On Sunday I went down to the river at Denso Marston Nature Reserve.
I have labelled the header image simply “Of the Primrose/Primula family”. The more I try to find out what things are the more I realise how much I don’t know. I don’t think it is Cowslip, could it be Oxslip? Or False Oxslip? I think all of them grow in various parts of the reserve.
There were quite a few tiny flies around, often around my head, and in patches of sunlight a few Hoverflies. Some of them dangling their legs as they hovered.
The Witch’s Broom on the Birch tree is caused by a fungus, Taphrina betulina, that develops on the leaves of the tree.
A rather disappointing thing was that the gate on Otley Road and the fence next to it had been pushed over and the whole lot was on the ground. It was too heavy for me to move out of the way. Someone must have put some effort into breaking the posts. Also, down in the reserve, the posts for the feeders at the Spider Club Station had also been pushed over and broken.
At the far end of the reserve I spotted two Magpie having a scuffle in the parking area of the factory. Their claws were locked together, presumably to prevent them being used in attack, as they went for each others eyes with their beaks. One of them went still for a few seconds and I thought it was dead but suddenly there was a squawk, they fluttered up into the air, separated and flew off in opposite directions. I know it’s a poor photo, the fence kept getting in the way.
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