Today I drove about 70 kilometers north of my hometown ...
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... and stopped in the hills 5 - 10 kilometers from the old town called Motovun. I took a couple of shots and then continued walking toward the pines shown in this opening photograph.
Soon I noticed a pretty big cocoon on one of those trees.
This shelter was built by a community of caterpillars.
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Here you can take a look at the vegetation and landscape on one of the surrounding hills. After taking this shot ...
... I mounted the macro lens to take a better look at some small details on the twigs of the tree. I'm not sure what will come out of this bud as it continues developing. A pine cone, small pollen cones, or just new needles.
I photographed three of them.
Each one was slightly different.
Here you can see the bud accompanied by a small cone.
When I took a better look at the silky shelter, I found another little cone.
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While walking around the pines ...
... and observing the landscape ...
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... I came across an interesting flower that I have never seen before.
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It was time to mount the macro lens again ...
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... and take a better look. I wasn't able to identify this plant.
It looks like some kind of wild orchid. But I'm not sure about that.
After some more walking and sniffing around, ten or fifteen minutes later ...
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... I came across another interesting flower.
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This plant was also completely new to me. There's nothing similar in my southern seaside area.
Later at home, after half an hour-long Internet search, I found out that this is the Pulsatilla montana.
It's always great to see some new species without having to drive very far.
Here you can take a look at Motovun, the picturesque old town that I mentioned at the beginning of the post. I spent a few more hours in this inland area, visited the woods in the valley beneath the town on the hill, and photographed some other cool plants, but that's a theme for another post that I'll publish tomorrow.
AND THAT'S IT. AS ALWAYS IN THESE POSTS ON HIVE, THE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE MY WORK - THE END.
