Friday 16 August 2013

Hedgerows

It may sound silly, but one of the things I was really looking forward to on this visit to the Isle of Man was being here in late summer rather than late spring.  We would be seeing the haying off of the fields, and flowers and fruits at the other end of the season.  Hopefully, blackberries that can be picked on our walks and the heather in flower.  Just the simple things.

I think Mick is getting sick of me stopping and taking photos of plants.  On our first morning’s drive, I was a bit disappointed in the lack of colour in the hedges beside the roads.  However, my mind was changed as soon as we hopped out of the car and started walking around.

Here are just a few of what I’ve seen.  I’ve no idea what a half of them are, but they are pretty.

At Port Soderick

I have heard that these have the tiny pink flower in the centre to attract the bees. I just can’t remember what the plant is called.

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See the tiny little wasp on the thistle flower.

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On the way to Douglas.

The blackberries are like bunches of grapes……..and unfortunately, a long way off being ready to eat.  Darn!

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At Douglas Head

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Yay!  My first sighting of heather.

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Look what Mick found.  There was just a little pocket with a few ripe blackberries.  Yummo!  No fear of them having been sprayed, or worrying about snakes when picking them.

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I also spied a couple of butterflies.

This bronzy one was a lot smaller than the similar ones we get at home.

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I’m pretty sure this one is just a common old white cabbage moth.

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I tried to take lots of bee photos, but they just won’t sit still for me.  Very inconsiderate of them.

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I’m sure we’ll find lots of other flowers as we keep on wandering around the island over the next few weeks.  Bring it on.

4 comments:

Sandi said...

I really enjoyed coming on the ramble with you. Those blackberries look good....the flowers were very pretty, some I hadn't seen before, and wow - a bumblebee - I'd love to see one for myself one day - only seen photos of them.

loulee said...

I can name some of the flowers for you Janice, though must admit to being stuck on a couple of them.
You know the thistles.
The blue /purple one under the blackberries may be a hare bell, but without seeing the leaf I can't be certain.
The blue one under that is a corn flower.
The yellow one is our national flower, the Chshag, or common ragwort..
The next one, the blue ball, looks a bit exotic, it may be a garden escapee.
You know the fuchsia the fern, the heather and the daisy.
The butterfly on the cushag is a comma.
There are several varieties of white butterfly, I couldn't tell them apart if I tried!
Did that help? L xx

Ali Honey said...

That was lovely Janice ( and Lou ) . I really enjoy all the photos cause sadly when we were in that part of the world we did not get across to the Isle of Man.
So I am happy to look at heaps of photos of anything and everything...so Your Hubby will just have to be patient while you take them...tell him you have an appreciative audience who need to see!

Jenny of Elefantz said...

Looks so beautiful, Janice. Have a fabulous holiday!
hugs
Jenny
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