21 Saturday Oct 2023
As I put my foot forward to get closer to yet another bush I was examining, something tiny and yellow-looking flitted up from the ground. I was intrigued, wondering what it could be, so followed its upward trajectory until it settled on a bramble branch in front of me. Well, hello, little Orange ladybird. How lovely to see you!
20 Friday Oct 2023
Tags
British fungi, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Entoloma incanum, Honey waxcap, Hygrocybe acutoconica, Hygrocybe reidii, Mousepee pinkgill, Persistent waxcap
After a few wet, grey and gusty days being battered by Storm Babet, I thought we could do with some Friday night bright colour so here are some recent fungi finds from Cosmeston Lakes Country Park.
The fungi above are Persistent waxcap (Hygrocybe acutoconica), the yellow beauties at the top above, and Mousepee pinkgill (Entoloma incanum), the lovely little green mushroom with the wonderful name. And, below, these are all Honey waxcaps (Hygrocybe reidii), in various stages of development.
19 Thursday Oct 2023
Posted in insects
Tags
Aphelinus species, aphid, aphid mummies, aphid parasitised by wasp, British aphids, Drepanosiphum platanoidis, parasitic wasp, parasitised aphids
Unless I find something particularly noteworthy, this might be my last venture into the confusing world of aphids and their parasites, at least for the winter months. You might remember my post about Aphid mummies on 26 September. Well, the tiny creature pictured below is also an aphid mummy and, thanks to my local expert, I can identify this as a nymph of the aphid Drepanosiphum platanoidis that has been parasitised by one of the Aphelinus species of parasitic wasps. Within its now-blackened body, a wasp larva has been eating its host, will pupate and eventually emerge as an adult wasp. (Perhaps I should have saved this post until 31 October as it has something of the Halloween / zombie / walking dead feel to it.)
18 Wednesday Oct 2023
Posted in birds
We usually see the odd Shoveler or two at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park but none have turned up so far in 2023 so on Monday I took myself off on the train for a meander around the watery areas of north Cardiff. First, a circuit of the newly reopened Llanishen and Lisvane Reservoirs turned up distant views of a Ring-necked duck and a Goldeneye, then I stomped down through Nant Fawr woodland for a circuit of Roath Park Lake where there were at least six Shovelers.
Some were hiding between the islands so I could only see them through binoculars but three were more obliging, nearer the lake’s edge on the eastern side. They rarely kept still enough for photos though, constantly employing their shovel-shaped bills to sieve small pieces of plant material and insects from the water’s surface. It was a pleasure to watch them, and I went home happy with my Shoveler fix!
17 Tuesday Oct 2023
Tags
gall midges, gall-causing midges, galls, galls made by midges, galls on willow, Rabdophaga rosaria, Rabdophaga strobilina / rosaria agg, willow species
Although I’ve named this blog post Rabdophaga rosaria, it is apparently difficult to be specific as to which exact species has caused galls like the one pictured below, so finds are recorded as Rabdophaga strobilina / rosaria agg. The gall causer is a midge, of the family Cecidomyiidae, of which there are more than 600 species in Britain. All are tiny, less than 5mm in length, and it is their larvae that cause the plants they inhabit to form galls. In this instance, the galls are formed in the buds of willow species.
16 Monday Oct 2023
Tags
Agromyza alnivora, Alder, British leafminers, fly mines, leaf-mining fly larvae, leafmines, leafmines on Alder
These are new leafmines for me, found during time recently spent checking the leaves of Alder trees, both the more frequently seen Alder (Alnus glutinosa) and the Italian alder (Alnus cordata), a common planting here along street edges and in parks. To me, these mines all look very snake-like!
These are the work of larvae of the fly species Agromyza alnivora. As the British Leafminers website describes, they create ‘An upper surface corridor, gradually widening, which is not associated with leaf margin or veins’, but the most distinctive feature of these mines is the frass, which is always deposited in two rows. The larvae make their mines twice each year – the technical term is bivoltine – in summer and in early autumn.
15 Sunday Oct 2023
Posted in insects, wildflowers
Tags
British butterflies, British wildflowers, butterfly, Common knapweed, purple flower, Small white, Small white butterfly
I had something different planned for today but ‘the best laid plans’ and all that. So, here is the first scene that greeted when I arrived at the local country park this chilly autumn morning, a lovely little Small white butterfly sipping from a pretty purple Common knapweed flower.
14 Saturday Oct 2023
Tags
autumn migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, migrating birds, Redwing, winter thrushes
A week or so earlier than in recent years, the winter thrushes came rolling in, in small flocks and large, across the North Sea from northern Europe, to spend their winter months with us here in the British isles. Have you seen them? Here in south Wales, these first flocks tend to fly on through, south and west, and ‘our’ birds are either later arrivals or those earlier flocks coming back after eating up all the berries where they first alight. I’ve seen small numbers so far but I’m looking forward to getting closer views, of both the beautiful Redwings and the stunning Fieldfares, once they settle locally. (This photo is from a previous year.)
13 Friday Oct 2023
Posted in insects
Here’s an intriguing find I made when doing a little leaf-turning during yesterday’s rather damp local meander – a hairy cocoon on willow.
From looking at the yellow and black hairs contained within the silk, I thought perhaps this might have been created by a Pale tussock moth. Fortunately, Andy, one of the moth-ers I follow on Twitter, recognised this cocoon and was able to correct my identification. This was, in fact, created by a Vapourer moth larva (Orgyia antiqua) – below is one I photographed a few years back (it had just shed its skin, the remnants of which can be seen to the left of the caterpillar).
I’ve not yet seen an adult Vapourer but they are a particularly interesting species, as the female is virtually wingless – you can read more and see some images on the UK Moths website. Andy also introduced me to the Lepiform e.V. website, which, though it is in German, can still be searched using a moth’s scientific name and has an excellent and comprehensive range of images for each species, including larval stages, cocoons, pupae, etc.
12 Thursday Oct 2023
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Jay, Jay and acorn, Oak
This morning I spent a lovely half hour watching two Jays flying back and forth from Oak trees to their nut-stashing places, secreting away plenty of goodies to tide them over the winter months.
But, apparently, this particular acorn was so good it had to be eaten immediately.
earthstar 
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