Category Archives: nature

I’m following a tree: month 7

07 Sunday Aug 2016

Posted by in nature, parks, trees

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Midsummer has been and gone and, though we’ve had some glorious sunny days – and a short heat wave, we’ve also had some unseasonably cool weather. Perhaps that’s why there are definite signs of autumn to be seen in the foliage of trees and shrubs in my local parks and woodlands.

Even Dawn Redwood is showing small signs of the changing seasons and, remember, most unusually for a conifer, Dawn is deciduous. So, these tiny tinges of orange and red are just a hint of how spectacular she will be when the real autumn weather comes.

160807 dawn redwood (5)

Some time during the month, Dawn seems to have suffered a little damage at the top of the tree. Either that or she’s had an incredible growth spurt in one particular branch, which I doubt. You can see the change in the photos below: the one on the left as taken in May 2016, the one on the right in late July 2016.

We haven’t had any particularly strong winds or stormy weather so I’m not sure what happened to cause this change but she looks rather wild and a little unkempt compared to her previously perfect pyramidal shape. It will be interesting to see if this corrects itself or if she loses that errant branch or if she just stays this way. Time alone will tell.

Tree following is fascinating and fun. Why not join in? You can find out more here. 

Heavenly hoverflies

06 Saturday Aug 2016

Posted by in insects, nature

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It’s been ages since I shared any images of hoverflies, yet I photograph them almost every time I go wandering and the summer months are prime hover time, so let’s remedy my omission.

160806 Cheilosia illustrata

Cheilosia illustrata
I’ve nicknamed this not-so-little hoverfly, Mr Scruffy, as it’s a bumblebee mimic and therefore rather furry, and oft times a little unkempt looking. It inhabits hedgerows and the shrubby edges of woodlands, and can frequently be seen feeding on the flowers of umbellifers – I see it most often on hogweed or sun-basking on nearby leaves.

160806 Myathropa florea

Myathropa florea
With its striking and often very vibrant pattern of yellow, orange and black markings, Myathropa florea is easily identifiable and, though it flies from May to October, it seems to be the hoverfly I’m seeing most often right now. Like Mr Scruffy, it enjoys feasting on the umbellifer flowers that grow along woodland edges. Can you see why it’s often called the Batman hoverfly?

Volucella inanis
Now we come to the big boys (and girls) of the hoverfly world. Volucella inanis and its very similar friend Volucella zonaria (below) are hornet mimics but don’t worry – with their vibrant colouring they may look like hornets, but they’re harmless. V. inanis was once localised around London but is gradually spreading throughout Britain.

160806 Volucella zonaria

Volucella zonaria
Volucella zonaria is a European hoverfly which, apparently, only got established in Britain in the 1940s. Since then it’s slowly been expanding its range, though I haven’t yet seen one in Wales. My photo was taken in Exeter in 2014, when I didn’t even know such things as hoverflies existed.

160806 Volucella pellucens

Volucella pellucens
Also known as the Pellucid Fly, Volucella pellucens is quite easy to recognise, as it has a distinctive broad white band across its body. It also favours umbellifer flowers and, though it can be seen right through till October, it’s almost past its peak season so get out and see if you can find one.

A confusion of geraniums

05 Friday Aug 2016

Posted by in flowers, nature, wildflowers

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I’ve always loved geraniums, of the easy-to-grow vibrant-colour-in-a-terracotta-pot pretend-you’re-in-the-Mediterranean variety, but here in Britain there are wild native geraniums that are just as gorgeous but rather tricky to identify. This seems partly to be because you can’t always tell those that are truly wild from those that are garden escapees, cultivated from birds’ droppings or windblown seeds. And the local geraniums also seem to hybridise easily – check out this chart – so, when I look up the various identification guides, the flowers and leaves I see don’t quite fit with what the books and websites show.

Here, then, are some photos of geraniums, which may or may not include Meadow crane’s-bill (Geranium pratense) and Cut-Leaved crane’s-bill (Geranium dissectum) and Druce’s crane’s-bill (Geranium x oxonianum), or possibly something else entirely!

The young ones

04 Thursday Aug 2016

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Caterpillar:
Noun. Pronunciation: /ˈkatəpɪlə/
1. The larva of a butterfly or moth, which has a segmented body resembling a worm with three pairs of true legs and several pairs of leg-like appendages.
1.1. (In general use) any insect larva resembling the larvae of caterpillars and moths, especially that of the sawfly. (Oxford Dictionary)

Here are some examples I’ve spotted of these insect larvae.

These black-and-yellow striped critters are Cinnabar moth caterpillars (Tyria jacobaeae), chewing away on their favourite food plant, ragwort.

The caterpillars of the Parsnip moth (Depressaria pastinacella) build themselves little silken webs within the structure of the umbellifer flowers (in particular Wild parsnip), on which they feed.

A snapshot of a few others I’ve sighted (from left to right): Drinker moth (Philudoria potatoria), Old lady moth (Momo maura), Vapourer moth (Orgyia antiqua), sawfly larva (possibly of the Large rose sawfly, Arge pagana), Ruby tiger moth (Phragmatobia fuliginosa), and, lastly, the wild extravagance of the Pale tussock moth caterpillar (Calliteara pudibunda).

World wildlife Wednesday: Black swan

03 Wednesday Aug 2016

Posted by in birds, nature

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The Black swan (Cygnus atratus) is not common in Britain, where white Mute swans predominate, but they can still be seen here. Like peacocks, they were introduced to join the collections of exotic birds adorning the parks and estates of the wealthy, and some have since escaped those boundaries.

swan black (1)

Many people think of the Black swan as an Australian bird – it is, after all, both are the state symbol and the state emblem of Western Australia. However, scientists have discovered that the Black swan was present in New Zealand at the time of first human settlement, but had been hunted to extinction by the time Europeans first arrived in the early 1800s. In the 1860s, they were deliberately reintroduced from Australia and, judging by how quickly the local population grew, they may, at the same time, also have re-colonised New Zealand naturally – flown or been blown across the Tasman Sea from Australia.

The Black swan’s Latin name atratus means ‘to be clothed in black for mourning’. Perhaps that’s why some people believe it to be a harbinger of bad luck. Personally, I think the swan dressed all in black is a very stylish and elegant-looking bird (except, perhaps, when it’s doing its morning exercises 😉 ).

swan black (6)swan black (7)

‘Dedicated Naturalist’: Crafty grey squirrels

02 Tuesday Aug 2016

Posted by in 'Dedicated Naturalist' Project, animals, nature

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A snippet from my volunteer work on the ‘Dedicated Naturalist’ Project, helping to decipher and digitise, record and publicise the life’s work of naturalist extraordinaire, Dr Mary Gillham. This is an extract from a piece called ‘Oak trees and rabbits helped by those crafty grey squirrels’, written by Mary for the Cardiff Naturalists’ Society newsletter, June 1997:

We hear a lot about the squirrels’ intelligence in overcoming man’s best efforts to deter them from appropriating victuals put out for others. Recent work … has revealed their native wisdom in dealing with more natural foods.

160802 grey squirrel (1)

Many acorns are invaded by weevils, which are as acceptable as squirrel food as is the surrounding nut, but which shorten the life and viability of the fruit. Acorns collected are assessed for longevity by the squirrels, the infected ones eaten and the sound ones buried for another day. This guarantees them a surer food supply for winter and benefits the oak population by giving a higher than average viability of the acorns left to germinate and provide tender shoots for rabbits, rodents and sheep.

The squirrels’ ability … [is] from a high level of intellect evolved to better their own lot and – as part of the general wider plan governing the complex web of nature – to benefit others. Natural mechanisms of behaviour have more repercussions than are at first apparent!

For the full story about the Mary Gillham Archive Project, check out our website,  and follow our progress on Facebook and on Twitter.

The ‘Ugly ducklings’ grow up

01 Monday Aug 2016

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You know Hans Christian Andersen’s story of ‘The Ugly Duckling’, right? The unlovely little bird, who is bullied and abused by his farmyard companions because he doesn’t look like the other ducklings, grows up to become not just another duck but, instead, a very beautiful swan. It was one of my favourite stories as a child, perhaps because I was bullied at a young age for wearing spectacles – not common when I was a kid – and I hoped, in vain, for a similar transformation.

160801 cygnets (1)

Ever since, I have had a special love of swans, and it has been wonderful as the summer has progressed to watch the little Mute Swan cygnets at Roath Park lake grow into their beauty. Here are just a few of the very many photos in my swan album.

160801 cygnets (4)160801 cygnets (5)

National Dragonfly Week: The Emperor

31 Sunday Jul 2016

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We’re finishing National Dragonfly Week with a grand flourish … let me introduce you to the royalty of the dragonfly world, the Emperor (Anax imperator) and his female, who, strangely enough, is not called the Empress but rather the female Emperor. I think we need to change that!

160731 Emperor male (1)

At around 78mm (just over 3 inches) long, these are Britain’s biggest dragonflies, twice as large as most damselflies, as you can see in my photo below right (sorry for the poor quality of this one but I wanted to show the size comparison). Though they are usually found around water – canals, lakes, ponds, ditches, slow-moving rivers, I have also seen the males hawking over the wildflower areas and around the trees and shrubs at my local cemetery, where the nearest water source is perhaps a kilometre away as the dragonfly flies.

The males are very territorial and seem to be constantly on the move, flying around the boundaries of their empires, chasing away other intruding males, hunting for food (insects, butterflies, tadpoles) and even eating as they fly. After mating – also on the wing – the female lays her eggs (known as ovipositing, see above right and below) in amongst vegetation in the water. The Emperors and their Empresses can be seen flying from June to August, in southern parts of Britain, though they seem gradually to be extending their empires northwards.

160731 Emperor fem ovipositing (3)

National Dragonfly Week: Azure damselfly

30 Saturday Jul 2016

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As I mentioned in yesterday’s post on Common Blue damselflies, it’s often difficult to distinguish between them and the Azure damselflies so here now is the lovely little Azure (Coenagrion puella).

azure male (1)azure male (2)

The key identifying features for the Azure are: the presence of a Coenagrion spur (a short black line below the other markings) on the thorax, and thin antehumeral stripes (the blue stripes on the top of the body are narrower than the black stripes beneath them). The males also have a U-shaped mark at the top of their ‘tail’ but this is not so easy to see in the females (which are usually green or pale blue) as they often have darker markings on their ‘tail’. Once again, if this is confusing, check out the British Dragonfly Society webpage for more help.

azure fem (1)

Though the Azure isn’t keen on the colder parts of northern Scotland, both the Azure and the Common Blue can be seen throughout most of Britain, fluttering around small ponds, streams and lakes. I also see them amongst the long grass at my local cemetery where I presume their water source is the rain that accumulates in the urns that decorate many of the older graves, though I can’t be sure of that.

azure mating (1)

National Dragonfly Week: Common Blue damselfly

29 Friday Jul 2016

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We’re over half way through National Dragonfly Week 2016 and now we get to some of the trickier critters to identify because there are several blue-coloured damselflies. In fact, in the course of preparing this and tomorrow’s blog posts, I’ve had to call in the experts to check a couple of my photos. When my books and keys don’t quite cover it, the ‘experts’ I use are all the wonderfully helpful folks on the UK Dragonflies & Damselflies group on Facebook – highly recommended!

As we don’t get Southern damselflies (also blue) in Cardiff, the two blues I sometimes have trouble with are the Common Blue and the Azure. The key features to look out for in the Common Blue damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) can be seen in the photos above: no Coenagrion spur (a short black line below the other markings) on the thorax, and broad antehumeral stripes (the blue stripes on the top of the body are wider than the black stripes beneath them). The males also have that thistle-shaped mark at the top of their ‘tail’ but this is not so easy to see in the females (which, as you can see below, are not blue) because of their blacker markings. If this all sounds like gobbledygook, you can get more ID help on the British Dragonfly Society webpage.

The Common Blues are the only damselflies I’ve managed to catch in their full mating ritual, showing the ‘mating wheel’. Sometimes, when you see these, they are the exact shape of a heart … awwwww!

160729 Common blue mating