Author Archives: sconzani

Yellow dung fly

16 Monday Jan 2023

Posted by in insects

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

I was going through my ‘pending’ photos and realised how many images I have from last summer that never got posted, just because each day’s walk in the warmer weather often produces several potential blog subjects. So, while we wait for the weather to improve, I’ll share the occasional 2022 find. And here’s one I’m sure many of you have seen as it has a very wide distribution – meet the Yellow dung fly (Scatophaga stercoraria). The etymology of its scientific name explains this little creature’s preferred habitat: Scatophaga comes from the Greek skatophagos, from skat-, skōr excrement and phagein to eat, and stercoraria is from the Medieval Latin stercorarium meaning toilet (stercorary is an archaic name for a place [e.g. a covered pit] for the storage of manure secure from the weather) (Merrian-Webster Dictionary). So, Scatophaga stercoraria is the dung eater from the dung pit.

230116 yellow dung fly

Flowers and catkins

15 Sunday Jan 2023

Posted by in trees

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

On most of the Hazels I’ve checked, the male catkins look almost fully formed but are still tightly closed and the female flowers are mere buds but, during Friday’s meander, I found one Hazel that’s ahead of the rest in its development. The male catkins were open and shedding cloud-like bursts of yellow pollen when the wind caught them, and the tiny crimson-pink female flowers, looking for all the world like miniscule sea anemones, were open and receptive. Hazel nuts in the making!

230115 Hazel flowers and catkins

Drake Goldeneye

14 Saturday Jan 2023

Posted by in birds

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

Almost a month ago we had the pleasure of two Goldeneyed gals cruising around in Cardiff Bay. Now, and for the past few days, perhaps due to the very blustery weather we’ve been experiencing, we’ve had a drake Goldeneye visiting. He mostly maintains a discrete distance from the water’s edge but, yesterday, was close enough for slightly better photographs. He’s a very handsome bird, his head a glossy dark green, his body and wings a stunning pattern of blacks and whites, and I particularly like his white cheek patches. If yet another squall hadn’t come in, I would’ve stayed longer to watch him but I’m hoping he will linger and provide more viewing opportunities in more clement weather.

230114 goldeneye drake

Golden shanks

13 Friday Jan 2023

Posted by in fungi

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

Velvet shanks (Flammulina velutipes) always look to me like they would taste delicious, like layers of crumpets dripping in runny golden honey. And, though I’ve never tried them, they are indeed edible; the commercially grown versions (also known as Enoki) can be purchased in cans and jars, very occasionally fresh in some supermarkets and many specialist food shops.

230113 velvet shanks

Not a wiglet

12 Thursday Jan 2023

Posted by in insects

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

Well, I’m not often right but I’m wrong again! So, when is a wiglet not a wiglet? When it’s a ground beetle, one of the Carabidae family. After reading Tuesday’s post, the top local biodiversity recorder sent me a message, saying he thought the juvenile insect was a ground beetle (thank you, Graham) and, after googling, I believe he’s absolutely right.

230112 ground beetle juvenile

My photos didn’t really do the tiny creature justice – you can see some amazing macro images by photographer Paul Iddon, especially of its impressive mouth parts, on the Open Photography Forums website. Also, while googling I found an article on the website of the University of Kentucky, Recognizing Insect Larval Types, which includes excellent information and diagrams to aid identification of insect in their early stages of life. Some of the terminology is American but it’s well worth a look if you’re interested in the subject, and there’s a downloadable pdf.

Spreading its wings

11 Wednesday Jan 2023

Posted by in birds

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

To get this photo, I got drenched, hailed on, flashed by lightning and rumbled by thunder … but it was worth every drop of rain. Seen here with the Tufted ducks it has befriended and a local Gadwall, this female Ring-necked duck is one of two that have been in the local area for several months. They have mostly spent their days together on Lisvane Reservoir in north Cardiff but the turn of the new year has seen this particular duck spread its wings, spending a day or two in Cardiff Bay, and several days, as today, at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park.

230111 ring-necked duck

A wiglet, I think

10 Tuesday Jan 2023

Posted by in insects, leaves

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

Did you know juvenile earwigs are called wiglets? I didn’t until I started looking online for images, trying to verify if this really is a juvenile earwig. I’m still not 100% sure but, with those hind pincers, what else could it be? This find was another from my recent leaf-turning adventures.

If you’re interested in earwigs and their relatives, the website Orthoptera and allied insects has some excellent downloadable identification guides for grasshoppers, crickets, earwigs, cockroaches and stick-insects. I have contacted them about my wiglet.

230110 juvenile earwig

Little poser

09 Monday Jan 2023

Posted by in birds

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

I always stop when I hear Long-tailed tits, partly because their little flocks are often accompanied by other small birds, which might include something of particular interest, but also because they’re just a joy to watch as they flit from branch to branch, picking up almost invisible invertebrates, hanging upside down or leaning sideways to check every crack and crevice. They’re mostly too quick for sharp photos but this little poser paused for a moment or two on a fence post, just long enough for a couple of reasonable images.

230109 long-tailed tit

New year, new plant hunt

08 Sunday Jan 2023

Posted by in flowers, wildflowers

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

I flagged the forthcoming New Year Plant Hunt in a post last week, hoping to encourage those of you in the UK to include wildflowers in bloom in your new year rambles. From all reports, the hunt went well but, as was my experience, the numbers of wildflowers in bloom were quite low this year, due either to the December cold snap or, locally, both the cold and the lingering rain. I managed to find 15 flowering species during this week’s walks: Common field-speedwell, Daisy, Dandelion, Field scabious, Gorse, Groundsel, Mayweed, Narrow-leaved ragwort, Red dead-nettle, Red valerian, Shepherd’s-purse, Sea radish, Winter heliotrope, Sun spurge, and Yarrow.

230108 wildflowers

Turning over a new leaf

07 Saturday Jan 2023

Posted by in insects, leaves

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

During Wednesday’s walk I spent a little time turning over soggy Sycamore leaves in a small wooded area, hoping for hoverly larvae but just as keen to see what other miniscule beasties might be living in the leaf litter (there were loads). I thought I’d struck pay dirt with this find but was later advised by a hoverfly expert that this is, in fact, a fly larva, one of the Lauxaniidae family of small flies. I’d never really thought about fly larvae before and assumed, before this find, that they were all a bit like the wriggling white maggots you find on rotting meat, so this was a nice surprise. I will be turning over more leaves very soon.

230107 Lauxaniidae larva