Saturday 19 October 2013

a new hat

19th October 2013

do you like my new hat?

 Today I made friends with another froggy, he had a very big tummy.  Don't worry, froggy did not jump off my head.  This is him hopping away afterwards.  I thought he was lovely. 

I also found some more fungi in my garden..  It felt so funny and looked very different from all the other types I have found. Its stems looked like stringy cheese and its cap was wavey..
 


Sunday 13 October 2013

Moel Fammau - Fun & Fungi




12 October 2013





I love going to Moel Fammau country park. It is a very beautiful place.  Moel Fammau is the largest hill in the Clwydian Range. (An area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) the Clwydian Range is one of only 8 protected Landscapes in Wales)

Today I walked to the very top and explored lots of wooded areas on the way. I was so excited when I started to find lots of different fungi. I think fungi is very pretty, especially the red and white spotted fungi and the white feathery looking fungi.

At the very top of Moel Fammau there are no woods, the woods are lower down.  It was very cold and windy at the top and misty, a big cloud was sitting on the hill. There is a hill fort at the top.  When I was in the woods it felt warm and I played in a den with my cousin Owen and sister Francesca.
















 

Friday 11 October 2013

When you are sleeping the spiders are creeping!!

11th October 2013

Hello again....  just look at the spiders I found last night!  I went on a spider hunt again in my wellies and Pajamas.. ha ha... . I went back to see the black spotty spider (Nuctenea umbratica - Walnut Orb-weaver Spider) which I saw before, this time I managed to see what its tummy looked like.  Can you see the big spider just coming out of the crack below, he looked horrible! I wouldn't want to find him in my bed. Do you like spiders? We even went into next door's garden, its a big old folly with no-one living there, its a bit of a ruin.  The torch light made some scarey shadows, even mummy started to get a bit scared. I also found some fungi.Today is Friday but I have not got school as the teachers are training.
What is this spider called?
Uctenea Umbratica - Walnut Orb-weaver Spider


 


 

Wednesday 9 October 2013

Spiders at night

Spiders at night

9th October 2013


It's getting dark early now.  I decided to explore my garden again in the dark to see what I could find.
Did you know that the spiders which hide themselves away in the cracks during the day actually come and sit in the middle of their webs at night!! how funny is that. I didn't know that. I saw lots of different spiders. Can you see the photo of the black spider with spots, it doesn't look very friendly does it?!  It looks scarey with its fat body and dents! Thanks to Martin Harvey for letting me know that the spider is a Walnut Orb-weaver Spider (Nuctenea Umbratica) http://www.ispotnature.org/node/361619 .  Take a look at the kind & helpful comments about my site by following the link.
Walnut Orb-weaver Spider (Nuctenea umbratica)









Sunday 29 September 2013

Crab Fishing in Conwy

29 September 2013

Catching Crabs


I had a fantastic time crab fishing at Conwy. I had a net full of smelly bacon which was tied onto the end of my fishing line.  The crabs loved the bacon so much and clung onto the netting with their pinchers. I  caught some very big crabs that smelt like the sea. I was so excited to hold a crab for the first time but had to make sure I held the crabs properly so I didn't get nipped.  I enjoyed an ice lolly. I liked it very much. It was a lovely day.



This is me, pulling up the net of bacon.
 

Lots of hungry crabs!
This crab wasn't very happy, can you see him getting ready to nip me!

I like the colour of this crab


My little sister Francesca also loved crab fishing. This is a photo of us in Conwy.

Sunday 22 September 2013

Night Time Sugaring & Wine Ropes = Moths and Earwigs!

22nd September 2013 - Staying up after bedtime to find moths........

 
Time For Some Unusual Cooking!
Recipe to find moths:  
Brown Ale, Brown Sugar, Treacle ......... Red Wine, Sugar..................
http://www.mothnight.info/www/index.php/recording-techniques


This is me I am going to make sweet yummy moth food. I feel so excited, I can not wait for it to get dark. Mummy got me to try treacle it was not nice, it was very thick and sticky and smelt horrible. Daddy loves it in his pudding ha ha!

Treacle going in...
Wine going in....

Brown Sugar, Treacle, Ale






















Wine & Sugar



Taaaa daaaa.....!
Some yummy moth food, now
for some night time painting and cloth dipping.


Greedy Moths.......
Red Underwing (Catocala Nupta)

Copper Underwing
 I was scared going out in the dark, there was a big full moon.  I kept thinking that a fox was about and there was a really loud screeching noise coming from our garden, I wondered if it was an owl.

I was really excited to see the moths, they were lovely.  The red underwing was my favourite is was very big.  We didn't find lots of different moths only 3 types. I wonder why that would be? I also liked the brown moth it had lovely, pretty shades of brown.  Can you see the moths tongue?

Silver Y Moth  - They shiver to warm up on cold days !!!



 The earwigs loved the treacle mixture. I counted 11 earwigs all munching away!

 I am going to do some more moth night time hunts and next time I think I will spread the wine cloths everywhere!!

Tuesday 17 September 2013

Pond Dip in Wepre Park



 17 September 2013

 I went to wepre park. We did pond dipping in the grounds of old wepre park hall.

 I had a lot of fun. I found a dragon fly nymph, a rams horn water snail, and lots of little fish, my favourite was the little fish. I had never seen any of them before. I liked them very, very much. Do you like them? 

When it started getting dark we saw a big southern hawker dragon fly, its wing span was about 8cm, it really was big and came very close to me, it was brown and green in colour and looked beautiful. 

The Hawkers are the largest and fastest flying dragonflies.  I think the nymphs I found will turn into one. The nymphs live in the pond for 3-4 years until they change into a dragonfly, they are very fast swimmers and will eat just about anything that moves and to move even faster to catch their dinner they burst water out of their bottoms! They can even come out of the water to eat something on land!