Wolves Wild

Compton Park pond on a sunny day last month. There were quite a few bees on the remaining flowers. The ones on the water mint were all honey bees. As far as I could see, the water mints were the only flowers honey bees were visiting.

A group of boletes growing under a beech tree by Richmond Road: probably associated with the tree. I find many boletes hard to distinguish, but iNaturalist suggests these many be rooting boletes (Caloboletus radicans)

One of the teazles on the Compton Park pond, flowering finished. Light coming mainly from behind emphasised the prickly seed head and stem, and caught the small web which a spider had made.

Cats aren’t the only creatures driven wild by catnip. Lots of bumblebees were busy on the catnip flowering in the Dutch Garden at Bantock House recently.

Two white butterflies were in the air over the Compton Park pond recently, clearly interacting. I wasn’t sure whether it was foreplay, or jousting over control of a valuable territory.

Then one of them veered away and flew off. The other landed, and started feeding on one of the water mint not far from me.

It was a green-veined white. I’ve now seen all the four species of white butterfly which I normally see locally, although in much smaller numbers than usual – one lone individual in the case of orange tips.

Seaside gulls aren’t the only birds which have learnt that chip shop chips are tasty. Turnstones normally feed in the intertidal zone. They do turn small stones over with their beaks, looking for food. Likewise with seaweed.

They can often be spotted when the tide is out in estuaries and harbours. One denizen of Brixham harbour some years ago had swapped the effort of moving pebbles for a habit of hanging round on the pavement outside the local harbourfront chippie, waiting for careless customers to let one slip.