Harriet's season

when the sun came out today the hills were alive to the sound of butterfly wings flapping, the blues are probably common blue and silver studded blue but very pretty against the yellow ragwort and purple knapweed. The large orange butterfly is a slightly worn out dark green fritillary.

visitors enrapt

this morning's visitor, a young kestrel eyeing up a tasty fast food morsel at the bird table. Our surviving apple trees are cropping very heavily this year.

knapweed and marbled white

the much more common knapweed, with its hairy bracts and unserrated leaves, a marbled white and honey bee

saw wort

very like knapweed but the bracts lack the combs, and the leaves have small serrations. It was once used extensively to make dyes. It is not common, and we have only found it in this one place (Penny's piece) mixed in with the bladderseed.

tamar valley

the Tamar from Greenscombe woods, running through Luckett meadows, Devon and Dartmoor in the distance

August moon

these activities start under the auspicious influence of the new moon (the sturgeon moon, can this be right?) Surgeon moon maybe, for all our friends in hospital.