skippers

the large skipper, a primitive moth like butterfly, sitting on some seed pods of yellow rattle. There were marsh and butterfly orchids (use the orchid label to see earlier pictures of these orchids in the blog) in the meadows today although they are coming to the end of their flowering season and were looking a bit tattered. Butterfly orchids have the most delicate, slightly sweet vanilla scent.

an enormous foxglove

this is a very odd triple stalked foxglove. The stalks are fused together like Siamese twins, and the flower spike is huge and crowded with flowers (a normal foxglove can be seen to the right).

not stirring up a hornet's nest

the rarest largest and most docile of our native social wasps. This is a queen hornet building her nest out of masticated wood, under the eaves of an out house near Kelly Bray. She will lay her eggs in the comb (the structure appearing in the centre). She will feed them on chewed up flies until they emerge later in June at which point we may need to stand a bit further a

way.

ragged robin

a clump of ragged robin growing wild; it is very striking at a distance and yet it is a very isolated patch.

more agrions

the handsome male agrion and his smoky female posing before getting down to more serious business. The river banks are full of dragonflies and demoiselles.

entente cordiale

Spot is very concerned about the shortage of elderflower cordial that his friends and cousins across the sea are facing and has tracked down the address of an exclusive supplier. Although his blog is an advertising free zone he is happy to provide this link to the wonderful world of Duchy products, all organic and spoken to.