With the butterflies gone, I turn my attention to any plant with a bit of light on it and pick out this wild angelica as a subject. Along come an elderly couple taking a leisurely meander, and I am, at first, happy to draw from their in depth knowledge of the plant life around me. Until, of course, I realise that they have now divulged well in excess of my memory capacity and so any further information will be a frustration. The chances of me even remembering that this is wild angelica are minimal.
The butterflies start to reappear - here goes a meadow brown, there a common blue - but I am now learning intricate details about plants that will haunt me later as I am unable to retrieve names or recognise images through extensive internet research. As my new friends bid goodbye and continue their journey, the butterflies knowingly disappear once more. And one minute later, the heavens open. I opt to take shelter for some minutes in a nearby bird hide.
You have a wonderful way with words, your story made me smile..........and you're pretty good with the camera too, I like the way you've caught it mid bloom, well spotted and taken.
@fbailey@onewing ofcourse my botanist asked me what it was before telling me, and was politely amused when I said cow parsley. Completely the wrong time of year, said he. I never would have dreamed it to be anything so exotic sounding as angelica.
