This fine specimen has been a frequent sighting over the last two weeks. Unfortunately I don't suppose I'll be seeing another till late December, but I live in hope.



Simon C

Caught the bus on Saturday to Collard Hill, to walk the new Polden Way which connects various LB sites, including one of my favourite reserves, Gilling Down. The new path certainly makes it easier to get there than used to be the case. As usual, LB numbers were greatest at Collard Hill, and the brok...

Very interesting. So how would you find out if a local university, or any other establishment, had such a beast and was willing to rent it out? I'd love to "form a relationship" (= get things done free of charge) for appropriate publicity! Cheers, - Pete Hi Pete, Most Universities has pre...

Hi Everyone, Not sure I'd refer to them as photographs, since they are produced using electrons, not photons. If you want to get your hands on a scanning electron microscope then you should contact your local University - there is a good chance they will have one that you can book time on (plus expe...

... I was reading that the new 7D, ( my next camera ) knows when it has a Macro lens attached and does something very spectacular, but I can't remember what it was, :oops: something to do with getting a diffused background I think. Is this for real, or are you pulling legs again? How does it know w...

Does anyone know the effect of an extender e.g. 1.4x on the IS? Will it impact negatively on it. Or is that a way of getting the extra mm?

Simon

By my calculations, a 96 digit Map Ref will refer you to a square of side 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000001 Meters. That's 42 noughts. That's a lot smaller than atom. I may, of course, be wrong. It certainly is! It is aproaching a million times smaller than the Planck length, which cur...

Thanks as always, Guy.

Can anyone help with these, seen in Switzerland around beginning August? Simon http://www.bath.ac.uk/~pyssc/butterflies/swiss09/unknown_a.jpg Is the next some form of False Heath? http://www.bath.ac.uk/~pyssc/butterflies/swiss09/unknown_b.jpg The next two are the same individual http://www.bath.ac.u...

Welcome Wurzel,

Also the Spider is slightly unusal in that it too isn't an insect (a very common misconception) but is an Arachnid, belonging to the Phylum Chelicerata

Spot on - I overlooked that!

Simon

Hummingbird Hawkmoth yesterday, seen on the walk home through Bath - first of the year for me [even including several days spent in Switzerland, when I would normally expect to see two or three a day] :o Today also around Bath: dozens of speckled woods, a couple each of of comma, tortoiseshell, red ...

Came across this feature on Wiltshire insects - the last three are rather unexpected.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/wiltshire/h ... 205441.stm

Simon

I do not recall this North Wilts site getting a mention here before, but it deserves one. [It is a bit out of the way - you can get buses from the mainline station at Chippenham to Calne and walk from there, but I prefer to get a taxi from the station (£15-20) to the area and walk onwards, normally ...

Thanks for the comments. Pete - I'll gladly send you hi-res images. Expect them soon. As usual, feel free to use them any way you can. Here are a few more images from the latest batch that I have got through. On a hike from Luzern to Kussnacht-am-Rigi, saw my first ever European Maps. I've done this...

Spent a few days in Switzerland around the beginning of the month hiking and sightseeing, and just getting round to going through some photos. For once, I would say butterfly numbers in Switzerland were lower on average than I have been seeing in the UK - a greater range of species, but fewer in tot...

Large Blue seen at Gilling Down on Suturday. Nothing like the numbers seen at Collard Hill (although to be truthful I found the numbers there rather disappointing) but the solitude of Gilling Down more than compensates.

Simon

Visited the above three sites on Saturday, to see Heath Fritillary [train to Taunton, 28 bus to Alcombe, then walk, and walk, and walk; 16 miles according to the pedometer, for the round trip ending up back at the historic castle village of Dunster for the 28 bus back to Taunton]. HF seen at all thr...

First Ringlet of the year for me, yesterday, in the old quarry next to Bathampton Down golf course. Couple of weeks earlier than the first sighting last year.

Simon

Visited last Sunday, for the first time. [Train to Cheltenham Spa, taxi to Cotswold Way east of GCHQ offices £12, then walk. Return by walking into Prestbury to catch a bus back into Cheltenham; on Sunday it was retro day on the bus service; I assume they don't always use buses from the 30s, 40s, 50...

Marsh frits were out in good numbers last Saturday, al over the site but mostly the lower corner. Also dingy skippers in very strong numbers, but no adonis blues seen. The field to the SW also has a good colony of DS in it, and looks like it would suit Dukes, although sadly I failed to turn any up. ...