Feeders at the Ready

With the change in the weather there have been more birds visiting the feeders so it was time to check them over and top them up. A new(ish) feeder is this one:



It holds jars of peanut butter specially formulated for birds. Peanut butter for human consumption can have too much salt for feeding to birds. I get the pots from CJ Wildlife:



I did have it set up under the bird table over the Summer but it was ignored there and the contents went mouldy. I though I would try it on the side of the shed not far from the traditional feeders.

Black Minibeast

As I took down my weather satellite aerial and was about to move the base off the lawn I spotted a black beetle:

A small crop of a quick photo with the iPhone:


At least it stayed in view while I fetched the Nikon compact camera and managed to take a few more photos. These shots are all small crops from the originals.







I am pretty sure this is a diving beetle going by the size (about 8mm), colour, shape and the length of the back legs. I wonder what it was doing out of the pond. I understand they are good fliers so it probably fancied a change of environment.

Storm Alex (NOAA weather satellite)

The wind crculating round Storm Alex as seen by NOAA 18 this morning:



Although Alex will move southwards a new low developing over the UK will drag in high winds and rain over the weekend. The Met Office site is now showing amber warnings for some areas.

Invader

I was just about to sit on the bench in the churchyard when I spotted:



I thought it might be a Harlequin ladybird but wasn't sure until I had done some checking. The markings and colouring, including the orange legs, looks right.

Monday Mystery

Last wek's close view



was part of





a harness as spotted by Adrian and Ellen D, and correctly identified as Penny's harness by Kev Scott. Well done.

On to the new close view



which is part of ..... what?

Please leave any guesses in the comments.
They will be revealed, along with the answer, next Monday.

Changed Layout

Had a dabble with a new layout.

For a while, while I was trying things out, I could alter the basic text size.

When I changed the background colour the text option disappeared which was annoying as I wanted to make it slightly larger. At least it appears to be easier to read on small screens.

P.S. Found the text change facility again. Just a question of clicking the correct drop down menu under Advanced.

Hairy Minibeast

Penny spotted something hairy creeping past the back door. I managed to capture it in a small plastic petri dish. Unfortunately it then refused to do anything but curl up.

LCD microscope photo:



I let it go again and waited for it to start moving. Unfortunately for a small beast it can really move fast. The best I could get as it rushed for cover:





It turned out to be a Ruby Tiger Moth caterpillar. Hair in tufts, about 25mm long. Right time of year for a second brood. Have seen the adult moths from time to time in the longer parts of the lawn.