Sunny

A glorious morning for a walk, so after finishing the cleaning this morning, Malcolm and I set out for a walk around the farmland and the old West Hallam Colliery.  Along the pathways, the Bird's-foot Trefoil plants are in full bloom and looking glorious.  Adding yet more yellow colouring to the edges were the Creeping Cinquefoils (Potentilla reptans).

This particular plant was attended by a small caterpillar, but the bright, yellow flowers were like little rays of sunshine.

The twittering of a juvenile Swallow caught our ears and a glance upward revealed the bird struggling against the wind, trying to perch on an overhead wire.

Eventually it managed to get a grip on the wire and settled down a bit, still being knocked about a bit by the breeze.  The first time I have been able to get a picture of a swallow as they don't often stick around long enough to 'snap'.

Lastly for today, as we headed home, I was trying (unsuccessfully) to get a picture of a Small Skipper butterfly, when I spotted another small insect close by.  This one was being more cooperative and I was able to get a good picture of this Sloe Bug (Dolycoris baccarum).