Today I took my youngest lad out for a short wander along our local river. Nothing fancy, but we managed to see a few bits and pieces.
I've been meaning to get a shot of some Plantain for my own flora and fauna album, this'll do.
This land snail caught my eye, I don't recall seeing one like it before. A bit larger than my little fingernail, any ideas?
When I looked at this image on the computer I started to think that it looks like it has a parasite leaving tracks in a similar way to the larva of the some beetles that live under bark.
I spotted some wild marjoram which is always cheery when in flower, and loved by the bees.
We needed to cross over the river now, it looked like these Granny Bonnets had the same idea.
The bridge is the only place our Rotty ever looked scared. I must confess it does move a lot, the bits of plywood covering the holes do little for your confidence.
Once it had stopped wobbling and my two year old stopped jumping up and down to make the bridge wobble more,l I managed to get quite a pleasing shot towards the railway bridge upstream.
On the other side you walk along what was once a tow path. It's hard to image now, but certainly from Roman times (probably earlier to) until the coming of the railways this was an important artery for transport. No different from most rivers in the UK I guess, but hard to imagine the barges going to and from Malton along here.
A little further along we spotted a bright and cheery patch of Tansy.
Apparently Tansy has been used for millenia for keeping insects at bay. Possibly an alternate to Deet? Though I'd be very wary as it is very toxic.
Talking of toxic, this has to be up there in the top ten for UK toxic plants. Hemlock! Sorry the picture doesn't show it that well with all the other green foliage behind.
This one does show the tell-tale purple blotches well.
We enjoyed a nice wander for a good way before Will decided food would be good. So a quick snack for him and we turned for home.
The last thing we spotted was this fella.
I really should find out what it is. We always called them blood suckers as kids, though I don't recall anyone ever being bitten by one and assume they are completely harmless.
All in all, a very pleasant hour or so. I hope you enjoyed our little nature trail. Thank you for looking!
Al
I've been meaning to get a shot of some Plantain for my own flora and fauna album, this'll do.
This land snail caught my eye, I don't recall seeing one like it before. A bit larger than my little fingernail, any ideas?
When I looked at this image on the computer I started to think that it looks like it has a parasite leaving tracks in a similar way to the larva of the some beetles that live under bark.
I spotted some wild marjoram which is always cheery when in flower, and loved by the bees.
We needed to cross over the river now, it looked like these Granny Bonnets had the same idea.
The bridge is the only place our Rotty ever looked scared. I must confess it does move a lot, the bits of plywood covering the holes do little for your confidence.
Once it had stopped wobbling and my two year old stopped jumping up and down to make the bridge wobble more,l I managed to get quite a pleasing shot towards the railway bridge upstream.
On the other side you walk along what was once a tow path. It's hard to image now, but certainly from Roman times (probably earlier to) until the coming of the railways this was an important artery for transport. No different from most rivers in the UK I guess, but hard to imagine the barges going to and from Malton along here.
A little further along we spotted a bright and cheery patch of Tansy.
Apparently Tansy has been used for millenia for keeping insects at bay. Possibly an alternate to Deet? Though I'd be very wary as it is very toxic.
Talking of toxic, this has to be up there in the top ten for UK toxic plants. Hemlock! Sorry the picture doesn't show it that well with all the other green foliage behind.
This one does show the tell-tale purple blotches well.
We enjoyed a nice wander for a good way before Will decided food would be good. So a quick snack for him and we turned for home.
The last thing we spotted was this fella.
I really should find out what it is. We always called them blood suckers as kids, though I don't recall anyone ever being bitten by one and assume they are completely harmless.
All in all, a very pleasant hour or so. I hope you enjoyed our little nature trail. Thank you for looking!
Al
Thank you for sharing 
it's often quietly hidden away, just like in your photo and only when one actually 'looks' at it, is it's identity apparant.
