88/365 A time-step of Turnstones?

29 Friday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, seaside

Tags

#365DaysWild, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay, Ely embankment, Turnstone

Who was it that invented the collective nouns we use for birds? Whoever it was, they came up with some crackers, though it’s hard to see the reasoning behind some of them. A cluster of Turnstones I can understand, as they do like to huddle together at times, but a bind, a contradiction and a time-step? I suppose they do look like they’re doing a little rhythmic dance at times.

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The two in my photos were part of a small cluster of seven picking and poking amongst the stones on the Ely embankment this morning when I started my walk around part of Cardiff Bay.

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87/365 My seventh species

28 Thursday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature, spring

≈ 4 Comments

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#365DaysWild, British butterflies, butterfly, Small white, Small white butterfly

190328 white butterfly (1)

Either my butterfly observation skills have improved dramatically or it’s the effect of this week’s gorgeous sunny Spring weather – I suspect it’s the weather – as today, during a lovely wander along Sully beach, I clocked up my seventh butterfly species for 2019 – today three Small whites; the others: Red admiral, Brimstone, Peacock, Speckled wood, Comma and Small tortoiseshell. That’s not something I’ve achieved before the end of March in my nearly four years in Wales. And there are still three days of March to go …

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86/365 In west paddock

27 Wednesday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, fungi, insects, nature, spring, wildflowers

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Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, primrose, Scutellinia fungi, Small tortoiseshell, violets

190327 west paddock (1)

Today I went to Cosmeston for the first time in a few weeks and I was delighted to find its west paddock tinged a delicate shade of purple from all the violets currently in flower. I don’t remember it being so obvious in previous years. Along the edges of the paddock, primroses were in bloom, adding their soft buttery yellow to the colour mix.

While looking more closely at the flowers, I noticed tiny circles of red dotting the soil – a species of Scutellinia fungi I’m guessing, but working out which species requires some serious microscope work.

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And then along flew my first Small tortoiseshell butterfly of the year to add its vibrant hues to the kaleidoscope of colour in the paddock. Just perfect!

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85/365 A day of firsts

26 Tuesday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, ladybird, nature, spring

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

#365DaysWild, 7-spot ladybirds, bee-flies, Comma butterfly, Common Green Shieldbug, Dark-edged bee-fly, Peacock butterfly, Penarth Rail Trail, Sawfly, south Wales coastal path, Speckled wood

190326 (1) rail trail

I walked further than I intended today but I just couldn’t resist the sunshine, the calls of the birds, the bees and hoverflies buzzing all around, the white blossom and the vibrant green leaf growth … it was magical! Yesterday, I saw my first Peacock butterflies of the year and today I saw four more, plus my first two Speckled woods and my first Comma, my first Common green shieldbug and my first Dark-edged bee-flies, lots of them, and my first 7-spot ladybirds. It gladdens my heart to see so much new life emerging.

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190326 (12) coastal path

84/365 Sand martins, yay!

25 Monday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, spring

≈ 4 Comments

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#365DaysWild, birding, birds in Cardiff Bay, birdwatching, British birds, hirundines, Sand martin, spring migration

I’ve been following the reports of hirundines – that’s the Sand martins, House martins and Swallows – arriving for the last week or so, itching to get out and find some for myself. Finally today I plodded, slowly and still having trouble walking in a straight line, over to the other side of Cardiff Bay, and my stumbling was rewarded by the sight of at least half a dozen Sand martins checking out the holes in the walls of one of the old harbour docks as potential nesting sites. A couple of pairs looked like they were getting quite cosy.

83/365 Saluting the admiral

24 Sunday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature, spring

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#365DaysWild, British butterflies, butterflies, butterfly, Red Admiral

190324 Red admiral

I wondered if today’s sunshine might bring out the butterflies and it did, though this little Red admiral made me wait until I was almost home from my local amble before it appeared. And then it led me a merry dance, settling on a lamp post for just a second, fluttering off along the road as if it was departing, disappearing behind some trees, reappearing from the other direction, sidling up to the lamp post again, almost instantly flying off. Pretty flitty little thing!

82/365 First Bluebells

23 Saturday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, flowers, nature, spring, wildflowers

≈ 2 Comments

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blue flowers, Bluebell, spring flowers, spring wildflowers, springtime

Almost …

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Nearly there …

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Yes! My first Bluebells of the year today in St Augustine’s churchyard in Penarth.

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81/365 The greening

22 Friday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, leaves, nature, spring, trees

≈ 2 Comments

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#365DaysWild, Cherry blossom, Cherry tree, greening of the trees, leaf growth, spring leaves

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I didn’t venture far today but I didn’t even have to leave home for this blog post. I figured the recent high winds would’ve blown away all the blossom on my Cherry tree while I was away and I was right, but I hadn’t really considered how much the growth of the new leaves would have progressed. The first photo was taken on 4 March and the second today. What a difference 18 days makes!

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80/365 Birding 2019 update

21 Thursday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature

≈ 14 Comments

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#365DaysWild, birding, Birding 2019, birding in East Sussex, British birds, Glossy ibis

You may, or may not, have noticed that my daily posts have not been happening for the past eight days. This is because, during a visit with a friend in East Sussex, I was struck down by a nasty virus, which has left me stumbling drunkenly, still suffering vertigo if I move my head too quickly, and generally lacking in energy. I’m slowly coming right, with a couple of short walks out over the past couple of days, and today I made the trek by train – bus – train back home to Wales. It may yet be a couple of weeks until I can manage longer walks but I hope to be back to my daily posts tomorrow. In the meantime, I couldn’t resist looking through my holidays snaps and have updated my Birding 2019 page with the five new birds I saw while away.

115 glossy ibis

72/365 Alexanders rust

13 Wednesday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, fungi, nature, plants

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Alexanders, Alexanders plants, Alexanders rust, Puccinia smyrnii, rust, rust fungi, Smyrnium olusatrum

190313 alexanders rust

We had such a mild winter this year that the Alexanders plants (Smyrnium olusatrum) that grow well along the coastal path from Penarth to Lavernock only died down for a few short weeks, then their vibrant green once again began to appear and grow up at their usual rapid pace. And with the leaves almost immediately came the rust that loves these plants, Alexanders rust (Puccinia smyrnii). It is obviously immune to bad weather, as it has continued to flourish right through the occasional frosts and heavy downpours that were about the worst weather winter produced this year.