more butterflies

with yellow rattle and wide pollinia, close up it is a jungle in there. And the meadows are full of eyebright now. But no bird's nest orchid despite tramping through miles of cluttered woodland. Where are they?

wild strawberries

sweet and delicious just in time for Wimbledon, in woods near you.

lesser stitchwort

this slender relative of greater stitchwort is beginning to appear in abundance in the meadows. Its stamens have a dusting of red pollen almost like cinnamon powder.

banded agrion

this is the male banded demoiselle staying still just long enough to be snapped.

trouble returns

this photo gives a good guide to the vivid red of the male bull finch; the barbecue is wrapped up for the coming rain, this is summer in Cornwall.

rarities

and coming into flower is Cornish bladderseed, a genuinely rare umbellifer. I don't know whether it is always the case but this example has obvious notches on the petals. This flower was surrounded by heath spotted orchids.