Purple & Gold
Common Purple & Gold, Pyrausta purpuralis. Sony DSC-HX20V f4 10mm 1/60 ISO 250
An attractive day flying moth. It’s nice to see insects taking advantage of all that Marjoram I planted – a very good plant for a wide range of insects. And in this case, nicely colour co-ordinated too.
Geranium pratense
Meadow Crane’s-bill, Geranium pratense. Nikon D5200 Tokina 100mm f16 1/125 ISO 400
Pasqueflower
Pulsatilla vulgaris. The darn things were everywhere but surprisingly difficult to photograph. But so beautiful, and so exotic in the English landscape. And so darn hard to shoot while being buffeted by the wind on a cold spring day.
Deep Purple
Nikon D5200 Tokina 100mm f11 1/250 ISO 100
Planned orchid hunting was almost completely washed out by the wet weekend. No matter, we need the rain. On the way home we managed to stop on a roadside verge at Deep Lane which has several species of orchids (including some vexatious hybrids). These Early Purple Orchids (Orchis mascula) were putting on a fine show. The hoverfly (don’t know what species, but it’s a male – the eyes touch) had bedded down on it for what turned out to be a wet and windy night. I find it incredible that we’re not really sure what the pollinators are for one of the commonest orchid species in Britain (although it’s more likely to be a bumblebee than this chap).
The first orchid
Nikon D5200 Tokina 100mm f22 1/180 ISO 200
It’s a very special day of the year for me – my first orchid of 2015. An appropriately named Early Purple Orchid (Orchis mascula) with the buds just breaking. Not the best photograph because this spike was hidden by vegetation and in a ditch so I couldn’t get close for a macro shot or a clear view shooting from a distance. Gorgeous though, isn’t it? Although the weather was a bit grey, so many other fascinating plants in the ancient wood. So many shoots and buds, so much to look forward to in the coming weeks:
Town Hall Clock, Adoxa moschatellina a plant of wet woodlands and streams. Known as ‘Town Hall Clock’ because the flowers face out in four directions at 90 degrees to each other, rather like the four faces of a town clock. The four outward facing flowers usually have 5 parts whilst the upward facing flower usually has only four parts. This early specimen only has the terminal bud open.
Opposite-leaved Golden-saxifrage, Chrysosplenium oppositifolium – another wet woodland plant and an indicator of ancient woodland.
Cowslip, Primula veris – because it’s Spring!
Sunday Lunch
Nikon D5200 Tamron 70-300mm f27 70mm +68mm 1/125 ISO 800
Apologies for the over abundance of macro shots recently, but a combination of work and illness means that I just haven’t had time to get out and about for a while. However, I’m quite proud of today’s mystery object. In fact, it’s the best I’ve ever grown. But we now have rather an overabundance of PSB, so if you have a favorite recipe to spare, it would be welcome!
AJC Photography 