Photos from the countryside

 

Rosehip. According to a little pocketbook I have for identifying wild plants, these fruits are on bushes from late August until November, but I took this picture in December. 

These are a great source of Vitamin C, for those who like to do a little foraging, and can be used to flavour puddings and ice creams. Though, remember to forage responsibly and take no more than you intend to use for yourself.

I believe that this is velvet shank, or velvet foot, though I am no expert on fungi and will gladly be corrected by anyone that knows better. 

I took this photo when I was out walking in the countryside during the Christmas holiday period. Fungi can be beautiful and this, with the shiny honey coloured caps, caught my eye as I walked a country path. It, and the lichen it shared the trunk with, were growing on a tree at the edge of a field.

A Highland cow in the south-east of England??

This attractive cow was undeterred by the wire and barb wire fence, and was happily sticking its head through to get at ivy leaves growing on the trees, just on the otherside of the fencing. Wasn't too bothered by my presence either.

Thank you for perusing my pictures from the countryside. You can support this blog, buying me a coffee on ko-fi.com - the caffeine keeps me snapping pictures on my rambles. Thank you to all supporters!

Some amateur photos from my interactions with nature!

 The idea behind this blog post is simple. Sometimes, as I am engaging with nature, I feel the need to take my phone from my pocket and take a snap of the view in front of me. The moments that we are gifted by nature can be fleeting, and capturing them in an image means that we can hold on to those moments a little longer. Maybe even sparking a memory of the feelings that attended the original moment when we look back.

Splashes of red

The above image I took last year. I seem to remember that I came across these poppies in Bromham, Bedfordshire, as I walked a section of the Ouse Valley Way walking route. My knowledge of botany is full of holes, but I am fairly confident these are the common poppy (Papaver rhoeas). I took this picture because the red splash of poppies in a meadow or field of green is always a sight that makes me pause. And, as you might have noticed in this picture, the bees like them too!

Horned grazers

I am no expert on sheep and I have been trying to identify this breed simply by comparing this picture I took against images from the internet! I believe them to be Castlemilk Moorit, but if anyone out there knows better then please do correct me. I am keen to learn as well as share my experiences and what I have learned. I thought this sheep looked very handsome and, if I am right about the breed, I am not the only one; the horned Castlemilk Moorit was created in the 1900s as a decorative breed.

Poorly Speckled Wood

I found this Speckled Wood butterfly on the ground as I was crossing a bridge when I was out walking through villages recently. It was still alive but seemed tired and slow. Cars were driving over the bridge and the current created by their passing was buffeting this little Pararge aegeria. I wondered if perhaps it had bounced off of a windscreen and become dazed. However it had come to be in it's poorly state, it crawled onto my finger when I offered it. I walked with the winged creature in my hand for a while and, when I found this apple in a box of apples outside someone's house (offered for free to passersby) I picked it up and dented the skin with my thumbnail so a little juice would squirt forth. I left the butterfly, with the juicy apple, in some long grass, away from roads and paths, hoping that all it needed was rest and a little sugary juice.

Larvae

On the same walk that brought me into the life of the aforementioned poorly Speckled Wood, I also met this little alien looking creature. And, what is it? Well, this little creature is in it's larval stage in this picture and it wants to eat aphids, though it will take other small insects and insect eggs if it can't get enough aphids. When it has had it's fill and it is ready to move onto the next stage of it's life, it will pupate. And from the pupa will emerge . . . a harlequin ladybird!

Well, I hope you enjoyed this brief look at some of the snaps I take when I am out in nature. If you did, you might like to follow me on Instagram, where my two favourite subjects are nature and books! And, if you really liked this post, you can support me by buying me a coffee on Ko-fi - it fuels me when I head out into nature and when I am tapping away at the keyboard!

Thank you for reading!