Wasteland in centre of town.
4 x Small Tortoiseshell.
Bright and warm.
Two shots of Coltsfoot, seedhead to the left and a close-up of the tightened fibres that pull the stem in the curve shown on Tuesday. Gill tells me that this bending is to protect the developing seedhead from rain, and the head is restored to its upright position when the seeds are ready. If this is correct (and I have no reason to think otherwise) then Coltsfoot exhibits a very advanced movement capability that demonstrates how sophisticated some plants can be. Now all I need is for someone to explain why the flowers appear before the leaves.
Ramsons, or Wild Garlic - Allium ursinum- has opened. I couldn't decide which of these two shots is better, so you get both.
I see that the Starlings have hatched. (I can hear the chicks in their nests, too).
An early shot of another fungal rust - Puccinia caricina. I'll show the ripe version later.
I've previously made a guess that there must be a rust for each plant family. My new book - Microfungi on land plants - lists no fewer than 156 species or varieties of Puccinia alone.
Small Tortoiseshells appear to be increasing in numbers around here. A few years ago, I would see only one or two per year. There were four in this old garden today.