-wonder-in-our-midst?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

#Countrydiary: These stocky #finches serve a life sentence confined to coniferous #forests "These specialists are inextricably bound to pine forests, whether wild stands or the dark green slabs of monoculture plantations. Roaming widely in search of ripening cones, and breeding when times are plentiful, the common #crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) can be found across most of Britain, but only in suitable habitat." #birds #nature #biodiversity
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/30/country-diary-these-stocky-finches-serve-a-life-sentence-confined-to-coniferous-forests?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

#Countrydiary: In a long, dark winter, this beam of golden light is precious. "This eerie illumination can be witnessed only on the days around the winter #solstice, when sunset comes into line with the stone entrance. The full significance of the #cairn’s #astronomical alignment is not fully understood, but the passing of #midwinter must have been of great significance to our ancient predecessors – as it is for us."
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/29/country-diary-in-a-long-dark-winter-this-beam-of-golden-light-is-precious?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

#Countrydiary. "Chafer is a term for #beetle derived from the Old English caefor, meaning “devourer”, but, unlike their cockchafer relatives, which voraciously consume grass and vegetable roots, rose chafer larvae are harmless detritivores, feeding on decaying leaves and other organic matter. In fact, like earthworms, they are important nutrient recyclers and their burrowing helps aerate the soil, so I carefully reburied the horde." #nature
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/23/country-diary-a-handful-of-rose-chafer-larvae-is-a-reassuring-promise?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

#Countrydiary: >The #redwing is bird-brained, but far from stupid > "Fiercely guarding the berries, from #blackbirds particularly, not at all intimidated by #jackdaws, this redwing must be exhausted but still shouts that scratchy shakshakshakshak, harries and dives to chase thieves away." #birds #nature
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/22/country-diary-the-redwing-is-bird-brained-but-far-from-stupid?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

#Long-tailed tits, a dozen or more, bounding along the hedgerow in my direction. A troupe of avian acrobats, searching every twig for food morsels, never still for a second, like excited schoolchildren on a class outing.
#Countrydiary: In the bleak midwinter, the hedgerow waits for warmer days. #birds #nature
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/21/country-diary-in-the-bleak-midwinter-the-hedgerow-waits-for-warmer-days?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

#Countrydiary: This mighty #oak is just part of the tree of life.The Marton Oak has at least retained a palimpsest of its former full-trunked magnificence, because four separately curving remnants at least indicate the tree’s circumference in its prime. It has also retained this hollowed-out shape for 200 years and even now measures 14 metres at human-chest height. #tree
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/20/country-diary-this-mighty-oak-is-just-part-of-the-tree-of-life?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

#CountryDiary worth a read today #birds "On my way down I find scraps of grey fur beside a stone waypost. They’ve been neatly plucked; that is, something has been deftly eaten. A squirrel. I don’t think a kite could easily take a squirrel. A #buzzard I bet, or possibly a tawny owl" https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/19/country-diary-raptors-are-always-the-most-visible-creatures-up-here

Dynasty” is the correct collective noun for these diminutive gems. A fable explains that a #goldcrest challenged an eagle: who could fly highest? The eagle climbed and soared till exhausted with the effort. A tiny stowaway trickster emerged from between his wings, then flew higher still to receive the golden crown and title of Regulus regulus – king of birds.
#Countrydiary: The tiniest contender for the king of #birds
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/10/country-diary-the-tiniest-contender-for-the-king-of-birds?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Country diary: Barn owls make the best listeners "Pristine snow-white breast, pink-tinged beak translucent as rose marble, the distinctive heart-shaped disc of his face, his back and wings mottled with gold-brown flecks" #birds #CountryDiary
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/30/country-diary-barn-owls-make-the-best-listeners?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

#CountryDiary looks at the #kingfisher "blue and copper plumage. Its stubby, carrot-coloured legs clung to an overhanging branch on the lake’s edge, autumn sunlight illuminating every feather." #birds https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/28/country-diary-the-timeless-appeal-of-kingfishers

"This tree, broadcasting to the world, is a reminder of how trees are also places, above, below and within, full of living and imaginary creatures, invisible voices, fungal witches" #CountryDiary #fungus #trees https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/24/country-diary-bonsai-birches-grow-in-the-trees-crown

#CountryDiary in the #Guardian is a welcome piece of calm. "One scruffy individual hops down and waddles over to a large, shallow pool that has formed in a depression in the shingle. It dips its toes into the water, hesitates for a moment, then takes the plunge." https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/22/country-diary-swimming-with-the-starlings