Unusual garden visitor

Amazing! Well captured Shirley! :D

Shirley although these look like mini beasts they are in fact amazing creatures, they take five years to mature into an adult and then when you see them they are looking for a mate, then they die! Ahhhh. hopefully yours found his mate.

Haven't seen one of those for years. A nice find in your garden Shirley :o)

Karen, isn't it strange that I can get close up to this, yet a spider sends me running ... lol!

Gm, I checked back to see when I posted a blog about Stag Beetles, it was July 2010 and I remembered you commenting on their mating before they die ... how sad for them! ... :o(

Hywel, it's a good job Megan didn't find it ... although I'm not sure if she'd have played with it or run away! ... :o)

Sorry if I repeated myself!!! Lol. but it is sad :~)

What a find, have only ever seen one here in Hampshire, like you no problems with these but spiders, now that is a different story!!

Shirley, this is very useful bug. I know, you know :)
Is it also protected by law in the U.K. as in Slovakia? It is the largest bug in Central Europe and it is also an indicator of environmental pollution. Where it appears, you can be sure, that with the nature it is not so bad :)

How fantastic, lucky you. I'd love to have seen it. Bugs of just about any kind don't bother me, except...Daddy Longlegs (Craneflies) they give me the screaming abdabs.

Shirley, their larves develop for several years in old wood, which they consume. Then they live only few weeks. They are most active in June and July. Therefore I do not throw all wood from my garden, I always leave some pieces there.

Gm, I hope my comment didn't sound rude! ... I just meant that I remembered that fact ... :o)

Lol, Dotty, perhaps it's because spiders move so fast that I don't care for them at all! ... I'll happily let a Ladybird walk across my hand ... slowly! ... :o)

Katarina, I have had a log pile in the garden for about ten years, pretty sure it is home to many bugs and beetles ... Stag Beetles are a protected species and have been in decline since the 1940s because of the loss of habitat - areas of dead wood where they lay their eggs ... they are now more common in London and the SE of England ... :o)

Waddy, now I'm thinking of Autumn evenings with the door open, lights on and Crane flies coming in ... yuk! .....

He/She is beautiful - I have never seen one of these, thank you for sharing these lovely pictures :)
Judging by the comments above - I will probably have to make do with pictures posted here on GOY!

What a lucky find! This is a really grand one. There is a log pile at Kew that was supposed to be home for them but I didn't see any - if they pass most of their lives as larvae that explains it.
We saw one once on Exmoor but never since.

I haven't seen one of these for ages and ages. Lucky you, Shirley, and lucky bug to have a helping hand to sort out his predicament :)

Scottish, you're welcome ... definitely not an everyday sight in the garden! ... :o)

Steragram, I have been reading up on them and a few years ago, in Bournemouth, there were 12 of them flying around in one garden ... all looking for a mate! .......

Gee, I did wonder if I should have moved it at all, but it was pitiful to watch it struggling to get a hold! ... With another afternoon of constant rain today, I'm hoping it's found somewhere dry in the log-pile! .......

What a very handsome creature, do hope he/she has recovered from her ordeal now ;0)

I shan't be checking on it today, Pp, rained all afternoon and no sign of it stopping yet ... :o(

I'm the same Shirley, can't stand spiders near me, especially indoors, but nothing else bothers me.When, Hubby says, its more frightened of you, that doesn't seem to help.When they are in the bedroom, I can't sleep until its gone. One dropped onto the bed once and I have visions of it crawling over me in the night! Can't say I've seen one of these beetles though.

Jaaj, Rose, I would screaaaaaaaaam too!

Rose, I had to lift up the outdoor drain cover today (don't ask!) and there was a huge spider lurking around the drain ... you've never seen a cover go back on so fast! .....

Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaj! :))

I hope it stayed outside Shirley!

It wouldn't dare cross the threshold, Rose ... lol!

Eight days on from posting this blog ... OH and I have just spent 5 minutes watching it (assume it's the same one!) flying around in the twilight ... quite a sight to see! .......

Wow!:-)