Wet

I didn't have much time for photography this morning, because the Boy Wonder and his mother were due to arrive for a visit around lunch time. Rain, wind, and appalling light didn't help the situation, and in the end I had to dodge in and out of the house between showers and use the flash. 

Unsurprisingly, most of the bugs that emerge from our Lawson cypress are Juniper Shieldbugs, which have adapted to eat its leaves, but this one is a Hawthorn Shieldbug. Like the Juniper Shieldbug it's less fussy about food than its name would have you believe, though its nymphs (which can be found between May and October and occasionally into November) do mainly feed on hawthorn berries. At 13-15mm long, it's one of the UK's largest shieldbugs.

The Boy was still on pretty good form this afternoon, though he's not sleeping well at the moment (possibly because he's going down with yet another cold), and his equilibrium is more finely balanced than usual. Because the weather was so poor we did indoor play, and lots of reading - Hairy Maclary being top of the pops today.