the bees and the buttercups

Spot told me that there was a letter in the Times this week about the absence of bees in fields of buttercups. I am not sure whether bees bother to visit buttercups but as this photograph shows there is no obvious shortage of other smaller pollinators. I think vehicles probably destroy more insects than anything else.

some of my favourite things 2

and two heath fritillary butterflies, the first I have seen this year

some of my favourite things

marsh orchid, lesser butterfly orchid and heath spotted orchid, all out in Greenscombe meadows today.

goldfinch

A juvenile goldfinch. The lack of a red cap is very striking. For the very first time a grass snake was spotted in our paddock, just in time for RSPB wild bird and animal count.

jumping for joy

big H with her puppy substitute jumping for joy because we found some pink bugle today

stinking bob

When the canopy closes in the bluebells begin to fade away as other more vigorous plants like buttercups, ferns and grasses outgrow them. At about this time herb robert becomes much more prolific. Probably named after the Latin for red (ruber), its stems and leaves turn a fiery red as the summer wears on and the doctrine of signatures led to the plant being used to treat a variety of blood disorders. Some people find the smell of the leaves unpleasant hence its other nickname.