Acorn Barn, Kent June 2013

Kent 2013

Saturday 15^th June

Breezy and damp start to the day, but undeterred we decided to stop at Butterfly World near St Albans for a few hours (usually stop at an RSPB reserve but as the weather was so unsettled we didn’t fancy getting a soaking!). Tropical butterflies in the greenhouse were very good – good selection of species and plenty of them. It wasn’t too busy either and quiet apart from the school groups!! As the sun was shining we walked to the meadows but the wind was very strong and so no butterflies were seen at all. As the rain clouds gathered we decided to make our way on to Kent and Acorn Barn. For some reason the sat nav decided to route us via London and the Blackwall Tunnel (should have ignored it!) so it was well into the afternoon when we arrived after our usual visit to Tesco. Even windier at Acorn Barn and we worried that the huge Oak tree above the barn might blow over!

Sunday 16^th June

A bright yet cloudy start today - we were due to meet some good friends at Dungeness today which we did but the weather started to deteriorate as we walked towards the furthest lakes where we usually see hobbies. Quick change of direction saw us in a hide just as the heavens opened. We sat and watched the terns for 45 minutes while it threw it down!! Lunch was had in the hide and eventually the rain ceased so we wandered back to the visitor centre. There were lots of assorted warblers and good views of a marsh harrier along the walk. In the afternoon the sun shone and as we went to the ARC hide it was lovely and warm. What a difference – the butterflies and dragonflies were now all flying and from the hide a lovely great crested grebe family were clearly visible with the striped baby continually trying to get on the parents back! Back for tea and a kestrel and a green woodpecker were seen on the fence.

Monday 17^th June

Up early for hare watch! Not as visible this year, we think as the crop has changed (last year was oil seed rape which had blown all over the place making it impossible for the hares to walk through) – this year it is broad beans and there is plenty of room. So the hares very occasionally come out into the open but will very quickly disappear back when they see any sign of movement. However we had one on the lawn outside the barn so got some shots through the glass (which was very clean). Didn’t know it at the time but these were to be the only shots we got all week!

Went to Port Lympne today and did the safari ride – something very surreal about seeing giraffes and rhinos in the Kent countryside!! Very much recommended for a day out (very hot too!!)

Back for tea at the Kings Arms in Hythe – very good food at reasonable prices.

Tuesday 18^th June

Sunny and warm, right in the middle of the heath fritillary season, ideal conditions. So off we went to East Blean Woods to see them all. This is the third year we have been in Kent at the right time and in sunny conditions but sadly once again not one was seen. This year we were too early!! The only way to see these butterflies we think therefore is to make a long day of it when they have been reported flying. Booking a holiday 9 months ahead does not work!! Also went to West Blean but none there either. Allegedly a few had been seen elsewhere in Kent  - we were told to come back in two weeks!! Nice walk though and we did see ringlet, orange tip (very late!), large white, large skipper, speckled wood, red admiral and green hairstreak. Back home to look for hares but none around.

Wednesday 19^th June

Forecast the best day of the week so we went to Park Gate Down for the orchids. What a lovely place – loads of them all over, there must have been 500 monkey orchids along with lots of common spotted, lady and butterfly orchids. Find of the day was the fly orchid. Quite a few butterflies including a beautiful freshly emerged Brown Argus. Also got to use my angle finder for the first time – a very good addition to my kit and saved my knees getting any more bruised!

Then on to Lydden Down – one of my favourite places in Kent for butterflies. Very sunny and warm – lots of butterflies here including Adonis blue, common blue, brown argus, small heath, large white, small white and highlight so far of two clouded yellows.

Back to the barn and no hares visible again.

Update – later on three hares were spotted and as I walked closer to them a fox ran out from between the rows of beans and stopped dead, stared at me for 5 seconds and ran back the way he had come!

Thursday 20^th June

Bad forecast today, thunderstorms and very wet. However it wasn’t - nice dry morning breakfast outside again. This is a lovely place and the only sound that can be heard is nature. Had a later start today because of the forecast and headed towards Rye Harbour – didn’t get there as the rain did arrive and we diverted to Dymchurch. Always nice to visit this little seaside town (probably nicer out of season!) After a nice lunch in the local café we drove down Dungeness and stopped for a wander. By now the rain had stopped but it was very foggy – even so we ascended the old lighthouse (although we could see nothing!) which was very interesting.  Saw a cinnabar moth on some ragwort (both rare nowadays) along with a small white laying eggs on the sea kale. Back to change for a tea with the family at the Mayfly in Hawkinge – good food and great prices!

Friday 21^st June

Last day and we had planned to go to Dymchurch and Dungeness but as it was dull and damp decided to head for Canterbury first. The sun was forecast for the afternoon. Lovely city but a bit pricey to see the cathedral (which you now can’t even see without paying to get into the courtyard!). Browsed the shops, drank coffee in Waterstones and had lunch in Wetherspoons. Weather starting to look better so off we went to Dungeness to find cool and breezy. However we did see some grass snakes  and newts on the RSPB reserve. With the conditions there were no butterflies, dragonflies or even birds – very quiet afternoon.

We had decided to attend the wild flower walk led by Own Leyshon – a great leader who knew the flowers of Dungeness very well. Shame the weather had reverted to our typical British summers by now with drizzle, mist and a cold wind!

Back to the barn to pack, finish the G&T and beer and eat the ice creams!! And to reflect on another lovely week at Acorn Barn – it is a bit like coming home now!!

Marsh Fritillary

Last year I purchased a Marsh Fritillary egg batch with the sole purpose of setting up a good breeding stock of these attractive but threatened butterflies. With some trepidation as if they got to the adult stage and if they paired and if they laid eggs (three big ifs!!) the larvae hibernate quite early in the season (September usually) and I had never been able to over winter them in the past. The larvae in this case grew quickly feeding on potted Devils Bit Scabious (Succisa pratensi) and soon pupated - the adults emerged in mid May over a period of a few weeks. They were placed inside my flight cage (a large black netting cage like the one here) and although I never saw it happen they must have paired as one evening when checking the scabious plants I was hugely delighted to find a batch of ova under one of the leaves. Not as elighted however as a few days later I found another batch!!

There then followed a period of waiting for them to hatch - I thought this would be in a week or two but seemed to take around 4 weeks. The ova turned very dark crimson and then grey just before hatching and then there were hundreds of tiny larvae. This was around the end of June  and they fed for around 6-7 weeks before seeming to vanish completely. This was because they had formed their hibernaculum which is where they would spend the winter in hibernation. This was the danger period as I had never achieved over wintering before.

The advice was to "just stick them outside and leave them" - which I did and the British winter threw everything at them - wind, rain, snow, frost and cold. I was therefor delighted when on the first warm day in the year (February) I looked in the cage (which was like this) and saw a glistening black mass on top of the scabious leaves!! Too many to count but they had emerged from hibernation and were sat warming themselves. Unfortunately this was not to be the end of winter as we had some heavy snow and more cold wet and wind to follow.

When the weather did finally warm up the larvae became quite active (it is day length more than weather which seems to govern when they end hibernation) and I now have the problem of food plant. The winter has dragged on so long and been so cold and devoid of sun that the plants had not grown as quick as normal. I had to improvise with wild honeysuckle (which I have planted in the garden) and which they seemed to take to much to my surprise. However I have visited Naturescape and stocked up on some more plants in case.

That is up to date to today (21st April) - I think around this time last year the previous generation had mostly pupated!) and I will update this blog as things develop.

UPDATE 12th MAY 2013

Larvae are now housed in two terracotta pots with large sleeves - the pots contain devils bit scabious (which has the majority of larvae on them) but also a pot of teasels. We had a very strong wind last week which blew the original pot over so I had to rescue some larvae and they ended up in a plastic box for a while. I decided to give them a choice between scabious, wild honeysuckle and teasel with a leaf of each. Rather surprisingly they chose the teasel! Still nowhere near pupation and with the weather as it is they are not going to feed or grow much - they need some warmth (as do we all)!

UPDATE 7th June 2013

Just back from two weeks in Mull - one larva has now pupated at last. The others are still feeding - while we were away the Teasel which they had started eating was ignored so all that batch perished sadly. The others left with scabious and honeysuckle had nearly finished the scabious when we got back and had started on the honeysuckle. I have now transferred them to a netted cylindrical cage and with scabious and they are all happily munching. Away again shortly so hopefully they will pupate before that. Looks like I will not get adults until end June or early July!!

UPDATE 17th July 2013

Back after our last break to find that they had all pupated. Very late this year - we duly had lots of adults emerge over a period but sadly no seen pairings which means that probably no eggs this year. 

LATER - definitely no eggs this year sadly - will need to renew the stock for next year.

Mull May 2013

Mull Report May 2013

Friday 17^th

All packed up and off at 7 o’clock to Leighton Moss which has become our half way stop to Mull! Decided 500mm lens was getting heavy to walk around with so took my new 400mm F5.6 lens for a walk around. However when we got Lower Hide and saw a pair of Marsh Harriers passing food I wished I had taken the 500mm. Still it was lovely to see. As time was pressing on we decided to travel the rest of our journey to our overnight stop in Glasgow. We do this so that on Saturday we just have the nice drive to Oban (from Braehead which is north of the city and along the shores of Loch Lomond)

Saturday 18^th

Great excitement as always – up early for breakfast and off to Oban. For the first time in our trips to Mull (this is our third) the sun shone and the temperature gradually climbed to 14° C – a good omen we thought for our 2 weeks on Mull! Loch Lomond looked beautiful in the sunshine and we always enjoy this part of the trip anyway as it feels like we are actually on holiday now. Shopping in Tesco, Oban and fill up with fuel (you don’t want to buy fuel on Mull!) then to the ferry. Sunshine and warmth – off the ferry 15 minutes and we arrived at our destination – Fingal Cottage in Lochdonhead. Nice and early so we had time to unpack and walk to the bridge where the otter is usually seen.

Sunday 19^th

Cloudy, dull and cold so we decided to walk to Grasspoint – not along the 3 mile road though (would have been too easy!) but along the loch side. What we didn’t realise was that it was much further that way – lovely to walk along the shore but there were many inlets and promontories so it wasn’t straight forward! However plenty of birdlife (list of species seen HERE) highlight of which was a Short Eared Owl unfortunately we could not get a good enough photo. Actually no photo at all! Found some early purple orchids at the edge of woodland (I should have taken my macro lens but had the SX50 as it was light enough to walk all day with). We cut back across to the road at this point as we realised it would take all day on the shore – a herd of red deer were running around giving us good views of them. As we walked down the road we spotted our first White Tailed Eagles (we ended the holiday having seen at least one eagle every day!). At Grasspoint (closest part of Mull to the mainland) there was a seal (just one) but not much else so we wandered back to the cottage.

Monday 20^th

This was the day of our trip with Mull Charters on the Lady Jayne to see White Tailed Eagles at close quarters. Now what lens to take? I decided to take the 400mm and also the 70-200 so I was covered whatever happened. This is an amazing trip – I would heartily recommend this to anyone interested in birds or photography. We had no idea how good it really would be – the skipper Martin Keivers cares passionately about these eagles and we were treated to a very informative commentary about them. He threw bread to attract the gulls and when the eagles saw the commotion they came to investigate – this is when the fish was thrown onto the loch and the eagle grabbed it. The pressure was on to get a great shot! Realising the 400mm would be too long I switched to the 70-200 – then as the eagle came down for the first catch I caught sight of Tam out of the corner of my eye – and panicked!! She had my camera with 400mm lens firing at the bird – having got caught up in the excitement. So I had to try and ignore that and try to get some shots. Looking back it would have been nice to just watch the action – from the bird in the sky to flying off with the fish was literally two seconds! Thanks to my lens I got some shots which I was very pleased with HERE but if you ever go on this trip be warned – it is all over very quickly. What a trip though – here is the video which shows what happens.

Tuesday 21^st

Weather seemed to bet improving – warmer again today. This was Iona day. Set off for the hour drive – however the sat nav hadn’t learned yet about Mull roads! So when we arrived at the last minute (90 minutes later actually) for the ferry it was a mad panic to catch it. Fortunately all the passengers seemed to be late and we made it ok. It is only a ten minute crossing and once we arrived and walked away from the main centre it was so very peaceful. We decided to walk to St Columba’s Bay – beautiful scenery and loads of wildlife. A picnic on the beach here was lovely. On arrival back near the Abbey we heard the unmistakeable sound of the Corncrake and we were fortunate enough to see one – not a very good picture but it was such a privilege to see one.

One of the things I personally love about Mull and Iona is the lack of lots of people – in our very overcrowded land it is rare to find peace and quiet. No crowds, no queues, no litter, no chewing gum on the pavements (actually no pavements!) – maybe it is because we are with like-minded people but it is lovely! And the people live in harmony with the natural world (pretty much how it must have been at one time on the mainland).

After arriving back at Fingal Cottage I sat at the loch side – two cuckoos (yes two!) flew over the loch. Actually there were cuckoos all over Mull – we do not get them back home these days but everywhere we went there was the sound  of cuckoos calling. Also Osprey fishing over the loch.

Wednesday 22^nd

Today is our trip to the Treshnish Isles (specifically Lunga) to see the sea bird colonies. Also included is a visit to Staffa (Mendelssohn and his Hebridean Overture etc.) and Fingal’s cave. So lenses cleaned, batteries charged and memory cards cleared we set off for the drive to Ulva Ferry to board the boat for the trip. Weather was a bit iffy and it was very windy but the boat was fine until it cleared the shelter of the headland! Then it was like being the proverbial cork being tossed all over the place!! However the hour journey was over at last (only one person sea sick and it wasn’t any of us!!) and it was time to disembark and venture over the slippery rocks to Lunga. Just as we remembered it several years before the puffins were waiting for us (they actually really were as when humans arrive on the island the larger birds which bully them disappear and so it is safe for the puffins to come to land). This is also a fantastic trip – if you are a photographer then you are presented with some wonderful photo opportunities and if you just want to see the birds then you will be in bird heaven! Needless to say hundreds of images were taken (still sorting through them now!!)

The journey back from Lunga to Staffa was even rougher! Enough said. Staffa is a lovely little island and there were also puffins here. We took the opportunity to walk to the cave and see the basalt columns disappear under the sea (they appear again at the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland) then boarded the boat for the (even rougher!) journey back to Ulva. What a fantastic day.

As it was fairly late when we arrived back we treated ourselves to tea at the Craignure Hotel which was really, really nice. We would recommend this hotel very much as well as the Bellhaven Best!!

Thursday 23^rd

Poor weather forecast for today – it really was but not as bad as we thought. Managed to do a few walks around locally between showers – even found an antler from quite a large stag. Later I experimented with the Lee Big Stopper – had bought it a couple of months ago and never really had the chance to try it out. I have to say it must take a lot of use to be proficient with it!!

Friday 23^th

A better forecast today and so it turned out. We had decided to venture to Lochbuie anyway whatever the weather. A great choice as it turned out – the weather was fantastic and we were treated with some amazing skies. The sky was a lovely shade of blue with spectacular cloud formations. The drive was very good also along the side of Loch Spelve with great views of Golden Eagle. Lots of wheatears, rock pipits and pied wagtails around and in the 17 degree temperature I obtained my customary red forehead!!

We walked along the shore to the beautiful Laggan Sands, shame the castle was covered in scaffolding but you can’t have everything. Also visited the stone circle with more views of golden eagle, a lovely little church. It was even warm enough to see some heat haze and have some ice cream from the small unattended shop in Lochbuie!

Then drove back for high tide and our nightly otter hunt – still no luck.

Saturday 24^th

Ulva Ferry today - we had remembered what a wonderful peaceful place it was. Sadly when we arrived it was closed!! We weren’t expecting that so had to revert to plan B (well we made one up as didn’t have an alternative plan!). We went to Loch Na Keale to look for otters – still no luck. Decided then to get our weekly shopping and go back to base for a trip to Grasspoint. We were surprised to find a thriving colony of green hairstreak in the sunshine. Plenty of stonechats around but no seals off Grasspoint.

Sunday 25^th

Ulva Ferry again! We had actually checked that it would be open today and as the weather was amazingly still lovely we ended up doing a lovely walk around the Farm Circuit and the Shore and Woodland walk. It was warm and sunny (unusual for us on Mull!) and plenty of butterflies around. When it is sunny like this Mull really is the best place in the world to be.

Monday 26^th

It had to end soon!! Weather bad for the morning so we watched and enjoyed Les Miserables and had some lunch in the cottage. Weather started to improve then so decided to find a blooming otter somewhere and off we went to Loch Scridain (probably the most reliable place on Mull to see one). Driving up and down was hopeless so we decided to walk. Parked the car at one end of the loch and started walking up and down. No luck but then……… what was that shape near the shore? Yes we had found our own otter – a big dog otter which may have been the same one from a couple of years ago. We tracked it along the loch or a total of about 3 miles remembering to be still and out of sight when he was on the surface and move quickly to be ahead of him when underwater. We usually had around 30 seconds when he was under and eventually managed to get ahead and near the water behind some rocks and waited. Wow – he came out of the water quite close and proceeded to sit and dry himself for what seemed to be ages. What a privilege to be able to see this magnificent animal (who was seemingly unaware of us). Best moment of the holiday so far I think!

Tuesday 27^th

The day dawned warm and sunny – amazing weather and we felt lucky to be treated so well. Forget the long trousers, coats, thermals etc. this was shorts and tee shirts. Off to Fidden to look for hares – quite a long drive to Fionnphort to park and then find out where to go. Ended up driving to a camp site and parking nearby. It was on this drive that we commented on the standard of driving and courtesy of other motorists – this had changed since our previous visit and it seemed that less drivers were willing to wait and there were certainly more cars parked in passing places!! Anyway Fidden was beautiful and we counted 32 hares in total. The best tactic was to sit and wait – before long one would come along and be startled – it would stop (just enough time to take a shot) and then run off fast in the direction it had come from! They didn’t seem to be bothered about the cliffs either as we saw several running up almost vertical cliffs. Lots of birds also – oystercatchers, wheatears, lapwings plovers and herons. There were some fantastic views to Iona across the small stretch of water which separates it from Mull.

On the way back we stopped at the old bridge near Pennyghael but the light was starting to go so ended up driving back for tea.

Wednesday 29^th

Visited Garmony and Fishnish today. Quite a pleasant walk along near the shore but not as close as we would have liked. More green hairstreaks along with orange tip, green veined white and peacock. Grasspoint in the afternoon and found the green hairstreaks again (just along the road to Grasspoint from the parking place). 21 degrees today – lovely views of sea eagles again.

Thursday 30^th

Something new for us today – we went to the Ardmeanach peninsula – the long walk to see the fossil tree would be too far so we decided to park at the NT car park at Berg and just walk along the track. A beautiful day again and warm and sunny. Butterflies all over again – green hairstreak, pearl bordered fritillary, speckled wood, green veined white, peacock and orange tip mainly. Heard cuckoos again – it seemed that wherever we went on Mull there were cuckoos. This is a walk which is a must to anyone visiting Mull – no need to do the whole 10 miles and back to the fossilised tree as the walk we did was fantastic – ruined settlements, superb views, butterflies and other insects as well as a great variety of flowers.

Back to base via the Three Lochs but light wasn’t right so we had a quick look and decided to return the following day.

Friday 31^st

Last day – what a shame! However we have had the most wonderful two weeks in great weather and on a great island. Every day there had been something to see at the cottage – sea eagles, all manner of water birds and butterflies and lots of spring flowers. Cuckoos abound on the island and most days we saw golden eagle – in addition we also saw short eared owl, tawny owl, buzzards and hen harrier.

We all decided that Lochbuie was a special place and so returned there – we did attempt to drive to Croggan but this is a place best walked to not driven!! So we spent the whole day walking from Lochbuie the opposite direction to our first visit. Seals, great views and just a lovely walk.

There was a stop to take in the Three Lochs and as the light was brilliant managed to take some reasonable images (well we had to as it is probably the most photographed scene on Mull)!

That’s it then – all done and packed for home.

But it wasn’t quite the end.

At around nine thirty we ventured out to the bridge for the last time to see if we could see the elusive otter. We met a family from Manchester who originated from Nottingham (small world etc!) and then at about 9:40 we saw…. an otter. Sadly not any good photos as it was too dark (although we did see a hedgehog) but to see the otter we had tried to see for two weeks was a great way to end the trip!

Bring on the next trip to Mull (or is it Skye next……)

British Wildlife Centre February 14th 2013

I had read about the British Wildlife Centre on many occaisions and always though that it would be a wonderful place to visit even though it involved a 170 mile journey from home to get there! So finally I decided that I just had to go. It was with great excitement then that I booked a hotel (cheapest I could find on the thinking that it was for only one night and how bad could it really be!) and booked a day off work (Feb 14th) so that I could spend a whole day with British wildlife.

Worried a little on the day I was due to drive down (had more snow) but by the time I left there was none to speak of and as I drove further south it disappeared completely and the evening became a dry, clear and cold one. Arriving at the hotel (will spare the owners by not naming it here!) I parked in the large secure car park (not!) and booked myself in. I was led to a cupboard on the second floor which alarmingly turned out to be my room for the night! I then needed to get my gear and overnight bag out of the car which I did manage to do but after several trips in the dark over a car park full of holes (most of which had been nicely topped up with water by the days rain!).

After a good nights sleep dreaming of foxes and stoats (a bit odd I know!) I awoke to a (cold) breakfast which after being replaced was relatively harmless. Then off to the BWC - so keen I was there an hour early so got my kit together and reviewed the days objectives. I knew that I wanted pictures of a stoat sticking its head up as they do, foxes (any as I had not taken any before), badger as again had not seen a live one and a harvest mouse (which are the most adorable of little creatures).

The day was actually a lot better than I had expected - there was a good group of friendly photographers and the keepers were obviously interested in their work. The visit started off in the walk through red squirrel enclosure (where one jumped onto my back). Others had them on their lenses or trying to find food in their camera bags! We had a week in Northumberland to see these animals but this was much closer (and there were more of them). Foxes next - a rather timid male fox and a lively vixen (who nipped my elbow). Foxes close up are gorgeous and I love their colour! The wildcats were not playing today sadly so we then moved on to a hedgehog - not seen one in the wild for years. Used to see them all the time (mostly flat on the road) but when I was a child I do remember them being very common. This one was placed on the ground (very natural) and then on a large log (very not natural and it kept slipping off).

It was then time for lunch so I had a wander in the barn and hedgerow area - lovely setup for mice with old boots and pots for them to crawl in and out of, and also lots of runs for stoats and weasels. After lunch the owls arrived - we had a barn owl and a tawny owl on the same log as the hedgehog was placed earlier and then onto a post. Managed to get a lovely shot of a tawny owl on the log.

Had always wanted a barn owl photo with it looking out around a tree 

Once finished with the owls and harvest mice we were escorted past the otters to the deer. Now most people were very reluctant to venture beyond the otter enclosure so time with the deer was minimal as the keepers realised I think that nobody was left with them - all having transferred to where the otters were. This was a highlight of the day but at the same time the least realistic - the otters were fed with chicks and the keepers seemed to delight in getting the otters to launch themselves into the water (when in reality they would just slip in silently). I had to confess that I did get a shot (not for a great otter pic but more for the challenge of doing it!)

We were rapidly approaching the end of our session now and we moved onto the polecats (cat meat smeared on to a stump) not good for photos and stoats and weasels (same thing with cat meat). While the keepers were trying to coax the badger out I went back to teh polecats and stoat and got some more realistic shots of them including one with its head sticking up 

The badger finally emerged and I got a few shots before spending some more time with the house mice 

and then it was time to leave.

All told it was a lovely day which I thoroughly enjoyed - luck with the weather as apart from a few showers it was dry and bright. The BWC does a wonderful job especially with its conservation work which is much needed in our over crowded island. For more information and to book a photography day click here 

Stratford Butterfly Farm January 2013

On a cold and snowy day in January we visited the Stratford Butterfly Farm in Stratford on Avon - very excited as butterflies are one of my favourite photographic subjects. They are however also one of the trickiest to get right - they never seem to hold their wings in the correct plane to enable the correct depth of field!!

Also as it was cold outside I had concerns about cameras and lenses fogging up as soon as we went inside the flight area - a great tip here is to keep the camera and lens in a plastic bag or one of those zipped plastic folders. This reduces the effect of the temperature difference and I have to say it was a great success. Instead of waiting about 30 minutes I was able to start shooting after no more than 5 minutes without needing to clean the lens at all. Brilliant! This meant I could maximise my time in with the butterflies.

Despite being January there were a good variety of butterflies flying (along with parrots, cockatiels, quails and an iguana). At any one time there can be around 1500 butterflies from 250 species and 20 countries from around the world.

I must have spent around 3 hours in heaven taking as many images of as many butterflies as possible. My target was to get a good image of the glasswing butterfly (Greta Oto) which I think I managed.

If you like butterflies then this is a place you must go - admission is reasonable (we used tesco vouchers!) and you can spend as much time as you like