Hope and Morgans Super Magic Day of Fun

Last Sunday, it was a beautifully sunny day so I grabbed my camera and went into the garden to photograph some of the local wildlife. I was hoping to spot a couple of interesting insect species and if lucky a frog or native lizard.

I wasn't finding too much so instead I decided to explore an area of overgrowth behind our house...Easier said than done. The area in question at this time of year has up to 8 feet of thorns, nettles and briar's. I cannot stress this point enough everything in this overgrown patch of land has thorns.

It was extremely difficult to make my way through in places and I was resigned to the fact that I was going to get a fair few scratches and bites! About a half an hour into my adventure Hope our three legged cat turned up. She had obviously followed me!

We eventually reached a clearing. Chopped slabs of limestone lined the ground and there were sparce scatterings of low lying shrubs and wildflowers.

This small area of land is home to thousands of this particular species of caterpillar, Cinnabar Tyria Jacobaeae. I've noticed they mostly congregate on Ragwort plants (Buachalán Buí) but only in quiet spots. The plump fellow below is a bit of a loner and instead found himself a giant leaf of some sort to munch on.

Another species I found, but were tricky enough to shoot were these spiders. They are quite brazen, and didn't really act in any way fearful of either me or Hope. Anytime I inadvertently disturbed one of their hiding spots (while rummaging through chunks of limestone) they bravely stood their ground. I imagine they are a quite territorial species.

Hope came over and sat on my lap for 15 minutes or so while I rummaged through small chunks of chopped limestone for fossils. I found quite a few...mostly petrified leaves and wood. For the most part however Hope just chilled on her own, enjoying the quiet warm summer breeze.

After a few of hours in total we made our way back home. I traveled the same path that had brought me to the clearing, Hope went the other way and followed her quicker cat friendly route. When we arrived back at the homestead after our 'Big' adventure neither Neen or our other cat Sora had budged from their respective spots.

It was a lot of fun and although I didn't really take any decent shots, 'Hope and Morgans Super Magic Day of Fun' was a day to remember.