10 Saturday Jun 2017
‘One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.’ ~ Dale Carnegie
09 Friday Jun 2017
Posted in flowers, nature, wildflowers
Tags
Anacamptis pyramidalis, Bee orchid, British flora, British orchids, Common spotted orchid, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Dactylorhiza fuchsii, Greater butterfly-orchid, native orchids, Ophrys apifera), orchid, Platanthera chlorantha, Pyramidal orchid
The meadows at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park are awash with orchids, Common spotted-orchids, (Dactylorhiza fuchsii), Bee orchids (Ophrys apifera), Pyramidal orchids (Anacamptis pyramidalis) and, in a secluded location off the beaten track, a tiny smattering of Greater butterfly-orchids (Platanthera chlorantha). To walk along the paths amongst these beauties is simply magical!
08 Thursday Jun 2017
Posted in flowers, nature, wildflowers
I made a wish, I cast my vote … but will my wish come true?
07 Wednesday Jun 2017
Posted in flowers, nature, wildflowers
Tags
British flora, British orchids, Dactylorhiza incarnata, Dactylorhiza praetermissa, Dactylorhiza purpurella, Early Marsh-orchid, Kenfig National Nature Reserve, native orchids, Northern Marsh-orchid, orchid, Southern marsh orchid
Apart from 18 species of rust, there wasn’t a lot of fungi to be found during our foray at Kenfig National Nature Reserve last Saturday but what we did see was a lot of stunning marsh orchids.
Identifying these beauties can be extremely tricky, even for trained botanists, partly because they look very similar, partly because their colouration can vary quite a lot within species, and partly because they hybridise easily with each other. So, although the chances are that these are Southern Marsh-orchids (Dactylorhiza praetermissa), there may also be some Northern Marsh-orchids (Dactylorhiza purpurella) or a mixture of both. Whatever they are, they’re beautiful!
I am, however, quite sure about these next pictures. These are Early Marsh-orchids (Dactylorhiza incarnata). They thrive in damp calcareous habitats so the dune systems at Kenfig suit them perfectly – or, at least they will as long as the dune systems are managed to prevent scrub and trees taking hold: the orchids actually grow best when wind and rain are allowed to destabilise the dunes and move sand and plants around a bit.
06 Tuesday Jun 2017
Tags
Bright-line Brown-eye, British moth, Buff ermine, Garden Grass-veneer, Ingrailed clay, moth, moths, The Spectacle
When I arrived at my friend Hilary’s house early Saturday morning, to hitch a ride to our monthly fungi foray, she had a wonderful surprise for me. She had put her moth trap out the previous night and had kept the moths for me to have a look at before she released them. (In case you’re wondering, trapping is really the only way to record and monitor the moth population, and it’s done in a way that usually causes no harm to the moths.) Here are some of the beauties I saw …
One of the Crambidae or grass moths, the Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
I blogged about the White ermine recently – this is its cousin the Buff ermine (Spilosoma lutea).
Heart & Dart (Agrotis exclamationis), named for the heart- and dart-shaped markings on its wings.
Ingrailed clay (Diarsia mendica). Its name is a mystery but its caterpillars live on brambles and bilberries.
Bright-line Brown-eye (Lacanobia oleracea). Don’t you just love the common names of moths?
And, last but certainly not least, this amazing creature, for fairly obvious reasons, is called The Spectacle (Abrostola tripartita).
05 Monday Jun 2017
These are just 3 of the 14 Speckled woods (Pararge aegeria) I encountered during a recent walk along my local coastal path, and just look at how different their faces are. They were all very obliging when it came to taking their portraits, or perhaps the way I was slowly moving my camera from side to side as I approached had momentarily mesmerised them.
My butterfly expert friend George says: ‘These fresh ones may be those which overwintered as larvae and are now just emerging, whereas those out earlier in the spring would have overwintered as pupae. It’s the only British butterfly which regularly overwinters in two different life history stages’. Thanks for the info, George.
04 Sunday Jun 2017
Posted in insects, nature, nature photography
It’s dragonfly time!
Just when the birds disappear behind the trees’ leafy boughs, the dragonflies emerge to take their place in Nature’s line-up of masterly aviators.
Earlier this week I spent over 30 minutes watching these magnificent Broad-bodied chasers (Libellula depressa), two males circling and defending their territories from each other, keeping watch from their favourite perches, mating with two females, and those females then depositing their eggs amongst the water plants. It was magical!
03 Saturday Jun 2017
Posted in flowers, nature, wildflowers
Ragged robin (Silene flos-cuculi) certainly lives up to its name. To me, it always looks a tad stressed, a touch frayed around the edges, a bit frazzled, as if it’s had a long hard day in the meadows, but its distinctive ragged shape does at least make it one of the easiest British wildflowers to identify.
I say ‘always’ but I don’t actually see this pretty native very often. Perhaps that’s because it prefers to dip its feet into the damper grass- and woodlands, though the word is that it has declined in recent years in many parts of Britain, mostly due to agriculture taking over its habitats.
It was, then, even more special to spot these plants in one of my local wild places this week, and I wasn’t the only one smiling at the sight. The bees were obviously pleased to see them too! Ragged Robin flowers from May through to August so I hope you’re lucky enough to spot some too.
02 Friday Jun 2017
Posted in flowers, nature, wildflowers
Finding my very first Bee orchids (Ophrys apifera) in a local park this week made my day! I know they’re designed to entice male bees to attempt mating with their flowers in order to facilitate pollination but to me they actually look like jolly smiling and laughing mouths.
I had to find out more, and I have to say that, when it comes to wild plants, I love the Plantlife website – as well as giving you the straight facts and figures about British plants, they also include the most interesting fact-lets, like these:
* The aim of the mimicry is to attract passing male bees in the hope they will try to mate and thus aid pollination. In Britain, however, Bee orchids self-pollinate so the deception is not really required.
* This wild flower was once called the “Humble Bee” orchid (Humble being a variation of Bumble).
* According to Roman natural historian Pliny the Elder it was used by womenfolk to darken their eyebrows.
* The Bee orchid is the County Flower of Bedfordshire.
* In the Language of Flowers it stands for error and industry.
01 Thursday Jun 2017
Tags
British moth, Camptogramma bilineata, Euclidia mi, moth, Mother Shipton, Silver-ground Carpet, Spilosoma lubricipeda, White Ermine, Xanthorhoe montanata, Yellow Shell
In the absence of butterflies, I seem to be discovering more moths. (I’m not sure why I’m not seeing many butterflies, though a friend says there’s often a May lull before a June explosion – let’s hope that’s true.)
White Ermine (Spilosoma lubricipeda)
I found this beauty, wearing the rather regal furry coat that gives it its name, lurking in a clump of tall grass. Flying between May and July, with an occasional second generation appearing in September–October, the White Ermine can be found throughout Britain in a variety of habitats, from heath- and moorland to gardens, hedgerows and woodlands.
Silver-ground Carpet (Xanthorhoe montanata)
This pretty member of the carpet group of moths was a lucky find at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, where I chanced to spot it resting in a clump of grass in a small woodland area. It’s another May to July flier, and its caterpillars enjoy nothing better than a good munch on bedstraws, the plants of the Galium species.
Yellow Shell and Mother Shipton
Both of these images were grab shots from a recent walk around the former rubbish tip that is now Grangemoor Park, in Cardiff. Moths have a habit of not wanting to be disturbed by camera lenses thrust in their direction, I notice, so my apologies that my photos are not very sharp.
I wish the Yellow shell (Camptogramma bilineata) (above left) hadn’t flitted off so quickly as I love its bright markings that resemble the line patterns found on some seashells, hence its name. It’s another common find throughout Britain, though it does have a preference for damper places. Its larvae feed on low-growing plants like sorrel and chickweed so look for it around that type of vegetation, usually between May and August.
Can you see why Mother Shipton (Euclidia mi) (above right) is so named? Those markings on her wings supposedly resemble a witch’s face and she is named for Old Mother Shipton, a 16th-century witch from Yorkshire who produced a series of dire prophecies. The moth, on the other hand, can be found all over Britain and Ireland, though has a particular fondness for the flower-rich meadows where grow the clovers, medics and lucernes its caterpillars like to eat.
earthstar 
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