Biodiversity

I don't think I have ever seen such a huge gall wasp infestation on our oak tree.  Here you can see two sorts.. the silk button gall wasp produces the little round cushions with a hole in the centre and the ones that look like round ravioli are from the spangle gall wasp.  I had noticed some other damage to the acorns this year and there are very few.. poor squirrels.  I will blip an acorn in a few days.  In the meantime I am rather hoping I might find the round brown galls in the tree also as they make a good ink which might be fun to try making for Inktober.  Apparently the gall wasps do no harm to the tree so .. no action required and no damage done.. hurrah!
It has been a beautiful warm sunny day and we went to visit a friend whose garden was open this weekend.  Sitting under a Catalpa tree drinking tea admiring their super garden was a lovely way to spend the afternoon.