On a warm morning recently, a nettle patch in the corner of Compton Rough was playing host to lots of tortoiseshell butterflies.
I counted ten in the air at one time, but there were probably many more: the insects were spending most of their time resting on nettle leaves, warming themselves in the sun.
A footpath leading up a slope out of the Worfe valley, possibly ancient because it formed at least a slight holloway. A tree brought down by the winter’s storms and lying directly over the path. I only just managed to stoop enough to pass through without banging my head.
Lady’s smock growing in the Barley Field. The field is being managed to encourage wild flowers such as these.
Buttercups growing close together, resembling a miniature forest.
New leaves of a copper beech with their reddish shade contrast with the greens of the other spring foliage.
Remains of a dead conifer with a series of holes in a line. The holes will have been excavated by woodpeckers for their nests.
