Waxwing

Waxwing
"To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour."

From "Auguries of Innocence"

by William Blake

Thursday 15 June 2023

Herefordshire 2023 (6) - Part 1: Hatfield and a Wildflower Meadow

 

Three days after we left Herefordshire we were back!  E was on holiday for the week and we were hoping she would want to go at the end of her break but no she wanted to go on the Saturday. D came along this time too even though he had an exam on the Wednesday. To be honest the noise (after 10 months of it!)  with the rebuilding work next door has been horrendous especially on the day of D's first exam 😡 so revising has been difficult for him at home.

Timothy on the journey



I've been reading this super Logaston Press book at the caravan and its really interesting. It contains everything you could possibly want to know about hops and hop farming and its history.  I often wonder if my paternal grandparents and their families ever went hop picking.




Strawberry moon rising






The Octopus Tree




Herefordshire Oak




The Constable Tree





Rear of the caravan with the small garden and in the border B has planted loads of these cranesbill type geraniums brought from home. They tend to flower all summer.






One evening about 8.00 I spotted one of the hedgehogs running down the border.




I had more success this time with the bat detector too.  Two bats were around on two of the evenings. I think I have been looking for them too early before.  From the range of the frequency of the echolocation calls and the time of emergence I am sure they are probably Natterer's bats.


One afternoon I walked down by the pool and along to the wildflower meadow  as B and D had seen orchids there.










Clover, Buttercups and Ribwort Plantain





I am not sure what this tiny white flower is - I am not very good at identifying tiny white flowers!






First sign of the orchids - there were dozens.







Bird's Foot Trefoil





More orchids - I am not 100 per cent sure so please feel free to correct me - but  I think they are Common Spotted or Heath Spotted. Someone on Twitter suggested Early Marsh but I am not sure if the dots and splashes on the flowers fit.























Ox-eye Daisies or Moon Pennies galore.  As well as Hawthorn and Buttercups it seems a really good year for them. Motorway and road verges are just full of these flowers :)







The following day I went church crawling to 2 local churches - one of which is full of wild flowers which I'll write about in the next two posts.

I hope everyone is staying safe and well.

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one I would appreciate an email first - thanks)


8 comments:

Rustic Pumpkin said...

oh my! what a superbly wonderful wildflower meadow it is. Certainly worth repeat visits through the year. You now seem to be collecting trees! It is lovely to see the changes as you record each passing month. Utterly beautiful photo of the moon. Timothy looks happy too. You have my empathy. I was the filling in a building site sandwich with works going on for over a year on two sides simultaneously.

Ragged Robin said...

Rustic Pumpkin - Thanks so much Debbie. The meadow is only 5 minutes walk away at the bottom of the site. It seems larger than in previous years and I think it is spreading :) Thank you re: the moon photo - D took the 2nd photo with my camera.
I am so sorry you had to put up with building work on BOTH sides :( What a nightmare. Today they were back again drilling the perishing party wall goodness only knows what for. We are sure they are using vibrating power tools on it too which they are not supposed to do according to the Party Wall Agreement. 10 months now and the house still looks completely unfinished :( I live in dread after past mistakes they have made that one day their perishing power tool will come straight through into our house. They seem clueless to be honest.

Rosie said...

The wildflower meadow is lovely. Not sure what the little white flowers are but I've seen plenty today in the meadow at Coombes Valley as well as Orchids and Oxeye daisies. So glad you are getting to Herefordshire often it's good to escape all that noise for a while. Great to have the hedgehogs visit. You moon photos are wonderful. Have a good weekend:)

Ragged Robin said...

Rosie - Thanks so much. I'll have to check out the flowers again as I do have a wild flower guide there. Glad you have been to Coombes Valley - such a lovely time of year still. Really pleased about the hedgehogs there - good to see they are doing well somewhere. Enjoy your weekend too :)

Sal said...

That’s such a lovely blog post and ‘right up my street’..if you get me! Indeed, I wish it was up my street!😁
I’ve recently sown a load of Birds Foot Trefoil seeds as I’m trying to plant more wild flowers in the lawn. I also love Ragged Robin!
I think that your tiny white flowers might be Lesser Stitchwort.
Lovely to have found your blog! 😁

Ragged Robin said...

Sal - Thanks so much and lol! :)
Birds Foot Trefoil is a great plant for insects and yes Ragged Robin is a lovely flower :)
Oh yes re: LesserStitchwort - I think you are right :) Will double check when next there if still in flower. I thought they were similar to Greater Stitchwort but obviously much smaller plants so it makes sense.
Glad to have found your lovely blog too. Thanks again.

CherryPie said...

I am sorry to hear that you are still having to put up with ongoing works in the house next to you.

The moon looks amazing!

Ragged Robin said...

CherryPie - Thank you.