Nettle rust

04 Friday Jun 2021

Tags

Nettle rust, Puccinia urticata, rust, rust fungi, rust on plants, Stinging nettle

It’s Fungi Friday and, though this time of year is not what I usually think of as prime fungi time, fungi are always with us, around us, underneath our feet, in the air we breathe, and I did find some prime examples earlier this week.

210604 nettle rust (1)

The vibrant yellow-orange-red patches on these Stinging nettles are Nettle rust (Puccinia urticata), and there were a lot of them.

210604 nettle rust (2)

As you can imagine, they were not easy to photograph, particularly as the plants were swaying slightly in the gentle breeze.

210604 nettle rust (3)

Fortunately, I spotted a patch of Dock nearby and used a leaf of that to shield my fingers while I held the plants steady.

210604 nettle rust (4)

First Common spotted orchids

03 Thursday Jun 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, wildflowers

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

British orchids, Common spotted orchid, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Native British orchid

I was delighted yesterday, as I walked up the west paddock at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, to spot my first two flowering Common spotted orchids of the year. This is just the beginning of what will, I’m sure, be another stunning display, as both the east and west paddocks are usually awash with orchids in the summer months.

Roosting

02 Wednesday Jun 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

British butterflies, butterfly, Common blue butterflies roosting, Common blue butterfly, roosting butterflies

When we think of creatures roosting or going to roost at night, we usually think of birds – one magnificent example is the murmurations performed by Starlings before they all fly down to roost together, or you may have seen photos of mass gatherings of Pied wagtails roosting together for warmth during the colder winter months.

210602 roosting common blues (1)

However, birds aren’t the only creatures that roost – some butterfly species also roost at night, or earlier, if the weather is particularly dull and grey. One such species is the Common blue, which roosts, with head pointed downwards, usually on a tall stem of grass.

210602 roosting common blues (2)

These photos were taken late last Friday afternoon, following a morning of rain, when the cloud cover was still low and quite dense. The butterflies had obviously given up on the prospect of more sun that day and gone to bed early. I’m sure we all know that feeling!

the lower butterfly had just flown in and, as I watched, assumed the head-down position.

Beautiful

01 Tuesday Jun 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Beautiful Demoiselle, British dragonflies, Calopteryx Virgo

Beautiful by name, beautiful in appearance, and really quite magical in their delicate fluttering around the bushes along the rides in my favourite local woodland. The Beautiful demoiselles (Calopteryx virgo) seem to have emerged en masse during last week’s warmer weather.

210601 beautiful demoiselle (1) 210601 beautiful demoiselle (2)

Green tiger beetle

31 Monday May 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Aberbargoed coal tip, Aberbargoed spoil tip, British beetles, Cicindela campestris, Green tiger beetle

Here’s another find from my visit to Aberbargoed, though not from the grasslands. My friend and I also had a good wander around the adjacent spoil tip, a huge reminder of the coal mining industry that used to dominate much of the Welsh Valleys and now home to an amazingly diverse range of flora and fauna.

210531 green tiger beetle

Last week’s walk produced my first ever Green tiger beetle (Cicindela campestris), a species I’ve wanted to see since marvelling at the wonderful photos I saw on Liam Old’s Twitter feed. (Liam is the founder and force behind the Colliery Spoil Biodiversity Initiative, which promotes the environmental value of spoil tips and the immense biodiversity these sites support.)

Lousewort

30 Sunday May 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, wildflowers

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Aberbargoed Grasslands, British wildflowers, Lousewort, Pedicularis sylvatica, semi-parasitic plants

One of the many good things about visiting a different location after having been restricted to my local patch for many months is getting the opportunity to see something new. So, when I went to Aberbargoed Grasslands for the Marsh fritillaries I blogged about yesterday, I also spotted other fauna and flora I don’t usually see.

210530 lousewort (1)

Acid-loving Lousewort (Pedicularis sylvatica) thrives in the boggy fields where the Marsh frits are found. It’s actually a semi-parasitic plant, tapping into the roots of adjacent grasses and other plants to obtain the nutrients it needs to grow.

This plant’s name is odd: the NBN Atlas website explains that people used to believe that livestock that ate Lousewort would then become infected with lice. Bizarre!

Marsh fritillaries

29 Saturday May 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Aberbargoed Grasslands, British butterflies, butterfly, fritillary, Marsh fritillary

Having lucked out last week, I was over the moon during this week’s visit to Aberbargoed Grasslands NNR to see my first Marsh fritillaries of the year.

210529 marsh fritillary (1)

Perhaps it was the company of my friend Sharon that brought me luck (it was our first meeting in almost nine months).

210529 marsh fritillary (2)

And, no doubt, bumping in to the ranger on site really helped, as he pointed out which field he’d just seen half a dozen butterflies in (the main field where they’re usually seen is still very waterlogged).

210529 marsh fritillary (3)

The day of our visit was the first really sunny day in a while, and, as most of the fritillaries were sitting quietly amongst the tussocks and clumps of grass, soaking up the sunshine and flexing their wings, I got the feeling that many had only just emerged from their pupae.

210529 marsh fritillary (4)

We saw nine Marsh fritillaries in total – I’m sure there were more we missed. They are such stunning creatures that I’m already planning a return visit.

210529 marsh fritillary (5)

Feeding time

28 Friday May 2021

Posted by sconzani in birds

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

bird beaks full of food, birds collecting food for chicks, blackbird, British birds, Great spotted woodpecker, house sparrow, Mistle thrush

Who’d be a bird parent? The nonstop finding and gathering enough food to feed a multitude of gaping beaks, the constant flying out of the nest to dump chick poo and back in with the insects to generate more chick poo, the incessant and demanding cheep-cheep-cheeping….
I have nothing but admiration for these toilers!

210528 blackbird 210528 great spotted woodpecker 210528 house sparrow 210528 mistle thrush

Oak: mothy goodness

27 Thursday May 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects, leaves, trees

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Brindled green, British moths, Case-bearing moth, Coleophora flavipennella, Coleophora lutipennella, Dryobotodes eremite, moth larvae, moth larvae on Oak, moths on Oak, Oak leaves

As you can see from the last two days’ blogs, there was much to be found on Oak leaves in my local woodlands on Sunday. These are two more finds, both relating to moths. This first was found on the same tree as the Purple hairstreak larva and, thanks to some help from Twitter moth-ers, I can tell you this is the larva of the Brindled green moth (Dryobotodes eremite) (you can see the adult moth on the UK Moths website here).

210527 brindled green larva

The wonderfully crafted cases in the photos below contain the larvae of either Coleophora lutipennella or Coleophora flavipennella – apparently, it’s not possible to determine the species without waiting for the adult moths to hatch and then dissecting their genitalia, which I’m not going to do. I’m happy just to admire their silk-weaving skills.

210527 Coleophora lutipennella or flavipennella (1)

210527 Coleophora lutipennella or flavipennella (2)

210527 Coleophora lutipennella or flavipennella (3)

Oak: Purple hairstreak larva

26 Wednesday May 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects, trees

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

British butterflies, butterfly larva on Oak tree, butterfly larvae, Purple hairstreak, Purple hairstreak larva

While examining the galls on Oak leaves that I blogged about yesterday, I also made a very exciting find, my first Purple hairstreak butterfly larva. It was so well camouflaged that I’m sure I wouldn’t normally have noticed it.

210526 purple hairstreak larva

This particular woodland contains some huge ancient Oak trees but also many younger trees planted to mark the turn of the millennium and I’ve always thought it would be good habitat for Purple hairstreak. Now that I know they’re definitely here, I’ll be looking for the stunning little butterflies when they emerge in a month or so, and also for more larvae in the meantime.