Matthew Oates
@MatthewOates76
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The Times Nature Notebook writer. Love of Nature, butterflies esp. Emperors, Knepp, rewilding. South Country man. Ex National Trust staff. Fighting arthritis.
Tetbury, S Glos, UK
Joined February 2011
Donald The Little Owl in his plum tree this morning. He signed a load of ludicrous Executive Orders and made a rabid speech...
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Never mind beaver bombing, in 1948 beavers were translocated in the USA by parashute... @gow_derek
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This is the winter of Anticyclonic Gloom. We had 10 days of it in early Nov, 2 weeks of it at Xmas, 1 week in mid-Jan (for Blue Monday) and now this week... in a word: Vile.
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Three firsts of the year in yesterday's sunshine: 1) local Little Owl sounding off, 2) 1st bumblebee (Buff-tailed, queen), 3) Dog's Mercury coming into flower. Now, a chill wind from the East, which will dry the land out... I still haven't seen a honey bee.
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Having been silent for months, Donald the Little Owl emerged from his hole mid-morning and made a party political broadcast on behalf of the Insanity Party... #SignsofSpring
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RT @GilbertWhites: Watching Narrowly: a Natural History Book Day in Selborne 📚 8th March Introducing our first exciting nature writer @Matt…
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Marsh Fritillary larvae starting to feed today in S Glos. They moved 5cm from their basking place to a Devil's Bit Scabious plant and indulge (Betony in the way). This is the earliest I've noted feeding, after 3/2/07 & 4/2/16. Other webs still in hibernation.
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@ITattum @HoratioClare @JLewisStempel @MathewJLyons @AliceStainer @PaddyGalbraith @tweedpipe Definitely 2: essays on how BB's unique writings and artwork changed and shaped his reader's lives... I can offer you a perspective on Brendon Chase, titled Brendon Chase Decoded (already have a draft).
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At long last, my first hoverfly of the year - the drone fly Eristalis tenax on Daphne bholua 'Jacqueline Postill' in my garden just now. I still haven't seen a bee of any description, but it's nice to get one new feature each February day...
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First Lesser Celandine of the year, celebrating Candlemas today. N Wilts.
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Good news! Only one out of 12 hibernating Purple Emperor larvae lost to (bird, usually titmouse) predation in Savernake Forest so far this winter. That's mega, though Feb is the main crunch month. Here's 'Mephistopheles' conked out on his scar today...
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Blackbird singing 'of summer with full-throated ease' outside Tesco in Tetbury this morning. Welcome, Brother February... Bring on the rookeries!
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Purple Emperor caterpillar 'Ezekiel' looking handsomely cryptic in my local woods today, hibernating.
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Good to find female Hazel flowers in the woods today. Maybe it's me, but I so rarely find them - they seem far scarcer than the resultant nuts!
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Noisy the Song Thrush sounding off at the bottom of the garden just now, for the first time, through fading mist, under pale sun (old pic). 'Go, go, go, said the bird: human kind cannot bear very much reality...' (Eliot Burnt Norton I)
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Here, in a place Of outgrown beech And thicket holly; In that time Of deepening dusk And evening stars, The robins sing, Silhouetted dark, Against the fading sun Of winter dying; Hidden in the mysteries Of language, The meaning lives Within the song
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@HazelTarragon Yes, since mid-Sept, all tightly huddled together. They start to emerge when the ground dries out (!), to bask in late winter sun. They wont start feeding for a week or two.
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