Knotgrass

Wednesday, 11th September 2002, West Yorkshire

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Knotgrass borders a path in the park growing amongst the rosettes of greater plantain on the disturbed earth. The tiny white flowers grow in little clusters at the base of the upper leaves.

It's hard to believe that this scrambling weed - knotgrass, Polygonum aviculare is related to the elegant amphibious bistort, Polygonum amphibium, which is now in pink flower in the canal.

A red dragonfly, a darter, zooms around over the pond then rests in the sun on an iris leaf. Aeshnas are still about and we have a brief view of a hawker, a migrant hawker probably, which flies in a fairly direct line at hedge height over the garden without pausing to investigate the pond.

buzzard

As we sit by the pond Barbara spots a buzzard circling fairly high and making off up the Calder valley, in the same general direction as the one we saw last month. I rush in for the binoculars and, although we don't get brilliant views of it as it circles away out of sight over the rooftops, from the general proportions and from its behaviour we're pretty sure it must be a buzzard.

Richard Bell,
wildlife illustrator
E-mail; 'richard@willowisland.co.uk'