WILD FLOWERS ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF TOWN

Today I spent an hour or two in the area just outside my hometown. Mostly because a car repair shop of my choice is situated there, and my old car needed some routine maintenance.

Many plants were in bloom all around me, so I had plenty of fun exploring and photographing the flowers.

In this wide shot, you can take a look at the setting. A stretch of stony terrain in the area between Medulin, the town in which I live, and Liznjan, the nearest village that is every year closer to be merged with Medulin.

Here you can see a portrait of the Romulea bulbocodium flower. In the following photograph ...

... I used the macro lens to get closer to another flower of the same kind, so you can take a good look at the pistil and anthers in its center.

This much smaller flower ...

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... belongs to the Erodium cicutarium plant. In the following photograph ...

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... the two flowers are next to each other so you can easily compare them.

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I photographed quite a few Romulea bulbocodium flowers today because many of them were scattered like little stars all over that sunny open area.

Here you can see a small Crematogaster auberti ant in one of those flowers.

In this photograph, you are looking at two lovely yellow flowers ...

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... of the Ficaria verna plant. In the following shot ...

... the Ficaria verna and the Romulea bulbocodium are next to each other so you can compare the two.

Here you can take a look at the old stone wall partially covered with ivy.

This plant is a spurge. The Euphorbia helioscopia. Commonly known as the sun spurge.

Here you can see a small fly, can't tell you the name of the species, feeding on nectar produced by the tiny green floral structures of the spurge.

The ants were also enjoying the nectar. This is a Crematogaster auberti worker.

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Here you can see another species. The Tapinoma erraticum.

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At first sight, from a distance, these ants look the same. Like tiny black dots in motion, basically. But a look through the macro lens reveals some noticeable differences in their anatomy.

Observing the ants is a great weekend activity. Almost like birdwatching. Or collecting the shells on the seashore.

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In this shot, you can see how the Euphorbia helioscopia looks in its environment.

Here you can take another look at the scenery.

It was late in the morning but in some shady places under the trees, I found a handful of droplets, the last traces of the dew that evaporated from the terrain reached by the sun.