The Garden Bench Diary August
Eurasian Jay Feather – Garrulus glandarius
Eurasian Jay Feather – (Garrulus glandarius, family: Corvidae). The Eurasian Jay is still a popular bird where I live along with its monochrome cousin the Magpie. It is not often you get close to these birds to see the exquisite, iridescent colours of their feathers. However, sometimes they leave one on the ground to admire. There is much more to these colours than meets the eye. As outlined in this video, they are very special and a model for future paints and dyes, Bird Colors That Never Fade Was It Designed?
Spear Thistle – Cirsium vulgare
Spear Thistle – (Cirsium vulgare, family: Asteraceae), also known as Common Thistle. This tall flowering biennial plant has a very distinct shape and is commonly accepted as the ‘flower of Scotland’. Considered by many people to be a weed and certainly be called so if you get a prick from its spear shaped thorny leaves. One of the types of plant that was said to proliferate outside the ‘garden of eden’. In flower it is one of the best nectar providers in the UK and loved by the pollinators. Native to most of Europe, Western Asia but also naturalised in…