07 Monday Jan 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, nature
Donning my wet-weather gear against the un-forecast rain, I headed out early afternoon for a bimble around my local parks. I’d taken a few photos of rain drops on mosses, which would have served well enough for today’s post, but then noticed this large, handsome and well-armoured woodlouse sheltering in a niche. And, when it waved obligingly at me, that clinched my choice.
06 Sunday Jan 2019
Posted in nature, 365DaysWildin2019
Tags
springtail, Hexapod, Collembola, Dicyrtomina saundersi, Entomobrya multifasciata, Dicyrtoma fusca, Pogonognathellus flavescens, British springtails, British hexapods
No, it wasn’t me sitting on the lichen on the fence posts. If you have keen eyes, you may have been able to spot a tiny creature in that last image I posted. It was a Springtail – not an insect, but a hexapod and, with around 250 species found in Britain, Springtails form the largest group of hexapods, the Collembola.
These creatures are tiny – no more than 6mm long, but extremely abundant. They mostly eat rotting leaves and bacteria so, as well as being found amongst the lichen on fence posts, they can also be discovered, in their millions, in the soil, in compost heaps, in fact anywhere there’s rotting vegetation. According to the Naturespot website, it’s estimated there can be as many as 100,000 Springtails in each cubic metre of top soil. (Some species also eat live plants and so are considered pests by farmers and gardeners.)
Pogonognathellus flavescens
Springtails are so named because they have a tail-like appendage (the furcula) under their abdomen. This ‘tail’ is held in place with a latch, which, when they think they’re in danger, they can simply release to catapult themselves into the air and escape.
Dicyrtoma fusca
The Collembola are of two types, the round-ish ones (globular) and long-ish ones (linear), and, as you can see from my photos here, I’ve managed to find some examples of both types.
Entomobrya multifasciata
My fascination with these miniscule creatures has only just begun so I shall probably blog about them again when I’ve found a few more species.
Dicyrtomina saundersi
06 Sunday Jan 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, lichen, nature
Tags
#365DaysWild, British lichen, Cosmeston, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, lichen on fence post, springtail
Much to the amazement – or perhaps the amusement – of Cosmeston’s dogwalkers, I spent rather a lot of time closely studying the tops of fence posts today. The variety of lichen to be found on them is really quite astonishing but I wasn’t only admiring the lichen. There were even more interesting things sitting on those fence posts …
05 Saturday Jan 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, nature, seaside
I may not have a sea view but one of the joys of living by the seaside is that I can walk to the beach in less than 10 minutes. So, although today was mostly spent on various chores, I still had time for one of my favourite things, a fossick along the stony shore. I picked up a few nice bits of sea glass, a couple of perhaps old bits of pottery – I like to pretend I’m on Time Team and have found something ancient or Roman, and what may be a fossilised seashell.
p.s. My friend Mark, who knows a thing or two about fossils, says that the ‘thing’ in my photo ‘looks to be a Gryphaea aka Devil’s Toe Nail, but in this case, instead of the calcium carbonate that usually replaces the shell, it has been replaced by a mineral called beekite, which is a form of silica. It’s the beekite that has created those pale circular patches that cover the surface.’
04 Friday Jan 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, plants, winter
Tags
#365DaysWild, birding, birds in reed beds, birdwatching, British birds, common reed, Phragmites australis, Reed bunting
Today I was entertained for about two hours watching these little cuties, Reed buntings, swaying back and forth on bendy reeds, stuffing their beaks full of seeds and spitting out the fluff. When the sun finally peeked through the cloud layer, both the handsomely streaked buntings (this is a female) and the tall feather-plumed reeds shone golden, a feast for the eyes and welcome compensation for the hoped-for Bearded tits that failed to show today.
03 Thursday Jan 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, nature, winter
I simply can’t resist a nice slime. So, during today’s walk along the Penarth to Lavernock coastal path, when I passed a place where I’ve found this particular slime before – it’s called Comatricha nigra, I checked the bottom of two or three old umbellifer stems before finding this superb specimen.
02 Wednesday Jan 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, birds, nature, winter
Winter seems finally to have arrived and it was frosty when I arrived at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park early this morning, hoping for a nice long walk before the school holiday crowds arrived. Unfortunately, in my haste to leave home, I forgot to fill my seed container so had nothing to offer the hungry birds. This fluffed-up little Robin was not at all impressed.
01 Tuesday Jan 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, animals, mammal, nature
To kickstart my birding list for the new year, I walked 8+ miles around Cardiff Bay, logging all the different bird species I could find (they’ll appear on my Birding 2019 page as soon as I finish editing my photos). With mostly blue skies and an abundance of lovely birds, it was a super walk but the highlight wasn’t the birds – it was spotting and then watching these two beautiful foxes lolling about in the grass, enjoying the winter sunshine. Such magnificent creatures!
01 Tuesday Jan 2019
Posted in nature
Like many people, for this new year I am setting myself some new challenges. As well as aiming to walk 1000 miles in 2019 and do more volunteering, I’m also taking up the challenge of re-wilding myself, doing something ‘wild’ every single day. By ‘wild’ I mean exploring the outdoors, birding (I’m aiming for another 200 species this year and will post my list on a separate page), learning more about wildflowers and mini-beasties, going for a walk by the seaside, getting up for the sunrise, anything really that means I’ve got my eyes, ears and mind open and that I’m truly experiencing the natural world around me. And I’m going to share my wild adventures on here.
So, rather than publishing a blog post every day as I have for the last 3 years, most days I’ll just post a ‘wild’ photo, with a sentence or two explaining what I’ve been up to or the significance of that particular photo. I will still write some longer blogs but they will probably only be weekly from now on. I hope you enjoy the new format!
a new year dawns over Cardiff Bay
31 Monday Dec 2018
It was Confucius, I believe, who said ‘Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it’. Well, today, on the last day of my #7DaysofWildChristmas challenge and the last day of 2018, I bring you incontrovertible proof that beauty can be found anywhere. And I’m fairly positive not many people would have spotted this particular piece of gorgeousness.
Can you guess what it is?
Need a clue? I was walking through the meadows at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park when I spotted this in the grass.
It’s … mould growing on rabbit pooh! I presume the liquid droplets are dew rather than something that’s been produced by the mould … or the pooh, but I may be wrong about that. I think you will agree, however, that this is truly a beautiful thing to behold.
earthstar 
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