28 Saturday Dec 2019
During today’s wander, I spotted this duck sitting on a log alongside the River Ely, preening.
I presume it’s a hybrid Mallard of some kind, as Mallards do seem inclined to hybridise with many other types of duck. In this case, I’d guess one parent was a domestic species but it’s impossible to know.
It was certainly a very handsome creature, a beautiful combination of clean crisp white and glossy dark green.
27 Friday Dec 2019
It was so misty and soggy out today that I could hear more than I could see, particularly as my specs were alternately splattered with raindrops or steamed up.
Yet, these gorgeous fungi were impossible to miss, a burst of golden orange amongst the drab browns and greys and greens.
These are very slippery, soggy examples of Velvet shanks (Flammulina velutipes).
26 Thursday Dec 2019
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay walk, Cetti's warbler, Common Gull, Great spotted woodpecker, Grey wagtail, Linnet, little grebe, Moorhen, Stonechat, Turnstone
Normal weather service (i.e. wind and rain) has resumed here today but yesterday, Christmas Day, was glorious – blue skies, cold but no wind, so I took myself on a 6-hour 8½-mile walk right around Cardiff Bay. I saw 44 species of bird (and dished out some Christmas seed to a few), and had some nice chats to random strangers. The birding highlights included …
Grey wagtails and my favourite little Turnstones on the Ely embankment
Seven Linnets in a tree
A Moorhen and a Little grebe at Cardiff Bay Wetlands Reserve
The day’s surprise, a Great spotted woodpecker in trees, also at the wetlands reserve
Two Cetti’s warblers seen (and more heard), plus a lovely male Stonechat
A Common gull puddling for worms with the Black-headed gulls in Hamadryad Park
25 Wednesday Dec 2019
It’s a little known fact that feral pigeons bathe just once a year. On Christmas Day, they gather together at well-known bathing spots for a giant mid-winter splash. One of the most popular locations in Wales is Cardiff Bay and I was lucky enough to witness today’s big event.
The birds take it in turns to bathe from the rocks, then line up on adjacent railings to dry off and preen.
For some birds the cleansing process is so dramatic that they even change colour from grey to white!
24 Tuesday Dec 2019
Spongy, squishy, cushiony, yielding, springy …
Today my eye was focused on the small things, my fingers drawn to the soft feel of domes of mossiness on the tops of aged fence posts.
23 Monday Dec 2019
I have nothing exciting to share today despite a long walk around Cardiff Bay, as there was a strong, bitterly cold wind blowing and most of the birds were hunkering down. Luckily, this immature Black-headed gull kindly posed for me and, as I feel I often take these lovely gulls for granted, I decided to make it my choice for today’s post.
22 Sunday Dec 2019
Posted in flowers, nature, plants, wildflowers, winter
Tags
#WildflowerHour, #winter10, British wildflowers, wildflowers in bloom, winter wildflowers, winter-blooming wildflowers
It may be the shortest day of the year but I’ve found more blooming wildflowers this week than in the previous weeks of wildflowerhour’s winter 10 challenge. Here we have: a Buttercup species; Daisy; one of the many Dandelion species; Hemlock water dropwort; still quite a bit of Herb Robert about; Ivy-leaved toadflax is flourishing in the wet weather; a Knapweed; a lovely surprise, a couple of plants of Musk mallow; Oxeye daisy; plenty of Petty spurge; surprisingly, a few Primroses already in flower (though most partly eaten); Common ragwort; Red clover; quite a lot of Red valerian; what I assume is Sea radish; plenty of Shepherd’s purses; one of the Sowthistles; Violets – sweet, I think; a Thistle species; White clover; an umbellifer which I think is Wild carrot; quite a lot of Winter heliotrope in flower now; Yarrow; and, a bright burst of Yellow corydalis.
21 Saturday Dec 2019
Posted in nature
Just for something a little different … do you know what these are? Answer in the comments. Sorry, no prizes.
20 Friday Dec 2019
It’s not yet mid winter, not even the shortest day, and we’ve many long cold nights to endure before the first snowdrops of Spring start flowering, but this Cormorant doesn’t seem to know that.
Though their breeding season can vary from year to year, it usually runs from March through to September, but this Cormorant doesn’t seem to know that either.
Here it is, with its impressive shaggy white mane and fluffs of white feathers on its flanks, in full breeding plumage, sitting on the River Ely in south Wales, in mid December, ready for the breeding season to begin, waiting, waiting….
19 Thursday Dec 2019
‘Nearly always associated with dead oak trees, this easily-overlooked crust fungus varies considerably in its appearance, sometimes mainly resupinate beneath fallen logs but usually in bracket form when on dead stumps,’ writes Pat O’Reilly on his First Nature website. The specimens of Oak curtain crust fungi I found yesterday, in Cardiff’s Grangemoor Park, were definitely growing on oak but, in this case, they were on thick, solid oak logs that have been used to construct benches and signposts.
I always enjoy reading the etymology entries on O’Reilly’s website. Oak curtain crust’s binomial name is Hymenochaete rubiginosa, which is explained as follows:
Hymenochaete, the genus name, comes from hymen – a prefix referring to the fertile membrane (the crust surface), and -chaete perhaps from the Greek noun chaite meaning long hair and perhaps referring to the fine hairs (settae) on the upper surfaces of fungi in this generic group.
The specific epithet rubiginosa means rusty and refers to the reddish-brown colour of the hymenial (fertile) surface of this crust fungus.
earthstar 
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