Visitors, Pupae and leafcutter Ants.

Wednesday 18^th January

http://www.butterflyfarm.co.uk/attraction/index.php

Back with Mum and Dad for a few days, time to catch my breath as things are so busy at the moment. What with working at the Butterfly farm, proof reading the first of my hopefully soon to be published books about the Biking Birding years and sorting out all the various projects, things have been thankfully hectic. I would have it no other way. I love life!

Saturday at the Butterfly Farm entailed gluing carefully dozens of butterfly pupae to sticks to be placed in the hatchery. The amazing tactics of the pupae to stay hidden from predators when in their natural habitat is shown in the beautiful colours and deceptions.

Some, like Morho peleides, the Blue Morpho, have pupae that look like unopen flower buds. The pupae of Caligo memnos, the Giant Owl Butterfly, is a perfect dead leaf, if rather a plump one!

Raindrops keep falling on my head, the metallic gold of Tithrea harmonia, the Harmonia Tiger Wing, is stunning. A small pupae that glistens with pure gold.

Then there is the 'don't touch me – I don't taste good' pupae, such as the spiky, dark brown pupae of Hypolimnas bolina, the Eggfly Butterfly.

Green pupae, yellow pupae, so many colours and sizes yet all a miracle of packaging containing the soup that will become the adult, imago butterfly.

Showing these to the many visitors that came through the doors was such great fun that I was there for seven hours. Coffee brought to me went undrunk and I refused all offers of taking a break.

There were also large cocoons of the Giant Atlas moth, Attacus atlas, to show with three adult moths hanging nearby on the two bushes kept for that purpose in the Discovery room.

I know I overuse the word but the privilege of hearing from such diverse people, one a professional singer, with their stories, likes and dislikes; listening to their questions and answering if I could (no, a proboscis doesn't suck blood!) and seeing the excited faces on so many children when a pupae wriggled or they held the Giant Atlas moth cocoon and felt the large pupae inside, is truly wonderful.

Monday was pupae arrival day, 20,000 from around the World, so there's the all hands to the pump, sorting, counting and checking day.

Orders to be made and packaged to send pupae off to customers in Portugal, Italy, Czech Republic and further. 

Feeding Colin the blue-tongued skink is easy as he takes prawn and small pieces of fish, trying to feed the Peruvuan iguanas and the chameleon is less successful. they don't want any food. 

Tuesday, spiders and cockroaches, crickets and leafcutter ants; find the first three and persuade them to relocate and clean out and provide leaves for the latter. Madagascan hissing cockroaches have escaped and whilst removing spiders webs in the main flight area, I find a few and put them back in their house in the Minibeast Metropolis. 

John shows me how to carefully take the denuded privet twigs out without the ants biting. Once new material is placed in the tank, the speed in which the ants cut the leaves is incredible. There are ants carrying within minutes. There is a long rope dangling from the ceiling from the leaf tank to the nest tank. It is 15 metres long.

One visitor wants to know what the equivalent distance would be for humans. So imagine an ant two metres long, this would make the rope six kilometres long! The ants take around fifteen minutes to get from one end to the other. Twenty four kilometres an hour, speedy little things.

OK, all figures are all approximates but one can only marvel at the work ethic of the female ants. Yes, all of the worker ants are female.

Of course I take photographs of the butterflies and moths!

Another Fabulous Day.

Wednesday 11^th January 2017 A Great Life

Another day at Stratford Upon Avon Butterfly Farm, meeting Pat at the door, a feisty Brummie young at heart and lovely. Logged in, Tess, a young girl from Bremen, Germany over here to work, shows me where the equipment I will need today is and I am off into the Flight Area. Bucket, dustpan and brush, bottle containing 10% sugar water and a pipette in hand, the day is spent removing cobwebs, picking up dead leaves, removing spiders and the occasional cockroach. 

Butterflies abound, the weather outside is sunnier than Monday so butterflies are flying.

Of course there is the interaction between volunteer and visitors that is so enjoyable and a school party of superbly well school children from Birmingham come through. Of the thirty or so youngsters three are scared of the butterflies. Today there are literally hundreds of them flying around, butterflies not children. One the scared threesome seems to be pretending whilst giggling most of the time as she ducks. Another child is clinging onto her teacher tightly but the last child is crying. I see them all again later as Adam is showing them around and all are settles and fascinated.

Going around the platforms of artificial flower feeders, filling the small tubes with the pseudo nectar shows how quickly the butterflies empty them. 

Watching them as they feed on both these platforms and on cut fruit put out is fascinating, proboscis unfurled. With the fruit they show a definite preference for the oranges and grapes. The apple segments are ignored.

The two large green Peruvian iguanas are in a bush looking down on everyone who pass beneath.

Harriet is lining butterfly pupae along hanging sticks ready to go into the pupation chamber. The colours and shapes of these incredible packages of reincarnation are so beautiful. Many are spangled with metallic silver and gold.

Tess is holding a giant millipede to show it to some visitors and I get t hold the beautiful creature; a Mexican wave of leg movement as it crawls over my hands.

A train ride to Birmingham and a phone call from George Gay, the acting-assistant warden at North Ronaldsay Bird Observatory. George is part of our team, SpokesFolks, that is competing at the Champions of The Flyways (COTF) event in Eilat, Israel in March and is phoning about a well known birding optics company being prepared to sponsor us!

http://www.champions-of-the-flyway.com/the-spokes-folks/ 

George is talking excitedly about it all when a gentleman stops by me, looks at me quizzically and then mouths, “Gary?” Ivan, for it is he, knows of my Biking Birder adventures, explains who he is and passes over a donation for the charities. Ivan is a fossil fish professor at Birmingham University and what a fantastic man to be so kind.

from the left : Jason, Adam, Steve and Steve, Oracle Phil, Jules and I

I am on the way to a curry night with fellow Midland Birders and a train to Blake Street, north of Birmingham sees me picked up by The Oracle, Phil Andrews and driven to the restaurant.

An evening of uplifting frolic and cavortment with birding exploits and memories, character assassination and food.

A New Life . . 2017 Part One Stratford Upon Avon Butterfly Farm

Well, The Biking Birder 2016 adventure might be over but the life of a passionate nature lover will not allow one to sit and reflect. On to new things with Foreign travel to Israel, France and Peru to look forward to this year, as well as returns to North Ronaldsay and Fair Isle.

For the next few weeks I will be working as a volunteer at The Stratford Upon Avon Butterfly Farm, UK.

Tuesday 10^th January 2017 A New Life . .

http://www.yha.org.uk/hostel/stratford-upon-avon

The short cycle ride from Stratford Upon Avon Youth Hostel, my new abode for a while, to The largest Butterfly Farm in Britain, The Stratford Upon Avon Butterfly farm.

http://www.butterflyfarm.co.uk/attraction/index.php

Met inside by Dan and Mark, after being taken on the tour of the whole site with a clipboard tick sheet for all of the Health & Safety advice, I am left to my own devices to explore and observe my favourite creatures, butterflies.

Five hours spent in the two main sections, the Flight Area and The Discovery Zone.

The Flight Area

With a pleasantly warm temperature of 26C to relax in, butterflies everywhere, how could one not enjoy it? 

Blue and White Morphos, Great Owl butterflies and Tree Nymphs were the most obvious butterflies with Giant Orange Tips, Common Mormons, Malachites, Scarlet Peacock and Zebra Mosaics, all seen and photographs attempted mostly using flash due to the dull day outside.

Tropical plants abound, streams gush down into the largest of the pools and a pair of parakeets chase each other around noisily. They respond to pishing which is a surprise. Mousebirds and quail are here too.

Two Peruvian Green Iguanas are found, one crawling around feet, the other, the larger male is sitting on a large ventilation pipe. A large cockroach, definitely not English, is on some of the stonework.

Mayan theme to the area due to the Butterfly Farm's links with a Mayan area of Belize, there are large reproduction Mayan statues around every corner. More on this on a later date.

The Discovery Zone

The zone contains foodplants, dozens of large cocoons festoon bare branches with huge Atlas Moths emerging from a few. A couple of Oleander Hawkmoths have also emerged and their cryptic colours are superb.

How to grow avocado seeds using a plastic bottle. Must have a go.

The pupae cabinet is a bit bare but with a shipment of 15-20,000 arriving today, it will soon be full.

Caterpillars and eggs to be found if one looks hard enough. Plenty to find and see despite this being the quiet time of the year.

Back to the Youth Hostel with panniers full of shopping. A complete change of diet with no more cake, biscuits or sweets. Instead plenty of fruit, vegetables especially greens, oats, fish, seeds, beans and pulses. My only indulgence from my past diet, coffee. I will limit this to one cup in the morning.

Back to the Butterfly farm on Wednesday. How fabulous to get up knowing that it will be another wonderful day.

The Final Day..... Thanks For Being With Me.

Saturday 31^st December very light SW

Very foggy, mild, 6C

The Green Year list finished on 318.

Now a full summary of the day and the year will have to wait until tomorrow. I am a tad tired. Yet I cannot go to sleep before saying a massive thank you to everyone who has supported me, cheered me on, helped in some way, commented, posted, advised, shared moments or donated to one of the charities I have done all this for.

Today at Upton Warren Nature Reserve, the Worcestershire Wildlife trust flagship reserve the amount of money raised for charity was an incredible £711. Thank you so much. It was a very emotional welcome home. Thank you. Xx

On Just Giving tonight there was another £195 donated. Thank you, thank you thank you.

If you have enjoyed following my adventures and would like to make a donation then please use the links on the right hand side of the page.

This is not the end of the Biking Birder. Next year's adventures will be online as usual with the aim of an attempt to beat Dorian Anderson's World record in 2018. I have a general route for that adventure but need to research it by going there for a few months next year in preparation. Needless to say it won;t be in the UK or Europe. I need to beat 616 birds!

So until tomorrow may I say thank you once more and wish you all a wonderful and prosperous New Year.

Happy New Year everyone. xxx

About to End Where It Began

Saturday 31^st December Light SW

Cloudy, 6C

So here it is, New Year's Eve and the final day of the UK Biking Birder adventure. Today three years, 2010, 2015 and 2016 come to a conclusion.

It is early morning, breakfast is in ten minutes and then it is the cycle to Worcestershire Wildlife Trust's flagship nature reserve, Upton Warren.

I have a bottle of champagne to share the moment with friends. I need to get cake on the way.

To see friends at my favourite UK birding patch, one I have visited for many years, is going to be special.

In the afternoon there is a chance that a final bird will be added to the Green Year list. An Iceland Gull came into the gull roost at Bartley Reservoir on the edge of Birmingham last night. Having only seen half a one this year, the front half, it would be great to see the other end.

OK time for the up and the off.

Reflection and appreciation will come later.

Thanks everyone.

Gary

Christmas with Family and then . . . . .

Christmas with Mum and Dad, a chance to relax, recharge batteries and enjoy the company of people I love. A day before Christmas with two dear friends, Lee Gregory and Cath Mendez is followed by a day's birding at my patch of old, Upton Warren Nature Reserve.

A meal with my Son, Joshua; wonderful to see him. I am so proud of him.

Boxing Day with my brother, Paul and Dad is spent watching Aston Villa beat Burton Albion 2 – 1. This is the first time we have sat together at Villa for a very long time. We arrive early, an hour before kick off and once we find our seats I leave them to go and stand closer to the pitch. Memories of years as a fanatic Villa fan over the years flood back as I stand there with occasional tears and occasional laughs.

Days pass awaiting a bird; an Iceland Gull turns up one evening at Chasewater in Staffordshire but doesn't show the following one. A Blyth's pipit is at Blagdon, a black-throated thrush at St Asaph. Both are just too far to go and see. A promise to spend Christmas with Mum and Dad needs to be kept.

Then . . . . . . 

Thursday 29^th December No wind

Very cold, minus 3C, very sunny

An icy road and a clear sky, thick frost covering every twig, blade of grass and hedgerow, I cycle south towards The Cotswolds. There is a blue rock thrush, maybe only the seventh ever to be seen in Britain and to finish the 2016 Biking Birder adventure with such a mega rare bird will be amazing.

It is so cold and the roads aren't too safe as ice patches are quite frequent. 

The sunrise is beautiful but soon the sun shining on the road is blinding. I have only one gear and along flat sections my legs are a blur with them looking like roadrunner! Beep beep.

I stop and try to get the gear system fixed. Probably corrosion but after twenty minutes of poking and adjusting I manage to get four gears.

Through Mickleton and onto the start of hill after hill as I reach The Cotswolds escarpment.

Steep hills keep me pushing and the twenty two miles I needed to cycle start to feel like fifty.

Stow on the Wold is eventually reached and I soon find the massed ranks of birders from near and far. There is a film camera filming me as I cycle up the lane; Rob Williams, a famous National Geographic and freelance film maker is going to film me today and I laugh as I realise that, despite feeling very self conscious, this is going to be fun. His ten year old son, Oliver is the sound man and what a joy it must be to work as Father and Son.

The blue rock thrush isn't on view. It was last seen on nearby rooftops. Rob tells me of his Peru adventures. Rob spent ten years there and Oliver proudly says that he was born there. Rob spent a lot of time in Salvacion, the village where the children's charity that I am supporting this year is located. As well as having a massive Peru Bird list of 1651, Rob is also famous on TV for having bought some rainforest with Charlie Hamilton Jones. It turns out I have been to the village where they did so and can see it all in my mind's eye.

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/ng-live/160523-nglive-james-rain-forest-part1

An hour passes and suddenly birders are moving away en masse. The thrush has been seen.

I cycle to the spot to hear that it has just flown away. Minutes later it is back and the Blue Rock Thrush goes onto the Green Birding list at 318. 

This may be removed though as there is an undercurrent of birders who think that this bird is an escape. I will have to wait and see. In the meantime I can enjoy the company and the bird.

The most famous Carbon Twitcher, Lee GR Evans comes past. I stop him to say thank to him for the encouragement he has given me over the last two years and Rob asks us to chat for a while as he films us. Carbon Twitcher meets Green Birder, both of us have the same focus, a love of birds.

Birders who either know me or know of this my exploits come up and say hello, sometimes saying where we met this year. One couple, Ethelyn and Richard from Northamptonshire tell me that they remember meeting me at Loch Ruthven RSPB reserve near Inverness back in 2010. A lovely couple and wonderful to meet again.

Maybe a little more affluent, the housing estate brings back memories of the chaos of trying to find a Golden-winged Warbler on a town housing estate in Maidstone, Kent back in 1989. Not such a crowd today but enough to show how rare this thrush actually is.

The great birding couple, Lee Gregory and Cath Mandez turn up and the thrush comes very close. I can't wait to see the photographs that they both will have got.

Having given Rob's son, Oliver one of The Lads from off the bike, Bruce the Snowman, I give another one away to another young ten year old birder, Bethany. Bethany is with her Mum and Dad,

Mum is a Villa fan same as I but Bethany follows her Dad's team, Sheffield Wednesday. I give Bethany, appropriately, Spiggie the Owl. After all the nickname of Sheffield Wednesday is The Owls.