Monday 4 May 2009

May gets going

The opening fronds of Lady Fern are incredibly geometric:


The first of the micromoths for this season: Micropterix calthella. Length? 3mm. Love the yellow 'wig'.


Is is just me, or are the Germander Speedwells particularly good this year? Serious eagle-eyes might spot a couple of Bush Vetch flowers in there, too.


Female Syrphus ribesii hoverfly:

I'm reflected in the thorax.

4 comments:

Gill said...

"are the Germander Speedwells particularly good this year?" not here they're not (yet) - it's only just coming out.

Mice shot of the fern - I'll take your word it's lady, impossible to tell when it's that tightly coiled.

And a lovely shot of the hover.

Stuart said...

The fern choice was limited to either Lady or Broad Buckler...the others I have locally are quite different at this stage. The shadows of where the sori will be were Lady-shaped and overall Lady is finer than Broad Buckler. When they're at this stage, the frond 'stems' are finer in Lady and much more robust in BB. BB is also more golden and Lady is darker. It took me years to separate mature specimens of those without turning the fronds over to look at the sori.

I have at least 12 species of fern on this hedgerow, and I know some of them hybridise....

Yoke, said...

It's strange, last month I was delighted to get a brief glimpse of Bird'sfoot Trefoil, Then, as quick as it had appeared, it vanished somehow. Never found it again! (and it is just around the corner.

they also invaded my garden, but these have only just now, in June, opened up. weird it is out earlier in Donegal than the West Cork.

Stuart said...

Birdsfoot Trefoil comes in two main species: Birdsfoot Trefoil and Greater Birdsfoot Trefoil. The first flush of Birdsfoot Trefoil is over and done around here before the Greater even starts to flower (only tiny buds at the moment).