Yellow Rattle.

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 One plant that is often the sign  off a good wildflower meadow is the yellow rattle which is now in flower. This plant is hemiparasitic and attaches itself to the roots of grasses to "steal" their nourishment. The presence of this plant so depletes the grass crop that the plant used to be known as "poverty" as this was likely to be the financial state of farmers who had a lot of it. It is our experience that the plant comes in waves - in some years there is not much, and then numbers gradually increase until it is too successful and there isn't enough grass left to feed it.


Later in the year the seed pods dry and the plants make a rattling noise in the wind as the seeds rattle about in the seed case (hence the name).

Diary
The moth trap last night produced one green carpet moth, one silver ground carpet moth, one brimstone moth, a poplar hawk moth and half a dozen others. There was also one burying beetle which appears to be carrying eggs on its back? I can't find any literature to back this up but I think this is what is going on.
Plenty of small heath butterfly about.



Last night's cameras showed a couple of clips of a red fox. 
I was at Tarn Sike reserve today and was pleased to see this noisy redshank.









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