Category Archives: winter

The bounteous cotoneaster

19 Thursday Jan 2017

Posted by in birds, nature, winter

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They may look luscious and juicy but Cotoneaster berries contain toxins, which means that many people consider them poisonous. (There’s a good article about whether or not they really are poisonous on the Poison Garden website.) Yet the blackbirds, thrushes and woodpigeons seem to enjoy them and, when the more desirable berries like rowan have been consumed, these nutritious berries help to sustain the birds through the lean winter months.

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Roath Park has several cotoneaster trees that are covered in bright red and dull yellow berries at the moment so, as I walked home from the train station this afternoon I kept an eye out for feeding birds. And I got lucky.

The hefty woodpigeons were easy to spot as their clambering made the branches shake a lot. The blackbirds were more delicate but also more entertaining, as they performed their aerial trapeze, clinging to branches and stretching as far sideways or upside down as they could to reach the furthest fruit. The bonus of the day was a group of about five redwings also feeding spasmodically in these trees. They were more skittish, flitting quickly on to the very top branches for some rapid pecking but, always watchful, flitting away again to higher nearby trees as people walked past along the pathway.

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Pick-up sticks

17 Tuesday Jan 2017

Posted by in fungi, nature, winter

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Did you play pick-up sticks as a child? Do you still play it, perhaps with your own children or your grandies? Well, I play pick-up sticks quite often too, but not quite the way you might imagine. You see I pick up sticks sometimes to find out what’s scurrying around underneath them or, especially at this rather moist time of year, to see what might be growing on them.

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You might’ve looked at this first stick lying on the ground in my local woodland and thought, ‘Nah! Nothing on that’ but you would’ve been wrong …

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… because if you had looked closer …

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… a little bit closer, you would’ve seen this! Isn’t it gorgeous? This oozing mass of loveliness is a fungus, the Bleeding broadleaf crust fungus (Stereum rugosum) to be precise.

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I admit that I can sometimes spend an hour or more, bending down and examining stick after stick and finding nothing but, when I discover little gems like this, they make the effort totally worthwhile. So, next time you go to the woods, try playing a little game of pick-up sticks. You might get a pleasant surprise! (Oh, and take tissues or wet wipes, as you’ll almost certainly get a bit dirty, as well.)

Conversations with jays: 1

07 Saturday Jan 2017

Posted by in birds, nature, winter

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‘Hey, lady. I saw you talking to that robin just now. Why don’t you ever talk to me?

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‘I get hungry in the wintertime too, y’know, and I’m just as handsome as that robin!’

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‘I have sharp eyesight so I can see that you’ve still got some seed in that little tub you’re holding.’

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‘So, how about throwing a cold wet hungry but gorgeous jay a handful of seeds …. please.’

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I’m sure you’ll be pleased to know the cold wet but gorgeous jay is no longer hungry!

Fog

20 Tuesday Dec 2016

Posted by in nature, seasons, winter

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I can see it coming. Rolling silently over the house roofs and tree tops from the south, where the sea lies, where the ocean roars. Slowly, gradually, the light grows dim, eerie, the sun’s rays weaker, unable to penetrate the gloom. Trees vanish, leaving mere ghostly outlines.

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Sounds become muffled but, at the same time, strangely amplified. Voices echo, seem nearby yet, in reality, are hundreds of metres distant. Footsteps tap, tap, tap. Spectral figures appear, pass quickly by, disappear once more. Birds fall silent as if afraid to pierce the silence with their squawks, tweets, chirps.

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Fog is everywhere, blanketing the lake, flowing along the brook, shrouding buildings, hovering over bushes, making branches droop, making hair frizz. Creeping tendrils wind their way through tree branches, wrap themselves around park benches, slither between railings. Fog makes throats choke and chests heave, and seeps into old bones.

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On Roath Lake, the light-less lighthouse needs a light today and a horn to warn.

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Down by the riverside

04 Sunday Dec 2016

Posted by in nature, parks, trees, winter

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Today was a glorious early winter day: bright blue skies; chilly enough to wrap up in winter woollies, hat, scarf and gloves; crisp underfoot. So, duly rugged up, I headed down to the riverside. I walked part of the Taff Trail north from Blackweir, crossed the river at the next bridge and continued on along the riverside trail to Llandaff, then completed the circuit back to Blackweir on the western side of the river. I hope you can see from my photos why I think it has been the most perfect day!

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The Taff Trail heading north alongside the River Taff

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Still on the Taff Trail

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Gulls enjoying a bath at Llandaff Weir

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Trees along the edge of Pontcanna Fields

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River Taff, almost directly opposite where I took the first photo

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The footbridge across the Taff at Blackweir

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From the bridge looking south down the Taff

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Almost back to where I started, with the riverside looking glorious in the late afternoon sun

It’s ivy berry time

05 Tuesday Jan 2016

Posted by in birds, insects, nature, nature photography, winter

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Though its roots can creep between gaps in stonework causing severe damage to ancient ruins, stone walls, grave monuments and the like, ivy (Hedera helix, also known as English ivy, common ivy or just plain ivy) is of great importance to wildlife. Not only does it provide shelter and nesting places for insects, birds, bats and other beasties, it is also an important food source.

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Ivy’s flowering period begins in August and continues right through to November, sometimes later, and the flowers produce plentiful quantities of nectar and pollen. Over 70 species of nectar-loving insects feast on the flowers, including wasps and bumblebees, Red admiral, Small tortoiseshell and Peacock butterflies.

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Once the berries begin to ripen, they turn a deep purple-black colour, and provide an important winter source of food when most other berries are finished. At this time, the ivy becomes a favourite snacking place for lots of berry-eating birds, blackbirds and thrushes in particular, but also starlings and jays, finches and wood pigeons.

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The night the sun stands still

21 Monday Dec 2015

Posted by in nature, seasons, winter

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Are you getting up early tomorrow to see the sunrise? Crowds will gather at England’s ancient monument Stonehenge, and around the world various cultures will be celebrating because this is the solstice, from the Latin solstitium meaning ‘the sun stands still’.

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As our modern calendar (of 365 days and a leap year of 366) does not equate exactly with the solar calendar of 365.2422 days, the precise time of the solstice varies each year. This year, at 4:49am (GMT) on 22 December, the earth will reach the point where the North Pole is tilted furthest from the sun. For us northerners, this means that, in the coming days, we will begin to see an increase in the hours of daylight.

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For the ancient Romans, this was the festival of Saturnalia, seven days of partying and gift-giving. For the Scandinavians, it was the Feast of Yuul when the Juul (Yule) log was ceremonially brought in and one end placed in the fire as a tribute to the Norse god Thor, protector of mankind. In China, the celebration is called Dong Zhi (‘winter arrival’), a time for family get-togethers, eating glutinous-rice-ball soup and becoming one year older! Whether or not you are celebrating perhaps, just like the sun, pause, savour the stillness, reflect, then take a deep breath and move boldly into the year ahead.

There’s a cannibal in my kitchen

12 Saturday Dec 2015

Posted by in insects, ladybird, nature, nature photography, winter

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For the third time in as many weeks a Harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) has appeared as if from nowhere in my kitchen. They like to find somewhere cosy to hibernate the winter away so I’m sure a warm spot near my gas boiler would suit them very well and normally I wouldn’t mind but this is the most invasive ladybird on earth.
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The voracious little Harlequin originated in Asia but was introduced firstly to North America and later to Europe to control aphids. Though it only arrived in Britain in 2004 – perhaps blown across the Channel, or it may have hitched a ride on a vehicle – it has already spread throughout half these isles. The problem is that the Harlequin doesn’t just eat aphids; not only does it compete with native ladybirds for food but it also devours their eggs and larvae, as well as the eggs and caterpillars of butterflies and moths. It may look cute but it has the devastating potential to wipe out all 26 resident species of ladybird.

This is one time when I really wish this ladybird would fly away home!

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