Dark Thoughts

It's like you have a cinema screen at the front of your mind,
Onto which you project what you see, what you wish, what could be.
And then a box appears in the corner, a preview of something else.
But you didn't call it - it sprang up unbidden,
A subconscious well of poison hijacking a moment of your attention.
You can't help but look, and you focus, the rest blurring out,
Until there is nothing else to think about but the inky black portrayed.
You try to break it, but the inkiness somehow becomes real,
Suffusing even the big screen, spreading hopelessness.
But the well is finite, and to cover everything it dilutes down,
Gradually becoming nothing, the screen still clear.
But it hasn't gone away, and the well will refill,
Ready to spread it's hopelessness again.
Dark thoughts are like mists in the consciousness,
Carpeting the ground, always burned off by the sun,
Always returning, and always with the fear of what if the sun fails...

Loneliness at Christmas

Sitting there, people all around,
In the square, Christmas sounds.
People going to and fro,
People chatting to whom they know.
Songs that talk of being together,
Of giving presents forever and ever.
But one thought please for that person sitting there,
Single, worn down, an almost soulless stare.
For there's nothing worse, it shouldn't be allowed,
The terrible loneliness in the Christmas crowd.
Love thy neighbour, wish good cheer,
Just remember that for some it will bring a tear.
And if you see a tear, don't back away,
Go and speak to them, make their day.

Tour of Britain in Stoke Gifford

Sir Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky navigate the rabbit roundabout on the Winterbourne Road in Stoke Gifford.

Tesco garden draughts set - shame about instructions

Instructions from the Tesco foam mat garden draughts set - shame that the diagram has the different coloured tokens laid out incorrectly.

Goldfinches

Adult goldfinch with young on thistles.

Micro-moth caterpillar

This suspected micro-moth caterpillar was spotted on a leaf this week. It is only 5mm long, and looks like a little fuzzy worm until you look closely.

Check lists

When out with children at a zoo or wildlife park, there is lots to see. Why not use the following species check lists to make sure you see all there is to see, or for your children to tick against as they go around?

Bristol Aquarium (added 19th Aug 2014)

Bristol Zoo

Slimbridge WWT

Note that especially at Bristol Zoo the exhibits change over time, so these are correct as of this posting.

Bumblebee

A pollen encrusted bumblebee.

Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)

Beautiful Demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo)

Beautiful Demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo), female.

Clouds and aircraft

Spotted in the sky this morning - high cloud which has been pulled apart by passing aircraft.

Soldier Beetle

Fruit fly - Coenosia family

Fruit fly from the family Coenosia.

Aphid

Aphid with babies seen on a rose leaf.

Hoverfly covered in buttercup pollen

This hoverfly was seen covered in buttercup pollen.

Araniella curcurbitina

Araniella curcurbitina, seen in the garden.

Soldier beetle (Cantharis livida)

Seen in the garden.

Light and shade

Lackey (Malacosoma neustria)

Lackey (Malacosoma neustria) - seen on a hawthorn branch in Bradley Stoke.

Dandelion opening

Peacock butterfly

Peacock butterfly feeding.

Birds in spring at Slimbridge

It's spring, and the swans are courting.

And so are the Jackdaws.

More uncommonly, so are Common cranes (Grus grus). These used to be extinct in the UK, but have recently reintroduced to the Somerset Levels. They seem to be spreading.

A coot - you can clearly see the lobed feet.

Moorhens preening each other.

Also present were avocets, here seen with a greylag goose.

The avocets again.

A pair of black-tailed godwith (Limosa limosa) were also feeding. They are long-legged waders.

Also spotted were a pair of oystercatchers on a raised island in the lake.

Change

Everything changes.
Consider a stone, water falling on it,
Drip, drip, drip.
Come back tomorrow, and it is still there,
Seemingly unchanged, timeless.
But come back in a decade:
The stone is hollowed,
The unceasing stream of drips
Achieving together what one couldn't do.
Come back in millennia and the rock is no longer there,
Worn away, sediment in the ocean.
Come back in an epoch,
And age compresses,
Squeezing rock from the weight of mud.
Come back in an era, and you'll find a stone,
Drip, drip, drip.
Everything changes, when viewed over time.

Black

Black - the absence of illumination,
A darkness, macabre and disquieting.
It's the total absorption of all light,
A singularity in life from which nothing visible escapes.
But light carries information,
And total absorption illuminates totally within.
Black is not absence, but totality,
All colours and all knowledge collated inside,
Collapsed, compressed, awaiting.
Thus the final blackness is not something to fear,
But an enlightenment, an expansion of knowing,
Through blackness it will become clear.

Ladybirds

Also out today were ladybirds - here a seven spot.

Also a ten-spot.

Another ten-spot.

The insects are out

Bee Fly (Bombylius major), seen out today, as were lots of peacock butterflies, small tortoiseshell butterflies (often sunning on the reserve paths), plus large yellow ones flying down the path verges.

Melancholia

Melancholia, why call it blue?
Those deep summer skies,
Recall warmth, with their hue.
Tropical seas house reefs and bright fish,
And azure winged birds flit around with a swish.
Melancholia is not blue, it is grey, colour bleached,
A destination hopefully most seldom ever reached.

The Almondsbury Interchange

Eastbound at night.

Westbound.

Tiny beetle

This little beetle, 1mm long, was found indoors.

This and the next few photos were taken at around 400x magnification. Here you can see the hairs on the carapace.

The rear of the beetle - you can see the end of the wing covers with hairs, and the rear legs.

Here is a front leg, and you can see the tiny hairs on the end of it.

The eyes and mouth area.

Long range weather forecasts - final review

For January, the average maximum temperature was 9.19C, compared to an average of 7.67 C between 2005 and 2013. For February it was 9.59 C, compared to an average of 8.04 C between 2005 and 2013. So the long range temperature forecast was very inaccurate, although it was somewhat stormy. This was probably a result of the jet stream location mentioned in the original article.

Flooding on the Somerset Levels

Taken from Ashcott, west of Street, looking south-westish towards Langport.

Bald robin

Seen in the Three Brooks Nature Reserve today:

Seen near the Bradley Stoke Way bridge over the reserve - a robin completely missing all feathers on its head.

Dunnock (Prunella modularis), seen in the same area.

Long range weather forecasts in The Daily Express - Review 3

So, December - the average maximum temperature for December was 10.02 C, compared to an average of 7.76 C between 2005-2013 (and incidentally warmer than the average maximum of 10.01 C for November!). The average minimum was 4.54 C, compared to an average of 2.91 C between 2005-2013. The highest maximum was 13.30 C (compared to an average extreme of 12.36 C), and the lowest minimum was 1.20 C (compared to an average extreme of -2.94 C). So the month was much warmer than average. So no big freeze at all, although the succession of storms means it's been a bit windier than normal.

2013 Rainfall

Rainfall during 2013.

Average of the rainfall over the last six years. For the year, the total was 901.5 mm, which compares to 1383.5 mm for 2012.