Hiding

The run of fine weather continues. I'd originally planned a day of plant recording in Lincolnshire, but I had to have a slow puncture on one of my car tyres fixed at 10am, which rather put a spanner in the works. 

Instead I had an early morning walk along the river, where I saw plenty of Banded Demoiselles roosting in the reeds. This one fluttered a little way before hiding behind this very sharp rose thorn. I'm not sure whether it felt protected, but I was able to approach it quite closely with the macro lens - if you look closely you can even see the drops of dew on its eyes. 

I had a wonderful meander to a chorus of cuckoos (probably two pairs), willow warbler, chiffchaff, reed warbler, sedge warbler, garden warbler, blackcap, whitethroat and the alarmingly loud song of a Cetti's warbler. Not bad for a suburban stretch of river! The little hay meadow was looking good and I was pleased to find a single plant of Ragged Robin flowering (see extra).

After the tyre was fixed, Pete and I spent a couple of hours recording a tetrad near Baston, on the edge of the Fens. It was surprisingly interesting, and we managed to record about 250 species, including a ditch full of Marsh Marigolds and Sharp-flowered Rush, and a rather surprising plant of Royal fern growing in another watercourse.