Orange Ladybirds

Another new find, the Orange Ladybird (Halyzia sedecimguttata).  Well new to me anyway.  They were tiny wee babies, around 3-4 mm in size, so I probably only spotted them because they were clustered together.  Each one has 14 to 16 spots.
Today`s other find was Slime Mold: "The Weirdo of the Forest".  The one I found was White Slime Mold. It has a tough shell to protect the developing spores on the inside, although I touched it with my finger and it left a small dent.  The primary food for slime molds are bacteria and fungi, so they are usually found on decaying wood.  I have never seen one before. Extras.

Enough yuckiness for today.
We had our usual good walk in the woods, which we only managed because we parked at the other end of the wood.  The car park where we usually leave the car was overflowing with dozens of holidaymakers.
We saw the buzzards again, and there seemed to be a lot more birdsong than usual, but, maybe my ears were more open!
Home again to do some housework, then Suzy arrived to give me a hand to load up the car with all the stuff for the Dump.  Appointments are necessary at the recycling centre because of Covid, so I had made one for 3pm.  Suzy was just asking me about the rat situation, and I had just told her that I had seen one run across the grass when we got home from our walk, when a rat fell out of the roll of carpet she had lifted.  It landed at her feet then took off up the garden.  Boy, did she squeal.  Poor girl.  I could only apologize.
It`s only one person per vehicle at the Dump, so I was exhausted by the time I had run around and put everything in the correct skips.  The Council workers do not help.  But at least it`s done.
Then it was time to bath Geordie after his paddle up to the armpits in the filthy pond in the woods.  He could hear me running some water in the bottom of the bath so he stayed in the garden until I coaxed him in with food.  Once he`s in the bath he`s fine.  A shampoo, shower and blow dry and he is clean, fluffy and smelling a whole lot better.

Happy Easter fellow blippers.  I hope you all have a great weekend.