Figgate Flowers

We had a lovely trip to Figgate Park today, it's looking very colourful with all the flowers at the moment

The burn is full of water crowfoot

The pictorial flower meadow is looking beautiful

the insect hotel is currently in bloom too, offering plenty of foods for the hotel's residents

 though this Syrphus hoverfly preferred the thistles

and this marmalade hoverfly preferred a dandelion

The water lilies are in flower

and being enjoyed by insects, including this common wasp

This common spotted orchid was tucked away in  the undergrowth - I seem to be seeing more of these orchids than usual this year!

There weren't as many birds around as normal, but we enjoyed watching this family of mute swans, with greylag geese and a family of mallards in the background

You may find it difficult to find male mallards at this time of year, this is because they are in eclipse - they're moulting and have taken on plumage very similar to the females, but if you look carefully you can see a little bit of green in this male's head

We didn't see many smaller birds at all, but they are well provided for with this new bird feeder