Chiang Dao Mountain

Doi (meaning mountain) Chiang Dao is the third highest mountain in Thailand, at 2,195 metres above sea level. It is one of the most beautiful in my opinion and the limestone massif can be seen in splendid profile from the road which runs north from Chiang Mai to the town of Chiang Dao.  There are…

Six blue tepals and some nectar thieves!

Spring Squill is a lovely perennial wild flower, with lilac-blue or violet-coloured flowers which emerge each Spring from the underground bulbs. It can be found all along the north and west coasts of Western Europe: including Portugal, Spain, France Great Britain and Ireland. I took these photographs at the Morouzos beach protected area, a RAMSAR site, on…

Yellow legs and a yellow bill!

Yellow-legged gulls (YLG) have probably been around for quite a long time, but they have only recently been recognised by us humans as deserving a species of their own!  Larus michahellis.   Not being an expert birder, they look to me like Herring gulls with yellow legs, but watch out because 1st year birds can have rather pink…

A lovely beetle, but a bit of a pest!

This lovely beetle, whose full name is Coraliomela quadrimaculata, is a leaf-mining leaf beetle with a fondness for palms and coconut trees.  It is found in South America, so we should give it its Spanish name, Barata-do-coqueiro. This is in fact the name given to several species of chrysomelid beetles, whose larvae feed on the…

Two wooly bulbs!

These early flowering Irises both share the same species name – bulbocodium – which means ‘wooly bulb’ or ‘wool covered bulb’.  Presumably because they share the same sort of furry bulb (!) but I have not dug up either to inspect the below ground parts. The lovely yellow Hoop petticoat daffodil (Narcissus bulbocodium), or narcissus, is a…

Lovely little daisies!

The common daisy is a lovely little flower when you look closely. Cannot help but love them! Each little white petal is part of an individual flower, or floret, together with one of the yellow parts in the centre of the ”capitulum’ making up a composite flower or inflorescence! Photos taken with my pocket camera…

A malee of mating frogs

  Whilst I was waiting for a flight back to London at the small airport at La Coruna, in northwest Spain, I went for a walk outside the terminal building and found a pond full of mating frogs! It was a nice way to spend the time waiting for my flight and I was able to…