16 August
Partly cloudy conditions, weak to moderate winds and 24.6°C (10.36 AM) – yet due to the rain last night humidity levels were uncomfortably high. A dust cloud above Zone II also shortened my trip.
+-------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+ | Species | Location | Status | +-------------------------+---------------------------------|--------+ | Maniola jurtina | Zone II | Adult | |-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------| | Pieris napi | Zone II | Adult | |-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------| | Pieris rapae | Zone I / II / III | Adult | |-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------| | Vanessa atalanta | Zone II | Adult | +-------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+
Given that the first trees have begun to shed their leaves, this season is expected to end by the end of this month, unless a miracle happens. Right now everything looks as poor as it did back in the 2000s and this seems to be just the beginning of the decline that was temporary halted and slightly reversed by the pandemic. Sour and rotten fruits, no vegetation besides some rotten grasses, hardly any wildlife.
On a semi-related note, a single western barbastelle (Barbastella barbastellus) is sleeping in my bedroom. I've been sleeping in another room for the past two months due to tropical nights but recently began to keep the windows open at night to cool the room down. During the past weeks a handful of bats have been spotted hunting in my yard but so far I can't tell where they roost. The next large population is located less than three kilometers away from my village in the core area of a Natura-2000-protected forest once used by the Red Army and still dangerous to trespass to this day. I guess it wants to help me get rid of the cellar spiders before my room gets renovated.
/oblog/