08 Friday Mar 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature
You might remember the ‘Tiny bird, huge voice’ blog a week ago, about the sound being blasted out by a male Wren. Well, another bird, though not so small, can currently be seen, sitting high on tree branches and hedge tops, also blasting out its ‘Look at me’ song, though not as loudly as the tiny Wren. This small brown bird, once known as the Hedge sparrow, is the Dunnock, and he too sings a merry tune.
07 Thursday Mar 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature
Tags
#365DaysWild, Being woken by a blackbird singing, birding, birdwatching, blackbird, Blackbird singing, British birds
Actually, my Blackbird’s not been singing in the dead of night but just after six most mornings, and it’s getting earlier as the days grow longer. Soon, I shall probably be cursing it but for now I love being woken up by the dulcet tones of a Blackbird’s song.
06 Wednesday Mar 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature
Tags
birding, birding in the Forest of Dean, birdwatching, British birds, Cannop Ponds, Mandarin, Mandarin duck
It was wet – leaving Cardiff, heading east the downpours were torrential! But that didn’t stop 16 of us hardy souls spending a day checking out various birding hotspots in the beautiful Forest of Dean. We dipped on Goshawks at New Fancy View and Hawfinches at Parkend – and I don’t blame the birds for trying to find shelter from the frequent heavy showers, but we came up trumps with the Marsh tits (two) and the gorgeous Mandarin ducks at Cannop Ponds (and I was chuffed to spot a Redpoll there too), and we had a lovely walk through the majestic towering trees at RSPB Nagshead. We may have got a bit damp around the edges but the rain certainly didn’t dampen our spirits.
05 Tuesday Mar 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, spring
Tags
#365DaysWild, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Coot, Coot nesting, Coot on nest, rubbish around bird's nest, rubbish in waterways
What can I say? Sometimes I get very angry at the human race!
04 Monday Mar 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, flowers, nature, wildflowers
When I see violets, I always think of my nana Johno, my mother’s mother. She always had violets growing in her garden and would often pick a few to bring inside so she could enjoy their sweet scent. I spotted these particular violets on my way to Cosmeston this morning, growing wild on a grassy bank. I wasn’t able to smell them but I’m fairly sure these are Sweet violets (Viola odorata), which, as well as the traditional purple colour, can also be found in this pretty white variation.
03 Sunday Mar 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, nature, weather
With Storm Freya blasting us today, I only managed an hour’s stomp between rain bands but even that was difficult, trying to walk back up the hill from the marina into a 25mph head wind. My head was down, which was probably how I spotted these lovely bands of moss on top of a brick wall. It was interesting how the moss was only growing in strips where the mortar butted up against the terracotta bricks, not on the mortar or the bricks themselves. It sure looked pretty covered in rain drops.
02 Saturday Mar 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature, plants, wildflowers
Tags
#365DaysWild, Alexanders, Angle shades caterpillar, Angle shades larvae, Angle shades moth, British moths, British wildflowers, Phlogophora meticulosa
First I noticed the frass (that’s pooh, to most of us). Then I thought ‘Something fairly big must be in these Alexanders’ flower heads somewhere’. And, sure enough, with a little gentle pulling aside of leaves and flowers, I found the frass creator, very well camouflaged by its light green colouring. And then I thought, ‘There might be more’. And, sure enough, I found three caterpillars on three different plants, and frass on several more plants. These are the larvae of the Angle Shades moth (Phlogophora meticulosa). I thought it seemed rather early for them but my local Butterfly Conservation expert George tells me you can find them pretty much any time of year.
01 Friday Mar 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature
These are Chinese geese, I think, a breed of domestic goose, but they have escaped from whoever owned them and have taken to hanging out with a large flock of Mute swans that live on the banks of the River Taff in central Cardiff. People regularly feed the birds in this area, so the geese and swans are joined by Mallards, big groups of Feral pigeons and scavenging gulls.
Apparently, Chinese geese have been domesticated for their eggs and their meat, and the knob above their beaks is larger in ganders, so the white goose must be a male and the three brown birds females.
28 Thursday Feb 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, coastal fauna, nature
As their name suggests, the Turnstones that frequent the stony embankments around Cardiff Bay spend their time turning over loose stones, looking for the tiny insects, molluscs and crustaceans they like to eat. And it’s that stone-turning that has led to some of their regional vernacular names: stanepecker, in Shetland, and stone raw, in Armagh. I also rather like ebb pecker, another from Shetland, and tangle picker, from Norfolk. I haven’t been able to find a Welsh name for this bird so if there is one and you know it, please do let me know.
p.s. Thanks to my friend Ceri, I can now tell you the Welsh name for Turnstone is Cwtiad y Traeth, which translates as Beach plover (Traeth means beach and Cwtiad is plover).
27 Wednesday Feb 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, spring
I’m not sure whether this male Wren’s posturing was a threat display – ‘This is my territory. Enter at your own risk!’ – or whether he was trying to impress the other Wren that was dotting about in the tree nearby – ‘Look at me! I’m a big healthy tough male and I’d make a good mate.’ He sure was giving it his all though – it always amazes me how much sound can be produced by such a small bird.
earthstar 
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