How excellent that some farmers still go with the flow and don't try to push production to unrealistic and perhaps unsustainable limits. Right next to the River Bourne there's a small patch of damp land that holds some nice plants and who knows what else. At the end of a long day I took Monty down to have a quiet wander and in the still of a hot muggy evening the first thing I noticed was that the Common Fleabane heads have only just started to open up, attracting pollen beetles, hover-flies and a wide range of other odds and ends from the insect world. This hover-fly looks a bit like Sphaerophora, and possibly S. scripta, which I've already seen some days ago up at Dene Park.
The Fleabane (Pulicaria dysenterica) is seen in good stands along the damp edges of rides in nearby woods like Dene Park (where I saw the first heads open yesterday), as well as on the damp alluvial soil down here by the river. The plant's common name comes from its use to repel insects (the sap is astringent), while its specific name comes from a previous use as a supposed cure for dysentery - note the spelling!
Other plants noted were a fine stand of prickly ox-tongue, water mint, marsh woundwort, Birds-Foot Trefoil and smooth tare, all competing well with a wide range of grasses on this heavy low-lying land to form a colourful damp meadow.
There were quite a few hover-flies and bees together with other insects wandering around at knee height although it was already 6:30, and the heat of the day was vanishing quickly. This is an unknown species of Ichneumon wasp.
and this is a quick photo of a Gatekeeper butterfly.
and finally this is a view of a hover-fly I can't identify! I do wonder whether it might be a very fresh S.scripta, its just got that sort of feel about it (and the wings don't look as though they are going to reach the end of the abdomen!
The Fleabane (Pulicaria dysenterica) is seen in good stands along the damp edges of rides in nearby woods like Dene Park (where I saw the first heads open yesterday), as well as on the damp alluvial soil down here by the river. The plant's common name comes from its use to repel insects (the sap is astringent), while its specific name comes from a previous use as a supposed cure for dysentery - note the spelling!
Other plants noted were a fine stand of prickly ox-tongue, water mint, marsh woundwort, Birds-Foot Trefoil and smooth tare, all competing well with a wide range of grasses on this heavy low-lying land to form a colourful damp meadow.
There were quite a few hover-flies and bees together with other insects wandering around at knee height although it was already 6:30, and the heat of the day was vanishing quickly. This is an unknown species of Ichneumon wasp.
and this is a quick photo of a Gatekeeper butterfly.
and finally this is a view of a hover-fly I can't identify! I do wonder whether it might be a very fresh S.scripta, its just got that sort of feel about it (and the wings don't look as though they are going to reach the end of the abdomen!
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