After a morning of doing, not necessarily exciting but certainly grown-up things, I took myself out for a walk at a local nature reserve; a patch of woodland just a short drive from home. It was going to be a bit of a gamble weather-wise seeing as lately we have had everything from blistering heat to hail, heavy winds and much rain; but I was wearing my raincoat and so prepared for any downfall.
Or so I thought. What I hadn’t counted on was a precipitation of caterpillars. I didn’t notice them at first, I thought I had just walked through a spider web or two, instigating the usual clumsy fumbling about the face, eyelashes and hair trying to grasp wisps of spider webs that follows such an occurrence. But then I saw what was actually going on: from every tree there hung hundreds of silk threads each with at least one small caterpillar on.
I had to re-adjust focus somewhat to see the tiny specs wriggling about in the mid-ground against the backdrop of trees and foliage, but once I had done so I could see that they were everywhere. 
Some were just hanging about, others wriggling up the barely visible strands, some were pirouetting with such vigour they swung back and forth.
It was fascinating, but I have to admit that the interest wore down to mild annoyance when every single step I took ended in yet more of the silk strands and their abseiling spinners landing on my hair, my face and, well, everywhere. I began to wish I had a windshield of sorts to hold in front of me and a cyclist passing in the other direction had clearly reached irritation point too.
A quick jaunt on-line and I am not wholly up-to-speed, but I think they may be some kind of moth caterpillar which actually wreak a fair bit of damage. It seems they dangle from their threads to either reach lower newly-formed buds and leaves to munch on, or to be swept by the wind to another tree, to begin their destruction there. (Caveat, I may be doing them a complete disservice and have got this wrong, in which case I profusely apologise to the wriggly beasts.)
At one of the moments I was looking up (fervent hopes that none would land directly on my face somewhere in mind) an aeroplane flew overhead. It was a striking juxtaposition: me on the woods’ floor, hanging above me a net of caterpillars billowing in the breeze, then the canopy of trees and upwards still in the blue gaps between, the large metal vehicle of flight.
I found myself wondering where the people inside might be heading and would they look about them when there and find such beauty, intrigue and inspiration as I had in my short walk. I hoped so. I hoped that they weren’t just heading to an all-inclusive, man-made sterile complex where they would see nothing of the natural habitat and wildlife. We have reached a point where many are realising that the carbon footprint we have landed on this planet has done immeasurable damage. Perhaps if more of us could find the beauty of places closer to home once in a while, we could rein in some further harm.
I admit to a mild sense of hypocrisy when, less than an hour later on my way home, I had to stop for petrol. Perhaps this year will be the year that I finally get out on my bike more. But don’t worry, I’ll give you fair warning first if so as I have not ridden in some time!
But it wasn’t just caterpillars that caught my eye today (some of which nearly literally!). Here are a few bees, bugs and butterflies from my wander.
