It’s been a few days since I’ve posted any pictures of the foxes. At night we have three or four still appearing on the trail cam, but daytime visits seem to now be the exclusive preserve of Bully Boy.
Here he is on a hot afternoon in Sussex…
And a close-up.
Camera note: first three shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM lens. Final shot with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS.
The original petition to stop the cull is now closed, but please continue to support the campaign. There’s a #stopthecull Twitter feed in the sidebar (if it’s working) and my own Twitter account will continue to carry news of the campaign. There’s a risk of the cull being extended to include my local area of East Sussex over the coming months.
The Badger Cull was halted on 30th November 2013. This is only a temporary reprieve unless common sense and science prevail, but a small victory in the long battle is a victory nonetheless.
A lovely sunny afternoon emerged after a dull start to the day. Ideal for spending some time in the garden; and evidently ideal for the host of insects that came out to enjoy some time in the sun.
We’re fortunate to have plenty of bees in the garden. They have a particular taste for the hibiscus bush, so much so that it is a small wonder they can even fly.
Not all of them are quite so greedy. This bee was enjoying a taste of wild marjoram.
All the time the gentle buzz of bees was punctuated by the percussive chatter of grasshoppers.
As for the butterflies, I saw painted ladies, small whites, a couple of red admirals, several blues (different species), a speckled wood and numerous amorous large whites.
Speckled Wood
These are the large whites. They were darting all over the garden whilst engaging in a courtship ritual where the female rests and the male dances around her. The female’s raised abdomen is actually a ‘rejection’ posture as it makes mating impossible. This is a common feature in butterfly behaviour, and she may well have already mated.
Camera note: greedy bee taken with the Canon 7D and EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM; marjoram bee, grasshopper and speckled wood taken with the EF 100mm f/2.8L macro IS USM lens; and the mating large white butterflies with the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
