Wolves Wild

Robin’s pincushion galls also go by several other names, including rose galls.

The insect whose young cause the growth choose dog roses for preference: the “Robin” refers not to the bird, but the folkloric Robin Goodfellow.

Some summer flowers carry on blooming well into September. These poppies were still in flower in the middle of the month, a couple of years back.

Cones on one of the West Park larches, just beginning to ripen. The cones are large, so the tree may be a non-native species.

Another bird portrayal from a misericord at Ludlow.

Pelicans are often portrayed in old churches. They were considered to be a symbols of Christ: it was thought that they killed their own chicks, then, three days later, speared their beaks into their own chests and drew blood which brought the chicks back to life.

These lime nail galls, on the leaves of lime trees, can grow to as much as half a centimeter tall, and range in colour from yellow to red. They are the protective covers of a mite, Eriophyes tiliae.

A speckled wood butterfly sits ready to defend its territory, resting on a sunlit leaf in a nettle patch in the meadow near the Smestow Valley Reserve Ranger Station.