Flora & Fauna (photo album 1)
 Pyramidal orchidAnacamptis pyramidalis in the triangular field north of Hudson's Field and with the cathedral in the distance.
Image: Kerry O'Connor
June 2019 |  IrisesThe garden, escaped to the verge,
Iris pallida dalmatica (top) and the wetland wild yellow flag Iris pseudacorus (bottom).
Iris is Greek for colour or rainbow, it is the coloured part of the eye, appears in the name of the Egyptian Pharoah God Osiris and is the basis of the
Fleur de Lys French Royal Symbol.
Kerry O'Connor
May 2019 |  SanicleSanicle (Sanicula europea) is a carrot family indicator of ancient woodland
and grows along the wooded path
at the foot of Old Sarum.
Health-giving properties gives its name (sanus, latin, healthy) as in sanitation, sanitorium and in French santé.
Kerry O'Connor
May 2019 |
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 White CampionWhite Campion (Silene latifolia) can cross with red to give pink.
A clove-like scent at night attracts moths. Silenus was a Greek woodland god.
The roots can be used as soap.
Kerry O'Connor
May 2019. |  Marsh-Marigold or KingcupCaltha palustris ( marsh-marigold or kingcup) is an edible (cooked, in small quantities), perennial buttercup and was photographed in May 2019 in the nature reserve across the Mill Lane bridge. The Marsh Marigold moth and its caterpillar feed on it. Image: Kerry O'Connor |  CuckooflowerCardamine pratensis (cuckooflower as it flowers when the cuckoo is first heard or lady's smock) is an edible, perennial brassica and was photographed in May 2019 by the river bank bench opposite Castle Keep. The orange tip butterfly caterpillar feeds on it.
Image: Kerry O'Connor |
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 Rumex hydrolapathumThe Giant Water Dock It looks like a small banana plant. This one is growing on the east bank of the river behind Castle Keep. Flowers should appear next month (June) and can reach 2 metres. Unfortunately no bananas follow.
Image Kerry O'Connor
2 May 2019 |  Green AlkanetPentaglottis sempervirens or evergreen bugloss. Flowers are similar to the forget-me-not but the plant is much taller - it grows up to 32" tall.
Image taken 1 May 2019 alongside the footway/cyclepath leading to Five Rivers Leisure Centre, where there are many specimens of this striking plant. It was originally cultivated but has become naturalised in woods and grassy places. Image: Rosemary Winson |  Common NewtImage: Alex Howson.
March 2019 |
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 Common ToadImage - Alex Howson.
March 2019
Click the link to read an article about the Annual Toad Migration. |  Snowdrops 11 Feb 2019in St Lawrence Churchyard
Image: Rosemary Winson |  Judas' Ear fungusWalls may have ears but so does a felled Elder along the footpath from Mill Lane bridge to Little Manor Farm. Auricularia auricula-judae, or Judas’ ear or Jelly ear is an edible jelly fungus. Photo taken Christmas 2018, the ruler is 30 cm long.
Image: Kerry O'Connor |
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 Wasp spider (argiope bruemichi)Image taken 1/9/18
by Barbara Mayall. |  Wasp spider (argiope bruemichi)A second image of this spider taken by Barbara Mayall on 1/9/18. Only 7 legs are visible - has it lost the 8th one? |  wasp spider egg sacImage by Barbara Mayall 25 September 2018 |
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 Vapourer Moth caterpillarorgyia antiquua.
Image taken by Barbara Mayall 19/8/18. |  Giant puffball Calvatia giganteaAppears every autumn in the same spot in the same field across the river down Mill Lane. It is edible. Image: Kerry O'Connor 22/8/18 |  Little EgretsImage taken in Mill Lane by Kerry O'Connor on 14/8/18/ |
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 Water voleMairi Eyres took this lovely photo on Saturday 10th August 2013 on the stretch of the Avon level with Castle Keep, just downstream from Tadpole Island. Mairi was then 14 years old and had been a keen wildlife photographer since she was 6 years old.
Collections of her photos and details of the many Awards she has won since then can be viewed on her own website here. |  2 red kitesWhilst a tractor was cutting the grass in a field between Old Sarum and Stratford Road, these two predators were ready to take their pick of the small mammals that had lost their cover.
17 June 2018
Image: Rosemary Winson |  Red KiteBetween Old Sarum and Stratford Road.
17 June 2018
Image: Rosemary Winson |
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 Prunus spinosa. Sloe, BlackthornAnother image from Kerry O'Connor of Prunus spinosa, the sloe berries of which can be used to make gin or cyanide.
(Date unknown) |  Bolbitius titubansBolbitius titibans means arising from well manured cow pasture and then leaning over. Its older name Bolbitius vitellinus refers to the yellow of the young caps as do common names Egg Yolk mushroom or Yellow Field cap. These open, flatten and fade to brown over several hours. Photographed in the fields below the Devizes Road 20/10/17 by Kerry O'Connor. |  SwallowOne of the Parsonage Farm swallows, August 2017
Image: Rosemary Winson |
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 Queen Wasp30 May 2018
Image: Rosemary Winson |  Pleurotus cornucopiaeon the wooded path to Little Manor. Edible.
Image - Kerry O'Connor |  Knautia arvensis Field Scabiouson the slopes up to Devizes road.Traditionally meant to cure scabies.
Image - Kerry O'Connor |
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 HollyhocksOld Sarum
June 2017
Image: Rosemary Winson |  Calvatia gigantea (giant puffball)Image Kerry O'Connor, September 2017 |  Elephant Hawk MothImage - Kerry O'Connor |
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