29 Monday Jun 2020
Posted in insects, nature, wildflowers
Tags
beetle, British beetles, Rutpela maculata, Spotted longhorn beetle, umbellifer flowers, umbellifers
This Spotted longhorn (Rutpela maculata) was happily minding its own business, feeding on the umbellifer flowers growing along the edge of a woodland ride, as is its wont, when …
Incoming!
And so the necessity of life as a beetle takes over, the need to reproduce, to continue the species. Lunch might have to wait.
13 Friday Sep 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, autumn, birds, nature, plants
Tags
#365DaysWild, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Reed bunting, umbellifers
This is not the setting I would normally associate with Reed buntings – not a reed to be seen – but this little beauty seemed perfectly at home searching for insects amongst the umbellifers in Cosmeston’s west paddock this afternoon, and the colours made for good camouflage as well.
31 Wednesday Jul 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, flowers, insects, nature, wildflowers
It seems unbelievable to me that some people still think that bees – in particular, honey bees, which are essentially a farmed species – are the only insects that pollinate flowers. You have only to look at a particular type of flower – in this case, umbellifers – to see the wide range of insects that visit and feed on them. And each of these little creatures gets covered in pollen while feeding so, when they fly on to the next flower, they are automatically contributing to flower pollination.
11 Friday Aug 2017
Posted in flowers, insects, nature, wildflowers
Tags
British flora, British wildflowers, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, parsnip, Pastinaca sativa, umbellifers, Wild parsnip, wildflowers
While we’re on the subject of wild vegetables (see yesterday’s Wild carrot post), I must mention the other umbellifer that’s currently in full bloom, the Wild parsnip (Pastinaca sativa). Unlike the Wild carrot, the root of the Wild parsnip is, in fact, edible, though it’s described as hard and wiry so doesn’t sound worth the bother to me. I’ve also read that the sap of the plants can cause severe rashes and burns in some people so handling doesn’t seem advisable. And, anyway, who would want to deprive the insects of their tasty feast or spoil the glorious sight of a field of parsnip in full bloom?
The Wild parsnip is the ancestor of the cultivated parsnip, which is one of my favourite winter vegetables – roasted, in soup, stir-fried, yum! – and its culinary use probably dates from the early Middle Ages. The wild variety can be found growing, often in large groupings, on the chalky grasslands of southern England and Wales. In Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, one particular field is like a forest of yellow, some plants taller than my 168cm, and you can smell the scent of parsnips as you walk along the tracks through the field. Delicious!
