#30DaysWild day 27 - Getting stuck in

We're down to the last few days of 30 Days Wild and we've had so much fun getting stuck into all things wild ... almost as much as this soldier beetle that I met on my walk around Pulpit Hill and Grangelands this morning.



Bottoms up!

It was a bit of a dreary, drizzly morning, but there were still clouds of meadow browns and marbled whites flitting amongst the flowers, mostly refusing to settle for a picture.

A marbled white that settled for a few seconds

There were also several small skippers, which are such delicate little butterflies and much more obliging when it comes to having their photo taken!

Small skippers

Small skipper

 I also saw my first few ringlets of the year and a small heath.

 

Ringlet

Then I climbed up to the top of Pulpit Hill, admiring the view across the Chilterns to the Vale of Aylesbury on the way.

I stumbled across a beautiful patch of foxgloves, growing in a clearing in the trees.

The trail of dots acts like runway lights, leading the bees into the flower to the nectar at the back of the tube. The bee rubs against the pollen in then narrow end of the tube, then transport it to the next flower to pollinate it.

The little hairs on the lip of the flower are designed to put smaller insects off entering the tube, as they'd be too small to rub against the pollen inside.

 

Another lovely morning!