Hot with some sun.
This is what happens if Himalayan Balsam is left unchecked for 2 years. A single specimen has now extended its coverage to around 20 square metres of this bank. To give some sense of scale, the 'small' leaves to the left of bottom centre are Butterwort leaves around 30 cm across.
At this time of year, the Common Carder Bee - Bombus pascuorum - turns a paler colour. This specimen was even more pale due to the fact that it was gathering pollen from Spear Thistle. Spear Thistle pollen, as can be seen from the second picture, is pale pink in colour.
It seems like only yesterday that the Hogweed flowers had just opened. Now the seeds are gone.
The seed-heads of the Red Campion are just like little baskets, waiting for the wind to shake the contents out.
Three seeds. Goosegrass to the top left, Spear Thistle to the right and a few Broad-Leaved Willowherb seeds caught on a spider's web.
A nice bright shot of the Square-stalked St. Johns-wort.
And two more shots of the seeds mentioned above. Willowherb to the left and Spear Thistle on the right.
