More chicks

04 Saturday May 2024

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On Tuesday we had Moorhen chicks. On Wednesday I noticed one of the pair of Great crested grebes was carrying two tiny chicks on its back, while the other parent was diving frequently for food to nourish their offspring.

240504 great crested grebe and chicks

And on Thursday, while I was spellbound by singing warblers at Cardiff Bay wetlands, a mother Mallard emerged from a reed-edged channel of water with her nine little ducklings in tow. Fortunately, she didn’t stay out of the water for long – despite being a designated nature reserve, many people still walk their dogs off the lead in the area, which could easily mean death for unwary ducklings.

240504 mallard and 9 ducklings

Singing in the rain

03 Friday May 2024

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Thursday morning was looking grim and grey, with cloud so low it looked like fog, and a constant fine drizzle. But, when word came through that there was a festival of singing warblers at Cardiff Bay wetlands, I had to go. And it was absolutely amazing – with at least 14 newly arrived Sedge warblers singing alongside the resident Reed and Cetti’s warblers, as well as the more usual Blackbirds, Green- and Goldfinches, and Reed buntings, I may have got wet but was filled with wonder at the surround sound bird song. The Sedge warblers were mostly skulking but this Reed warbler, which had probably arrived a few days earlier and already established his territory, was enthusiastically advertising his presence.

240503 reed warbler

Box tree moth cats

02 Thursday May 2024

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A few days ago, our local moth expert posted a fascinating thread on Twitter/X about the population explosion of the non-native invasive Box tree moth (Cydalima perspectalis) in Cardiff. As George noted, this moth was first recorded in Kent, England in 2007, and spread rapidly across the southern counties of England before arriving in Cardiff in 2018. George runs a regular moth trap in his garden and, though the moth didn’t appear in his trap until 2020, by 2023 it had become the most common species he trapped.

240502 box tree cats (2)

This rapid escalation in adult moths means, of course, that there has also been a huge increase in the numbers of moth caterpillars and, as a result, Box bushes and hedges are being decimated by the caterpillars’ voracious appetites. George talked about ‘widespread defoliation’ in Cardiff so I went looking at a location nearer to home where I knew there was a Box hedge. It wasn’t quite as bad as the reports from north Cardiff and there was quite a lot of new growth on the bushes but there were also huge numbers of caterpillars munching their way through the foliage. I imagine it’s only a matter of time before this hedge has been totally stripped of leaves.

240502 box tree cats (1)

It’s such a shame that the Box tree moth is so destructive as both the adult moth and the caterpillars are very attractive creatures. Apparently, many gardeners are already removing Box from their gardens so any gardeners out there, be aware, your Box (Buxus species) will be targeted by this moth when it spreads to your area.

240502 box tree cats (3)

Beetles on dead Ash

01 Wednesday May 2024

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When I first spotted my mystery beetle, I thought perhaps it, and others of its kind, had been responsible for making the burrowing marks under the bark of the many dead Ash trees I saw around me.

240501 ash bark beetle (1)

But no. Those marks were likely made by the Ash bark beetle (Hylesinus varius), a small brown beetle that you can see on the NatureSpot website here. I’ve yet to find one of those destructive little creatures. And, when I got home and searched online, I struggled to find the name of the tiny metallic-green beetle I had found but, luckily, my friendly local bee expert had a couple of suggestions: ‘The beetle is either Salpingus ruficollis or Vincenzellus ruficollis’.

240501 ash bark beetle (2)

I checked both those names and decided, from the distinctive shape of the snout, that mine was likely to be Vincenzellus ruficollis, though this hasn’t yet been confirmed. It seems I was fortunate to spot this little critter as the UK Beetles website says, amongst other things, that they are ‘exclusively nocturnal and easy to spot as they crawl around on trunks and branches predating small insects and their early stages. Breeding occurs in the spring and larvae develop under bark, they are predatory and often occur near bark beetle burrows or among masses of mycelia and have been recorded from a wide range of deciduous trees….’

240501 ash bark beetle (3)

First chicks of the year

30 Tuesday Apr 2024

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When I first noticed this brood of initially five, now reduced to four Moorhen chicks at Cosmeston’s dipping pond, they had just hatched and, though I tried to get photos, the tiny bundles of black fluff were staying well concealed behind clumps of reeds. Six days later, on a subsequent visit, the chicks had grown enormously and were much more confiding. And – this always amazes me but these Moorhens generally have three broods a year – mother Moorhen was already sitting on a new nest, while dad tended to the first brood.

240430 moorhen chick

Down by the stream

29 Monday Apr 2024

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As I mentioned in Saturday’s post, I spent some time last Friday staring at leaves and found some interesting mini-beasties, including these two that were found on the leaves of a tree adjacent to a small stream. Unfortunately, I don’t know anyone who can help with the identification of these so my information here has not been confirmed. I’m fairly confident that this first creature is a mayfly, and I think it may be a Large dark olive mayfly (Baetis rhodani) [UPDATE: identity confirmed 1 May 2024] because it seems to have the distinguishing characteristics outlined on the NatureSpot website, namely

The pairs of short veins between each of the long veins in the forewing indicate that this is a Baetis species. B. rhodani is the largest sized member of this group, especially the early hatch, later in the year specimens become smaller. It is also one of the earlier mayflies to hatch out.

240429 mayfly

The second insect found near water was this weird-looking creature. I think this might be Microtendipes pedellus because, once again, it seems to fit with the NatureSpot description of its key features:

This striking species has dark brown thorax, and a pale green abdomen with the final three tergites brown. The legs are pale with dark tips to the femora. The wings are unpatterned. Males have plumose antennae.

The second photo below is not very sharp but I simply had to include it to show the superb antennae.

240429 Microtendipes pedellus

If I manage to get confirmation of the identity of these creatures, I’ll edit and update this post. [As marked above, the mayfly was confirmed as Baetis rhodani sensu stricto on 1 May 2024.]

White-flowered Herb Robert

28 Sunday Apr 2024

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I’m sure most of you are familiar with Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum), a very common wildflower that can found everywhere from pavement edges to woodland rides, from the southern coasts of England and Wales to Scotland’s northern isles (you can see the 2020 Plant Atlas distribution map here).

240428 herb robert

What I had never seen until very recently was the attractive white-flowered variety of Herb Robert, this one growing alongside a well-trodden path come side road in Cardiff Bay. I don’t think this is a native variety as the Plant Atlas mentions that ‘White-flowered forms, in particular, may be deliberately grown in gardens and sometimes escape’. Though this location is surrounded by multi-storey apartment blocks, I guess the seed must have blown in from somewhere.

240428 herb robert WHITE

Two mining bees

27 Saturday Apr 2024

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It was still very windy after the rain cleared yesterday so I decided to head to some local but out-of-the-way, sheltered places to spend some time staring at leaves, as you do – well, as I do anyway. I didn’t find any leafminers, which is what I was hoping for (it’s still a little cold for many of them), but I did find a nice assortment of other mini-beasties that I will share over a couple of posts. First up, two mining bees, the identities of which have been verified by an acquaintance of mine who’s a local expert.

240427 andrena scotica

This first is the Chocolate mining bee, Andrena scotica. I spotted it sitting on a leaf that was blowing about a little in the wind. I thought it might fly away when I took hold of the leaf tip to stabilise it so I could get some photos. Instead, it crawled along the leaf and on to my hand. I think perhaps my relative warmth attracted it to me as it continued to sit there while I walked further along the path and found a more sheltered spot with a few flowers to move it to. A special moment!

240427 andrena nitida

And the beautiful creature above is a Grey-patched mining bee (Andrena nitida), a rather drab name for such a lovely foxy coloured bee. Both of these mining bees can be difficult to identify so I was lucky to have expert help. I’ve linked both bees to the specific photo albums posted by Steven Falk on Flickr, where there are stunning images that might help with identification and further information.

The need to breed

26 Friday Apr 2024

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One of the main purposes of all life on this planet must surely be reproduction to ensure the survival of the species of which they are a part.

240426 MATING ladybirds

Some life forms have the ability to reproduce asexually but most require the act of copulation between male and female to fertilise their eggs.

240426 MATING LBB gulls

And, this being spring in the northern hemisphere, evidence of that urge to reproduce can be seen everywhere.

240426 MATING dock beetles

These are just a few recent examples I’ve noticed: ladybirds, Lesser black-backed gulls and Dock beetles.

Distant birds

25 Thursday Apr 2024

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No doubt you will have realised how much I love birds, love looking for them, love finding them, love watching them and learning their ways, love getting good photographs of them. The latter, though, is not always easy, and for two days in a row I’ve seen some wonderful birds I don’t often see but both times they’ve been too distant to photograph well.

240425 whimbrel

Yesterday, at Sully Beach, it was Whimbrels, at least four of them, poking about in the piles of seaweed for crabs and other small morsels of food. But I hadn’t timed my visit very well – the tide was ebbing and already well out so the birds were distant. (I’m planning another visit or two in the coming days when the tides are higher so fingers crossed for better images.)

240425 common scoter

And today, in Cardiff Bay, two Common scoters popped in for a visit. These are birds I’ve only ever seen three times before and that was back in 2019, so seeing them was a real treat. Sadly, they were always distant and the weather was dreich: big dark clouds blowing a cool wind across the water, with frequent squalls.