342/365 Winter 10, again

08 Sunday Dec 2019

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, plants, wildflowers, winter

Tags

#WildflowerHour, #winter10, British flora, British wildflowers, wildflowers in bloom, winter wildflowers

Though my title is ‘Winter 10’, I’ve actually found 18 wildflowers in bloom during this week’s meanderings. They are: Bittercress species, Black nightshade, Bristly oxtongue, Daisy, a Gorse species, Groundsel, one of the Hawkbits, Herb Robert, the invasive Himalayan balsam, still one flower of Meadow crane’s-bill, Petty spurge, Common ragwort, Red clover, Red valerian, one of the umbellifer species, Winter heliotrope (this bud is not quite open but I couldn’t reach the one that was), and Yarrow.

My apologies for the sometimes blurry images and my fingers appearing in some shots – it’s been a week of frequent gusty winds and rain, not conducive to macro photography.

341/365 Marsh tit

07 Saturday Dec 2019

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, winter

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cogan Wood, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Marsh tit

Having stocked up on bird seed yesterday (the littlies are rather partial to sunflower hearts, I’ve found), I was delighted today to tempt out one of the resident Marsh tits in Cosmeston’s Cogan Wood.

191207 Marsh tit (1)

Actually, it wasn’t all that difficult. I was mobbed by Great and Blue tits as soon as I began sprinkling the seeds on an old tree stump, with one particularly cheeky Great tit grabbing a seed from my container before I’d even started tipping them out.

191207 Marsh tit (2)

I wasn’t sure the Marsh tit would come but it soon appeared and, although initially a little hesitant to compete with the other birds, it didn’t take long to summon its courage and was picking up 2 or 3 seeds at a time before flying off to find somewhere quiet to eat them.

191207 Marsh tit (3)

We’re lucky to have this bird at Cosmeston as it’s now an ‘uncommon and thinly distributed resident breeder’, according to the Glamorgan Bird Club’s Eastern Glamorgan Bird Report No.56, and these tits were only recorded in 8 locations in our county in 2017.

340/365 Plums and custard

06 Friday Dec 2019

Posted by sconzani in fungi, nature, trees, winter

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British fungi, fungi on conifers, Plums and custard, Tricholomopsis rutilans, winter fungi

In this case, Plums and custard does not refer to a tasty Friday night dessert, sadly, but rather to a deliciously named fungus with the scientific name Tricholomopsis rutilans, which certainly does not roll off the tongue.

191206 plums and custard (1)

The Plums and custard name (and the alternate, Strawberry fungus) don’t refer to taste or edibility, however – at its most vibrant, this fungus displays rich shades of a plum-like colour on its cap and its gills are a lovely custard yellow.

These wood-rotting fungi are usually found growing on decaying conifers, and you can read more about them, their habitats, and their identification features on the First Nature website.

191206 plums and custard (6)

339/365 Hungry squirrels

05 Thursday Dec 2019

Posted by sconzani in mammal, nature, trees, winter

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

grey squirrel, red berries, squirrel eating berries, winter berries

191205 grey squirrel (2)

It’s not just the birds that are consuming winter berries at the moment.

When I’m out walking, I often hear scurrying noises in the tree branches above my head and look up to see Grey squirrels, their cheeks stuffed with berries, their paws reaching out for the next delicious morsels.

And it’s not just a berry dessert they crave, of course, as they’re also well known for their liking for nuts. In the photo, right, the squirrel is holding Alder cones, which it has just been munching on.

191205 grey squirrel (1)

338/365 Slime time

04 Wednesday Dec 2019

Posted by sconzani in fungi, nature, winter

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Comatricha nigra, Comatricha slime mould, slime, slime mould, slime mould on umbellifer stem

At this time of year, I am often caught out by curious passers-by, pulling dead umbellifer stems carefully out of the ground and, as I don’t wear my reading glasses when out walking, pushing up my other specs and pulling the stems very near to my face for close examination.

191204 comatricha nigra (2)

Most people walk quickly past with a hurried but cautious hello to the ‘mad woman’ but some, the braver or more curious, will dare to ask what I’m looking at. And after I show them the gorgeous little things I’ve found, I like to think they might actually, at some future date, pull up the odd stem themselves for a look.

191204 comatricha nigra (1) 191204 comatricha nigra (3)

I think these tiny lollipops are from the Comatricha family of slime moulds, possibly Comatricha nigra. They start off very light in colour, gradually darken to a very dark brown, almost black, before drying and crumbling to release their spores.

191204 comatricha nigra (4)

337/365 Condensation

03 Tuesday Dec 2019

Posted by sconzani in nature, winter

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

condensation, reflections in water, water, water droplets

Condensation: noun; Water which collects as droplets on a cold surface when humid air is in contact with it (Oxford Dictionary).

191201 condensation (1)

As I live in an old, Grade-II-listed building that only has single glazing and I don’t like to have my heating on so high that I can wear t-shirts all year round, I sometimes get condensation on the inside of my windows. It can be a bit tedious to deal with but it’s also rather lovely, especially when you look closely and see the outside world reflected upside down in the water droplets.

191201 condensation (2)

336/365 Birds and berries

02 Monday Dec 2019

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, plants, winter

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

autumn berries, birding, birds eating berries, birdwatching, blackbird, British birds, Fieldfare, Mistle thrush, Redwing, Song thrush, winter thrushes, Woodpigeon

It’s only been a few weeks since I saw my first winter thrushes of the season but now they’re everywhere, feasting on autumn’s bounty of lush, delicious berries. Song and Mistle thrushes, Blackbirds, Redwings and Fieldfares and, not a thrush, the Woodpigeons are also indulging in the berry-fest. The Redwings are particularly skittish but I’ve managed to sneak up on a few to grab photos, though, more often than not, the whole tree I’m trying to approach will suddenly erupt with birds flying off in all directions. And then I feel a little guilty about interrupting their repast.

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335/365 Winter 11

01 Sunday Dec 2019

Posted by sconzani in nature, wildflowers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

#WildflowerHour, #winter10, British wildflowers, winter wildflower challenge, winter wildflowers

I found this week’s blooming wildflowers (for #wildflower and the hunt for the #winter10, plus one!) on a circular walk from Penarth through Cosmeston and back along the coastal path, so there was quite a variation in habitats, from urban to meadow to coastal. Here’s what I found: Bramble species, Bristly ox-tongue, Daisy, Hedge woundwort (a lovely surprise to still find one of these in flower), Herb Robert, Ivy-leaved toadflax, Meadow buttercup, Oxeye daisy, a speedwell species, an umbellifer species, and Yellow-wort.

334/365 From burdock to velcro

30 Saturday Nov 2019

Posted by sconzani in nature, plants

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

British wildflowers, Burdock, burdock seed head, Burdock seed hooks, Lesser burdock, Velcro inspiration

Did you ever wonder who invented velcro? Maybe you already know this story? Here’s what the official VELCRO® website has to say:

It began with a burdock burr, a tiny seed covered in hundreds of ‘hooks’ that naturally catch onto the microscopic loops that cover fur, hair and clothing. The burr was an unassuming marvel of nature and a minor headache for man, until one day in 1941 when the burdock burr, Swiss engineer George de Mestral, and his dog crossed paths on a hunting trip in the Alps. … Inspired by the burr, de Mestral created the world’s first hook-and-loop fastener.

I got snagged by a couple of Burdock burrs when I was out walking today, which is what inspired me to prepare this blog.

191130 burdock

333/365 A Bay full of birds

29 Friday Nov 2019

Posted by sconzani in autumn, birds, nature

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, Black-headed gull, British birds, Cardiff Bay, Cardiff Bay birds, Chiffchaff, Coot, Goosander, Great Crested Grebe, Kingfisher, Linnet, Pied wagtail, Turnstone

What a wonderful long walk I had around Cardiff Bay today! Here are some of the birds I spotted along the way.

191129 1 goosander

There were nine Goosanders in total, four in the River Ely where it flows in to the Bay and another five further east, in the Bay proper.

191129 2 turnstone

My favourite little Turnstones, again four along the Ely embankment and more near Mermaid Quay.

191129 3 linnet

Linnets, a small flock of six flitting about the grassy slopes of the Barrage.

191129 4 pied wagtail

Pied wagtails – I lost count of these cheery little characters who appeared wherever I wandered.

191129 5 Great crested grebe

One of several Great crested grebes that live in the Bay, constantly diving for fish.

191129 6 black-headed gull

I was getting ‘the look’ from this Black-headed gull, in the pond at the wetlands reserve, for not supplying food!

191129 7 coot

This Coot was also hoping for food.

191129 8 chiffchaff

This Chiffchaff was a surprise – it’s either very late migrating or has decided to over-winter in Britain, as some now do. Interestingly, I saw a Chiffchaff yesterday too, in a different location.

191129 9 kingfisher