Monthly Archives: September 2022

Phenomenal fliers

10 Saturday Sep 2022

Posted by in birds

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

Phenomenal fliers effortlessly performing awesome aerobatics…. It’s easy to get carried away and, at the same time, difficult to describe adequately in words the flying skills of members of the Tern family. It also proved extremely difficult, even with my new camera, to get good photographs as they swooped and swerved, dipped and dived, feeding on tiny insects both on and above the water.

These are juvenile Black terns (Childonias niger), rare visitors to south Wales, so it’s been a treat for many birders this week to have seen first one, then yesterday a second bird, feeding over the lake in Cardiff’s Parc Tredelerch. I spent several magical hours with a friend at the lake yesterday, watching and marvelling at these thrilling fliers.

Sycamore tarspot

09 Friday Sep 2022

Posted by in fungi, trees

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

As the South East Wales Biodiversity Records Centre has only 400 records of the very easily identifiable Sycamore tarspot (Rhytisma acerinum) in its database, SEWBReC staff have chosen this fungus to be the September species of the month to inspire as many people as possible to find and record this fungus. Using the Welsh records database Aderyn, it’s possible to see where people have recorded Sycamore tarspot and, more importantly for this exercise, where they haven’t. I know this fungus is very common in my local area, yet there are few records.

So, I’m making it my mission during my walks this month to find and record Sycamore tarspot in as many 1-km squares as possible. I got off to a good start on Wednesday, with records logged in four new squares. It will be interesting to see how many more I can get, and to see how many records other people manage to find over the next few weeks. I’m picking the map will change dramatically by 30 September.

220909 sycamore tarspot

Whinchats in a row

07 Wednesday Sep 2022

Posted by in autumn, birds

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

Thanks to my fellow local birders who found first one (first sighting to Graham), then two (Mat spotted the second), and then a third (Ian got all three, and was trying very hard to turn a Reed bunting into a fourth), I managed to get all my Whinchats in a row during Sunday morning’s walk.

220907 whinchat (1)

These weren’t my first Whinchats of the autumn – they were the sixth, seventh and eighth, but this might well be the first time I’ve seen three together. And every single one is a little gem!

220907 whinchat (2)

The aphid munchers

06 Tuesday Sep 2022

Posted by in insects, plants

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Today’s focus is on one of the smaller things in life, specifically every gardener’s friend, one of the aphid munchers, the hoverfly larva.

220906 syrphus sp

In fact, not just one larva, but many, and from more than one species, feasting on aphid-infested Wild parsnip plants. The larvae in the photos above have been identified as being one of the Syrphus species of hoverfly, while those below, according to an expert, are probably Melangyna compositarum agg / umbelltarum. All would need rearing to adulthood for more precise identification.

220906 Melangyna sp

It’s worth checking the stems, leaves, seedheads of plants with aphid infestations as hoverfly larvae are almost certain to be lurking there somewhere.

Teal yoyos

05 Monday Sep 2022

Posted by in birds

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

Teal obviously like Cosmeston’s dragonfly pond but they’re easily freaked by passing walkers and their dogs, and fly in panic back to the safety of an inaccessible pond on the other side of the nearby woodland.

220905 teal (1)

But if you’re patient and wait, perhaps slightly obscured behind a shrub, sometimes no more than ten minutes, like avian yoyos, the Teal will return to the dragonfly pond once again. On Saturday morning, five little beauties were doing just this … and all the while the Mallards wondered what the fuss was about.

220905 teal (2)

The Sulphur polypore

02 Friday Sep 2022

Posted by in fungi, trees

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

, , ,

This lovely old Oak tree was a victim of a storm back in the spring. As it’s in a corner of a local nature reserve, it’s been left for the fungi and insects to enjoy and, eventually, break down. And, when I walked that way on Tuesday, I noticed the fungi have been busy. This is Chicken-of-the-woods (Laetiporus sulphureus), normally a bright sulphur yellow, hence its alternate name of Sulphur polypore, but well past its best now and looking quite woody. To see a younger version of this fungus, check out my previous post on the topic, Chicken-of-the-woods, September 2021.

220902 chicken of the woods

New plant: Salad burnet

01 Thursday Sep 2022

Posted by in flowers, wildflowers

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

New month, new season, new plant. This is Salad burnet, which seems recently to have had a change of scientific name from Sanguisorba minor to Poterium sanguisorba. As you might guess from the root of the word, the sanguisorba part of those names, old and new, refers to blood. Richard Mabey explains in Flora Britannica: ‘The round, rust-speckled flower-heads, a little like scabs or blood clots, made it a signaturist’s favourite, for staunching wounds….’ I don’t see the resemblance myself – in fact, I think the flower-heads look a little like terrestrial versions of sea-anemones.

From the common name, it is obvious that this plant can be used as a salad green and, though I haven’t tried it myself, I’ve read that it has a slightly bitter taste and that the leaves smell of cucumber when crushed. I will have to revisit the find site to check that out.

220901 salad burnet