26 Sunday Jan 2025
Posted in flowers, wildflowers, winter
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.
24 Friday Jan 2025
Tags
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.
23 Thursday Jan 2025
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.
22 Wednesday Jan 2025
Tags
British bugs, British insects, Common leafhopper, overwintering bugs, overwintering insects, philaenus spumarius
Now you may be wondering ‘Did I miss the first hopper of the year?’ Well, the answer is no. I actually found my first two hoppers in fairly quick succession during last Sunday’s walk, simply by turning over Bramble leaves that were growing along a sunny sheltered lane. The first was a leafhopper, and I’m fairly sure of its identity but a valid query arose when I posted a photo on social media so I decided to wait until that was resolved before blogging about that hopper.
This second bug, a Common froghopper (Philaenus spumarius), was sitting on a Bramble stem, enjoying the sun’s warmth and, no doubt, hoping to be ignored. But a human came lumbering over, spotted it, and thrust a black object in its face. Fortunately, the human didn’t stay long, and the little froghopper returned to its basking.
20 Monday Jan 2025
Though Cosmeston Lakes, my local country park, is visited by a wide variety of passing avian rarities, arguably its least common resident bird is the Marsh tit, which makes its home from around October to March within the boundaries of Cogan Wood.
The current population seems to be three, though that’s just an educated guess. When walking through the wood recently, two Marsh tits were coming to food at one well known feeding location, and one bird appeared at a second location at the other end of the woods.
No one knows where the birds go during the breeding season though, as they are small, they’re unlikely to venture far afield. Indeed, it may be that they simply move to some of the outlying areas of the park that are, fortunately, inaccessible to humans so they can breed in peace.
Whatever the reality may be, I’m just glad they are able to sustain their tiny population so that folks like me, who truly appreciate how precious they are, can continue to enjoy watching them.
19 Sunday Jan 2025
Tags
British fungi, Elfcups, Sarcoscypha coccinea, Scarlet elfcups, winter colour, winter fungi, woodland fungi
I have no wildflowers for you this Sunday – there are still flowers to be found but I’ve found nothing new or particularly interesting, so today’s colour comes in the form of fungi instead.
I’ve been searching for elfcups since early December, the time of year I’ve begun to see them in the past. I used to see them in abundance at Cwm George in Dinas Powys but I suspect it’s been too wet for them there this winter, with the little stream having flooded the area where the fungi grow.
I had also looked for them in Cardiff’s Bute Park in December but seen no sign. So, I was exceedingly happy, when I visited there last week, to find good numbers had popped up on mossy logs throughout the little area of woodland.
I know from having checked samples under a microscope several years ago that these are Scarlet rather than Ruby elfcups (Sarcoscypha coccinea), and they are gorgeous.
18 Saturday Jan 2025
I might have dipped on seeing the Firecrests that have been residing in Cardiff’s Bute Park this winter and have frequently been seen in these Rhododendron bushes, but there can be no better consolation than seeing my first butterfly of 2025, this Red admiral, even if it was at some distance. Spring is coming!
16 Thursday Jan 2025
First, there were two Goldeneyes in Cardiff Bay, probably females (though juvenile birds also resemble females, and I’m not sure when they get their adult plumage).
Then, a male turned up.
And they all fairly quickly found each other and mostly hung out together.
Then, in the blink of an eye, another one appeared, and so there were four little Goldeneyes cruising around Cardiff Bay.
They are very entertaining birds to watch, very active, so let’s hope they remain for a while yet (though, sadly, there is a great deal of human disturbance in the Bay, with power boats, kayakers and paddle-boarders all disturbing the local water birds).
15 Wednesday Jan 2025
Yesterday I spotted my first moth of the year, perched on my favourite park railings, this lovely Angle shades.
If you’ve been following along here for a while, you might remember the saga of Colin, the Angle shades moth I reared from a caterpillar. If you’re new and interested – it’s a lovely little series – these are the posts: Colin the caterpillar, 2 February 2022, followed the next day by Colin’s story; then, on 21 February, Colin the chrysalis; and, an update on his progress, Colin’s coloured up, on 23 February. Then, the final instalment, the joyful announcement, on 26 March 2022, He’s arrived!.
14 Tuesday Jan 2025
Posted in winter
Here in coastal south Wales, our winter weather is rarely as dramatically cold as locations further north: in my almost ten years of living here, we’ve had just one big dump of snow (the ‘Beast from the East’ in 2018) and, even during the recent cold snap, we only had the occasional sleet shower, where the sleet melted as soon as it hit the ground.
We do, however, get hard frosts and thick ice, making the pavements treacherous but the countryside beautiful. My photograph above really doesn’t do justice to how lovely the lake looked this particular morning, with the waterfowl gliding through the rising mist.
Here, my eye was drawn to the way the hoar frost followed the curves of the rings on the top of this wooden fence post. I’m not sure why that is, so, if you know, please do enlighten me in the comments below.
This ice was also eye-catching. The water below had drained away, leaving the layer of ice suspended in thin air. Again I’m not sure what caused the patterns but there did seem to be a rainbow-coloured oily sheen within the ice so perhaps that was the cause.
earthstar 
You must be logged in to post a comment.