Today our local gardeners arrived and mowed down our natural meadow. It was mid June and that it the time when all the natural grasses and daisies have shed their seeds to be the foundation for next years meadow and so it is finished. Although, just a moment. What can we see there? The gardeners have left the remains of a sweet Pea plant showing its wonderful flowers. They will continued to give us colour and flowers until the end of Summer. Next year it will return again.The origin of the sweet pea comes from some seeds that I once sewed amongst my hedge to add some colour.
FOTD 18th June 2021: Sweet Pea
Do you have ground nesting birds in your pasture? I ask because where I live, there is a chance of harming the birds, their nests or nestlings if haying occurs before they’ve finished raising their families for the season. Here, the horned lark is the most likely to be nesting in early June. I believe that bird also occurs in Europe. (Yes, just verified that, but your pasture looks like the grass would be too dense and deep for what they usually nest in. Where I live, the pastures would have buffalo grass and other species that grow low and sparsely.)
At any rater, I enjoyed the photo!
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Horned_Lark/overview
LikeLiked by 1 person
We have no ground nesting birds here as there is too much movement on the ground. Sometimes some birds might next on a balcony in a plant box. The only ground animals we have are field mice and they burrow into the earth. Your horned lark looks quite good, but we have none in our area. Most probably you would find them in the higher places with less people.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That sounds right. Tundra would be a good place for them or places with sparse settlement like where I live.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hey, I just featured that pea for next Tuesday, and got a picture of a white version for the illustration on Monday. I found the white pea blooming last year, and intended to tag it so that I could dig up the roots over winter, but after returning from the evacuation for the CZU fire, I could not find it. All those peas got roasted, and did not bloom again until this spring. I tagged them this time, and found that there were two. I might put one in an unrefined part of a landscape at work.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Now and again I also get a white one. Probably one of nature’s tricks
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is quite natural, so is not really a trick, merely rare. Some are pale pink, rather than purplish pink. I have never seen a red one, but seed for a red variety is available.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have had a pale pink one now and again
LikeLiked by 1 person