Alkanet.

 It is good to see that the uncommon Alkanet, with its dark blue, white centred flowers, is growing well at the bottom of Blundell's Lane. This is one of those plants which are liable to pop up suddenly and the disappear just as suddenly, and doesn't appear to have been recorded in our 1km. square before.

Alkanet. Photo. John Elliott. Click to enlarge.

Beautiful Demoiselle.

 Not quite as showy as their male counterpart, the female Beautiful Demoiselle damselfly which appeared in my front garden this morning is still an amazing colection of colours.

Beatiful Demoiselle. Photo. John Elliott. Click to enlarge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This damselfly used to appear down the Weymouth road, but desperately avoiding the traffic, I failed to find it this afternoon. It must be moving up-stream. I was however very pleased to see a Mallard with four very small chicks.  Goodness knows where she managed to nest as the stream is now denuded of suitable vegetation to nest in, perhaps by effects of sewage discharge.

 

     My cuckoo,  Cuach Torc has now been seen back in its breeding ground in Limmerick where it was born.   Here is the latest bulletin from the BTO.

'Trent is back in Worcestershire, Joe is in Norfolk, Sayaan is in Sussex and KP, Cuach Cores and Cuach Torc are all back in Ireland. They'll be busy zooming about their breeding grounds looking for suitable females to breed with. We could be less than a month away from the first of these birds beginning their journeys south once again. '