Just hanging around

While Alex was working hard in a garden in Stanground, I had a couple of hours of gentle pottering round King's Dyke NR, which felt surprisingly autumnal, with a cool and gusty breeze. 

I spent a bit of time hunting for the tiny, flowerless spikes of Knotted Pearlwort at its only Peterborough location. I saw lots of this in Scotland, growing lushly and festooned with beautiful white flowers, but here, in the dry east, it just hangs on by the skin of its teeth. 

Having satisfied myself that it was still present, I spent the rest of the time with a very large number of Migrant Hawkers, who were cruising up and down in a sheltered sunny ride. A male and female were having a short rest on a branch - impossible to get them both in focus in a single image, so I opted for the male, with a suitably autumnal background of hawthorn berries.