Sunday, May 30, 2010

and some orchids


marsh orchid (top) just coming into flower, and heath spotted orchid below. Sorry Carletta, we were 10 days too early. I like these photos because they hint at the tangle of life in the meadows.

common as blue


a nice close up of a common blue butterfly (male) sitting on a ragged piece of the head of plantain. This is a very petite butterfly.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

hungry chicks

We had a crowd of juvenile starlings and their parents in the garden this afternoon. The juveniles are much lighter than their parents and bigger (at least fluffier) and very demanding.

Friday, May 28, 2010

long tailed tits


long tailed tits are small birds and are all tail, as this picture shows. They are very shy of humans but very sociable with each other going around in family groups chattering away (si si).

domesticated bugle

a pretty picture of domesticated bugle grwoing in our garden along with some Spanish bluebells, welsh poppies, elephants' ears and a saxifrage ... is there anything English in our Cornish garden?

Thursday, May 27, 2010

early silver y


This is the earliest in the year that we have seen a silver y moth. They are usually immigrants from europe, and the spring invaders give rise to a second generation in the autumn. This moth flew in a swift and extremely erratic manner that was very difficult to follow.