87/365 My seventh species

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190328 white butterfly (1)

Either my butterfly observation skills have improved dramatically or it’s the effect of this week’s gorgeous sunny Spring weather – I suspect it’s the weather – as today, during a lovely wander along Sully beach, I clocked up my seventh butterfly species for 2019 – today three Small whites; the others: Red admiral, Brimstone, Peacock, Speckled wood, Comma and Small tortoiseshell. That’s not something I’ve achieved before the end of March in my nearly four years in Wales. And there are still three days of March to go …

190328 white butterfly (2)

86/365 In west paddock

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190327 west paddock (1)

Today I went to Cosmeston for the first time in a few weeks and I was delighted to find its west paddock tinged a delicate shade of purple from all the violets currently in flower. I don’t remember it being so obvious in previous years. Along the edges of the paddock, primroses were in bloom, adding their soft buttery yellow to the colour mix.

While looking more closely at the flowers, I noticed tiny circles of red dotting the soil – a species of Scutellinia fungi I’m guessing, but working out which species requires some serious microscope work.

And then along flew my first Small tortoiseshell butterfly of the year to add its vibrant hues to the kaleidoscope of colour in the paddock. Just perfect!

190327 west paddock (6)

85/365 A day of firsts

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190326 (1) rail trail

I walked further than I intended today but I just couldn’t resist the sunshine, the calls of the birds, the bees and hoverflies buzzing all around, the white blossom and the vibrant green leaf growth … it was magical! Yesterday, I saw my first Peacock butterflies of the year and today I saw four more, plus my first two Speckled woods and my first Comma, my first Common green shieldbug and my first Dark-edged bee-flies, lots of them, and my first 7-spot ladybirds. It gladdens my heart to see so much new life emerging.

 

190326 (12) coastal path

84/365 Sand martins, yay!

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I’ve been following the reports of hirundines – that’s the Sand martins, House martins and Swallows – arriving for the last week or so, itching to get out and find some for myself. Finally today I plodded, slowly and still having trouble walking in a straight line, over to the other side of Cardiff Bay, and my stumbling was rewarded by the sight of at least half a dozen Sand martins checking out the holes in the walls of one of the old harbour docks as potential nesting sites. A couple of pairs looked like they were getting quite cosy.

83/365 Saluting the admiral

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190324 Red admiral

I wondered if today’s sunshine might bring out the butterflies and it did, though this little Red admiral made me wait until I was almost home from my local amble before it appeared. And then it led me a merry dance, settling on a lamp post for just a second, fluttering off along the road as if it was departing, disappearing behind some trees, reappearing from the other direction, sidling up to the lamp post again, almost instantly flying off. Pretty flitty little thing!

Hares

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Before our visit to the Sussex Wildlife Trust’s Rye Harbour on 11 March, I’d only ever seen Hares at a distance, a long distance, so, although we saw lots of wonderful birds during our 8-mile exploration of the reserve that day, the highlight for me was getting reasonably close views of several Hares. 

Admittedly, most of those views were of their rear ends as they skedaddled but, even then, we could see how big their ears and back legs were. And, although the photo below was also taken at quite a distance and has had to be heavily cropped, I do like how it shows the comparison between the Rabbit and the Hare.

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And, luckily, very luckily, this one Hare decided to sit still for longer than the previous ones – at least, it sat still for about 30 seconds, which was just enough to get one decent photo. What magnificent creatures they are!

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p.s. If you’ve not yet read Marianne Taylor’s wonderful book The Way of the Hare (Bloomsbury, London, 2017), you really should. It’s a treat!

81/365 The greening

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190322 cherry tree (1) 0403

I didn’t venture far today but I didn’t even have to leave home for this blog post. I figured the recent high winds would’ve blown away all the blossom on my Cherry tree while I was away and I was right, but I hadn’t really considered how much the growth of the new leaves would have progressed. The first photo was taken on 4 March and the second today. What a difference 18 days makes!

190322 cherry tree (2)

80/365 Birding 2019 update

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You may, or may not, have noticed that my daily posts have not been happening for the past eight days. This is because, during a visit with a friend in East Sussex, I was struck down by a nasty virus, which has left me stumbling drunkenly, still suffering vertigo if I move my head too quickly, and generally lacking in energy. I’m slowly coming right, with a couple of short walks out over the past couple of days, and today I made the trek by train – bus – train back home to Wales. It may yet be a couple of weeks until I can manage longer walks but I hope to be back to my daily posts tomorrow. In the meantime, I couldn’t resist looking through my holidays snaps and have updated my Birding 2019 page with the five new birds I saw while away.

115 glossy ibis

72/365 Alexanders rust

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190313 alexanders rust

We had such a mild winter this year that the Alexanders plants (Smyrnium olusatrum) that grow well along the coastal path from Penarth to Lavernock only died down for a few short weeks, then their vibrant green once again began to appear and grow up at their usual rapid pace. And with the leaves almost immediately came the rust that loves these plants, Alexanders rust (Puccinia smyrnii). It is obviously immune to bad weather, as it has continued to flourish right through the occasional frosts and heavy downpours that were about the worst weather winter produced this year.