Red Campion

J’s sister arrived yesterday and stays a couple of nights, and I had an opportunity today to venture further afield. So this morning I headed down to the Acton Swing Bridge over the River Weaver, from where I walked to the railway viaduct and back.

Under the swing bridge, which carries the busy A49, a lot of swallows are building or rebuilding their nests (extra). I recorded the sound - a combination of the rumble of road traffic and the constant chatter of the swallows.

I took quite a lot of photos, some examples in extras. A great crested grebe on its nest - the nests always look precarious affairs. A female orange tip - she is devoid of orange, but her underside is beautifully marked, which camouflages her when she rests on umbellifers. And I have chosen for the main blip a bee fly, like a little humming bird using its long proboscis to suck the nectar lying deep within the red campion flower.