Food for our insect hordes

Food for our insect hordes

Meadow pipit by Dave Steel

There is an unwritten expectation that as I roam in these 30 days Wild, out on Chat Moss, that I will be a food source for many an insect.

Today in particular I seemed to be that mobile lunch box to such an extent that even I, a less tasty meal than some of my friends, was discomforted by this flying horde.

I also expect to be grumbled at by any bird whose nest or young I pass to closely by. Whitethroat, in particular, have a rasping reprimand that follows me for quite a distance before I'm seen off the premises.

My next expectation is to have almost anything with wings to flee my camera if it is but lifted in the direction of the butterfly, dragonfly or bird.

Does this list of the thwarted wildlife recorder push me back home for an early bath, as in football? Well, not really for being offside in the wild world is a taken, it's always an away match and the world of the wild is forever a challenge but one worth returning to, as long as these legs can carry me.

To prove this, along came a southerly breeze, that took care of the biting insects. Then, to perhaps set my camera up to take some images, a colourful stand of fungus snapped itself onto my day.

This lifted further when I just about caught a meadow pipit in mid-flight, a record shot as they say. This was then followed by an obliging couple of dragonflies and soon a banded demoiselle and common blue damselfly joined my camera.

To finally prove that I always leave the Moss with a win, an oystercatcher posed on one leg, showing how easy the Wild can make these visits, eventually.