28 Thursday Nov 2019
A Robin a day keeps the black dog at bay!
I feel extremely fortunate not to suffer from depression but if I do feel a bit gloomy, Nature is my healer. And just as an apple a day is supposed to keep the doctor away, so the joyful trilling or the determined tick-tick-ticking of a Robin always lifts my spirits and makes me smile.
27 Wednesday Nov 2019
Finally some fungi I can identify with confidence because, as Pat O’Reilly explains on the First Nature website,
Cap colour is rarely of much help when you are struggling to identify a Mycena, as they vary so much with age, location, humidity and growing substrate. If you look closely at the stem of a Grooved Bonnet you will see that it has longitudinal striations, whereas other common bonnet mushrooms have smooth stems.
So, the striated stems you can, hopefully, see in my second photo below prove that these lovely little bonnets I found growing in a tree in the grounds of a local church are … taaa daaa! … Grooved bonnets (Mycena polygramma).
26 Tuesday Nov 2019
‘There is a low mist in the woods—It is a good day to study lichens. The view so confined—it compels your attention to near objects—& the white background reveals the disks of the lichens distinctly—They appear more loose-flowing—expanded—flattened out—the colors brighter—for the damp—The round yellowish green lichens on the white pines loom through the mist (or are seen dimly) like shields—whose devices you would fain read.’ ~ Henry David Thoreau, A Year in Thoreau’s Journal 1851, Penguin, New York, 1993
25 Monday Nov 2019
One of the advantages of all the recent wet weather is that it aids the development of slime moulds.
I found this lovely stuff on some small dead bramble twigs during today’s walk along the south Wales coastal path.
It may be Mucilago crustacea but I can’t be sure about that identification.
24 Sunday Nov 2019
Posted in autumn, nature, wildflowers
Now that most insects have morphed in to their over-wintering pupae or are hibernating somewhere warm and dark, my eye naturally turns to whatever else I can find in the natural world around me and one of those things is the wildflower. You might think they, also, have faded away but, depending on the weather, there are usually flowers to be found all year round. If you don’t believe me, try following #wildflowerhour on social media, every Sunday night from 8 to 9pm, to see what folks have managed to find for the weekly #winter10 challenge. Here are my finds from this week’s local walks …
23 Saturday Nov 2019
Tags
bramble leaf mines, British leaf mines, British moths, Golden pigmy moth, leaf mines on brambles, leaf-mining moth, Stigmella aurella, stigmella species
Before the heavy rain came in yesterday I managed a quick local walk, part of which was to look at maple trees for the leaf mines of a tiny moth called Stigmella aceris, which has slowly been expanding its range in south Wales. I didn’t find any on the few trees I looked at, though I will continue to look and will report back here if I do manage to find any.
I decided to switch my focus on to another of the Stigmella moth species, Stigmella aurella, the Golden pigmy moth, which lives its larval life in mines burrowed in bramble leaves. Though you might never see the adult moth, you will undoubtedly be able to find its leaf mines as they are common and widespread throughout most of Britain, and I easily found several examples during my local meander. Now to find the maple-leaf-burrowing variety!
22 Friday Nov 2019
This morning’s stomp along the Ely embankment produced my first Redshank sightings there of the autumn / winter.
And they’re late – in 2017 I saw them first on 22 October and last year it was the 30th. Of course, other Redshanks may already have arrived in Cardiff Bay and I simply haven’t seen them.
This morning I saw three and, even better news, one of the birds was ‘Peter’, a ringed bird I’ve also seen in previous years (and blogged about here, and his life story is here). Welcome back, my Redshank friends!
21 Thursday Nov 2019
A freezing easterly wind was blasting anyone and anything foolish enough to be out and about today, which, of course, included me. At least I had the luxury of several layers of clothing, plus woolly hat, scarf and gloves.
For the Tufted ducks at Cosmeston, it was a case of lying low, in the lee of any vegetation that provided shelter, and trying to sleep, though with one eye open in case some kind person should toss them some seed.
*Note to self: Buy bird seed to take along on future winter walks.
20 Wednesday Nov 2019
I don’t know which species of insect created these tracks under the bark on a fallen tree but I imagine it was some kind of beetle. I also don’t know if this damage caused the tree to fall, though it seems unlikely as this was quite superficial. Whatever the circumstances, the marks were lovely to behold.
19 Tuesday Nov 2019
Tags
autumn insects, bees, British insects, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, hoverflies, ivy flowers, moth larva, Red Admiral, wasp
It may be late autumn, with shortening days, chill winds and cooling nights but, when the sun comes out as it did yesterday, the insects also come out to warm themselves and feed. During my walk around Cosmeston I spotted a late Red admiral butterfly and then, further on, where ivy was still flowering, a host of flying mini-beasties: hoverflies, various bees and wasps. And, near them, tucked away further down on a bramble leaf, even a caterpillar, probably a moth larva though I’m not sure which species.
earthstar 
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