Strange-looking things growing in a front garden. I thought they were fungi, but on closer inspection they are plants. Identified by iNaturalist as western wild ginger (Asarum caudatum) but I’m not convinced.
Yellows: sun fly on ragwort
Sun flies, quite a common hoverfly. This one was busy eating on ragwort flowers.
Spiky flowers: teazle
The entire superstructures of the (tall, tall) plants are covered in defensive spikes. Those on the flowers are long, and end in a hook. They are designed to catch in fur or feathers once the seeds have ripened, to get the seeds away from the parent plant.
Once upon a time, teazles were used as combs to clean raw wool. Later, they were the inspiration behind the invention of Velcro (TM).
Carrion crow keeping to the metalled surface as it stalked along the footpath / cycle path in Compton Park. Seems to be a regular habit for this bird.
Yarrow going to seed
The flowers on one stalk of a yarrow had had their time, and seemed to have folded over to form a ring as the plant began to go to seed.
It’s been a common red soldier beetle summer. This one was feeding on a thistle flower.






