Insects on Fleabane

21 Sunday Aug 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects, wildflowers

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British butterflies, British insects, British wildflowers, Common fleabane, fleabane, insects on fleabane, yellow wildflower

Fleabane is a godsend. It starts to flower in mid summer and carries on flowering through to early autumn, providing a much-needed food source for a diverse range of insects at a time when many other wildflowers are beginning to wilt and wither. I’ve been accumulating the photos in this video for several weeks, and many of the featured insects have themselves now faded away, victims of the passing of time and also of the sizzling hot temperatures we’ve been experiencing. I’m sure those insects that have managed to survive the hot dry weather have been very grateful for the sustenance Fleabane has provided.

Beauty is a bunting

20 Saturday Aug 2022

Posted by sconzani in birds, trees

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birding, birdwatching, Hawthorn, Hawthorn berries, Reed bunting

More birds are out and about now that they’ve finished the exhausting process of raising young and refreshed their look through their annual feather moult, and it’s been a joy to see and hear them more often during my daily walks. This Reed bunting was showing off its fresh look to perfection amongst the berries of a large old Hawthorn tree.

220820 reed bunting

Shaded broad-bar

19 Friday Aug 2022

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British moths, day-flying moths, moth, Scotopteryx chenopodiata, Shaded broad-bar

Apart from Five- and Six-spotted burnets and the various grass moths that flit up as I walk along pathways through meadows, I’ve not seen many day-flying moths recently so these Shaded broad-bars (Scotopteryx chenopodiata) were a nice surprise. They fly during July and August, and can be found throughout Britain, particularly in areas where vetches and clovers – their larval food plants – grow. As you can see, the colours of these moths can be quite variable (the Butterfly Conservation website has more examples).

220819 shaded broad-bar

Post-breeding summer passage

18 Thursday Aug 2022

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds

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autumn migration, bird migration, birding, birdwatching, Redstart, Spotted flycatcher, Tree pipit

Most birders label the movement of birds before and after summer, to and from their breeding locations, as spring and autumn migration, so I had to chuckle recently when someone on Twitter took exception to my post saying I’d seen my first Spotted flycatcher of the autumn. It seems that what I had actually seen was ‘a bird on post-breeding summer passage’ rather than on autumn migration. Whatever you prefer to label this movement, it has begun, and I’ve now seen a Redstart, several Spotted flycatchers, and a few Tree pipits heading south. As you can see from my images, the birds have all been distant so far but I’ll blog about the individual species if I manage to get better photos.

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Sea holly

17 Wednesday Aug 2022

Posted by sconzani in flowers, wildflowers

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British wildflowers, Eryngium maritimum, Sea holly, seaside flowers

There’s no mistaking Sea holly (Eryngium maritimum) – no other plant is so blue and spiky. I only see it locally in one place, growing in the sandy soil of the Cardiff Bay Barrage, where it may originally have been introduced in a sown wildflower mix but has since made itself at home and prospered. In Flora Britannica, Richard Mabey explains that the leaves ‘are covered with a waxy cuticle, a device to help the plant retain water in salt winds and seaside sunshine’. And, despite its name and how spiky it is, it’s not related to Holly the shrub/tree but is, rather, a member of the carrot family.

220817 sea holly

Garden warbler

16 Tuesday Aug 2022

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Garden warbler

Most of my sightings of Garden warblers have been fleeting and partial, heads poking through leaves to snatch Elderberries, passing glimpses through gaps in foliage, or, sometimes, not even sightings at all, just the joy of hearing their melodious warbling, which has been favourably compared to that of the Nightingale. So, imagine my delight when this beautiful creature stayed put in its tree, stared me in the eye, moved its head from side to side like a model going through their poses. Maybe the heat had made it sluggish – I know how it felt! Or, perhaps, it was a young bird and didn’t realise it should be wary of creatures it didn’t recognise. Whatever the reason, I was very pleased to take advantage and grab some photos.

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Three days in a row

15 Monday Aug 2022

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British butterflies, butterfly, Clouded yellow, migrant butterfly

I couldn’t believe my luck (and wondered whether I should’ve bought a lottery ticket) but, after the first lucky day (Brown argus) and a second lucky day (the Silver-washed fritillary), the very next day my luck was in again. I’d seen Clouded yellow butterflies already in 2022 (one on 16 June; two – probably the first one and a friend – on 17 June; one – probably one of the previous two – on 20 June; all in the same general area) but hadn’t been able to get any reasonable photos. With the new camera, and a slightly more co-operative subject – it stopped a few times to feed, this time I managed to fire off several quick shots. This is the best of them.

220815 clouded yellow

p.s. I wrote this blog a few days ago and, since then, we’ve had an amazing influx of Clouded yellows, with five noted yesterday at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, so here’s another of these beauties.

220815 clouded yellow (2)

Topknot or tonsure

14 Sunday Aug 2022

Posted by sconzani in flowers, wildflowers

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British wildflowers, Dipsacus fullonum, Teasel, Teasel flowers

Topknot or tonsure or a bizarre combination of both? Teasel flowers never seem to flower throughout their length all at the same time. I wonder why that is.

Tufted ducklings

13 Saturday Aug 2022

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, Cardiff Bay Wetland Reserve, ducklings, Tufted duck, Tufted ducklings

Once upon a time (22 July, to be precise) there were ten Tufted ducklings, tiny little fluff bundles following their mother as she ventured tentatively out from the reed beds at Cardiff Bay wetlands. Seventeen days and, presumably, many hungry gulls later, there were four Tufted ducklings. It’s a sad story but almost inevitable in this bird-rich wetland setting. The good news is that the remaining four should now be large enough to be safe from more hungry gulls. When young and at a distance, the ducklings looked black but now, seen more closely, they look a rich, chocolatey brown, and drop-dead gorgeous!

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Second lucky day

12 Friday Aug 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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British butterflies, butterfly, Silver-washed fritillary

My first lucky day happened when I took the new camera for its first outing, and not only produced the Robin photo I posted yesterday but also the Brown argus I blogged about on Wednesday. The very next day I was, if anything, even more lucky, as I found this superb, if rather faded Silver-washed fritillary in a local woodland. Long time followers might remember I found a male Silver-washed frit (A golden surprise) last July, which was in the same woodland. This latest butterfly was quite a distance from last year’s find spot but that may just be because the scarcity of food sources had forced it to fly a little further than usual. This year’s butterfly is a female so I’m hoping she had found/can find a male and laid/will lay some eggs.

220812 silver-washed fritillary