This year’s dry spring has meant there have been very few mushrooms so far. From way back in 2010. here are some hare’s foot inkcaps. The only times I’ve ever seen them in the west midlands, they have been growing on wood chip mulch.
A garden poppy, which has self-seeded itself in what is technically inside, forcing its way up through a gap between two flagstones. This was its first flower of the year.
No problem spotting this orange tip butterfly picture in these close-up pictures. When I looked at the actual Jack by the hedge plant, the caterpillar was a lot harder to spot. Does its camouflage have the same effect on insectivorous birds with hungry nestlings?
Coots mostly have aquatic feeding habits. As they swim, they dive for vegetation which they then eat as they resurface. This well-grown coot chick in West Park varied the habit. It’s standing in what is probably the most popular spot where people come to feed the ducks and geese. In a quiet period when the crowds have gone, it searches the crevices for crumbs the bigger birds have missed.
The Celtic crosses in the west of Cornwall have been there a long time. Their stone, regular wetting from the Atlantic rainfall, and the unpolluted air mean they form an excellent surface for the growth of lichens.
One of these crosses is in the churchyard of Zennor, near St Ives. Possibly it gets less attention than other attractions of the village. The carving of a mermaid inside the church is probably the most famous of its type in Britain, associated with a “once upon a time” story of a mermaid which supposedly actually visited the nearby shore. The pub provides welcome refreshment for those who reach Zennor by the Coastal Path. But the cross, among gravestones similarly supporting lichens, is worth a little pause.
The other crosses are located inconspicuously in the grassy verge by the side of the road between Penzance and Lands End. They are a couple of hundred yards further west than the Merry Maidens stone circle. Motorists heading along the road quite likely pass by without even noticing them.
On hot days, it’s not unusual to see pigeons crouching down, spreading their wings and sunbathing. Smaller birds such as sparrows also adopt similar postures, but are then more active wriggling around: they’re anting, or having a dust bath. With the re ent warm weather, the Canada geese in West Park have been joining in as eell.
