Rambling (i was up earlywith nowt to do)

[nightshade]

I took a jaunt into Wales and stopped at an inn for a swift one,the locals only spoke welsh!, but being a nice guy i ended up in a conversation
The subject was mice in the eaves,i ended up looking at 3-4 small droppings in the pub loft!
The droppings were dry and crumbled easily between finger and thumb,a quick look outside, more droppings, confirmed my thoughts Pipistrelle Bats
Convincing people that it is a privilege to be chosen by bats (i would love some of my very own) is not always easy but in this case worked and led to me being shown a roost under a canal bridge where 10 or more bats, not pips, but could not identify, obligingly flew for half an hour before disappearing into the gloom
Walking back to the inn i was told about Glow-worms
Yes Glow-worms ,short on knowledge i asked to see them only half believing (they work for Disney dont they?),
lo and behold in a very overgrown lane 3 small smudges of light and that was it
a beetle looking like a big version of a ladybird lavae 15mm is responsible
Quick back in the car before im shown the welsh equivelant of the haggis

[Tinkerbell]

Lucky you! We stopped at a pub for the night, near Bridgewater a couple of weeks ago. It was literally about 150 metres from the very busy motorway. However, the pub fronts onto a canal and in the morning before breakfast we took a walk, and were well rewarded with sightings of dragonflies, plus ducks, moorhens and swans all with their young. There had obviously been a swan, taken no doubt by a Fox, judging by the number of feathers scattered around - couldn't have been an easy kill. What really chuffed me, though, was spotting an owl perching on a fencepost in a nearby field, eyeing things up, which eventually took off into the trees. Usually, I only hear these at night, so it was an honour to see one 'live'.