David

As I was out early one morning I came across a bush where it seemed that every other leaf had a different snail feeding on it.

The warm weather at the end of May brought on the flowers – and the insects which feed on them.

A hawthorn hedge was covered with flowers, which were attracting a crowd of honey bees.

The bees had already gathered so much nectar that it looked like they would be overloaded for take-off.

The hawthorn nectar (in the combs on their back legs) is a pale straw colour.

This sequence of moorhens taking their chicks for one of their first outings on the water was taken a month ago on the Staffs & Worcs canal near Castlecroft.

Same set of birds as above, still out on the water having ventured further from the nest.

These were on the next tree to the flowers in the previous post.

To get the range of colours in the flowers (including lilac) I pictured blooms in a shady patch early on a sunny morning.