What's Going on with my Plum Tree?

I noticed many of the leaves have lumps forming, mostly around the leaf edge. Turns out these are caused by #106 the Plum Leaf Gall Mite. Apparently this is harmless.  Wish I could say the same for the extreme damage done by #3 the Woodpigeon, which have pecked at most of the leaves except on outermost branches, and in the process either eaten or knocked off all but a handful of the many plums that were forming on the tree.

Three-in-One

I was not aware how different plant species have their own species of aphid. Here we have #18 Broad-leafed Dock with its own #95 Dock Aphid, which in turn are being "farmed" by #107 Common Black Ant. The ants feed on honeydew which the aphids secrete, and at the same time they protect the aphids from other insect predators.

#98 Reedmace Brittlestem

Very few fungi at this time of the year, but I start out with an obscure one - reedmace brittlestem - that specialises in growing on dead stems of the bulrushes that are growing in my small container pond.

100 Species in my Backyard, 900 to Go

Starting the tally on 1st June, I'm quite quickly over 100 species.  Even getting that far I've learned a lot about species I never really noticed or studied before, especially the weeds. The birds are not so easy to see right now - in nesting mode they're keeping themselves discretely hidden in thick foliage - and I didn't really try to get to grips with the insects yet, which anyway due to cloudy weather have not been so evident.  Common flowering plants though are looking good...

#88 Ribwort Plantain

#36 Ivy-leaved Toadflax

#42 Orange Hawkweed

#44 Wall Daisy