Just June

So here we are in June already, how quickly the year is going and how strange the weather has been so far. We have had some very dull days here but barely any rain still, we desperately need it and if it is going to be dull it may as well rain! However we have had some sunshine and there is still time for it to turn into 'flaming June'. Rain at night and sun in the day, that's what we need :)

'Sweetest daughter of the year,
Smiling June, I hail thee here.
Hail thee with thy skies of blue,
Days of sunshine, nights of dew.
Hail thee with thy songs and flowers,
Balmy air, and leafy bowers,
Bright and fragrant, fresh and clear,
Smiling June, I hail thee here. '

(Henry Francis Lyte)

Last year on one of our regular local walks I noticed a Blue Tit flying in and out of a hole in a tree obviously feeding its young and recently I saw one at the same tree. I couldn't quite work out if it was feeding young again as it didn't appear to have anything in its beak. I wonder if its young might have just fledged and if perhaps it was checking the nest to make sure there were no more chicks left in it. It kept peering inside for some time before flying away and although I waited for a while it didn't return while I was there.

Blue Tit

This beetle was sunning itself on an Ox-eye Daisy. It is our old friend the Fat-legged Beetle but as this is the female she doesn't have the fatter legs of the male.

Fat-legged Beetle (Oedemera Nobilis)

It is always a welcome sight to see the hedgerows laced with the pretty flowers of the Dog Rose.

Dog Rose

'I am the queen whom everybody knows:
I am the English Rose; ...
As joyous as a Robin Redbreast's tune,
I scent the air of June;
My buds are rosy as a baby's cheek;
I have one word to speak,
One word which is my secret and my song,
'Tis "England, England, England" all day long.'

(Cicely Mary Barker)

I was struck by the beautiful depth of colour of this flower which I at first thought was the Hedge Cranesbill but now think is the Meadow Cranesbill.

Meadow? Cranesbill

Last year whenever we visited this spot there was always a Chiffchaff shouting its name from these wires and this year I am pretty sure it is the same bird back there again.

Chiffchaff (above and below)

With it being persistently windy here for so long butterflies have unfortunately been few and far between but I did see this Common Blue

Common Blue Butterfly

'Airy, lovely, heavenly thing!
Butterfly with quivering wing!
Hovering in thy transient hour
Over every bush and flower,
Feasting upon flowers and dew,
Thyself a brilliant blossom too.'

(Translation from Herder)

and this very smart looking Speckled Wood.

Speckled Wood Butterfly

A lot of the Rabbits I see lately seem sadly to be suffering from Myxomatosis so it was pleasing to see these two young ones looking healthy and bright eyed.

Rabbits

As this bee had an orange-red tail (although it can't be seen in the photo) I think I have identified it correctly.

Bumble-Bee (Bombus pratorum)


'Burly, dozing humble-bee, ...
Where thou art is clime for me,
Insect lover of the sun,
Joy of thy dominion!
Sailor of the atmosphere;
Swimmer through the waves of air;
Voyager of light and noon;
Epicurean of June.'

(Ralph Waldo Emmerson)

I have tried but failed to identify the flower in the next photo so have posted it in the hope someone may be able to help.

Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor)

Edit: Thanks very much to Greenie for identifying the above flower and yes, I should definitely have recognised it! ;) Thanks also to Cheryl and John.

I could hear this Yellowhammer but for some time couldn't locate it but then it stopped singing for a few moments and started again in a different place where I spotted it quite easily.

Yellowhammer


'But this sweet day, an hour ago,
A yellowhammer, clear and low,
In love and tender pity
Thrilled out his dainty ditty.'

(David Gray)

The poor Yellowhammer was once a much maligned little bird surrounded by fear and fable. Cobham Brewer, in his Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) said;

'The eggs of this bird are spotted with red. The tradition is that the bird fluttered about the Cross, and got stained with the blood in its plumage, and by way of punishment its eggs were doomed ever after to bear marks of blood. ’Tis a very lame story, but helps to show how in former times every possible thing was made to bear some allusion to the Redeemer. Because the bird was “cursed,” boys who abstain from plundering the eggs of small birds, were taught that it is as right and proper to destroy the eggs of the bunting as to persecute a Jew.'!

On a happier note, some of both Beethoven and Messiaen's compositions were inspired by the song of the Yellowhammer.

Well, that's all until next time... enjoy the beauty of Nature, wherever you are.