The local council in Cambridge have been ‘with the programme’ over the past couple of years, sowing areas of wild flowers and letting them be. This patch is in a park near where we live, and it’s only minutes from the centre of town.
Years ago I used to read the blog by a Norwegian photographer – Bjørn Rørslett – who had a camera converted to read the ultra-violet part of the spectrum. He showed how flowers had ‘runways’ invisible to the human eye, that guided insect pollinators like lights on a landing strip.
I never looked at the underside of a poppy or I didn’t notice the black markings that are very probably on the inside of the flower head. And I am idly wondering what the flower looks like to an insect seeing it in ultra-violet part of the spectrum.
Bjørn Rørslett fell ill with Lyme disease, and I don’t know how he fared after that. Here’s the linkto the legacy site at naturfotograf and you can find the UV photos there.
And here’s a closeup of the poppy head – a crop from the first photo.
I love the patches of wildflowers with their variegated shapes and colours – and well observed about this poppy in particular, David!
I remember when you learned about insect runways: The delights of nature, yes? Likewise true about your photo here of the underside of a poppy – how lovely!
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How incredibly strange David! I was just reading an article only a day or so ago on this very thing! Pollination is obviously ‘on the (Hive; ) mind’ lol
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Used to have this sort of annual Poppy growing in the garden. Should really see about finding some more seed…
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