Tipula

It's that time of year, when our homes are invaded by various bugs and beasties which have no business being there. Having spent the summer in larval form, eating the roots of our garden plants, the Crane Flies or Daddy Long-legs have started to make their presence felt. You only need to leave a window open for few seconds with the lights on, and you will be likely to have one of these insects flitting about your room. Among the most common in Britain is one called Tipula oleracea. This one was found on our patio doors this morning.

The blunt end to the abdomen shows that this is a male fly.

Crane flies have very obvious halters. Modified from hind wings, they are drum-stick shaped organs which help the fly to maintain stability in flight.

If you haven't noticed these creatures yet, stick around, they will soon be flitting around your living room too!

Flask

Yesterday, we had a shopping trip to Meadowhall, Sheffield. So, no walk in the park yesterday, but we made up for it this morning with a walk through Shipley Park, round Cinder Hill and on to have a flask of coffee at Mapperley Reservoir.

After a bit of a shaky start, the sun soon came out and despite a stiff breeze, it was warm again. The only problem was trying to keep all the Birch seeds out of our coffee.

Coffee finished, it was back home along Slack lane and around the sheep fields of the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust.

Boating Lake

When what is now known as Shipley Woodside, was part of the estate of Shipley Hall, the large lake was known as the fish pond (some pond!) These days, it is in the process of redevelopment, but there is a small 'off-shoot' of water to the south, close to the Nutbrook Coffee Shop. Back in the day, there was a boat house on the side of this smaller lake. Today however, the casual passer-by can still enjoy the scene as Malcolm and I did this morning, without the aid of a boat.

It's all a far cry from the old days of genteel elegance when the Miller-Mundy family from the 'big house', owned the lakes. This old photo shows the scene from about the same place and includes that boat-house.

The bridge separated this small area of water, from the main lake beyond and it still does, but not so grandly!

It's still a nice place to stand and contemplate the view on such a nice day.

Darting About

It was a little cloudy as we set out for our walk this morning and with a few spots of drizzle in the air, things didn't look too promising. But it soon brightened up and the sun eventually put in an appearance. We headed for Osborne's Pond today.

As we sat looking at the scene, a squirrel was dropping half-eaten acorns on us, so we moved on. At the water's edge, the last of the summer's Hemp Agrimony flowers are just hanging on.

Dragonflies seem to be everywhere at the moment. as we walked along past Shipley Lake, a large, Brown Hawker flew by. Too quick for me to get a photo, I thought at first it was a Wren as it flitted past, such is the size of these insects. A few days ago, we encountered another Dragonfly as we crossed Parker's Bridge and this one settled long enough for me to get a picture. This time, it was a male Common Darter, resplendent in its red colouring.

Lots of insects to be found around the cattle of Mapperley Village as we passed a few days ago. Poor things, they were being terribly pestered as they tried to munch the grass. Even the imposing bull in the centre of the herd wasn't immune from their attentions.

Round The Park

This morning, we decided to take a good walk round Shipley Hill, through the woods and past Mapperley Reservoir. Still warm and sunny, we started off up the hill along footpaths lined with the remaining flowers of Great Willowherb.

It's getting a bit late in the year now, but there are still a few flowers to be found. Where the flowers have faded, berries have started to take over, adding their colour to the hedgerows. among the brightest are those belonging to the Mountain Ash trees.

There is a good crop this year - a welcome feast for birds building up their reserves for the winter.

Leaving the hill behind, we headed for Mapperley Reservoir. In the sunshine, there were some nice reflections.

Far off, on the edge of the water, a Grey Heron stood with its wings open, catching some sun. Sometimes known as 'Delta Winged Sunning' this posture probably has several functions. It could be that the Heron is drying its wings, trying to get rid of parasites, or even converting some of the preening oil compounds into vitamin D.

Whatever it was doing, it seemed to be enjoying the sunshine.

Melanism

There has been a strange-looking pigeon to be found flying around our garden lately. While it is undoubtedly a Woodpigeon, it doesn't look quite like the others.

It would seem that this bird has a genetic mutation known as melanism, where there is an excess of melanin produced making the feathers (and probably the skin if you were to be able to see it) much darker than normal.

The opposite of melanism is leucism, where an animal loses much of its colour and appears whiter than normal - not to be confused with albinism which is completely different. Leucistic animals can have problems with camouflage as they tend to 'stick out like a sore thumb' and as a result are often predated rather rapidly. Melanistic animals by contrast, are often at an advantage as their darker appearance can actually help with camouflage. Certainly, this individual seems to be in no immediate danger.

Hot

We've had something of a mini heatwave over the last couple of days. The heat was pegged back a little this morning by a cooling breeze which kept things a bit more comfortable as Malcolm and I walked around Shipley Park. It was certainly very nice as we passed by Mapperley Reservoir.

Surprisingly quiet for the time of year, we walked on through the village and along Slack Lane, passing the six Poplar trees which dominate the sky line in these parts.

Standing so tall and straight, they make you feel rather small, particularly when looking up at them.

A little further along the lane, we were struck by the sight - and sound - of no fewer than eight Buzzards circling around in the warm sunshine. It was rather tricky getting a photo of them all as they were too far away and milling around but seven of them (believe me, they are there) managed to get in this photo.

At the side of the lane, there were several patches of Great Willowherb adding a touch of pink to the scene.

By now, it was getting rather hot, so we headed for home and a little bit of shade.