The Butterfly Effect

31 Saturday Jul 2021

Posted by theresagreen in Butterflies of Wales, Limestone hills, Nature of Wales, Nature Walks, North Wales, Wildflowers of Wales

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

black & yellow striped caterpillars, brown and orange butterflies, Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, butterflies in long grass, day-flying moths, late summer wildflowers

Just a few short short weeks ago things weren’t looking too hopeful for our summer butterflies; the cold, damp start to the season had kept their numbers low and every sighting of any species was gratefully received and shared on social media. With many species already in decline, the predictions for the success of this year’s summer broods were edging on pessimistic and on many days, when out on walks I didn’t see a single one. Half-way through this month, a guided ‘Butterfly Walk’ was scheduled by a friend that regularly records the butterfly transect around Bryn Euryn, the limestone hill in North Wales which is at the centre of my ‘patch’. In preparation he’d done a recce the day before and his sightings were so few that he put out a warning that evening suggesting people may want to postpone the event and try again in a week or two! No-one cancelled, probably as most of are of an age where we’re not constantly checking our emails or social media sites, and about 20 of us gathered as arranged. Perhaps we were also a little giddy with the excitement of our very recent release from some of our Covid 19 restrictions (Wales has been a tad more cautious than England), and this was the first time we’d been allowed to meet up outside of Zoom since lockdown began. So in the spirit of ‘mad dogs and English/Welsh men and women’, we set off on this boiling hot Sunday afternoon (the beginning of the heatwave) to walk up to the top of the hill, 430 feet (131m) closer to the sun in the hope there’d be at least a few butterflies putting on a show for us.

Long grass on the cliff-edge providing perfect habitat for meadow butterflies

Of course it was well worth the effort, or I wouldn’t be mentioning it; in the space of 24 hours the butterfly species count had magically rocketed from practically zero to most of those we’d expect to see here on a good day at this time of year, plus day-flying moths The count for each species wasn’t high, but the majority of those we saw were fresh and all were highly mobile and in a group that size, numbers of pairs of eyes meant we didn’t miss seeing much. But the best part was watching the effect these particular insects have on people of all ages; some excitedly enjoyed the first sightings of rapid-flying Dark Green Fritillaries while others crouched down around a plant to witness the mating of a pair of Small Skippers. All captivated by the fluttering of wings and for a few magical moments, completely absorbed and transported into another dimension. Butterfly chasing should definitely be put on prescription!

Although I’d thoroughly enjoyed the company and butterfly sightings seen by the group, I’d missed photographing the fabulous-but-flighty Fritillaries, so as the hot weather seemed to be holding, I wanted to go around again at my usual meandering speed and a couple of days later I set off to see if I could fill in the gaps. This time I wandered up through the woods where the paths and trails are shaded and it’s a pleasant degree or two cooler than out on the open hillside, which surely has to be one of the best reasons for planting more trees in a warming climate.

A lovely fresh Comma and its shadow were a great start to my walk

Woodland paths are edged with False Brome grass

Now the tree canopy is more or less closed and limiting the light reaching the ground, flowering plants are scarce and as the earth dries out any that aren’t designed to cope quickly wilt. Built to withstand such conditions, one exception is Wood Sage, whose flowers seem particularly suited to Common Carder bees. Nipplewort, an annual plant with tiny yellow flowers and slim wiry stems always seems to find a few agreeable spots along these paths too.

As always I stopped at the fence on the woodland boundary to look out over the meadow on the other side. The long grass was cut on a mild, sunny day back in January this year, which at the time I remember thinking seemed like a strange time to be doing that, but it doesn’t seem to have mattered as now it’s grown tall again and I could see there’s also Hogweed and Ragwort in flower and it’s full of Knapweed in bud. I could also see it was alive with butterflies – mostly Meadow Browns as far as I could see, which was a good sign there would be more to see in more accessible places higher up. There were clearly other insects about too – my photo was ‘bombed’ by what could be a wasp or maybe a hoverfly!

Stepping onto the Woodland Trail that circuits the Nature Reserve it was hot – too hot now for insects such as hoverflies that would all be hiding away under leaves or on tree branches. Birds are mostly beginning a ‘time-out’ in which to rest after a busy breeding season and to moult their old feathers and grow new ones, so it was very quiet. The total lack of a breeze was even keeping down the ever-present traffic noise from the valley below.

Leaving the woods behind I joined the Summit Trail, more or less at the point where we’d begun the butterfly transect on Sunday. The small field here used to have a good patch of long flowery grass at this lower end, but perhaps due to more trampling and changes in the weather patterns, it’s not as good as it used to be for butterflies. Today there were a Small Skipper and a few Meadow Browns flitting about in the grass, but far more of the latter around the field edges where there is scrubby vegetation with low bushes of bramble and gorse. I counted to roughly 30, all busily chasing about low in the grass and around the brambles, with none settling for even a quick snap. The wildflowers are a bit sparse too, some Lady’s Bedstraw, a scattering of Rockrose, a few clumps of Keeled Garlic and the odd Harebell were all there was to see. The huge spread of Hemp Agrimony is just beginning to open its flowers and on the opposite side of the field the Burnet Roses have a good crop of hips; red now, but they’ll ultimately ripen to black. One of my favourite sights now are the feathery globes of Goat’s-beard that stand like little beacons in the shorter grass.

From the open field the trail goes up through the woods again, so there’s another short break from the heat, although the slope is steep. At the top is the clifftop with the long grass and scrubby vegetation pictured at the beginning of the post, and it was here that during the last two days, butterfly numbers had increased the most dramatically. Where there had been maybe 20 or so on Sunday, now there were more than I could have counted of Meadow Browns, a good number of Gatekeepers, lots of little Small Heaths, several Small Skippers, one or two Brown Argus, a Grayling and possibly even a Dingy Skipper. Standing out amongst the crowd of brown and orange butterflies were dramatic red and black 6-spot Burnet moths. All of these species are dependent on tall grasses as food plants for their caterpillars and as adults they take nectar from flowers, so where there’s a good area of long grass with wildflowers in it, they don’t need to move far.

The hot sunshine had coaxed more flowers into bloom too, particularly the blue-lilac Scabious, which is a favourite of butterflies and of many other species of insects too.

On a cooler day I would have lingered longer around this one spot and doubtless found even more than I did, but the heat out on the open hillside was intense, and if I was to find Fritillaries I had still to get up to the summit and down the other side of the hill. When I first began exploring this hillside, back in 2012, the management of it was quite different; the long grass would have been kept shorter and Ragwort considered a noxious weed and kept at bay. Gradually attitudes have changed and over the years the plant has spread considerably and a result, as well as providing important nectar and pollen for invertebrates, the numbers of plants supporting the unmistakeable black and yellow striped caterpillars of Cinnabar moths has also increased; some plants had several, others one or two.

6-Spot Burnet moths mating above a newly-vacated cocoon

Going down the other side of the hill it was Burnet moths that dominated the airways, flying low in, over and about the grassy slope. Many would have been newly emerged from their alien-pod like yellow which are frequently seen attached to grass and other plant stems. Often there is a mass emergence, with males emerging first. They then sit above the cocoon of a female and wait for her to emerge, pouncing on her to mate before she’s barely had time to draw her first breath of fresh air.

Amongst the grass on this side of the hill you can find some of this site’s loveliest wildflowers, Common Spotted Orchids; most are at the end of their flowering now, but while following one of only two Dark Green Fritillaries I saw today I found a few fairly fresh ones. There was some Dropwort too, the dry limestone grassland relative of the similar-looking moisture-loving Meadowsweet.

On the other side of the trail, where the hillside is left much to its own devices a lovely pink-purple haze of Rosebay Willowherb stands out against a backdrop of trees.

Despite my best efforts, I didn’t get my photo of a Dark Green Fritillary, but it was too hot to chase about, so I sat on the grass for a short while and enjoyed watching those I saw; they are impressive – and very fast on the wing! Luckily I have a stack of photographs taken on other occasions in this exact spot, so here’s one I made earlier.

As so often happens, there were compensations; close to where I’d stopped a Brown Argus landed on Ragwort and another fresh Gatekeeper on nearby Hemp Agrimony.

Then as I was about to turn and head back home, my favourite of all the summer butterflies, a perfectly beautiful little Small Copper landed first on a stone at the edge of the trail then flew up to a nearby Ragwort; my first sighting of one this year and a perfect note to finish on.

Midsummer Hillside

15 Wednesday Jul 2020

Posted by theresagreen in butterflies, Nature of Wales, North Wales, wildflowers

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

6-spot Burnet Moth, Arge pagana, Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, calcareous grassland, Cinnabar moth, Cistus Forester moth, common spotted orchid, dark green fritillary, grayling, Large Skipper, Meadow Brown, Painted Lady, Ringlet, rose sawfly, scabious, silver y moth, slow walking, slow worm, small heath, small tortoiseshell

Emerging from the shelter of the Woodland….

12:05 The steps lead up from the Woodland Trail and into an open sloping grassy space, whose character changes from year to year, largely according to the weather. The soil covering over limestone rock is very shallow and susceptible to erosion by the elements and by people walking over it; consequently it dries out rapidly when it’s as hot and dry as it was throughout this May. The grass is cut every year, sometime during the autumn or late winter and by now it would usually have grown quite tall again at the bottom end of the slope, but this year it is struggling to recover. A few days before I took this photograph, before the rain returned, it was completely brown and dry. There’s still time for it to pick up though, particularly if it keeps raining: plants that grow here are tough.

With no wildflowers there were of course no bees or butterflies or indeed anything much to tempt me to dither about here, so I carried on up the slope towards the trail that leads up to the summit. The view from higher up, looking westwards along the valley gives some indication of what a strange day this was. Low cloud hung as a heavy mist obscured the mountains from view and despite it being windy the warm air charged with moisture made it feel heavy and humid too. Traffic on the Expressway was still light compared to pre-lockdown days, but the sound of even a few vehicles can manifest as a roar at this height.

The nature of the vegetation on the exposed cliff-edge side of the Trail has evolved into an interesting area of what I think of as pre-woodland scrub, by which I mean it’s presently a mix of long meadow grasses becoming populated with patches of low-growing bramble, dog rose and young trees. I’m not sure if these trees are self-sown or were deliberately planted, perhaps a mix of both.

12:37 It was windy up here, which is by no means unusual, but there were butterflies and bees flying about, all keeping low and in the shelter of the vegetation. There were Ringlets, the first ones I’ve seen so far this year, some were chasing around not settling at all, but there was one that found a sunny spot on a low bramble leaf that it kept returning to. I couldn’t get a better angle for a photograph, but I was happy to get one at all.

Ringlet

Another first of the year sighting was a lovely Large Skipper that was much more obliging about posing.

Large Skipper

Ochlodes venatus

Amongst the grass summer wildflowers are beginning to show, not in great amounts, but I think that makes them a bit more special.

Lady’s Bedstraw-Galium verum-Briwydd felen

Field Scabious-Knautia arvensis-Clafrillys y maes

On a Dog-rose briar were several shiny new 7-spot ladybirds and a Rose Sawfly. Adults of this species are distinctively coloured black and gold and have smoky wings. Female sawflies lay eggs in soft young rose stems and the emerged larvae are sometimes considered to be ‘pests’ in gardens as they feed on the soft tissue of rose leaves, leaving just the leaf ribs. Happily they’re safe from human interference here, although doubtless there’ll be predators awaiting future larvae.

Rose Sawfly & 7-spot ladybird

Rose Sawfly-Arge Pagana

A Meadow Brown butterfly intent on feeding on bramble flowers stayed put for long enough for me to take some photographs; opening its wings each time another insect flew close to it.

Meadow Brown

13:09 Back on the path I disturbed a Grayling that had been basking on the warm bare earth. There are never very many here on the Bryn, and there have been years when I haven’t managed to catch sight of one at all, so I was happy to see it, but sad I’d missed it. Fortunately it didn’t go far and after a fly around it landed back almost in the same spot. These beautifully-marked butterflies are so well camouflaged you can easily lose sight of them until they move or flash their eyespots.

Grayling-Hipparchia Semele

Rather than following the bend in the trail that climbs up to the summit of the hill, I carried on towards the far edge of the cliff, watching out for more Graylings.

There were no more to be seen today, but a Small Tortoiseshell sunning itself on a rock, more than compensated for the lack of them. It was very restless, opening and closing its wings and adjusting its angle, but it stayed until a large dragonfly flew close over the top of it, then it took off and left at speed.

Small Tortoiseshell

13:29 I turned around then and walked back to re-join the Summit Trail where it slopes down then up again, forming quite a deep U-shaped dip. I often look for reasons to spend a few minutes here as by the magic of its geology, it’s almost always sheltered from the wind and the only spot that I know of on the Bryn that somehow escapes the constant noise of the Expressway traffic. Today there was sound though, not traffic, but a constant and strangely muffled rumbling of thunder that was emanating from behind the distant cloud-covered mountains. Then to add to the already strange atmosphere of the day, the still air here held the briny scent of the sea; most peculiar! The grassy border on one side of the path here is one of the best spots I know to find numbers of lovely Pyramidal Orchids and they seem to be particularly abundant this year. Traveller’s Joy, our wild clematis, seems always to be threatening to take over this ground, but thus far the orchids appear despite its encroachment.

Pyramidal Orchid-Anacamptis pyramidalis

Tegerian bera-Anacamptis pyramidalis

The opposite side of the track, fronting a Blackthorn thicket, has a slightly different character. Not so dominated by the clematis, here there is bramble, Rosebay Willowherb and a few Ragwort plants, which could be why I was got a rare glimpse of a striking red and black Cinnabar Moth. It may have been a newly-emerged one as it was clinging upside down to a blade of grass. There was another Ringlet here too, feeding on bramble and holding open its velvety chocolate-brown wings.

Cinnabar Moth

Ringlet

Goat’s-beard-Tragopogon pratensis-Barf yr afr Felen

Walking on up towards the summit over the remains of what were once part of the defensive walls of the old Hillfort, I was keeping an eye out for a glimpse of a Dusky Skipper butterfly; I’ve seen them here before in previous years, but there’s so little in flower here now I guess there’s nothing to tempt them.

What there was though were the big round seedheads of Goat’s-beard.

The summit, which as you see from a distance, is gently rounded and surprisingly grassy and well-vegetated. There is a huge raspberry-bramble patch, which is always slightly later to flower than those plants lower down the hill, which was attracting the attentions of a Red Admiral and another Small Tortoiseshell butterfly.

13:46 I walked towards the summit edge to look at the view and passed more bramble, which had a big orange and black fly feeding on its blossom; a distinctive orange and black, very bristly tachinid fly – Tachina fera.

Small Tortoiseshell

Tachina fera

Heavy cloud completely misted out the view across Colwyn Bay. We get at least two types of mist here; there’s downwards mist that falls from heavy cloud moving over the mountains, then there’s upwards sea-mist drawn up from the surface of the water by warm air. I think it’s likely that today’s was a blend of both.

The trail carries on around the trig point and opens out again onto the other side of the hill. The view from here was fascinating, a thick band of low cloud obscured the Little Orme, moving across the headland and snaking wraith-like out over the sea.

14:40: On this side of the hill the steeply sloping open grassland is more exposed and open to the elements, mainly from the North and East. It was very windy and although it appeared that we were surrounded on all sides by misty cloud it was actually a very warm, almost hot afternoon. Days like this can sometimes be good for finding insects as in the wind they tend to be less mobile and stay closer to the ground. It helps that they still need to eat too; I spotted a female Swollen-thighed Beetle on a Rockrose flower and a lovely shiny green Forester Moth on Cat’s-ear.

Swollen-thighed Beetle-female

Cistus Forester

Tucked down into the shelter of the grass were a Small Heath butterfly and another day-flying moth, this one a Six-spot Burnet.

Small Heath

6-Spot Burnet

This more open grassy part of the Bryn is also good for orchids, this time the pretty pink Common Spotted species. As with most orchid species, numbers of plants fluctuate from year to year, which can be for a number of reasons, but I wonder if there are less now as the character of the habitat is changing. A few years ago this slope was predominantly short grassland, but is quite quickly developing into more ‘pre-woodland’ grassy scrub with bramble, gorse and trees being left to grow. I had to hunt to find some today, then came upon this perfectly beautiful little group of them set amongst Cowslips going to seed.

Common Spotted Orchid-Dactylorhiza fuchsii

Tegeirian Brych-Dactylorhiza fuchsii

I was hoping to see at least one Dark Green Fritillary butterfly here today and finally got my wish as I stood up from my orchid photographs. Their size, colour and speed of flight are pretty distinctive, so I recognised the one that galloped past in front of me, but it quickly disappeared into the middle of the scrub. I found a narrow track through which I followed in the hope of finding more of them within its shelter, passing by a bramble where a Painted Lady butterfly sat feeding and disturbing a Silver-Y Moth, both of which are migrants, so could have been recent arrivals.

14:20 I sat for a while in a clear spot amongst the scrub and did see more Dark Green Fritillaries, but they were very mobile and of course chose the most inaccessible parts of the vegetation to fly over. But at least I know they are out and about now, so can come back to find them another day. At the bottom of the slope there were more brambles and more insects. Butterflies: another Large Skipper, a Red Admiral and a Speckled Wood to add to my day’s list.

Large Skipper

Red Admiral

Below is a selection of other insects I photographed there:

Hoverfly -Scaeva pyrastri

Hoverfly-Eristalis pertinax

Hoverfly-Sun-fly-Helophilus pendulus

Tree bumblebee

Swollen-thighed beetle (female)

7-spot Ladybird

15:36 The weather may have been a bit strange, but I headed back home feeling more than happy with the diversity of the wildlife I’d seen during the course of a few hours; then not far along on the path back through the woodlands, lying stretched out and motionless was a perfect Slow Worm. Looking more closely I could see it was lying belly-up and although it looked to be unharmed, I thought the poor thing was dead as it was making no attempt to move.

I couldn’t, and still can’t imagine how it had ended up in that position, but it was shady there and I wondered if it had got too cold to right itself. I picked up a stick lying nearby and gently rolled it till it was right-side up and to my relief after a few seconds it moved off into the vegetation at the side of the path. Thank goodness I reached it before a curious dog found it….

Midsummer Woods

05 Sunday Jul 2020

Posted by theresagreen in birds of Wales, Butterflies of Wales, Insects, Local Nature Reserves, Nature of Wales, nature of woodlands, Walking, Wildflowers of Wales, woodland

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, buteo buteo, common buzzard, common lizard, Early Bumblebee, Great Pied hoverfly, longhorn beetle, pollinating insects, Red Admiral, rutpela maculata, slow walking, speckled wood, strangalia maculata, tree bumblebee, Viviparous lizard, yellow and black beetle

It had been a good while since I’d spent the best part of a day meandering around the whole rich patchwork of varying habitats that make up my local nature reserve of Bryn Euryn, so a sunny morning that was forecast to stay that way into the afternoon offered the perfect opportunity to spend a day outdoors.

09:59 – Woodland Path

Once outside I realised it wasn’t quite as warm as I’d thought it was going to be, but the air felt fresh, if slightly humid. The copious rainfalls of previous days have done wonders; plants that had looked sad and wilted a few days ago were perked upright and the leaves of the trees washed of dust and good as new. A Speckled Wood butterfly on ivy and the chirpy calls of foraging Blue Tits greeted me at the beginning of the path, which has also benefitted from the dust-settling cleansing rain.

The specialist woodland wildflowers of the early Spring have long-since finished flowering now and are directing their energies into producing seeds. There are a few later-flowering plants that can cope with the reduced sunlight though, including the beautiful Honeysuckle, one of my lifetime favourite plants whose fresh perfume I would happily fill my home with, if only someone could capture it perfectly.

An arch of Honeysuckle

It’s been a good year for this fragrant twining-climbing plant which has given me cause to make even more frequent stops on my walks; the scent of it in the air, particularly in the cooler mornings and evenings is as much a highlight as anything I might see or hear. It has maybe passed its peak of flowering now, but there’ll be occasional blooms to enjoy for a while to come.

Also happy in partial shade and flowering now are Navelwort, which is usually more easily recognised by its distinctive round fleshy leaves and Wood Sage, which despite its name is not confined to woodland paths; it’s a tough plant that is equally as happy growing out on exposed heaths and coastal cliffs.

Wood Sage-Teucrium scorodonia

Navelwort-Umbilicus rupestris

10:12 Covered with white blossoms and well-refreshed the bramble patch at the top of the first rise of the path, was my first stop this morning. Gradually being lit and warmed by sunshine, it was already busy with a variety of insects.

Honeybee on bramble blossom

A Blackbird was singing from a tree somewhere close by, his melodic, relaxed song lending an element of calm to the scene of frenetic insect activity. There were bumblebees: Tree Bumbles definitely the most numerous, some looking fresh, their heads and thoraxes bright deep tawny brown others faded to a pale blonde, perhaps bleached out by the sun. A few smaller Buff-tailed workers are busy between them and there are a small number of Honeybees, some of the first I’ve seen this year.

Faded Tree Bumblebee

Fresh Tree Bumblebee

Butterflies joined the party, two Speckled Woods, which must have been a male and a female as they behaved amicably together, feeding almost side by side until disappearing together to the privacy of the leaves of an overhanging Sycamore. A Large White scooted over but didn’t stop, but a Red Admiral, missing a piece from a hind wing stayed for the whole length of time I was there, only moving short distances between flowers.

Speckled Wood

Red Admiral

Most interesting of all were the big yellow-and-black beetles, that for some reason don’t seem to have a standardised common name, so are known to me as Strangalia maculata, (which is apparently no longer correct as they’ve changed it to Rutpela maculata!). In the midst of the tangle of bramble, honeysuckle and ivy stands the remains of a tree, which was snapped in a storm a few winters ago. I wonder if it’s within its damaged fabric that they spent their larval stage and from which they have emerged. For a while now I’ve seen them here each time I’ve passed by, several at a time. Until now all of my past and more recent sightings of these lovely beetles have been of them calmly feeding on flowers, so it was interesting to see them very active this morning, flying rather clumsily from flower to flower, not lingering for long on any.

Yellow and black beetle- Rutpela maculata

Yellow and black beetle-Rutpela maculata

The distant mewling of a Buzzard calling from above diverted my attention and I caught glimpses of it as it circled high above the trees.

This was the first one I’d seen in a while, so I wondered if it might appear back over the field, perhaps with its family, so moved on in that direction. It was a sun-in-and-out morning, surprisingly cool on the shady path when the breeze picked up.

Path edged with False Brome

Paths are edged with grasses, which are flowering now. False Brome predominates, covering large swathes of the woodland floor in places throughout this site, and there are lesser amounts of other species such as the distinctive Cock’s-foot.

Cock’s-foot-Dactylis glomerata

False Brome-Brachypodium sylvaticum

10:40 There was nothing to see at this edge of the woodland except the wind rippling over the long grass of the meadow, and it was too cool to linger.

The sun came out again as I walked between the pine trees. This has become one of my favourite parts of the woods. I love the characterful Scots Pine trees with their tall, straight trunks crowned on high with heavy, strangely twisted branches in all seasons; but today with their rust-red bark still slightly damp and darkened by rain and highlighted by filtered sunlight they had a special glow.

There were no birds to be seen and for a while no sound of them either, until their silence was briefly broken once again by the Buzzard and the familiar contact calls of more Blue Tits working their way through the trees.

PATH EDGES

Nipplewort-lapsana-communis

Opportunistic wildflowers crop up randomly along the path edges, mostly of those species that seem to travel alongside the blackberry brambles, accompanying them wherever they go. In flower now are nettles, dock and delicate-looking Nipplewort.

All have value to insects in their way, either as sources of pollen and nectar or via their leaves which are either eaten from the outside or mined and eaten from the inside.

Curled Dock

Common Nettle

10:47 – My next stop is at the brambly-scrubby patch at the junction of three woodland paths. In recent weeks this has been buzzing with a variety of bees, in particular Tree Bumblebees that clearly have a nest nearby, or there may even be two. There have been a lot of Early Bumblebees too, but lesser numbers of other common species and so far I’ve only seen one or two Red-tailed bumblebee queens; no workers.

Predominately a raspberry bramble patch, which flowers earlier than blackberry, there is less blossom here now so is less of a draw for foraging insects now. There were a few Tree bumblebees about though, some working, one or two taking short rests on nearby sun-warmed leaves; poor things have probably already been out working for hours. This has been a great spot for hoverflies this Spring too, where I’ve added a few ‘new’ species to my list. It was starting to get warmer, which doesn’t seem to bother bees, but hoverflies often seek shade under leaves, so I wasn’t too surprised there were few to see. Then I spotted one of the largest of our UK hoverflies, a Great Pied Hoverfly (Volucella pellucens) on some more shaded brambles. Not a new species for me, but I’d not seen one in this spot before. In contrast there were also a few of one of our smallest and commonest hoverflies about, little Marmalade Flies (Episyrphus balteatus).

Gt Pied Hoverfly-Volucella pellucens

Marmalade Fly-Episyrphus bateatus

10:46 A bird landed in an Oak tree a few metres behind the Sycamore tree, on first impressions quite big,heavy-ish landing so probably a Wood Pigeon. I almost didn’t take any more notice, but then it came to mind that this is a good spot to see Jays, which I am always keen to try to photograph as they are quite elusive, so I focussed on it and was excited to see it was neither Wood Pigeon nor Jay, but a dark handsome Buzzard. What a beautiful bird, and posing so nicely too.

The Woodland Trail

11:10 As I walked on, I remember thinking that the sighting of the Buzzard and managing to get a half-decent photograph of it was going to be the main highlight of my day. But then you just can’t predict what you may or may not see on any given day in this treasure trove of nature, as I later discovered.

Reaching the Woodland Trail, I crossed it to sit on the bench for a few minutes to enjoy the sunshine and to listen to what was around me whilst I wrote some notes. I’m always fully aware of the soundtrack of my walks, but unless I get lucky and can photograph or record a singing bird can’t always properly recall what I heard. This is what I wrote here ” … for 30 seconds, maybe a little longer there are no extraneous sounds; no noise from the road, no dogs barking, no human voices, only the sounds of twittering birds – most likely Blue Tits reassure me I haven’t gone suddenly deaf! A Robin’s just flown into the tree above me. It sits and looks at me for a few seconds before flying into the woods I’ve just left. I see a Small Heath butterfly; it lands but I didn’t spot it in time and it flew off, surprisingly rapidly for such a tiny butterfly, ditto a Meadow Brown!”

As I got up to carry on I caught sight of a small gingery-furry bee flying over a fallen tree branch, which I thought might have been a Tawny Mining bee. I tried to focus in on it, but it was flying and although I pressed the shutter a couple of times I knew the bee wouldn’t be in focus, but may do as record shots. I can’t even begin to describe my feelings when I looked at those photographs on my computer later that evening. Expecting to see an out of focus bee, there too was also an almost perfectly in-focus lizard lying motionless and perfectly camouflaged along the length of the fallen branch which the bee was flying over. It had probably been watching me and wondering whether it should stay still or risk making a move. I’m grateful it chose the latter option.

Part of me was glad I hadn’t noticed the lizard, which is a Common or Viviperous Lizard, as I’m sure I’d have been so excited to see one in a position where I might get a photograph that I’d have fumbled with the camera and likely have missed it. But then I think it would have been nice to get a proper look at one rather than just a glimpse of a disappearing one, which is all I’ve managed so far in my years of tramping this hill! Mainly I’m just more than happy to know it was there and I have a photograph, however I managed it!

Being oblivious at this point to my lizard ‘capture’, and back in insect-seeking mode, I wandered along to the huge bramble tangle that once in flower has always been a brilliant place to spot a good variety of insects in a relatively short space of time with minimal effort. Years ago, this was the first place on the reserve that I recognised as an insect ‘hotspot’. There was a fair amount of activity here this morning, mostly from bumblebees, but there was also another Gt Pied Hoverfly, a Red Admiral butterfly, a Strangalia maculata beetle that only showed me its antennae and legs and a few different species of flies. Getting photographs was tricky, insects were constantly moving, the sun was shiningly brightly, but probably more to the point the path was getting busy with people and dogs and I got fed up having to keep moving to let them pass at a ‘safe distance’.

Volucella pellucens

Tiny Tree bumblebee

Early bumblebee

Tutsan growing alongside the bramble already has ripening berries. Its flowers hadn’t the same degree of appeal to insects as bramble, but I did catch a little Marmalade Fly visiting it.

: Tutsan with berries

: Episyrphus balteatus

The woodland is at the peak of perfection now, leaves are fully grown, in a myriad of shapes and uncountable shades of fresh green; climbers and ramblers are not yet over-reaching themselves to become sprawling and untidy and the plants along the path edges are not yet spilling over it.

Speckled Wood butterflies were stationed every few metres along the path, whether basking on the ground or perched on leaves overhanging the path. Constantly on alert, they readily explode into action to see off any intruders into their territory.

Trees arch across the path creating shady leafy tunnels

First wild raspberry

Generally birds are much quieter these days, apart from the Blackbird I heard earlier the only ones still singing to any extent are our summer breeders-Chiffchaff and Blackcap.

The closed canopy makes it too shady for there to be much in the way of ground-level plants for a while, so there are few distractions, other than Speckled Wood butterflies of course and the occasional sight of a Blackbird foraging in the safety of the dappled shade.

No matter how often I walk along this Trail, several times a week sometimes, each time I see it with fresh eyes. Looking up there are places where trees on opposite sides seem to avoid contact, leaving fascinating space between their contrasting leaves.

The same scenery changes according to the lighting effects; the varying cloud cover and the angle of the sun at different times of the day as the seasons progress all contribute, as do the weather conditions, particularly on days when there’s wind and how strong it is. On the ground, complex shadow patterns may be cast on the uneven canvas of the bare-earth path.

12:05: The steps up from the shady sheltered Woodland Trail lead into what could be an entirely different dimension….

a good place to take a break..

A Cosmopolitan Woodland

01 Friday Mar 2019

Posted by theresagreen in Nature of Wales, Walking Trails, woodland birds, woodland walks

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, cherry plum, coal tit, flowering in February, garden escapes, hazel catkins, non-native plants, Nuthatch

Enjoying the sunshine of this glorious morning, a bright-eyed Dunnock sat on a platform of leaves of the Laurel hedge preening and soaking up the warmth.

Woodland Path

The sight of the sunbathing Dunnock sparked the idea of a theme for this morning’s walk, or rather the Laurel did. Bryn Euryn is almost an island, virtually surrounded by houses and running the length of the side I often begin my walks, is the busy A55 North Wales Expressway. Its summit was once the site of an ancient Hill Fort, where a Trig Point now stands. There are ruins of an old manor house and exposed rock cliffs around a field next to the car park mark the site of an old quarry. Opposite the car park there’s a large area of land given over to allotments. This long-reaching proximity of people and the plantings in their gardens, has inevitably led to the presence of trees, shrubs and flowers that wouldn’t be there naturally. Today I thought I’d make a point of looking out for some of the more obvious ones amongst the natives.

Cherry Laurel- Prunus laurocerasus

There’s quite a lot of Laurel growing in this particular spot on Bryn Euryn, doubtless planted when a grand house occupied the site now replaced with our small development of flats. This is Cherry Laurel, introduced from south-east Europe in 1547 and quickly popularised for creating ornamental hedges. Apart from the Rhododendron, it is the most common introduced evergreen in Britain. It’s beginning to flower here now: the flowerheads stand erect like candles and are made up of small creamy-white flowers that smell a bit like marzipan.

Twining into the Laurel, reaching across the path is Honeysuckle, which is a true native; its leaves already almost fully grown.

Honeysuckle-Lonicera

Greater Periwinkle-Vinca major

On the edge of the track and scrambling up the woodland slope deep blue Greater Periwinkle is flowering. Evergreen under-shrubs native to Europe, north-west Africa and southern Asia, this would most likely have been planted here originally, but the Periwinkles are long enough established and widespread in the wild to be included in wildflower books, often listed as garden escapes.

A Song Thrush was singing its energetic and joyous song rising up from somewhere on the steep slope below. eating Ivy berries, A Great Tit called out its signature ‘teacher-teacher’, loud and clear. Blue Tits were all around me, calling to one another as they flitted about investigating shrubs and trees in their endless quest to find food. I caught a glimpse of one above my head; it was pure luck that I caught one holding a twig in its claw while it pecked at a leaf bud. The marks above its head are insects, not specks on my lens!

Blackbirds were rustling around in thick Ivy, grabbing berries.

Another shrubby archway reaches over the path formed by more Laurel and Berberis, which is just beginning to flower. Berberis, or Barberry, is another shrub familiar in gardens. I also spotted a few small Mahonia plants along the way, all bearing flowers.

On a Polypody fern frond sat a bright shiny new hoverfly, gleaming bronze in the bright light. Two Greenbottle flies chose an Ivy leaf to sunbathe upon.

190226-BE (13)-Hoverfly on polypody fern

190226-BE (18)-2 greenbottle flies on ivy leaf

Towering over the greenery, bare trees, their branches silvery against the intensely blue sky, remind that there is still a while to go before the true Spring arrives.

Grey Squirrels have been active throughout this mild winter; there have been very few days when I haven’t seen at least one from my windows. I’m not a fan of this introduced species because of their dominance over our native Reds and the tremendous amount of damage they do to our woodland trees. I have to remind myself they have no natural enemies, it’s not their fault they’re here and they’re just trying to stay alive; how are they supposed to know better?

Like most people, I’m sure, I barely go a day without seeing a Wood Pigeon which are common and numerous just about everywhere in Great Britain. They’re another species that have taken full advantage of what we put out on offer and their populations seem to have benefitted from changes in farming practices. They are generally considered as pests by farmers, gardeners and gamekeepers as they’ll eat grains and greens, especially newly sprouting ones, all day long. I rather like them, most of the time they seem very laid-back and have that beautiful soft grey and pinky-purple plumage and the white neck patch; it is nice to see them actually in the woods.

Wood Pigeon – Columba palumbus

Gooseberry – Ribes uva-crispa

In one spot up near the top of this Woodland Path there’s a well-established Gooseberry bush, with a few smaller ones dotted around nearby on both sides of the track. More familiar in gardens and allotments, Gooseberry is frequently found in the wild, growing in woods, in scrub and in hedges and are probably mostly bird-sown.

Stopping to photograph the Gooseberry I heard a Wren singing. It was close to me but I couldn’t spot it. There are a few Celandines flowering, but they’re quite sparse, perhaps because it’s been so dry.

A native wild flower, Dog’s Mercury is flowering. It’s still short, not yet more than six inches (7.5cm) tall.

Dog’s Mercury-Mercurialis perennis

Here and there are clumps of pretty ferny moss. This one is in the middle of the Wood Sorrel patch, whose shamrock-shaped leaves are just beginning to unfurl.

Spurge Laurel – Daphne laureola

Spurge Laurel is one of the more unusual plants that grows here on the Bryn. It is a native plant that favours wooded chalky hillsides, so I have no reason to think it’s not here naturally, but I haven’t seen it on any other sides of the hill. A very small shrub that must contend with much taller trees and shrubs towering over it, it’s equipped with thick leathery evergreen leaves, resembling those of Laurel, that can withstand dripping rainwater. It produces its small green fragrant flowers early in the year to make the most of the light before a new canopy of leaves shuts it out.

The near hills and more distant mountains were veiled by a misty haze. Patches of snow clung to the highest peaks, another reminder that winter is still not past. As I stood looking at the view I heard a Woodpecker drumming back in the direction I’d just walked.

Alexanders puts out it new leaves early, often in early February and it’s quite well grown now. It has established on the path-side just before it reaches the reserve and although woodland is not it’s usual habitat, it seems to be spreading. Another introduced plant, Alexanders was brought in as a food plant by the Romans; it has a mild, celery-like taste. This a plant that isn’t usually found far from the sea; there’s a lot of it locally on the Little Orme and in recent years it has spread prolifically along the verge of Llandudno Road, which I suppose is not that far away as birds fly.

Alexanders – Smyrnium olusatrum

The Woodland Trail

Where the Woodland Path meets the Woodland Trail of the Nature Reserve, a Flowering Currant bush is in bloom.

Flowering Currant – Ribes sanguineum

A popular and familiar garden shrub, with pungently aromatic leaves,this one was again probably also bird-sown. As with the Gooseberry, Flowering Currant can be found throughout the British Isles naturalised in woods, scrub and on waysides.

The Trail is dry and baked hard. The unseasonal warm sunny weather is a treat, but we’re going to need some rain soon. Gorse is flowering more strongly now. I can never resist a chance to smell the warm coconut aroma of its golden flowers. Delicious.

As I reached the enormous bramble patch a Long-tailed Tit flew across the trail in front of me. It disappeared into the dense shrubbery, but then I saw another in the bramble patch. I could see it through the tangle of stems but not clearly enough to photograph. I waited for a few minutes hoping for a better view, but no luck. About to walk on I heard a whistling call and watched a bird fly strongly over the track and land high in a Sycamore tree. It was clearly on the move, so I took a ‘panic pic’ in case I missed it, but just managed to catch it before it zoomed off; a Nuthatch. I was thrilled, I’ve had very sparse sightings of them here, and never this high up in the woods.

Nuthatch – Sitta europaea

Yew trees are our third native conifer tree, after Scots Pine and Juniper. They are widespread throughout these woods, where they grow well on the chalky hillside. A number of them line a section of the Trail, with other single trees on the other side.

One in particular was heavily laden with flowers. Yews are one of those species that have separate male and female trees. This one is a male; the female flowers are less conspicuous, being tiny and green.

Yew – Taxus baccata

Then there’s a line of Ash saplings, they are growing so closely together they almost make a living fence. More ‘invaders’ grow along the edge of this stretch of the Trail; Tutsan and the dreaded Cotoneaster, which has thus far escaped being routed out.

Beyond the Ash are the Hazels. From the way in which they grow it would seem that at some time in their history they were pollarded as now most of the trees are multi-stemmed and form a small thicket. They are all quite tall though, so if ever they were cut it must have been some time ago.

Because the trees are tall and growing on a steep slope, you perhaps don’t get the full effect of their crop of pale golden yellow catkins, you have to look up.

There were more Blue Tits here exploring the Hazels and the surrounding vegetation. At the beginning of this month, on an equally blue-skied sunny day I’d stopped here to look for the female flowers of the tree, which are tiny and red and quite hard to spot, especially if you need reading glasses, as I do, but can’t be bothered to keep putting them on to look for things when out walking.

This was not the best place to look as even the lower branches are above my head, so the photograph above is one I made earlier. Once again though, my hanging around brought a reward. Often a good spot for catching sight of parties of Tits, I was lucky enough to see a pair of Coal Tits arrive and spend a few minutes foraging through the trees. I loved the way they grasped individual Catkins, inspecting them closely to check for hiding insects.

A bit further along the Trail and on the other side from the Hazels, a tree smothered with frothy white blossom shown up perfectly by the deep blue sky; a proper floral treat.

This is a Cherry Plum, although not the truly native wild one as it has bronzy-coloured leaves and not the plain green of the wild one. It could be Prunus atropurpurea, which is a popular garden tree, but I’m not sure.

I don’t think its exact pedigree matters too much, it was lovely to look at and more importantly was also attracting the attentions of quite a few insects. All very high up though. There were definitely a couple of smallish bees and small long hoverflies.

The blossom won’t last for long; already petals are falling and strewing the ground below like confetti.

Another good reason to take one last photograph with the sun shining through it.

Back at ground level, the leaves of Lords and Ladies, or Cuckoo Pint if you prefer, are well grown now, they began to appear back in late January.

Lords & Ladies, Cuckoo Pint – Arum maculatum

and to finish, a first sighting this year of a single Dog Violet.

Birds today: Wood Pigeon; Carrion Crow; Raven; Magpie; Herring Gull; Nuthatch; Blackbird; Robin; Dunnock; Great Tit; Blue Tit; Long-tailed Tit Heard: Song Thrush; Wren; Gt Spotted Woodpecker (drumming)

Shades, Sounds and Scents of the Woods

22 Thursday Feb 2018

Posted by theresagreen in birds of Wales, Nature of Wales, woodland birds

≈ 17 Comments

Tags

alexanders, Blue tit, Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, colour in winter woods, fragrant wild flowers, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, hazel catkins, lamb's tails, lesser periwinkle, mosses & liverworts, Robin, snowdrop, Spurge laurel, treecreeper, woodland flowers

February 18th-Bryn Euryn-Woodland Path

A bit fed up with dull drab winter days, a sunny start to the day inspired me to go out and seek signs of the coming Spring and hopefully some colour. A Robin sang from a tree branch at the beginning of the Woodland Path, then minutes later the delightful and uplifting sight of a bank of Snowdrops in full flower made the perfect start.

Our Snowdrop display may not be on the scale of that of those boasted by our local National Trust gardens, but it is no less beautiful and uplifting; and I didn’t have to drive anywhere to see it.

Lesser Periwinkle- Vinca minor

Nearby, peeping out shyly from beneath a bramble, the bright blue face of a Periwinkle.

A Barberry shrub arches gracefully over the pathway, its golden-orange flowers not yet quite open. I thought it was a bit early for it to be flowering? Barberry- Berberis vulgaris is a native plant, but it is scarce in the wild although widely naturalised. This one, or an ancestor of it may have been planted when this woodland was part of the grounds of the house that used to stand where our apartment building is now. Either way it’s pretty and a splash more colour to add to my collection.

Another shrub I found flowering, Mahonia, has also likely arrived here from a garden. Its bright yellow flowers also look good and smell lovely.

Barberry-Berberis vulgaris

Mahonia-Mahonia japonica

Of course green is still the predominant colour, but there are splashes of bright fresh shades breaking up the dark evergreens. Mosses are at their best at this time of year, brightening the shady woodland floor, smothering rocks and the bases of tree trunks with patches of vivid green. I have yet to learn to identify the different species, so for now I think of this one as ‘looking like a forest of miniature pine trees’!

Although I walk this path often I can still see things I’ve not spotted before, like this pretty clump of Navelwort. Its pretty round leaves, dimpled in the centre and with frilled edges look a bit like green flowers.

Navelwort-Umbillicus rupestris

There are a number of Spurge laurel plants in this part of the woods and they too are flowering now. The flowers are a subtle lime green-yellow colour but they are pretty and in common with those of other members of the daphne family they are deliciously scented, with an aroma that really is like warm honey.

Spurge laurel-Daphne laureola

Fully opened flowers

It’s wonderful to hear the woods full of bird sounds again. Throughout most of this walk I was surrounded by the sounds of birds, mostly the cheerful chirps and chatter of tits keeping contact with one another. Blue tits were everywhere, up high in trees and lower down in the shrubs, investigating every nook, cranny and leaf for potential food. They are bright colourful little birds, but still blend surprisingly well into the woodland background.

Great tits are also about, but their favoured place is around the Scots Pines where there are often several. They are more easily heard than seen and have a huge repertoire of calls and phrases at their disposal. Years ago I learnt from a bird-watching master that if you hear a bird sound you don’t recognise the chances are it will be a Great Tit!

I stood and watched them there for a few minutes until my neck ached from craning upwards.Thankfully I was distracted by a Treecreeper up in a big sycamore tree nearby.

It was exceptionally well-camouflaged against the shaded, heavily textured bark and hard to see when not mobile and flashing its white undersides. It was fascinating to watch as it contorted itself, using its tail to steady itself to probe its beak into its deep fissures. From this spot I also heard the screeching of Jays and caught a glimpse of one before it sped off through the trees.

I passed by the remains of the Scots Pine that was sadly felled in a storm two years ago. Much of it has been sawn and removed; what’s left is being gradually absorbed back into the fabric of the woodland. I liked its rich colour and texture.

Looking across the boundary fence here the colours of the landscape in general are still predominantly brown and green, but taking time to look properly you appreciate the are a myriad of shades of those colours. And I’m sure the grass is getting greener by the day!

I usually concentrate on the more scenic aspects of this view, but zooming in and down onto an edge of the far landscape reveals an interesting slice of a community. An interesting juxtaposition caught my eye – Modern Industry and a Final Resting Place separated by a field full of sheep turned out to eat turnips!

On the field-woodland boundary is more colour. Gorse is blooming bringing forth its warm golden glow. I think this line of gorse was probably planted here as a boundary hedge. This was a common and effective practice in Wales to prevent animals wandering and remnants of such hedges can still be found in the countryside, particularly in Anglesey.

I heard a Robin singing and noticed bird movement amongst the Gorse. Zooming in I found the rusty-red of two Robins there, one being the source of the song. I wonder if they were mates prospecting for a nest site or rivals claiming territory?

Two birds in a bush

Honeysuckle twining up the wire boundary fence has well-grown fresh leaves already; quite surprising in this exposed spot.

Honeysuckle leaves are well-grown

Amongst leaf litter, ivy and feathery moss, Wood Sorrel has shown some of its bright green shamrock-like leaves throughout the winter. It will be flowering soon.

Leaves of Wood Sorrel

The top end of this path is becoming increasingly lined with Alexanders’ plants. Most are well-grown now, particularly those sheltered against tree trunks. They will flower soon; last year their flowers were much appreciated by some of the earlier hoverflies.

Alexanders-Smyrnium olusatrum

Woodland – Summit Trail

Emerging from the beneath the canopy of the woods onto the open Woodland Trail the first colour I noticed was the blue of the sky!

Heading towards the track that leads up to the Summit Trail I heard a Woodpecker tapping. I’ve had several good sightings of Great Spotted Woodpeckers in the past few weeks, the latest one just this morning as it came down almost as far as our bird feeders. I scanned the trees for a sight of it but no luck. A Raven flew overhead, ‘cronking’ as it travelled to alert all to its presence.

Surprisingly there were a few bright red berries left on the big Holly bush; there are so many Blackbirds about I thought every last one would be gone by now. Perhaps they can’t reach those left at the end of branches. Many holly leaves have been ‘mined’ by insects so display bright pale splashes where there is now no chlorophyll.

180218-BEWT-1155-Holly with few berries left

As I said earlier, Blackbirds were numerous and have turned their attentions to the Ivy berries, many of which are finally ripe. Everywhere there were berries there were birds from low down to the tops of trees. They rustle noisily around seeking the bunches of berries using a variety of techniques to reach the fruits. Their familiar scolding and alarm calls ring out from almost every tree as they chase away competitors.

Hazel catkins have been present since the autumn, gradually lengthening and maturing. Now their soft golden tassels are long and fluffy, resembling the ‘lamb’s tails’, which gave rise to the old country name for catkins.

Common Hazel (Corylus avellana)

Catkins are the male flowers of the plant, producing pollen to fertilise the tiny red female flowers that sit tightly on the twigs.

I heard the Woodpecker again, this time drumming loudly on a tree trunk. It was too far away to try to locate it, but was good to hear. The males don’t have a song with which to claim ownership of their chosen patch of woodland, so they use the tool they have, their powerful bill to drum on dead trees. They can be clever in their choice of drumming spot, often choosing a site where the sound is amplified by surrounding features. A Thrush was singing nearby too, so I stopped to listen. Then two birds making sounds I didn’t recognise at all crashed into the top of a tree in front of me on the other side of the track. With the sun behind them they were drained of colour, but there was no mistaking their outlines – two Woodpeckers! I have no idea if they were a pair or two rivals chasing, but they left without a sound, one behind the other.

After the activity of the woods the almost-summit was surprisingly calm. This must be the first time for months that there has been not even a breath of wind and it was actually enjoyable to be up there! The sea of Colwyn Bay seemingly flat calm and mirroring the sky, now sunless, was a most unusual shade of blue-grey.

Swinging around to my right the snow-capped higher peaks of the Carneddau mountains rising above the river Conwy show remind that there is some Winter still to go.

Continuing up to the Summit you pass thickets of blackthorn; they take on a completely different appearance in the winter as their leafless black twigs and branches are richly encrusted with gold and silver-grey lichens.

Crossing to the North-facing side of the hill the view is down the coast along Penrhyn Bay to the Little Orme; the sea is still calm but more blue. The field (on the opposite side of the road to the golf course) has a lot if standing water and I could see there were gulls and Oystercatchers feeding there. This is the ‘Curlew field’ that I’ve mentioned many times. I couldn’t make out if there were any Curlew there, but I did hear one and the tide appears to be in, so there most likely were.

Below is a panoramic view starting from past the Little Orme on the right of the image and travelling along to the hills at the end of the Carneddau. Anglesey lies on the horizon behind the stretch of water which is the Menai Strait. It would have looked better if the sun had still been out, but it’s still pretty spectacular.

click for bigger image

Going down, the Gorse on the hillside is in full golden flower. It was only planted in recent years but has quickly thickened and grown taller.

I walked home across the field where a Long-tailed tit flew in front of me: it was so close I could almost have touched it. They are so pretty. It was one of a party but the others took a more cautious route around the field via the trees rather than the direct crossing.

I completed the circuit of the Bryn walking back along the Woodland Trail. It was much quieter now but I did get one last look of two Great Spotted Woodpeckers together, so fingers crossed they are a pair. I’ll be keeping an eye out.

Mellow autumn

23 Thursday Oct 2014

Posted by theresagreen in Butterflies of Wales, calcareous grassland, coastal habitat, coastal walks, Nature, Nature of Wales, nature of woodlands, nature photography, Wildflowers of Wales

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

autumn woodland, Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, common buzzard, eyebright, galls on back of oak leaves, hawthorn berries, silver birch, spangle gall, speckled wood, St John's Wort, wildflowers of Bryn Euryn

Me it delights in mellow autumn tide, To mark the pleasaunce that my eye surrounds, The forest trees like coloured posies pied, The uplands mealy grey and russet grounds; Seeking for joy where joyaunce most abounds……. from Autumn by John Clare

Autumn certainly has been joyous this year and even the blustery tail-end effects of hurricane Gonzalo have failed to provoke most of our habitual complaints about the weather. Temperature-wise, a walk I took on Bryn Euryn just a couple of weeks ago felt more like early summer than approaching winter and although many of the signs of autumn were in place, there were a surprising number of wildflowers in bloom and butterflies, bees and various flies on the wing.

Quarry-field cliff crowned with autumn colours

A prickly selection – teasel seed-heads amongst thistles

The woodland tracks are covered with layers of dried fallen leaves that rustle when stepped upon and the soft musky scent of their decaying matter fills the air.

Sun-dappled woodland track covered with dry fallen leaves

Wild clematis is prolific throughout the reserve and curtains of the fluffy dried seed-heads is draped over vegetation of varying heights and is living up to its common name of Old Man’s Beard.

Fluffy seed heads of wild clematis or ‘old man’s beard’

The individual seed-heads are prettily composed and shine silver in the sunlight.

141002(6)TGNW-Bryn Euryn-Old man's beard close-up

Clusters of silvery filaments make up a seed-head of wild clematis

The bountiful crops of haws on the hawthorn trees are still untouched by birds and have turned a rich ruby red.

Rich pickings still to come for hungry birds

Hawthorn leaves also turning red

Although there are bountiful berry crops, the oak trees do not seem to have produced many acorns this season.

Oak tree with bracken in the foreground

Oak leaves turning colour

There are ‘crops’ of spangle galls though.

Spangle galls on oak leaves

Before climbing up the steep track through the woods on the way to the summit I sat for a few minutes on a rock to note down what I’d seen so far and was scrutinised for a few seconds by a buzzard that flew in over the treetops. This is a favoured spot of the locally resident buzzard, known to local visitors to the site as Lucifer and if you are here for any length of time you have to be quite unlucky not to get at least a glimpse of him here. He was accompanied by his mate today and didn’t linger, moving away in a leisurely circling kind of way towards Penrhyn Hill and the Little Orme.

Buzzards circling Penrhyn Hill

I noted: ” I’m sitting on one of my favourite rocks. It’s around noon, the sun is high in a blue sky with just the faintest wash of wispy white cloud and is so hot I can feel it burning my legs through my jeans. The grassy areas have all been cut but a few wildflowers in bloom including rockrose, harebell & a bit of hogweed. There are butterflies, mostly speckled woods, but also a red admiral. Drone flies come to bask on the sun-warmed rocks and several wasps are seeking available food sources. Birds are still fairly quiet, I’ve heard the occasional song of a Robin and Blue and Great Tits calling to one another as they flit around foraging for food, but apart from the ever-present Crows everything else is keeping a low profile.”

Moving onwards and upwards along the track that leads out onto the ‘downland’ side of the hill I could hear drying leaves crackling in the heat of the sun. On the woodland edge there were several speckled woods flitting about, pausing often to settle on oak leaves. All appeared to be dark in colour and were not fully basking, but holding their wings partially closed.

Speckled Wood basking on an oak leaf

I photographed another insect here too: it looked like a small bee but was behaving more like a hoverfly.

Cute insect looking like a small bee and behaving like a hoverfly

There is a beautiful silver birch tree on the woodland edge. Its leaves are beginning to turn colour and it has attractive fruiting catkins that look like a bit like a small slender fir cone from which, during the winter and aided by birds, tiny winged nutlets will be released.

141002(26)TGNW-Bryn Euryn- Silver birch fruits

Silver birch leaves and fruiting bodies

141002(27)TGNW-Bryn Euryn- Silver birch fruit

Close up of fruiting body

The grass has been cut on the hillside too and the ground is criss-crossed with a lattice of bramble stems. There are a few plants of the wild Goldenrod still in flower, while others have gone to seed.

Goldenrod-Solidago virgaurea

The dry flower head with seeds attached looks as pretty as the fresh flower.

Goldenrod gone to seed

There was a fair amount of scabious still in flower and was attracting a busy little Carder Bee.

Scabious still flowering

There were a few eyebright plants still with their usual white flowers, and one that I came upon had pretty pink-purple edged petals with a yellow patch in the centre.

Eyebright with purple-pink edged petals

The views from the hillside were outstanding today as it was perfectly clear and bright which rarely happens in the summer months.

Looking down onto woodland across the hillside. Carneddau Mountains in the background

Little Orme & Penrhyn Bay village

The sea was almost flat calm and in as many shades of blue as I have ever seen it.

The sea in many shades of blue

Looking down the coast to Abergele & Rhyl

Looking down the coast to Colwyn Bay, Abergele & Rhyl

Dare we cast a clout now May is out?

09 Sunday Jun 2013

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

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Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, buff-tailed bumblebee, germander speedwell, grey-green lichen hanging from tree, hairy rock cress, hawthorn in flower, may blossom, salad burnet, wildflowers of Bryn Euryn

The last day of May was overcast and cool but I wanted to go back to the Bryn to photograph a plant I had spotted there on the rocky cliffs amongst the rockroses but forgot about until I got home. I took a different route up to the top today, passing through the grassy meadow area to see what I could find there.

Cow parsley -Anthriscus sylvestris

A first bloom of Common Vetch-Vicia sativa

There’s a lot of Ribwort Plantain, whose flowerheads I find fascinating, every one seems slightly different to the other.

Ribwort Plantain flowerhead

The star of the flower show today was definitely the May, the blossom of the Hawthorn. Perhaps we can all ‘cast a clout’, now that May is out, both the blossom and the month.

A beautiful spray of May blossom, or Hawthorn, looks like a bridal bouquet

Close to where I stopped to photograph the May blossom I noticed the more unusual Salad Burnet plant. This is one of those plants that is very easy to overlook as it seems to really blend in to its surroundings, but once you have it in your mind’s eye you then notice them in other places.

Salad Burnet-Sanguisorba minor

The leaves are very pretty, and as the plant’s name suggests, are edible.

Salad Burnet has very pretty, pinnate leaves

The Oak trees are fresh-coloured and in just about full leaf now.

Oak tree

Fresh new oak leaves

On a rocky outcrop there were low-growing common rockroses, bird’s foot trefoil, kidney vetch, almost over but attracting the attention of a number of little ginger-headed bumblebees, small patches of wild thyme and taller-growing hawksbit flowers.

Wild Thyme growing with Common Rockrose

I wasn’t able to get a particularly good photograph of a bee, but I liked the lichen-covered rock in this one.

A small ginger bumblebee on Kidney Vetch

The patch of bird’s-foot trefoil had obligingly placed itself near the edge of a rock, so taking an eye-level picture was a nice option. I didn’t notice the ‘Cuckoo-spit’ until I looked at the photograph. I’d forgotten about Cuckoo-spit. I must remind myself what generates it, some kind of thrip, I think.

Bird’s-foot Trefoil with Cuckoo Spit

Hawksbit against limestone rock

There seem to be masses of the beautiful blue Germander Speedwell here this year, I don’t remember it being this prolific before.

Germander Speedwell-Veronica chamaedrys

I finally got up and around to where the plant I had come to find was located; probably not as exciting as you’d expected, but I was pleased to find it. The plant is Hairy Rock Cress, an under-stated little plant with tiny white flowers like most members of the cress family, not at all showy like its golden-bloomed neighbours, but none the less interesting. Even though it’s flower’s are almost over and it’s going to seed.

Hairy Rock Cress. Also in picture are kidney vetch, salad burnet & rockrose

The scientific name for Rockrose, helianthemum, means sun-flower. They don’t bother to open up on dull or damp days, particularly the little blooms of the Hoary Rockrose.

Flowers of Hoary Rockrose close on dull, sunless days

It was getting quite late on now, but there was one more distraction to waylay me before heading back down the hill. A Mistle Thrush was out hunting on the path around the edge of the rocks, which I had to stay and watch as I’d not seen one here before. When it flew off with its gatherings I took a photograph of the top of a lovely Ash tree which has houses of Rhos-on-Sea below and peeking through its leaves.

Ash tree on Bryn Euryn, Rhos-on-Sea behind

On the way down through the woods I spotted some very pretty Oak Moss lichen hanging from some twiggy branches; I don’t know why I’ve not noticed it before, there’s quite a lot of it.

Oak Moss lichen- Usnea florida

Almost at the bottom of the hill, I couldn’t resist taking a final picture of a Buff-tailed Bumblebee that was either excavating a hole or looking for an existing one to spend the night in.

Buff-tailed Bumblebee making or seeking a hole

Bryn Euryn walk continued: Part 3

08 Saturday Jun 2013

Posted by theresagreen in Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, Local Nature Reserves, Nature of Wales, Wildflowers of Wales

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Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, cowslip, early purple orchid, orchis mascula, primula veris, rhos on sea, views from Bryn Euryn, wildflowers of Bryn Euryn

The views from the Bryn are always worth the steep climb up to the top and change according to the season, the weather and the time of day. The southerly side overlooks part of Rhos-on-Sea and part of Colwyn Bay town, divided by the duel-carriageway of the A55, whose traffic noise can be loud and rather intrusive, so not the spot to seek peace and quiet. Beyond is Colwyn Bay and inland a patchwork of woodlands, golden gorse and neat farmed fields set upon rolling hillsides sloping around and down to the Conwy river and estuary.

Panoramic view from the south of the summit of Bryn Euryn

The gorgeous view from the south side of Bryn Euryn (click to enlarge)

I was heading now towards the true summit, where the not-too-beautiful triangulation (trig) point marks the highest point.

The trig point on the summit of Bryn Euryn looking south-south-easterly (ish)

The trig point on the summit of Bryn Euryn looking south to south-easterly (ish)

Last year there was an impressive patch of at least a hundred Early Purple Orchids on the approaching grassy slope (behind the other side of the rocky bit in the photograph), but this year although there are still a good number there are a lot less. Having said that, those I saw are beautiful specimens, of good height and their stems thick with flowers. The success of Orchids is affected by seasonal weather, they are affected by drought, numbers may vary even in areas they otherwise frequent, which is part of their allure of course.Their less than predictable appearance and their wonderfully exotic beauty combine to make each discovery just as exciting as it was last year or the year before.

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I can still remember the excitement of discovering my first Early Purple Orchid, growing exactly where it should be, on the floor of the old woodland next to our house. I was probably about aged ten at the time and had no idea what it was, but it looked very special to me and I couldn’t wait to look it up in my ‘Observer’s Book of Wild Flowers’, which I still treasure because I love the descriptions written by the lady author of the book. I would quote it here but it’s currently in a box in a storage unit in Spain, so I’ll have to manage without for now.

Early Purple Orchid – Orchis mascula

Early Purple Orchids-Orchis mascula

In flower from April to June, the Early Purple Orchid is a species of old broadleaved woodlands, where they are generally widespread, but they also occur in rich grasslands, on road verges, on limestone pavement and on heathy ground in the South and West of the British Isles.

‘Therewith fantastic garlands did she make

Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies and long purples

That liberal shepherds give a grosser name’

But our cull-cold maids do dead-men’s fingers call them’.

It is claimed that when William Shakespeare wrote those lines in Hamlet, his ‘long purples’ referred to the Early-purple Orchid. The lines were spoken by Gertrude and referred to the coronet which Ophelia was wearing when she drowned.

A short-medium perennial that can reach 40cm, the stem is also often flushed with purple. There are usually 3-5 unstalked basal leaves, oblong in shape, pointed, parallel-veined and glossy green blotched with purple.

Flower colour can vary in shade from quite a dark purplish-red to pink or even white and are distributed in dense or loose spikes of between 10-30 flowers. Each flower has a narrow purple bract, purplish-grey ovary, three sepals and three petals.

Flowers of Early Purple Orchid

Side sepals spread backwards, upper one joins to the upper two petals to form a hood; lower petal forms tri-lobed spurred crimson-dotted lip, 8-12mm long. At the back of the flower one unstalked anther holds two pollen masses on stalks that adhere to heads of visiting insects for cross-pollination; below the anther the stigma surface receives pollen brought from other flowers.

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A few minutes taking in the view more or less east towards the mountains on the edge of Snowdonia , then onwards and downwards via the grassy slope on the north side of the hill.

The A55 snakes towards the Conwy Estuary with view of Snowdonia beyond

The A55 snakes towards the Conwy River & Estuary with views of Snowdonia beyond

The rough grassy area was, as I’d hoped, generously sprinkled with Cowslips. Not as showy as the Orchids or as bright as the Rockroses, but with a special understated beauty of their own. I was slightly concerned I may have missed them at their best as they are flowers I associate more with late April-early May, but thanks to the late start to Spring this year I caught them just in time before they start to ‘go over’.

A field full of Cowslips, their heads held aloft on stiff stems were dancing in the wind like little flags

Cowslip -Primula veris

I have a great affection for Cowslips and seeing them growing in numbers in a grassy meadow takes me back to my childhood in an instant. In Northamptonshire, where I grew up in the 50s and 60s, lovely golden-yellow cowslips were numerous, particularly in the damper grass meadows grazed by cows. One of life’s little treats back in the day was to pull a flower from its little green sack and suck the nectar from the base of the tube. And before it became necessary to ban the picking of wild flowers, we used to pick bunches of them for the house as they have nice long stems and looked lovely in a jam jar on the kitchen windowsill. We picked them to add to garlands and to decorate the ‘throne’ for the May Queen during our school’s Mayday celebrations. Occasionally we even got to pick lots of them to be made into Cowslip wine.

Cowslip- Primula veris

I assure you though, it wasn’t our picking that caused the Cowslip’s serious decline, we couldn’t possibly have picked even all of those growing in a single field. It had much more to do with the rise of intensive farming and old grassland being ploughed over to create more space for growing other crops.

Thankfully the plant’s numbers are on the rise again, partly due to raised awareness but probably owing more to the sowing of seed on roadside verges and in wildflower meadows. So once again the Cowslip can raise its graceful nodding heads above the grass blades and be counted in generous numbers once again. I won’t be picking any though, just taking photographs.

The leaves of the Cowslip are wrinkly and hairy and form a basal rosette, similar to those of the Primrose.

The yellow-orange flowers (8-15mm) are held in a one-sided umbel which is borne on a softly hairy, sturdy stem. The individual flowers are comprised of five joined petals, each flower bearing orange spots in the centre, and are deliciously scented.

Cowslips and plaintains

A final gaze at the view from here over the tops of the trees below, across the golf course to Penrhyn Bay and on the horizon the Little Orme skirted on its left side by the road to Llandudno climbing Penrhyn Hill.

View from the north side of Bryn Euryn

Bryn Euryn a walk of several parts. Part 2 – Rare Rockroses

04 Tuesday Jun 2013

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

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Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, common rockrose, helianthemum canum, helianthemum chemaecistus, hoary rockrose, wildflowers of Bryn Euryn, wildflowers with yellow flowers

I reluctantly left the Long-tailed Tits to their labours and headed up though the woods towards the summit.

Emerging from the shelter of the trees near the summit of the hill I was confronted by a chilly breeze and on another day would have headed for the more sheltered side, but I wanted to see the Rockroses, which are at their best and most prolific on the exposed limestone cliff on this side. Happily the reward was well worth putting up with a bit of discomfort for; the sunshine yellow flowers on the edge of the cliff and cascading down the rocky hillside were spectacular.

The stiff breeze made focusing on the flowers in the following photographs a bit tricky though. The Latin name Helianthemum translates as sun flower, which refers to the flower’s habit of opening up on sunny days and closing on sunless ones. Being very sunny today there was a profusion of blooms but those out in the open were waving about, so I tried for ones in the shelter of rocks which were then shaded.

Cliff smothered with golden rockroses-Bryn Euryn, North Wales

Large clumps of Rockroses spilling down the exposed limestone

There are two species of Rockrose found here; one is the Common Rockrose –Helianthemum nummularium and the other is a species more common to the Mediterranean than the UK, the Hoary Rockrose Helianthemun canum, which is one of the specialty plants of this reserve.

Common Rockrose-Helianthemum chemaecistus

The Common Rockrose is an evergreen plant, an undershrub, usually prostrate and spreading. The small leaves are a dark grey-green above and grey-white and woolly-hairy beneath. Flowering from April-July, it is common on chalk downs and an occasional plant in other types of grassland, but always on dry and base-rich soil.

Rockrose flower with two tiny and one minuscule beetle

Rockrose flower dotted with two tiny and one minuscule beetle

The flowers of the native Rockrose are usually bright sunshine yellow, but may also be darker gold or even pale orange. Flowers are 12-20mm across, with 5 slightly crinkled petals. Each flower last only a day, but there are many of them. In the flower centre is a tight cluster of stamens.

Common Rockrose is a good provider of nectar for various species of bee and is also the foodplant of several species of moths and butterflies such as the Brown Argus, Green Hairstreak and the rare Silver-studded Blue. Many of the flowers I looked closely at today were playing host to at least one, usually more tiny little beetles.

Hoary Rockrose – Helianthemum canum (L.) Baumg

Status: scarce

Hoary Rockrose flowers

As I already mentioned, the Hoary Rockrose is one of the specialty plants growing on Bryn Euryn and its major British stronghold is located just a few miles away on the Great Orme in Llandudno. The plant is restricted to Carboniferous limestone. It is found on rocky outcrops and on the face of scars and cliffs, often on the upper parts of outcrops and in sparse vegetation on shallow soil near the edges of cliffs. It can be very abundant on steep, rocky, exposed, often south to west-facing sites, of 0-540m, which are prone to summer drought, which fits the location in which plants are most prolific here on the Bryn.

Hoary Rockrose-Helianthemum canum

H. canum is a shrubby, mat-forming perennial. Plants flower freely and set abundant seed unless they are subjected to particularly heavy grazing. There is no specialised means of dispersal. Seeds produced in one summer germinate gradually over a long period but the successful establishment of seedlings requires a period of damp weather long enough for young plants to develop a root system which will withstand subsequent drought (Griffiths & Proctor 1956).

Hoary Rockrose flowers

The flowers are smaller than those of the Common Rockrose, just 8-15mm across, but there are many more of them.

There are five slightly crinkled petals and at the centre of each flower there is a crowded cluster of golden stamens.

Factual extracts are from : The Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora http://www.brc.ac.uk/plantatlas/index.php?q=plant/helianthemum-oelandicum

Bryn Euryn – a walk of several parts. Part 1

03 Monday Jun 2013

Posted by theresagreen in bird's nests, Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, Nature, Nature of Wales, nature photography, woodland birds

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Aegithalos caudatus, ash tree keys, bird's nests, Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, cuckoo flower, lady's smock, long-tailed tit, long-tailed tit's nest

We had one day of decent weather last week and I grabbed the opportunity to walk up to and around ‘the Bryn‘. I hadn’t been there for ages and I knew if I didn’t get there soon I would miss the Early Purple Orchids and Cowslips that grace this special place at this time of the year. It was sunny but a north wind kept the ambient air temperature cool to outright chilly in the open, but in more sheltered spots it was pleasant and almost felt spring-like. The open grassy meadow area in front of the car park was just such a spot today and there were actually butterflies to watch, all whites, definitely some small and some green-veined whites, but as there was also a solitary male orange-tip making territorial laps at speed, it is possible there were females of that species too, they don’t have the distinctive orange wing tips so are harder to identify in flight.

Bunches of ‘keys’ are already forming on this tree and the leaves are well grown

I hoped the Orange Tip would stop long enough to have his picture taken, so whilst waiting for him to come back to this part of his circuit, which he did several times, I wandered along the field edge to see what progress the plants were making. There are many Ash trees in the woodland of this site and it is interesting to note the difference in the rate of growth of new foliage on trees which can vary significantly, even on trees that are quite close together. I am paying more attention to Ash trees now, knowing that they are under threat from the killer fungus chalara fraxinea, appreciating their beauty while I still have the chance while dreading that they may be stricken with it.

This link shows the signs of the disease to look out for: http://visitwoods.org.uk/en/visit-woods/for-nature/Documents/symptoms-chalara-dieback-ash.pdf

White-flowered Valerian

The vegetation along the field edge is already tall, with much on the point of flowering, although there was little of interest to waylay the speeding Orange Tip. He was almost tempted by what I think was a white flowered Valerian, settling on it for a few seconds only before spotting a Small White in his airspace and rocketing after it. I felt sure he’d stop to rest or feed eventually, watching and waiting for quite a while hoping for a photo opportunity, but he was clearly on duty and intent on seeing off all interlopers. I hadn’t realised how territorial and feisty this species was until now. I got tired way before he did, but thought it worth looking for some Lady’s Smock flowers, a foodplant of the species’ larva and one of the few flowers the adults do sometimes pause to take nectar from. I did find some, but only a couple of stems of flowers and no sign of the butterfly anywhere near.

Lady’s Smock, Cuckoo Flower-Cardamine pratensis

As I bent down to get an image of the flower I caught a glimpse of a bird passing me by very closely and stood up to see a lovely Long-tailed Tit at just about my eye-level (not very high then), perched on a dried stem about 2 metres or less in front of me and with its beak full of small flies.

A Long-tailed Tit with her beak full of small flies

To be honest, the encounter took me so much by surprise that it took a moment for it to register that it was indeed Long-tailed Tit, let alone for it to occur to me that the poor bird was agitated by my presence because the flies were intended to be fed her nestlings. I stood still and she flitted over to the cover of a nearby small tree, then after a moment or two began to make her way to the back of the wire fence, then through a tangle of brambles to the most beautiful nest. I was thrilled to see it as I’d never seen one closely before; they are usually deeper into a tangle of brambles, so at the same time I felt concern at the location of this one; it seemed very vulnerable and if I spotted it fairly easily then so could potential predators. Long-tailed tit nests are known to suffer high rates of predation with only 17% of them being successful.

The Long-tailed Tit at the nest

Long-tailed Tits make magical nests from materials you could almost imagine being called for in a spell; spider egg cocoons and moss, lichen and feathers, some 6,000 tiny pieces required for the average construction. The moss and spider silk provide the structural stability, they are pieced together to form a mesh with the tiny leaves of the moss acting as hooks and the spider silk of the egg cocoons providing the loops, which has been described as working in a similar way to velcro. The outside of the nest is covered with hundreds of flakes of pale green-grey lichens to provide camouflage and the inside lined with around 2,000 downy feathers to insulate the nest. The end result is a lightweight elastic sac with a small, round entrance placed at the top, which is suspended either low in a gorse or bramble bush, less than 3m off the ground, or occasionally high up in the forks of tree branches.

Despite its apparent fragility the nest is strong due to the spider silk and the elasticity of the structure allows it to expand as the nestlings grow, so is always the perfect size. This nest was fairly bulging, so I imagine the young ones were quite well grown and that there were several of them in there.

A close view of the exquisite nest and young ones peeking out

I stood rooted to the spot watching as both parent birds hunted for food for their young ones. they were not travelling far, one was mainly foraging in the lower branches of a tree within a few metres of one side of the nest and the other in another tree a similar distance away to the other side. That same one, which is the one I photographed also seemed to be flying up from the fence pursuing flies on the wing.

A Long-tailed Tit with a beak full of small flies waiting a short distance from the nest

I would have loves to have stayed and watched for longer, but although the birds carried on about their work despite me, they were clearly wary and I left them in peace to carry on while I continued with my walk.