What can be more uplifting than a flower meadow in bloom in early June?
This meadow is just next to the spot where we were looking for yellow-bellied toads the other day. Walking through it took me back to my untroubled childhood days, when we were spending all day picking flowers and lying in the grass watching insects buzzing around.
These meadows are pretty rare nowadays, despite some efforts to re-establish plant diversity in urban areas. My heart jumped to find myself standing right in it. Immediately, I could identify dozens of species of flowers and grasses. Friendly buttercups, probably Ranunculus acris, dominated the view.
The beauty of the meadow was even more striking when I dived into it and took closer looks at the single blossoms and blades of grass. I switched to a macro lens, but the wind made it really difficult to keep the swaying buttercups in focus. Somehow I was able to take some nice shots, though.
One might think that a meadow like that with all its diversity and huge supply of nectar and pollen should be buzzing with instect life. Oddly, it was strangly quiet that day. Just the wind created ripples and waves moving through the field and we spotted just single butterflies, bees and beetles every now and then. A silent earth it has become.
On the wetter, muddy parts of the meadow another Ranunculus species caught my eye: Ranunculus flammula or banewort.
Lesnik Photos 