Clouds of Ash pollen = misery for some hay fever sufferers

Clouds of pollen floated from these ash flowers when disturbed yesterday.  Some 25% of hay fever sufferers are reckoned to be allergic to ash and other tree pollen.

More Town-hall Clock pics

Here we are again; the same place as three days earlier, this time leading a walk for Mid Sussex Ramblers.  The Adoxa moschatellina, Town-hall Clock plant is bathed in sunlight making for some great pictures.

Isn't that an exquisite, tiny flower?

Moschatel (Town-hall Clock) -- an exquisite tiny flower.

Above is a track heading up the north slope of the South Downs.  Such paths in shady, damp woodland are where Adoxa moschatellina, the Town-hall Clock plant grows.  It is easily overlooked as the flower is so tiny.
Take a close look though.  It is exquisite.

The flower has five florets in the shape of a cube; four on each vertical face and one on top, like the symmetry of Muslim architecture in a mosque, hence the name moschatellina -- a little mosque.

Wood Anemones in a Sussex wood

Two warmish days and the flowers are bursting open in the woods.

The bluebells will be open soon as well.

Fritillary in Nymans wood

Fritillaria meleagris flowering now in the woods across the road from Nymans gardens.

Photographing Buzzards from a wood in Sussex.

It is hard to get a picture of a buzzard circling above a wood.  You shoot and it isn't there.

 There is no time to manually focus and auto focus, even when you get the bird in shot, gives the above.  I'll be back!  Next time with a manual focus and a little more guile on my part.

Roman snails in an English wood.

"R" is for Roman snails, Helix pomatia, which are found in calcarious woodlands in Surrey.  According to Wikipedia (click to view Helix pomatia) they can live 20 years and don't roam more than a few meters.  So although common locally, they are generally speaking not so common and are a protected species in some European countries including England. 

All of the above shells are empty.  They are still big though.  In England only (not the rest of the UK), the Roman snail is a protected species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, making it illegal to kill, injure, collect or sell these snails.

Harlequin ladybird indoors today

I photographed this harlequin ladybird, Harmonia axyriolis variety succinea, on an inside window ledge today.
Not a good sign for the UK native species.