Golden grasses

I spent most of the day inside, keeping out of the way of Storm Ellen, which had brought ferocious winds across the country. By the end of the afternoon the winds had moderated so I sneaked out for a quiet walk round Castor Hanglands.

It was still pretty windy, and felt quite autumnal, especially now that the sheep have been put back onto Ailsworth Heath. I walked through an area of woodland, thinking it would be more sheltered, but regretted it when I heard the creaking and groaning of the ash trees around me, many of which have now been weakened by ash dieback. I didn't hang around for long.

Eventually I found a wide sheltered ride that felt safe. It was fringed by a mix of fleabane and water-mint and when the sun emerged the flowers were attracting the usual range of late summer insects - lots of hoverflies being hunted by common darter dragonflies and the occasional hornet. The wind made it hard to get any decent macro shots, but I did enjoy the low sunlight coming through the seed-heads of Tufted Hair-grass - bathing it in gold.