Summer wildflowers

10 Sunday Jul 2016

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, wildflowers

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Common comfrey, Common honeysuckle, Cornflower, Field bindweed, Fox and cubs, Hedge woundwort, Lesser stitchwort, Ox-eye daisy, Ragwort, White clover, Wood forget-me-not, Yellow loosestrife

As the summer progresses so, too, do the varieties of wildflowers that add colour to the roadside verges, beautify patches of waste ground, light up drab spots along hedgerows, adorn the edges of the trails I regularly walk, and sparkle in the conservation areas at my local cemetery.

These are some that have caught my eye in the past couple of weeks: Fox-and-Cubs (Pilosella aurantiaca), Yellow loosestrife (Lysimachia vulgaris), Ox-eye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare), Field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), Wood forget-me-not (Myosotis sylvatica), Hedge woundwort (Stachys sylvatica), Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus), White clover (Trifolium repens), Common comfrey (Symphytum officinale), Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea), Common honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum), and the last, I think, is Lesser stitchwort (Stellaria graminea).

Happy National Meadows Day!

02 Saturday Jul 2016

Posted by sconzani in nature, wildflowers

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Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Heath Park, Howardian Nature Reserve, meadows, National Meadows Day, Plantlife

Today is the second National Meadows Day, an initiative led by Plantlife, with contributions from 11 other organisations and with financial support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, that aims to:

raise awareness of the desperate plight of wildflower meadows and grasslands and equip communities with the knowledge and skills to reverse this devastating trend, and
give people all over the UK the chance to visit, enjoy and learn about our wildflower meadows and grasslands.

160702 NatMeadows Day Barrage

Meadows are such magical places. The gorgeous flowers they contain provide food and shelter to all manner of wildlife, from pretty fluttering butterflies and hawking dragonflies, to wandering weevils and little leaf beetles. There are events happening all around Britain today so, if you’ve no plans yet for your afternoon, get out and enjoy a meadow near you.

a blaze of Bird’s-foot trefoil at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park

daisies and buttercups at Heath Park

a gorgeous display of native orchids at Howardian Nature Reserve

In the pink

17 Friday Jun 2016

Posted by sconzani in nature, wildflowers

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pink flowers, pink wildflowers

A couple of weeks ago I seemed to be surrounded by yellow on my walks; now the pink wildflowers have taken over. For the most part, they’re softer on the eye, more delicate in shape, and range from the merest pink blush of the Common bistort to the almost purple of the Foxglove, the aptly named Digitalis purpurea. Some that I’ve noticed are Common bistort, Dog-rose, Foxglove, Grass vetchling, Herb Robert, Hedge woundwort, Ragged robin, Red campion, Red valerian, Red clover, the many and varied Geraniums, and, in my photos, a couple yet to be identified.

Welsh biodiversity: Heath Park

12 Sunday Jun 2016

Posted by sconzani in fungi, insects, nature, wildflowers

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biodiversity, biological diversity, Heath Park, Wales Biodiversity Week

This is the last, but by no means least, day of Wales Biodiversity Week, and today we’re checking out the biodiversity of another of my locals, Heath Park.

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Once upon a time (in the 1830s), the Lewis family built a great mansion (Heath House) on this land (since demolished – where the Miniature Railway and neighbouring carpark are now) and the present park was part of their estate (you can read more here). Today, the 37-hectare site is owned by Cardiff Council, and contains sports fields, courts and playgrounds, a large carpark (also useful for visitors to neighbouring Heath Hospital), large fields for picnics and dog-walking, a mature woodland and two ponds.

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Part of the woodland is very damp so, as you can see from my photos, it’s ideal for fungi, even in the summer months. And there is also a rather smelly stream, the Nant-y-Wedal, which had a surprising abundance of wildlife amongst the vegetation adorning its banks. Heath Park was an unexpected biodiversity hot spot, so we have a bumper number of photographs which seems a fitting way to close Wales Biodiversity Week for 2016.

Welsh biodiversity: Roath Wild Gardens

11 Saturday Jun 2016

Posted by sconzani in birds, insects, nature, wildflowers

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biodiversity, Roath Park, Roath Park Wild Gardens, Wales Biodiversity Week

You’ve heard of the baker’s dozen? Well, today let me introduce you to the Welsh week. In Wales, it seems, a week actually consists of nine days (!) so here is my selection for day eight of Wales Biodiversity Week.

I am lucky to live opposite Roath Park, here in Cardiff, but it’s a large and varied place, with recreation grounds and a botanical garden, as well as a lake, so I’ve chosen just one smallish area for my biodiversity challenge, the Wild Gardens at the northern end of the lake.

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Developed slightly later than the rest of the park, in 1896, the Wild Gardens have seen many changes in their lifetime. In the early days there was a summer house in the centre and during 1910-11 three ponds for trout-rearing were constructed. Nowadays the Gardens live up to their ‘wild’ name, with a network of dirt footpaths winding back and forth amongst a canopy of mature trees with shrubby growth beneath. A few weeks ago this place was awash with wild garlic – a most gIorious, if smelly spectacle, and now it’s lush with blackberry bushes and ferns, grasses and wildflowers. I love its wildness and so does the wildlife, as you can see from these photos, all taken on yesterday’s wander.

Welsh biodiversity: Coryton roundabout

10 Friday Jun 2016

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, wildflowers

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biodiversity, Coryton roundabout, native orchids, Wales Biodiversity Week

160610 coryton roundabout (1)

You might think I’ve gone a little bonkers with today’s choice of site for day seven of Wales Biodiversity Week, but you’d be wrong. Officially known as Juncton 32, the Coryton roundabout, where the M4 motorway and the A470 spin around together, is the large roundabout in Wales and one of the largest in Britain. That means it contains large areas of green space within its boundaries and, as the Cardiff Naturalists Society can verify, it is a very rich habitat for all manner of plants and insects.

160610 coryton roundabout (2)

Yesterday was my first visit to this place. If you can ignore the constant traffic noise and the buzz from the large power pylons, it is a lovely patch for a wander, with parcels of mature trees and wedges of flower-filled meadows, which have the added bonus of an abundance of native orchids. Several species can be found here apparently, the Common spotted and Bee orchids, Twayblade and Broad-leaved helloborines, as well as the Pyramidal orchid. I also found quite a few critters enjoying their efflorescent surroundings. It was a most unexpectedly biodiverse location!

Welsh biodiversity: Howardian NR

06 Monday Jun 2016

Posted by sconzani in nature, wildflowers

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30 Days Wild, biodiversity, Howardian Nature Reserve, Wales Biodiversity Week

Another day, more biodiversity! On day three of Wales Biodiversity Week I explored another of my local nature reserves, Howardian, a 30-odd-acre triangle of woods and meadows, at the intersection of two major Cardiff roads, which was once a domestic rubbish tip. Oh how times have changed for the better!

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After more than 40 years of tireless labour, firstly by the pupils of the Howardian High School Natural History Society and now by the Friends of Howardian LNR (where would the environment be without these Friends groups!), the reserve is a treasure trove of biodiversity. You only need to look at the website galleries and the impressive species’ lists to get an idea of the richness of life in this reserve: field voles and dormice (!); slow worms and palmate newts; bees, butterflies and damselflies; chiffchaffs and whitethroats; moths and hoverflies; fungi, lichen and mosses; and, during the months of June and July (now!), a breathtaking display of native orchids.

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Howardian is a superb testament to how a former urban wasteland can, with time and a ton of hard work, be revitalised into a shining example of a biodiverse environment.

Floral Friday: The yellowing

03 Friday Jun 2016

Posted by sconzani in flowers, nature, wildflowers

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spring flowers, summer flowers, yellow flowers, yellow wildflowers

Yellow is the colour of happiness, optimism, enlightenment, creativity, hope, cheerfulness, sunshine … and the quintessential colour of Spring.

160603 yellow wildflowers (1)

Yellow is also the most luminous in the colour spectrum – the colour that most easily catches the human eye but, more importantly, the eyes of bees, so it’s no surprise that yellow is the most common flower colour. Here in Wales, after experiencing only my second British winter in thirty-odd years, I have been delighted by the coming of Spring, and both charmed and uplifted by the yellow wildflowers everywhere. First came the Dandelion and Daffodil, the Lesser celandine and the paler shade of the Primrose and, in boggy places, the Marsh marigold.

Now, as spring becomes summer, the succession of yellow continues with fields and meadows carpeted in yellow. We have the many varieties of Buttercup, vibrant Bird’s foot trefoil and Yellow archangel, the Dandelion look-alike Cat’s ear and Nipplewort, and in boggy places, Yellow flag iris. It is truly glorious.

Long live Biological Diversity!

21 Saturday May 2016

Posted by sconzani in flowers, fungi, insects, nature, plants, wildflowers

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biological diversity, biological recording, biological recording centre, International Bay for Biological Diversity

Tomorrow it will be 24 years since the Convention on Biological Diversity was adopted by the United Nations. To commemorate that momentous day back in 1992, 22 May is now celebrated as the International Day for Biological Diversity. Around the world, events of various kinds – from seminars, exhibitions and leaflets to more hands-on programmes of tree-planting – are organised to promote awareness of the importance of biodiversity, to spread the word that a high variety of plant and animal life is crucial in all habitats.

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For my personal celebration, I visited a local nature reserve to see what species of plants, animals, insects, molluscs, etc I could find. And what a treasure trove there was waiting to be discovered! I’ve included some photos here to show you how diverse the area is but I haven’t yet identified everything I saw. I am slowly working my way through my 400 photos. And, as it’s extremely important to record what can be found around us, as a responsible Citizen Scientist, I will also be entering my records into the database of the local biological records centre.

So, here’s a challenge for you. Head out tomorrow, 22 May, and see what you can find in your local park, nature reserve, or even your own garden … and don’t forget to record what you see.

Wildflowers at the cemetery

13 Friday May 2016

Posted by sconzani in nature, spring, wildflowers

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#FloralFriday, Cathays Cemetery, spring flowers

I am fortunate to have a magnificent location for wildflowers just a short walk from where I live. Cathays Cemetery’s 110-acre grounds have remained largely undisturbed since the cemetery closed to new burials about 35 years ago so it has the perfect habitat for wild plants to thrive… as long as the mowers and strimmers aren’t used too often.

160513 cemetery

There are native Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) though many of the Spanish variety have also been planted here. The Bulbous buttercups (Ranunculus bulbosus) are always cheerful, as is the Cuckooflower or Lady’s smock (Cardamine pratensis). They may be common but I’m a big fan of the Daisy (Bellis perennis) and the Dandelion in its many forms (Taraxacum officinale agg.). Dog violets (Viola riviniana) and Germander speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys) give pretty bursts of blue and lilac, and Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum) add its special touch of pink. Though now past their best, Lesser celandine (Ficaria verna) and Primrose (Primula vulgaris) are both still flowering, while the Red clover (Trifolium pratense) is just beginning to bloom. Ribwort plantain (Plantago lanceolata) is abundant, as is Wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca). And the last flower I couldn’t identify, so if anyone can help with that, I’d be grateful.