The area I visited is ripe with the aroma of Wild Garlic (Ramsons) at this time of year: the bank is covered with its delicate white flowers and strappy green leaves:
Ramsons (Wild Garlic) at the river Deele |
Ramsons flower-head with sheath |
Wild Garlic flower-head |
Bluebell:
Bluebell |
Wood Anemone |
Having (at last!) got my hands on some spider references, I have been making an effort to fill in some of the gaps in my identifications.
Tetragnatha extensa is usually found near water on low-level vegetation. This one was on Hogweed on the riverbank:
Tetragnatha extensa on Hogweed leaf |
Tetragnatha extensa is very closely related to the huge brown spiders that are often found in garages or bathrooms.
Up on the bridge I found Ivy in fruit:
Ivy fruit |
And a nice profile shot of the hoverfly Platycheirus albimanus which is everywhere at the moment:
Platycheirus albimanus (female) |
I'm never quite sure to be dismayed or excited when I see a Pug moth that I don't recognise: I realise that they are very difficult to identify (and that means I'm going to spend quite a while with the books to hand), but there's always the chance I'll find something new. This specimen is the Common Pug, which - strangely - I hadn't seen before:
Common Pug - Eupithecia vulgata vulgata |
So that's four new species in a couple of days.
Really impressed with your extensive species list, Stuart ... and the links through to images.
ReplyDeleteI have Wild Garlic in my garden but it isn't in flower just yet.
ReplyDelete@Caroline: the list is now in its 10th year, so it's had time to grow a bit. I try to maintain a link from each species to at least one image. From 2008 onwards, everything has been put into this blog.
ReplyDelete@Toffeeapple: do you use the leaves in salads? The flowers can also be added, but they're hot.(maybe that should have been on my food blog!).