From time to time I like to photograph common species from unusual angles. This is Lesser Celandine, which I see has just had its latin name changed to Ficaria verna.
Hartstongue Fern is the first of the local species to show new growth:
I always think new fern shoots are very animal-like.Another of the early micromoths - Grapholita jungiella. This one eats the leaves of various members of the pea family: Bush Vetch in this location.
Frog tadpoles are making some progress. These are in a very shallow rut in a field entrance, so I suspect they won't reach maturity.
My father has managed to hand-tame a Robin in his garden. This is the same place where I used to summon a cock Chaffinch by whistling some 40 years ago.
3 comments:
Lovely photographs. I do wish they wouldn't change names like the celandine - I am still struggling with crocosmia instead of montbretia!
Pretty little fern fronds - I have an Irish Tatting Fern in a pot and it is just beginning to sprout - so pretty.
I wonder why robins are so friendly. One nests on the bench in one of our sheds each year. There is so much clutter on the bench that although her nest is out in the open, so to speak, it is hard to spot. She loves a plate of meal worms - they are gone in five minutes.
One of the reasons to use latin names is that they're internationally consistent. I used to say that they were also largely stable, but international synchronisation added to DNA analysis means that we can't use that as a benefit any more......
I seem to remember that robins have a special status due to their friendliness. They can't be kept in captivity under any circumstances, or at least that's how it used to be.
I gather this is by no means the only plant to have a new latin name (with the publication of the new 'bible', Stace 3rd.ed. there are weeping changes). For everyday usage I'm sticking with the good old English names. The flower is still a celandine whether it's Ficaria or Ranunculus or whatever.
It's going to make searching for info more difficult though, as I suspect one will have to use old and new names together to find references. Let's hope they don't change again - that's happened in the past, where something has ended up with its original name.
Lovely pic of the robin on your dad's hand :-)
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