Hoary Ragwort, Senecio erucifolius

This was a tentative ID, impossible to definitely confirm, on a plant on the path in the meadow on the path leading down to East Lock.

Pointed lobes on the stem leaves at least and quite cottony on the underside of the leaves suggested this ID.

Most importantly, the outer bracts are nearly half as long as the long inner bracts, not less than a quarter, so definitely Hoary Ragwort!

The flowers however seemed a golden yellow (at least when drying out) rather than a clear pale yellow, so PERHAPS this might indicate that it could be Common Ragwort yet again - I just don't believe that this is a good indicator.

Wandering down to East Lock

As I got down to the Environment Agency's "Wildflower sowing patch" by East Lock the area looked to be better for damselflies than the whole of the rest of the walk so far.

The first one identified was the blue homochrome form of the Azure Damselfly, Coenagrion puella, with this one having a moderate amount of blue on its abdomen. This could be compared with a darker variant that I have also seen. The thorax is still green. Less than 10% of the females are reputed to be the blue "homochrome" form, while over 90% are supposed to be the typical female "heterochrome" form (no reference).

I was pleased to see the White-legged Damselflies, Platycnemis pennipes, here as I don't recall them from previous years. Here is an immature female, known as the "lactea" phase. Note the buffy pterostigmas. The second photo might be of a different animal, I'm not sure.

and here is the male,

Down to East Lock

There were a lot of Wheat Stem Borer, Cephus pygmaeus, sheltering, and in one case mating, on the buttercups in the field margin of the wheat field. Not a major pest perhaps, but still likely to have an impact on the harvest.

I was very glad to see a female Platycheirus, perhaps P. scutatus, from the shape of the abdominal markings in the same field margin, along with a tiny Nomada, perhaps Nomada flavoguttata.

Geranium dissectum, Ranunculus acris, repens and bulbosa together with Ficaria were all seen. Filipendula, Hypericum maculatum (?), Green Field Speedwell, Veronica agrestis, Cocksfoot, Yorkshire Fog, Holcus lanata,  there were a lot of Chaffinches, some Skylarks, and one Cuckoo.