Tidy feeder...

I was out surveying stoneworts at Orton Pit on this fine September morning, accompanied by Paul, the warden of the reserve, who is always keen to learn more about this primitive group of plants.Today I was monitoring some ponds that had been restored last spring, and we were delighted to find the extremely rare Bearded Stonewort Chara canescens in both ponds we visited.

I was too busy squodging around in wet clay to get my camera out, so this is a hastily snatched image taken when I returned home. Today's hoverfly is a species of Platycheirus, feeding daintily on the rather unusual flowers of our giant Plume Poppy, which is now well over 4m in height!