| Above: Marsh woundwort | ||||
| The unusually dry weather has held back the usual summer growth of fleabane (possibly so called because of its presumed pulicifuge effects). As a result, the smaller plants have room to show. We saw constellations of hawkbit, and carpets of bird’s-foot trefoil. |
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| Hawkbit | Bird's-foot trefoil | |||
| Red bartsia is abundant, and we found marsh woundwort as well. What a great place for traditional medicinal herbs! |
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| Red bartsia with hawkbit | New pond | |||
| The new pond is holding water well. A rich growth of creeping thistle has colonised the excavated soil – the seed will be food for goldfinches, we hope. Small white butterflies dashed about in the breeze, but the parade of gatekeepers (perhaps a recent hatch) kept low, and out of it. |
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| Seeding thistles | Gatekeeper male | |||
| All signs point to a good week for botany and butterflies, beginning 10th August. | ||||