Ivy bees, and friends

17 Saturday Oct 2026

Posted by sconzani in autumn, insects, plants

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bees on Ivy flowers, Colletes hederae, insects on Ivy flowers, ivy, Ivy bee

I simply can’t let the season pass without a mention of my favourite bee, the bee I find most attractive, and one of the easiest – for me, anyway – to recognise. This is, of course, the Ivy bee (Colletes hederae).

These bees are usually on the wing from early September through to November, though I think those dates can be affected somewhat by factors like the weather and the availability of their food source, Ivy pollen and nectar. And the male bees tend to emerge a couple of weeks earlier so they are ready to pounce on females as soon as they appear.

I had wondered what would happen if they emerge before the Ivy flowers are open but an article on the Sussex Wildlife Trust website explains that they will also take nectar from other flowers, though the females gather the pollen they deposit in their nest burrows for their larvae to feed on exclusively from Ivy.

As it is a relatively late flowering plant, Ivy is also popular with many other insects, and those shown here are just a tiny sampling of the many species of flies and hoverflies, bees and wasps, and butterflies like Red admiral that I’ve been seeing on our local Ivy this year.

Wood cauliflower

16 Friday Oct 2026

Posted by sconzani in fungi

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#FungiFriday, British fungi, fungus, Sparassis crispa), Wood caterpillar

Firstly, I want to admit that I didn’t discover this unusual fungus unaided. The previous night I was inputting that day’s finds in to the database of my local environmental records centre when I noticed another recorder had entered this find and, never having seen it myself, I took a note of the grid reference so that I was able to plot the site on a map. The location was a park in north Cardiff where I’d previously seen some nice autumn fungi so I decided to visit the following day.

This is Wood cauliflower (Sparassis crispa), named for its rather superficial resemblance to the vegetable of the same name, though cauliflowers are produced on the stalks of plants growing in soil and this fungus grows on the roots of conifers, particularly pines. Also, though the fruiting bodies are off-white when they first emerge, they quickly turn cream like the ones I saw, and eventually rot to a brown mush.

Fortunately for the tree, the fungus is not a killer; instead, it restricts its root damage sufficiently for the tree to continue producing timber for many years – a parasite that limits its appetite to protect its food source. My guidebook tells me these cauliflowers are produced annually between July and October, and a quick look at their distribution map on iRecord shows records from throughout the UK, presumably wherever conifers will grow.

An arctic tern on passage

15 Thursday Oct 2026

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds

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Arctic tern, autumn bird migration, autumn migration, bird migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Sterna paradisaea

When an exciting alert appeared in my local birding WhatsApp group on Friday 2 October, I was off. First, I had to run for the train – I’m old, I never run, but there are only two trains an hour to Cardiff’s northern reservoirs and I was conscious that migrating birds often don’t linger long.

And, at first, I thought that was exactly what had happened because, when I got to Llanishen Reservoir, I was told the Arctic tern had just flown off high to the south. Fortunately, as you can see from my photographs, after about 10 minutes, the bird reappeared and proceeded to entertain me and several other birders with its aerial display.

This particular Arctic tern had an interesting routine. It was favouring the northern end of the reservoir, where it would fly back and forth over the water in its constant search for food, occasionally dipping low to the water, sometimes splashing right in. When it eventually caught a sprat, it would fly to the reservoir embankment, perch on the stones to eat its prey, and let the food digest for 5 to 10 minutes before taking flight to repeat the process once more.

By the end of the day, the Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea) had flown off, hopefully well fuelled to continue its epic migration journey – the longest of any bird – to spend the southern summer in Antarctica.

Feasting Greenfinches

14 Wednesday Oct 2026

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds, wildflowers

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birding, birds eating Herb Robert seeds, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, Greenfinch, Herb Robert, juvenile Greenfinch

This was an unusual sighting during one of last week’s local meanders.

I’d checked out Cardiff Bay Barrage for any migrating birds (found one lovely female Wheatear dotting about on the grass), and continued from there on the footpath that runs along the top of the Ely embankment, where the River Ely flows in to Cardiff Bay. A couple of our winter-resident Turnstones were tootling about, stone-flipping and poking in the vegetation, but the stars this day were two juvenile Greenfinches.

At this time of year, there is often a small flock of Linnets nibbling on the seeds of the many Herb Robert plants that grow all over the embankment stonework but, on this particular day, the Greenfinches were messily enjoying a feast. Greenfinches are usually a little more wary of being close to people, I find, and the footpath can be very busy with walkers, the river with marine traffic and kayakers but, perhaps because they were young birds, these Greenfinches hadn’t yet learned to keep away from such potential threats. They were a delight to watch.

It’s a spider-eat-spider world

13 Tuesday Oct 2026

Posted by sconzani in spiders

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arachnids, British arachnids, British spiders, Salticus scenicus, spider eating another spider, spider with prey, Zebra spider

The Zebra Spider (Salticus scenicus) may look cute but it’s an effective predator, and even smaller spiders (an expert on social media has suggested its prey may well be the species Anelosimus vittatus) make for a tasty lunch.

The also-rans

12 Monday Oct 2026

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds

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birding, birdwatching, Blackcap, British birds, Dorset birds, dunnock, Great spotted woodpecker, Great white egret, Marsh harrier, Pheasant, Stonechat, Wheatear, Woodpigeon

From a birding perspective, my recent trip to Weymouth and Portland was my most successful so far, with 85 species logged, and the unforgettable thrill of seeing, albeit fleetingly from the train, my first ever White-tailed eagles perched like statues on the edge of Poole Harbour. In this last blog from that trip, I want to feature some of the also-rans, the birds I loved seeing and managed to photograph that didn’t get their own blog but still deserve to be admired.

One of the many Blackcaps that were passing through on migration.

On a blustery day when birds were mostly sheltering, this delightful Dunnock appeared and posed nicely.

Though there are quite a lot of trees around RSPB Lodmoor, and a small woodland to the north in Lorton Valley Country Park, I was still a little surprised to hear this Great spotted woodpecker pounding at a tree trunk right by the water.

A Great white egret looking statuesque in the soft morning light.

Lodmoor was looking quite autumnal, and this female Marsh harrier sitting on her lookout post seemed to blend right in.

RSPB Radipole was mostly a disappointment this time around, a site that’s suffering from the neglect of the RSPB, who steadfastly fail to see the potential of one of their most accessible reserves to help the general public become more aware of and appreciate the wonders of Nature. It seemed appropriate that, on my final afternoon in Weymouth, the last bird I saw there was this Pheasant.

This was the day of the Stonechats! During a walk of the path along Portland’s east cliffs and the fields around the Bill and the Obs, I counted more than 20; the next day almost all were gone, braving the English Channel to migrate south for the winter.

I didn’t see many Wheatears this time around but this beauty popped up on top of a bush right in front of me one morning at Ferrybridge.

I think you can tell there was an autumn chill in the air this early morning just from looking at this Woodpigeon.

Sika deer

11 Sunday Oct 2026

Posted by sconzani in animals, mammal

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British deer, British mammals, RSPB Lodmoor, Sika, Sika at Lodmoor, Sika deer, Sika hind, Sika stag

Well, this was a surprise!
I was at Lodmoor, standing watching two Stonechats dotting around their little patch, when this pair of Sika deer appeared from behind some bushes.

I’m not sure which of us got the biggest shock to see the other but, sadly, the stag bolted and the hind immediately followed him.

They trotted quickly across the nearest body of shallow water, paused for a moment at the half way point to turn and consider me, then retreated at a gallop further in to the reserve’s reed beds, giving me delightful views of their white, heart-shaped-furry bottoms.

Though I was sorry to have scared them, I was exceedingly pleased to have got such close views of these handsome creatures.

Entrancing Lapwings

10 Saturday Oct 2026

Posted by sconzani in birds

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birding, birding at Lodmoor, birdwatching, British birds, Dorset birds, Lapwing, RSPB Lodmoor

My personal challenge to take better photographs of Lapwings continued during my recent visits to RSPB Lodmoor. However, the quality and zoom length of my camera equipment is limited, so the alternative was to get as close to the birds as possible – not always, indeed not often, an easy task with these less than confiding birds.

After a couple of Lodmoor visits, I’d mostly figured out where the currently resident Lapwings preferred to position themselves. Then, it was a case of using my field craft to approach those that were closest to the footpaths at a time when no other humans were passing – not as easy as it sounds, partly because many locals use the nature reserve paths at all times of the day for jogging and to walk themselves and their dogs, often talking loudly while doing so, to each other, their dogs, and on their phones, and partly because there was a distinct lack of vegetation to hide behind in the places the birds were frequenting.

Through patience and perseverance, and visiting both in the early morning and late afternoon, I managed to get a few images that I’m happy with, but my challenge will definitely continue when next I visit. Why, you might ask? I just think that, from their ‘head crest like an upward stroke of calligraphy’ (Tessa Boase, Into the Red) to the eye-catching palette of metallic hues in their feathers, they are entrancingly beautiful.

Rust: Puccinia tanaceti

09 Friday Oct 2026

Posted by sconzani in fungi, plants, wildflowers

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#FungiFriday, British rust fungi, British rusts, fungi, Puccinia tanaceti, rust fungus, rust on Tansy, Tanacetum vulgare, Tansy

I was alerted to the existence of this rust by a keen amateur naturalist I follow on social media, and I tagged their post as a reminder to look for the rust at the next opportunity. Little did I know I would find it the very next day as I walked around RSPB Lodmoor.

This is the rust fungus Puccinia tanaceti, which grows on Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) and some species of Artemisia, but, fortunately for me, is the only rust seen on Tansy. By sheer chance, there are quite a lot of Tansy plants growing alongside the footpaths that follow the outer boundary at Lodmoor, and I found the rust on the first few plants I looked at. Tansy is not so common in my part of south Wales but I will certainly be checking the plants I know about now that I’m back home again.

The Obs quarry birds

08 Thursday Oct 2026

Posted by sconzani in birds

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birding, birding on the Isle of Portland, birdwatching, British birds, Kestrel, Little owl, Little owl preening, Obs quarry Little owl

I can never visit Portland Bill without checking the old quarry in the field adjacent to the bird observatory to see if the resident Little owl is at home. When I stopped off during a circuit of the east cliffs, the Bill, and the fields up the hill from the Obs on Thursday 24 September, the owl was nowhere to be seen but, as I stood searching with my binoculars every nook and cranny between the large blocks of stone, a Kestrel flew in. It perched on a rock at the top of the quarry, started calling and peering down at the rocks, as if it too was looking for the Little owl. In my imagination it was calling ‘Hey, little mate. Are you here? Come out and play!’ There was no response and the Kestrel flew off.

The next day, the 25th, I was back on Portland, walking a different route, but I detoured once again past the Obs quarry. And this time the Little owl was at home, sitting in its usual spot, preening. You can’t get very close to the bird – and I certainly wouldn’t want to disturb it – so my photos of it aren’t great.