G is for Goshawk

12 Tuesday Dec 2023

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birding, birdwatching, bogey bird, British birds, Goshawk

For many years the Goshawk was my bogey bird. Other birders would see them in my local area but I wouldn’t. I’d go on bird club trips to locations where they were known regularly to appear but they didn’t. I would occasionally think I’d seen one but, when more experienced birders reviewed my photographs, they always thought the birds were Sparrowhawks. Finally, FINALLY, on 25 July I spotted a bird that everyone agreed was a Goshawk! You can perhaps imagine my delight and relief at finally getting my bogey bird. It was certainly one of the highlights of my birding year.

231212 goshawk

F is for Firecrest

11 Monday Dec 2023

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Firecrest, fly larvae, Lauxaniidae, Lauxaniidae larva

Initially, the letter F was going to be for flies then two fabulous little birds popped up last Tuesday and stole the show (though there were also flies that day). The birds were two Firecrests, probably those first discovered at this location in early November and not seen since, despite me and other birders looking for them. The site has quite dense vegetation so little birds like these can easily disappear.

231208 firecrest

And the flies? Well, I had spent about 20 minutes walking through the area, had stood at various spots searching for movement in the trees and bushes, but not seen any sign of the Firecrests. So, as this is an area with lots of lovely deciduous trees, I decided to ferret through the leaf litter for any nice invertebrates. I’d turned over about 50 soggy, muddyish leaves before I had some success, finding these two Lauxaniidae fly larvae. I’d just finished taking some photos of them when I heard a special little peeping and there were the Firecrests.

231208 Lauxaniidae

E is for earthstar

10 Sunday Dec 2023

Posted by sconzani in fungi

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British fungi, collared earthstar, earthstar, fungus, Geastrum triplex

I have never seen as many earthstars as I did during a visit to a Cardiff Cemetery a few weeks ago. There must have been over 50 Collared earthstars (Geastrum triplex) growing under the pine trees at the entrance to the cemetery, a location where I’ve never before seen them despite many visits over several years, so it was a very special sight indeed. And as these are the fungi that originally inspired the name of this blog, I felt I had to include them in this end-of-year countdown.

231210 earthstars

D is for damselfly

09 Saturday Dec 2023

Posted by sconzani in insects

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British damselflies, damselfly, Odonata, Small red-eyed damselfly

Damselflies have flitted in to these pages three times this year: a Large red damselfly appeared as if by magic in A damsel dropped in on 2 May and a pair of the jewel-like Beautiful demoiselles featured in The beautiful couple on 7 June. The damselfly highlight, though, didn’t appear until late June, when I saw Small red-eyed damselflies for the very first time (Lifer: Small red-eyed damselfly, 29 June), and what gorgeous little creatures they are. My photographs do not do them justice, so I’m very much looking forward to seeking them out and photographing them again in the new year.

231209 small red-eyed damselfly

C is for Coleophora

08 Friday Dec 2023

Posted by sconzani in insects

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casebearer, casebearing moth larvae, Coleophora, Coleophora gryphipennella, Coleophora lutipennella, Coleophora serratella, leaf-mining moth larvae, moth larvae

Coleophora: the clue’s in the name, which is a combination of the Greek word koleós meaning sheath and phora meaning carrier. Coleophora is a genus of moths whose larvae construct a case, which they carry around with them and live in, kind of like a snail. These year’s Coleophora finds include Coleophora lutipennella and Coleophora serratella, both in May, and Coleophora gryphipennella just a few weeks ago. You can see from the photos below how diverse their cases are – and these are some of the simpler designs.

231208 Coleophora

B is for Burgundy

07 Thursday Dec 2023

Posted by sconzani in insects

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British butterflies, butterfly, Duke of Burgundy

B is for Burgundy, Duke of Burgundy that is, a stunning little butterfly that I had the great pleasure of seeing for the first time, albeit fleetingly, during a short break in Gloucestershire in early June (Lifer: Duke of Burgundy, 10 June). I am already planning a return visit to hopefully see more of these in 2024.

231207 burgundy

A is for aphid

06 Wednesday Dec 2023

Posted by sconzani in insects

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aphid, British aphids

As I did two years ago, I’m going to use my last 26 posts to count down alphabetically to the end of the year, sometimes celebrating special finds, often highlighting particular species or families, occasionally indicating the flora and fauna I want to learn more about. That countdown also began with A is for aphids and with my announcement that I intended to look at their various species more closely in 2022. That didn’t really happen; in fact, my fascination with aphids didn’t really kick in until 2023 was half over.

231206 aphids (1)

Initially, aphids were the victims, food for hoverfly larvae (Yummy aphids, 21 June). Next, I found some new galls that were caused by aphids (Galls: Pemphigus spyrothecae, 17 July). Then began my slide down the slippery (and often confusing) slope towards aphids and their parasites, with A parasitised aphid on 19 September; Aphid mummies on 26 September; the 10 October post: A confusion of pie crusts; and more mummies, this time black in colour, Black mummies on 19 October. I finished my 2023 aphid obsession with a chance sighting on 25 October Aphids: Tuberolachnus salignus, and I’m already excited about what I might find next year.

231206 aphids (2)

Rotund Robins

05 Tuesday Dec 2023

Posted by sconzani in birds, winter

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, robin

I feel for the birds when the temperatures plummet. I’m feeling cosy in hand-knitted woollens, fleece-lined trousers and wind-cutting jacket, whereas all they can do is fluff up their feathers to retain a layer of warmth close to their skin. It seems to work for them though, as long as it doesn’t get too cold. And little birds like these Robins are even more adorable than usual when they look like little balls of fluff.

231205 robins

Leafmines: Gracillaria syringella

04 Monday Dec 2023

Posted by sconzani in insects, plants

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British leafmines, Gracillaria syringella, leafmines, leafmines on privet, leafmining moth larvae, Ligustrum vulgare

These finds date from early November but it’s taken a while to get their identity confirmed. These are the larval leafmines of the gorgeous little moth Gracillaria syringella, shown here on Wild privet (Ligustrum vulgare) though they can also be found mining the leaves of Lilac species (Syringa, hence the epithet in their scientific name), Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) and Jasmine (Jasminum sp.).

231204 Gracillaria syringella (1)

Once hatched from their eggs, the larvae initially feed within a gallery mine (difficult to see in my images so I’ve marked them with a red arrow), then broaden their horizons into a large blotch. My finds were late in the year – the mines of Gracillaria syringella can usually be found in June and then again during August-September.

231204 Gracillaria syringella (2)

Frost flowers

03 Sunday Dec 2023

Posted by sconzani in wildflowers

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British wildflowers, frosty seedheads, frsot-covered seed heads, wildflower seedheads

Full disclosure: these are not actually flowers, they’re seedheads. I just loved the way yesterday’s very heavy frost had coated them with tiny ice crystals giving them the appearance of frosty flowers.

231203 frost flowers