Articles by Bruce Hyde

On a still, warm morning at the end of September I was walking along the bank of the river Tech near the Spanish border. Normally that particular stretch is deserted, but on this occasion I saw a tent pitched near a gap in the bankside vegetation. It turned out that a fisherman was camped there; he was with his wife and small son - they may possibly have been there all night as night fishing for carp is popular. As I arrived he had a fish on his line and was bringing it in to the river b…

Someone said to me the other day that it was a shame such beautiful creatures only live for a day - which set me thinking. While some insects are as short-lived as this, butterflies are not, so I have written this article on their lifespan.

Large vs Small Pincertails ( Onychogomphus uncatus vs. forcipatus )

Dragonflies (with a capital D) is the English word for the order of Odonata, which include dragonflies (no capital letter) and damselflies. This article looks at a few species of similar looking dragonfly. They all come from either middle England or Southern France - the Mediterranean Pyrenees. These are examples of the difficulty in sorting out some of the females. The descriptions I am giving are not necessarily diagnostic but are indicative, and relate what can be seen in the photos. Click on any photograph to go to the album of that species.