Blooming

Not only the orchids are in bloom at the moment. Among the hedgerows, the Dog Roses are in full bloom and to my mind, their delicate pink flowers are far more appealing than their more showy garden hybrids.

Dog Roses (Rosa canina) are rather variable in colour, but these pink flushed flowers are by far the most common. In the sunshine yesterday, their colour almost glowed and they were giving off the most wonderful fragrance.

Another member of the rose family is to be found growing around the old car parks of the Woodside Nature Reserve. The Potentilla shrubs were originally part of the decorative planting when the area belonged to the American Adventure theme park. Left behind when the park closed, they still flower every year and add their yellow blooms to the environment.

With last week's commemorations of D-Day, the next flower seemed rather appropriate. Common Poppies (Papaver rhoeas) have been a part of war time commemorations since the end of the first world war and where the ground has been disturbed by work to improve the nature reserve, they are coming up and flowering beautifully.

Poppy petals are like tissue paper which give them a delicate appearance and make them flutter in the lightest of wind. Viewed from below, against the sky and amongst the Sow Thistles, these looked particularly good.

Orchid

It's Orchid time again and all around Shipley Park and the Woodside Nature Reserve, these delicate-looking little flowers are popping up all over the place. By far the most numerous are the Common Spotted Orchids (Dactylorhiza fuchsii).

Britain's most common species of orchid, the Common Spotted is very variable in size and colour. It's flowers can be so pale as to be almost white, or much darker pink/purple. They are always streaked and spotted with darker marks on the three-lobed lips of the flower.

The name is derived, not from the flowers, but from the leaves which are a rich green colour, spotted with purplish splodges.
Closely related to the Common Spotted, the Southern Marsh Orchid (Dactylorhiza praetermissa) is also fairly common around here. The flowers are rather similar to the Common Spotted, but the leaves are not marked and the flowers tend to be somewhat darker.

These two orchids are so closely related, they often hybridise, producing orchids with characteristics falling between the two parent species making the whole business of identification, very tricky indeed.
By far the most exciting orchid to be found around the Woodside Nature Reserve, is the Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera).

The lower lip of this flower mimics the markings of a bee in order to attract real bees for the purposes of pollination.

A delicate little flower, they can be easily overlooked, especially as they grow amongst the taller grasses and wild flowers which tend to hide them from view. Without a doubt, they are well worth searching for and it's always an exciting time when the first Bee Orchids begin to flower.

No doubt there will be more Orchid pictures before the season ends!

Flying Things

A storm is raging as I type this.  The Blue Tits, Great Tits, Sparrows, Blackbirds and Starlings have all flown for cover as hailstones like golf balls batter everything and thunder and lightning add their contribution to the storm.  All this weather is not good for the many small flying things which are to be found in the garden at the moment.  A close look at the Gooseberry bush revealed a 14-spot Ladybird (Propylea 14-punctata) trying to hide in the fold of a leaf.

Yesterday evening, while we were enjoying our dinner, two more flying things looked as if they wanted to join us.  This time, it was a couple of female Scorpion Flies (Panorpa communis) which settled on the patio doors.  The female is easily separated from the male by looking at the red 'tail'.  In the female, it is short and straight, while in the male, it curls up and back on itself, giving it the look of a scorpion's sting - hence the name.  A strange looking beastie!

Another odd-looking fly was to be found on our Pyracantha bush this morning.  This one turned out to be a Dance Fly (sometimes called Dagger Flies) and has the tongue-twister scientific name Rhamphomyia sulcata.

From one end of the scale to the other and another flying thing which was seen from our back garden yesterday afternoon.  A bit bigger this time, it was the world's largest passenger airliner, the Airbus A380. This one, operated by Emirates Airlines, was headed for Manchester airport having come from Dubai.

It's amazing what can be seen from the back garden!

Stormy morning

Not much of a walk this morning as the threat of thunderstorms and heavy rain was ever present, so here are a few more pictures from our walk around Mapperley Reservoir yesterday. The paths were a bit boggy in places after all the recent rain, but that same rain has also meant that the countryside is looking fresh and green and extremely lush.

It was tricky trying to look at the plants in the hedges while negotiating the puddles and mud-pots, but well worth the effort.

At the end of the reservoir where the brooks tumble through the undergrowth the sunshine sparkled on the water and made a lovely scene.

Clearing the woodland and out again into the sunshine of the open countryside, some good views of Shipley Hill were to be had, particularly where Buttercups filled the fields.

Lovely!

Pastoral

It was a scene of pastoral tranquillity this morning as we walked towards the village of Mapperley. Small calves nibbled the grass, keeping close to their mothers who were in turn, rather wary of us stopping to take their picture.

The calves were quite beautiful...

...while the adult cattle kept a close watch out for their welfare.  One in particular was keeping us under very close scrutiny.

All remained calm as we walked on and passed a large bull - called 'Hotshots' if his ear tag was to be believed - who seemed to be keeping order in the field.  Just time for one more picture of the delightful youngsters.

Buttons

In the wetland which borders the main lake at Straw's Bridge, a brightly-flowered plant can be found displaying its bright yellow blooms.

As is so often the case, this plant is not a native to the UK, but it originates from South Africa.  It is known as Buttonweed (Cotula coronopifolia).  Sometimes called Brass Buttons or even Golden Buttons, the name comes from the small, button-shaped flower heads which look like rather the central section of a daisy inflorescence.  Here, the Buttonweed can be seen growing in the water, alongside the red stems of Water Mint.

Buttonweed is a perennial and can now be found colonising large parts of the world, spreading itself across the globe particularly in the USA.  Not only is it a plant of fresh water marshes and lake margins, it is also salt-tolerant and can be found growing in salt marshes, its fleshy leaves storing fresh water during saline inundation.

Looking in the other direction, away from the Buttonweed, the small, fluffy 'buttons' of mallard ducklings were swimming past, not in the least bit interested in the Buttonweed.

Mini Beast

While taking a picture of the flowers of a Cow Parsley plant, I inadvertently snapped a small beetle, busying itself on the flower head.

This attractive little beetle had metallic, dark green elytra (wing cases) and a very noticeable red 'bottom' (actually bright red spots on the ends of the elytra.) My initial thoughts were that this was a flower, or pollen beetle, but further research when we returned home, proved it to be a Common Malachite Beetle (Malachius bipustulatus). The adult beetle is a predator of other small insects, but will also eat the pollen of the flowers on which it hunts. The large, flat flower heads of the carrot family - of which the Cow Parsley is a common member - are a particular favourite of the Malachite Beetle.

If alarmed, the beetle is capable of extruding two red pouches from its sides, which give off a smell to deter any predator wanting to make a meal of it.
Another new 'tick' for the life list!