ONE of the joys of fly-fishing on the River Devon is the abundance of wildlife around – and this was no better illustrated last week when I took my rod down for a few casts.

I reckon anglers see more wildlife than anyone else because they become an integral part of the river, still and silent, ever watchful and the mind totally focused.

I flicked my fly-line towards a rising fish, but as I did so, a raft of white flowers behind the trout’s concentric ripples caught my eye.

The trout didn’t take, so I waded across to the far bank to investigate this whiteness, which revealed itself to be a wonderful display of water-crowfoot.

The long dry spell and resultant benign flow of the river was clearly benefiting this aquatic plant and I don’t recall ever seeing it in this part of the water-course before.

All it would take is a spate to sweep this plant away from its fragile toehold on the river bed – but the rains have stayed away this year and the water-crowfoot has prospered.

Spurred on by this find, I examined the adjacent bank for other flowers and a pale patch of blossom suddenly shone out at me – a giant bellflower!

This most handsome plant is turning up with increasing regularity along the banks of the Devon and I suspect the river is carrying their seeds downstream to colonise new areas.

It is a native flower (although also a common garden escape) and a welcome addition to the river’s flora.

A nearby shingle island proved too much of a temptation, so I waded across to be met with even more flower power. There was the azure blue of water forget-me-not, the bright yellows of monkey-flower and the long flashy spears of purple-flowering marsh woundwort.

Water forget-me-not is so named because legend goes that a knight in full armour fell into a river, and as he slipped under the water to be never seen again, he threw his lover one of the flowers, desperately crying ‘forget-me-not”!

@BroomfieldKeith