Monday 25 May 2015

Life in the Ox-Eye Daises

I've been a lazy boy today and feeling rather guilty with it. But I still managed to get out for a nature walk along the cycle track, although I wasn't planning to buy a new laptop - I'm not flush, it was only an Acer Chromebook - while having a stretch of my legs.

We are in the middle of a new burst of blooming along the Sustrans 64 cycle path. The cowslips have faded away, to be replaced by groundsel and ragwort. Buttercups are putting on a show, and there are what I guess are marigolds out too.

My favourite flower I saw today however, was a very spooky looking pink flower, with these strange almost alien looking petals, arthritic and creaky looking efflouresences, the hands of botanical Nosferatu. I hope someone can identify them for me.

Further down the cycle path is the railway line section, where the Flying Scotsman thunders along one side of you, while on the other, a strange brown field wasteland on the site of a demolished telecoms business is now rampant with ox-eye daisies. There they sit in clumps, their fried egg flowers proving irresistible to insect life.

Virtually every one had some sort of bug sat on it...ladybirds, flies, and most numerously these twitchy antennad little beetles, or perhaps weevils, pale green-brown in colour, and loving the gold sun centres of the flowers. 

Lucky bugs! It's like living on your own luxury island! 

Si

Still some flowering trees about

Pollen flecked honey bee

Busy bee

Fishing

Now what's this hiding on the cycle track bank, the old railway line cut

Groundsel and ragwort. Or ragwort and groundsel

Now this is the beautiful spooky pink flower/ Would love to know what it is.

Marigold? Or just big buttercups?

Railway line, and daisy land

Fly on ox-eye daisy

Tiny ladybird

One on those litle antenna bugs

On the railway station wall

11 comments:

  1. Thank you very much Ian, thanks for dropping by!

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  2. Lovely strolling through your countryside.
    Not sure but your pink mystery flower might just be Ragged Robin - look it up and see.

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  3. Well there we go! I thought Ragged Robin was naming themselves after a bedragled birde!

    Thanks for that! By the way, this is a pretty urban part of town, a little green and asphalt ribbon

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  4. Pretty sure it's ragged robin too. Lovely shots. All these flowers are well worth a close look.

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  5. Trying to think what the climbing cowlsip looking thing might be, sure I know that one!

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  6. Hi Simon, Ragged Robin for pink flower like they have said and the last photo of plant in the wall looks like Yellow Corydalis, hope that helps..
    Amanda xx

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  7. Yes I ocncur with that too...no wonder it has colonised the UK if it can grow anywhere!

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  8. Lovely selection of photos, I like the ragged robin!

    Ah, yellow corydalis, thanks Amanda, I was just wondering what that was yesterday.

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  9. I see everyone has beaten me to it - yes the spooky pink flower is Ragged Robin and the plant is last photo is yellow corydalis (we had some self-seed in our garden wall). Lovely post Simon.

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  10. Brilliant, thanks to all of you. Now just need to know what the bright cerise flowers are hiding in the long grass on the old embankment. Colourful little walk to have in the middle of town and next to the GNER line

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