The point is......

My nearest and dearest are well used to my enthusiam for Autumnwatch and all things natural. I know I bleat on about it, but I am amazed and awed on a daily basis by the beauty we find around us. Having moved three years ago to a spectacular rural location I have become increasingly more passionate about nature. What I love about the presenters on AW is that they are equally as excited about a flightless moth or dung beetle as they are about a bird of prey. 
Following a conversation with a work colleague about 'what is the point of wasps?' (a conversation I seem to have on quite a regular basis) an interesting thought struck me. Does a wasp actually need to justify it's exsistence to us? Have you or I ever stood at the bottom of a mountain or at the top of a hill gazing across a landscape and demand to know just what it thinks it's doing there? Nope. I have since come to the conclusion that the best response to creation is just to let it be and watch...closely. 
Be brave and look carefully at the picture of the wasp below.  They're not that scary really, and though I have been stung three times this year, that only makes a total of 4 occasions in my entire lifetime, so there is no danger of wasps and I having a falling out anytime soon. It's my challenge to everyone I know to have a closer look at something you would normally dismiss and take a different approach (yes Mrs M, you may even find something beautiful about a spider...though you might want to start with the wasp and work up to it!)

I have found that this approach has cured me of my fear of daddy long legs - I still don't want to pick one up and employ my trusty bug catcher for the removal of mini intruders but I find myself quite at ease sharing my world with all the 'mini monsters'.

Autumnwatch comes with a high recommendation from me as a great source of inspiration and information. I finally discovered what species the little yellow birds are that I sometimes see in the garden. A thorough exploration of a book on british birds hadn't found me the answer but AW did - they are Siskin and utterly adorable - if I'm quick enough there may be a possibility of a photo but they are really, really fast so may equally be a delightful still life of the fence!