Leafmining in the dead of winter

03 Monday Feb 2025

Posted by sconzani in insects, plants, winter

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British leafminers, British leafmines, Chromatomyia ramosa, Euleia heraclei, leafmines, leafmining flies, leafmining moths, Phyllonorycter leucographella, Phytomyza chaerophylli

I reminded myself during Saturday’s meander around local trails and pathways that leafmining can be a year round pastime. I didn’t find anything new but I did find several miners that I’ve seen and blogged about before. So, if you’ve a mind to get started on your personal journey of discovering leafmines, there’s no need to wait until the warmer months.

Phyllonorycter leucographella on one of the Pyracantha species. The tiny larva, with its black on white markings, is just visible within the mine.

Chromatomyia ramosa just getting started on a new Teasel rosette

Phytomyza chaerophylli on newly sprouted Cow parsley

Euleia heraclei on Alexanders, a plant that grows almost constantly and very prolifically here in coastal south Wales. I held the leaf up to the light so as to show the larva within.

Winter 12

02 Sunday Feb 2025

Posted by sconzani in flowers, wildflowers, winter

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British wildflowers, winter colour, winter wildflowers, winter-flowering wildflowers

Some sub-zero overnight temperatures have knocked back many wildflowers but I was pleased still to find these 12 species in flower.

The first of this year’s Cow parsley, Creeping buttercup, and ever reliable Daisy

Dandelion, Field speedwell (I had to wait for some sunshine for these to open), and glorious Gorse

Groundsel, Honeysuckle (barely, but I’ll take it), and Lesser celandine

Primrose, Shepherd’s-purse, and the deliciously smelling Winter heliotrope

Fluted bird’s nest fungi

31 Friday Jan 2025

Posted by sconzani in fungi, winter

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Bird's nest fungi, British fungi, Cyathus striatus, Fluted Bird's-nest fungi, woodland fungi

Almost seven and a half years have passed since I first saw these fungi, the perfectly named Fluted bird’s nest fungi (Cyathus striatus) (I blogged about that sighting in More Bird’s-nests with eggs! on 11 September 2017).

Since then, every time I’ve passed this location I’ve cast my eye over the various mossy logs and branches that lie adjacent to the path, hoping to spot them again. I saw nothing until my visit this past Wednesday and, to be honest, I’m amazed I was able to see them then, as the logs were draped in Bramble, through which I had to push my way to get closer. It was worth a couple of scratches though, to see these stunning fungi again.

With their shaggy looking exterior covering and the ribbed interior, they’re very distinctive and so easy to identify, which is always a bonus with fungi. They can be found (if you’re lucky!) growing on wood, usually within woodlands.

Common and green

30 Thursday Jan 2025

Posted by sconzani in insects, winter

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British shieldbugs, Common Green Shieldbug, Green shieldbug, Palomena prasina

I called this blog common and green as that is the name of this lovely creature, the Common green shieldbug (Palomena prasina), but this particular shieldbug’s colour looked to be half way between its summer green colour and the bronze it assumes during the winter months.

It was basking on an ivy leaf, out of the chill wind, in today’s relatively warm winter sunshine, and, in my fanciful imagination, I thought it looked to be smiling contentedly. I was certainly smiling to see this, my first shieldbug of 2025.

Foraging Common sandpiper

29 Wednesday Jan 2025

Posted by sconzani in birds, winter

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Cardiff Bay birding, Common sandpiper

In recent years we have been fortunate to have had one or two Common sandpipers overwintering around the edges of Cardiff Bay so I see these stunning little birds on a regular basis, and they never fail to delight me with their scurrying and bobbing as they forage for food amongst the stones and along the water’s edge.

Yesterday, I watched this little one for quite some time and, as it was unaware of my presence, was able to make a short video of its behaviour. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I did at the time.

Creeping ever skywards

28 Tuesday Jan 2025

Posted by sconzani in birds, winter

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, treecreeper

Treecreepers frequently elude me so it has been wonderful this month to have had the privilege of seeing several, and those at a variety of locations, though always in the wooded areas they call home.

I’m lucky that my hearing is still reasonably good so I can hear their tinkling call. Sometimes that is what alerts me to their presence; other times it’s a fleeting movement in my peripheral vision as they flit from the top of one tree trunk to the bottom of another, or from a high branch to a lower one.

Even then they can be difficult to spot; though their bellies are bright white, the variegated browns on their backs make for good camouflage, and they seem always to spiral as they climb, frequently disappearing from view. Given these challenges, I feel very lucky to have captured several reasonable photos of these beautiful little birds.

First caterpillar of 2025

27 Monday Jan 2025

Posted by sconzani in insects, winter

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caterpillar, caterpillar on Aquilegia, moth caterpillar, moth larva, possible Silver Y caterpillar

I actually spotted this little caterpillar nine days ago, on 16 January, but have struggled to put a name to it (I have a caterpillar guide book but the illustrations are so small that I find it difficult to distinguish between the many green caterpillars). I wondered if it might be a Silver Y moth (Autographa gamma) and some of my social media contacts agreed, though I’m still not entirely convinced. It was munching on the leaves of an Aquilegia that had escaped the confines of someone’s garden bed.

First Snowdrops

26 Sunday Jan 2025

Posted by sconzani in flowers, wildflowers, winter

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British wildflowers, signs of spring, snowdrop, winter wildflowers

The snowdrop and primrose our woodlands adorn,
And violets bathe in the wet o’ the morn
~ from Robert Burns’ poem ‘My Nanie’s Awa’, translated in to modern English

Have you seen your first Snowdrops yet? I spotted small clumps in two locations this week, surrounded by mud rather than snow, but they were still heartwarming to see.

Common grey disco, probably

24 Friday Jan 2025

Posted by sconzani in fungi, winter

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British fungi, Common grey disco, cup fungi, disco fungi, fungi on rotting logs, Mollisia cinerea

I am very aware that cup fungi like these really need to be confirmed by microscopic examination of their spores but, sticking my neck out and assuming the most common species is most likely the one I’ve found, I’m going to say this is Common grey disco (Mollisia cinerea).

As they are tiny and grey and the white margin to their cups is often not particularly obvious, it is easy to overlook these little beauties. I wasn’t looking for fungi; I simply got lucky while poking about amongst some rotting logs in a local park.

Forced into the open

23 Thursday Jan 2025

Posted by sconzani in birds, winter

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Water rail

Oh, the irony! On the very day media were reporting on the latest report, produced by Natural Resources Wales, about the appalling state of nature in Wales and the government’s dismal record at environmental protection and restoration, I was able to get exceedingly good views of this Water rail only because Cardiff Council workers were in the process of cutting every piece of greenery from the sides of Cardiff Castle’s moat. As with central Welsh government, so too with local government – they continually and intentionally fail to protect our natural resources.

The Water rail is normally a real skulker, preferring to stay hidden behind reeds and within clumps of vegetation but it, and every other creature that had been living alongside the moat, had either been displaced from their homes or, for the smaller species not able or quick enough to escape, killed by the strimmers, shredder, and trampling boots.