Notes on wildlife, trees and an exhibition

Autumn has arrived, and although it can be warm, it’s now turned quite chilly; even so a bushcricket still thinks it’s summer; twice now I’ve accidentally disturbed its nest which it insists on building inside the upstairs window frame, so when I open it to clean the window, it dislodges and falls to the floor revealing 20 or so tiny green replicas twitching and stretching as though just hatched from eggs, these wingless nymphs have indeed hatched from eggs laid in the nest which must has taken huge effort to build, as it’s made up of dried grasses which must have been dragged up from the meadow a good few hundred yards from the house, and then the creature had to struggle up to the top of the window frame, at least 5m up, squeezing the bedding into the tiny cavity formed by the window hinges. All this activity: we have no idea what goes on around us.

I gently laid them outside in a sheltered corner and covered them with hay, I hope they will survive…

 

Then, letting Lucy the cat in through the kitchen window, she dislodged a mud-dauber’s nest, which broke up and revealed several species of spider it had trapped in order to feed it’s young when they hatch: fascinating yet gruesome.

And here’s a pic of the vernissage (the opening) of our exhibition, together with one of the rooms, we are 5 artists: 2 sculptors, a painter/printmaker and 2 painters.

Lastly and by no means least, a friend has come to prune and tidy two trees that have been needing a good haircut by an expert for years. Watching a tree surgeon at work was fascinating,  as he climbed the trees to loop and fasten various ropes to keep him safe as he sawed away at branches, deadwooding and cutting out the dross,  it was like watching an artist at work; our cedar and parasol trees now look elegant and magnificent again.

You can just about see him working on the left, 2nd branch up: