On our regular stroll in the evening through the fields near our house, we always spot something.

Just look at those magnificent clouds above the fields. Our country is "famous" because of the Dutch lights painted frequently by old masters in the 17th century.



And how about this lovely Peacock butterfly (Inachis io, in Dutch: Dagpauwoog)?

These butterflies are called Peacock butterflies because of the large and colourful eyespots on their wings. Those patches resemble those on the tail of the peacock.



ah..well... Nature can be so beautiful. A pity that most people tend to forget that.

The Heath Spotted Orchid's (to be precise the Dactylorhiza maculata) flowering period is from late May to early August.

It will grow in well-drained habitats such as grassland, moors and heaths, from sea-level to 900m. This photo was taken at Glen Cannich, Scotland.

In former times the house sparrow could be found every where you looked: in cities, in suburban areas, in the countryside. Nowadays the house sparrow numbers are declining rapidly and this is happening over much of Western Europe.

Studies show that there are several reasons for this decline. For instance the use of pesticides in gardens but also the disappearance of so-called “wild gardens”.
The trend for low maintenance and smaller gardens with more concrete, gravel, paving and evergreen shrubs see to it that less and less insects are available in the breeding season for the house sparrow.

Our garden is full with shrubs and hedges, it has several birdfeeders and thus the reason why we can still enjoy these cute creatures. There is a whole bunch of them living in our relatively small suburban garden. Here are just two pictures we shot recently. The first picture shows a juvenile house sparrow looking for food on the ground



And in this picture a male house sparrow is eating from an elderberry.



Do you want the house sparrow back in your garden? Well, here are some tips:
- provide for food (a.o. bird seeds) and water in your garden
- plant trees, shrubs and climbers to provide shelter to the house sparrow.
- don’t cut your lawn every week but let the grass grow a little bit.

And there are many more things you can do. Just search for it on the internet.

Just today an article appeared in the newspaper that the hoverfly (= "zweefvlieg" in Dutch) is becoming an endangered species in The Netherlands. Due to intensified farming and dehydration (would you believe that with all the rain which momentarily causes all kinds of floods?) their numbers are going down quickly.

The hoverfly is not that familiar with people. The hoverfly looks a bit like a wasp, but there are some differences. For instance the hoverfly does not sting and their body is not curved. It looks as if they hover but that is not correct. They just move their wings very fast, about 300 times per second.

Here is a nice picture of the Hoverfly which we just received last week from Clan MacMoose. What a coincidence, don’t you think?