28 Tuesday Jan 2020
Despite being caught twice in freezing hail showers, I had a lovely walk today, and part of the reason is because I saw my first Blackthorn blossoms for 2020. As Blackthorn flowers appear before the leaves (in contrast to Hawthorn, where the leaves appear first), this hedge along the roadside at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park still looks lifeless and barren.
In fact, the brown branches and twigs were dotted here and there with white buds and occasional fully open blossoms. Spring is coming!
26 Sunday Jan 2020
Posted in flowers, nature, wildflowers, winter
In New Zealand we call this plant Onion weed but, here in Britain, its common name is Three-cornered leek. As its scientific name, Allium triquetrum, indicates, this bulbous plant is part of the garlic and onion family, the Alliums, and triquetrum refers to the triangular shape of its flower stem.
In Flora Britannica, Richard Mabey writes that this smelly plant was ‘introduced to Britain in 1752’ and ‘began to escape into shady hedge-banks and churchyards in Cornwall in the 1860s. By the 1930s it was in Devon’ and, in 1995, Mabey found it in the Chilterns, near London. Obviously, it’s spread even further since then, as it’s jumped the border and is thriving here in Wales. These were my first Three-cornered leek flowers for 2020.
25 Saturday Jan 2020
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Great Crested Grebe
Today’s seven-mile walk was through thick grey drizzle-like mist and, except for the raucous gulls at the edge of Cosmeston’s east lake (where everyone feeds the birds), the land was hushed and still. Not wanting to get my gear wet, I only got my camera out of my backpack once, for a few shots of this handsome Great crested grebe.
22 Wednesday Jan 2020
Posted in flowers, nature, wildflowers, winter
I saw my first Snowdrops of 2020 today in Cardiff’s Bute Park.
Candlemas bells, Mary’s taper, Snow piercer, February fairmaids, Dingle-dangle – all vernacular names for Snowdrops, according to my Flora Britannica. In Welsh, Snowdrop is Eirlys (pronounced Ire-liss), a lovely word that’s sometimes used as a girl’s name. How pretty!
21 Tuesday Jan 2020
On yet another very frosty morning, I met a friend to explore a woodland near Caerphilly called Coed y Werin, which I hadn’t been to before. And it was a delightful place, full of grand old trees, small streams and an iced-over pond.
And we saw Siskin, birds that seldom venture into my coastal patch, though these were very high up, nibbling at the cones in the tall larch trees, so my photos are heavily cropped. But hopefully you can see the birds today – not like yesterday’s Snipe challenge.
20 Monday Jan 2020
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Forest Farm, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, frost, Jay, nuthatch, Snipe
It was frosty white again this morning so, in the hope that the chilly temperatures might have lured the resident Snipe out of their hiding places in the reed beds, I headed to Forest Farm Nature Reserve for a meander. And I was lucky – though they were very distant, I managed to spot three Snipe. Full marks if you can actually see them in this photo.
Of course, the cold temps also meant the birds were hungry and frantic to be fed. I took plenty of seed with me but many of the good folk who walk this reserve regularly had already covered fence post tops and feeding tables with food of various types. This Nuthatch was stocking up, taking away several seeds and nuts at a time to stash in nooks and crannies in nearby trees.
Jays were also busy stashing. Birders were spraying the grass in front of the bird hide with peanuts, which at least two Jays were gathering and carting away to their local hiding places. Best to be prepared in case this chilly spell continues.
19 Sunday Jan 2020
We had another very frosty morning, crisper underfoot than yesterday, and I was delighted to find these fungi, covered in beautiful ice crystals.
16 Thursday Jan 2020
Tags
When wet weather forces a change of plan, sometimes the only thing for it is to head to the woods and turn over some logs, because there’s never nothing to see under a log!
Two slugs, possibly even the same species despite their obvious colour differences.
Eggs? Those on the left might well be slug or snail eggs but the ones on the right were much smaller and seemed caught up in a web or perhaps just strands of slime. I didn’t poke them – didn’t want to disturb them – so I’m not sure of their texture.
A slime mould, though not as much slime as I was hoping for. Possibly one of the Trichia species, perhaps Trichia persimilis.
A springtail, probably one of the Entomobrya species but I really needed a photo of its upper side to be able to confirm its identification.
Hairy snails (Trochulus hispidus), I believe, as the only other hairy snail has a more conical shell. It always seems odd to me for a snail to have hairs … but odd is good, interesting, never boring!
15 Wednesday Jan 2020
Tags
Aythya marila, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Greater scaup, juvenile drake scaup, Scaup
What a difference a month makes! Well, actually, not quite a month – my first photo below was taken on 21 December, the other two today, 15 January.
Two juvenile drake Greater scaup (Aythya marila) have been over-wintering in my local area, some days on the lakes at Cosmeston, some days in Cardiff Bay, either at the wetlands reserve or on the opposite side of the bay, near Ferry Court, always in the company of the flocks of Tufted ducks.
When they were first sighted, it was difficult to tell them apart from the female Tufties, so brown were they in appearance. But, as you can see in these photos, they are gradually acquiring more grey feathers on their backs and white on their lower bodies.
In February and March, scaup begin to migrate to the Arctic in preparation for breeding, though, according to my bird guide, some immature birds remain in their wintering grounds over the summer months. It will be interesting to see what these two decide to do.
14 Tuesday Jan 2020
During my early morning walk my little Redshank friend Peter (the bird ringed at Peterstone in 2016, hence my name for him) was on the foreshore where the River Ely flows into Cardiff Bay.
And he wasn’t alone – his companions included 5 other Redshanks, 21 Turnstones (a large number for this site), 1 Pied and 5 Grey wagtails, 7 Great crested grebes, 2 Mute swans, 7 Mallards, 5 Goosanders, and the usual large numbers of Coots and gulls.
Were there so many birds because they were all sheltering from Storm Brendan’s wild winds or is it simply that I need to walk early more often?
