books

Spot isn't naturally well informed but he reads a lot, and these are some of the reference books he has to hand in his very untidy study. Please feel free to borrow one.

wild garlic

and a sea of wild garlic, otherwise known as ramsons. Ramsons is derived from a german or swedish word (rams) meaning rank, ie a strong smell, imparted to milk when the plant is eaten by cattle.

bluebells

deep in the woods now one can find a quintessential English scene. The air was heavy with the scent of lime and wild garlic, and the birds were in full voice. Every now and then there was the slap of water as if some large but secret animal was moving stealthily into the water but it was simply the sound of the river folding in on itself.

It is very difficult to capture the blueness of the bluebells, especially close up. This is our native slender bluebell. Be careful in the woods because the plant will die if the leaves are crushed.

if it moves, run for it

large visitor to the pond. Duck on right is saying "if it tries to get into the water run for it."

peacock

common, somewhat tattered, but exceptionally pretty, the peacock butterfly showing the deep abstraction so characteristic of Nature's painting. We saw orange tips, a brimstone, painted ladies and a fritillary of some sort all today so the butterfly season is well under way although it is not very easy to identify some (eg the fritillary) when the pack insist on pushing in to find out what it is that you are looking that can be so much more interesting than they.

greenfinch by magnolia

neatly combining two harbingers of real spring, the greenfinches are fighting each other and the magnolia is very slowly coming into flower.