Though there have been recent reports of a white stork – common in southern Europe but quite rare in the UK – in Cambridgeshire, I haven’t seen it…..but Brenda saw a common stork’s-bill today (more below). Don’t flowers have interesting names!
Brenda writes: “There were two new flowers today. It has become a habit for me to keep an eye on grass verges wherever I go, particularly as the low-growing plants continue to come into flower. The first new one I saw today is aptly named sticky mouse-ear. The leaves are shaped somewhat like a mouse’s ear, and are very hairy, with white flowers in a dense cluster. They have five petals notched like chickweed.
I then saw common stork’s-bill, a flower which particularly likes sandy soils and tends to grow near the sea. It has pink flowers with five petals. The stork’s-bills are members of the geranium family and have very distinctive seed heads which look a bit like a bird’s bill.
There was one new moth today, brindled beauty, which flies from March to May. It’s a beautiful moth with wonderful feathered antennae.”
New species for April 8th:
Flowers: common stork’s-bill, sticky mouse-ear
Moth: brindled beauty
TOTALS TO DATE:
Birds = 154
Moths = 17
Wildflowers = 39