Dear Readers, today I went for a lovely walk around the gravel pits at Tyttenhanger, about twenty minutes drive from East Finchley. Some of the pits are now disused and attract a wide variety of birds (the count for the site as a whole is over 200 species), but some pits are still used by Tarmac to extract sand and gravel, and some of the machinery is still in use…

However, what is lovely is the range of habitats – everything from hedgerow and meadow to forest, wetland and bog. We saw more caterpillars than I’ve done in years, especially cinnabar moth caterpillars. These were the first caterpillars that I raised when I was a little girl, so I’ve always had a soft spot for them…

There was even an adult Cinnabar moth, presumably thinking about laying eggs.

In several of the nettle patches there were Peacock butterfly caterpillars – Butterfly Conservation describes them as ‘spotted like a starry night’. I love their little orange feet as well.

In one of the meadows there was half a dozen pristine Marbled White butterflies – the caterpillars feed on various grasses, especially Red Fescue, so another reason to keep grass long.

There were hundreds of Nursery Web spider webs…

And lots of beetles on the Hogweed. First up were hundreds of tiny Pollen Beetles, each one about the size of a caraway seed…

Then there were a few ‘bonking beetles’ (more properly known as Soldier Beetles)

And a Thick-Legged Beetle (only the males have the Arnold Schwarzenegger thighs)

And finally, this beautiful Demoiselle damselfly.

What is so impressive at Tyttenhanger is the range of plant life, including some species that I’d not seen (or maybe not noticed) before.

As I’m reading Peter Marren’s ‘The Devil’s Garden’ I was especially pleased to come across this plant – Hemlock (Conium maculatum), extremely poisonous, and certainly a worthy contender for a Wednesday Weed.

And there were masses of old plant friends too, such as Goat’s Rue

…Birdsfoot Trefoil…

Musk Mallow is having a very good year, some of the roadside verges were pink with it, so pretty.

And finally, in the woods there are some extraordinary Sweet Chestnut trees – my tree loving friend L explained how unusual it is for these trees to grow straight without twisting.

A fallen tree had a fine crop of oyster mushrooms on it too, but of course we left them. Having read the Peter Marren book about how easy it is to get mushroom foraging wrong, it seemed like the best thing to do for self-preservation, but of course fungi also have important work to do in breaking things down and returning their nutrients to the soil, so best to let them get on with it….

And then it was a brief drive to the Heartwood Cafe for the best breakfast ever – they even have a little garden, which was very welcome on this humid day. All in all the gravel pits are well worth a visit, and it gives me such joy to see so many insects and plant species. And we heard a cuckoo (23 species of bird heard in total). Job done!