The Monsoon Continues.

This appalling spell of stormy weather is still persisting here in the Brecon Beacons. Very strong winds and near record rainfall is ruining my favourite time of year. The apple blossom on the trees in our garden is getting battered and waterlogged and there is a marked lack of pollinators, in particular bees. It doesn’t look promising for the apple crop this autumn. Our runner beans which were planted late because of heavy frosts are hardly moving, suffering from a distinct lack of sunshine. Butterflies are not on the wing, we’ve only seen a few Orange Tips, a solitary Green Veined White and a battered Peacock - very poor for late May. I have only heard two distant Cuckoos and there are no sightings at two of my local sites – it’s quite depressing really. Thankfully all the usual spring migrants are here, enduring the weather and yesterday a few Hobbies were reported from a local lake.


We noticed a marked increase in Drinker Moth caterpillars in the roadside vegetation earlier this week.





Image below taken with - (Canon 7Dii and Canon EF100 f2.8 is Macro Lens with Yongnuo twin macro flash).



This hairy caterpillar is one of the Cuckoo’s favourite foods.



So I hope this is a good omen. The weather forecast is tentatively hinting at drier weather for next week so I’m hoping that will entice a few Cuckoos to my upland sites, nothing is guaranteed in nature but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.