Wolves Wild

The small black dots on this flower are all tiny beetles.

Found late spring/early summer on dock leaves, which the young eat.

Their bright green colour is unmistakable.

This female is pregnant. Her body has swollen up so that the wings only cover the front section.

A thistle and white campion growing closely together.

At the height of its flowering season, St John’s wort attracts crowds of bees and hoverflies.

These were near the car park of the Saltwells LNR.

Sometimes known as butter and eggs.

This mushroom had a large and uneven cap on top of a very short stem.

Cling to the soil – sometimes known as eggs and bacon.

The shaggy parasol is quite a large mushroom, but this one was almost hidden in long grass in a grassy bank at the side of the road to Pattingham.

They can be seen skitting over the surface of still water in ponds and pools. In fact, there are two different species. The Lesser water boatman (second picture) is indeed, as its name implies, smaller. It also looks like it is walking on the water standing upright, whereas the water boatman lies on its back an appears to use its forelegs like oars.

The lesser boatman is vegetarian, the boatman predates just about anything in the pond which it is big enough to catch.