A walk down the canal

Neither as part of my circumnavigation of Leicester or as part of the Leicester Round (which is again walking around Leicester) I decided to go for a walk. I would start near the Hope and Anchor pub in Syston, walk by the canal to the main road near Cossington before returning down a path that leads the other side of the sewage works. It was a good walk in terms of wildlife, the birds and bugs were out in force and it was easy to get distracted. The ground wasn't the best for walking, the path crossed fields on a sharp camber and often across the stubbly roots of cut down crops but I'm not complaining. It was good just to be out in the fresh air.

The canal side was bursting with life. This female Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) was quite relaxed and crawled onto my finger.

Down by the water lots of Black Caddis flies were resting on pond side leaves before flying close to the waters edge in small swarms. I've seen the larvae of these before, but I didn't realise they grew up to look like this.

A little further on I flushed a Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus). She circled me noisily several times. I must have been near her nest.

Further on still this Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) hovered high above the meadow, occasionally circling.

The path became more overgrown and the vegetation closed in slightly. This Red-headed Cardinal Beetle (Pyrochroa serraticornis) was the first I had ever seen. It was huge, being about 2cm long.

Also ubiquitously present is the Green Nettle Weevil (Phyllobius viridiaeris) that eats stinging nettles.

Always a pleasant sight in early June are the Small Skipper Butterfly (Thymelicus sylvestris). This must be one of the earlier ones. Last year my first sighting of this species was on the 21st of July.

But how about this! My first photo of the gorgeous Orange Tip Butterfly (Anthocharis cardamines). What a truly wonderful creature!

In a slightly less wonderful but non the less important way is my first sighting of this Hoverfly (Volucella pellucens).

You can follow where I went on this map.

Stingers under the ultra bigascope

In this heat you would be forgiven for resting a while. The other day I spotted this Lapwing or Vanellus vanellus taking a rest in a farmers field. He seemed quite OK that I was there and could see me. He remained alert so as to be able to fly away at the first sign of danger. I left him to his rest.

On that day I also took a close look at Common Sorrel or Rumex acetosa through the bigascope. Lets face it, as every eight year old knows this is one of the dock leaved plants. Most people are led to believe by over zealous science teachers that the alkaline chemicals in a dock leaf neutralise the acid of a stinging nettle. However this is hogwash. Firstly dock leaves themselves are also strongly acidic, containing large amounts of Oxalic acid. Secondly, of all the chemical nettles inject into you (Acetylcholine, formic acid, serotonin, histamine, oxalic acid and tartaric acid) it is the serotonin and histamine that do the hurting and not because they are acidic, but because they are the same neurotransmitters that nerve cells produce when the message of pain has to be transferred around the body. Why a dock leaf helps is beyond me. Maybe we just like to think we have done something about it.

This is a ultra bigascope image of a stinging nettle hair. It is an ultra fine hypodermic needle that will inject its poison if disturbed. Scary stuff.