Monthly Archives: August 2026

Doggy, Urban environment

Dog Sitting!

We’ve been dog sitting in the East Midlands — the heat waves are over. All the municipal grass and verges are dead and the leaves are beginning to fall.

In town we sit on a bench and look at the flowers. Bruce sniffs out abandoned take-aways and random chips, which he’s not allowed to eat.

We visit the landmarks — look at the new roof of the art gallery, sniff all the bins, and visit the parish church — no peregrines today.

But there are pigeons around the Rotary Club’s pointed clock tower,

They are not impressed by Bruce and don’t even flutter.

Now it is definitely raining and the buses don’t go in our direction.

He misses a nice smelly hedgerow and a rabbity ditch, but most of all he misses the football, sitting on the sofa with the ones he loves.

Still, home and dry and rain has stopped play in the test match (there’s only so much cricket a dog can stand) and Chelsea are playing Brighton on the tiny telly and Granny has brought his bed in, so we can all watch in comfort.

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Sport, Travel, Wales

Ready, Steady…

Police motor cyclists from all over Britain ready for the off!

As the Women’s Tour of Britain Bike race fourth stage gets ready to start from Llanidloes today!

Never has our quiet little town seen so many Emergency Services!

Powys Ambulance service all set, plus reinforcements from elsewhere in the UK. Note this Anglophone Ambulance–

Several private ambulances are here, just in case. This one is lurking by the cake stall. Emergency cups of tea are available outside the Stag.

Not to be outdone, or trapped, the Fire Engine waits in the wings, conveniently near to the fish shop. I hope Thomas sells all his scallops before the next shout.

The competitors are starting to arrive.

In their spectacular team colours — all very shiny — where did they get their water.

Teams are being introduced and are flexing their muscles.

We wonder where all the headless police officers have gone, when we see two emerging from the Wild Oak Cafe,

Sadly the young police officer on the right has lost his bike and he was having such a good time, as I am sure they all are. He hit one of our cattle grids and ended up concussed in hospital — fully recovered but suffering the indignity of being driven in a squad car.

Here are the marshals also be-biked. I recon that at the end of the day, all being well, the motor cyclists will have enjoyed themselves more than the cyclists — four hours in the saddle, from Llanidloes to Hay-on-Wye and too knackered to visit the bookshops.

They have had a really good week, met colleagues from all over, doing what bikers have always liked to do — whizzing about our beautiful land (sponsored by Lloyds Bank).

PS Pleased to see Lloyds doing something with all the money they have saved by closing all the branches.

Good luck to them all anyway!

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1404003471660329

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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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