Robin’s pincushions, a gall which affects wild roses. In the past, I don’t remember ever seeing more than one or perhaps two of these brightly coloured growths on a single briar. This year, multiple infestations seem common. These were all on a single bush in the Barley Field blackthorn hedge – I gave up counting when I got to twenty.
Rainbow formed as the low angle of early evening sunlight shone through the web of a garden cross spider.
Jay on the ground under an oak tree at Wightwick Manor, hunting acorns. The Heritage Open Days held every year in September give the chance to visit the site without the usual entrance charge. The gardens and grounds are so extensive that it’s possible to find undisturbed spots away from the crowds where the wildlife is still showing itself unconcerned.
Patch of yarrow with pink flowers, rather than the more usual white, on the slopes of the Malvern Hills.
Southern hawker dragonfly flashing by, patrolling its territory along a stretch of the canal and the canalside vegetation at Compton.
Garden cross spiders are quite noticable, one of the largest spiders in Britain, quite common through the summer and autumn. The orb webs the females build can be large – and easy to spot when covered in droplets of early morning dew. The pictures are of one which has caught a fly in its web, and is now wrapping it in silken threads to be a later meal.
