June 2003 - Part 1

June has grown to such a size, that I've split it into 3 parts, roughly 10 days each. Navigation is by the hyperlinks at the bottom of the page.

1st June

The Lesser Yellow Trefoil flowered today. The flower (well actually a collection of many tiny flowers) is only about 1/4" across.

Nettles have been evident in many of the images from the previous months. Now they are flowering, and deserve special mention. This is the male plant.

There are a number of very similar plants, all belonging to the parsley family. This is the Ground Elder:

2nd June

This Smooth Sow-Thistle usually grows near the Prickly Sow-Thistle. Compare the leaves with 30th May. The plants were growing a few feet apart.

The hoverfly is often seen hovering near the flowers of plants which it pollinates. It was very windy, today, so this one looks like it was having a rest.

This large green caterpillar was feeding on the leaves of a thistle.

4th June

These are the seed pods of Herb Robert.

This small (1/2") diameter mushroom looks like the surface is made of orange peel:

There are quite a few Dock plants. This is the largest we have:

And here's an experiment. I just got a new microscope, (thanks to one of the site visitors). This is a picture of 2 grains of Buttercup pollen at 400x magnification:

6th June

It rained for hours yesterday, but today is bright and sunny (so far!). I'll start with another hoverfly. This one's disguised to look like a wasp, in order to give it some protection from predators.

On the 1st June, I showed the male nettle flower. This is the female.

The Elder flower promises lovely Elder berries later in the year

This is the seed-head of the Herb Bennet. Note the hooked ends - ready to hitch a lift on a passing animal or trouser leg.

And a final seed head for today - The Creeping Buttercup:-

7th June

  I spotted this Soldier Beetle on the Goosegrass.

This Pineapple weed has a very strong scent, especially when it's wet.

This tiny (1/4") beetle landed just as I was preparing to photograph a fly. Its gold colour is very distinctive.

The Meadow Vetchling has been quietly growing for weeks, and suddenly flowered this morning.

8th June

This bedraggled Painted Lady feeding on the Vetch is the first one I've seen:

This is the first of the four Willowherbs on my patch. It's the Broad-leaved Willowherb.

Lastly for today, the Common Mouse-Ear

10th June

Torrential rain, yesterday, nothing to report.

The hogweed has just flowered: 

The wind blew and exposed this spider 'nest' under a Bramble leaf. You can just see the little spiders under the covering web.

I thought this would make a nice image. You can see Clover, Speedwell, Buttercup, Ribwort, Harte's Tongue Fern and Herb Robert in one picture.

Lastly, a (not very good) picture of Navelwort spikes and flowers.

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