Simple Pleasures

 Life's simple beauty is just wonderful at times.  Walking past a small bank covered in wild flowers just glowing with colour in the sun was stunning and eyecatching. Not showy and including a few dandelions but great to see. Would be nice if more road side verges were left uncut for the wild flowers and grasses to grow and provide habitat and food for invertebrates.

Won't happen though 'cos people moan about them looking untidy ☹️

Dandelions, red dead nettle and speedwell

 The trees and undergrowth in Wassand wood are coming along nicely but the ground is still very, very wet and waterlogged. A few consistently dry days would do wonders I think.

Wassand woodland walk

I counted 8 Blackcaps on my walk yesterday morning and had a good view of  some of them singing.

Singing Blackcap

Although I haven't managed to find a Treecreeper nest yet, I have found a Long-tailed Tit nest to watch. They are fantastic things to see, constructed in an almost enclosed egg shape of lichen, moss and spider's web, they keep the eggs and chicks safe from the elements until they fledge.

Long-tailed Tit nest

I won't be lucky enough to get pics of the birds coming and going at the nest as the entrance is well hidden in the bramble patch and the route in is therefore obscurred. Clever creatures!

Long-tailed Tit hidden in the brambles

Male Marsh Harrier

Our Buzzards are still around and I recognise this one from its underwing pattern and from the fact it has a damaged primary feather on its right wing.

Female Common Buzzard

Fungus is intriguing stuff. I find it really hard to id as there are so many that look the same. Although I have a couple of books and also try an id app, there never seems to be a 100% concensus of opinion.

Take this fungus for example, growing on dead wood. It's only a few millimetres in size and you'd think it'd be easy to id. Not a bit of it. I'll update this blog once I have an answer.
 

Today's view

Yesterday's view