As the long-legged spider scurried about on its railing (recent post) a barklouse kept popping up from the underside of the rail, rushing round, then retreating back where it appeared from. Was it trying to predate the spider? To scare it off, or perhaps to escape from it?
The recent weather hasn’t been conducive to a summer burst of fungi: alternately very hot and very dry, then damp but cold for the time of year. This bolete, showing alone on long grass in a front garden by a main road into town, is the only one I’ve spotted so far.
A long-legged spider on the railing of a fence. Legs and all, it was quite large for a British spider. It was also moving quickly and unpredictably, perhaps spinning a web. So I had a lot of trouble keeping it in frame as I tried to get pictures on a mobile phone.
We may, apparently, be having a painted lady summer this year. As yet, there have been arrivals in some numbers near the south and east coasts. Here in the west midlands, sightings have been of ones and twos.
This painted lady was going from flower to flower on one of the species’ favourite plants, a valerian. It was concentrating so hard on what it was doing, I was able to get close enough to take these pictures on a mobile phone.
A tuliptree on a quiet residential side road flowering, brought on by the spell of hot weather in May. I don’t remember the tree having ever flowered previously.
A leafcutter bee as it travelled form flower to flower on a cistus (rock rose) bush.