Some Spring Spiders.

Jumping Spider, Marpissa muscosa, on the back balcony rail of my house in Hayes, 24 May 2012.

These active spiders are always exploring walls and often get into the house through open windows in summer.  They move in a jerky way and stalk insects as prey, using their big sensitive eyes.  I've seen them stalking, but never seen a capture.  It's only the use of flash that makes the background of this photo look dark.

Spider, Philodromus species, on an Oak tree.  Hayes Common, 23 May 2012.

I don't know much about this one, which I saw while walking through the common.  I try to watch out for invertebrates, and sometimes even tiny ones catch my eye, like this one on an oak leaf.  This one has an unusual target pattern on its backside. 

Crab Spider, Misumena vatia, on Oxeye Daisy, Leucanthemum vulgare.  High Elms Country Park, 30 May 2012.

This one looks quite sinister, perhaps because of its shadow looming behind.  It blends in well with its environment and waits for unsuspecting insects to visit the flower it has chosen to wait in.  It can change its colouring to some extent, varying the amount of yellow and white.  Strangely, I saw several last year sitting in the bright magenta flowers of Rosebay Willowherb.

Do you think baby animals are appealing?  How about these:

Spiderlings of the Garden Spider, Araneus diadematus,  on my back balcony in Hayes on 24 May 2012.

The newly hatched Garden Spiders hang together for a while after they hatch.  They look obvious, almost fluorescent, but if they are startled they scatter with amazing speed, which must surely confuse any predator.

Tiny Flowers from Ranscombe Farm

Mixture of cornfield wildflowers at Ranscombe Farm County Park, 25 May 2012.

At Ranscombe Farm there is a cornfield, currently growing wheat.  It's on chalk and there are thousands of tiny wildflowers growing there, mostly around the edge nut also extending deep into the field.

In the photo above, the dandelion looks like a giant.  With it are flowering some Field Pansies (white with a yellow centre), some Common Field Speedwells (three stripy blue petals and a white one), one Venus' Looking-glass (purple), and several clumps of Field Madder (light mauve).

Field Madder, Sherardia arvensis.  Ranscombe Farm County Park, 25 May 2012.

Here's the Field Madder in more detail.  The mauve is often not very apparent. The flowers can look white in the sunlight, and you have to shade them to see the tint.

Venus' Looking-glass, Legousia hybrida.  Ranscombe Farm County Park, 25 May 2012.

Not like this, which would be showy if it wasn't tiny.  It only opens in the sunshine.

Of course there are larger flowers in the wheat too, but looking for tiny flowers, you can find some in the grass nearby.

Black Medick, Medicago lupulina.   Ranscombe Farm County Park, 25 May 2012.

This sometimes grows in profusion, so that even though the flowers are so small, you can see yellow patches in the grass.  You can tell this from similar-looking Medicks and Clovers by the mucronate point at the leaf tip; a tiny point in the slightly incurved tip.

Wall Speedwell, Veronica arvensis.  Ranscombe Farm County Park, 25 May 2012.

There are several Speedwell species in this area, and this is one of the smallest; its flower is noticeable smaller than the Common Field Speedwell in the top photo.  You can distinguish this Wall Speedwell from the equally small Thyme-leaved Speedwell by the hairiness of its stem and leaves.

I'll finish with another from the cornfield; a relative of the Three-nerved Sandwort I have seen recently in a couple of woodlands.

Thyme-leaved Sandwort, Arenaria serpyllifolia.  Ranscombe Farm County Park, 25 May 2012.

All photos were taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark III with an EF 100mm macro lens and ring flash.

Orchids at Ranscombe Farm

Man Orchid, Aceras anthropophorum.  Ranscombe Farm County Park, 25 May 2012.

On May 25th I was at Ranscombe Farm on a trip led by Sue Buckingham, one of her summer wildflower lessons in the field.  It's chalk country not far from the River Medway. 

We saw many interesting and beautiful plants, some of them tiny and some less so.  I will cover some of the agricultural "weeds" next time, and here I will put the rarest of the plants we saw.

The Man Orchid isn't at all spectacular, and in fact it can be quite hard to pick out among grass and other wildflowers, even when it's in full bloom. The specimen below on the left is just about as big and obvious as they get.

Once you have your eye in, you can pick them out, but it would be very easy for an unknowing person to trample them.  I saw an interesting butterfly, a Green Hairstreak, flitting over the patch these were growing in and it was tricky to follow it while at the same time being careful of what I trod on.

Close up, it's quite unusual. It gets its name from the flowers, which dangle something that looks as though it has arms and legs. They can be seen clearly in the top photo.

The Lady Orchid, on the right, is much more flamboyant and really stands out, growing among sparse vegetation deep among the trees.  We saw 21 flowering spikes in one small area.

Lady Orchid, Orchis purpurea.  Ranscombe Farm County Park, 25 May 2012.

Here are the flowers in close-up.  These are supposed to look like a woman in a fancy dress, but to me they are clearly pantaloons.

As well as these two orchids, we saw White Helleborines; some growing near the Man Orchids, and some near the Ladies.

White Helleborine, Cephalanthera damasonium.  Ranscombe Farm County Park, 25 May 2012.

I like these the best of the three.  The complex interior of the flower, with its appearance of a spilled egg yolk, was only visible on those few of the flowers that were fully open.

These orchid are regarded as an endangered species, so I was surprised to see that  they are not listed among the plants that are given special protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.  However, the Act gives all wildflowers protection against being picked, uprooted or destroyed, so that is a start.

Broad-leaved Dock

Seeds of Broad-leaved Dock, Rumex obtusifolius.  Nashenden Down Nature Reserve, 14 April 2012.

These amazing seeds are among the many sights that can only be seen by looking closely, sometimes with a lens.  They were on the dead flower-stems of a Dock plant, which showed this year's leaves at its base but had not yet put up this year's flowers.  These are typical of the Broad-leaved Dock, with spiked edges and large warts.  (The seeds are a good way to tell Docks apart.)  The whole plant looked like this:

Broad-leaved Dock, Rumex obtusifolius.  Nashenden Down Nature Reserve, 14 April 2012.

As its name suggests, the leaves are broad, and they have heart-shaped (cordate) bases, another feature of this particular Dock.

Riverside Invertebrates In May

Mayfly, Ephemera vulgata.  Riverside near Leigh on 19 May 2012.

Along the Medway we saw lots of interesting insects, though as all the others in the party were botanists there were only a few I could get them interested in.  This was one, because it is such an iconic river creature; a Brown Mayfly, the short-lived adult of a common European species often imitated as a dry fly by fishermen.  I caught one in my hand as it flew past (not this one!)

This is pretty, but there was a much more spectacular species flying in the riverside meadows.

Banded Demoiselle, Calopteryx splendens.  Male.  In a riverside meadow near Leigh on 19 May 2012.

When these shiny damselflies flutter past they certainly catch the eye.  They confused me at first; they are as showy as dragonflies, yet they hold their wings like the damselflies they are.  The females are just as shiny, but a different colour, and they don't have the cloudy band in their wings.

Banded Demoiselle, Calopteryx splendens.  Female.  In a riverside meadow near Leigh on 19 May 2012

There were also some Large Red Damselflies around, pretty creatures that if the shiny Demoiselles weren't there I would think were the best things I would see.

Large Red Damselfly, Pyrrhosoma nymphula.  Male.  In a riverside meadow near Leigh on 19 May 2012.

Damselflies hunt other insects.  But less macho creatures can also be handsome.

Dung Fly, Scathophaga species.  Riverside near Leigh on 19 May 2012.

Like this Dung Fly.  Still, probably my favourite creature from this trip appeared at lunchtime on a fleece worn by one of the group.

Weevil, Curculio species.  In a meadow near Leigh on 19 May 2012.

This is probably a nut weevil and I think it is quite amazing that it can manipulate those antennae that are attached halfway along its curving snout.  But they move back and forth quite easily, and can be folded back and hinged to be parallel with the snout.

There were also various other beetles and lots of spiders and flies .. but I will end this post with what we saw as we got back to the village green where our cars were parked.  This is so very traditional as to be a cliche, yet it was a pleasure to see.

Cricket on Leigh village green, 19 May 2012.

All photos were taken with my EOS 60D and EF 100mm macro lens.

Wildflowers Near Leigh - Green

Leigh village green, 19 May 2012.

This is more of that well-kept village green at Leigh.

As well as the flowers in my previous post, there were several interesting plants that had not yet come into bloom.  Here are three to avoid.

Hemlock Water-dropwort,  Oenanthe crocata.  By the Medway near Leigh, 19 May 2012.

This was probably the most startling, because it looks so innocuous.  The Hemlock Water-dropwort is said to be the most poisonous British plant.  It is sometimes mistaken for celery or another edible species; the stems, leaves and bulbous roots are all appetising to some unlucky foragers. This plant was new to me, and I did my best to memorise it. 

Hemlock,  Conium maculatum.  By the Medway near Leigh, 19 May 2012.

Then there were specimens of the actual Hemlock as well.  It is a larger plant altogether.  This one is still young.  Hemlock is easier to recognise and avoid; it has purple blotches on its stems and when it flowers it gives off a strong and distinctive smell.

There are plants of three distinctly different scales here, all in the same Umbellifer family.  The small white-flowered umbels belong to Cow Parsley, currently flowering profusely by paths and roadsides.  It won't get any larger than this. The next up is the Hemlock, which will grow another few feet and might double in size, and to the right you can see a single leaf of a baby Giant Hogweed, the largest herbaceous plant in Britain, which can get up to 5 metres.  It would be interesting to come back here in a couple of months!

Giant Hogweed, Heracleum mantegazzianum.  Near Leigh on 19 May 2012.

Giant Hogweed is also to be avoided.  Its sap can sensitise the skin to sunlight, resulting in painful blisters.  Some Umbellifers are nice, giving us vegetables and herbs, but this selection is the very opposite.

Some of the grasses are showing up well.

Meadow Foxtail, Alopecurus pratensis.  Near Leigh, 19 May 2012.

Something had been eating the tops of many of these flower-heads.  There were shortened grass leaves, too.  The many droppings in the area suggested geese to one of the group, which is a fair guess as they are grazing birds.

I'll finish with a view of the river.

The River Medway near Leigh on 19 May 2012.

Wildflowers Near Leigh

Leigh village green, 19 May 2012.

We parked around the edge of this tidy village green and walked towards the river.  The weather was mild, becoming hot and sunny later on.  This was another Orpington Field Club outing, and the intention was to see something of the water-loving plants that grow by the Medway.  It was a good day; I saw several plants and insects for the first time.

Celery-leaved Buttercup,  Ranunculus sceleratus.  Near Leigh, 19 May 2012.

This was the one I found most interesting.  Yet another species of buttercup, recognisable as such because of that ring of buttery yellow petals, but with fleshy stems and hairless leaves, probably because it lives with its roots in water.  It was in a shallow pond where we took our lunch break.

The same pond was almost full of this plant:

Brooklime, Veronica beccabunga.  Near Leigh, 19 May 2012.

Not new to me, but very pretty, just starting to flower.  It's another Speedwell, which I have seen many of this year.  According to my wildflower teacher Sue Buckingham, its Latin name is memorable because it bungs up the beck.  But look how similar this is in general appearance to the buttercup.  Hairless, with fleshy leaves and stems.  This form must be suited to the shallow-water niche.

This one was also growing in wet ground, but not actually in a pond:

Large Bitter-cress, Cardamine amara.  Near Leigh, 19 May 2012.

It was new to me.  It's related to Hairy and Wavy Bitter-cress, which are common garden invaders, and also the Cuckoo-flower which grows in woods and hedgerows.  It has rounder leaflets than the common types, and one should also look for six violet anthers.

Winter-cress, Barbarea vulgaris.  Near Leigh, 19 May 2012.

Another one I hadn't seen before.  This plant was growing right on the edge of the river bank; I could have removed that twig before taking the photo, but only at some risk.

Growing some way out of reach was this flower.

Dame's-violet, Hesperis matronalis.  Near Leigh, 19 May 2012.

I refer to the two pale inflorescences, not the blue Russian Comfrey to the right or the deep pink Red Campion on the far left.  You can see how full of vigorous wildflowers this area is. 

Dame's-violet is a wild flower that used to be brought into gardens because of its flowers and its pleasant scent, which was strongest in the evening. 

I will finish with two common and familiar flowers.

Elder flowers, Sambucus nigra.  Near Leigh on 19 May 2012.

The beautiful creamy flower-heads of the Elder bush, which make delicious wine.  This grows quickly and easily in so-called waste ground and there is even one poking over my garden fence.

White Dead-nettle, Lamium album.  Near Leigh on 19 May 2012.

This also grows everywhere, but I couldn't resist taking a closeup to show how hairy the flowers are.

It's called a dead-nettle because it doesn't sting, even though the leaves look so similar to the Stinging Nettle.  They grow in the same places, often mixed in the same clumps, so it's useful to be able to tell them apart, which I learned to do at about age 4.