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~ a celebration of nature

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Category Archives: spring

Wild words: bud burst

18 Wednesday Apr 2018

Posted by sconzani in leaves, nature, spring, trees

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Tags

#WildWords, bud burst, bud scales, new leaves, Spring has sprung, springtime, wild words

I love this little miracle that happens every spring, and I couldn’t resist having ‘bud burst’ as this week’s words after seeing many beautiful examples when I was out walking on Monday.

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During winter, deciduous trees look so bare and barren, yet, safely enclosed within the protective cases of their ‘bud scales’, tiny leaves are beginning to grow. Then, once temperatures start to warm up, the trees’ roots absorb more water and the sap begins to rise. The leaf buds grow and swell to the point when their scales just can’t contain them any more and then, one day …

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Shazam! The buds burst out and begin to expand and soak up the spring sunshine!

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Getting the flutters

16 Monday Apr 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, spring

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Bee-fly, British butterflies, butterflies, Comma, Comma butterfly, Peacock, Peacock butterfly, Speckled wood, Spring has sprung, springtime

Spring came to south Wales on Saturday at approximately 3.30pm and lasted about 4 hours. (It’s supposed to return again next week and stay a few days but, in the constantly changing contemporary climate, it pays not to count your chickens – or, maybe that should be, your rays of sunshine!) Amazingly, as soon as the sun appeared, so too did the butterflies. It was like a door had been opened – where had they been hiding, I wonder? In the space of about 30 minutes, I saw Peacocks and Commas, several never-settling Brimstones, a distant large-or-small White, and my first Speckled wood of the year. Oh, and a couple of Bee-flies – not butterflies, obviously, but the cutest wee flying things you ever did see so I’ve included one here. It was delightful!

180416 1 Peacock180416 2 Comma180416 3 Peacock180416 4 Comma180416 5 Speckled wood180416 6 Bee fly

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On the verge

15 Sunday Apr 2018

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

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Tags

#Ontheverge, #WildflowerHour, British wildflowers, spring flowers, wildflowers

Are you up for a challenge? Do you like wildflowers? Well, then get following Wildflowerhour on Twitter and / or Facebook, and join in the weekly wildflower challenge fun. Not only will your newsfeed be filled with glorious colour every Sunday night from 8 to 9pm (and throughout the week, as well) but I guarantee you will also learn something new each week.

180415 The verge

The verge

This week’s challenge was titled ‘On the verge’, and we were challenged to see what wildflowers we could discover on roadside verges. Rather than a busy highway, I chose a quiet local side road at Penarth Marina – I already get lots of odd looks for taking a close look at flowers and insects, so tried to avoid too much attention. The Marina area is a relatively new environment, my verge an area that had previously been a dock, where ocean-going ships brought goods from near and far to Cardiff, but this particular dock was filled with household rubbish and turned into a park back in the 1980s. So, I didn’t find anything particularly exciting on my verge but it was interesting to see what plants had become established.

180415 Common cornsalad Valerianella locusta

Common cornsalad (Valerianella locusta)

180415 Creeping buttercup Ranunculus repens

Creeping buttercup (Ranunculus repens)

180415 Daisy Bellis perennis

The ever reliable Daisy (Bellis perennis)

180415 Dandelion Taraxacum sp and slug friend

Partly devoured Dandelion (Taraxacum sp.) and slug friend

180415 Field Wood-rush Luzula campestris

Field Wood-rush (Luzula campestris)

180415 Groundsel Senecio vulgaris

Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris)

180415 Ribwort plantain Plantago lanceolata

Not quite open yet, but close – Ribwort plantain (Plantago lanceolata)

180415 Wavy Bitter-cress Cardamine flexuosa

Wavy Bitter-cress (Cardamine flexuosa)

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My week in wildflowers

13 Friday Apr 2018

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, spring, wildflowers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Barren strawberry, Bluebell, British flora, British wildflowers, Common Stork's-bill, Cornsalad, Danish scurvygrass, gorse, Grape hyacinth, Petty spurge, Ragwort, Red dead-nettle, Three-cornered leek

Though the weather has been pretty miserable most of this week, I have been seeing more and more wildflowers when I’m out on my wanders.

Barren strawberry

There will be no big fat juicy red berries from this little strawberry as this is a Barren strawberry (Potentilla sterilis) (it has fruit but they don’t become ‘fleshy and red’). I can tell which species it is from the top of the leaf that’s showing – the ‘terminal tooth’ is shorter than those on either side of it.

Bluebell

Last Sunday I saw my first Bluebells (Hyacinthoides sp.) of the year, almost certainly Spanish or hybrids rather than native Bluebells, but still beautiful to my eye.

Common stork's-bill

I think this is Common stork’s-bill (Erodium cicutarium), a nice surprise growing amongst the grass at Cardiff Bay Wetland Reserve.

Cornsalad

Cornsalad is such a dainty little plant, with very delicate, pale blue flowers. I almost missed these growing by the path at Grangemoor Park and have since seen them in a couple of places. This is probably Common cornsalad (Valerianella locusta), but the only way to be sure it’s not one of the other four varieties is to check the fruit, which won’t be possible till later in the season.

Danish scurvygrass

This is Danish scurvygrass (Cochlearia danica), originally a seaside plant that has now become widespread by following the road-salting trucks along the roads of Britain.

Gorse

Gorse (Ulex sp.) never seems to stop flowering, though the truth is that there are two Gorse species and, when one stops flowering, the other takes over.

Grape hyacinth

These Grape hyacinth (Muscari sp.) have become naturalised in my local cemetery, probably spreading from one or two deliberate grave-top plantings, or from nearby home gardens. I love their blue.

Petty spurge

Petty spurge (Euphorbia peplus) is a very common little wildflower that’s often overlooked.

Common ragwort

Spotting this flowering Ragwort by the roadside near Cardiff Bay was a bright surprise. It’s probably Common ragwort (Senecio jacobaea).

Red dead-nettle

Red dead-nettle (Lamium purpureum). I’m a big fan of all the dead-nettles – the ‘dead’ in their name refers to the fact that they aren’t covered in stinging hairs!

Three-cornered leek

Allium triquetrum, the Three-cornered leek, is a pretty, if somewhat smelly flower but considered an alien invasive plant species here in Britain.

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Cherry plum or Blackthorn?

10 Tuesday Apr 2018

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, spring, trees

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

blackthorn, blossom, Cherry plum, Prunus cerasifera, prunus species, Prunus spinosa, spring, Spring blossom

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Being a relative newbie to Britain, I’m still very much a learner when it comes to identifying plants (and everything else, to be honest), so I was pleased recently to learn how to tell Cherry plum blossom from Blackthorn.

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It’s partly in the timing – Cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera) usually flowers first, apparently – and also in the growth pattern, but a sure-fire way to tell whether the gorgeous blossom you’re puzzling over is this or Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), which flowers soon afterwards, is to look at the back of the flower.

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In the Blackthorn the sepals (those leaf-like bits that originally enclose the flower but split apart when the flower opens) lay flat along the backs of the flower petals, or between them when fully open (photos above), whereas in the Cherry plum, the sepals are folded back (photos below).

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Nests

09 Monday Apr 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, spring

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

birding, birdwatching, Buzzard, Carrion crow, Coot, Great Crested Grebe, Magpie, Mute swan, nesting, nesting birds, signs of spring

Just like their makers, nests come in all shapes and sizes, and they’re made of all sorts of materials: twigs and branches, feathers, moss, paper and plastic, mud. They can be seen high in trees and on buildings, hidden secretively away in hedges and behind reeds, or plonked in a hole in a concrete platoon, as I saw some Coots do recently in Cardiff. Some are messy and loosely constructed, others are cosy and snug, still others are miniature works of art.

180409 buzzard

This is prime bird-nesting season so it’s quite likely you’ll see nests when you’re out walking. Please stay well away and do not disturb parents, eggs or babies. In Britain (and I’m sure in most countries) it is, in fact, an offence under The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to ‘intentionally take, damage, destroy the nest of any wild bird while it is in use or being built’ and to ‘intentionally take or destroy  the egg of any wild bird’. (You can read more details here.) And, rest assured, my photos were all taken with a long lens, well away from the birds, so as not to disturb them.

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180409 great crested grebe
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This week in insects

08 Sunday Apr 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, spiders, spring

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Abraxas grossulariata, Andrena flavipes, Magpie moth caterpillar, Red Admiral, Red velvet mite, Trombidiidae, Vanessa atalanta, Yellow-legged mining bee

I mentioned yesterday that I saw my first butterflies of 2018 this week. The first was a Peacock but my camera was in my backpack and, by the time I extracted it, the butterfly had flown off. I was still cursing that fact when another butterfly appeared, this lovely Red admiral (Vanessa atalanta). Snap!

180408 Red admiral

On Wednesday’s walk, as well as the bee-flies I blogged about yesterday, I also saw several varieties of bee. I’m hopeless at identifying bees – I will focus on them one year to try to improve my skills, but that won’t be this year. Luckily, there’s a good Facebook group where the folks are very helpful, and they’ve IDed these as Yellow-legged mining bees (Andrena flavipes). They’re spring-flying solitary bees that make individual nests but often in large groups (the experts call them aggregations). This lot, of perhaps 20, were digging in to a sandy bank by the seaside. (Here’s a link to more information from BWARS.)

180408 Yellow-legged mining bee (2)
180408 Yellow-legged mining bee (3)

180408 Yellow-legged mining bee (1)

This next little critter was tiny, as you can see by comparison with my hand behind (and I have small hands). Once again, I needed help on the ID but the folks from my local Butterfly Conservation Facebook group are experts. This is a caterpillar of the Magpie moth (Abraxas grossulariata), a stunning-looking moth that I have not yet seen. Its caterpillar is quite lovely too, don’t you think?

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Though only 3 to 5mm long, these little Red Velvet Mites are hard to miss, simply because of their unusual colour. This is one of the Trombidiidae family but I don’t know which one. It’s really an arachnid (note the eight legs) rather than an insect but I’m including it here anyway. It’s carnivorous but no need to worry – it only eats creatures smaller than itself!

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And, finally, a bee that I haven’t tried to put a name to – I just liked it for the way it’s positively luxuriating in the pollen of this Lesser celandine flower.

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Signs of spring: Bee-flies

07 Saturday Apr 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, spring

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Bee-fly, Bombylius major, British insects, signs of spring

Last Wednesday was a ‘B’ day – not ‘B’ as in ‘B-rated’ or in any way inferior – in fact, in that sense, it was an A+ day. I named it a ‘B’ day because I saw my first Butterflies of 2018, my first Blackcap, and my first Bee-flies – and not just one Bee-fly, but a total of seven!

180407 bee-flies (7)

The Bee-fly (officially Bombylius major) is a strange-looking mini-beastie, a weird and wonderful combination, all the cuteness of a furry teddy-bear but with the sinister look of a sword fish. Never fear, it is entirely harmless to humans, though it does lay its eggs in the nests of bees and wasps, where the bee-fly larvae feast on the bee and wasp larvae. Its sword-shaped proboscis is no stinging machine – it’s used exclusively for drinking nectar from flowers. These are springtime mini-beasties, out now in sunny spots in your garden or local hedgerow.

180407 bee-flies (1)
180407 bee-flies (2)
180407 bee-flies (3)
180407 bee-flies (4)
180407 bee-flies (5)
180407 bee-flies (6)
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Variable and promiscuous

06 Friday Apr 2018

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, spring, wildflowers

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Tags

British flora, British wildflowers, purple violets, Sweet violet, Viola odorata, violets, white violets

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In Flora Botannica Richard Mabey’s opening statement on the violet family reads: ‘The violets are a variable and promiscuous family, apt to throw up all kinds of sports and hybrids.’ This once meant that botanists split the family into as many as 40 different species, depending on their colour variations. Fortunately, common sense and modern scientific analysis has now prevailed and that number has been almost halved. Still, violets are not always easy to identify.

180406 sweet violets (1)
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Although the violets in my photos are both purple and white, they are, I believe, all Sweet violets (Viola odorata), as they all had the distinctive scent of this variety – Common dog violets (Viola riviniana) are so called because they do not smell. In olden times, Sweet violets were one of the herbs that were strewn on floors to improve the smell of your home, and they have also been used by herbalists to treat insomnia, depression and headache. All that, and pretty too!

180406 sweet violets (7)

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Bundles of fluff

05 Thursday Apr 2018

Posted by sconzani in birds, nature, spring

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Tags

birding, birdwatching, British birds, bundles of fluff, goslings, Greylag, Greylag goose, Roath Park Lake, signs of spring

180405 Greylag goslings (1)

As this year’s lingering wintery weather has delayed the true advent of spring by about three weeks, I certainly wasn’t expecting to see these four gorgeous Greylag goslings when I went for a wander around Roath Park Lake on Tuesday. But, as Greylag eggs take about 28 days to incubate, Mrs Goose may well have started laying just prior to the ‘Beast from the East’ storm on 1 March. Full praise to her for persevering through two heavy dumpings of snow, freezing temperatures, and some very heavy deluges of rain as well!

180405 Greylag goslings (2)180405 Greylag goslings (5)180405 Greylag goslings (3)180405 Greylag goslings (4)180405 Greylag goslings (7)180405 Greylag goslings (6)180405 Greylag goslings (8)

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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