Wolves Wild

The showy flower of a wild thistle, possibly a musk thistle, growing on the Lorelei rock.

A male lobed argiope (Argiope lobata) approaches a much larger female in her web prior to mating. The approach was very cautious – I think this is one of the spider species where he may end up as a post-coital snack.

Seen on the Crête, the dry limestone plateau inland from Cassis near Marseille.

The Lorelei is a steep cliff on the bank of the Rhine, towards the downstream end of the Rhine Gorge. Together with the hills on the other bank, it forces the fast-flowing river into a tight s-bend, which creates dangerous currents even on the tamed river of today.

Until recent times, it was the accident black-spot on the river. Ancient myth had the catastrophes caused by a beautiful maiden inhabiting the rock, whose singing distracted steersmen who failed to give the river their total attention, luring them to their doom.

The first picture shows the view looking downstream, with the Lorelei rock to the right. The other shows the rock directly across the river.

A paradise shelduck on the river at Oberwesel in the Rhine Gorge.

CORRECTION: Almost certainly an Egyptian goose, not any kind of shelduck.

A freezing cold morning, but the clear skies let the bright sunlight warm up the surface of the Severn at Shrewsbury, sending a few tendrils of mist rising.

High water in the Severn had left soft mud on sections of the riverside footpath. Under English Bridge at Shrewsbury there were lots of animal prints in the mud. Many were dogs, but the pattern-matching algorithms at iNaturalist suggest these may be badge.