If you have ever wondered what stinging nettles are for .....

Small Tortoiseshell caterpillars love them!

A Gatekeeper butterfly on bindweed flowers...

insects love the bindweed flowers too....

and Sedge Warblers love the insects...

and the purple haze of Willow Herb adds colour to the view!

Thistles...

going...

going...

gone!

but still useful!

A Marbled White butterfly making the best of a brief period of warm sunshine ...

In the meadow, the Cow Parsley is over...

Thistles are the next new thing...

but on the pool, 5 young cygnets swim serenely on...

If you go down to the Meadows today (or tomorrow for the Bioblitz) these are some of the things you might find...

A young Reed Warbler being fed by its parent...

some beautiful grasses...

some interesting insects...

a Banded Demoiselle

and some youngsters looking more like their parents every day!

Sunrise on the meadow...

Cygnets - 4 in a row...

Proud parents announcing 5 new cygnets....

A Whitethroat was singing a lot on the back hedge this morning...

as was this Wren...

Summer sunshine today... bringing out the flowers...

so the insects were out... a bee on clover...

and a damselfly on a nettle...

and a Reed Bunting was gathering grubs to feed his young family...

and a Whitethroat was singing happily...

A young Reed Bunting...

A Tufted visitor...

and a Mallard hustling away her young...

A Small White Butterfly ... balancing on a buttercup in the sunshine...

a pair of greylag geese ... just visiting...

a male Reed Bunting... declaring his patch...

and a Greenfinch... well camouflaged ...

Happenings down on the meadows today...

A Reed Warbler playing peek-a-boo....

The meadow awash with yellow...

A growing Coot family...

and a slow worm crossing the path...

A Reed Warbler was spotted feeding in the reeds and collecting nesting material...

A Song Thrush in the grass...

A Bluetit in the blossom...

And many birds had lots to say.... the cuckoo...

the wren...

and the blackbird...

Close up....