Monthly Archives: November 2016

Autumn in Cardiff: Bute Park

20 Sunday Nov 2016

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Bute Park is, well, beaut! Cardiff’s green heart has wilderness and playing fields; cycling tracks and walking paths; a stone circle; an ambling canal on one side and a roaring river on the other; grand avenues of ginkgoes and limes, and a botanical treasury of trees. Though some of my photos were taken 10 days ago, on a bright blue-sky day, the majority were taken during this afternoon’s long ramble hither and yon. Luckily, winter’s first official storm, Angus, which blasted the city with rain, hail and high winds over the past couple of days, hadn’t blown away all the splendid autumn hues but I fear this may be my last autumn post for this year … so, enjoy!

‘Dedicated Naturalist’: Paradise found

19 Saturday Nov 2016

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A snippet from my volunteer work on the ‘Dedicated Naturalist’: Mary Gillham Archives Project, to celebrate Explore Your Archive, a campaign co-ordinated jointly by The National Archives and the Archives and Records Association that aims ‘to showcase the unique potential of archives to excite people, bring communities together, and tell amazing stories’.

Dr Mary Gillham spent 1957 in my homeland, New Zealand and, though officially on an exchange lecturership at Massey University, she also used her time for field research into the country’s unique flora and fauna. Mary had a particular passion for seabirds so the huge range of avian life to be found along New Zealand’s lengthy coastline must have seemed like paradise found.

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Within weeks of her arrival she was marvelling at a magnificent male Royal Albatross on Otago Peninsula with ranger Stanley Sharpe: ‘a lone male was sitting out on the hillside and we were able to watch it at close quarters for almost an hour – he, having no natural enemies, taking little notice of us’; and, a week later, delighting in the antics of penguins at Ringa Ringa Beach on Stewart Island (pictured below): ‘[we] were entertained by a yellow crested penguin who had come inshore to moult and wasn’t going back to sea for any humans’.

161119 Mary Gillham at Ringa Ringa

Mary was unsettled by the kakas on Kapiti Island: ‘it was most disconcerting to be firing the [camera] trigger at a couple of wekas and a tui with a kaka landing plomp on my head’; and entertained by blue penguins on The Brothers: ‘2 of them ran into a fallen Hebe bough and one got annoyed and blamed the other, leaping across his back and then slapping the bird’s sides with resounding thwacks of his flippers’. (Mary’s sketch of them is shown below.)

When she eventually returned to Britain, Mary wrote a book about her Kiwi adventures (A Naturalist in New Zealand, Museum Press, London and Reed Books, New Zealand, 1966). Not surprisingly, a painting of birds graces its cover.

For the full story about the Mary Gillham Archive Project, check out our website, and follow our progress on Facebook and on Twitter.

Fungi Friday: Diplocarpa bloxamii

18 Friday Nov 2016

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Considering I am exceedingly short-sighted, I am amazed at how many exceedingly tiny fungi I have been finding lately. More on those soon but today I want to share a rare one I found in one of my local Cardiff parks last week. In fact, my find is only the second record for Wales and was the first record in Wales in 42 years and 3 days. As Kew mycologist Brian Douglas wrote, ‘it’s not bad coming second to Derek Reid, ex-head of Kew Mycology’. Needless to say, I’m delighted, though I suspect this fungus is under-recorded rather than as rare as those statistics make it sound!

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Diplocarpa bloxamii (no common name) is an ascomycete, a cup fungus, with an olive-black disc-shaped cup growing on a short stem. The external surface of the cup is pustulate (think coarse pimples, without the actual pus) and it has light brown hairs sprouting both from the pustules and around the edge of the cup, which is much lighter, almost beige, in colour. The cups are tiny – no more than 5mm across – I actually had my glasses off and my face about 15cms from the decaying piece of log, looking at something else, when I spotted them.

Of course, I had no idea what they were but took some macro photos to post that evening on Facebook. Luckily, Brian Douglas spotted my post, alerted me to what they might be, sent me some literature, and had me heading back to the woods the next day for a sample. Talk about looking for a needle in a haystack! Fortunately, I’ve been training myself to remember where I spot things so that I can later record my findings, so I found them again quite quickly.

I am very grateful to Brian for his help in determining the identity of my little fungi and to Amy Hicks, of SEWBReC, who very kindly undertook the microscope work needed to confirm their ID and provided me with the stunning photographs (above) that resulted from her work.

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Autumn in Cardiff: Cathays Cemetery

17 Thursday Nov 2016

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I sure am glad I had a wander around my beautiful local cemetery yesterday, getting these photos, as today is cold and wet, with strong blustery winds, so I imagine most of the leaves will have been blown off their trees by tomorrow. I’ve blogged about the diversity of flora and fauna at this cemetery many times before but, in autumn, its huge variety of tree species becomes very apparent through the enormous range of shades to be seen in the dying leaves. Who would’ve thought there could be such beauty in death?

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Donkeys of Peru

16 Wednesday Nov 2016

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I’ve blogged previously about donkeys in Ireland but, as donkeys are so adorable and today is world wildlife Wednesday, let me introduce you to some of the donkeys I met in Peru.

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Though originally native to Africa, the donkey (Equus africanus asinus) was introduced to the Americas when the ships of Christopher Columbus’s second expedition arrived at the Caribbean Island of Hispaniola in 1495. The monks and priests who quickly spread the Catholic religion throughout South America were also responsible for the spread of the donkey, specialising in the profitable business of breeding and selling donkeys and mules.

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Today in rural Peru, as in most under-developed countries around the globe, donkeys (as well as llamas) are still the principal beasts of burden. They can often be seen carrying loads for farmers, pulling carts or simply grazing in fields. Their burdens look heavy but donkeys are sturdy and strong and, as they represent a substantial monetary investment and their labour is vital to subsistence farmers, donkeys are usually very well cared for.

Autumn in Cardiff: Heath Park

15 Tuesday Nov 2016

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I’ve blogged about Heath Park before: 37 hectares of fields, woodland, a stream and two ponds, lots of biodiversity and one of my favourite places for invertebrates during the summer and fungi over the winter months. And, right now, its trees are painting the park red and orange and gold. It’s another stunning place to soak in these stunning autumn hues and crunch a leaf or two!

‘Dedicated Naturalist’: Meeting the locals

14 Monday Nov 2016

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A snippet from my volunteer work on the ‘Dedicated Naturalist’ Project, helping to decipher and digitise, record and publicise the life’s work of naturalist extraordinaire, Dr Mary Gillham. Today I’ve been reading Mary’s diaries from the year she spent in my homeland, New Zealand, and rather enjoyed her meeting with a local character called Percy.

Thursday 14 March 1957
On my way back to Mog [Moginie House, where she was living] thro’ the wood tonight I made the proper acquaintance of ‘Percy the Possum’. Previously we had only heard each other – he having formed the disquieting habit of sitting on the fire escape outside my window at dead of night and making the most disgusting noises. Ear-splitting grunts and croaks sufficient to wake even me. I spotted him on a low branch in the dusk, was foolish enough to stand underneath and got a large, partly eaten apple dropped on my head. We discoursed in squeaks and grunts for a period, then I descended to road level to get the torch from my bicycle the better to see him with. He waited obligingly, objected not at all to the light, and continued to fraternise for approximately ½ an hour, moving slowly around a few yards away from me to display his soft brown fur, handsome squirrel’s tail, pink nose and huge ears to advantage.

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And a couple of weeks later …

Tuesday 9 April 1957
Percy, the big bright brown ’possum, is now a regular feature of the last part of my walk home through the dark or moonlit bush – sitting crunching apples on the kowhai next the Mog orchard. Persephone, his smaller greyer companion, is equally friendly to the passing stranger but remains in the lower part of the Mog wood.

I should perhaps add here that, although Mary creates a charming picture of this Australian marsupial, the Brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) is considered a major pest in New Zealand due to its destruction of our native flora and fauna.

For the full story about the Mary Gillham Archive Project, check out our website, and follow our progress on Facebook and on Twitter.

Autumn in Cardiff: Roath Park

13 Sunday Nov 2016

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We are having such a spectacular autumn here in Cardiff that I feel the need to share some of the stunning colour I’m seeing in my almost-daily walks in my local parks. I chose well when I found a flat across the road from Roath Park – or, at least, part of it, the recreation grounds, a large grassy area of playing fields. There are also pleasure gardens, a botanical and rose garden, a large lake, and an area called the wild gardens. The park contains a huge variety of trees, both native and exotic, so the colour at this time of year is just magical.

Draethen Fungi Foray update

12 Saturday Nov 2016

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When I posted about our ‘Walking with Mary’ fungi foray in Draethen Woodlands last Saturday, I said I would report back with our final species list. Just as Mary and her colleagues had walked these woods in both October and November, so did we, with a site recce on 19 October and then our group foray on 6 November, so this is actually the combined list for both walks. Mary had recorded more than 90 different species of fungi; our total is 79. Being optomistic, I think the lesser number can probably be attributed to our dry autumn weather this year rather than any species loss.

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Here are more photos of the fungi we found, followed by the full species list for any keen fungi fans out there. You can see details of the walk and Mary’s species lists on the Mary Gillham Archive Project website here.

Scientific name Common name
Agaricus sp.
Amanita sp. Possibly Death Cap Amanita phalloides
Amanita vaginata Grisette
Armillaria gallica Bulbous Honey Fungus
Armillaria mellea Honey Fungus
Ascocoryne sarcoides Purple Jellydisc
Auricularia auricula-judae Jelly ear
Bisporella citrina Lemon Disco
Bjerkandera adusta Smoky Bracket
Chlorociboria sp. Green elf cup
Clavaria vermicularis White Spindles
Collybia butyracea var. asema Butter cap
Collybia sp.
Coprinellus micaceus Glistening inkcap
Coprinus sp. Possibly Shaggy Inkcap
Coprinus sp. Possibly Common Inkcap
Cortinarius sp.
Crepidotus applanatus Flat oysterling
Crepidotus mollis Peeling oysterling
Cystolepiota seminuda
Daedaleopsis confragosa Blushing bracket
Daldinia concentrica King Alfred’s cakes
Diatrype disciformis Beech Barkspot
Exidia nucleata Crystal brain
Exidia sp. Either E. plana or E. glandulosa
Ganoderma sp. Either G. adspersum or G. applanatum
Gymnopus dryophilus Russet Toughshank
Hydnum sp. Possibly H. repandum Hedgehog Fungus
Hygrocybe conica Conical Wax-Cap
Hygrophorus discoxanthus Yellowing woodwax
Hygrophorus eburneus Ivory Woodwax
Hypholoma capnoides Conifer tuft
Hypholoma fasciculare Sulphur tuft
Hypholoma marginatum Snakeskin Brownie
Hypoxylon fragiforme Beech woodwart
Hypoxylon fuscum Hazel Woodwart
Kretzschmaria deusta Brittle cinder
Laccaria amethystina Amethyst deceiver
Lactarius aurantiacus Orange Milkcap
Leotia lubrica Jellybaby
Lepista sp. Possibly Lepista nuda Wood Blewitt
Lycogala sp. Orange slime mould
Lycoperdon excipuliforme Pestle puffball
Lycoperdon nigrescens Dusky puffball
Lycoperdon pyriforme Stump Puffball
Marasmius wynnei Pearly parachute
Mutinus caninus Dog stinkhorn
Mycena arcangeliana Angel’s bonnet
Mycena diosma
Mycena haematopus Burgundydrop bonnet
Mycena rosea Rosy bonnet
Mycena sp.
Mycena vitilis Snapping Bonnet
Oudemansiella mucida Porcelain Fungus
Phallus impudicus Stinkhorn
Pholiota squarrosa Shaggy Scalycap
Phragmidium bulbosum Rubus leaf rust fungus
Phragmidium violaceum Violet Bramble Rust
Piptoporus betulinus Birch polypore
Pluteus phlebophorus Wrinkled shield
Postia caesia Conifer blueing bracket
Postia sp. A crust fungus
Psathyrella sp. One of the Brittlestem fungi
Ramaria sp. Coral fungus
Rhodocollybia butyracea Butter cap
Rhytisma acerinum Sycamore Tarspot
Russula sp.
Sarea resinae
Scleroderma sp. Earthball
Stereum hirsutum Hairy curtain crust
Terana coerulea Cobalt crust
Thelephora terrestris Earth-Fan
Trametes gibbosa Lumpy Bracket
Trametes versicolor Turkey tail
Tricholoma terreum Grey Knight
Xylaria carpophila Beechmast Candlesnuff
Xylaria hypoxylon Candlesnuff
Xylaria longipes Dead Moll’s Fingers
Xylaria polymorpha Dead Man’s Fingers

Lest we forget

11 Friday Nov 2016

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‘At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them’
~ Laurence Binyon, ‘For the Fallen’

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‘These poppies were made by members of the Penylan Craft Group, members of the WI in south Wales and members of the U3A. They were made in recognition of the sacrifices made during conflicts that have enabled each one of us to have a future.’ The poppies are on display in a small lawned area near Roath Lake in Cardiff.