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Author Archives: sconzani

Three campions

26 Sunday Nov 2023

Posted by sconzani in wildflowers

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Bladder campion, Red campion, Silene dioica, Silene latifolia, Silene vulgaris, White campion

Here are three campions I’ve found during this week’s walks. The first was a late-flowering surprise I found on Wednesday and is in the best condition of these three campions as it was photographed before the hard frost we had yesterday, Saturday. This is the lovely Red campion (Silene dioica).

231126 red campion

The White campion (Silene latifolia) also looked lovely when I saw it on Wednesday but these photos were taken today so the flowers were showing the effects of the weather, drooping, wet from this morning’s drizzle, the petals almost transparent but still pretty. I’ve included a second photo, a side view of the flower so you can see the difference between White and the third campion, below, which also has white petals.

231126 white campion

And this is the third campion of the week, very much past its best now, with the merest slivers of petals still remaining. The shape that gives the Bladder campion (Silene vulgaris) its name is very obvious and, once again, I’ve included a second image, this one taken in June, to show this pretty flower at its best.

231126 bladder campion

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Saw-fly

25 Saturday Nov 2023

Posted by sconzani in insects

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Arge pagana, British sawflies, Dog rose, sawfly egg scar, Sawfly name, sawfly scar on rose

Did you know that the sawfly gets its name from the way it lays its eggs? Innocuous little flies, like the beauty shown below (Arge pagana, one of the UK species that uses the rose as its larval plant), have an in-built saw-like body part that they use to cut a slot in their larval plant material and in that slot they lay their eggs.

231125 Arge pagana

On some plants, like the stems of the various Rosa species used by Arge pagana, the slot leaves quite a substantial scar and, this week, for the first time, I noticed one of these when checking Dog roses for leafmines. As you can see, there’s a healthy leaf bud right next to the scar so the plant doesn’t seem to have been damaged by the slot-making process, though the voracious larvae that hatched from the eggs earlier in the year may well have stripped the rose of many of its leaves.

231125 sawfly egg scar

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Waxcap Friday

24 Friday Nov 2023

Posted by sconzani in autumn, fungi

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

autumn colour, autumn fungi, Ballerina waxcap, Cuphophyllus virgineus, Gliophorus psittacinus, Hygrocybe coccinea, parrot waxcap, Pink waxcap, Porpolomopsis calyptriformis, Scarlet waxcap, Snowy waxcap, waxcaps

Green, pink, red and white are just some of the colours you can see in the diverse range of fungi known as waxcaps. These are some I’ve found during recent fungi-seeking forays.

231124 waxcap parrot

Parrot waxcap (Gliophorus psittacinus)

231124 waxcap pink

Pink waxcap (Porpolomopsis calyptriformis), also known as the ballerina, for the tutu-like appearance of its spread cap as it dances in the grass

231124 waxcap scarlet

Scarlet waxcap (Hygrocybe coccinea)

231124 waxcap snowy

Snowy waxcap (Cuphophyllus virgineus)

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Image

My twig broke!

23 Thursday Nov 2023

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Stonechat

231123 stonechat

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Posted by sconzani | Filed under birds

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It’s spring!

22 Wednesday Nov 2023

Posted by sconzani in flowers, wildflowers

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British wildflowers, primrose, Primula vulgaris, spring flowers

Spring? Oh, wait. We haven’t had winter yet. Well, I found my first flowering Primrose – the traditional harbinger of springtime –lurking under the trees and shrubs in the scruffier part of a local park during today’s walk. Although it has been even wetter than usual this autumn, it has been very mild so perhaps that has fooled some plants into thinking spring is just around the corner.

231122 primrose

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Herring gull up close

21 Tuesday Nov 2023

Posted by sconzani in birds

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Herring gull, Larus argentatus

It’s not always easy to get up close to a Herring gull (Larus argentatus) as they’re rightly wary of humans. Sadly, this bird did not look well – its feathers were unkempt and it appeared to be holding its right wing at an odd angle. I didn’t want to stress it any further than it already was so took a few photos with my long lens and quickly retreated, taking an alternate route to where I was going. When I got home and checked my photos, the bird’s eye held my attention.

231121 herring gull

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Leafmines: Phyllonorycter viminiella

20 Monday Nov 2023

Posted by sconzani in insects, leaves, trees

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British leafminers, British moths, leaf-mining moth larvae, leaf-mining moths, leafmines on willow, Phyllonorycter viminiella

This was just the second time I’ve spotted these particular leafmines: they got a mention in On narrow-leaved willows, 26 December 2022, but I thought they deserved their own post. The larvae of the moth Phyllonorycter viminiella munch on the underside of Willows (usually those Salix species with smooth leaves), their feeding causing the edges of leaves to fold over and develop strong creasing in the mine, as you can see in my images below. These attractive little moths are bivoltine, so you can find the larval mines first around July and then again around October.

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Hop trefoil

19 Sunday Nov 2023

Posted by sconzani in flowers, plants, wildflowers

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Tags

British wildflowers, Hop trefoil, Trifolium campestre

At first I hesitated to name this Hop trefoil (Trifolium campestre) as it’s a new plant for me but, when I posted some photos online, I got a thumbs up from a botanist and, looking at the ID guidance on the Naturespot website, I think it meets the criteria:

231119 Hop trefoil (1)

Short, hairy, erect plant. Trifoliate, leaflets oval, narrowed towards the base, the central one short stalked. Flowers pale yellow, becoming pale brown eventually, 4 to 5 mm long in small, globose, stalked heads to 15 mm across

And

… Larger and paler than Lesser Hop-trefoil, and turns brownish with age. Both trefoils are similar to Black Medick in flower, but Black Medick leaves are much more hairy and have an apiculate point (i.e a short fine ‘needle’ from the end of the leaflet)

231119 Hop trefoil (2)

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And then there were two

18 Saturday Nov 2023

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds

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Tags

birding, birdwatching, Black redstart, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, female Black redstart

On 8 November I posted about the return of a male Black redstart to a location this species has, in recent years, favoured for over-wintering in Cardiff Bay. I’m pleased to report that a female has now been sighted in the same area – I spotted her hopping around the top of the BBC building last Tuesday. A female was also spotted on waste ground a couple of blocks away later in the day, which may be a third bird or it may be the same female exploring the area. We will have to wait for more sightings and photographs to be sure but it is wonderful to have these little characters back with us again.

231118 black redstart

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Lumpy brackets

17 Friday Nov 2023

Posted by sconzani in fungi

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Tags

bracket fungi, British fungi, Lumpy bracket, Trametes gibbosa, white bracket fungus

How to identify Lumpy brackets (Trametes gibbosa) (courtesy of the First Nature website):
– found on most kinds of hardwood trees but most commonly on Beech (these were on Beech)
– the pale upper surface is often discoloured by green algae, particularly away from the edges
– the pores are slot-like, rather than round or oval as found on other whitish Trametes
I found this impressive array of Lumpy brackets on a huge fallen Beech in Cardiff’s Heath Park.

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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Recent blog posts

  • Bearded tit!!! April 3, 2026
  • A Portland Bill Kestrel April 2, 2026
  • A proliferation of Peacocks April 1, 2026
  • Little owl March 31, 2026
  • Distant seabirds March 30, 2026

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Unless otherwise acknowledged, the text and photographs on this blog are my own and are subject to international copyright. Nothing may be downloaded or copied without my permission.

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