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Tag Archives: primrose

Pines and Primroses

27 Saturday Feb 2016

Posted by theresagreen in Colwyn Bay, Nature of Wales, Trees, Wales Coast Path, Wildlife of the Wales Coast Path

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Tags

Colwyn Bay embankment, early spring flowers, King Alfred's Cakes fungus, pine trees by the sea, Porth Eirias, primrose

Pine trees are well-used as feature plantings in many parts of Colwyn Bay, but those with the greatest impact are those elegantly lining the road into Rhos-on-Sea set on the steep sea-facing railway embankment.

Pine trees along Colwyn Bay embankment

Pine trees along Colwyn Bay embankment

Where the trees thin out primroses smother the grassy embankment. They began flowering early this year but look as though they will continue for some time to come.

Pine tree and primroses

Pine tree and primroses

A lovely clump of fragrant primroses

A lovely clump of fragrant primroses

The back of Colwyn Bay railway station

The back of Colwyn Bay railway station

The grassy embankment is a favourite spot for Herring gulls to paddle for worms.

Herring gulls paddling for worms

Herring gulls paddling for worms

I walked along the promenade then crossed the road at the point where there’s access to the elevated pathway near the top of the embankment.

View to Rhos-on-Sea

View to Rhos-on-Sea

Daisy growing from embankment wall

Daisy growing from embankment wall

Fallen pine cones on embankment wall

Fallen pine cones on embankment wall

The pathway high up on the embankment leads through the pines and offers some protection on cold windy days such as this one was as well as an elevated view. I’ve always been curious about where this gated tunnel leads, but assume it comes out somewhere close to the railway station. It looks like it would be a good place for bats to roost or hibernate; I wonder if they do?

Iron gate closing off a tunnel under the railway line

Iron gate closing off a tunnel under the railway line

Pathway along the embankment

Pathway along the embankment

Ivy clambering high into a pine tree

Ivy clambering high into a pine tree

This can be a good place to see a number of bird species amongst the trees, but today there was just a solitary crow.

Crow enjoying the view out to sea

Crow enjoying the view out to sea

There are other species of tree along the path and I came across the stump of a felled ash tree that is regenerating from its base. It also had a mature patch of the curious brittle black King Alfred’s Cakes Daldinia concentrica  fungus.

Cut ash tree regenerating with King Alfred's Cakes fungus

Cut ash tree regenerating with King Alfred’s Cakes fungus

Scots Pine branch with cones

Scots Pine branch with cones

Approaching the end of the path

Approaching the end of the path

The elevated pathway offers a good view of the Porth Eirias Watersports centre

The elevated pathway offers a good view of the Porth Eirias Watersports centre

The pathway ends by the railway bridge opposite Porth Eirias where these beautiful Hellebores were growing.

Hellebores (Lenten Roses) with green flowers

Hellebores (Lenten Roses) with green flowers

It’s good to see that the traditional planting of pines is being continued. There are several young trees in beds at the front of Porth Eirias.

A newly-planted pine tree at Porth Eirias

A newly-planted pine tree at Porth Eirias

A last look at the sea splashing up onto the rocks at the base of the sea wall before gratefully retreating into the shelter of my car.

160214-Sea splashing on rocks

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Lunchtime nature ramblings

25 Sunday Mar 2012

Posted by theresagreen in Local Nature Reserves, Nature, nature photography, wildflowers

≈ 1 Comment

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Fairy Glen, grey wagtail, long-tailed tit, marsh marigold, nesting birds, Nuthatch, nuthatch nest, primrose, spring flowers, wood anemone

I first spotted two  Grey Wagtail one morning last week when they flew across the road in front of me as I was driving to work. They landed somewhere close to the water of the river close to the footbridge that crosses into the little woodland area called Min-y-Don, near the promenade at Old Colwyn. I looked out for them each time I passed since then, but with no luck until this Thursday when I walked there to look for spring flowers. Both birds must have been down close to the water as they flew up to a nearby shrub as I approached, taking me by surprise. I was pleased to see them but thought I had missed an opportunity to photograph them, but then luckily one returned to resume their hunt for food.

Grey Wagtail-Motacilla cinerea

The grey wagtail is similar in size, shape and to some extent, behaviour, to the pied, or white wagtail, but has an appreciably longer tail. They are very attractive little birds with upperparts that are always blue-grey and a greenish-yellow rump contrasting with whitish underparts makes it distinctive. The breeding male is a brighter yellow than the female and has a black throat that is edged by whitish moustachial stripes. I had assumed the birds were a pair and thought the one I was watching was a female, but looking at my photographs there are definite moustachial stripes and  the throat area looks quite dark: not black though.

Watching the water closely for prey; the birds feed on a variety of aquatic invertebrates including adult flies, mayflies, beetles, crustacea and molluscs.

The grey wagtail’s breeding season is April to July and the nest is placed near fast running streams or rivers, naturally on an embankment between stones and roots or opportunistically on convenient man-made structures such as walls or bridges.

A front view of the bird perched atop an indeterminate piece of plastic

Woodpecker carved into the side of a dead tree trunk

The woodland is at the bottom end of the Old Colwyn Nature and Historical Trail and forms part of  the North Wales Coastal Path.  It continues up into Tan y Coed Gardens, described as ‘ a very pleasant public open space on a sloping site, consisting of deciduous and coniferous trees, lawns and a network of paths. The park extends for most of the eastern side of the valley from behind the property on Abergele Road to near the promenade’. Tan y Coed garden is regarded as a valuable part of the conservation area which it is vital to sustain. The gardens themselves have been recognized as an important habitat that holds a great deal of wildlife and are recognized for their biodiversity.’ Much of the garden space has been left in a natural state and I found the wildflowers I was hoping  for growing on the banks beneath the trees.

Primrose-primula vulgaris

The harbinger of spring, creamy yellow primroses are amongst the earliest and best-loved wildflowers, flowering well before the trees come into leaf.  The name “Primrose” is originally from  Old French primerose or Latin  prima rosa, meaning “first rose”. 

Wood anemone-Anemone nemorosa. The presence of these beautiful wildflowers is often an indicator of an old woodland

Usually appearing slightly after the primrose, the sight of the bright starry flowers of the wood anemone on a sunny spring day leaves you in no doubt that spring is truly here. However, on a dull or wet day they seem  to disappear as the flowers remain closed and hang their heads, protecting their delicate and precious pollen from rain. When the sun shines again, stems straighten and the flowers are held aloft, fully open, their faces following the sun’s course across the sky.

Wood anemone's are also evocatively known as 'windflowers'.

This old pine tree is magnificent, very straight and tall and has the most amazing bark

The amazingly deeply textured bark of the pine tree

A snippet of local history

The Folly

At the top of the hill, at the Cliff Road access to the gardens, is an intriguing small castle-like building known locally as ‘The Folly”. It was built by Sir Charles Woodall, a Manchester shipping magnate who lived in the now demolished Tan-y-Coed mansion. It appears that Sir Charles had it built as a retreat so he could indulge his pipe-smoking habit which his wife wouldn’t allow him to do  at home. The tower has been restored in recent years, but remains unoccupied.

On Friday, after a morning  spent catching glimpses of the sunshine through the window, I just had to escape for a while at lunchtime and headed for the nearby Fairy Glen.

The River Colwyn flowing through Fairy Glen, Old Colwyn

The sound of the river and the birds singing were an instant tonic, and the sight of masses of golden yellow celandines interspersed here and there with blue violets  was a delight to the eyes.

Masses of celandines beneath the trees

Common Dog Violet - viola riviniana

Sycamore leaves unfolding

There were birds singing all around me, but none that I could really see properly until I just caught a glimpse of movement and a flash of black and white     from a tangle of shrubbery. It was not till a bird emerged and flew up into a tree that I realised it had been the tail end of a long-tailed tit that I had seen. There were at least two flitting about, but this was the best view I had; a very brief one, and the photograph was almost good – it really shows the length of the tail shame it was looking away from me.

Long-tailed Tit- Aegithalos caudatus

As always I was thrilled to catch sight of the delightful little birds and to add another species to my list of birds seen in this small local nature reserve. Whilst watching the long-tailed tits I was half aware of another bird calling; it was a call I recognised but could not place until I traced it back to a bird quite high in a tree almost next to me – a nuthatch.

Nuthatch - Sitta europaea, with something in its beak, possibly mud

I was even happier now, with two new species for my list and things just got better; there were two nuthatch there and it quickly became apparent that they were in the process of working on a nest hole. This was located on a kind of ‘elbow’ of a branch high up on a very tall tree, a sycamore I think, and well covered with ivy. Both birds were working away in turn and occasionally small pellets of material fell to the path beneath them.

One of the nuthatch pair at the nest hole

Very acrobatic birds, this one is working upside down

The nest hole of a nuthatch is beautifully crafted. Firstly they select a suitable hole in a tree, usually near to a source of water. The hole is then excavated and cleaned out and lined with dry grass, leaves etc. When the interior work is finished the birds then fetch mud which they mould around the entrance hole until it is the perfect size and shape for them to pass through. The best views of this process I have had were in Southern Spain on a gonhs* member’s outing to a part of the Alcornocales Natural Park known as el Picacho (March 2007).

A newly-completed nuthatch nest hole in a cork oak tree, with mud in the process of drying

We watched a pair of nuthatch finishing off their construction with mud from the nearby lagoon, went off on our walk then stopped for another look on our return a few hours later. The job was clearly completed to the satisfaction of the female as now she allowed the male to mate with her.

I moved from one side of the tree to the other to try to get a better view of the nuthatch, and as I did so a blue tit flew down to the nest box fastened to the same tree much lower down. Deciding I was just a nuisance rather than a threat, it went in, rummaged around a bit, threw out some rubbish then left to be replaced by its partner. So now I know the location of two nests to keep an eye on.

The blue tit was not happy that I was so close to the nest box

One of the blue tits throwing out the rubbish from their new home

On the way back to work I made a stop to photograph these glorious golden marsh marigolds, or to me King Cups.

Marsh Marigolds- Caltha palustris, or to me King Cups, growing on the muddy river bank

In the UK, Caltha palustris is known by a variety of common names. These include Marsh Marigold and Kingcup, Mayflower, May Blobs, Mollyblobs, Pollyblobs, Horse Blob, Water Blobs, Water Bubbles, Gollins. Balfae (in Caithness) and the Publican. The common name of marigold refers to its use in churches in medieval times at Easter time as a tribute to the Virgin Mary, as in Mary gold.

I couldn’t  ignore the beautifully singing Robin either

The robin was singing a few phrases then stopping to listen with his head on one side as another responded.

I heard a Wren singing and located it; it was my 'tail-less' one from the last time I was here. Looks like the tail may be growing back.

* gonhs – Gibraltar Ornithological & Natural History Society

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