I’ve been kind of caught up in life lately. Or rather, I don’t have time to go out into the countryside. Well, I do, but I go with my son and my dog, so we do other activities than collecting plants for the herbarium or bird watching and so on. You just can’t do that…

It has warmed up again, with temperature records broken at several weather stations. The sun was shining, and it reached up to 14 °C. The remnants of snow and frozen puddles have melted, and water lingers in the muddy furrows of the fields, just like in spring. I’ve started serving fat balls to the birds…

The European Climate Service Copernicus has confirmed that last year was the warmest year on record.On a walk around the village, I photographed the birds’ nests, now exposed in the leafless bushes. The GPS coordinates stored in the metadata of the photos point about a kilometer off, so it was a pretty pointless activity. But…

Shared joy, double joy. Shared sorrow, half sorrow. My best friend died today. Cancer. It was quick, within days. I dare say he lived a happier life than most dogs. He was used to walking free, off leash, because he knew when to wait and when to go. He was calm, friendly, loving and a…

It’s getting colder. It is almost as if someone snapped their fingers, and autumn is here in full force. Last week, there was thick fog both day and night. Twice, while driving home along country roads, I had to rely on GPS navigation to know when to turn because everything around was a white haze.…

Morning temperatures dropped to three degrees as a weakened Hurricane Kirk arrived in the Czech Republic, bringing with it strong winds and rain showers. Almost nothing flies to the light these nights. Only two species have arrived. But two brand-new ones! Udea ferrugalis, the rusty dot pearl, and Conistra vaccinii, the chestnut. But a few days…

So today I finally stopped at the butterfly steppe. It was just a quick visit, just to see if anything had changed significantly. The steppe looks beautiful, obviously the site is well cared for.The place reminded me of the concept of a “new wilderness” – a place where nature and human activity create a fascinating…

I wanted to stop by one of my favorite places today, “Important landscape element Butterfly Steppe”. (52 species of butterflies were observed there in diverse habitats, as well as other animals: smooth and alpine newt, the agile frog and the European fire-bellied toad.) But. But when I stopped nearby I realised that there are two…

Do you mind roadkills? You know, those dark red smudges on the side of the road. There is a “Global Roadkill Observations” project on the iNaturalist in which I am interested. The main road, which goes along my village, is notorious for collisions with wild animals. We, who know, drive there drive slowly and carefully.…

After the morning rain the Sun stayed behind the clouds and was peeking occasionally. 22 °C, butterflies all over blooming ivy. Took a short walk out of the village and found several interesting places/biotopes to look at closely. Parasol mushrooms, Macrolepiota procera, started to appear under my steps. It was not intended to be a…