foxing the opposition

I'm red, the cows are red, no one will notice me creeping up on the chicken run

annual bluebell pictures

well they are always very pretty, as is dog with style

Ramson lane

walking down the woodland path surrounded by ramsons, which in their own way are just as pretty as bluebells. Martins and swallows are around if not quite back. Several started rebuilding the old nests at the front of Orchard House but then left and have not returned (yet). What is going on?

Ramsons

Ramsons (wild garlic) in flower by the Lynher near Golberdon being inspected by his lordship.

dunherdin

 

this very old collie can be seen every day sitting at this spot where he spends his retirement guarding the gate to Ashburton farm near Kelly Bray

lady's smock

and a few days later (qv)

violet oil beetle

 

Bug Watch  have asked for sightings of oil beetles (link), and today on a walk along the Inny valley and up through Carthamatha we found this one (male, probably violet species) wandering across the footpath. As the link explains these beetles have the most amazing life cycles. Unfortunately when we tried to submit our sighting the site link broke down.

  

the lower picture is a better picture of the same species outside our house a few years ago (and qv ). I think they must be quite common around here

home guard

Spot on duty

not as pretty as it seems

this is the variegated form of yellow archangel. Although pretty, it is almost certainly a garden escapee, and in that there are no gardens nearby it is probably the result of people dumping their garden waste at the entrance to Rowden lane (a bridle path in the parish) rather than taking it to a tip. This is also why there are some spanish bluebells on the other side of the lane. They are slowly working their way along the lane and will inevitably displace or hybridise with the extensive beds of native bluebells further down the bridle path. It may seem harmless but this casual thoughtless behaviour is destroying our native flora.

mayflowers

this is the flore  pleno variety of cuckoo flower (aka mayflower, lady's smock etc) which is common in local meadows by the Inny. The dew drops looked very pretty in the bright sun this morning.

orange tips

The air in the meadows by the Inny was full of orange tip butterflies today. They are jittery butterflies at the best of times but do settle to feed on mayflower and dandelion. The male's orange wings makes it very conspicuous although it ought to be called a brown tip. The female is much more demure and the underwing is cleverly camouflaged to fit in with meadow grasses.

blackest blackthorn

ethereal beauty of blackthorn bush at night

mayflower on a misty morning

the local flora is surging with new found life. Mayflowers are appearing everywhere. The weather is fine but in the river valleys the mornings are cold and misty.

meadow fritillaries

Fritillaries growing at Cotehele. For one moment I thought they were wild but one of the gardeners told me that they were planted (ours never flowered!). My flower book describes them as being "gregarious in damp meadows" which seems to fit them well. Below are some very large and bold marsh marigolds growing near Cotehele Mill.

Cotehele

 Up very early this morning to take some pictures at Cotehele. It was a misty morning and the light was very difficult being both bright and dull! This photo shows Calstock viaduct in the background running across the Tamar, with the magnolia in the gardens at Cotehele just coming into full bloom.

the bridge at Cotehele with crab apple blossom

learning to fly fish

The Tamar Valley Tourist Association (Tavata) met at the Arundel Arms (link) for a talk by Mr Fox Edwards, followed by some tuition on the gentle art of fly fishing and a cream tea by Tinhay lake (full of recalcitrant brown trout). Quintessential England. Spot doesn't usually do advertising but the Arundel Arms really is something special.

Spring frost

 

blackthorn  buds covering the hedges like a layer of frost, and it is out in the sunnier spots

it is reminiscent of the haw frosts in December last year (qv)

still sleeping

 

one of last year's caterpillars still hibernating found amongst grass and ivy twigs. Despite its distinctive appearance I can't pin down which moth/butterfly species it belongs to.

periwinkles and more

 

periwinkle growing in a hedgerow near Lidwell 

 a lovely lemony tulip marking the site of the remains of one of our deceased dogs

 some common field speedwell making its first appearance of the year

more tales from the river bank

 

wood anemones are coming into flower

more Spring favourites

 

the rae and exotic purple toothwort, spreading like wildfire in a wood near you

daffodils and dogs

poser

posy?

both types of daffodil are to be found growing on the banks of the Inny, but only the lower photo shows our native daffodil which is short and slender and has a simple trumpet

butterbur and three dogs

 

it's butterbur time again, with three dogs trying to avoid the camera

more Spring

 

 on the road to Down House

the succulent leaves of orpine pushing up through the leaf litter from last year. Orpine is one of the first of our wild perennials to emerge, and yet is one of the last to flower (in August September). Now that Spot's amanuensis has returned from the wild shores of Borneo (see below) and the even wilder clutches of Saga he can start blogging again.

 

dawn at Turan beach and Mrs Spot owner doing her thing.

levels

 

the top (almost) and the bottom (almost) of the food chain

things are happening

 

crocuses about to bloom as some warmth returns to the soil. For the technically minded Spot is experimenting with a 2 dioptre lens on the end of a FX Nikon 24 - 70mm lens, a tripod, and F22 which makes the camera intensely short sighted (like him) but gives a lot of depth of field over quite a wide area. Roll on FRPS.

skylarks happen

 

today we heard the first skylark of the year, high and invisible to the naked eye, but a little flock of four flew past. They like rough pasture like this field and nest on the ground although the nests are very hard to find. It feels as if Spring is almost here, the tipping point, but so often this turns out to be an illusion and Winter bites back. February always feels like the longest month of all.

definitely out 2

 

ant's eye view of native snowdrop

definitely out

 

it doesn't feel like it to us but plants and birds think Spring has arrived.

some colour

 

one solitary pansy survives the frosts

Spring in the air

 

a bit of joie de vivre for the snow and cyclone bound

getting closer

 

almost out

 

just out

frog spawn

 

 first frog spawn of the year, (on exactly the same day as last year) and the first leaves of lords and ladies, otherwise not much progress yet ... maybe a daffodil or two