David

One of the second, summertime, generation of comma butterflies, feeding on the flowers of a thistle in the Paddock in the Smestow Valley nature Reserve.

Wild carrot at various stages of flowering on different stems of the plant. Growing at the edge of the wetland area created round the Compton Park pond, and probably not one of the wildflowers which were sown when the area was created.

A patchwork leafcutter bee (Megachile centuncularis) on a thistle flower, sampling the pollen, and getting some of it scattered over its back.

Flowering seasonfor the bulrushes which re increasingly the dominant vegetation of the Compton Park pond.

Two robins recently in the Smestow Valley nature Reserve. One was flying around in the bushes at the edge of the Barley Field. The other searching for things to eat on the surface of the Railway Walk nearby.

Ragworts quite often have butterfly or moth caterpillars feeding on their leaves, but I haven’t managed to find any so far this year. So I settled for a few close-ups of the ragwort flowers instead.