Sweet ivy

After a very damp and dreary day (when I didn't take the camera out) today was sunny and mild - more like early October than mid-November. Rosie and I squelched our way along the muddy riverside path, and I was surprised to see a couple of dragonflies still hawking above the water. Many of the trees are still in full leaf, and only a few have turned colour - quite unusual.

On our return circuit, we were walking along a south-facing hedge when a sudden movement caught my eye. A fully grown grass snake had been basking on a soft mound of dead grass and was slithering off into an impenetrable mat of ivy, too quickly for me to raise my camera. Just above the basking place there was a profusion of flowering ivy, absolutely swarming with insects, bluebottles, wasps, furry hoverflies and the occasional dung fly. I caught this common wasp stretching between the blossoms to suck up the sugary nectar.

Like wasps, ivy is repudiated by some, and indeed can grow rather vigorously when conditions allow, potentially damaging weak brickwork. But it's reputation for killing trees is much exaggerated. It will certainly climb into a tree, but usually does this when the crown is already thinning, because of old age or some other stress. Ivy flowers are a very important source of nectar for insect in late autumn, and the dense evergreen foliage provide a host of invertebrate overwintering sites, as well as perfect habitat for nesting bird in the spring. Spare it if you can...