Just another random photo taken with my telephoto lens...... the house sparrow

I thought was about time I changed my blog image. My new banner features the amazing Dicentra spectabilis (also known as bleeding heart). It's one of my favourite plants :)

I've always known these to be called April/May flowers but this plant is also called 'Lady's Smock' which derives from tudor times. The flower has a resemblance to the then common lady's smocks. This flower is also known as the 'Cuckoo Flower' because it appears at the first sound of the Cuckoo, as described by a quote from William Shakespeare....

'When daisies pied and violets blue
And lady-smocks all silver white
And Cuckoo-buds of yellow hue
Do paint the meadows with delight
The cuckoo then on every tree
Mocks married men, for thus sings he:
Cuckoo;
Cuckoo, cuckoo: O, word of fear,
Unpleasing to a married ear!'


Shakespeare - Love's Labour Lost (1564-1616)

http://www.wildflowersofireland.net/plant_detail.php?id_flower=81&Wildflower=Cuckoo%20Flower

Cherry Blossom also known as 'Sakura', meaning Japanease flowering cherry.