Newquay

Back home again from a few days away to the English seaside, down in the far South-West. Malcolm and I decided to have a 'traditional' English seaside holiday in Newquay and hoped for good weather! In the end, the weather was wonderful, the sun shone (after the first day when it was a little cloudy). In the sun, it was warm and wonderful, there was a stiff, northerly wind blowing most of the week which took the edge off the temperatures if you were exposed to it, but altogether, a brilliant break away. There will be many pictures of our break in the days to come, many of which will feature the fine and colourful flowers which are bursting out all over the place. Among the best are the Bladder Campion (Silene vulgaris) which is a member of the Pinks family and add a splash of bright, white among the Thrift and Vetches on the cliff-tops.

The pale, yellow Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria) added another bit of colour to the scene as it waved in the breeze.

Malcolm was enjoying the views along the cliffs, to the white sand beaches and the blue, blue sea.

All of the lanes and paths were lined by the most vibrant pink flowers of the Red Valerian (Centranthus ruber). A tall plant, the flowers range from the deepest pink, through paler, 'candy-floss' pink up to pure white and were most handsome nodding in the wind. Who could ask for anything better?

Orchid

It's that time of year again. Malcolm and I were greeted by the sight of the first orchids to open their flowers this morning. Firstly the gorgeously coloured flowers of the Southern Marsh Orchid (Dactylorhiza praetermissa).

The flowers of this plant are variable in colour, though generally rather dark purple. Occasionally they can even be white which would make the identification much more difficult.

Among the Southern Marsh Orchids, there are many more Common Spotted Orchids (Dactylorhiza fuchsii).

As you can see from the Latin name, they are both of the same family (the Dactylorhyza - which means finger-like roots) and are rather similar to look at. The Common Spotted is named after it's leaves which are usually (but not always) spotted with chocolate - brown blotches. The flowers are well marked too and, like the Southern Marsh Orchid are rather variable in colour from dark pinkish-purple right through to white. A sure sign that Summer has arrived and a welcome addition to the grassy spaces around Shipley Park.

Fluff and Flies

It was so nice to be able to get out and about again this morning as the sun shone and the birds sang once more. We set off to see if the swans we have been watching, had successfully hatched their clutch of eggs. As we approached the Straws Bridge Ponds, we could still hear the Great Reed Warbler singing loudly from the reed bed and there, swimming around the same lake, was a proud mother and her two cygnets.

They were being kept fairly far off until someone appeared with a bread bag and they were joined by the father, a magnificent specimen of testosterone-fueled belligerence, keeping all the other waterfowl at bay.

Around the lake, there are several trees and it was on the trunk of one of these, that I suddenly spotted this strange insect....A Scorpion Fly (Panorpa communis).

This one is a female and about an inch long, so a fairly impressive beast. These flies are scavengers and regularly feed on the rotting remains of other animals. They can also be seen feeding on the contents of spiders' webs, a tricky and rather dangerous thing to do.
Speaking of spiders, I have mentioned the small, Jumping or Zebra Spider (Salticus scenicus) and have photographed one before on our patio as it devoured a fly. This morning, as we got home, there was another one of these charming little arachnids on our house wall - again it was devouring a fly.

The most curious fact about these little spiders, is that they do not jump by means of muscles in the legs. Instead, they jump by suddenly increasing the blood pressure in their legs which makes them 'explosively' stretch out and propel the spider forward. Quite amazing!

Wet!

Once again, Malcolm and I are 'confined to barracks' with the rain falling and the ways foul. Lets hope it stops raining later and we can get at least a short walk. In the meantime, some pics from our sunnier walks...
Firstly an old favourite of the British countryside, the Ragged Robin (Lychnis flos-cuculi). Closely related to the Pinks and Campions, it has the most extraordinary petals.

It's easy to see where it gets the name 'Ragged' from when you take a close look at the five, deeply divided petals which give it a look as if it has been attacked with a pair of scissors.
The Latin name harks back to it's old name of Cuckoo Flower (a name we now give to a different plant altogether - the Lady's Smock). In French it is called Fleur de coucou and the Spanish know it as either Flor-de-cuco or Flor del cuclillo. Whatever you like to call it, you can't deny it is one of our most striking and easily recognisable flowers.

Next, another common plant which we all love to see growing along roadsides and hedgerows, the Oxeye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare also called Chrysanthemum leucanthemum or Leucanthemum leucanthemum). A stately plant with a showy flower atop it's slender stems. The flower is 'compound', otherwise known as a composite inflorescence made up of many individual florets which sit together on a disc shaped capitulum. The outer flowers or Ray florets, have a large large, petal-like 'ligule' making the whole flower head look like one single flower.

I could get on to the 'Golden Ratio' (approximately 1.618) and it's link to the spiral arrangement of the florets which make up the disc, but I think that will have to wait for another day! Enough of the long names and fancy words for today, have a cup of tea, sit back and just enjoy the flowers

Miserable

A miserable day today, fine rain, followed by heavy rain, two minutes drying out, then more rain. So. it was off to do some shopping and take our recycling (those bits which the Council will not collect), to Tesco at Heanor.
No nice, Summery, pictures this morning so I thought I would put another of my small videos on the blog. This one is a mixture of some of my pictures taken around Shipley Park, set to music by Sweet People, called Birds of Paradise.

Summer Time

The British Summer, according to the old adage, consists of 'three fine days and a thunderstorm'. That particular bit of optimistic, sage wisdom, seemed to have been proven over the past few days as the heat gave way to yesterday's heavy rain, lightning and thunder. But, as we had to make a trip to Norfolk to take my mother back home after her holiday, it didn't matter much.
With the sunnier days, the buttercups in the fields are looking particularly good. This field near West Hallam village, is a fine example.  They are so numerous, they look more like a field of Rape Seed, but Buttercups they are....

Today, as we walked around the Straw's Bridge ponds we were treated to the sight of several House Martins (Delichon urbicum) flying in to the edge of a flooded field, to gather fresh mud for building or repairing their nests. It took some time to get a shot of these very shy birds and I only then manged it from a good distance away. These tiny birds have an energetic life, migrating several thousand miles to Britain from sub-Saharan Africa each year in order to breed, before returning in late Summer or Early Autumn - not a bad feat for something weighing only about half an ounce.

While on the subject of migratory birds, there has been a lot of excitement over the last few weeks about a Great Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) which has strayed from it's normal Summer breeding grounds on the continent, and has set up home (for the first time ever in Derbyshire), on one of the Straw's Bridge ponds (I mentioned it a couple of weeks ago). Well, the bird is still in residence in it's small patch of reeds and still singing his heart out trying desperately to attract a mate (poor thing) and this morning, Malcolm and I got our best views of this elusive bird as it sat in the tops of the reeds to sing rather than skulking deeper down , out of sight. It was still a long way away and partially concealed by the reeds, but I did manage to get a picture at last...

Two pictures from our garden to end with. Firstly, a small bee feasting on the Pyracantha flowers. Much smaller than a Honey Bee, It took some time to identify it, but it turns out to be a Yellow-legged Mining Bee (Andrena flavipes). Very busy as a bee should be, it was taking no notice of my prying lens.

Lastly, an even smaller creature. Although not easily visible itself, everyone will be familiar with the frothy masses of 'Cuckoo Spit' which adorn the plants in Spring. This froth is the protective home of the nymph of the Common Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius) living within it. In this picture, it is just possible to see the greenish colour of the nymph within the froth attached to the leaves of our Lavender plant.

Colourful

Once again, we stepped out in glorious sunshine this morning, sun-lotion on and even I managed to expose my knees in shorts (not a pretty sight). The fresh, green hedgerows and trees are all around and look particularly good after the little bit of rain we had earlier in the week. Malcolm seems to be enjoying the weather in the distance in this picture...

Among the prettiest plants to be found along the footpaths right now, is the Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum). One of the most common of the Cranesbill - or Geranium - family, it has been used in traditional medicinal preparations as a cure for nosebleeds and toothache. It has also been used as a treatment for dysentery and as a diuretic....very useful!

Heading for home again, we walked along the old Nutbrook Canal taking care not to get our legs stung by the surrounding nettles. The sun shone through the overhanging boughs, illuminating the old water course and with the sound of the water rippling among the fallen branches and rocks, it was just magical.

Probably the most colourful sight to greet us this morning, came in the form of this beautiful poppy (Papaver rhoeas), growing along the footpath.

The redness of the tissue-paper-like petals was as hot as the sun which was burning our necks as I stood to take it's photograph.