The Brambles: des. res. for Whitethroats, sea views

31 Wednesday Jul 2013

Posted by theresagreen in birds of Wales, Nature, Nature of Wales, Pembrokeshire coastal path, Rhiwledyn Nature Reserve

Tags

birds nesting in brambles, brown bird with white throat, Little Orme, sylvia communis, whitethroat

On the Little Orme there is a huge bramble tangle set in the middle of a sea of long grass. Surrounded thus, it is some distance from the close-cut grass pathways on the clifftop and as there are other more easily accessed bushes, I may not have approached this particular one if I hadn’t noticed a bird fly across to it.

From the bird’s behaviour and general ‘jizz’ I thought and hoped it may be a Whitethroat, a summer migrant that I have heard before, but never had a close view of in this location.

(Jizz is a term used by birders to describe the overall first impression of a sighted bird, based on such characteristics as shape, posture, flying style or other movements, size and colouration combined with voice, habitat and location.)

As I moved a little closer the bird flew up nearer the top of the bramble, I saw it had an insect in its beak and that it was definitely a lovely male Whitethroat. So, there was a nest in there, confirmed when a female also carrying food made an appearance on the far side of the bush.

Whitethroat trying to hide

Although I was keeping my distance neither bird was happy I was there at all and the male expressed his annoyance by “churring”, raising his crest and puffing his throat out a bit, which showed he was upset. I don’t like upsetting birds, but it did make for a more interesting photograph.

Common Whitethroat- Sylvia communis

Whitethroat– Sylvia communis

Welsh: Llwydfron

The Whitethroat is a summer visitor and passage migrant to Britain that may be seen in all parts of the country and most frequently choose arable land, scrub and reedbeds as nesting sites. They arrive during April-May and leaving in late September-early October to winter in Africa, some heading as far south as South Africa.

Graph from BTO showing Whitethroat population trend for Wales

In 1968, Whitethroats sustained heavy losses as their wintering grounds in sub-Saharan Africa suffered major drought – breeding Whitethroats suffered a 90% drop in the UK. Numbers have not fully recovered yet and the BTO state their Conservation Status as AMBER because of the recent breeding population decline (1969-2007).

A male Whitethroat, Ceibwr, Pemrokeshire

Description

The Whitethroat is a medium-sized, long-tailed warbler. The male is grey dusted with rust brown above, with bright chestnut brown fringes to the wing feathers, the head is a pale grey, the breast pinkish-buff and the throat is a bright white. The bill is greyish-brown and the legs are pale brown. The eye is pale brown with a white eye ring. Females are similar but brown on the head and nape where the male is grey.

Whitethroats prefer to stay concealed in bushes

Behaviour & song

Warblers in general are often described as ‘skulking’, but the Whitethroat is not quite as secretive as some; the male will perch in full view to deliver its brief song with gusto. The song is variously described as sweet, ‘scratchy’ and having a jolty rhythm. They are also very inquisitive birds and will venture to the top of a bush to investigate any intruders, before scolding them with a rapid churring call.

Nesting

The male whitethroat may mate with the first female to cross the territory it immediately stakes out upon his arrival back in Britain. He begins making a number of trial nests, perhaps as many as three. The female then chooses a nest, which will be a deep cup shaped construction located close to the ground in cover, and lines it with hair, down and wool. 4-5 eggs are laid which are about 18 mm by 14 mm, smooth and glossy, pale green or buff in colour with olive-grey speckles. The duties of incubating the eggs are performed by both parents. Both adults feed the young birds. There may be one or two broods raised in a season.

Food

In the breeding season whitethroats eat mainly insects, especially beetles, caterpillars and bugs. They also eat spiders and towards the end of the summer and into the autumn they turn increasingly to fruit and berries, sometimes invading gardens to raid soft fruit crops.

Where to see Whitethroats in Wales

Whitethroats breed in many areas including woodland edges and clearings, country lanes anywhere they may find brambles, briers, bushes or overgrown hedges. They may also nest in gardens, but avoid urban and mountainous places.

In Wales they frequently find their favoured habitat on clifftops: locally on the Little Orme and I have seen them in various spots when walking along the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path. Another reliable spot for hearing and seeing them has always been in the similarly-vegetated area on the road down to Martin’s Haven, where you get the boat to Skomer Island.

June 11th 2010

One late afternoon in June, my friends and I set off for a walk along a part of the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path beginning at Ceibwr and heading in the Poppit Sands direction (we’ve never yet made it that far). There were several Whitethroats about, but we didn’t expect to get the close up views we were treated to. Firstly, there was the one in the first two photographs above, that was in amongst a huge tangle of brambles at the back of the beach. Another flew right in front of us as we walked up the pathway to the clifftop.

A whitethroat flew in front of us

At the top of the upwards part of the path we caught sight of one very close to the edge of it with food in its beak. It clearly wanted to reach its nest on the opposite side of the path but was reluctant to reveal its location, so it stayed put perched on a hogweed stem perhaps hoping we hadn’t seen it.

11/6/10-A whitethroat with food perched on hogweed-Ceibwr, Pembrokeshire

We stood still to give it the chance to make a break for it and it crossed to perch on a barbed-wire fence. It was hanging on tightly to the caterpillar in its beak and finally flew off into a shrub a few metres away to present it to its nestlings.

The whitethroat perched on the wire fence hanging on to its nestling's tea

The whitethroat perched on the wire fence hanging on to its nestlings’ snack

Similar species : Lesser Whitethroat

The Common Whitethroat can be distinguished from the smaller Lesser Whitethroat by the absence of the dark mask on their cheeks and the presence of rusty brown edges to their wing feathers, pinky chest and longer tail.

Read more about whitethroats in Cambridgeshire in Finn Holding’s blog, the Naturephile

http://thenaturephile.com/2013/05/23/whitethroats-and-awards/

The blackberry bramble

29 Monday Jul 2013

Posted by theresagreen in flower folklore, flower mythology, Nature, Nature of Wales, nature photography, Wildflowers of Wales

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

blackberry bramble, bramble flowers, bramble use in lip work basketry, importance of bramble flowers to insects, insects feeding on bramble flowers

Brambles have been flowering for a while now, but in the last couple of weeks they have reached a peak and many of the tangled shrubs are smothered with blossom. This is wonderful for insects that can gorge themselves on nectar without the need to expend energy flitting between different plants.

Bramble flower

In the British Isles the term brambles is used to describe any rough, tangled prickly shrub, but more specifically applies to the Blackberry bush –Rubus fruticosa.

A huge bramble smothered with blossoms – Little Orme. Click for a larger picture-the bird is a Whitethroat

Bramble bushes have a distinctive growth form. They send up long, arching canes that do not flower or set fruit until the second year of growth. The shrub can easily become a nuisance in gardens, sending down its strong suckering roots amongst hedges and shrubs, but in the wild it has great importance for its conservation and wildlife value.

The flowers attract nectar-feeding butterflies, bees and hoverflies, and the leaves are important food plants for the larvae of several species of Lepidoptera.

A beautiful Tortoiseshell butterfly on bramble flowers

Small skipper (male) on bramble flowers-Bryn Euryn

6-Spot Burnet Moth on bramble flowers

Meadow Brown nectaring on bramble

Common Carder Bee on bramble flowers

Bramble leaves usually have trifoliate or palmately-compound leaves. Old leaves often remain on the stems throughout the winter until new shoots are produced.

Eristalis basking on new leaves of bramble - rubus

April -Eristalis basking on new leaves of bramble

September – Bramble leaves

A ripe blackberry

Bramble fruits are aggregate fruits and each small round berry is called a drupelet. The blackberry flower receptacle is elongate and part of the ripe fruit, making the blackberry an aggregate-accessory fruit.

22/8/11-Bluebottle fly on blackberries- a case for washing them before eating!

Traditional medicinal uses

A child afflicted with whooping, or chin-cough may have been passed through a blackberry or bramble shoot that had rooted naturally at either end; this was a gesture symbolic of rebirth in a perfect state. Herefordshire this treatment was enhanced: the Lord’s Prayer was recited whilst the patient, eating bread and butter, was passed nine times under the bramble arch. Sometimes a rhyme was added:

Under the briar and over the briar, I wish to leave the chincough here.

On the journey home the remains of the bread and butter were given to a passing animal or bird – “but never to a Christian”- and, as the bread was consumed, the cough would disappear. Other childhood diseases, rheumatism and boils were also cured with this procedure.

Another blackberry cure of repute was a burn lotion, made by floating 9 blackberry leaves in water from a holy well.

Mythology and legend

What is probably the earliest recorded parable is Jotham’s parable of “The trees choosing a King.” The first tree to be offered this distinction was the Olive, but the Olive was concerned with the business of producing oil, and so the Vine was approached. The Vine was too busy producing wine, and eventually the Bramble was requested to accept the offer, and the Bramble having nothing better to do, affably agreed.

Blackberries have multiple meanings across religious, ethnic and mythological realms. In all Celtic countries taboos attend the picking of blackberries; mid-Mediterranean folklore claims that Christ’s Crown of Thorns was made of blackberry runners. The deep colour of the berries represents Christ’s blood. They have been used in Christian art to symbolize spiritual neglect or ignorance.

In many English counties blackberries are never picked after Michaelmas Day on September 29th. Legend has it that the blackberry was once beautiful, but was cursed by Lucifer when he fell into the bush when he was forced out of heaven. Every September 30th, with the ripening and darkening of the berries, he is said to variously ‘wave his club over them’, ‘spit on them’, ‘curse them’ or ‘put his cloven hoof on them’.

Some folklore associates the blackberry with bad omens. European stories have claimed they are death fruits with ties to Wicca. They can also symbolize sorrow. In an old proverb they signify haste. A man is so excited to pick the berries that he jumps into the bush and the thorns cause him to lose his eyesight. He regains it, however, upon jumping back out of the bush.

Greek mythology contains a legend similar to this. When Bellerophon, a mortal, tries to ride Pegasus to Olympus, he falls and becomes blind and injured upon landing in a thorny bush. This is his punishment for trying to take the power of the gods. Therefore, the fruit also symbolizes arrogance.

Other Uses

Split bramble stems are traditionally used as binding material for straw in the production of lip work basketry, such as lip work chairs and bee skeps, and sometimes used to protect other fruits (strawberries).

Lip work is a technique where wheat straw is made into coils or ropes and then bound into shape with strips of bramble. In addition to tall backed chairs which protected the occupant from draughts, beehives, corn measures, baskets and trays were made. The photograph of the beautiful traditional straw skep beehive below is from the website of Martin Newton, a present-day maker of lip work basketry pieces. http://www.martinatnewton.com/page2.htm

A traditional lip work bee skep

Young gull on the roof – the final chapters

26 Friday Jul 2013

Posted by theresagreen in bird behaviour, Nature, Nature of Wales, nature photography, Rhos-on-Sea

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

herring gull, herring gull family behaviour, herring gull juvenile, herring gulls as parents, herring gulls nesting on roofs

July 6th

The young herring gull that fell from the chimney pot nest to land, incredibly unscathed onto our flat roof some 6 or 7 metres (20ft) below, continued to thrive thanks in part to sheer good fortune but mainly to his attentive parents. With very little in the way of shade he struggled a bit on the hottest of days and I took pity on him, tipping water from the bedroom window onto the roof to create a puddle he could drink from and cool his feet in. Other than that he was very much left to his own devices.

Young gull trying to squeeze into the shade and opening his wings to release heat from his body

Opening the bill wide is another strategy to release body heat

He took to standing on the ledge of the lantern, which was perhaps cooler on his feet.

Standing on the ledge of the lantern

Our view from beneath him

July 8th

The young gull’s life changed dramatically today when, with all the drama and excitement I have come to expect from our gull residents and announced with a great cacophony of noise from both his parents, his sibling parachuted down to join him from above. Her arrival really was a magical sight to behold and although we are discouraged from anthropomorphising other fauna species, the gulls certainly displayed several ’emotions’. Both adults stood on the edge of next-door’s roof, as I said before making a particularly great deal of noise, which is what prompted me to run upstairs to see what was occurring and I was just in time to capture the moment she dropped in, rather gracefully for a first landing.

Young gull’s sister arrives from above, squealing excitedly

The new arrival was clearly very excited while ‘our’ little chap looked a bit bemused and maybe a little intimidated. He inched towards her for a closer look while she made several little bouncy leaps, clearly excited and loving the new-found use for her wings although the tail feathers aren’t quite long enough to use for perfect co-ordination yet. The parents remained standing close by, keeping up the aggressive-defensive-protective squawking racket.

He approached for a closer look while she jumped up and down trying out her wings

The new arrival settled on the ground and picked up an object from the rooftop, a piece of stick or something similar and offered it to her brother, which he accepted.

First formal introduction, she offers him a gift encouraged by parents

After a few minutes things began to calm down, the new arrival was clearly enjoying her new-found flying ability and was keen to show it off. Our youngster watched with great interest as she lifted herself into the air and although he had shown little sign of trying his wings before now, suddenly seemed to realise that perhaps he could do that to. So he did.

We have lift off

She eventually settled down a little and ventured across onto our roof, looking a little less sure now the excitement had worn off. Having a better look at the newby I’m sure I’m right about referring to it as ‘she’. This bird is slightly smaller than the other and could be a fraction younger as she still has more downy feathers around her face, neck and breast.

The new arrival ventured over onto our roof

July 10th

The young gull accepted his sibling immediately and there was no apparent rivalry or squabbling behaviour between them, so is it possible that although separated as young nestlings, they knew they were related? Perhaps they had been able to keep up communication from their separate locations and recognised one another’s voices, or maybe it was the parents’ behaviour towards them both that united them. It was a bit clearer now why ‘our’ young one had apparently spent so much time alone; the parents had two nest locations to cope with and to defend as well as having to share food between the two chicks. They deserve a lot of credit for their dedication and not abandoning either of them.

Practicing a running take-off

The family reunion brought about a noticeable change in our gull’s behaviour, he seemed to suddenly go up a gear and following his sister’s example began testing his own ability to fly.

Nearly there, just one toe left on the ground

The parent gulls changed their feeding behaviour today too; rather than the young ones begging and tapping a parent’s beak to bring forth food, the parents now arrived with food which they deposited some distance away from the young ones who then had to ‘find’ it for themselves.

Here’s your lunch kids

Young gull not too sure about this method of delivery

The parents were still around but less obviously so, when they were not away searching for food they were keeping look-out from the roof above. The two young ones were rarely more than a metre or so apart now, if one found something interesting to peck at the other was there immediately and they seemed to play with random pieces of stick and stones that they found, picking them up and dropping them, practicing for dealing with future potential food.

The young gulls ‘playing’ with a stick

July 12th

A hot day saw both young gulls uncomfortable and trying to squeeze into small areas of shade. I poured some water from the window onto the roof and ‘our’ gull, used to me doing that came straight over and began to drink. The other one followed more cautiously, but seemed to have no idea what to do with the water or how to go about drinking it. He tried to show her, but this was a new experience for her having been up in a nest on a chimney for most of her short life.

What do you do with this then?

Just watch me

Things got a bit hectic for a few days when the gulls from the neighbouring chimney brought their two young ones down too and both sets of parents had some very noisy encounters on occasions, but the sets of young ones didn’t mix much. They continued to strengthen their wings, preen out the remaining down from their feathers, and rest a lot while waiting for those tail feathers to grow.

Just about all grown up

July 18th

Every event of the gull family’s time with us had been accompanied with noise and announced with drama, so the young ones’ anticipated departure came as a bit of an anti-climax. We were sitting outside enjoying the late afternoon sunshine when suddenly, first one, then the other took off from the roof, glided over our heads and landed on next door’s lawn. So that’s more or less it with this family of gulls for this year. It’s been interesting, but I shall be glad not to be woken by them at dawn. I’m not looking forward to having to clean off the roof.

Into the woods, led by the nose

24 Wednesday Jul 2013

Posted by theresagreen in Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, Nature of Wales, nature of woodlands, nature photography, Wildflowers of Wales

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

common shrew, common spotted orchid, greenbottle flies on shrew carcass, greenbottle fly, honeysuckle, medicinal plants, Pyramidal Orchid

Bryn Euryn’s woodland trail is a circular route that travels more or less around the circumference of the bottom of the hill and is a good one to follow if you want a ‘proper’ walk without too many distractions. That’s not to say there isn’t anything to see; on my walks there is always something that catches my eye, or as happened on one particular evening, my nose!

I had rejoined this trail after my diversion onto the more open hillside where I had earlier watched the butterflies, and by the time I reached there it was late afternoon and a little cooler; just the time to catch the intermittent scent of honeysuckle, which for me is the absolutely perfect fragrance. The fresh perfume of the honeysuckle takes me back to walking through shady summer woods as a child when the heavenly scent brought the plant to my attention and I would always have to find it and inhale more of it. In fact I still do that; I just cannot resist it.

Honeysuckle – Lonicera periclymenum

Honeysuckle clambering up a tall holly shrub

Therapeutic and medicinal uses

I remember being very disappointed when, training as an aromatherapist, I learnt that Honeysuckle is not an essential oil that is practical to use for therapeutic massage. It is very difficult to extract the oil on a commercial basis, so it ends up being very expensive and difficult to obtain in an ‘absolute’ or pure form; any you buy is likely to have been mixed with something else. It is more widely used as a component of perfume. Shame, because the essential oil supposedly has some wonderful properties and if it had been practical to use I probably could have used it by the bucketful!

“Honeysuckle aids one to get past mental regrets, and move forward freely in life. It’s captivating scent is able to instil love and beauty, and banish any fear and sadness brought about by such events as divorce, death, and loneliness. The oil allows one to overcome harshness, indulge in self-renewal, and inspires hope, progress, freedom, and unity.”

Honeysuckle lit by evening sun in a hedgerow, Nevern, Pembrokeshire

Honeysuckle has been used medicinally for thousands of years to treat respiratory conditions, diarrhoea, ease childbirth, and stimulate the flow of energy throughout the body. Aromadendrene, a terpenoid, is a constituent of honeysuckle essential oil, which contributes to the oil’s antimicrobial properties. The terpenoid inhibits growth of micro-organisms, such as, bacteria, fungi, and protozoans. Eugenol, a phenylpropene, which is known to be a restorative and has a palliative effect, meaning it relieves pain and prevents further suffering.

Honeysuckle blossoms

I was soon snapped out of my state of pleasant reminiscence brought about by the aromatic honeysuckle as my olfactory sense was assailed by a far less pleasant smell, immediately recognisable as that arising from something that has died. Never one to shirk the responsibility of recording all aspects of the nature I come across on my wanderings, I followed my nose regardless, although trying not to breathe through it. I soon found the source of the stench: another little shrew had passed away; probably murdered by another cat. It was creating a mighty smell for something so tiny in life, but it would have attracted my attention anyway as there were a dozen or more Greenbottle flies swarming over its tiny body. (Those of a squeamish nature should probably look away now!)

Greenbottle flies on the carcass of a dead shrew

I know it’s not nice, but we all know that nature is not always about pretty flowers, butterflies and birds singing. Everything dies and it is actually interesting to see what benefits from that; it is often insects that are responsible for completing the circle of life. And, sorry, I do find Greenbottle flies very interesting.

Greenbottle Fly- Lucilia sericata

The Common Green bottle fly is a blow-fly, a member of the family Calliphoridae, is the most well-known of the numerous green bottle fly species and found in most areas of the world. It is 10–14 mm long, slightly larger than a housefly, and has brilliant, metallic, blue-green or golden colouration with black markings. It has short, sparse black bristles (setae) and three cross-grooves on the thorax. The wings are clear with light brown veins, and the legs and antennae are black.

Common Greenbottle Fly-Rhos-on-Sea garden

The fly is found feeding on flowers, but is also a common visitor to carrion and faeces. The female greenbottle lays a mass of eggs in a wound, a carcass or corpse, or in necrotic or decaying tissue. (A single female typically lays 150-200 eggs per batch and may produce 2,000 to 3,000 eggs in its lifetime.) The eggs hatch out in about 8–10 hours in warm moist weather, but may take as long as three days in cooler weather.

Greenbottle flies were most numerous on the corpse, but there are two other species there too

Forensic science

Like most Calliphorids, the insect has been heavily studied and its life cycle and habits well documented and L. sericata is an important species to forensic entomologists. One of the first insects to colonise a corpse, the stage of the insect’s development is used to calculate the period of colonization, so that it can be used to aid in determining the time of death of the victim.

Veterinary importance

L. sericata, along with other species of blowfly also makes an impact in a veterinary sense. In the UK and Australia it is commonly referred to as the “sheep blowfly” since sheep are its primary, although not sole host.

In Northern Europe, the fly will lay its eggs in sheep wool. The larvae then migrate down the wool to feed directly on the surface of the animal’s skin, which can cause massive lesions and secondary bacterial infections. In the UK, it is estimated that blowfly strike affects 1 million sheep as well as 80% of sheep farms each year. This causes a huge economic impact in these regions: it costs money to treat infected animals and to take measures to control L. sericata populations.

To end on a pleasanter note, here are some more flowers I found along the woodland trail that same evening:

Foxgloves are not common here, but there were a couple of stems of them; tall now and maybe a little more than half-way to being finished.

Foxgloves are about half-way to being over

Amongst the grass and other tougher plants on the path edge a pretty Common Spotted Orchid pushed through.

A Common Spotted Orchid on the side of the trail

Further along, in quite deep shade I was surprised to find another Pyramidal Orchid.

Another Pyramidal Orchid

All is bright and beautiful at the top of the Bryn

20 Saturday Jul 2013

Posted by theresagreen in Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, Butterflies of Wales, Nature, Nature of Wales, nature photography, Wildflowers of Wales

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

carline thistle, dark green fritillary, fox, grayling, myathropa florea, sulphur beetle

I had thought about venturing a bit further afield today, maybe over to Anglesey, but weekends are never good for travelling any distances in this popular holiday location, and the North Wales Expressway (the A55) is the route to and from the ferry port of Holyhead too, so unless you leave early you can end up spending an uncomfortably long time in your car. So I decided on Bryn Euryn instead, where I was hoping to get a glimpse of a particularly lovely butterfly.

There were people picnicking in the field, so I headed straight for the top of the hill today, half expecting to find more people up there too, but there was no one at all. Most people head for the beach when its this hot. The view from here is always amazing as I’ve said so many times before and today’s gives an overview of the progress of summer. So, queen of the castle for a short while, I surveyed the land below and around me. There was a bit of a haze over the horizon, hay has been cut, dried out and rolled into big shredded-wheats ( for those who are wondering, that’s a British breakfast cereal), grass meadows are turning brown in the dry heat, wheat is ripening and trees and hedges add shape and texture to the landscape in a myriad shades of green. You also get a good view of the express-way from up here: I was so glad I wasn’t on it, it was very busy.

Summer view from the top of Bryn Euryn (click to enlarge)

A patchwork of treetops viewed from above (click to enlarge)

There are not many wildflowers that can survive the dry rocky summer conditions on this edge of the hill, where the rockroses bloomed so prolifically a few weeks ago, but one that can is the strangely attractive Carline Thistle, which looks as though it’s going to seed, but in fact its flowers are brown. This species of thistle is found in several locations locally, but is a biennial and a bit unpredictable in its appearances.

Carline Thistle-Carlina vulgaris

There were Small Tortoishell butterflies flitting about up here, basking briefly on rocks before disappearing over the cliff edge. Looking down I could see a number of them, maybe a dozen or so, very restless and taunting and chasing each other; at one point a group of seven of them flew up in a flurry, whirling around like mad things.

Scabious is beginning to put forward much-needed flowers; their nectar and pollen is always gratefully received by butterflies and bees.

First flowers of scabious with a bumblebee

As I was peering over the edge of the cliff to watch the butterflies, I sudddenly realised someone was looking up at me; a fox, panting in the heat couldn’t decide if I was a threat or not so dived back into its den just to be sure.

130714TGNR-Fox looking up at me-Bryn Euryn

Little fox looking up at me

Fox disappearing into its earth

I couldn’t decide if it was a young animal or an adult, but either way it was not looking good. Apart from dealing with the heat it looked thin and its rear end and tail were devoid of fur, poor thing. Does it have some horrible condition like mange?

130714TGNR-Fox not looking too good-Bryn Euryn

the fox’s back and normally bushy tail were bare of fur

I moved on a little further back from the edge to where the grass is long and some ‘scrubby’ wild plants have been left to grow, perfect habitat for insects.

A flowery patch amongst long grass with hogweed, ragwort, wood sage, lady’s bedstraw & more

And lo and behold, the first butterfly to catch my eye was the one I had been hoping to see, a gorgeous Dark Green Fritillary, drawn by nothing more exotic than red valerian flowers.

Perfect Dark Green Fritillary nectaring on valerian

There were two of the beautiful insects flying around; these are fast, powerful fliers that can cover a large area in a short time. They don’t tend to leave their breeding areas, so once you know where to find them, providing conditions are good, you will more than likely see them there again. I didn’t see any last year, so was delighted to see some today and it was a bonus that they were ‘new’ and perfect.

A glimpse of an underside

The butterflies were very mobile, and with no need to bask, not staying anywhere for long. I had no time for considered portraits, these were very much opportunities grabbed, but I was more than happy just to watch them.

Wood Sage- Teucrium scorodonia. Aromatic and attractive to bumblebees

Hogweed is continuing to show me new visitors to its flowers:

A glamorous beetle with a clumsy common name of ‘Swollen-thighed Beetle’ – Oedemera nobilis

A ‘new’ hoverfly for my collection, which I hope I have identified correctly

Hoverfly-Myathropa florea (I think)

and two little sulphur beetles, Britain’s only yellow beetle and another new one for me.

Sulphur beetle-Cteniopus sulphureus

There were a lot of Meadow Brown butterflies in this area, and also Small Heath’s flitting along the pathways and low amongst the grass stems.

Small Heath

Lovely blue harebells

Harebells grow in long grass as well as on short turf

Meadow Brown basking on a path through the grass

I headed towards the proper summit of the hill and as luck would have it, was followed by a cute little dog and its owner, so took a diversion on a very narrow path around the rocks that I wouldn’t normally have done. My reward was another lovely butterfly; this one not so colourful but a master, or mistress of camouflage, a Grayling.

Grayling-Hipparchia semele perched on a rock

Part two to follow….

Seeing red and black

18 Thursday Jul 2013

Posted by theresagreen in Nature, Nature of Wales, nature photography, Rhiwledyn Nature Reserve

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

6-spot Burnet Moth, 7-spot ladybird, aposematism in insects, black & yellow striped caterpillars, black butterfly or moth with red spots, Cinnabar moth, cinnabar moth larvae, Little Orme, red and black insects, red soldier beetle

Aposematism (from apo- away, and semantic sign/meaning), is the word used to describe a family of anti-predator adaptations where a warning signal is associated with the unprofitability of a prey item to potential predators. Aposematic signals are beneficial for both the predator and prey, both of which avoid potential harm.

Walking on the Little Orme a few evenings ago I caught sight of a black and red moth flying across my path that landed on a fern frond. I have photographed similarly-coloured, but more spotted 6-Spot Burnet Moths within this site on many occasions, but this one was a Cinnabar Moth, which I have always kept an eye out for but never managed to see until now. This is the moth that lays its eggs on Ragwort that hatch into the black and yellow striped larva that will soon be munching on the leaves of that plant in large numbers.

Cinnabar Moth – Tyria jacobaea

Flying : May – August. UK Distribution: England, Wales, Scotland & Ireland. Common and well distributed throughout most of England, Wales and Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. More confined to predominantly coastal habitats in northern England and Scotland. Habitat: Frequent in open grassy habitats including waste ground, railway banks, gardens and woodland rides but perhaps most frequent on well drained rabbit-grazed grassland, mature sand-dunes and heathland.

Cinnabar moth resting on fern

Description: Medium-sized black moth, red markings on the forewing, hindwings mostly red. Often found near common ragwort, although sometimes on other ragworts and groundsels.

This species is so named due to the colour of the hindwings and the markings on the forewings which make it unmistakeable. On rare occasions the pinkish markings are replaced with yellow, or the forewing is red with a black border or the wings are completely black. Easily disturbed by day and flies in sunshine. Also flies after dark.

The distinctive larva of the Cinnabar Moth (enlarged !)

The Cinnabar larvae consumes ragwort from which it absorbs alkaloids and which it retains as an adult, making it unpalatable to predators in both forms.

6- spot Burnet Moth – Zygaenea filipendula

Flying: June-August. UK distribution: Throughout Britain, mainly coastal in Scotland. Habitat: Frequents flowery grassland, woodland rides and sandhills.

6-Spot Burnet Moth

Description: Medium-sized black moth with six red, occasionally yellow, spots.

Burnet moth caterpillars absorb Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN) from the glucosides in their food plants: bird’s-foot trefoil and vetches. They can also synthesise HCN themselves, storing it in body cavities and excreting it as chemical weaponry.

Also out and about in some numbers were Soldier Beetles.

Red Soldier Beetle – Rhagonycha fulva

Family: Cantharidae

Can be seen: June-August

The red and black colouration reminded people of the red coats of British soldiers, hence the common name. It is also known as the ‘Bloodsucker’ for its striking red appearance, but it is harmless to humans. There are about 40 species of soldier beetle in the UK, displaying various colour combinations of black, red and orange.

Description: A medium-sized, narrow beetle commonly found on open-structured flowers, such as daises, Cow Parsley and Hogweed, during the summer. There are about 40 species of soldier beetle in the UK, displaying various colour combinations of black, red and orange. Habitat: It can be spotted flying in grassland, woodland, along hedgerows and in parks and gardens. Food: The adults are especially important predators of aphids. They supplement their diet with nectar and pollen and can be minor pollinators. Larvae prey on ground-dwelling invertebrates, such as slugs and snails, and live at the base of long grasses.

130712TGINCT- Soldier beetle on thistle-Little Orme

Common Red Soldier Beetle

Behaviour: The adults spend much of their short, summer lives mating and can often be seen in pairs.

Soldier beetles mating on hogweed flower-Little Orme

Then there were ladybirds, more than I’ve seen for a long time in one place and I was reminded that there was a ladybird plague in England one very hot summer. I looked it up and it in 1976, prompted as a response to a marked increase in aphid populations. There were many reports of people being bitten as the supply of aphids dwindled. That could happen again this year if the hot dry weather continues; I’ve already seen a lot of aphids….

7-Spot Ladybird- Coccinella septempunctata

Family: Coccinellidae

The seven-spot is easily one of Britain’s most common and easily recognised beetles.

Etymology

The beetle’s common name “ladybird” originated in Britain where the insects became known as ‘Our Lady’s bird or the Lady beetle. Mary (Our Lady) was often depicted wearing a red cloak in early paintings, and the spots of the seven-spot ladybird (the most common in Europe) were said to symbolise her seven joys and seven sorrows. In the United States, the name was adapted to “ladybug”.

Coccinelid is derived from the Latin word coccineus meaning “scarlet”.

Another insect that employs the colour combination of red and black to advertise to predators that they taste horrible: if they are attacked, (or picked up), they exude an unpleasant yellow substance (reflex blood) from their leg joints which is rich in toxic alkaloids. A threatened ladybird may both play dead and secrete the unappetizing substance to protect itself.

One of the most common ladybirds in the UK

Ladybirds lay hundreds of eggs in the colonies of aphids and other plant-eating pests. When they hatch, the ladybird larvae immediately begin to feed. Seven-spot ladybirds are avid and very active aphid predators, devouring more than 5,000 during their year-long life.

Only here for the aphids

A threat to our native ladybirds

There are 46 species of ladybird resident in Britain and the recent arrival of the harlequin ladybird has the potential to jeopardise many of these.

The atlas Ladybirds (Coccinellidae) of Britain and Ireland published in 2011 showed a decline of more than 20% in native species due to environmental changes and competition from foreign invaders. The distribution maps, compiled over a 20-year period with help from thousands of volunteers, showed a decline in the numbers of the common 10-spot and 14-spot ladybirds and a number of other species, including the 11-spot, 22-spot, cream-spot, water and hieroglyphic ladybirds, Coccidula rufa, Rhyzobius litura and Nephus redtenbacheri. Conversely, increases were seen in the numbers of harlequin, orange, pine, and 24-spot ladybirds, as well as Rhyzobius chrysomeloides.

Cultural associations with ladybirds

The ladybird was familiar to me as a child, first from the nursery rhyme Ladybird, Ladybird (this is the version I know, it may not be the exact original.)

Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home
Your house is on fire and your children are gone
Except for one, and her name’s Anne
And she hid under the frying pan.

As I got older I acquired a collection of ‘Ladybird’ brand books, which are still produced today. And I seem to remember there was a Ladybird children’s clothing range too.

Summer on the woodland edge

16 Tuesday Jul 2013

Posted by theresagreen in Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, Nature, Nature of Wales, nature photography, Wildflowers of Wales

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Tags

aphantopus hyperantus, bramble flowers, dark brown butterfly with rings on its wings, dark red flowers with leaves like nettle, hedge woundwort, Pyramidal Orchid, Ringlet, wildflowers of Bryn Euryn

I almost always begin my walks within this site with a meander around the edge of the grassy area in front of the car park, both of which are located on the bottom of what was once a quarry. The old excavations have left the small field sheltered by limestone ‘cliffs’ on two sides and it is bordered on all sides with trees, mostly ash and sycamore. Along one long side there is a border of mixed shrubby and herbaceous vegetation creating a stretch of my favourite habitat; woodland edge.

The wildflowers that grow here are not spectacular and tend towards the robust end of the plant spectrum, but they support a diverse number of insect species so are great hunting grounds for the likes of me, armed with a camera. There’s plenty of hogweed here, already featured in the last post, then there are nettles, dock, the sticky green cleavers or goosegrass and new this month, the magenta spikes of Hedge, or Wood Woundwort. It often grows in the company of nettles and having similar leaves it blends in with them until the flowers show; the photograph below shows both plants.

Hedge or Wood Woundwort-Stachys sylvatica growing amongst stinging nettles

Growing in hedgerows, on woodland edges, roadside verges and various shady places, Hedge Woundwort is not a particularly stand-out plant as far as its looks are concerned. A member of the mint family, Labiateae, it has a distinct aroma, one of those that is hard to describe, but which most wildflower guides refer to as ‘unpleasant, particularly when crushed or bruised’. I must have a strangely developed sense of smell; maybe as a result of working with essential oils, but I don’t find it offensive at all.

A brown-lipped snail was hiding under a dock leaf

Brambles are often a component plant of the woodland edge flora. They are flowering now too and are also sought after by a wide variety of insects.

Bramble flower

From the field I walked up the steps following the ‘woodland trail’, making a diversion around the border of another meadow area. I stopped at a spot where there were several brown butterflies fluttering around amongst the long grass and shrubbery. My first assumption was that they were Meadow Browns as I’m used to seeing them throughout most of the site at this time of year, but stopping to watch properly I realised that although there were Meadow Browns there, most were actually Ringlets.

A Meadow Brown nectaring on bramble flower

The Ringlets were very mobile and fluttering around mainly within the stems of the long grass, as they characteristically do. On the occasions when one paused in its circuiting to take nectar from bramble flowers or to rest low down on a leaf or grass stem, the insect would either be obscured by grass stems or disturbed by the dive-bombing of another butterfly or a bee. I waited patiently for ages, just watching them until I got the opportunity to grab a shot of one on bramble leaf. It posed nicely, but turned out to have chunks missing from its wings, poor thing.

Ringlet with damaged wings

I wasn’t giving up now though, and standing around in the warm sunshine in this peaceful spot, surrounded by lush greenery and time to watch the insect world go by was not exactly a hardship. Every now and then the butterflies disappeared from view for a few minutes, most probably touring another part of their territory, but while waiting there were other insects to watch. One particularly interesting performance was provided by three hoverflies. The two smaller ones were hovering around and bothering the larger one on the bramble flower; two males competing for the attention of a female who eventually got tired of them and saw them both off. The hoverflies are of a small Eristalis species, but the photographs aren’t good enough to determine which one.

Two male and one female eristalis hoverflies

Two male hoverflies expressing interest in a female

Another chance of a Ringlet arose, this time a perfect subject, but a bit further away and hiding its head and body behind the bramble’s stamens. I got the ring pattern this time though.

Ringlet – Aphantopus hyperantus

Standing around in the direct sun was starting to get uncomfortable, so I left the Ringlets to their chasing to find a bit of shade. As luck would have it I soon came upon more of them and one posed beautifully on a bramble leaf in the dappled shade of an oak tree.

Ringlet resting with wings open

Ringlet – Aphantopus hyperantus

The rings on the hindwings give this butterfly its common name and make it unmistakeable when seen at rest. The uppersides are a uniform chocolate brown that distinguish this butterfly from the closely-related Meadow Brown that can often be found flying within the same areas. A newly-emerged adult Ringlet is a surprisingly beautiful insect, the velvety wings providing a striking contrast with the delicate white fringes found on the wing edges. The dark colouring also allows this butterfly to quickly warm up – this butterfly being one of the few that flies on overcast days.

The Meadow Brown also has a dark brown upperside, but eyespots are ringed with orange

Dog Roses-another shrub often found on a woodland edge

Dog Rose – another shrub often found on a woodland edge

Walking out into what is effectively a large clearing in the woodland I came upon another two butterflies, one a rather faded female Common Blue, the other a much fresher Small Heath.

Female Common Blue

Small Heath

A surprise find here and a pretty note on which to end this section of my walk was a single Pyramidal Orchid, the first one I’ve seen here on Bryn Euryn.

Pyramidal Orchid

Hogweed days

12 Friday Jul 2013

Posted by theresagreen in Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, butterflies, Nature, Nature of Wales, nature photography, Rhiwledyn Nature Reserve, Wildflowers of Wales

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

comma, cow parsnip, heracleum sphondylium, hogweed, medicinal uses of hogweed, medicinal uses of plants, Rose Chafer, small tortoiseshell

The most significant nectar provider for a whole host of insects at the moment is Hogweed, or Cow Parsnip if you prefer. In common with many species of wildflowers it seems to be having a bumper season and is flowering profusely in a lot of locations. The photographs here were mostly taken in the last couple of weeks, either in the Rhiwledyn Nature Reserve on the Little Orme or on Bryn Euryn.

Hogweed, Cow Parsnip – Heracleum sphondylium

Family: Carrot; Umbelliferae Habitat: Rough grassland verges, light woodland. The most usual late autumn umbellifer in flower.

Flowering: (May) June – September Seeds: Winged Height: averages 50–120 cms (20–47 in), can reach 2 metres (6 ft 7 in)

Hogweed is an herbaceous perennial or sometimes biennial plant, native to Europe and Asia. It is an umbelliferous plant, in the same group as plants such as fennel, cow parsley and ground elder.

Hogweed-Heracleum spondylium

etymology

The common name of Hogweed refers to the characteristic pig-like smell of the flowers. The genus name Heracleum derives from the Greek “herákleion” and refers to the mythologic hero Heracles, who is reputed to have used the plant medicinally. The species name sphondylium, meaning “vertebrae”, refers to the shape of the segmented stem.

The leaves are large and can reach 50 cms (20 in) in length. They are pinnate, hairy and serrated, divided into 3-5 lobed segments.

Hogweed leaves

A snail tucked into hogweed stems

The roots of the plant are large, rhizomatous and reddish in colour. The stem is hollow and striated with bristly hairs.

The flowers are white, sometimes pinkish and each has 5 petals. They are arranged in large umbels of up to 20 cm of diameter with 15 to 30 rays. The peripheral flowers having a radial symmetry.

The inflorescence of a Hogweed plant

The hogweed is one of a number of plants that have foregone the use of a sweet scent to attract pollinating insects. The plant has adopted the more unusual strategy of mimicking the scent of pigs, not that noticeable to us, but to flies it is like a magnet and flies are the main pollinators of this plant.

A tachinid fly nectaring on hogweed

The small fruits are flattened and winged, elliptical to rounded in shape and glabrous (smooth, free from hair or down) up to 1 cm long. The seed dispersal is by wind.

Hogweed seedhead

1/9/12 – Hogweed seed cases

traditional medicinal and culinary uses

Common hogweed was once employed in medicine, although its use has been long out of favour. Long ago the seeds were boiled in oil that was then recommended for application to running sores and to treat the rash associated with shingles. Culpeper recommended a decoction of the seeds to be applied to running ears.

Hogweed shoots have a high vitamin C content and the plant is still eaten in some places. The young shoots are collected early in the season and the tender young stems, cut into pieces about 15cm long may be boiled in salted water for about 15 minutes, then drained and served with butter. Apparently they make an ideal accompaniment to meat dishes.

(WARNING! This family of plants contains many poisonous species and correct identification is essential before even thinking about eating them.)

hogweed and insects

Although its main pollinators are flies, many insects of other species can be seen helping them out whilst helping themselves to the nectar. It is not uncommon to see numbers of insects vying for a space on the same hogweed flowerhead.

A pair of soldier beetles mating, a green shield bug, a small black beetle and a fly of some sort all on one small flowerhead, oh and there’s a spider’s web

30/6/13-Small Tortoiseshell on hogweed-Little Orme

30/6/13-Bumblebee on Hogweed flowers, Little Orme

30/6/13-Bumblebee-Bombus hortorium on Hogweed flowers, Little Orme

30/6/12-Greenbottle fly on hogweed – Little Orme

At Bryn Euryn the first insect I spotted on Hogweed flowers was a Comma butterfly. It was looking a bit worse for wear, faded and with chunks missing from its wings,but is a first tick for a sighting of this species this year.

8/7/13 -Comma butterfly

There were also a number of soldier beetles, greenbottle flies, bumblebees and hoverflies there. I thought I’d taken a picture of a honeybee too, but taking a closer look at the photograph I realised the insect had only two wings. I don’t know for sure what it is, more research needed, but most probably a hoverfly ; an Eristalis species. Interestingly in respect of honeybees, a loved this observation on Adventure’s in Beeland’s blog whats flowering now: early july ” They (honeybees) appear to get very little pollen from these flowers, but instead swish their proboscis enthusiastically about in the nectar like a watercolour artist swirling their brush.” I’ll envisage that now, if I chance upon a honeybee on hogweed…

Probably a hoverfly an Eristalis species

A 7-spot ladybird heading up a hogweed stem – there’s prey up there – greenfly aphids

One of my favourite photographs of an insect on hogweed is this one of a Rose Chafer, taken somewhere along the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path.

2/7/08-Rose Chafer on Hogweed – Pembrokeshire Coastal Path

There is an insect that I am aware of but haven’t noticed yet, actually named for the plant; the Hogweed picture-wing fly. It is a small picture-winged fly Euleia heraclei. Also known as the Celery fly, it is a species of tephritid or fruit fly and is a pest of celery and parsnips, where it damages the vegetables by leaf mining. Males display on the upper surfaces of leaves on sunny days during May and mating takes place when a female arrives. In Britain, the species is distributed widely across southern and central England; in Wales records are mainly near the coast. (The picture is taken from one of my favourite ID sites http://www.naturespot.org.uk/)

How to feed a growing gull

11 Thursday Jul 2013

Posted by theresagreen in bird behaviour, Nature, Nature of Wales, nature photography

≈ 4 Comments

Another chapter in the story of the Herring Gull chick that fell from the nest and landed on our flat roof…

5th July 2013

It’s almost a month now since the little herring gull chick arrived on the roof and lived to tell the tale. He’s changed a lot since that day (June 8th) and although he’s still got a bit of his baby fluff, he has almost a full set of his juvenile feathers. He’s still fully dependent on his parents for food and he gets regular top-ups, mainly from his mother. Goodness knows where she goes to find his food, although some of it is recognisable as human left-overs (never ours, that would be asking for trouble), more likely chips and chunks of bread. Seems to me a parent Herring Gull has similar problems to the rest of us when it comes to providing a healthy, balanced diet (or not) for their offspring.

Lunch has just arrived

I hope you’ve cleaned your beak

Help yourself

Only chips again

OK, last one

Just a bit more, please..

But I’m still hungry

That’s it then, might as well have a nap

Little gull on a wet flat roof

08 Monday Jul 2013

Posted by theresagreen in Nature, Nature of Wales, nature photography, Rhos-on-Sea

≈ 5 Comments

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herring gull, herring gull chick

The young gull is growing up fast and despite being home alone for long stretches, being left outside in all weathers and staying up far later than any youngster surely should, he seems to be doing alright. Here he is a couple of weeks ago, on a rainy day, eleven days older than when I first photographed him the day he arrived on the roof.