When the weather’s wet, which it often has been of late, I tend to focus more on looking for small things when out walking. This is partly because the larger creatures, like birds, tend to prefer taking shelter as much as we humans do but also because I don’t want to get my good camera wet and my small camera, the one I use for close-up shots, is waterproof. Monday was one such day and, when I stooped to pat a random black cat that appeared out of nowhere, I noticed how marked and mottled were the leaves of the Ground-ivy the cat was sitting next to. So, I investigated.

And what a bountiful patch of Ground-ivy it was. Firstly, I couldn’t help but notice how many of the leaves were covered with the pustules of the rust fungus Puccinia glechomatis.

Then I discovered that many of the leaves also had small bumps on them, galls caused by the miniscule mite Rondaniola bursaria.

And, perhaps best of all, while investigating the rust and the galls, I also spotted a single tiny dark case sticking up from one leaf, the self-constructed home of a larva of the moth Coleophora albitarsella. And, with that, the rain starting coming down a little too heavily for comfort so both the cat and I headed for home.