Very odd

I write my blog as little more than an on-line diary. I have a few regular followers but I have never aimed to attract a large audience. Who would be interested in, for example,  casual visits to our local pocket park here in Daventry?


And yet, last night, I apparently had 5598 viewings within a few hours. Not only that, but they originated from Scandinavia! The usual daily viewings number about 60 so someone is clearly messing about and the interference has created several 'blips' in my blogs - how many I am not sure. Very annoying.


Be that as it may I set out his morning for a visit to Kentle Wood. Conditions by mid-morning were already very warm: '...quite as Hot as any Hottentot without remorse' as Edith Sitwell curiously put it (although to be fair, she was referring to hot drinks!).


The approach to Kentle Wood is hardly picturesque. Past the council recycling depot and on beyond a recycling works.

The walk to Kentle Wood takes us past works associated with

recycling. Browns Road, Daventry, 27 May, 2020

The Hogweed, Heracleum sphondylium, is now in flower and is attracting a host of insects, although even they seem to be finding the heat a bit much. Perhaps the highly reflective surfaces of this male Oedemera nobilis help to ward off the strongest rays.

Oedemera nobilis on hogweed. Kentle Wood, Daventry. 27 May, 2020

I heard a few birds call from the denser stands of trees but few ventured into the open.

                               By the hot relentless sun

                               E'en the dew is parched up

                               From the Teasel's jointed cup:

                               Oh poor birds, where must ye fly,

                               Now your water pots are dry.

                                                               John Clare. Noon, 1820

The roses are now at their loveliest. Despite their lack of nectar these plants are important to insects. Some will chew the leaves, others will mine them and yet others will gall them. And the pollen is readily gathered by many bees to make bee bread - a mixture of pollen and nectar. The exact composition of bee bread will vary according to the plants upon which the bees are foraging.

Rosa canina, the Dog Rose, is very variable. It appears to have no scent.

Kentle Wood, Daventry, 27 May, 2020

Buckthorn, Rhamnus catharticus, is currently in bloom, its tiny green flowers so easily overlooked.

This close-up of buckthorn flowers makes them appear more

conspicuous than they are in actuality. Kentle Wood, 27 May, 2020

The specimens I examined were under attack from Puccinia coronata. This is a fungus of the kind generally referred to as rusts. In this case it forms rounded yellowish patches on the leaves. The same species causes oat and barley crown rust, a troublesome, world- wide pathogen.

Blotches of the rust, Puccinia coronata, were present on leaves

and flower buds. Kentle Wood, Daventry. 27 May, 2020

The heat was by now becoming intolerable. Not for the first time this year conditions forced me to cut my visit short and I fled home.