November Flower Walk

There were blue skies throughout the day at Foxglove and visitors enjoyed their walks through the reserve. Some were very lucky to spot the Kingfisher on the lake and the 4 Moorhens feeding near the duck feeding platform.  Something is working at last!

When we set off on the flower walk we did not expect to see very much as the vegetation has really suffered with the wind, rain and first 'proper' frosts of the winter.  Amazingly we found eleven flowers actually in flower.  Two weeks ago Saw-wort was in full bloom.  Today there was a single purple flower but the seed heads were golden.

Two colours you would not always put together are shown in the Spindle fruit.  The orange seeds were still clinging to the pink pods.  Unfortunately they do not pass the flower test!

Gorse already has tiny flower buds.  There are still many pods left on the bushes.  Inside some of them are Gorse Seed Weevils, who feed on the seeds.  When looking for more information about these weevils on the Internet, it was found that they are used as biological control in Australia where Gorse is classified as a weed.