Warm and sunny, then rain.
I was delighted to find that the town parks around here have a wild boundary about 3 m wide all round them. In addition, this wet area had been left with a wild fringe. The resulting habitat had plenty of butterflies, moths and other insects. Our local parks could do with a policy like this.
The marsh was bounded
by a border of this red grass. I remember it as widespread from my youth,
but I haven't seen it on my patch in Ireland. The long thin ligule (below)
is not toothed. Looks to be Creeping Bent - Agrostis stolonifera.
A new Bumblebee for me - Bombus lapidarius. In Donegal this is a coastal species, but in central Scotland I found it to be the most frequent Bumblebee in most places.
There were plenty of these Paneolus sp. mushrooms all over the park. The gills indicate their common name: Mottlegills.
I haven't a clue what this one is, but I know what I'd call it.
Two butterflies that I hadn't yet seen this year: Meadow Brown (left) and Ringlet (right).
All of the hoverflies seen were familiar to me. This is Eristalis pertinax.
And this is Sericomyia silentis. The micromoth in both images is Micropterix calthella.
I found a couple of these Dovesfoot Cranesbill at the edge of the park. Must be some lime around.
I had hoped the Stitchwort might be Wood Stitchwort (it was deep in woodland) but it looks like ordinary Lesser Stitchwort. On the right we have Hedge Bindweed.
This showy escape was to be seen on every verge and hedgerow we passed. It looks to be Lysimachia punctata - Dotted Loosestrife.