The Cats of Llanfyllin

We see a few cats quite regularly in and around our yard, especially the all-black one (maybe we should call it Kiwi!). We always have to qualify whether we're saying we've seen a blackcap (bird species) or black cat (yes, our hearing is also part of the problem 😂). I'll have to learn to specify Eurasian blackcap in future.

This spooky cat is almost friendly!

This little rascal was seen hunting birds on our lawn one morning

This beauty keeps its distance from us

Photo: D. Schultz 

These next cats live quite a bit further from our house, and aren't skittish

I've yet to capture the friendly 3 legged cat with unique markings on its face. We've see it at the bottom of our lane, and it has permitted some petting.

Needle in a Haystack

After having spent so much time looking at tiny details on butterfly hindwings, insect mandibles and plant serrations, my discerning eye noticed a sewing needle lying in this dry grass near the town well. It was the glint in the sun that caught my eye

I took it home, because well ... nuns at school taught me that everything was valuable since someone had made it!

Blood-vein Moth

What a beautiful moth! This beauty landed on me and I had to call Dale to capture it without me disturbing it.

It's a blood-vein moth (Timandra comae), widespread in Wales, with beautiful, fringed antennae which you can see against my sleeve if you look closely.

Restored Wetlands

Our town was permitted to put in a tarred carpark near the local store, provided we also established a wetland habitat as a buffer between the asphalt surface and the River Cain. It's become a beautiful spot full of butterflies and other pollinators that buzz.

I'm learning not to panic when I see stands of Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria ) - they're native here, and I don't need to pull them out (though the urge is strong!).

 Which route to choose?

The willow being trained over this part of the walkway is progressing nicely

The Blues

Ever since Rachael drew a rare Welsh butterfly for me on Mother's day, I've been on a mission to see the silver-studded blue in real life. I haven't yet achieved this feat, but captured one of the other 'blues' along the way, the European common blue, Polyommatus icarus

This little beauty is ... little, with a wingspan of up to 1.4". Only the males are blue. And they don't seem to want to settle in one place!

To see this rare version illustrated below, I'll have to examine the underside of the hindwing when its wings are closed to see the silver studs! I'm on it.

Thrilling Find

We're so very excited that our outdoor camera finally captured a hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus, a protected species) in our yard! This is brilliant news - we'd been finding scat that we'd had confirmed as hedgehog, but ... seeing is believing 

We'd put a covered feed station outside, with a narrow maze of bricks threading inside it to deter cats. The food has been disappearing for the past 4 nights, but this is the first camera capture!

We've also been placing shallow basins of water outside for it because of the current drought.

Woohoo!

The way it stretches and contracts its body makes me think of a leech's movements!

These nocturnal omnivores are often killed on roads as they forage and are also declining in numbers through habitat loss.

About Town

 We spent another day strolling through town to show off the historic sights.

I love this elephant door knocker

St Myllin's church, oh ye of the bell-ringing practice

Old homes back onto the churchyard

Extinct post office building

Welsh stonework, door and poppy

 

Can you guess why I had to take a photo of the art exhibit in the Workhouse Gallery?

Beers in the garden at the local inn wrapped up the day

Low Lake Level

On our scenic meander with Craig, we visited Lake Vrynwy. 

We were astounded to see how low the lake has become since our last visit one month ago. Our drought conditions this summer have been brutal to the landscape in all sorts of ways - so many plants look burned to a crisp.

The water usually reaches all the way up to the small bushes in the foreground. There is usually no gravel bottom exposed like this at all.

Lots of beautiful rocks and trees were visible (I've mentally added this next one to my birthday wishlist)

Dried, baked on vegetation decorated some of the exposed rocks

The extent of the shrinkage and exposed shoreline was shocking

I saw two not-very-grumpy, old men stop to read about the flooded village in an identical stance

Not too grumpy, see?

A very short walk gave us excellent views of the sculpture called the giant hand of Vrynwy, carved from the remains of a Douglas fir that was once the tallest tree in Wales.

Cosmic Date

August 12, a cosmic date - an eclipse and meteor shower in a single day! Dale and I arrived early at our chosen spot, which we had discovered just 2 days prior, to view the eclipse. It was 31°C (88°F) at 5:30PM on a very exposed, elevated location with a wide view. It was perfect: sweeping views down towards Lake Vrynwy, and parking was free (big draw in the U.K.). The sun was fierce and the heat intense, so we sat under our LSM umbrellas to shield ourselves (the air was filled with smoke - and the smell of it - from south Wales wildfires).

We ate cold pizza, chips and sodas as we waited for the eclipse. There were no biting insects! A few other people joined us over time, most having brought colanders with them as suggested by the media - it was the like the great colander reunion event of the century! 

What worked the best was Dale's binoculars focused onto the LSM umbrella as a backdrop - it was crisp and clear at 18:54,

with a little more of it obscured by 19:07

We had some competition from clouds, but they just added to the drama of the event, and gave us an opportunity to photograph the phenomenon directly. You can just make out the partial outline of the sun, the ring of fire, near the base of the cloud.

We saw about 92% coverage of the sun, as shown by our pizza

We stayed on to watch the changing sunset

We made friends with the couple on the bench next to us, swapped phone details and took pics of each other in the late sun. We're meeting so many interesting people.

Once home, and at the end of the day, we lay on our backs on our lawn and watched the Perseid meteor shower - magnificent! What could be more cosmic a date than that?

Heath Flowers

 Craig and I had a great time inspecting every speck of color in the landscape, and we found these treasures.

Sedum anglicum, English stonecrop

Photographing this next exquisite specimen in its natural habitat necessitated getting my shoes and socks soaked. The deep, spongey vegetation and substrate holds a LOT of water - very deceptive!

Bog asphodel, Narthecium ossifragum

This display tank at Lake Vrynwy illustrates how deeply soggy the heath can be, whilst looking like dry land to our feet. When you put your weight on it, the top sinks down into the wet below.

Common cottongrass, Eriophorum angustifolium

Round-leaved sundew, Drosifera rotundiflora

Tormentil, Potentilla erecta