Wednesday 24 June 2009

Barrowburn Hay Meadows (2)

In part one of my description of the Barrowburn Hay Meadows I said that I was quite unprepared for the experience that awaited me. The meadows were filled with such an overwhelming variety of plants that they provided a feast for all the senses. I fully intend to spend more days amongst them while they continue to flower.

As might be expected, there were many insects about. One which particularly caught my attention was the Chimney Sweeper moth (Odezia atrata), a small, day-flying white-tipped but otherwise plain black moth which I had not seen before. Apparently the Chimney Sweeper relies on the Pignut flower for its existence, it being the only food plant of the moth's caterpillar. I hope the next part of this series will include pictures of some of the insects visiting the hay meadows.

Now to the flowers: They were all photographed using my standard Nikkor 18-55mm lens and a 6 dioptre close-up lens. This is only a selection of the flowers on display. If a reader finds that I have wrongly identified any of the flowers, I am more than happy to be corrected (I am not entirely confident about the Bitter Vetch, although the SSSI description suggests it is found on site).

Pignut (Conopodium majus)

Wood Crane's Bill (Geranium sylvaticum)

Eyebright (Euphrasia memocosa)

Rough Hawkbit (Leontodon taraxacoides)

Bird's Foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)

Bitter Vetch (Lathyrus montanus)

Hay or Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor)

Germander Speedwell (Veronica chamaeodrys)

Ribwort Plantain (Plantago lanceolata)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lovely macros Emma, I have never seen that eyebright.

holdingmoments said...

Beautiful shots Emma.
The blue of the Wood Crane's Bill, against the green background is a great contrast.
Eyebright; never seen one, but what a flower. You'd never forget it. A beauty.

Killy Birder said...

Some great shots here. I especially like the Eyebright. As I'm just getting to grips with plants I checked out the Bitter Vetch. I noted that it's seeds have a very toxic amino acid which in large amounts can cause a disease of the nervous system called lathyrism! Cheers Brian.

borderglider said...

Superb blog Emma, your photos look superb on the black canvas - abd that shot of a brown ringlet is just . . . .. . lost for words. You can see the light through its wing!

Keep it up,

Graham