Teazles, recently flowered, in the recently created local nature reserve by the river in Stratford on Avon. The plant was actually a lot more abundant there before it was landscaped into a nature reserve. It had been the dominant vegetation in rough ground, the former site of the town’s landfill site in the middle of the last century, now converted into a pool and scrape.
In the recently created local nature reserve along the Avon near the centre of Stratford, a young heron on the prowl.
It was early August, at the height of the long dry spell, so water levels were low. While we were watching, the bird made several strikes for prey, but didn’t seem to be having any success.
A male banded demoiselle damselfly rests on a leaf overhanging the River Avon at Stratford, while a male broad-bodied chaser dragonfly is in the middle of a riverside footpath nearby. Both are hoping to attract females.
pears ripening on their tree, and a wasp grateful for a windfall. The orchard, Anne Hathaway’s cottage, Shottery.
Apples aren’t the only fruit grown in orchards. These plums and pears, along with a lot of old varieties of apples, were in the orchard at Anne Hathaway’s cottage, Shottery.
A tiny cherry bird ermine moth resting up in the daytime on purple loosestrife flowers.
