Meadow brown

MeadowBrown (Bruin zandoogje) again from different sides.

lazing in the sun

Tommy can do things no other cat can do.......... so full of passion.
sitting in the first runrays...
with stretched hind-leg wasching up the frontleg.
after having finished that...its time for legs up ...!

Meadow brown

I saw him the last couple of days...visiting my garden.
Only today he allowed me to take his portrait.
he a male Meadow brown (Bruin zandoogje)Maniola Jurtina).
the females have more orange around the eye.

dots appearing

I followed the progress of the newborn ladybird.
I checked about every hour to see what was going on...

After a while he spread out his inner wings,
I guess to let it dry.
in the beginning both wings are very soft and weak material.
the shields have to harden itself for a while.
that's why he sits there and waits before he can use his wings.
Meanwhile the process of drying..I saw the spots coming out...
darkening....

Until it was too dark outside to see the color of the shield getting into more red.

This morning, when I looked again, the ladybird had taken his wings .......!

ladybird birth

To my surprise...!
when I showed my friend A. the cocoon of the ladybird,

We suddenly saw He was coming out!
Just in time to see the last moments when coming out.
So amazing to see...!
The ladybird has no dots in the beginning, he's yellow!

but if you look closely...you can see white dots shining through!

such a beautiful sight...this birthing moment.

baby blackbirds

Again today a peek in the nest of the blackbirds...
The 3 egg has been hatched as well,
Surprise .... I had been thinking it probably wouldn't.

One young permanently opened his beak...
while the other ones dived in hiding to the bottom of the nest.

blackbird bathing

Mother blackbird took a fresh bath.
After having feeding her young, time for a time-out
Having probably her 3 nest...it can be very tiring...

She looks rather worn out...

Beginning to molt as well.
When dry...the feathers cover up her boldness,
but having all her feathers wet and washed,
you can clearly see some feather-parts missing.
to me she still looks gorgeous.
To her she doesn't seem to mind at all how she looks...
birds don't mind...

they are free to be who they are.

empty shells

It has been raining pouring down all day.
Later this afternoon the raining stopped
and I decided to inspect the ladybird cocoons.
(see former post July 4 and 3)
At first glance, it looked they were at home...

But closer inspection told me they had gone out.
leaving their empty shells alone.

catfood

Because Tommy and Bibi like their meals outside when it is not raining.
Their saucers with catfood filled with the leftovers seem to be a treat for the blackbird.
Many times he hip-hops to their little bits to snatch away some pieces.
First he fed himself, than he took some for his little ones.

2 naked young

This morning early I saw the blackbird coming off the nest.
For me an opportunity to have a quick peek.

There were 2 naked baby blackbirds and one unhatched egg.
They must have hatched some days ago I guess,
because the baby-birds fit in no way in the egg that is laying beside.
they are 3 times bigger than the egg!

It is miraculous to see how fast these birds grow.
only on a diet of insects and worm.

family blackbird

Mother blackbird for a moment off the nest
for a quick bath.
Meanwhile father blackbird keeps an eye on the nest
and sings a song.

seed valerian

The seeds of the Valerian are ripe...

falling around the plant in plenty of numbers.
This one dangling on a spider-thread ready fall in the ground.
lovely parachutes on them, so the wind can play them a little further to unknown land.

In the medical world..Valerian is a plant that has rest-giving attributes.
to me, while sitting a lot under its shadow this summer,
it tells me of entering the rest that God wants to give to his people,
we have to strive to enter into that rest...Hebr 4: 11

It takes great effort to keep calm and peacefull in times of adversity...
when things seem to go all wrong.
Circumstances of life, blow over, stealing our trust, inward peace and therefore rest,
worry, anxieties, fears, take all over...
Entering into Gods rest is the only best place to Be.
Sitting under His Almighty rest-giving Shadow.

larva & ladybird

When I examined the plants more,
I found even more cocoons, and
I found larva of the ladybird, running around, chasing lice

and then later I saw a ladybird sitting...
maybe a new born one...he looked so shiny & new.

cocoon ladybird

As I was watering some plants,

I saw a small tiny little orange spot...
in the always gently moving grass-blades.

At first I thought it was a ladybird hanging on a grass-stem.
when I looked through the lens...I saw it was a cocoon of a ladybird...

At closer inspection, I saw another one dangling on another grass-blade.
and then one sitting on a leaf of the Valerian.
3 cocoons of a ladybird....
I have to keep an eye on them
maybe catching the hatching!

small white

small white,(koolwitje) in blues.

3 eggs

While I was cutting away some roses that were out of blossoming....

suddenly I bird flew frightened away, out of the ivy and the rose I was cutting.
That meant maybe.... a nesting place in the ivy..!
After some inspection ..there it was...a nest...
I had to go inside and grab a mirror and my cam.
because the nest was just a little bit too high for me to view inside.
The mirror does the work perfectly for looking inside the nest.
And ahhh...such beautiful eggs...three of them
a blackbird's eggs.

The nest is just above the garden-bench where I sit regularly in the cool of the shade
The bird didn't know... as it was too warm to sit there with these hot warm summer-days.
And...
Its not such a safe place for a nest so close-by with Bibi-cat being around.
I hope the nest and the new coming birds will survive.