Bats in the mediterranean garden.

Although this bat was dead when I found it in the garden, we appear to have a healthy colony of bats living in the top of our disused water tower. Each evening as the sun sets over the mountains we see them emerge. Their effectiveness at insect pest control is often debated but they are always welcome visitors in our garden.

On an evening we often see bats praying on night flying insects under the street lights of our village. Particularly on roundabouts along the highway.

Moths and Butterflies in the European garden

  Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa

by Paolo Mazzei, Raniero Panfili, Ilaria Pimpinelli, Diego Reggianti

Daylight brings a host of colourful visitors to the garden including many beautiful butterflies,

which I'm sure many a garden blogger has tried to photograph for their respective web pages

with differing degrees of success.

As the sunlight fades the garden becomes the domain of the creatures of the night. It is an often 

misunderstood world full of strange looking creatures like the moths, whose roles in the complex

Eco systems of the planet deserve more study and appreciation. 

Often during pruning and clearing operations moths are disturbed from their daytime roosts and 

can be briefly glimpsed; though it is at night when they gather around exterior lights they can be

studied in detail.

Click on the moth motif to visit an informative web site which will shine a little light on the 

species of Moths and butterflies which may be encountered throughout Europe and Africa. 

Myotis alcathoe by a whisker

Myotis alcathoe is the smallest of all whiskered bats and is usually found in Southern Europe in wooded

valleys with deciduous trees near to streams. An established colony has been found in l'Albera mountains

and is being celebrated by naturalists. Environments such as the one described above are becoming much

rarer in southern Europe and the negative impact on bio diversity is apparent.

Bats are a harmless creatures and consume insect pests like mosquitoes in great numbers.

Christmas shopping? My wish list!

Only 47 shopping days left to go!

Crickets & Grass hoppers

Field crickets & Grass hoppers seem to follow me around the garden often shadowing my movements around the flower beds. Even shaking the plants does not dislodge them.

When you study them they really look like little aliens.