Marjoram, a characteristic flower of Chalk GrasslandParasitic WaspChrysomelid Flower Beetle on ? Rough HawkbitPlume MothPyramidal Orchids in Chalk Grassland
In the evening, I gave my ‘Urban Nature Reserve’ talk to a local group
This beautiful iridescent metallic green insect is the male thick-kneed flower beetle — the female is less colourful, and doesn’t have the swollen femurs. All the coloration is structural, created by microscopic ridges of the cuticle, the right size to interfere with visible light. The insect’s Latin name is Oedemera nobilis, the “noble swollen-parted” (yes, like Oedema, swelling), presumably describing the thick “knees” and the insect’s handsome appearance.
Alder forest! The species likes to get its feet wet, growing by rivers and lakes. Here, a patch of damp low-lying land by the Tarn on the common gives a rare opportunity for a whole stand of the trees: surprisingly handsome, given their usual appearance as riverside bushes.Black-tailed Skimmer resting near the Tarn. Several of them zoomed over the water, with an Emperor; a Great Crested Grebe fished; a fish jumped.Large Skipper under the BirchesA Birch, unusually carpeted in crusty orange lichen (not Xanthoria, I think) or perhaps a non-lichen fungusHandsome Polytrichum moss on forest floorA Robber Fly with its prey, on Bracken
Thick-Kneed Flower Beetle on Iris among the rampant herbs in the Ramp MeadowBlack-Tailed Skimmer Dragonfly: a female or an immature male (the mature males have a blue abdomen with black tip)
Wild Clary at MellsBush Vetch, near IfordMayfly by the River Avon, of the kind known to fly fishermen as the Drake Mackerel. This one has its serial number painted on its abdomen!Silk Tents of Ermine Moth Caterpillars, in a hedge near IfordErmine Moth caterpillars in their silk tent. Both the caterpillars and the adult are white with black spots, like the magnificent robes of “ermine” (Stoat pelts) worn by Lords (and Monarchs at their Coronations).A sea of Wild Garlic in coppice woods near IfordCrosswort, near Iford; a handsome plant in the Bedstraw familyYellow Rattle near Imber, on Chalk Grassland, playing its usual role of weakening the tall grasses — it’s parasitic — and so allowing the beautiful and varied flowers including Orchids space and light to grow.
Holly … Flowers … if that seems an oxymoron, you’re not alone! Holly is a flowering plant, despite its spiky evergreen leaves. Another curious thing is that it is dioecious: it has separate male and female plants. This plant is a male, and each flower has four anthers producing pollen.
The English seem unemotional … except for their passion for nature
