27 Sunday Feb 2022
Posted in flowers, spring, wildflowers, winter
The title of today’s post may be later winter wildflowers but, in fact, my video includes some glorious hints of the spring colour we can all expect to see very soon. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed finding them.
12 Saturday Feb 2022
The secrets of life for over-wintering snails:
1) find a friend, or twenty, to huddle with
2) create a mucus seal around your shell opening to conserve moisture
3) slow down your metabolism and snooze.
26 Wednesday Jan 2022
Tags
birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, Cardiff Bay Wetlands Reserve, male Stonechat, Stonechat
A male Stonechat is overwintering at Cardiff Bay Wetlands Reserve. With his orange breast, dark head and streaky brown wings, all crisply edged in white, he’s a dapper-looking little chap, and he’s rarely still. Eyes peeled for the next tasty titbit, he prefers a lofty perch from which to survey his surroundings, and flits quickly down for the catch, then back up to the nearest best vantage point. He’s like a bright spark on a cold winter’s day.
23 Sunday Jan 2022
Posted in flowers, wildflowers, winter
Tags
British wildflowers, wildflowers in winter, winter wildflowers, winter yellow, winter-blooming wildflowers, yellow wildflowers
Limiting my palette to yellow, for the challenge and the sunshine cheeriness of the colour, I went searching for wildflowers in bloom in my local area this week. These are the dozen I managed to find …
21 Friday Jan 2022
Tags
You’ve heard of elf cups? Well, this was more of an elf cauldron! So, if you go down to Cwm George wood tonight, be prepared to see a horde of partying, drunken elves.
18 Tuesday Jan 2022
Here’s another recent surprise find, a Common green shieldbug (Palomena prasina) covered in early morning dewdrops. Obviously, it’s not green: these bugs overwinter as adults, changing their colouring from green to dark brown before the winter weather really sets in, usually around November. The British bugs website says these shieldbugs usually hibernate – perhaps this little beastie was caught out by the previously milder-than-usual temperatures.
15 Saturday Jan 2022
Tags
Angle shades caterpillar, Angle shades larvae, moth caterpillars, moth larvae, moth larvae in winter, Phlogophora meticulosa
These were a surprise on a chilly and very foggy early morning walk earlier this week.
I suppose I should have realised that some caterpillars overwinter as larvae but I was still amazed to find all but one of these four sitting in plain sight, fully exposed to the weather, covered in dew drops. I’m reliably informed these are the larvae of the Angle shades moth (Phlogophora meticulosa).
12 Wednesday Jan 2022
It felt like proper winter this morning, with a hard frost that left everything covered in tiny shards of ice that sparkled with miniature rainbows when the sun caught them.
02 Sunday Jan 2022
Posted in wildflowers, winter
It’s on again, the New Year Plant Hunt, running from 1 to 4 January inclusive, so you still have time to join in and help the BSBI (Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland) ‘build up a clearer picture of how our wildflowers are responding to changes in autumn and winter weather patterns’. Click HERE for more information on how to join in and to see past years’ results.
My little video shows the 31 species in bloom I managed to find during an extended meander around my town in coastal south Wales. Some flowers are looking a bit raggedy after a lot of recent rain but the lack of really cold temperatures so far this winter means there are still a lot of wildflowers a’flowering.
05 Sunday Dec 2021
Posted in flowers, plants, wildflowers, winter
It may be the first week of winter but there are still plenty of wildflowers in bloom. I hope you enjoy seeing these as much as I enjoyed finding them.
earthstar 
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