my local patch and wildlife - Ian McDonald

[ian mcdonald]

Tuesday was a very hot day, for our area. Most birds seem to be keeping out of the sun. I met a fellow naturalist on site and we went to look for the Marjoram I found last week, as he had not seen it. While walking along a track he noticed a bird flying about 200 yards away, in the same direction. The bird was a raptor (bird of prey). It was light in colour and the same shape as a Harrier. We noticed that it had a light coloured rump. The bird was smaller than a Marsh Harrier. My companion rang the local bird recorder and described what we had seen. It turned out that the bird was a Montagu,s Harrier. A little further down the track my companion found a Spiked Shield Bug on bracken. He then saw a Looper caterpillar on a birch bush. We flushed a couple of cranes later on. Dragonflies and butterflies are still seen in good numbers. My companion had seen a Redstart and a Spotted Flycatcher the day before. We decided to look for the birds again in the same area but were not lucky this time. Perhaps they were keeping under cover because of the heat, or had moved on.





Spiked shield bug.



Gall on Crepis? stem, possibly caused by the gall wasp, Aulacidea hieracii.

[ian mcdonald]

Common blue at rest.

Birds seen were, Montagu,s harrier, mallard, teal, gadwall, lapwing, reed bunting, stonechat, crane, grey lag geese. Butterflies were, peacock, gatekeeper, painted lady, small tortoishell, red admiral and common blue.

[ian mcdonald]

The weather this week was mixed, hot and humid at first then sunny with a cool wind. The wind makes photographing flowers difficult. I met one of the local naturalists on site and the first bird we saw was a Wheatear, a summer visitor to the UK they will be making their way South to sunnier countries for the winter. Later in the week I saw three juveniles?  Grey lag geese are arriving in greater numbers and spending the days on open water. My companion pointed to a Little Egret on the far side of one of the small lakes. It was too far away for a good photo. A member of the Heron family it is only the second time I have seen one. The first time was when I was in the back garden with a cup of tea. A heron seemed to take a dislike to the egret and a short argument followed, with the egret taking off. Later in the day it was back and while trying to take a decent photo. (and failing) a Red Kite flew over. My camera would not pick up the bird against the sky so I failed again to get a photo. We walked through a birch woodland and saw, or heard, several species of Tits with a Tree Creeper and a Goldcrest. In another birch woodland we heard the short call of a Turtle Dove. These will be leaving for their winter areas soon. Two adders and several lizards were seen along another track. House Martins and Swallows are still here in good numbers. The sun is still bringing out many butterflies but in lesser numbers.


Wheatear



Little Egret in flight.



Yellow Stags-Horn fungus, Calocera viscosa.



Stinkhorn, Phalus impudicus.



Rhododendron leaf hoppers, introduced on plants from North America and now fairly common in the UK.

[ian mcdonald]

Heron and Little Egret fall out.



Lavae cases? under Rhododendron leaves.



Black covering on Rhododendron leaves which contained the lavae cases.



Grey Club-rush.



On one of the tracks.

[ian mcdonald]

A Harvestman, note the divided palps.



A basking Adder.



Yarrow, Achillea millefolium.



A pool with Grey-lag Geese.



Nodding Bur-marigold, Bidens cernua.

[ian mcdonald]

"Sputnik" galls on Dog Rose, caused by the gall wasp, Diplolepis nervosa.



Another view of the pool with Grey Lag Geese.



 Comma butterfly, showing the under-wing with the white comma.



The seed of Burdock. As children we used to throw these at the clothing of other children. They were difficult to remove, due to the hooked bristles.



A distant view of a Greenshank.

Birds this week were, wheatear, grey lag geese, little egret, buzzard, marsh harrier, great tit, blue tit, long tailed tit, tree creeper, goldcrest, sparrow hawk, wood pigeon, turtle dove, hobby, whinchat, red kite, crow, great spotted woodpecker, gadwall, teal, tufted duck, robin, blackbird, house martin, swallow, wren, lapwing, snipe, magpie, blackcap, chiff chaff, greenshank, canada geese, mallard, pheasant, linnet and kestrel.  Also seen were adder, lizard and rabbit. Butterflies were, common blue, comma, green veined white, red admiral, speckled wood, small white and small tortoishell.

[Chris Johnson]

(Attachment Link)

An un-identified fungus.

This is Earthfan (Thelephora terrestris).

[Chris Johnson]

(Attachment Link)

Anybody know this one?

One of the Ear moths, possibly Large Ear, but difficult without dissection.

[ian mcdonald]

 Thanks Chris.

[ian mcdonald]

Thursday started out warm with no wind. Shortly after arriving on site the wind started and was quite strong. I met a colleague and we decided to walk to the southern edge. We saw a good number of House Martins passing through with a few Swallows. There are more Grey Lags and also many Canada Geese. Four Buzzards were displaying along with a Marsh Harrier. We stopped at the Nodding Bur-Marigold site so my colleague could photograph it. A hobby was hunting, quite a late sighting for the species. Not so many butterflies were noted, perhaps due to the wind. Small frogs were seen along the tracks. We had a look in a dry birch wood where Rhododendron had been cleared. Maybe due to the previous dense cover there was little of interest that we could see. The wood was mainly Downy Birch, Bracken and Bramble. Along another track we passed the site where Rannoch Rush, Scheuchzeria palustris, had been known in past times. Discovered here in about 1830 it began to decline due to drainage of the site. The last known "official" record was of one plant in 1870, although a noted local Naturalist recorded seeing the species at another location on the site in the 1940s? I re-found the original site after Rhododendron clearance a few years ago. The site, along with several other similar sites, was known as a "well." These were permanent deep clear water pools which were said to be bottomless. They are marked on old Ordnance Survey Maps of the site. The "Wells" contained a number of species which are now probably absent from the site, including White Beak Sedge, Rhyncospora alba, the three Sundews native to the UK, Bog hair-grass, Deschampsia setacea and Bog Sedge, Carex limosa. Other notable plants formerly recorded from the site were Viola stagnina, Peucedanum palustre, Calamagrostis stricta and Dryopteris cristata. Although these species have not been recorded from the site in recent times, due to the size and difficulty of access to many areas, they may still persist unseen. Along another track we disturbed what we at first thought was a cricket. Looking at the photo. it looks like a Long Winged Conehead, Conocephalus discolor. We went to look at the "sputnik" galls on Dog Rose I found last week so my colleague could photograph them. Earlier he had found a pea gall on Dog Rose. As we were leaving we saw a Greenshank looking for food on the dry edges of one of the pools.



A larvae which my colleague thought might be a sawfly.



In a dry Downy Birch woodland.



The site of Rannoch Rush, long dried out due to drainage.



Long Winged Conehead?



Cep? on peat path.

[ian mcdonald]

A Small Copper at rest, quite a late record for the site.



Carabus granulatus.



Pea gall on Dog Rose.

Birds seen were, crow, teal, gadwall, mallard, grey lags, canada geese, tufted duck, blue tit, great tit, long tailed tit, buzzard, marsh harrier, kestrel, hobby, bullfinch, wood pigeon, willow tit, robin, blackbird, house martin, swallow, little grebe, goldcrest, lapwing, jay, coal tit, pheasant, greenshank and pied wagtail. Butterflies were green veined white, small white, small copper and speckled wood.

[Chris Johnson]

The squammules on the stipe are too dark for cep, Ian. This is Leccinum aurantiacum, the orange oak bolete. A misnomer as it has nothing to do with oak but associates with creeping willow Salix repens.

[Maggi Young]

The squammules on the stipe are too dark for cep, Ian. This is Leccinum aurantiacum, the orange oak bolete. A misnomer as it has nothing to do with oak but associates with creeping willow Salix repens.

Had to look this  up!! ...... Squamules are  small scales or  lobes  and the  stipe  is the  stem, hope that's  right!

[ian mcdonald]

Thanks Chris, that is interesting. As far as I know there is no creeping willow in that area. The only examples I know of are about 1Km. away. There are other willows, S.cinerea, for example.

Yesterday was hot and sunny, more like a summers day. The difference being that the vegetation is now looking Autumnal. The Common Cotton-grass has turned to its Winter colour of reddish brown. I went to look at an area at the Northern edge of the site. This area is usually under water but due to the dry period we have had it is damp peat. In winter ducks, geese and waders use it for resting and foraging. While I was there a small group of Pink Footed Geese flew past. I had a call from the Site Manager about the management of an area where Dune Helleborine grows. This species is not common in our area and the area where it grows is being managed by the site team. Another area consisting of dense grass with a few flowers is to be managed, by mowing, as a flower meadow to encourage invertebrates. A female Common Blue butterfly was seen and it was noticed that its colour had faded. At first I thought it might be a Brown Argus. Bladderwort is still flowering in ditches. No Hobbys were seen yesterday. On one of the pools a good number of Grey-lag and Canada Geese were making a noise as a Marsh Harrier flew over. A Water Rail was heard "squeaking" from cover somewhere. Gadwall and Teal were on the pool but only a small number of Mallard. Several small birds were on wet peat scurrying about after insects but they were too far away for an identification. A telescope would be useful but it means it and a tripod would have to be carried. A Yellow Wagtail was seen searching among clumps of rushes on the damp peat. I saw the site manager again and as we were talking a female Marsh Harrier flew by and caused 15 Snipe to take to the air. This is quite a large number for the site, usually  I have only seen up to four. Butterflies were in smaller numbers and species yesterday. An adder and a common lizard were seen along one of the tracks.



On the way to the site I stopped and photographed a wild clematis, C. vitalba.



Leaf mines on a Meadowsweet plant.



Cocoon on a Ragwort.



Part of the dried area of peat.



Another view showing pine tree stumps in-situ.

[ian mcdonald]

 

Female common blue.



Another view of the same one.

Birds noted were, crow, sparrow hawk, yellow-hammer, kestrel, marsh harrier, pink footed geese, grey lag geese, gadwall, teal, water rail, mallard, wood pigeon, goldfinch, linnet, magpie, buzzard, pheasant, common snipe, yellow wagtail and canada geese. Butterflies were small copper, red admiral, small white and speckled wood.