As Phil mentioned in his report we got off to a damp start this month, however it soon dried up and for most of the time the rain clouds stayed away.

The photograph on the left shows the Middle meadow in full bloom with buttercups although Phil would not appreciate them as a crop.

While the meadow was ablaze with buttercups the Banks were carpeted with Cowslips (yellow) and Bugle (blue-purple).

This photograph on the left shows Germander Speedwell. Unlike Common Speedwell all the petals are a deep vivid blue, in Common Speedwell the lower petal is usually white.

On the right we have Common Vetch. A member of the pea family it was originally introduced as a feed crop from europe.

In this photograph the flower was visited by a hoverfly just as I took the picture. (must have known that I was going to make it famous by putting it onto the Web).

I was accompanied on this walk by son James.

Seconds after taking this photograph he was not a happy chap as he had failed to spot the rabbit (on the left edge of the photograph). The rabbit however spotted him and promptly ran for cover (some you win some you lose :-)

He did save face however when he managed to snap this photograph of a heron as it took off.

I was looking in another direction at the time and it was in the distance befor I could bring my camera around.

Not everything is so easy to spot inthis photograph I very nearly stepped upon this Bumble bee.

I think that it may have been a queen looking for a nest site.

Bees have an essential role as a pollinator of plants.

Finally for this month we have the first "apples" of the year.

In this case they are Oak Apples. They are formed by a parasitic wasp which lays its eggs in leaf buds (as in this case) acorns and on the roots of the oak tree.

The "apples" form as the wasps larvae develop

Well thats all for now

See you next time, Andy

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