Ecology, Wales, weather

Another Unusual Visitor!

This is a rare Striped Hawk-moth Hyles livornica —

It’s a migrant that visits in summer but cannot survive our winters, preferring the Mediterranean and Africa. Not often seen in the UK; 2006 was a good year when 383 were spotted mainly in the South and South-west England. That was when the last one was spotted in Montgomeryshire, when one came as far as Welshpool… Until a day or two ago when we caught this one in our trap in the Trannon Valley of Mid-Wales.

Their caterpillars like to eat Rosebay Willow Herb, of which we have tons, although rapidly dying down now, and the moths will drink nectar from a wide range of flowers especially Red Valerian but even if this one could find a mate, their chances of breeding successfully are remote.

Hummingbird Hawk-mothBy Charles J. Sharp – Own work, from Sharp Photography, sharpphotography.co.uk, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76891220 Does anyone recognise it?

We are told that there are Hummingbird Hawk-moths in nearby Trefeglwys, a much more common visitor, although we haven’t spotted one this year — they are obvious because they fly by day and you think you have seen a Hummingbird! Evidently they are omens of good things to come — I do hope so!

We’ve had a cooler day, the Painted Ladies have disappeared as has the solitary Clouded Yellow butterfly.

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Climate, Hill Farming, weather

Climate Rebooted!

Over the years I have often blogged about the rain. We live in one of the wettest areas of England and Wales.

Above is how it is supposed to look in Summer.

Here it is today:

It won’t be long before the golden hills are brown as the sheep eat the last of the dead grass but that is perhaps not a bad thing as at the moment every thing on the ground is tinder dry. Yesterday the valleys of this part of Mid-Wales were obscured by smoke which, by the magic of Facebook we learned was coming from wild fires. Even from the top of the hill we couldn’t see any flames. So they were not about to engulf us; the nearest was a good 15 miles away; so you can imagine how extensive it was but under control by the time the smoke reached us.

As I headed home with my shopping I passed more vehicles than I have ever seen in our valley, all heading towards the source of the smoke; farmers, I guess, heading out to help.

Today all is clear.

I’m off to check the well again and Bill is filling the buckets with rainwater from the butts, to flush the loo; once a day each. We take “Being careful with water” very seriously. If we, with our catchment of 25 of the wettest acres in Britain can see our stocks dwindling so alarmingly; I wonder how long the taps will continue to work in our towns and cities.

Seems every decade we have to worry about something new.

On the point of posting this both our phones screamed loudly: SEVERE ALERT — something really important but written only in Welsh — no translation available — I am thrown, in panic, upon my linguistic skills — the Welsh dictionary is conveniently on the table… It’s definitely something to do with fire… Minutes later, the phone screams again — this time in English, so now we know that we must not light the barbeque.

I’m going out to cut down the kindling growing around the house.

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Butterflies, Climate, Ecology

Butterfly Bonanza

So many and so varied; today the meadow was alive with fluttering. These are what we found in half an hour!

It’s a very good year for Painted Ladies, a migrant enjoying the hot weather and unusually the commonest Butterfly on our thistles today
We don’t usually see many blues but today, here’s a Holly Blue.

Amazing diversity of butterflies on 2nd August,2026, on a single, small patch of thistles that we have allowed to flower this year.

Brimstone Butterfly
Wall Butterfly
Comma
Common Blue
Peacock
Small Tortoishell
Meadow Brown

Also lots of small whites which never seem to photograph well.

Nearly forgot the small copper!

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Ecology, farming, Moths, Sustainable Farming Scheme,, Sustainable Farming Scheme,

Have you seen this rare moth?

New moth found this morning — an important find which confirms the good health of our oak woodland.

In Britain this Spotted Carpet Moth (nothing to do with carpets) hangs on in the Highland of Scotland and very locally in parts of the West Country. I have found one sighting in Eryri (Snowdonia) but nothing in Mid-Wales (I didn’t look very hard!)

This beautiful moth lays it’s eggs on Old Man’s Beard lichen, Usnea filipendula which festoons the branches of oak trees and itself indicates a pristine, pollution free atmosphere. Both could be Key Performance Indicators (KPI) if you are benchmarking as a Universal Action as part of the new, controversial Sustainable Farming Scheme. The caterpillars are green with black spots. The moth and its food are extinct in many parts of Britain. It is mainly spotted now in the mountainous areas of continental Europe and Scotland… And the Trannon Valley!

Usnea filipendula (Beard lichen) CC BY 2.5

Thanks to Bernol Haynold for the above photo — it’s too hot to go up into the wood and photograph our own!

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Ecology, Moths, Natural Beauty

Secret Night-Life in the Trannon Valley!

Here I am, on my birthday. We are testing my birthday present, a state-of-the-art, battery-driven moth-trap.

It is a summer evening in the oak wood, we encourage insects, Some of them are man-eaters; hence the fetching veil. They pollenate and fascinate and fuel the food-chains, sustaining all the chicks, bats and baby mammals. They also give us an idea of how well we are doing, the numbers and variation give us an index of diversity which we can compare year on year.

Eyed Hawk Moth

WOODLAND MOTH SURVEY 01.07.2026

Number of moths identified: 128

Number of different species identified: 55

GARDEN MOTH SURVEY 01.07.2026

Number of moths Identified: 48

Number of different species identified: 31

Just to give you a taste of these under-appreciated creatures which are not dull and not boring!

Here are some of the more spectacular ones we collected and released in the morning.

HAWK MOTHS

Elephant Hawk Moth
Small Elephant Hawk Moth for comparison — it was flying 25.05.2026, can you see the differences?
Poplar Hawk Moth — found 7 of these giants in the garden trap.

EMERALD MOTHS

Large Emerald Moth

Common Emerald Moth

Light Emerald Moth

Smaller but just as beautiful:

Buff Arches Moth
Clouded Border Moth, we caught 4, this one made a break for it in the morning.
Map-winged Swift Moth

Small but exquisite!

Burnished Brass Moth

Just a taster and which was the most numerous? The Riband Wave — we caught 13 in the Woodland they are very variable.

Riband Wave

Got to go –getting dark, it’s warm and no rain is forecast but the moon should be obscured by cloud — perfect for trapping.

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Architecture, Farm engineering

New River Crossing — Ahead of Schedule and Under Budget

You must be joking — it’s not possible in this day and age.

Here’s the problem:

There was a bridge here, early 20th century and unsafe. So, in the interests of health and safety and driven by ill-considered impulse, I demolished it. Then discovered that the sheep won’t wade to the other side; they don’t like getting their feet wet and have no concept of a ford.

I know, I’ll put in some stepping stones. We’ve got lots of boulder that we dug out of the foundations of our old Dutch barn and I’ve seen the sheep happily balancing on the rocks.

Daunting task but here’s the answer:

Civil engineer extraordinaire. I explained the vague concept and showed him the stones.

“What you need is an Irish Bridge.”

It might look simple but it isn’t — every stone was sized and places with upmost care, backed up and wedged. We don’t want it washing away or eroding the bank.

Later that morning we have an Irish bridge.

Solid granite, firmly bedded in, with nothing to rot or rust and no moving parts. The flow is unimpeded and undiverted and when in flood will flow over the top. A Mediaeval solution to a 21st century problem. We didn’t have to buy anything —

Sustainable bridge building! All you need is Meuryg and his digger.

Suitable for the most risk averse.

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farming, Health and safety, Hill Farming, trees, Wales

Lumberjack’s assistants ride again!

We’re still reeling from the gales of the last several months; tidying up what we can.

But some things are beyond us; we need a Lumberjack; Tree surgeon Barry and we are juniors again!

Here’s the pared down problem. Half a ton (maybe more) of oak suspended precariously over a broken fence, through which the sheep have already escaped. They were oblivious to the danger — we were not. They have been retrieved and taken to a place of safety.

Here’s Barry putting on his harness. He assesses the situation.

Up he goes.

Would I like to have a go? Well actually yes I would! He doesn’t ask again.

Suspended from much higher, he dangles, assessing the problem; it’s all a question of balance, most things are.

All tidied up, Bill and I hauled the lumber down to the barn in the trusty trailer with the surprisingly co-operative quad bike, since the war in Ukraine it prefers to be called an ATV. No one was shot.

I chauffeured the surgeon to his next case in the truck. As I didn’t have my reading glasses, Barry worked the 4-wheel drive gear stick — I did the rest and felt like a rally driver.

Here’s the next challenge, Bill risk- assessing. He knows this slippery and grumpy character — the tree, that is, that made us call for help in the first place. Fortunately when bucked off this bough Bill rolled like a parachutist avoiding major injury!

With consummate skill the mixed hazel and hawthorn is coaxed from the arms of it’s neighbour and no one is injured this time.

Tree Surgeon in repose — taking well earned refreshment.

Thanks Barry

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Art, Family History

Is there an old master in your loft?

Have I found an old masterpiece in my loft?

Not quite, but just as exciting.

I decided to sort out my grandfather’s bureau which I’d been meaning to do since my father died in 1992 and I found this little box which Dad had meticulously labelled when going through the same process after his own father’s death in the early 70’s. It contained colour photo slides on glass. I held them to the light but couldn’t make out the subjects but they definitely weren’t holiday snaps. Was I to pack them back in the draw and leave them another 50 years and a new generation?

Curiosity got the better of me! I managed to get them printed.

Firstly — a harrowing picture of the crucifixion, clearly a large oil painting, unframed and leaning against a chair, by an artist I recognised. My grandfather, as a young man had been involved in representing and selling this man’s work before 1934 when he worked with his wife’s cousin David Croal Thomson, at the London gallery, Barbizon House. It was during the depression and eventually went bust. The artist was Sir Frank Brangwyn (1867-1956) who I have heard described as the Welsh National Artist. The actual painting survives and I have tracked it down today to Glasgow Life Museum, but not precisely enough for us to be able to visit it.

As a young man Brangwyn travelled widely, sponsored by a shipowner who allowed him to go on a freighter to Istanbul. Fascinated by the colour and diversity of the scenes he saw, he continued to paint around the world, visiting Zanzibar, South Africa, Egypt, Turkey and Morocco. This scene from another painting photographed by my grandfather, A.F. Buck, shows the pressing of maybe olives in North Africa.

Above is another harrowing religious scene; rather melodramatic, is this to do with Jesus healing, the chap with the crutch is in etchings I have seen of Lazarus. I don’t know where this one has ended up. Does anyone recognise it? The costume reminds me of someone.

Lastly, there are several shots of this mysterious and uncomfortable looking lady with her two children. I cannot work out who she is but I know that my Grandfather’s cousin by marriage, David Croal Thomson was quite keen on having his children painted by the famous artists of the era. I remember a particularly beautiful painting (long since sold) of Evelyn in a bluebell wood by Whistler, very “Pre-Raphaelite” with the family’s red hair! Could this be DCT’s wife and 2 of the children? Anyway she doesn’t look too happy about it, I’m sure her corset was killing her — I doubt she liked the image. Perhaps it was consigned to an attic somewhere!

I think they could be either gender, if you find them in your attic: the painting is by Sir Frank Brangwyn!

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food, Heartwarming, lifestyle

Proper Shops

We can’t all live in the country.

Life in town is eased by local heroes… Like Mark, this Kettering butcher.

That’s not Mark. Here he is (same pinny}:

He doesn’t display a mission statement, which is a relief, but if he did it would be about nourishing and innovating and educating — all of which he does and more, quietly in Hawthorn Road.

He’s corrected my pork crackling so that it crunches without risking our teeth. He’s taught me the secret of slow cooked beef ribs that melt in the mouth — add dental health to his mission! He saves the tails of fillet steak for our pensioner’s Beef Stroganoff! He has genuine Brixworth pate, smokes his own chicken breasts and has the best parmigiano reggiano in the eastern counties.

He provides employment and opportunity for a whole gang of skilled and experienced ladies to exercise their alchemy. To create pies and quiches and magical scotch eggs, cooked, ready (still warm, crisp on outside and moist and delicious on the inside) to collect on my way home from swimming.

There’s my reflection, drooling, clutching my rucksack of precious traditional Cumberland Scotch Eggs!

Literary Note:

Mark also, like any good butcher, swaps books and shares recipes and novels. Good taste across many arts. I’ve been reading Andrea Camilleri’s Inspector Montalbano novels about crime and food, humble but ethereal, in Sicily — which brings me back to the just-cooked Scotch Egg! Italians don’t have a monopoly on ambrosia.

Here’s to family butchers the world over!

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Moths, Wales

Imperial Interference!

We were very excited to find this whopping moth sitting on an eggbox in our trap last week. It is an emperor moth Saturniidae pavonia and although not uncommon, it was very large and beautiful and the first we had ever encountered. The previous day had been unusually hot and sunny and must have encouraged her emergence.

Here she is in all her splendor about 7 cm across.

Stretching to reveal her hind wings, the females wings are all the same colour. The male, though smaller, has brighter orangey hind wings. But that was not the reason we knew she was an Empress… Look what she left behind.

A clutch of shiny Empress eggs and a dilemma — do we rush out and buy a large fish tank (that is what the family assumed we would do) or do we compromise with Mother Nature?

Here is what we did.

In a thicket of blackthorn that emperor caterpillars like to eat above a bramble bush where they will also happily roam, we pinned the eggs to a branch where we hope in 6 weeks, maybe later, if it’s cold, they can hatch.

Meanwhile here is an Estonian one by Ivar Leidus CC.BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia

They start off black and eventually are this bright green with bands of spots which become black and hairy (I think)… We will see… Maybe.

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