I've finally found the time to sort through some(!) of the
images that I've taken while I've been out and about over the last couple of
weeks.
When looking at the images it suddenly occurred to me that Yellow
featured prominently in a lot of them..... Ah Ha! I thought, an excellent theme
for a post!
Primroses (primula vulgaris) are usually one of the first to put on an early springtime show.
Gorse (ulex europaeus) can flower any time throughout the year but it's main flowering time is between February and May.
Quite a few Yellowhammers were in evidence, some proclaiming 'a little bit of bread and no cheese' from their lofty perches!
Colt's-foot (tussilago farfara) was showing well in a number of places, preferring damp and heavy soil.
Lesser Celandine (ranunculus ficaria) showing that the weather can't be all that bad as the flowers only open when the sun shines!!
One of the earliest butterflies to take to the wing is the Brimstone, the male emerging from hibernation from about mid March (if the weather is suitable!), about two weeks before the female. This female settled for just long enough to allow me to take a snap.
One or two Cowslips (primula veris) are just beginning to come into flower. When I was a kid (yes, I can remember that far back!) my father always referred to these as Cow Peggles, a much better name when you realise that the name 'cowslip' comes from the fact that in times gone by this plant thrived in cattle meadows in amongst the cow pats!!
By far the highlight of my recent outings was seeing (at a distance!) three Yellow Wagtails together with a Blue-headed Wagtail, a rare but not uncommon visitor at this time of year. Resigning myself to the fact that they were too far away for any decent photographs I decided to sit on a nearby bench and have a well earned(!) rest. Not two minutes had passed when this stunning male Yellow Wagtail plonked itself on the grass no more than twenty feet in front of me, where it stayed chasing around after insects for the next three or four minutes. It was eventually frightened off by an approaching dog walker, but not before I'd managed to get a few (okay, lots!) photographs. Sadly it's Blue-headed companion stayed elusive.
