I am feeling cozy, sitting on the sofa, as I reflect on last weeks observations on a dark evening.
Along with the earlier sunsets, fresh mornings have begun to take hold too. I have been noticing a lot of changes occurring with trees throughout the week. Their leaves are turning autumnal and I have been able to pick fresh apples as I work. Lots of conkers are falling around the bus stop too.
One of the apple trees with lovely sweet apples is pictured below. There were other trees with Russet and Cox apples.
The Rowan tree outside my home continues to have Blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus) feeding on insects. Plus I have also seen a Robin (Erithacus rubecula) and two Long tailed tits (Aegithalos caudatus) eating insects on it’s branches, along with a Blackbird (Turdus merula) feasting in the berries.
I still saw Small white (Pieris rapae), Red admiral (Vanessa atalanta) and Painted lady (Vanessa cardui) butterflies as they took advantage of the late flowering perennials.
On Wednesday I noticed a Painted lady butterfly as well as a Common carder bee (Bombus pascuorum) visiting some Ceratostigma willmottianum which is still blooming while the leaves are turning red.
Some plants have been flowering all summer, such as Geraniums and Verbena bonariensis, and now bloom alongside Sedums, Asters and Autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale) painting gardens in muted colours.
Cutting back faded perennials was one of last weeks jobs which meant I disturbed a lot of Seven-spot ladybirds (Coccinella septempunctata). So I spent quite a bit of time rescuing them from garden waste bins too.
Lastly, as I walked home late on Wednesday, I ended up seeing a beetle walking across the path in the moonlight and enjoyed the view of the Waxing gibbous moon amongst the clouds.
Bee in the Moment 