Down the lane

We went "down the lane" with Nanny Moth this afternoon. It started out sunny and the Buddleia in her garden had a Red Admiral and 4 Small Tortoiseshells on it.

We've always called the track at the bottom of Nanny Moth's road "the lane", but it's actually the Lower Icknield Way. It's usually lined with nettles that are covered in caterpillars (Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell and Comma) and the hedges are full of birds hopping around in them. Not today though as somebody (presumably the farmer) had driven down there with a hedge cutter and scalped all the hedges and cut out all the nettles. I know it will all grow back, but you would think they could wait a few weeks until later in the year when it will have less of an impact on the wildlife. Lets just hope lots of the caterpillars we saw earlier in the summer managed to pupate somewhere nice and safe!

The fields had been harvested and were full of crows. There were also lots of Red Kites around, feasting on worms.

We spotted some Field Scabious, also known as Lady's Pin Cushion.

Field Scabious

#100DaysOfNature Day22 - Field Scabious

  There was plenty of Hogweed around that had gone to seed.

Hogweed seeds

Hogweed seeds

Then as we turned to go home we spotted a big storm heading our way, so we hurried back up the track. Swallows and House Martins swooped and flitted just above us and seemed to follow us up the track, presumably dodging the storm as well.

Here comes the rain