On the 28 of July 2021, I went on a short road trip, a bit of driving around the inland area about 60 - 70 kilometers from my hometown.
I was in the good company of a couple of friends, and we stopped for a walk a few times, in between driving, joking, talking, and listening to the music from the car stereo. This is my favorite way to consume the music - on the road.
All the places we stopped in were wooded, but each one had a different feel and atmosphere.
After walking about an hour around the green, shady area that you can see on these three opening shots ...
... and some more driving, we stopped in another forest, about 20 kilometers further, just behind the last houses of a small village.
I was photographing these yellow flowers that were growing abundantly under the trees ...
... when a dog arrived from the village. It was a very cute and well behaving dog, and he became some kind of guide, our personal guide on that walk.
We had a guide ...
... and he had someone to play with in a sleepy village with no locals on the streets or in the woods.
While I was photographing this fly with beautifully decorated wings ...
... the dog was sniffing something in front of me. You can see some yellow flowers near the dog on this photograph ...
... they belong to the Pulicaria dysenterica ...
... a plant commonly known as the common fleabane in English.
Not far from these lovely flowers ...
... on some seeds, I photographed the Eurygaster testudinaria shield bug.
The dog was running around all the time ...
... interested in everything that we were doing.
On some small tree, just slightly taller than me, I found this bug from the Rhopalidae family ...
... and this small beetle that I never saw before. I don't know the exact species nor the family.
This grasshopper nymph was photographed on the vegetation under the tree. After an hour of hanging out with plants and animals ...
... it was time to continue our journey.
We said goodbye to the dog ...
... I photographed some small moth near the car ... and then we drove away.
These are the flowers of the Erigeron annuus ...
... a plant commonly known as Annual Fleabane in English ...
... and they were photographed on our third, final stop ... on our way back, about 40 kilometers from home ...
... as the sun was rapidly disappearing behind the hills and trees. This plant is native to North America, but is widespread in Europe as well. It was introduced during the first decades of the 17th century. All the herbaceous plants you encountered in this post can't be seen in my seaside area, so they are kind of exotic to me.
On this little walk at sunset, we encountered another interesting plant that doesn't grow in my immediate surroundings ...
... the Arctium lappa ...
... commonly known as the greater burdock in English.
It's a tall, robust plant that can reach 3 meters ... this one was little less than 2 meters tall.
While preparing this post, I learned that the roots and immature flower stalks of this plant are tasty and edible, similar to artichoke, a cultivated relative of the Arctium lappa. I'll have to try it one of these days.
Before driving home, I photographed this pretty big fly ...
... and the Melilotus officinalis plant, covered with many small yellow flowers.
As always in these posts on HIVE, the photographs are my work - THE END.
