[Leica] IMGs x 3: CoVid-19 Chronicles

[Douglas Barry]

Philippe, it's Fagus Sylvatica which is known as Beech over here and in 
the UK.

It's full of birds at the moment, bursting their little hearts out with 
song as they nest and fly busily, and far too speedily for our cat - and 
my lens. Amazingly, there's quite a lot of wildlife in our little urban 
garden at this time of year. At the end of February, I was out on my 
patio which has our kitchen herbs growing in a raised concrete bed 
running alongside it. I was standing beside our Rosemary bush, and was 
quite motionless in contemplation when something fast shot down and 
alighted on it.

I couldn't believe it - it was a Hummingbird Hawk Moth (Macroglossum 
stellatarum) which is a rare summer visitor here, but has not over 
wintered here yet. I know they are very common on mainland Europe, and 
are just starting to breed in the south of the UK as global warming 
gives Brexitannia some new migratory species - as well as improving 
British wine. However, they are really rare insects here. I only saw one 
in our garden before at the height of the 2017 August heat, and this was 
February so the sighting was very strange. I recorded it on the moth and 
butterfly website 
https://butterfly-conservation.org/our-work/recording-and-monitoring/migrant-watch/humming-bird-hawk-moth-2020/results., 
and so far it is the only one recorded in Ireland. I'm baffled as to how 
it appeared in my garden, but must assume it was the result of a 
mistaken visit to some warm crevice in a local building, and it then 
overwintered.

I keep a beady eye on the patio, but no sign of any reappearance of the 
moth, so assume an early bird got lucky.

Douglas

On 24/03/2020 07:26, Philippe via LUG wrote:
> Is this hornbeam / bower?
>
> I love these as they keep their leaves in the winter only to lose them when the new one come out, and provide shelter from the winds
>
> Yours looks thicker and denser than mine (planted last year only) Good on you and the birds :-)
>
> Amities
>
> Philippe
>
>
>
>> Le 24 mars 2020 à 02:11, Douglas Barry <imra at iol.ie> a écrit :
>>
>> My hedge is filling with nesting birds not that you can see any in this shot.
>>
>> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/DouglasBray/CoVid-19/CV19_Beech+hedge.jpg.html <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/DouglasBray/CoVid-19/CV19_Beech+hedge.jpg.html>
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