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Tag Archives: small heath

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.

200615-1234-BEST (174)-Buff-tailed bumblebee & Ringlet
Ringlet
Ringlet

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

Large Skipper
Large Skipper
Ochlodes venatus
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
Lady’s Bedstraw-Galium verum-Briwydd felen
Field Scabious-Knautia arvensis-Clafrillys y maes
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 & 7-spot ladybird
Rose Sawfly-Arge Pagana
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
Meadow Brown
Meadow Brown
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.

200615-1322-BEST (398s)-Small Tortoiseshell
Small Tortoiseshell
Small Tortoiseshell
200615-1319-BEST (227s)-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
Pyramidal Orchid-Anacamptis pyramidalis
Tegerian bera-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
Cinnabar Moth
Ringlet
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
Small Tortoiseshell
Tachina fera
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
Swollen-thighed Beetle-female
Cistus Forester
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
Small Heath
6-Spot Burnet
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
Common Spotted Orchid-Dactylorhiza fuchsii
Tegeirian Brych-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.

200615-1408-BESTnw (302)-Painted Lady
200615-1405-BESTnw (298)-Silver Y

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
Large Skipper
Red Admiral
Red Admiral

Below is a selection of other insects I photographed there:

Hoverfly -Scaeva pyrastri
Hoverfly -Scaeva pyrastri
Hoverfly-Eristalis pertinax
Hoverfly-Eristalis pertinax
Hoverfly-Sun-fly-Helophilus pendulus
Hoverfly-Sun-fly-Helophilus pendulus
Tree bumblebee
Tree bumblebee
Swollen-thighed beetle (female)
Swollen-thighed beetle (female)
7-spot Ladybird
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….

 

 

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Brambles, Bumbles and Butterflies

10 Sunday Jul 2016

Posted by theresagreen in British hoverflies, Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, bumblebees, Butterflies of Wales, Insects, Nature of Wales, nature of woodlands, nature photography, plants important to wilflife

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

bombus hypnorum, bombus pratorum, coenonympha pamphilus, Early Bumblebee, grayling, Great Pied hoverfly, hipparchia semele, importance of bramble flowers to insects, Large Skipper, Meadow Brown, myathropa florea, pararge aegeria, Pellucid fly, Red Admiral, small heath, speckled wood, syrphus species of hoverfly, tree bumblebee, Volucella pellucans

June 23rd- Bryn Euryn

Bramble flowers are an important source of nectar and pollen for many species of insects and today, a large tangled patch of blackberry brambles in a sunny spot on the sheltered Woodland Trail was alive with an array of bumblebees and hoverflies.

23/6/16-Bryn Euryn on bramble

23/6/16-Pellucid fly-Volucella pellucens on bramble flower

Hoverflies

Since living here I have begun to recognise the most obvious and more commonly-occurring species of hoverflies, and they don’t come much bigger or more obvious than the handsome Pellucid Fly (Volucella pellucens), aka the Great Pied Hoverfly. This is one of the largest most obvious and recognisable of our British hoverflies.

myathropa florea

Myathropa florea

Yellow-and-black stripes are the well-used livery of many hoverfly species and sorting out the different species accurately, especially the small ones, requires more skill and knowledge than I have at the moment, or at least some crystal clear images of certain parts of them.

Bigger yellow and black species are a little easier, especially if they have good clear markings, such as sported by this new-to-me, or at least newly identified  Myathropa florea (no common name). I was aided and amused in this ID by a tip from the author of my Hoverfly bible¹, who suggests that the lower marking on the thoracic dorsum (part behind the head) resembles the Batman logo. Well, in a nice fresh clearly marked individual it does!

160703-Bryn Euryn-55-Hoverfly in dog rose flower

Syrphus sp hoverfly in a Dog Rose

160623-Bryn Euryn-55-Hoverfly hovering

One of the only small hoverflies that is unique and distinctive in its markings and has earned a common name is the  Marmalade Fly Episyrphus Baltaetus. This one was hovering at just about my head height, darting hither and thither in a patch of sunlight in defence of his territory. The image of him in the photograph is still bigger than he was.

Bumblebees 

There were bumblebees aplenty, mostly Red-tailed, White tailed and Common Carders, but also Tree Bumblebees and a few little Early Bumblebee workers.

Tree bumblebee

Tree bumblebee-Bombus hypnorum

The number of Tree Bumblebees here has increased greatly over the last few years. I used to see them mainly in early Spring in the Quarry field on Green Alkanet flowers, and maybe the odd one or two further afield. Now they are present in all parts of the site and can be spotted on an array of flowers through to the end of the summer.

 

160623-Bryn Euryn-Early Bumblebee workers

Early Bumblebee- Bombus pratorum (worker)

Butterflies

160623-Bryn Euryn-55-Meadow Brown

Meadow Brown-Maniola jurtina

160623-Bryn Euryn-55-Speckled Wood 1

Speckled Wood-Pararge aegeria 

Large Skipper (male)

Large Skipper-Ochlodes venatus (male)

3/7/16-Bryn Euryn-Large Skipper (f)

Bryn Euryn-Large Skipper (female)

Not bramble related, but a special treat was a very brief encounter with a Grayling. On the track up to the summit it literally landed in front of me, sat on a small rock for a few seconds then took off into the breeze.

Grayling

Grayling-Hipparchia semele

The same strong breeze that carried away the Grayling was keeping the Small Heaths tucked down in the grass, but I finally managed to get an almost-clear view of one feeding on Wild Thyme.

Small Heath-Coenonympha pamphilus

Small Heath-Coenonympha pamphilus

Walking back down through the woods on the way home, a Red Admiral startled me when it flew up from a bramble at the side of the track. It settled back down when I stopped, then flew out again – the feisty thing was deliberately warning me to get out of his space! He sat brazenly on a leaf at about my eye level and reared up defiantly as I approached with the camera, not giving an inch and I’m sure trying to stare me down! Loved his attitude.

Red Admiral-Vanessa atalanta

Red Admiral-Vanessa atalanta

160623-Bryn Euryn-55-Red Admiral 5

____________________________________________________________________________________

References: ¹ Britain’s Hoverflies  – Stuart Ball and Roger Morris

 

 

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Butterflies and more rare treats

29 Wednesday Jun 2016

Posted by theresagreen in Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, bumblebees, Butterflies of Wales, calcareous grassland, day-flying moths, Insects, nationally scarce wildflowers, Nature of Wales, Wildflowers of Wales

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

Adscita geryon, Cistus Forester moth, common blue, common rockrose, Cryptocephalus hypochaeridis, Dingy Skipper, Jewel beetles, Nottingham Catchfly, Pyramidal Orchid, salad burnet, Silene nutans, small heath, small shiny metallic green beetle, speckled wood

June 5th

One of the most fascinating, and sometimes a little frustrating thing about observing wildlife is that no two days, even in the same location are ever the same. I know that, but I had to retrace yesterday’s steps in the hope of further sightings of a Dingy Skipper or two didn’t I?

Along the Woodland Trail, Speckled Woods seemed  even more numerous than yesterday, and a little more willing to bask with open or partially open wings.

Speckled Wood

Speckled Wood and shadow

Leaving the shelter of the trees and entering the open meadow there was a fairly strong, cool breeze blowing – not the best of conditions for photographing butterflies that tend to stay low in the grass on such days, despite today’s sunshine. That didn’t deter me from stubbornly attempting to get some images of a lovely fresh male Common Blue. It was highly mobile, but during their frantic circuiting, these butterflies frequently return to the same spot to settle for a breather and luckily this was the case with this beauty; he favoured this particular grass stem or a nearby head of clover, so I waited there and eventually caught him during moments when the breeze briefly stilled. Not as sharp an image as I’d like, but a record.

Common Blue male upperside

Common Blue male upperside

Common Blue male underside

Common Blue male underside

I wondered if I might see the little green jewel beetle again. Last night, looking for information about this species I read they favour yellow compositeae flowers and remembered there were a few hawkweed plants close to where I found it yesterday. Lo and behold, I found not just one there, but a mating pair. I’ve put in two images of them, one to show their real size and another enlarged one to show how beautiful they are.

160605-BE26-Green metallic beetles-mating pair

Mating pair of Cryptocephalus aureolus

160605-BE33a-Green metallic beetles-mating pair

After a few minutes of photographing the obligingly oblivious pair I noticed a female Swollen-thighed Beetle -Oedemera nobilis (females don’t have the swollen thighs of the male) that had landed on a nearby flowerhead.

160605-BE31-Green metallic beetles-mating pair

She decided to take a closer look at what the mating pair were up to. (Sorry about blurry image-swaying flower stem!)

160605-BE39-Green metallic beetles-mating pair

Mating pair of Cryptocephalus aureolus observed by a female Oedemera nobilis

I couldn’t resist this patch of pretty Common Daisies in the long grass.

160605-BE-Daisies

A slight variation on yesterdays route took me up the track that comes out the other side of the hill. It was even breezier up there, but there were insects about taking advantage of the nectar and pollen on offer from the abundant wildflowers, mainly Rock-roses and clovers.

A Carder bumblebee in action on red and then white clover:

160605-BE42-Bee approaching clover160605-BE43-Bee on clover160605-BE44-Bee on clover160605-BE46-Bee on clover160605-BE45-Bee on clover

This side of the hill’s summit was looking beautiful, carpeted with sunshine yellow Rock-rose and Bird’s-foot Trefoil.

160605-BE1305-Rock-roses on summit

Summit carpeted with the sunshine yellow blooms of Rockroses and Bird’s-foot Trefoil (click on image to enlarge)

I stood still for a few minutes scanning the flowers for butterflies. Small Heaths  were most numerous, but I did spot a single Dingy Skipper. Living up to its name, it was skipping around randomly at speed, too fast and mobile for a photograph, but at least I’d seen it. I had more luck with a lovely little iridescent green Forester Moth that landed on a Salad Burnet flowerhead and stayed there.

160605-BEMTH-Forester moth on Salad Burnet 3a160605-BEMTH-Forester moth on Salad Burnet 1

There are three similar species of Forester Moth in Britain that can be difficult to tell apart, but I think this one is a Cistus Forester-Adscita geryon. According to the Butterfly Conservation info: “This species is generally smaller than the Forester or Scarce Forester and the presence of good quantities of the Cistus Forester’s foodplant, Common Rock-rose, can be a useful indication of this species.”

Now for the ‘rare treat’! Since I came  to live here, I have been looking out for a ‘Nationally Scarce’ plant that is recorded as growing here, the fascinating Nottingham Catchfly-Silene nutans. I’d only seen pictures and read about it, imagining I would find it in a rocky place on the cliffs or in bare ground. But, much to my amazement and delight, I found it today well-hidden amongst lush long grasses near the edge of a track. Getting my eye in, I saw there were several smaller clumps of the plant further back from the track edge, so clearly a good year for it. Difficult to photograph in the strong breeze, I’ve edited and sharpened my images a little so the plant is more visible than it was on the day!

160605-BE1256-Nottingham Catchfly (5)

Nottingham Catchfly amongst swaying long grasses

The plant is so-named because it was first found on the walls of Nottingham Castle. It no longer grows there as the site was destroyed during work done on the site in the 19th century. The flower remains the County Flower for Nottinghamshire though.

160605-BE1256-Nottingham Catchfly (4)

The plant is vespertine like many of the catchflies. This means that the flowers tend to stay closed in the daytime and open in the evening or at night, when they release a heavy scent into the evening air in order to attract night-flying insects and moths.

160605-BE1256-Nottingham Catchfly (3)

Flowers are drooping, in very open clusters and all usually pointing one way. Petals white above, greenish or pinkish beneath.

Each flower opens over three successive nights revealing one whorl of stamens on the first night and another on the second and the styles on the third. This is thought to prevent self fertilisation.

160605-BE1256-Nottingham Catchfly (2)

Moving on up to the summit I found my first Pyramidal Orchid of the year, still tightly in bud.

First Pyramidal Orchid

First Pyramidal Orchid-Anacamptis pyramidalis amongst Common Rock-rose

Back in the same spot as yesterday I got another brief glimpse of a Dingy Skipper nectaring on Bird’s-foot Trefoil.

160605-BEBFY-Dingy Skipper 1b

Dingy Skipper on Birds-foot Trefoil

At the bottom of the ‘downland’ slope I finally caught up with a Small Heath on a buttercup.

160605-BEBFLY-Small Heath on buttercup 1a

And to finish, a female Common Blue.

160605-BEBFLY-Common Blue (f) upperside 1 160605-BEBFY-Common Blue (f) 1

 

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Wildflowers on a Limestone pavement

27 Thursday Jun 2013

Posted by theresagreen in Bryn Pydew, Butterflies of Wales, Limestone Pavement, Nature, Nature of Wales, nature photography, North Wales Wildlife Trust, Wildflowers of Wales

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

bloody cranesbill, Brown Argus, common blue, common rockrose, common shrew, dropwort, heath-spotted orchid, limestone pavement, North Wales Wildlife Trust, salad burnet, small heath, wildflowers of Bryn Pydew

The North Wales Wildlife Trust reserve at Bryn Pydew is becoming one of my new favourite places to visit, especially to see some of our less-common wildflowers and a variety of insects.

The first thing to attract my attention today was a Small Heath butterfly.  Fluttering along low to the ground it kept disappearing from my sight as it landed amongst the stems of long grass, but I managed to follow it along the woodland edge for a short way until I was distracted by the corpse of a little shrew. It didn’t appear to have been there for long, but there were puncture wounds around its back so had clearly been caught by something with sharp teeth and the fact that it had not been eaten suggests a domestic cat; they don’t like the taste of shrew and often leave their victims lying at the side of paths etc.

A Pygmy Shrew (dead)

Common Shrew  – Sorex araneus  Welsh: Llyg Cyffredin

British shrews are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and it is an offence to kill them without a special licence.

Description: As with all  shrews, the common shrew has a long, flexible snout, small eyes and tiny ears.  They have dark brown fur on their backs, paler sides and an even paler underside.  Their heads are not as domed in shape as that of the even smaller pygmy shrew and the tail is proportionately shorter than that of the smaller species.

Food: All shrews have voracious appetites; they need to feed every 2-3 hours and consume up to 90% of their body weight in any 24 hour period. They eat most terrestrial insects, but also take worms, slugs and snails; they have a good sense of smell and feeling, but they do not dig for their prey.They lack the fat reserves to see them though the winter so do not hibernate and can be seen all year round.  Apart from those killed by cats, shrew corpses may also be those of animals that have not been able to find enough food.

Behaviour: They are solitary, territorial animals and often fight when they come into contact with their neighbours.  The high pitched squeaking sound that they make can often be heard as you walk along footpaths; they are most active at night and during dawn and dusk and intersperse periods of intense activity with resting.

Reproduction

Shrews build nests below the ground or under dense vegetation. After a gestation period of 22-25 days, females give birth to 4-7 young, which are weaned after 22 days. They breed from April to October, with a peak in the summer.

_______________________________________________________

I lost the butterfly but was soon compensated with a lovely bright metallic green beetle rummaging around in the stamens of a Welsh poppy.

Oedemera nobilis feeding on pollen

Oedemera nobilis feeding on pollen

This was the first, rather hasty photograph I took of the handsome beetle and followed it with a number of what I thought would be much better shots, but when I downloaded the day’s bounty I discovered all of them were unreadable, so goodness knows what happened there. Hopefully I will find more another day.

Dog Rose- Rosa canina

Dog Rose- Rosa canina

The open patch of ground just inside the site boundary is lovely now, lush with a mix of tall meadow grasses swaying gently in the day’s light breeze and catching the sunlight. Dog rose shrubs are in glorious full bloom.

A lush display of tall meadow grasses

A lush display of tall meadow grasses

In a sunny patch of shorter turf where there was Red Clover and Bird’s-foot Trefoil growing I stopped to watch Common Blue and Brown Argus butterflies and bumblebees. Both species of butterfly are territorial despite their tiny size and were chasing off anything and everything that dared enter their airspace.

A Common Blue male taking off from Bird's-foot Trefoil

A Common Blue male taking off from Bird’s-foot Trefoil

Brown Argus

Common Carder Bee on red clover

Common Carder Bee on red clover

There’s not much to see in the woodland here, the trees, including a good number of yews grow closely together, shutting out much of the sunlight, so it is very dark and quiet in there. I did spot a young Wren demanding attention from a parent though, calling loudly and flapping its wings wildly to try to maintain its balance on a fence post. It is only a short downhill walk to take before reaching the open area of Limestone Pavement. It’s a little more overgrown now than the last time I saw it, with quite a few tree saplings and brambles getting a foothold. I know little or nothing about how you would go about maintaining a limestone pavement though, so have no idea what would be removed, or when, but there are some lovely wildflowers here currently and it would be a shame if they were smothered by brambles.

The main expanse of Limestone Pavement

The main expanse of Limestone Pavement

Common Rockrose

Common Rockrose

There is quite a bit of rockrose, interspersed with salad burnet with its curious flowerheads.

Salad Burnet– Sanguisorba minor is a low-growing herb of chalk and limestone grasslands which produces rounded, reddish flower heads from May to September. The leaves of Salad Burnet comprise up to 12 pairs of rounded, toothed leaflets, and form a rosette at the base of the flower stem. The rounded flower heads are reddish and speckled.

Salad Burnet flower

Salad Burnet flower

The leaves are famous for smelling of cucumber if crushed or walked upon, and this plant lives up to its name as a popular addition to salads and summer drinks.

The leaves of Salad Burnet comprise up to 12 pairs of rounded, toothed leaflets, and form a rosette at the base of the flower stem.

The leaves of Salad Burnet comprise up to 12 pairs of rounded, toothed leaflets, and form a rosette at the base of the flower stem.

I try not to plan my outings too much, preferring to take things as they come at the time, but I was hoping to find one of this site’s ‘special’ plants in flower today. Dropwort-filipendula vulgaris is a clumsy (pardon the pun) name for a very elegant and rather ‘frothy’ plant. I found a couple of stems at the end of their flowering late last summer, but hoped to find more today. I was pleased then to find the first ones, which I recognised by the pretty fern-like leaves, but alas the flowers were still tightly budded. Once I had spotted one I found more, but all were tightly closed.

Dropwort in bud

Dropwort in bud

Again there was compensation for not finding what I was hoping for; this time it was Bloody Cranesbill –Geranium Sanguinem, which is not at all a common plant and in Wales restricted to a few limestone-rich coastal areas. It grows also on the Great Orme, a few miles away in Llandudno and I have also seen it on Llanddwyn Island in Anglesey.

Bloody Cranesbill-Geranium sanguinem

Bloody Cranesbill-Geranium sanguinem growing in a ‘gryke’ of the limestone pavement

There are many colour variations of this plant species, but it takes the ‘Bloody’ part of its name from the blood-red sepals that remain after the petals have fallen.

Broad-leaved Willowherb

Broad-leaved Willowherb, one of the more ‘ordinary’ wildflowers to be found here

Wood Avens

Wood Avens

Leaving this main area of the limestone pavement and continuing downhill through a narrow belt of woodland you emerge into an open grassy area that is so pretty I was half-expecting Bambi and friends to pop out. There were a few Purple Spotted Orchids here, very nearly finished, an impressive group of Bloody Cranesbill and more Rockroses.

At the far end of this small woodland glade is another smaller section of pavement, which is where I found the Dropwort last year. There was no sign of the plant in the exact same place, but I did spot a couple of little pale pink orchids. Once again, as I got my eye in, I found more of them, most not quite fully out yet.

Heath-spotted Orchid- Dactylorhiza maculata

Heath-spotted Orchid- Dactylorhiza maculata

I sat in the sunshine on the edge of the rocky pavement for a while, admiring the view across to Penrhyn Bay and watching more Small Heath butterflies fluttering over the stony ground where they settled to bask occasionally. I realised then that the reason I was finding it difficult to spot them earlier was because they settle very low to the ground, almost horizontal to it. As I got up to leave one fluttered along the grass in front of me, settling some metres ahead, so I took a series of photographs as I inched towards it, each one a little closer. It allowed me to get very close before flying off from here.

Small Heath - Coenonympha pamphilus

Small Heath – Coenonympha pamphilus

Quite unexpectedly then, just a short distance away from the butterfly I glanced up to see the flower I was hoping for in peachy pink and creamy white frothy glory. A Dropwort in almost full glorious bloom. What a treat.

Dropwort in full peaches and cream frothy glory

Dropwort in full peaches and cream frothy glory

Dropwort (Filipendula vulgaris), also known as Fern-leaf Dropwort, is a perennial herb of the family Rosaceae and closely related to Meadowsweet. It is found in dry pastures across much of Europe and central and northern Asia, preferring full sun to partial shade and is more tolerant of dry conditions than most other members of its genus.

It has finely-cut, radical leaves, fern-like in appearance, and an erect stem 20–50 centimetres (8–20 in) tall. The tiny creamy white flowers appear in dense clusters from late spring to mid summer. The crushed leaves and roots have a scent of oil of wintergreen (Methyl salicylate).

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Bryn Euryn on a sunny summer’s afternoon

22 Monday Aug 2011

Posted by theresagreen in Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, ferns

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dark green fritillary, grayling, green-veined white, Red Admiral, small heath, small skipper, summer orchids

I was surprised to find just one other car in the car park when I arrived at ‘the Bryn’ on a warm sunny early afternoon last week; I had expected it to be busier, so was pleased that I would be able to enjoy this lovely but popular reserve while it was peaceful. The peace didn’t last long! I began my walk with a circuit of the grassy area next to the car park, checking out the wildflowers for any interesting insects and was soon joined by a man walking a smallish dog. It appeared he was doing the job on sufferance, releasing it from its lead while he wandered around talking loudly on his mobile phone, breaking off frequently to shout at the dog. Things got even worse when another man with two dogs, both on leads, arrived, causing the loose dog much excitement and its walker to shout even more. I decided to leave this bit for another day and hurried off onto the stepped track woodland track towards the top of the hill.

I stopped halfway up, in front of the cottage where the track divides as I caught sight of a large bramble bush covered with blossom. I saw a Comma butterfly feeding here but missed the brief photo opportunity; I also missed a Holly Blue, but I did catch one of a Green-veined White basking on a clematis leaf.

Green-veined White – Pieris napi

Hoverfly-Syrphus ribesii

The woodland was silent, usual at this time of year due to the lack of birdsong and calls, but making you wish you could move more quietly and be less conscious of every footfall you make.

I was taken by surprise when the silence was broken by a soft ‘huit’call from close by and I looked up to see a young Chiffchaff in a sycamore tree.

A young Chiffchaff sitting in a Sycamore tree

The foliage of the woodland trees is still fresh, not yet showing the dusty tiredness of late summer, the greenness is carried through and down to the floor beneath, accented by glossy Hart’s Tongue ferns and cushions of soft green moss.

Harts Tongue Fern – Asplenium scolopendrium
A perfect Speckled Wood resting lightly on a fern frond

Emerging from the dappled shade onto the grassy hilltop my eye was caught by the low fluttery flight of small orange and brown butterflies- Small Heaths, several of which were flying in quite a small area and looking perfect and newly-emerged.

Small Heath – Coenonympha pamphilus

There were a lot of Meadow Browns too, keeping low to the ground and often disappearing from sight as they tucked themselves down on the ground amongst the grass stems.

Meadow Brown – Maniola jurtina

I carrried on round the hilltop admiring the stunning panoramic views stretched out beneath and across to the Snowdonia mountains, making for the summit, then continued on down the other side onto the grassy meadowland.

Just below the summit a scabious plant is growing from a crevice in a rock

The grass was studded with beautiful blue Harebells that look dainty and delicate but must be pretty hardy to thrive in the habitats they are found in.

Harebell-Campanula rotundifolia
The long grass and tall wildflowers attracting many butterflies

I had half-decided to continue walking down the slope to the woodland at the bottom, but as I passed by the area where the grass has been kept longer and where brambles, thistles and knapweed were flowering, I caught sight of a large brown butterfly flying fast and strongly, that then landed on a knapweed flower. Unmistakably a fritillary, although I had no idea of the species: its colours looked rather faded and it there was some damage to the wing edges, so it may have been around for a while and I didn’t get sight of its underwings. Checking later on I think its most likely a Dark Green Fritillary, but as ever I’m happy to be corrected.

20/7/11-Dark green Fritillary-Argynnis aglaja

I sat on the grassy slope for a while hoping for more fritillary sightings, which happily I got; in addition there were more Green-veined Whites and several Small Skippers flitting around low amongst the long grass.

Small Skipper – Thymelicus sylvestris
A Silver Y moth – Autographa gamma, also caught my eye as it fluttered in the long grass

I heard the ‘bark’ of a Raven and just caught sight of it as descended, landing somewhere beyond the slope out of sight. A Buzzard circled overhead. Preparing to leave and retrace my steps I crossed to the other side of the slope, took a photograph of the Little Orme and spotted a lovely specimen of Thistle.

A view of the Little Orme from the top of Bryn Euryn

Scotch Thistle-Onopordum acanthium

Reaching the thistle I was delighted to spot orchids growing in the quite-long grass, I wasn’t expecting that at all. As with the fritillary butterfly they were a little past their best, but still pretty;  most were pink in colour, but there were some white ones too. (I still am unsure what species they are, will update when I find out.)

A group of pink-purple orchids
Pink-purple specimen
A white-flowered specimen

Leaving the orchids I was more than happy with my afternoon’s discoveries and turned to head back up to the summit then down and back to the car. I couldn’t resist sitting to gaze at the view for a few minutes and got distracted by flies, flesh-flies to be accurate, that have rather unpleasant eating habits, but that actually look quite attractive.

Flesh-fly – Sarcophaga carnaria

Making my way back down the slope I spotted another butterfly land on a warm rock,  a gorgeous Grayling.

A Grayling – Hipparchia semele resting on a warm limestone rock

Then close by a female Large White landed on a leaf.

20/7/11-Large White (f)-Pieris brassicae

Finally reaching the top of the path downwards I very shortly stopped again for yet another butterfly, this time a Red Admiral that posed beautifully on a wild rose leaf  in a spot of sunlight.

Red Admiral-Vanessa atalanta

There were more people around as I made my walk down, most of whom were walking dogs. I made a quick stop at the brambles where I’d seen the Comma earlier, hoping it may return, which of course it didn’t, but I did see some young Chaffinches in a tree there. As I got close to the bottom of the hill I caught sight of a bird on the ground tugging at something it had found. It was a Thrush and by the way it took little notice of me I assumed it was a young one. I attempted to photograph it but it was far too shady there, so I just stood and watched it for several minutes. It carried on foraging quite untroubled until we both heard the ‘mewing’ of a Buzzard and the simultaneous rough cawing of a Crow. The Buzzard, again I think a young one, came crashing through the trees and landed on a branch, looking very ruffled and quite upset: I assume the Crow must have pursued it there. The Thrush was long gone.

Common Mallow

My total butterfly sightings were from 11 species: Large White, Green-veined White, Comma,Red Admiral, Dark Green Fritillary, Grayling, Small Heath, Speckled Wood,Meadow Brown,Holly Blue & Small Skipper.

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‘But it is the common species that keep the living world ticking over and provide most of our experiences of wildlife, and I would argue that maintaining the abundance of these is as important a conservation priority as maintaining the existence of rarities’. Richard Mabey

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