Andrew Trundlewagon's photos

Brighton Beach front, by the arches and outside the Fishing Museum, on a misty day.

A black and yellow garden spider (Argiope aurantia).

Corn bunting, South Downs, Sussex, UK

Bee on a black-eyed Susan. Taken by cell phone.

Carved Nautilus shell, Natural History Museum, London. Originally from the collection of Sir Hans Sloane, carved by Johannes Belkien, late 1600s. The coil follows the golden ratio (or Fibonacci spiral composed of successive quarter circles in boxes whose lengths decrease by a factor of 0.168), a natural fractal considered by the ancient Greeks to be a mathematical embodiment of perfection.

A red admiral, Southwick Hill, Sussex UK.

Foxgloves against a flint wall, Upper Beeding, Sussex, UK

An Eastern comma butterfly, showing signs of wear and tear.

The Whale, mother and calf with an angry crowd. At The Painting Pottery Cafe, Tichbourne street, Brighton, UK. (The bright lights are reflections, not whale thought bubbles).

An individual lupin inflorescence. Most of the flowers had already fallen from the stem, but this solitary individualist hung on to the bitter end.

Lupin flowers taken looking down the axis of the stem

Deer in the woods (white-tailed deer/cerf de Virginie).

A blue heron.

Light and dark on the forest floor.

Wild ginger (asaret gingembre, asarum canadense). A bit of an oddity. There are only two leaves. The flower grows underneath them and lies hidden in the leaf litter. It is supposed to resemble decaying flesh which attracts flies to pollinate it. It has no relationship with true ginger, but the rhizomes are said to have a strong gingerish taste. (Parc St. Bruno, near Montreal)

Flowers of marsh marigold (Populage des marais) growing by a lakeside, lac Moulin, St. Bruno, near Montreal.

The inconspicuous flowers of Micranthes virginiensis, the early saxifrage or the Virgina saxifrage. This is an early spring wildflower that grows on rocks. The stems are long and leafless. A small rosette of dark green leaves hugs the rock surface. (Parc St. Bruno, Quebec, near Montreal). It is thought that the long stems prevent the pollen being taken by beetles and favours productive pollination by bees and other flying insects.

Red trillium (Trille rouge, Trillium erectum) grows on the forest floor as a spring ephemeral before the leaves of the trees are fully open and block the light. The flowers are pollenated by flies and are said to smell of rotting meat, (for which reason they are sometimes called stinking Benjamins), although I have not noticed this. The outer coat of the seeds is very attractive to ants, which carry them to their nests, and in this way distribute the seeds through the forest. Unfortunately the plants are equally attractive to deer, and a recent explosion of deer numbers in the locality has diminished the numbers of trilliums that can be seen each spring.