The Lyons Share

I've taken a break recently to do some soul searching and travel back to my home county of Staffordshire for the first time in 18 months. Due to last year's slipped disk and this year's perceived work commitments, I feel I have rather become a little 'lost in the wild' and have not spent enough time with my family and loved ones. Although it's too late for Jo and I, this weekend was good for our family and it was great to see so many of my family and friends. Meeting my new (now 10 month old) nephew Rowan Sorbus aucuparia for the first time was pretty rad (he's got a healthy dose of the ginger gene too!) and I also enjoyed getting to know my new brother-in-law Mark. A highlight of our walk was nearly tripping over this sausage-sized Emperor Moth caterpillar. I called it Palpatine.

And I was surprised how many Antler Moths I saw nectaring during the day time.

We went a walk on Cannock Chase a couple of times and was impressed by the flowering Heather (it's mostly NVC community H1 up there rather than the H2 we get down here) and the great swathes of U2 grassland. The only thing you need to know about the NVC community U2 is it's way cooler than the band. The Sherbrook Valley is by far the wildest part of the Chase and I had forgotten just how beautiful it looks at this time of year.

Finally, I went to Brocton Coppice to see two ancient oak trees that hold great significance for me and took the opportunity to try and make some peace with an old ghost. As ever, I failed.

"There is pleasure in the pathless woods,

There is rapture on the lonely shore,

There is society where none intrudes,

By the deep sea and the music in its roar;

I love not man the less, but Nature more"

                                                                                         Lord Byron

Enough being pensive and ripping off 'Into the Wild' (see that film if you haven't already). Normal service will resume within the next few days when the bad puns will be coming faster than you can roll your eyes and I'll be ticking off obscure invertebrates faster than you can read their Latin names!