A-Z Challenge 2018 - British Rivers: 'K' - Kennet

The River Kennet is one of the 161 chalk streams in the UK. It is a tributary of the River Thames; its navigable length to Newbury makes, with that of the River Avon and The Avon and Kennet Canal, a waterway that stretches across England from Bristol to London.

River Kennet near Avebury, Wiltshire

Its tributaries north of Avebury combine with water from the source at Swallow Head Springs near Silbury Hill.

The area between Malborough and Woolhampton is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) due to the wildlife (brown trout) and the chalk stream aquatic plants it supports such as rununculus, the creeping buttercup. 

Mouth of the River Kennet at Reading
(With Brunel's GWR bridge)

The Kennet flood plain at Burghfield in Berkshire contains many gravel pits renowned for their fishing. The river section is one of the most prolific for barbel with weights registered of over 17lbs.

A Burghfield Lake

Photo attributions:

• River Kennet near Avebury: upload to wikimedia commons 16 December 2011 - CC BY-SA 3.0 licence
• Mouth of the River Kennet: 10 March 2013 by Quentin UK - CC BY 3.0 licence
• A Burghfield Lake: 30 January 2008, ex geograph.org.uk by Andrew Smith - CC BY-SA 2.0 licence.

A - Z Challenge 2015 - Butterflies - 'R'

R - Red Admiral, Ringlet

The Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) appears in Europe, Asia and North America. It shares our Buddleia bush with Peacocks, Tortoiseshells and White butterflies. 

My photos of it in Yorkshire are all on the golden yellow rose we planted for our 50th wedding anniversary some years ago.

Red Admiral

The one I photographed in Michigan in 2010 had to make do with the tyre on a tractor.

Red Admiral

There is no mistaking its striking dark brown, red and black wing pattern with orange bands crossing the forewings and on the outer edge of the hind wings.

Vladimir Nabokov, also an amateur lepidopterist, featured the Red Admiral in his novel Pale Face - I shall have to read it sometime.

The Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus) is a brown butterfly found all over Europe. This female was photographed at a site of special scientific interest  (SSSI) - Hurcott Wood, in Worcestershire.

Ringlet Butterfly

I must confess that the few I've seen on brambles have been a darker brown than this.

Female Ringlet Butterfly

On the underside there is no mistaking the black eyespots rimmed with yellow. You are much more likely to see it like this as it rarely exposes its brown upperside.

Love is like a butterfly
As soft and gentle as a sigh
The multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings
Love makes your heart feel strange inside
It flutters like soft wings in flight
Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing

I feel it when you're with me
It happens when you kiss me
That rare and gentle feeling that I feel inside
Your touch is soft and gentle
Your kiss is warm and tender
Whenever I am with you I think of butterflies

Love is like a butterfly
The multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings
Love makes your heart feel strange inside
It flutters like soft wings in flight
Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing

Your laughter brings me sunshine

Photo Attributions:

• Female Ringlet at Hurcott Wood: 17 July 2008, geograph.org.uk by Max Fascione - CC BY-SA 2.0
• Female Ringlet: Sandy Bedfordshire, uploaded by innotata, by Ogangeaurochs - CC BY 2.0