22 Friday Dec 2023
Posted in trees
I read online recently, on the Woodland Trust website, that the English oak (Quercus robur) supports as many as 2300 species, 326 of which depend entirely on the Oak for their survival. The 2300 total includes 108 fungi, 1178 invertebrates and 716 lichens, as well as creatures like bats, butterflies like the Purple hairstreak, birds like Jays and Wood warblers. Where would our ecosystems be without the magnificent Oak?!
21 Thursday Dec 2023
Posted in nature
I saw my first Painted lady of 2023 on 15 May and my last on 3 October which, when I look back over the past five years of my records, is about the usual date range. This year, here in south Wales, they were most numerous during September but this was not a year of large numbers – the last major Painted lady influx, according to my numbers, was 2019, when I was astonished to see over 50 of these beauties in one field at a local nature reserve. I miss the butterflies – of all species – when they disappear during the colder months and can’t wait to start seeing them again in 2024.
20 Wednesday Dec 2023
Posted in birds
The end of October brought a huge birding treat: my second-ever sighting of a Short-eared owl (and the first had been five years previously) so, though that sighting was the briefest of glimpses, I was over the moon (see Short-eared owl, 28 October). In the days following that sighting, the weather was not conducive to a return visit to the site but I got lucky when I did finally make it back, as the owl was still in the area.
As had happened previously, it was other birds – this time Magpies – that alerted me to its presence, and I was privileged to watch the bird for a longer period, in flight along the hedgerows, sitting in the middle of a ploughed field, flying again, and then cunningly sidling into a spot between a mound of grassy earth and the neighbouring hedge, where it blended so well into the background as to be nearly invisible. Magic!
19 Tuesday Dec 2023
Posted in insects
Tags
Bombylius canescens, British insects, Eurygaster testudinaria, Mystacides azurea, Nematus lucidus, Nowickia ferox, Ribautiana tenerrima, Typhlocyba quercus
I’m using the letter N to highlight a few of the new insects I’ve been lucky enough to find during my 2023 meanderings. First up, in early spring, was a new fly species, the torpedo-shaped Nematus lucidus (below left) and then, in July, another, the bristly brute that is Nowickia ferox (below right).
Next up, a new bee-fly. We usually only see Dark-edged bee-flies (Bombylius major) in my part of south Wales so it was super to spot this Western bee-fly (Bombylius canescens) during a visit to Aberbargoed in mid June.
On 17 July, in my local ‘secret field’, I discovered the final instar of a new shieldbug, Eurygaster testudinaria (left), and, the following day, I had another new find, the pretty caddisfly, Mystacides azurea (right). I didn’t blog this little creature at the time as I wasn’t sure of my identification but you can read more about it on the Nature Spot website.
Last, but certainly not least as these are favourites of mine, are two new leafhopper species. The seventeenth of July was a red letter day, with two new species found in my ‘secret field’, both the shieldbug mentioned above and, perched on an Oak leaf, the vibrant little leafhopper Typhlocyba quercus (left). I’ll certainly be checking for more of these next summer. Then, in the middle of November, bopping around a Bramble bush in one of the local cemeteries, I spotted the beautifully patterned Ribautiana tenerrima (right), and was left wondering how I’d never seen them before. I’m already looking forward to what new invertebrate species 2024 will bring.
18 Monday Dec 2023
Posted in insects
With their intricate patterns and superb colour combinations, I think it’s true to say that moths are amazing! To showcase how visually stunning they are, I’ve pulled together a slideshow of some of the moths, and their larvae, I’ve encountered during 2023. Enjoy!
17 Sunday Dec 2023
Tags
British leafminers, leaf-mining fly larvae, leaf-mining moth larvae, leafminers, leafmines, leafmines on plants, leafmines on trees
As a result of standing staring for hours at leaves, I’ve found lots and lots of lovely new-to-me leafminers this year. Here’s a summary of those I’ve blogged about:
On 13 February, Leafmines: Phyllonorycter ulicicolella covered the tricky-to-find mines of tiny moth larvae on gorse. In Leafmines: Eriocrania unimaculella, 22 May, the larvae of a different moth were mining Birch leaves, and, on 26 June, Leafmines: Mompha terminella, featured more moth larvae mines, this time on Enchanter’s nightshade. In October the moth miners were munching on Hawthorn leaves (Leafmines: Bucculatrix bechsteinella, 2 October) and on Blackthorn (Leafmines: Lyonetia prunifoliella, 9 October). The only new non-moth miner of the year was a fly whose larvae were found mining the leaves of Alder (Leafmines: Agromyza alnivora, 16 October) and, later in October, we were back to moth miners, with Hawthorn once again the plant of choice (Leafmines: Phyllonorycter corylifoliella, 23 October). In November, a willow moth miner I’d mentioned once before in passing starred in its very own blog (Leafmines: Phyllonorycter viminiella, 20 November) and, a week later, on 27 November, another moth larva was found on the leaves of a rose species (Leafmines: Stigmella anomalella). The final leafminer find of 2023 was yet another moth, this time devouring the leaves of Wild privet (Leafmines: Gracillaria syringella, 4 December).
I’ve already referenced the three case-bearing moth larvae leafminers in an earlier countdown blog (C is for Coleophora) but, just for completeness, I’ll also link to them here: Leafmines: Coleophora lutipennella on 1 May, Leafmines: Coleophora serratella on 15 May, and Leafmines: Coleophora gryphipennella on 13 November.
16 Saturday Dec 2023
Tags
British galls, bug galls, galls, galls on Ash, galls on Hazel, galls on oak trees, galls on Poplar, galls on willow, galls on Yew, Knopper gall, midge galls, mite galls, wasp galls
This is really a review of the galls I’ve found this year but the letter G simply had to be about my first ever confirmed Goshawk sighting, so K is for Knopper is my alternative lead in.
Knopper galls, like the one shown above, did feature in one post this year, Acorns and galls on 1 October, but there were many other galls, most of which were new finds for me. February saw the year off to a good start with galls on Yew trees caused by a tiny midge (Galls: Taxomyia taxi, 9 February) and galls on Hazel caused by an equally tiny mite (Galls: Phytoptus avellanae, 20 February). In June, it was a small bug that was creating eye-catching galls on the leaves of an Ash tree (Galls: Psyllopsis fraxini, 12 June), and, in July, aphids were the gall causers on a Poplar tree (Galls: Pemphigus spyrothecae, 17 July). In that October blog Acorns and galls I mentioned above, as well as the knoppers, another tiny wasp had caused artichoke galls to form on the same Oak tree. And, a couple of weeks later, I found my final new galls for the year, those caused by midges on Willow trees (Galls: Rabdophaga rosaria, 17 October). All in all, 2023 was quite a galling year!
15 Friday Dec 2023
Posted in birds
They can be quarrelsome and raucous, are known for stashing acorns as winter fodder, and have colourful plumage that might more usually be found on a tropical bird. The Jay’s scientific name (Garrulus glandarius) is so appropriate: the words are both Latin, Garrulus meaning babbling, noisy, chattering, and glandarius meaning ‘of acorns’.
Jays have been plentiful this year in my local woodlands, which is wonderful. I’ve managed to get reasonable photos a few times, and have blogged about them twice, Two Jays on 20 April and, on 12 October, A Jay and its acorn.
14 Thursday Dec 2023
Posted in insects
Tags
Amblyjoppa fuscipennis, British ichneumons, British wasps, Ichneumon sarcitorius, Ichneumon wasps, wasp
I’m not very good at photographing and/or identifying bee and wasp species (they’re almost never still, and they can be tricky to identify) so I was very happy to nail not one, but two wasp species in August. Both were ichneumon wasps, the first, which featured in An ichneumon, 10 August, is Amblyjoppa fuscipennis.
And this second beauty was also distinctive enough for me successfully to identify. Meet Ichneumon sarcitorius (from Another ichneumon, 11 August).
13 Wednesday Dec 2023
Posted in insects
Tags
British butterflies, butterfly, Green hairstreak, hairstreak, hairstreak butterflies, Purple hairstreak
H is for hairstreaks, purple and green. For me, 2023 was a particularly good year for Purple hairstreaks. On 21 July, in Purple sheen, I blogged about those I had already seen at Lavernock Nature Reserve and at Casehill Woods, but I was lucky to see them in three more locations, at Ystrad Mynach on 25 July, in Dingle Park on 27 July, and finally one at Cosmeston on 1 August. The photos below are from my Ystrad Mynach encounter, where I almost stood on a Purple hairstreak that had been blown on to the pavement in front of me from its large Oak tree across the narrow busy road, probably by the many passing high-sided trucks. After taking a few photographs, I took the tiny creature back across the road and placed it as near to its tree as I could reach.
There are no local places to see Green hairstreaks so I was particularly delighted in June to see my first in four years (A streak of green), at Charlton Kings Common just outside Cheltenham.
I also enjoyed a lovely encounter with a White-letter hairstreak this year but thought I’d highlight in this blog the Purple (for those special in-the-hand moments) and the Green (for the first sighting in so long).
earthstar 
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