Category: David

Bumble bees scrambling in St John’s Wort flowers, trying to collect all the nectar.

These two flies were resting on leaves on neighbouring trees. Both are from common species.

Meadowsweet, with its froth of white flowers on tall stems, grows in areas of damp soils.

Yellow rattle is encouraged in the areas of Wolverhampton’s parks and open spaces which are managed as wildflower meadows.

It parasitises the most vigorous plants (grasses and clovers IIRC) and so allows rarer flowers to grow.

Two distant views of Brewood church. One is taken from the canal towpath near the Hyde Mill Lane Bridge, the other from a footpath crossing a barley field as it heads to the woods of Chillington Avenue.

I stood in front of the small patch of bushes when taking the first picture to hide the farm buildings. telegraph wires and similar intrusive elements between me and the village. The effect has been to hide a surprisingly deep little valley with a brook which runs parallel to the canal.

Woundwort also has various other vernacular names, including self-heal. It is a common flower in summer meadows and, as the names imply, once had herbal uses.