Sea Holly

When you walk across the dunes you might come across

Eryngium maritimum (aka sea holly and seaside eryngo).

It's an endangered species so please don't take any plants or even seeds with you.

I really like this beautiful architectural thistle!

Wow! I had never seen this large insect before. It's a great golden sand digger

Life can be translucent

young female Banded darter dragonfly (Bandheidelibel) in our garden

I'm so sorry for my absence!

Perhaps you remember my mother had a severe operation at the end of March.
(you can read my earlier posts here, here, here and here)

She slowly recovered afterwards but she didn't recover completely.

Now new scans confirm she's terminally ill and she's fighting a lost battle.

Her condition is getting worse and life threatening really quickly.

We'll be spending as much time as we can with her.
So please hang in there with me...

Nectar Bar

the nectar bar is working overtime!

Pyjama Party

Our Angelica was crowded with Striped shield bug

(pyjama bug in Dutch: pyama wants/kever)

Zing!

The last couple of days we have been working in the garden.

Accompanied by Mobli ☆

Spring has finally arrived!

Stoechas

Agastache

Camo

This buff-tip moth is incredible with his camouflage. I'm impressed!

But he would better pick a birch or branch to rest instead of this blue stone :)

.

The Herald

NO! It wasn't me who spilled white paint on the Herald moth, in Dutch aka Roesje ;)

Musk Beetle

Then suddenly a big beetle landed on my skirt....

On the internet I discovered  it's a musk beetle (Dutch info here)

"I'm sorry but I must ask you to leave before you eat our barn"

common field grashopper

We have many grasshoppers and crickets in our field. You can see another one here.

Eye of the Butterfly

Star

No Admiral

During haying the kenderman spotted the White Admiral.
He was so enthusiastic about this rare butterfly, I completely trusted his suggestion for a blogpost!
I should have double-checked ;)
Now we now, THANKS to the Peelmormels, it's summer Araschnia levana.
(more info in Dutch and English)

Weekend

Nectar Bar

Our Ivy is a real nectar bar.

Lots of bees, bumble bees, wasps, flies, hoverflies and even some butterflies are enjoying it.

Holiday!

The next 3 weeks I'll be off from work!
Finally I can do whatever I want :)
I'l be blogging regularly.

Hopefully you're enjoying your holiday or weekend right now! 

Moths

The kenderman has been scything again......... and he found some beauties

Deilephila elpenor (aka Elephant Hawk-moth, groot avondrood)

Diachrysia chrysitis (aka burnished brass, koperuil)