17 Saturday Dec 2022
Posted in insects
I almost forgot about this photo, taken a couple of weeks ago on a local walk. I’ve seen aphids of various sizes all together on one branch before but I’ve never knowingly seen an aphid that’s just had a baby. In fact, I didn’t know aphids gave birth to live young, rather than lay eggs, and I’ve only just found out that there’s no sex involved in the reproduction process. They may be the bane of every serious gardener but what fascinating creatures aphids are!
16 Friday Dec 2022
Posted in birds
As their usual waterways freeze over and temperatures plummet, many birds are forced to move to find open water and places to feed. Though it’s certainly not pleasant for the birds, one of the huge pluses for those who love birding is that, in places like Cardiff Bay, having several days in a row of freezing temperatures can bring in the rarities. And, that’s exactly what happened today, with not one but four Goldeneyes present, a pair that I didn’t manage to see and these two females. I spent a delightful half hour watching them diving and preening and sailing back and forth just outside the iced-up waters along the Barrage. Magic!
15 Thursday Dec 2022
Posted in nature
Just watching this Grey heron standing in the partially iced-over lake made me feel cold this morning, and I was bundled up in several layers of clothing, woolly hat and scarf and 2 pairs of gloves.
14 Wednesday Dec 2022
Posted in insects
Tags
British springtails, harlequin ladybird, hoverfly larvae, ladybirds, springtail, Syrphus sp larvae, Syrphus species
Last week, before our current cold snap (though we’ve had no snow, it was -8C in the bitter easterly wind today), I was amazed at how many insects I found on and around a black metal fence that borders a local park.
I was initially checking for hoverfly larvae, as I was alerted a couple of years back to the fact that they can often be found on fences and other objects under trees like Sycamore – I think they fall when the leaves fall, then stay on the fence rails gobbling up any aphids that also fall. The four hoverfly larvae I found (shown below the lovely blue-bodied fly) are all from the Syrphus genus (but it’s not possible to identify them to species level), but I was surprised to also find an abundance of Springtails and more than 20 ladybirds, almost all Harlequin. I don’t know why the fence attracted them all – it felt cold to the touch but perhaps the black paint meant the surface was warm when the sun did actually shine.
13 Tuesday Dec 2022
Posted in birds
The Dunnock often get dismissed as an ordinary and dull LBJ (little brown job). I assume its detractors and dismissers have never actually looked at the subtle intricacies of its plumage because it is a seriously handsome bird.
12 Monday Dec 2022
Tags
fly leafmines, Ground-ivy, leaf mines, leaf-mining fly larvae, leafmines on Ground-ivy, Phytomyza glechomae
This time last month I found my first leafmines on Ground-ivy (Glechoma hederacea) (and blogged about them on 14 November, Leafmines: Coleophora albitarsella). Now, I’ve found another new-to-me leafmine on this same plant species only this one was made not by the larva of a moth but rather but the larva of a fly called Phytomyza glechomae. The mines are quite distinctive, starting with a winding gallery and finishing with a wider blotch, with plenty of frass scattered throughout. As always, you can read more and see plenty of images on the excellent British Leafminers website.
11 Sunday Dec 2022
I’ve shown you this beautiful location several times before – this is Cwm George, in the small south Wales town of Dinas Powys – but I simply can’t resist sharing this year’s late autumn splendour. I couldn’t decide which view I liked best, so I’ve included three images, each one zooming in to the scene a little further. I hope you have somewhere magical like this to enjoy, to wander through, to escape into.
10 Saturday Dec 2022
Tags
A hard frost coated everything with a thick layer of ice this morning, the ground crunched under my boots, and my handknits were keeping my extremities warm and cosy. Without the luxury of thermals or boots or knitwear, my little Robin friend was keeping itself warm by puffing up its feathers, making it look like a cute little fluffball.
09 Friday Dec 2022
Posted in fungi
There wasn’t a horse to be seen but there were plenty of White saddles (Helvella crispa) poking through the leaf litter. I usually fiddle with the surroundings when I’m photographing fungi, clearing away the odd leaf or grass stem to provide a clearer shot but, today, I decided to show them as they really are, an integral part of this woodland ride.
08 Thursday Dec 2022
Posted in birds
One of my local birding friends has a thermal imager that is extremely helpful when he’s trying to locate birds that are very good at hiding in plain sight – as long as they’re not obscured by too much vegetation, the heat generated by the birds shows up as a bright patch when looking through the imager. And that is how I got to see not one but two Jack snipe this week. Here’s a photo to illustrate how well hidden they are …
The first bird Graham found was the most difficult to see. The image on the left below was almost all we could see of it – these birds have two parallel pale yellow stripes running along the sides of their heads and down their backs. Can you spot the head stripes? Luckily for us, this bird stayed a couple of days – it would’ve been out feeding in the night, then returned to huddle down in its roosting spot in the daytime. The following day we could make out less of its body but, as you can see below right, we could see its eye quite clearly.
The second bird was discovered on the second day. I just happened to be there when Graham arrived and he immediately picked up a second heat source very close to the first bird. This second bird was much more visible, though its cryptic plumage still made it difficult. These photos were taken with a zoom lens – the first photo at the start of this post is what you could see with the naked eye. If you look carefully at the image below, you may be able to make out the other Jack snipe in the top left – you can see one horizontal yellow body stripe and one head stripe.
I’d only ever seen Jack snipe once before this week, as a fleeting flying blur. I was hoping our birds might come out and do their characteristic bouncing dance but no such luck. Still, I’m certainly not complaining. Our views of these elusive birds were superb!
earthstar 
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