Friday 3 June

Dry & very warm, wish we had left the coats at home.

 Coot with 7 babes

Looks like they are sun bathing.

 Honeysuckle  - Lonicera periclymenum

 Lamb's-ear - Stachys byzantina this is growing in a garden 

 Nipplewort - Lapsana communis

 Picnic playground a long way from finished.

 Small Skipper

 Swan Family

This is not algae but masses of tadpoles.

Small video of the young coots

Take Care.

Monday 2 May

Back Home and it's dry here.

 Columbine Buds - Aquilegia vulgaris - this plant has never been allowed to flower - the men with the strimmers cut it down last year before we got chance to see what colour it is, maybe this year?

 Russian Comfrey - Symphytum x uplandicum

 Blue SLU is on the Big Lodge most days.

Seems very interested in Lucy.

Tadpoles in the Top Lodge.

Take Care.

Sunday 9 May

We had a good walk down Drybones, I am not going to post any pictures of the poor cottage it is so depressing.

Ramsons all over the place now.

Red Campion

Taken on our way to Drybones she was restless.

Sycamore Flowers

Wood Anemone

Wood Speedwell

Orange Tip Butterfly on Cuckoo Flower

Hoverfly - ID as Eristalis tenax

Tachinidae sp. We call them all the dreaded Horse Fly.

That Slime Mold has almost gone.

Dandelion

Crane Fly ID as Tipula villata also a female.

Apple blossom

It is cultivated Apple probably planted from the cottage.

7 Spot Ladybird & a Bee.

There were quite a few of these Bees about, they are Nomada sp.

They are often called cuckoo bees as they lay their eggs in other bees nest.

Top Lodge Mallard & 8 babes.

Cropped from the above photo to show the tadpoles.

Wych Elm leaves no sign of the seeds.

Wood Melick - Melica uniflora it is a bright green so it stands out from the crowd.

The spikelet still sheltered in the sheath.

For those interested in the difference between Wood & Mountain Melick it is this bristle opposite the ligule, the much rarer Mountain does not have it.

Take Care.

Tuesday 21 April

We set off on a dry morning, the sun was trying it's best to show.

Only the two of us again.

When we are on our own we tend to drift from area to area checking for new growth and new plants.

Not a new one but quite a patch of it, with plenty in the area - Wood Sage just leaves at the moment.

Common Dog Violet - we are getting little patches all over the valley.
Red Campion

Hairy Wood Rush

Hairy Wood Rush Flowers

Lily of the Valley - the flowers are not open yet, quite a few plants this year.

Lords & Ladies

With the spotted leaves - these are said to be the most common but around here they are mainly unspotted.

Sycamore Flowers

Meadow Buttercup

Cuckoo Flower

Remains of a kill

Spring Wood

The Castle Tree Stump.

Horse Chestnut Buds.

Oak buds ready to burst.

Tadpoles in the weir channel.

Heading toward home on the path between the river and the Top Lodge.