Cheers Wurzel - re the fungi I've no idea. I'm going to have to buy a(nother) book!
Do you like oysters David? Personally, I've never tried them but I do like a plate of Moules. Still comes second to fresh crab tho'
So what else did I get up to over the Winter???? Well, A few of my budgies decided to breed:
as did my Finches. Sadly, they persisted in throwing both eggs and young out of the nestbox. One of the eggs was in the process of hatching. I've reared lots of very young birds but never any as small as these. Every night for a week I was up every 30 mins feeding until I was like a walking zombie. Despite my best efforts they failed to thrive. Either the parents were inexperienced or there was something wrong with these babies as the parents have now raised 2 lovely healthy chicks:
In the garden some Blue Tits have taken up residence by the back door:
But what about the butterflies?????? Well, today between the heating engineer (my boiler is leaking oil) and the vet, I somehow managed to squeeze in an hour at Noar Hill. It is almost 3 weeks since I was last there and I was expecting great things. Well, I saw my first Holly Blue of the year but only 3 Duke of Burgundy, all males and all in the bottom part of the reserve (because I didn't have time to go any further):
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As I was leaving a lady with a camera was entering. She asked me if I had seen any Bee Fly. I couldn't resist asking her what her interest was in the Bee Fly (given the Dukes were out). Turns out she was Heather Angel, marine biologist and photographer, who has written many books on wildlife, the last being for Kew Gardens on pollinators. I mentioned that a couple of years ago I had taken photos of various butterflies with pollen sacs from various plants on their proboscis. We chatted a while longer - she was a very interesting individual - before going our separate ways. I have met some interesting folk through butterflies
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)