Cinnabar moth

Butterflies and moths are notoriously difficult to photograph because the will fly off.

Alan and I pursued this beautiful red and grey cinnabar moth for some time and I managed to get a pic .  .  .  .

.  .  .  .  and then crop it,      so it's a bit fuzzy.

But what a contrast with the ragwort-eating caterpillars in their yellow and black striped jerseys.  Here on ragwort buds.

While the cinnabar moth caterpillars feed on the leaves of ragwort, the flowers are great pollen and nectar sources for lots of other insects but we have to pull them up so the seeds don't travel to neighbouring farmers' fields.

We wait till the caterpillars are finished with them, and then ease them out roots and all with the help of a fork.

We probably miss some but anyway we aim to control the ragwort, not eliminate it.

Elder flowers

Following on from the Wayfaring Tree, Rowan and Hawthorn, we now have the elder in flower.  It's a very common plant so you are bound to see its flat bunches of little flowers on the elder trees and bushes.

Notice the pinnate leaves with five leaflets.

Elder flowers can apparently be made into delicious fritters or boiled up to create elder flower cordial.  

Here's a recipe from BBC Good Food

And of course the berries in late summer make excellent wine or jelly.  

The flowers and fruit are also good for wildlife so elder is a very welcome part of Filnore Woods.

Geum urbanum

Herb Bennet or Wood Avens has proved very effective at colonising the ground under our trees at Filnore Woods.

The flowers are insignificant when seen en masse but individually they are quite pretty.

In the centre of the flower you can se the seed head developing.

 The seedhead breaks up into about 40 individual seed capsules.  Each seed capsule has a tiny hook, which attaches to passing animals' fur or human socks and shoe laces.  'Bennet' in its name means 'blessed' from the Latin 'benedictus'  It can be a blessed nuisance to remove from your clothes.  This is how it spreads so effectively.

Three close up images by Alan Watts

Herb Robert

 This pretty little pink flower from the geranium family goes almost unnoticed because it is so small.  But close to, it is exquisite. 

It grows in shady places and the ferny leaves turn red in the sun.  They have a strong smell too, which has earned the plant the name 'Stinking Bob' in some places.

Photos:  Alan Watts

Clocking on

After their first flush of flowers, dandelions follow on with a profusion of dandelion clocks, spreading seeds all over the place.  They continue flowering right through the summer but never so many at once as the spring bonanza of golden lions and dandelion clocks.