Walking around Felley, Nottinghamshire

At the weekend we went for a walk through rural Nottinghamshire. The landscape was a mix of arable land and woodland. The horizon to the west was clear and we could see both the church we were married in and beyond that Crich Stand in Derbyshire.

The mix of wild and farmed land is great for the wildlife and those that want to spot it. We could see this herd of deer rooting around amongst the newly cut stubble.

At a bench we stopped for a while and I spotted this great Cereal Leaf Beetle (Oulema melanopa) eating away on a grass leaf.

I also spotted this unusual Stem-boring Fly (Opomyza germinationis). Apparently the insect folk over at Wild about Britain think this is an unusual specimen as it looks "under-marked on the thorax". I don't really know what that means but it was nice to see it anyway.

We also got a glimpse of this Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) hovering over the fields. In the distance we could also see a buzzard being mobbed by two crows and for a while fighting back.The day ended with this great sunset. Clouds beyond the horizon were casting shadows up into the night sky giving it that "sunny delight" look.

I'm not dead!

Hi folks! Contrary to recent rumours suggesting that I had been eaten by a funnel web spider, I am actually still very much alive, and enjoying the onset of fatherhood. It seems a great coincidence that one of my biggest hobbies in life is wandering around being nosey and that the thing that gets my daughter to sleep more than anything is being strapped to my chest whilst I wander around! So lets do a bit of catch up. Before I can tell you about the amazing weekend of wandering I've just had in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire let me first show you some things I have recently spotted down the lakes.

First of all I found some wild Forget-me-not (Myosotis) down at Watermead. I was in the bushes trying to find the gentleman's water closet when I looked down and saw these beautiful blue flowers.

Down near the kingfisher hide I spotted these ivy flowers (Hedera). These are always a good indicators that winter is around the corner. They give honey made at this time of year a distinct wintry taste. We seem to be having a bumper year this year for things like fruit. This Apple tree seemed overwhelmed with apples. You could see the whole tree straining under the weight.

And finally... Just so that we didn't forget the majesty of this little world of ours, god threw in a few sunsets to remind us.