Juvenile Greenshank (Tringa nebularia/Groenpootruiter) chasing small fish around sunset. It was fun to watch this; the ‘silly walks’ on long stilts reminded me of John Cleese in his role of chaotic hotel owner in the TV-series “Fawlty Towers”. What a unsurpassed humour, it’s an indelible part of my education.
This morning circumstances for taking pictures of dew-covered insects or other invertebrates were perfect (if you find them :-). After a heavy late-afternoon shower yesterday, the sky cleared up, and with almost no wind the temperature dropped overnight to slightly below 10°C. In early morning I went to my local patch, and pretty soon I found this Wasp Spider (Argiope bruennichi/Tijgerspin); this dangerous looking tiger lady was waiting immobilized for better times to come. I place the characteristic white zig-zag right line of her web right in the middle, like a big zipper running from top to bottom.
The above photo was taken half an hour after sunset at the “Mosbulten”. Every summer the water level in this restored marshland (‘compensation nature’ for the A50 highway between Eindhoven and Nijmegen) drops, creating alternate patches of land and water.
Butterfly sex is not easy. Once you and your partner have found a more or less stable position on a stem of a Great Burnet flower (Sanguisorba officinalis/Grote Pimpernel), number 3 turns up and wants to join the party. Now things really get difficult ...
This morning the alarm-clock went-off 1½ hour earlier. Before work, I went to the Leijgraaf, a small brooklet, near Uden to search for insects. Soon I found this emerging dragonfly. Experts told me that it is a Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum/Bruinrode Heidelibel). Unfortunelately (my damned sense of duty), I could not wait for her first flight. But there was plenty of time to make both a macro and a wide-angle version. Which one do you like better?
However, I also spent a few early mornings on scrutinizing a small mountain pasture close to our chalet. Here are my best results: Pearly Heath (Coenonympha arcania/Tweekleurig Hooibeestje), Heath Fritillary (Melitaea athalia/Bosparelmoervlinder), and some Marbled Whites (Melanargia galathea/Dambordje). The latter is very appropriately coined “checkerboard” in Dutch. 
From July 3rd to July 17th, I was on summer holiday in the Vosges, France. It was sunny and hot. I very much enjoyed reading “The Cosmic Landscape” of Leonard Suskin, with deepened my understanding of both quantum mechanics and cosmology. It enlarged my insight in these difficult subjects much more than when I studied physics at university.
