bowling down the years

Stoke Sports club held a May day fete on the village green. Unfortunately, the weather turned wet late yesterday which was very bad luck and probably put some people off but the sun was out later in the afternoon.

pink bugle

this is pink bugle, a rare colour variant of bugle which is usually blue(see below). Every year, same place, same plant (only one).

a chat of some sort

this bird, sat on the top of a gorse bush, singing its heart out would do for either a stone or whinchat, but I guess it must be a whinchat. If you wonder why it is hard to get better pictures, spot the same bird in the picture below. It is a demonstration of how good the Nikon 18-200mm VR lens is.

Lynher river again

the banks of the Lynher are covered in ramsons, the wild garlic.

mayflower meadows

meadow in the Lynher valley, full of buttercups and mayflowers (cardamine pratensis).

not suitable for arachnophobes

this could be an example of the false black widow spider (steatoda grossa, and very gross indeed) that has been in the news recently but probably isn't. The ghoulish sight to the bottom left is either last year's skin, or a recent meal. The dogs left it well alone.