18 Tuesday May 2021
Posted in insects, spring, wildflowers
Tags
British wildflowers, buttercups, buttercups and insects, insects in buttercups, yellow wildflowers
It seems I’m not the only one who likes buttercups, judging by the quantity and variety of mini-beasties I’ve spotted in them in recent days: bees and hoverflies, earwigs and micro-moths, and even a slug.
16 Sunday May 2021
Posted in spring, wildflowers
This native British wildflower may well be the ‘common weed of gardens, arable fields and waste places’ that my Flora Britannica describes, but I’ve only found it once, earlier this week, in my local area, despite there being plenty of those suitable habitats. This is Common fumitory (Fumaria officinalis), which also goes by the vernacular names of Earth smoke and Red-tipped-web. Flora Britannica goes on to explain:
Both scientific and English names stem from the Latin Fumus terrae – ‘smoke of the earth’. The delicate, grey-green leaves do have a slightly smoky appearance, enough to persuade one seventeenth-century herbalist that ‘it appeareth to those that behold it at a distance, as if the ground were all of a smoak’.
14 Friday May 2021
Here’s the latest in my occasional series of watching the trees come to life. This time, it’s the Oak tree – I’m not sure which of the Quercus species this is but I think they’re all fairly similar. First, the leaves burst from their buds, and the vibrancy of the new growth is dazzling.
And, of course, everyone knows acorns come from Oaks but perhaps, like me, you hadn’t noticed where the acorns come from. Below left are the male flowers, the catkins, dangling to catch the breeze that carries their pollen, and below right are the female flowers, tucked away, sheltered, waiting to be fertilised by the pollen and develop into acorns.
13 Thursday May 2021
Tags
bird migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, Cardiff Bay birds, Dunlin, spring migration
Though I live near the sea, I don’t get to see Dunlin very often as the coastline near me is mostly cliffs and rocks, not the stretches of mud or sand these little waders can easily feed on.
So, it was a real treat during Monday’s walk around Cardiff Bay to see this single Dunlin foraging on the edge of the Barrage.
Flocks of Dunlin, and other waders, pass along our shoreline at this time of year on their way to their breeding grounds and, very occasionally, drop in briefly to feed, as this one was. And to have a good scratch …
After taking several photos, I left the bird in peace to forage further, grateful for the birding treat!
12 Wednesday May 2021
Posted in spring, wildflowers
Tags
Bluebells, British wildflowers, Casehill Woods, Native bluebell, Spring colour, spring wildflowers, White-flower Bluebell
Although I’ve seen Spanish Bluebells that are white and even shades of pink and lilac, this was the first time I’ve seen white native Bluebells. There was only one, amongst the thousands in this fabulous piece of ancient woodland, but it certainly stood out from the crowd.
As the Bluebells are beginning to fade, especially after all the rain we’ve had in the past week, I thought I’d make a little video of some of my favourite Bluebell images. Enjoy!
10 Monday May 2021
Tags
baby birds, birding, birdwatching, British birds, cygnets, Mute swan, swan with cygnets, Ugly duckling fairytale
Seeing these gorgeous little balls of fluff made my day! I’d been watching these Mute swans for several weeks, building their nest, then sitting on eggs, so it was a real delight to see the proud parents gently shepherding their newly hatched brood around a local river inlet on Thursday.
09 Sunday May 2021
Posted in flowers, spring, wildflowers
A month ago, I shared some of the yellow-flowered wildflowers I’d found for the weekly #WildflowerHour challenge. In the weeks since, more yellow flowers have begun to bloom and, as today’s weather (I’m writing this on Saturday, as we sit under a heavy rain warning) is grey and windy and very wet, I fancy some bright sunshiny yellow. So, here we go …
The flowers are the butterflies’ favourite Bird’s-foot trefoil and the vibrant bushes of Broom. Although I shared some of these last time, I couldn’t resist a Shrew’s-eye view of more Cowslips. The buttercups are beginning to take over from the Lesser celandine as Nature’s yellow carpet in the meadows – these are Creeping and Meadow buttercups. Prickly sow-thistles line the edges of the lane behind my house, and Spotted medick is now brightening up the pavement verges. I’d glimpsed Yellow archangel last time but now these lovely spikes are popping up everywhere in my local woodland, a beautiful compliment to the Bluebells.
07 Friday May 2021
Posted in flowers, spring, wildflowers
Tags
British native orchids, British orchids, Early-purple orchid, native orchids, Orchis mascula, Spring colour
The 2021 orchid season has begun!
In my local area, the first orchids to bloom are the Early-purples (Orchis mascula) and this week I was delighted to find them in two local areas, one a nature reserve, the other a woodland I regularly visit.
The Plantlife website notes that there is a legend the ‘Early Purple Orchid grew under Christ’s cross, and the leaves were splattered with the blood of Christ, have resulted in the names Gethesmane and cross flower.’
The website also lists some of this orchid’s other vernacular names: ‘adder’s meat, bloody butchers, red butchers, goosey ganders, kecklegs, kettle cases and kite’s legs’. Personally, I just call them beautiful!
06 Thursday May 2021
As part of this spring’s project to watch trees and shrubs come to life, I’ve been keeping a close eye on Wayfaring trees during my local walks. Viburnum lantana is a tree – or shrub, if the potential to grow 5 metres tall means it can still be called a shrub – I’ve mostly ignored in the past but now I have a much better appreciation of its beauty.
The leaf buds when they first begin to develop are brown and furry and very sculptural.
And the flowers are equally lovely. The first of these photos was taken on 23 March, the most recent just two days ago, on 4 May.
You can read more about the Wayfaring tree on the Woodland Trust website, where the entry includes the fascinating information that arrows made from stems of this tree were found on the frozen body of ‘Ötzi the Iceman’, the man from 4000-3500BC whose body was found in the Austrian Alps in 1991.
05 Wednesday May 2021
Tags
bird migration, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, spring migration, Yellow wagtail
I’ve only seen Yellow wagtails a couple of times and never locally so, when they were reported flitting about Cardiff Bay, I went walking that way. On my first walk past where they’d been reported, I couldn’t find any – I dipped as they say in birder speak, and I’ve been dipping a bit lately so didn’t bother trying again the next day.
Then, last Friday, I thought I’d pop over to the wetlands reserve to see if I could find any Sedge warblers to photograph. Those birds were being very vocal though visually elusive but then I spotted a couple of birders I know who were obviously looking at something interesting. Turns out, it was a Whinchat, my first of the year – good news! – and then both chaps said they’d seen more Yellow wags that morning, dotting around the grassy areas on the Barrage.
So, a quick change of plan saw me strolling in that direction and, remarkably, the birds were still there. Four gorgeous little bursts of vibrant yellow, easily disturbed by walkers and dogs, but I managed to get some quality watching time and a few distant photos before they headed off over the water. Magic!
earthstar 
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