Author Archives: sconzani

A line-up of Wheatears

30 Thursday Mar 2023

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Another birder reported seeing two Wheatears in this particular field so I went for a look. And lo and behold, there weren’t just two Wheatears but three, happily lined up along the fenceposts (when they weren’t flitting down into the grass on either side, grabbing any insects they spotted).

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And then, blow me down, I spotted a fourth bird lurking on top of the bushes in the background – only a blurry photo of that one, so here’s the line-up again from a different angle, from when they flitted up to the top of the field. Birding magic!

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Nomad bees

29 Wednesday Mar 2023

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Despite their kleptoparasitic behaviour (laying their eggs in the burrows of other bees rather than doing the rearing themselves), I rather like Nomad bees so was delighted to find this dandelion, as the only local pollen source, had attracted a small congregation. As usual at the beginning of bee season, I optimistically thought I’d try to identify these and was almost immediately reminded of how tricky that can be, despite some really excellent visual resources being available online (BWARS, the Bees, Wasps & Ants Recording Society, has very good species galleries, and Steven Falk has excellent collections of species photographs on his flickr site). Having pored through a ton of images, I have tentatively identified my Nomads as Painted nomad bees (Nomada fucata) and recorded them as such. When/if my record is ever verified (or rejected), I’ll add a postscript here.

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p.s. I’m adding a larger version of one of the above photos, as this might help with positive identification.

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Tadpoles

28 Tuesday Mar 2023

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Are they Common frog tadpoles? Or are they Toad tadpoles? At this stage, I don’t think it’s possible to tell. I’ve read that toad tadpoles remain black and frog tadpoles change to a greenish colour, though I’m not sure when that happens. My photos here were taken four days apart, the first on 23 March and the second yesterday, 27 March, and there seems not to have been any change to them.

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Though I have been checking areas of standing water, I’ve missed seeing any amphibian spawn this year. These particular tadpoles are living in a roadside puddle, fortunately one that seems to contain water most of the time, so I will check back on them in a week or so.

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There is something magical about watching this tiny creatures wriggling – it carries me back to warm childhood days. Here’s a very short video that I hope the child in you will also enjoy.

Wheezing in the wind

27 Monday Mar 2023

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Trichomonosis, a disease that spreads through the birds’ contact with contaminated surfaces (like bird feeders – please clean them weekly!), has decimated the Greenfinch population in Britain, leading to a huge decline in numbers and to the bird being red-listed.

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As I’ve only been in my current location for just over seven years, I don’t know how badly the local birds were hit, though birding friends say it got to the stage where they rarely saw a Greenfinch. Fortunately, that dire situation does seem to be improving hereabouts, and I can now be fairly confident that I’ll see or hear a Greenfinch during my daily walks.

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At this time of year, I usually hear them before I see them, particularly males like the two pictured here, sitting in prominent spots atop a bush or in a tree, making their odd wheezing sound. They make other sounds too, of course, but it’s that odd buzzy wheeze that catches my attention – and, hopefully, also the attention of potential mates. If you haven’t heard the sound, I made a short video of one of these chaps giving it their all.

The Baccy plant

26 Sunday Mar 2023

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I wrote about this plant’s alternative common names and supposed medicinal properties several years ago (Coltsfoot for your cough?, 26 February 2016), but the Plantlife website entry for Coltsfoot has some additional interesting snippets:

Whilst the great herbalists of antiquity including Dioscorides and Pliny recommended smoking the herb to help the throat. Although this practice probably won’t help the throat to heal, smoking coltsfoot is still thought to be a good substitute to tobacco. Hence the common name Baccy plant. Also owing to the fact that the dry felt on the leaves smoulders well, it has been used as tinder.

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Rest assured, I have no wish to encourage any of you to start smoking any of the Coltsfoot plants you see – I simply thought the information interesting. And I also found interesting the variations in flower colour I noticed within this display of Coltsfoot in a local park. They reminded me of autumn … but let’s enjoy spring and summer before we head back to the colder months once more.

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Shieldbugs are go!

25 Saturday Mar 2023

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Common green shieldbugs like these overwinter as adults so it’s not that they’ve just hatched out but rather that the warmer temperatures and, some days, actual sunshine combine to tempt them out of these cosy hideaways under leaf litter or in cracks in bark.

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As you can see, these shieldbugs (scientific name Palomena prasina) aren’t always true to their name. During the winter months, their colour turns more brownish. It’s during the summer months that they can be seen wearing their true, bright green livery.

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First winter Little gull

24 Friday Mar 2023

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These photos are hot off the memory card, as we’ve had a lovely visitor in Cardiff Bay today, this beautiful first winter Little gull. The gull’s presence is not a huge surprise to local birders, as this is the time of year we often see one in the Bay. As the BTO website reports ‘This dainty gull is most often seen during its northward spring migration, when small parties can turn up along the coast or even at inland waters.’

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Little gulls are incredibly active birds: while the Black-headed gulls were happy to bob about on the water, pecking at titbits as they floated past, the Little gull was almost constantly in flight, skilfully weaving and diving despite the strong winds, dipping down to the water’s surface when it spotted something to eat. It was magical to watch, though the other gulls weren’t as happy to see this stranger as we birders were!

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Non-biting midges

23 Thursday Mar 2023

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This is one of those posts where I’m not entirely sure of my identification, and precise identification to species requires microscopic examination, but I think I’ve got the right family, which is the Chironomidae or non-biting midges. So, if you think I’m wrong, please do let me know.

During recent walks, especially those around Cardiff Bay, I’ve been very aware of large clouds of these small flying insects. Indeed, there have been times when I’ve had to remember not to let my mouth gape open in delight or surprise for fear of swallowing one or two. The swallowing is okay if you’re a bird, of course – judging by the numbers of gulls grabbing these creatures in the air or from the surface of the water, the midges must be quite tasty and nutritious, but I doubt I will ever embrace the sometimes-fashionable idea of humans including insects in their diets. One thing that I am particularly grateful for is the fact that these midges are non-biting. I am particularly susceptible to insect bites so if these were biting midges, they would make my daily walks an absolute misery.

There’s a Chiffchaff in my tree

22 Wednesday Mar 2023

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There’s a Chiffchaff in my tree, chiffchaffing happily!

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That was my tweet this morning after I’d spent a joyous 20 minutes standing by the open window, watching this little bird flit about the cherry tree outside my living room, catching tiny insects and singing almost the entire time.

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Although some Chiffchaffs now overwinter in the warmer parts of Britain, most still migrate, and they began arriving back in my area in good number last Friday. After this morning’s home-based Chffichaff encounter, I went for a walk around Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, during which I heard and/or saw at least 23 more Chiffchaffs. Their song will soon become one of the commonplace sounds of spring/summer but, for now, it’s pure magic!

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I bl**dy love butterflies!

21 Tuesday Mar 2023

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Sorry if my title offends some of you but it can be difficult to put into words how much I adore these stunning creatures.

When first the Peacock and then this Comma, within a few minutes of each other, flew across my path and settled in the sunshine for me to admire and photograph, I felt as if I might burst with happiness. The beauty of these creatures speaks to my soul!