Oil Beetle

It was a bit dark and dismal this morning, so most of it was spent sitting at the computer and editing pictures to go onto my website and listening to Classic FM's countdown of the most voted for pieces of classical music.

It did brighten up a bit in the afternoon, so Mrs Mikey and I went out for a walk in the woods to have a look at the bluebells, which were out in force and looking beautiful. We had a stroll along the paths and there were all sorts of things to take pictures of - there were wood anemones and celandine among the bluebells, and even a few primroses still in flower. I spent some time trying to catch the bees as they flew between the bluebells and there were whitethroats and nuthatches coming with range of my big lens.

But Mrs Mikey is great at spotting things on the path, and she pointed out the oil beetle which I have blipped. It was crawling across the path, so it was a quick change to the macro lens and a lying down to get eyeball to eyeball with it and then take enough pictures to get one in focus! If you look at it in large, it has the most amazing purple eyes.

They are also called blister beetles, as they can secrete an oil when threatened, which can cause blisters on the skin if you touch it. They are pretty big things, too - this one was probably over an inch long, but even so, it was quite agile as it crawled through the foliage.

Then it was back home for some tea and finish listening to the countdown. If you didn't hear it, Vaughn Williams' "Lark Ascending" was the number one - and deservedly so.

Poor old Mrs Mikey is back to school tomorrow and I'm off for a haircut - and afterwards, will take the opportunity to get out to places I don't usually go to take some pictures.

Hope you all had a good Easter break and going back to work isn't too painful.