The Magic of Life.

With the forecast correctly saying it would be a rainy day today's walk became a visit to the Magic of Life butterfly house in the Rheidol valley.

Looking at the lush planting including tropical plants such as bananas, angels' trumpets and birds of paradise around the butterfly house it seems that Cwm Rheidol sheltered by the hills on either side must have its own microclimate.

 

Before we even entered the butterfly house our attention was caught by tropical fish, corals, poison frogs, tarantulas, giant beetles and an impressive collection of stick insects. The largest ones were the giant katydids that were longer than my hand.

Eventually we went into the butterfly house, temperature 37C and humidity 85%.

There were butterflies everywhere we looked, some more elusive to photograph than others.

You could get the butterflies to sit on your hands by dipping your fingers in sugared water.

So of course I had to go for two and then three butterflies at once.

All the butterflies come from responsibly sourced pupae farmed in the Philippines and Costa Rica and their natural lifespan is only two to three weeks.

Afterwards we had a quick look at the power station visitors' centre before going for a walk up the valley.

We found a tiny chapel now converted into a place to watch the birds on the river outside. There we had a quick snack but most of us didn't sir down as the benches were covered with droppings from the swallows' nests up in the eaves.

We carried on along the road hoping to cross the river and return along a footpath but the steady drizzle made us decide to cut our journey short and head back to the car park. Some rams with impressive curly horns were grazing on the grass by the main reservoir and nearby lay another on its side. On closer inspection we could see that it was in fact dead. At first we felt sad at the sight but then one of the group pointed out that it was a better end than being bundled onto a lorry and taken to an abattoir. No prizes for working out that most of us don't eat meat. I do eat some but for various reasons find it harder to chose to eat any animals other than fish. 

With Strictly back on our screens for our Sunday evening viewing it feels that autumn has arrived. Increasingly we don't know who most of the celebrities are but it is fun to watch as we once again become armchair experts on Latin American and Ballroom dancing. So Da Da Da Da Da Da Dah......