Category: David

Seen by the side of the canal towpath near Castlecroft, tow plants, each some sort of umbellifer, with foliage which was red.

Pond skaters rush around the surface of still water with their middle and rear legs supported by surface tension. Look closely to see small indentations in the water surface under their legs.

Water boatman, a common water insect, rushes round the surface of still water lying on its back and using its large rear legs as oars. Nowadays often called by the American name of backswimmer to distinguish them from an unrelated insect which swims on its front.

Hornbeams have winged seeds, designed to be dispersed from the parent tree by the wind. These seeds, as yet unripe, are hanging down in a bunch from the end of a twig.

Swallows strung out on telephone wires like notes on a musical stave, with most of the birds stretching out a wing. They may be this year’s chicks, getting ready for their first long flight on the migration to the southern hemisphere.

Web spun between the ears of several wheat plants, resembling a discarded veil. A large, possibly female, spider could be made out in the densest part of the web.