Thursday 5th September 2024 - Ignored, Sunrises, Red Admirals and Feeling Honoured

That’s me finished with the Council, as far as reporting full and overflowing bins are concerned.  I can only conclude from my latest form submission; I’m being ignored – the weekends accumulation was not cleared until Tuesday!  I can find better things to do with the time spent completing the online forms, plus I get wound up when my submissions are disregarded.  I will however, continue to take photos, as a record of the Council’s ineptitude and inability to provide an important service to our village.

Now I’ve got that off my chest, I will move on to a totally different subject – sunrises.  I call September the month of sunrises.  Of course, the sun rises everyday – we would be in dire trouble if it didn’t – but because it’s rising when we go out for our September morning walks, this is when we see them again after a break of a few months.  I should add, I do see the glow of sunrises in summer from our bedroom window however, our home is not quite at the right angle to take in their full glory.  The first of today’s two photos was taken as we walked along the promenade on Wednesday morning.  I am sure I will be capturing more of Overstrand’s spectacular sunrises, each one different, over the coming weeks.

After not seeing many insects this summer (not just my observation) it was a joy to see so many red admiral butterflies the other afternoon.  As we walked along a field edge and a track, they were homing in on the ivy blooms.  Red admirals are generally migratory but some stay and hibernate here. Full of vibrant colour, the ones we saw will probably have recently emerged from chrysalis’s.  If they stay and hibernate here, they will most likely be one of the first butterflies we see next year, emerging on a sunny late winter’s day.

Yesterday, sat on the garden bench with Sid, our cat, on my lap, I watched a male darter perched on the edge of our pond.  It flew upwards from time to time and appeared to be trying to attract another darter, circling around the garden.  After sitting for some time, Sid decided to move out of the sun and I resumed gardening.  It was then that I saw two linked pairs of darters, ready to mate and when I moved towards a flowering sedum one pair joined for full mating.  I was able to take a photo, before they relocated onto the sleeve of my blouse, providing me with a close-up view of the interlocked pair.  I felt so honoured to be able to watch them at such close quarters before they flew across to the pond where the male gently shook the female so that her then fertilised eggs dropped into the water.  The darters on the sedum flower is the second of today’s photos.