Littleferry - 2

With such a wealth of wildflowers in bloom at Litteferry yesterday, the burnets weren't the only insects in flight. There were masses of bees, and the butterflies included common blues, little heaths and....

....several dark green fritillaries with their bold upper wing markings and....

....underwings which have some resemblance to those of the painted lady. This fritillary gets its name from the greenish colouration on the underwing.

Of course, with so many insects in flight, so were their predators. This is a mistle thrush, very similar to a song thrush but rather bigger and less common, though it's widespread throughout Britain. It was hunting through the wildflowers but wouldn't allow us to approach, continually hopping away from us until we lost it in long grass.

I dread coming across interesting-looking fungi as I can't resist taking a picture, and then feel the need to identify it. This one was remarkable for two reasons, one its size and shape - it was about 10cm across - and the other its ability to flourish on 'soil' that was little more than beach sand.

It took ten minutes on the web to find something that resembles it, particularly the fact that the upper surface is covered with sand. It look like a cavalier mushroom, the only difference I can see between this one and the one described here being that the Littleferry specimen is paler.