A Walk In The Woods...

 

Yesterday I was having a walk in some woods nearby...

Tiddesley woods near Pershore, Worcestershire is a large wood owned by Worcestershire Wildlife Trust. It holds fantastic species such as Silver-washed Fritillary, White Admiral, Greater Butterfly orchid and the Noble Chafer beetle. 

It was a really hot day and once in the wood the canopy of leaves protected me from the sun. There was a small brook with a bridge over it and as I sat looking at a patch of nettles I noticed small puffs of pollen coming from them. I have since found out that mature male nettle flowers, which grow near the top of the plant, have evolved to become wind pollenated. 

I thought it might make a nice image, so using a fast shutter speed and choosing a dark background making the pollen stand out, I took this image of the stamens flinging pollen into the air.

Whilst I was looking at my camera, my friend who I was walking with, spotted a Grass Snake gliding silently across the brook. I quickly focused on the snake and pressed the shutter, grabbing some shots of it swimming.

It then wriggled onto the bank, but spotted us, so it slithered back into the water and swum back again. I've never seen a Grass Snake swimming before making this encounter doubly brilliant. 

They can grow up to 2 meters in length, are not venomous, unlike Adders, and are completely harmless to humans. Their diet is usually frogs, newts, small fish and very occasionally mice. They can also live up to an amazing 15-25 years! 

Apart from Speckled Wood butterflies and a single Brimstone, there wasn't much more to see on the way back to the car park.