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Tag Archives: small tortoiseshell

The Wilds behind the Sea Wall

18 Tuesday Aug 2020

Posted by theresagreen in Nature of Wales, Wales Coast Path, Walking, Wildflowers of Wales, Wildlife of the Wales Coast Path

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

August, bird behaviour, coastal birds, coastal wildflowers, Curlew, Grey Heron, lesser sea spurrey, migrant birds, Northern Wheatear, opportunistic wildflowers, Oystercatcher, rocky seashores, sandwich tern, sea campion, small tortoiseshell

August is the month during which many seabirds and waders begin to return to our coasts from their breeding grounds, and locally, many will gather here around Rhos Point. Some will stay with us until next Spring; others will grace us with their presence for a while to feed up and rest before migrating onwards to their winter feeding grounds. My favourites of the latter group are the gloriously graceful, gregarious and excitable Sandwich Terns, most, if not all of which will be members of the colony that breeds annually at Cemlyn Bay on nearby Anglesey (Ynys Môn), so will be a mix of adults and this year’s young ones. They have been here for a while now but, so far, I’d only managed to see them from a distance when the tide’s been out, gathered right out on the tip of Rhos Point, where they are but small white blobs amongst Gulls and Oystercatchers. You can be sure they are Terns though from the mighty noise they make.

The perfect opportunity to finally get some good views of the Sandwich Terns and other recently-returned birds arose last weekend as I was house-sitting for my  daughter and keeping their dog company. Only a mile or so from my own home, but close to the sea meant I could better time a walk along the Prom as the tide was coming in; usually the best time to see wading birds here as they gather to feed on what it brings in. Already too late on Friday evening, I heard and saw a lot of Terns, but they were too far out to see properly. I did find one little group to zoom in a bit closer to and realised there were Curlew there too, they are so well-camouflaged I wouldn’t have seen them if not for the Terns.

Curlews & Sandwich Terns

09:54 It was predicted to be hot today, and with it being the weekend as well, there’d be bound to be a lot of visitors heading our way this morning to spend the day here. I’d left at this time judging that the tide would have reached a good place to get a better view of the birds on rocky seashore, in particular the Sandwich Terns, and also before the Promenade got busy. Reaching the spot in front of the tiny St Trillo’s Chapel, which sadly has been locked up since the beginning of the Covid 19 pandemic, I saw I’d almost got my timing right. The tide was coming in and the furthest tip of the land spit, where the birds had been last night was covered with water but it would still take a while for it to be high enough to get close views of any birds.

Promenade looking towards Rhos-on-Sea with St Trillo’s Chapel

The calls of the Sandwich Terns were reaching here from further along the shore towards Penrhyn Bay, so as there were as yet only a few people about, I could walk that way at my usual stop-start meandering pace without disturbance or obstructing anyone. I hadn’t walked this way for months, so I’d also take the chance to note any wildflowers along the way and perhaps add to my list of coastal plants.

There’s a significant change in the level of the Prom here by the chapel and you can either take the ladder-like metal steps up, or follow the curving slope around and up.

The base of the retaining wall is one of the places where seeds of wildflowers often end their travels, and I’m always interested to see what’s landed there. A few perennials, such as Cat’s-ear always seem to manage to survive any ‘tidying up’ sessions, and usually the annual Scarlet Pimpernel, one of my favourite wildflowers will have managed to lodge a seed or two in the right place.

Empty Prom towards Penrhyn Bay & the Little Orme

The grassy banks between the Prom and the road are usually mown to look ‘tidy’ for visitors from Easter onwards, but this year have been left to their own devices. This may be an outcome of cutbacks due to the Covid 19 lockdown, or it may be that our local council has been persuaded that such spaces are important resources for our declining insect populations and have left it to benefit both the wildlife and their annual maintenance budget. Time will tell.

Whatever the reasons, flowering now there is golden-flowered Ragwort, a lot of the ubiquitous Cat’s-ear and a fair sprinkling of the pretty burnt-orange Fox-and-Cubs, which is well-established here but which was once most likely a garden escape. I’d like to say it was buzzing with insects, but sadly not, just a very few Buff-tailed bumblebee drones and a couple of honeybees on the Ragwort. It was still on the cool side and quite early, so maybe there would be more later on.

10:01 A short way along you reach steps that lead down from the main Prom and onto a narrower path that is bounded by the recurved sea wall on one side and the piled giant-sized rocks that form the additional ‘rip-rap’ sea defences on the other. To most it may not look as appealing a route as the Prom, which has wonderful uninterrupted views over the whole of both Colwyn and Penrhyn Bays – in this direction as far as the Little Orme- but I would always choose this path, it’s so much more interesting!

As well as the afore-mentioned Sandwich Terns, this rocky shoreline is also blessed with the presence of the iconic and endangered Curlew. They too begin to return from their spring/summer breeding grounds during August and come here to forage amongst the rocks and along the sea-edge. Despite their size and distinctive outline, they are exceptionally well-camouflaged and difficult to spot with the naked eye in this landscape unless you happen to spot one move or locate one from their unmistakable evocative call. There were a few here this morning, but views of them weren’t close; the photograph below is one I took last evening; I think it illustrates quite well how well they merge into their surroundings.

Ivy-leaved Toadflax

Another favourite little wildflower is Ivy-leaved Toadflax, which I found at the bottom of the steps. Following the progress of the Curlew towards Penrhyn Bay I spotted a bird flying high across the road high, which then banked around in front of the Little Orme. At first I’d thought it was a Buzzard, but as it turned and I got a better, although still distant view, I knew it was a Grey Heron.

I’ve seen Grey Herons here on the shore once or twice in past years, but it was an unexpected sight, and I was pleased to see it turn again and head down to land. Even better was that it landed to join four more Herons already staking out the shallow water of the sea edge. They were still distant, but I guessed this was a family group and perhaps a lesson in sea-fishing for the juvenile members. What a treat (for me)! I could hardly wait for better views as I got nearer to them and as the tide grew higher.

Grey Heron family of 5 – Penrhyn Bay

Meanwhile there were more wildflowers to see. Buck’s-horn Plantain which takes its name from its distinctive antler-shaped leaves. Then Pellitory-of-the-Wall, which was once used as a medicine; following the Doctrine of Signatures, if a plant could break into rock and grow, it could surely break up gall or kidney stones.

Buck's-horn Plantain
Buck’s-horn Plantain
Pellitory-of-the-Wall
Pellitory-of-the-Wall

I am always amazed by the ability of any plants to take hold in such spartan conditions as those here, and wonder how they got here in the first place, especially when little groups of differing species grow in the same spot. One such gathering had Common Storksbill, Herb Robert, Dandelion and flowering Scarlet Pimpernel. Nearby, a healthy-looking clump of Common Mouse-ear had stems flowering and others setting fruit.

Scarlet Pimpernel, Common Storksbill, Herb Robert
Scarlet Pimpernel, Common Storksbill, Herb Robert
Common Mouse-ear
Common Mouse-ear

One of the flowering treats of this path is the shrubby Tree-Mallow, with this being the only spot along the length of the Bays that I’ve found it growing. (I’d be happy to hear from anyone that knows if I can find it anywhere else within that stretch!) The first plant I found was flowering but looking the worse for wear, its leaves dry and shrivelled, but close by there was a fresh one growing. These are biennial plants, so if it survives, it may flower next year.

Tree Mallow-Lavatera arborea
Tree Mallow-Lavatera arborea
Leaves of Tree Mallow
Leaves of Tree Mallow

I reached the old concrete access ramp, which I don’t imagine gets much, if any use by vehicles of any kind now, judging by the rocks you’d encounter at the bottom. The undisturbed growth of seaweed and algae, still damp and shiny from its last covering of seawater, shows how far the high tide regularly comes up.

10:20 The joyful sound of the Sandwich Terns had accompanied me the length of my walk so far, and I was hopeful that from the ramp I’d get some closer views of them. I did; there was a sizeable group of them, still a fair distance out, almost all with their backs to me, facing the incoming water. This slightly closer view showed up a mix of ages of birds, some juveniles and adults in varying stages of their heads changing from summer to winter plumage.

There was the added bonus of better views of the Herons too. There were definitely two adults and three juveniles, such a lovely sight. One adult was showing some interesting fishing technique too, hunching over and holding out its bent wings to create a ‘parasol’, shading a patch of water to better see or coax in fish.

I zoomed in on two that were standing on small rocks on the sea-edge and was thrilled my frame was photo-bombed by a Curlew flying past!Fishing didn’t seem to be going too well, but the birds didn’t seem too bothered, perhaps, like the Terns, they were waiting for the tide to get a little higher.Back up on the path a sign warns to keep off the rocks. Such advice isn’t always heeded, but the danger presented by them is fairly obvious and I for one wouldn’t risk bringing my adventurous smaller grandchildren along here. I know what I was like myself – climbing them would have been a huge temptation to me!The rip-rap is piled high here and impossible to see over the top of, so no view other that of the Little Orme and Penrhyn Hill, but the compensation is that the extra shelter from the sea and winds has allowed a colourful array of flowering plants to establish. A veritable secret rock-garden flourishes; the number of species isn’t huge, Red Valerian dominates, but there are others, more of some of those seen earlier and also a sizeable Buddleia in full flower.

Brushing past a patch of Red Valerian I disturbed a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly from its nectaring. It flew up, but didn’t go far, settling nearby on a rock; a lovely surprise, I hadn’t anticipated seeing butterflies here.

Buddleia and White Valerian
Buddleia and White Valerian
Red Valerian
Red Valerian

There were nectaring bumblebees here too, more Buff-tailed males, who unlike their working female kind have only themselves to feed, so can do so at their leisure and keep up their strength just in case a new Queen happens by.

200806-1030-ROSRP- (86)
200806-1030-ROSRP-Buff-tailed Bumblebee on valerian with shadows

Around the curve in the photograph above a St John’s Wort shrub is in flower, the common garden one whose smell always reminds me of rhubarb when you brush past or cut it.

There’s also wild clematis, or Traveller’s Joy, a huge plant, rambling its way up and across the rocks and flowering profusely.

Nearby densely leaved Ivy has taken a hold and it too covers an impressive area.

There’s Great Willowherb in flower too, which I photographed as much for the rock behind it as the plant itself.

10:39 The height of the rip-rap is lower again from here, and you can see the whole of the Little Orme rising above it.

A bright green Polypody Fern looks to be putting its fronds out tentatively

I disturbed another beautifully fresh Small Tortoiseshell butterfly, which again left a Red Valerian flower and landed on a nearby rock. It was opening and closing its wings to try to warn me off as I watched it, while touching the rock surface with its proboscis. I wonder if it was testing for salt or whatever other minerals butterflies often seek. These are one of our most charismatic butterflies, I think.

200806-1042-ROSRP-Tortoiseshell
200806-1042-ROSRP-Tortoishell on rock 5
200806-1042-ROSRP-Tortoiseshell on rock 1
200806-1042-ROSRP-Tortoishell on rock 3

10:44  The next unobstructed viewpoint is from a set of steps leading down to the rocky shore. The view to the regimentally straight lines of wind-turbines lining the horizon is clear and the sea blue and gently textured. However, the scene changes dramatically on windy, stormy days when the sea pounds the shore in huge waves and foamy water is funnelled up the steps, sometimes splashing right to the top.

The only occupant of this stretch of shore was a lone Great Black-backed Gull staring across the waves.

10:44  The path narrows and peters out as you near Penrhyn Bay and for the last few metres you are actually walking along the base of the sea wall. It also passes close to an unpleasant-smelling drain, or what may even be a sewer outlet. Usually, as today, this can be passed quickly, but I have lingered to watch Pied Wagtails chasing flies here on a couple of occasions. From this angle I always think Penrhyn Bay, backed by the quarry-altered bulk of the Little Orme and much of its shore covered with a deep layer of almost-white stone chippings, has an almost other-worldly appearance.

It certainly doesn’t look promising as a place to find wildlife. But as is so often the case, first looks can be deceptive. At the end of the path is a flat area of land, sparsely covered with short grass and bordered by rip-rap, which forms a breakwater.

Lesser Sea Spurrey-Spergularia marina

The first wildflower I found was one I recognised as a spurrey, but I wasn’t sure which one. Checking later I’m fairly sure it’s Lesser Sea Spurrey, a new one for my list.

Almost every gap, nook and cranny of the breakwater has a plant growing from it, mainly Sea Beet and Sea Mayweed, but there’s also Sea Campion and back nearer the wall, Curled Dock and Ragwort.

Sea Mayweed
Sea Mayweed
Sea Campion
Sea Campion

Walking back towards the wall I caught a glimpse of a bird moving around on the rocks. My first thought was Linnet, as this has often been a good place to see them, but they are usually in a small flock and I could only see the one.

I moved to a spot from where I could zoom in without frightening it away, and saw it was a Wheatear; from its mostly buff and brown plumage, either a female or a first-winter juvenile male. It was lovely to see, but a little bit sad too as it means summer’s coming to an end and they are preparing to leave our shores to spend the next six months or so in sunnier climes.

Northern Wheatear
Northern Wheatear
Northern Wheatear
Northern Wheatear

Turning my attention back to the wildflowers, from a patch in front of the wall I added Common Mallow and more Red Valerian to my list. There was also Greater Plantain, Perennial Sow-thistle, Cat’s-ear and a clump of Michaelmas Daisies just beginning to open their flowers.

There are some good clumps of Ragwort too, but despite all of these wildflowers on offer to insects, there were very takers; just a very few bumblebees.

Ragwort
Ragwort
Wall Barley
Wall Barley

On the Penrhyn Bay shore side of the breakwater, where the stone chippings are banked up and piled deeply, plants are colonising as they would a sand dune and I wonder if they will have a similar stabilising effect. There’s a small amount of Marram Grass, in flower now so it looks as though it’s establishing well and the patches of green in my photograph are mostly Sea Campion.

There is a good amount of the Sea Campion here, much of which has the expected white petalled flowers, but interestingly there are also a significant number of plants that have completely pink flowers.

It’s not unusual to find white flowers tinged with pink, but this is the only place I’ve seen them totally pink; even the bladders are tinted pink. Very pretty, if a little strange.

The peace is broken by a loud mechanical buzzing and looking out to sea there is a line of fast-moving Jet Skis cutting across the bay. They probably originated at the water-sports centre at Porth Eirias on Colwyn Bay, so were hopefully being supervised and watching out for the local Grey Seals.

11:16 The activity and the fact that it was getting increasingly warm made me aware that time and the tide were moving on and in and I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to get some more and hopefully closer views of the Terns, and maybe even the Herons. So back along the narrow path at the base of the sea wall, from where I could see above me there were a good number of people on the Prom walking in this direction.

Path along the sea wall towards Rhos on Sea

Viewed from this direction you can see better the extent of the lovely Red Valerian flower border; it is quite possibly the best display of it I’ve ever seen

There was yet another Small Tortoiseshell butterfly

200806-1120-ROSRP- Tortoiseshell 1
200806-1120-ROSRP-Tortoiseshell

and a patch of fern, this one Wall Rue, which I hadn’t noticed on my way past earlier on.

Growing round the bend; Red Valerian, Hypericum, Traveller’s Joy and Ivy, all as mentioned previously, but again, a better view from this side. There was Michaelmas Daisy here too.

11:30 The incoming tide had brought the Herons and the Sandwich Terns in closer as I’d hoped and I risked walking about half-way down the steps, where I could get a good view of them while managing to be half-concealed by the rocks of the rip-rap. These views of the Heron family are probably the best I’ve ever had of these amazing waders.

Grey Heron
Grey Heron
Grey Herons
Grey Herons

The views of the Sandwich Terns were good too, although I wasn’t quite tall enough to see properly over the rocks and ‘lost’ the bottom of a few images. They were good enough to make out their varying states of plumage in a bit more detail though, with some being more advanced in losing their black caps than others. It’s great to see so many juveniles too.

Sandwich Tern (adult)
Sandwich Tern (adult)
Sandwich Tern (juvenile)
Sandwich Tern (juvenile)

The length of path from here back to the Point is noticeably more stark, but I like the shapes and patterns of shade and shadow created by the recurved wall and lengths of iron railings, which change according to the degree and angle of sunlight. The structure as a whole is a pretty impressive feat of engineering and construction, although under ever-increasing pressure from the might of storms and rising sea levels.

I find the rocks of the additional rip-rap defences fascinating too. They come in and array of differing surface textures and many are patterned with seams and veins of minerals; such as glistening quartz, the verdigris of copper and rusty red iron. Some have traces of ancient seashells and many are encrusted with lichens.

quartz
quartz
remains of an old wooden post
remains of an old wooden post
copper
copper
seashells
seashells

I took a last look at the shore from the access ramp where a Herring Gull sat comfortably enjoying the sunshine atop an oddly pudding-shaped rock

and a small number of Oyster Catchers were passing the time preening, resting or foraging on the sea edge.

A Cormorant flew low over the sea in the direction of the Little Orme. There’s a sizeable colony of them based there, and birds racing back and forth are a regular sight throughout the year, but I always love to see them.

11:50 Almost back where I started from and the roadside is full of parked cars. I’d passed a good number of people already and more were heading towards me on foot and on bikes. I hoped they’d all enjoy their day here and wondered how many would notice the nature.

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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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Butterflies of the Great Orme

31 Sunday Jul 2016

Posted by theresagreen in Butterflies of Wales, coastal habitat, Great Orme, Nature of Wales, North Wales Wildlife Trust, Wildflowers of Wales, Wildlife of the Wales Coast Path, y Gogarth

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Cinnabar moth, Conservation issues, crickets, dark green fritillary, grayling, Grayling (ssp. Thyone), hipparchia semele ssp.Thyone, Plejebus argus ssp. Caernensis, Red Admiral, Silver-studded Blue, Silver-studded Blue (spp.caernensis), small tortoiseshell, y Gogarth

July 14th – Great Orme

The great bulk of the west face of the Great Orme rises steeply from the shore of the Irish Sea; its scarred and fissured face testament to centuries of the relentless onslaught of invading weather fronts. Glancing upwards from its base it looks intimidating, barren save for a few patches of eroded grass and seemingly hostile as habitat for anything save the odd nimble Kashmiri goat. However, as in the best tradition of myths, legends and fairystories, looks can be deceptive and here-upon, not too far away, lies a magical kingdom populated by tiny beautiful creatures.

160714-Gt Orme 3-West Beach-Cliff face & toll house

The toll house on Marine Drive marks the beginning (or end) of the cliff path

The creatures take the form of butterflies. Two diverse species have evolved and adapted themselves to survival in this unlikely place and have been recognised and classified as ‘sub-species’. One is a variant of the rare Silver-studded Blue, classified as Plejebus argus ssp. Caernensis and the other a variant of Hipparchia semele (Grayling), classified as (ssp.Thyone). Both are ‘dwarf races’ and considered to be endemic to the site.

The ‘butterfly kingdom’ spills into the Great Orme or y Gogarth Reserve owned and managed by the North Wales Wildlife Trust, which has no paths, but there is a narrow stony path along a ledge cut about a third of the way up the cliff, which is indicated on the photograph above as a line of wire netting that both marks its edge and keeps people safe and goats in. I walked alongside the West Shore from the town end and joined the path at the back of the Toll House, but if you are coming down from the other direction, the other end of the track is waymarked to your left. A word of caution – this is a very narrow, unevenly surfaced track, so take care.

The day was sunny but windy, conditions which bring out the butterflies but often keeps them low to the ground or amongst long grass stems. I wasn’t expecting to start seeing the little Silver-studded Blues as easily as I did, but there on a patch of red valerian below the ‘dangerous cliffs’ sign I spotted my first ones. Most were looking rather worn and a bit tatty, but I was happy to see them at all.

First sight of a worn and battered female
First sight of a worn and battered female
Mating pair attracted others
Mating pair attracted others

As I watched I spotted a pair coupled together who were then joined by two others with another fresher-looking male also heading their way. Unlike their cousins, the Common Blues, these smaller butterflies don’t zoom away at speed just as you’re about to press the shutter button, but flutter gently from place to place, tending not to fly any distance away. They seem to bask quite frequently.

Silver-studded Blue male
Silver-studded Blue male
Silver-studded Blue female
Silver-studded Blue female

The uppersides of males are a glorious vivid blue with a dark border. Females’ uppersides are browner with a row of orange spots; in this sub-species they also have a variable flush of blue that extends over the hindwings and the base of the forewings. The Silver-studded Blue takes its name from the light blue reflective scales found on the underside of most adults and which are quite visible when light reflects off them in fresh butterflies, but they wear off quite quickly as the butterfly ages and can be quite difficult to see. In the main, the undersides are a brownish-grey with black spots, a row of orange spots, and small greenish flecks on the outer margin.  Males are similar to the Common Blue, which lacks greenish spots.

160714-GO-Silver studded blue underside (s) 3
160714-GO-Silver-studded Blue on nettle

Weathered male mating with a fresher female

The Silver-studded Blue is a Priority Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) species.

Generally they are found in close-knit colonies, most containing less than a thousand adults. Here on the Orme numbers fluctuate over the season, but may rise to a peak of a thousand or more. Today I met a warden and an assistant on the path that were assessing current numbers – in one spot alone they had counted 130 individuals, so despite the recent inclement weather, they appear to be doing OK.

The number of Graylings I saw also took me by surprise; in other locations I’ve been more than happy to come across the occasional one; along this path I encountered a good few patrolling the path. I’m hesitant to give a number as I have no idea how many times I might have seen the same one as it circumnavigated a territory. It could well be that the same one or two were circling me!

160714-Gt Orme 50a-West Shore-Grayling

Hipparchia semele ssp. Thyone (Thompson, 1944)

H. semele ssp. Thyone flies earlier than is usual with other races of Grayling, being on the wing towards the third week in June, and disappearing by the end of July.

160714-Gt Orme 57a-West Shore-Grayling

I am not practised enough to be able to recognise subtle differences between species & sub-species of butterflies and have no desire to catch any to compare them, so I have taken points from Mr Thompson’s comparisons:

Hipparchia semele ssp. Thyone

♂ Strikingly smaller than any other British race of semele. Coloration is more uniform than in typical semele, with the pale areas more ochreous. Forewing spots are smaller than in other races, with the lower of the two frequently absent. Underside coloration duller and less contrasting than in the type, with the white areas of hindwings tinged with ochre. ♀ Also smaller than other races. Spots are smaller than in normal specimens.

The special butterflies were not alone here. In  a small sheltered quarried out area at the side of the track more red valerian was attracting some larger visitors. I was most thrilled to see a Small Tortoishell, only the second I’ve seen this year and the first to stay put long enough to photograph.

There was a Red Admiral there too, a few Meadow Browns and a single Dark Green Fritillary that was repeatedly chased away by Graylings.

Small Tortoishell
Small Tortoishell
Red Admiral
Red Admiral
Dark Green Fritillary-Argynnis aglaja
Dark Green Fritillary-Argynnis aglaja
Grayling
Grayling
Cinnabar Moth

Cinnabar Moth

 

Another first sighting for this year was a Cinnabar Moth. I was musing just the other day about why I rarely see the adult moths when the distinctive yellow and black caterpillars are so numerous at this time of year; perhaps they don’t over-winter well? It was tricky to get even this less-than-brilliant image as it was fighting against the wind trying to stay on the cliff edge.

Jackdaw

Jackdaw

Wildflowers of the day:

Dewberry
Dewberry
Silver-studded Blue (f) on dewberry flower
Silver-studded Blue (f) on dewberry flower
Centaury
Centaury
Restharrow
Restharrow
Bloody Cranesbill
Bloody Cranesbill
Pyramidal Orchid
Pyramidal Orchid

Other insects

Common Green Grasshopper
Common Green Grasshopper
Speckled Bush Cricket
Speckled Bush Cricket

 

 

 

 

 

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Spring on the Bryn-part II

11 Monday May 2015

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

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

blackthorn, blackthorn blossom, Blue tit, dog violet, Great Tit, mistle thrush, orange tip, peacock butterfly, rabbit, small tortoiseshell, speckled wood, wild strawberry, woodland flowers

Walking further up through the field the local buzzard pair circled overhead, then just a few minutes later a sparrowhawk appeared from somewhere close by and startled me as it flew just a few feet over my head, then continued towards the direction from which I had come.

Gorse fully in flower

Gorse fully in flower

A bit further on I stopped for a while and sat on one of my favourite rocks savouring the warm sun and the peace and quiet; that rarely lasts long just here as its at a sort of junction of trails so there are passing dogs, usually well ahead of their owners that invariably come over to see what I’m up to. I watched two peacock butterflies vying for the best spot on a sun-warmed rock. The winner opened its slightly faded, but still beautiful wings and basked for a few short minutes undisturbed.

Peacock butterfly

Peacock butterfly

Moving off my rock to photograph the butterflies I noticed a patch of Wild Strawberry in flower. Tucked back against the rock it is sheltered and in a sunny spot, perfect for ripening berries.

Wild Strawberry plant in flower

Wild Strawberry-Fragaria vesca in flower

Back in the woods to walk up towards the summit I disturbed a large foraging bird. It flew up to a tree branch where it blended well into the dappled shade. It had to be a Mistle Thrush but I wasn’t entirely sure until it flew back down to the ground giving a better view.

A Mistle Thrush blending into the dappled shade of the wood

A Mistle Thrush blending into the dappled shade of the wood

Unmistakably a Mistle Thrush

Unmistakably a Mistle Thrush

At the top of the track there was a single Speckled Wood butterfly, a lovely ‘fresh’ one. It was intent on finding somewhere to bask in the sun and flitting and zig-zagging about low over the track. You have to keep an eye on them because once they settle they can be difficult to spot. I had to make do with this view as it still wasn’t happy and shot off quickly.

Speckled Wood butterfly

Speckled Wood butterfly

Back out in the open and continuing upwards I almost stepped on a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly also sunning itself on the bare earth of the track.

Small tortoiseshell- Aglais urticae

Small tortoiseshell- Aglais urticae

A little clump of Dog Violets growing in the grass at the side of the track caught my eye; the bee-fly zoomed in just as I pressed the shutter and was gone again before I could refocus on it.

Common Dog Violet- Viola riviniana

Common Dog Violet- Viola riviniana

Blackthorn, of which there is a generous amount up here, has been flowering for a short while now but is at its beautiful peak now. Last year was a sparse one in respect of the amount of sloes on the shrubs here, but if the masses of blossom on them now are anything to go by, this could be a bumper year.

Blackthorn with a view

Blackthorn with a view

The flowers of blackthorn appear before the leaves and these are just beginning to break from their buds.

Blackthorn-Prunus spinosa

Blackthorn-Prunus spinosa

Blackthorn blossom against a clear blue sky

Blackthorn blossom against a clear blue sky

Another male Orange Tip butterfly was racing along the boundary of the blackthorn scrub. He didn’t stop, but as my first sighting of this species this year was a few days earlier of one nectaring on blackthorn, I’m using one of the photographs I took then.

Orange Tip- Anthocharis cardamines

Orange Tip- Anthocharis cardamines

Following the path around to go up to the summit I noticed two Small Tortoiseshell butterflies on the ground. I thought at first they were mating, or about to do so and they did change their positions a few times, but nothing happened during the time I watched them. One was more fresh-looking than the other, but they were both perfectly intact and gorgeous.

150424TG-BE336-Two tortoiseshells150424TG-BE337-Two tortoiseshells150424TG-BE335-Two tortoiseshells

The grass up around the summit of the hill is kept short, constantly cropped by grazing rabbits. I think it’s highly likely that this particular part of the hill covers a maze of warrens and tunnels. You don’t often get to see them , especially during the daytime, but there are baby ones around now and not yet wise they can be seen out in the open.

Young bunnies

Young bunnies

Ground Ivy-Glechoma hederacea

Ground Ivy-Glechoma hederacea

I cut back into the woods here from the track the bunnies were on, hearing a chiffchaff a short way in. I spotted Great Tits foraging in the trees close to the track that flew over to the scrubby wild clematis-covered scrub on the other side.

Great Tit

Great Tit

Where I stopped to take the picture there were a large number of smallish hoverflies darting about, resting briefly on leaves or many on the ground, all shiny and fresh looking as the ones I saw lower down earlier in the afternoon.

There were Blue Tits out foraging too and I think its likely that a pair have a nest site quite high in a tree with ivy growing up through it.

Foraging Blue Tits

Foraging Blue Tits

At the bottom of the track I stopped for a few minutes to listen to a Mistle Thrush singing. This was a déjà vu moment as I recall doing this exact same thing last year, more or less in the exact same spot, scanning the trees for the singer. I found him then, but couldn’t spot him today, so here’s last year’s picture to be going on with. What a lovely bird and how lovely to see him again. (More about the Mistle Thrush here)

A well-marked, singing mistle thrush

A well-marked, singing Mistle Thrush

 

 

 

 

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A Butterfly bonanza

05 Monday May 2014

Posted by theresagreen in butterflies, Nature, Nature of Wales

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

comma, green-veined white, holly blue, orange tip, peacock butterfly, small tortoiseshell, speckled wood

It’s been a good while since I’ve had the time to visit blog-land, mainly down to starting a new job which has consumed most of my time and energy for the last few weeks. But, as with all significant life changes, things are gradually settling down and I’m able to get back to doing the things I enjoy, albeit less frequently.

Last Sunday was a lovely, almost warm sunny day and I was keen to take advantage of a free afternoon and get out for a wander. Stepping out of the front door I was still undecided where to head for, but the sight of a Peacock butterfly, aroused from hibernation and looking rather faded and a bit battered around the edges decided it for me and I set off for Bryn Euryn hoping to find more.

First Peacock of the year

First Peacock butterfly of the year

Peacock nectaring on a dandelion

Peacock nectaring on a dandelion

A few minutes later and I was standing on the woodland edge of the quarry field which is golden with dandelion flowers lifting their faces to soak up the sunshine.

Dandelions in full bloom

Dandelions in full bloom

I spotted my first butterfly within minutes, another Peacock, slightly less faded than the garden one but even more battered, poor thing.

Peacock- Nymphalis io

The Peacock was resting on a bramble leaf, but not for long – a Small Tortoiseshell fluttered into its territory and it took off in rapid pursuit.

A Small Tortoiseshell competing for territory with the Peacock

Small Tortoiseshell – Nymphalis urticae

The Small Tortoiseshell was in much better shape than the Peacock, its colours were brighter and there were no signs of damage, but the frequent intense aerial battles with the larger Peacock, who was clearly not in need of my earlier sympathy for his condition, may well take their toll.

Although delighted to see these two beautiful butterflies so soon after arriving here, I was even more pleased by the presence of two male Orange Tips that were racing up and down the field edge, pausing for the occasional skirmish with one another before continuing their frantic patrolling. I had a feeling of déja vue and was transported back to this time last year when I spent ages following Orange Tips back and forth along this same field edge, fruitlessly waiting for them to pause for an instant so I might get a photograph. So, imagine my delight when I spotted one hovering around a valerian flower seeming to be about to settle. My problem was that I was a good few metres away and I daren’t move too quickly towards it in case I alarmed it. I could hardly believe that my luck held and it did indeed settle and stayed put for a few precious moments allowing me to get a couple of reasonably good shots of it.

Orange Tip (male)

Orange Tip – Anthocaris cardamines (male)

It would have been good to catch him with his wings open, but I’m not complaining.

Orange Tip male underside

Orange Tip male underside

There was another of the ‘white’ butterfly species nearby too, this one the Green-veined White. In contrast to the Orange Tip, they are much easier to photograph, having a weaker flight and settling more frequently and for longer.

Green-veined White

Green-veined White-Pieris napi

By now I had reached the top of the field and although there were other insect distractions here I could see yet more distant flutterings at the other end, so retraced my steps. What I had seen turned out to be a Comma, also being drawn into skirmishes with the Peacock.

A lovely basking Comma

Comma-Polygonia c-album

The Comma was a lovely fresh one too, but was reluctant to fully open its prettily shaped wings.

A good view of the butterflys underside

A good view of the butterfly’s underside, showing the white mark that gives it its name

Watching the Comma yet another species caught my eye, this time a little Holly Blue that was fluttering around ivy growing up through a tree. It didn’t settle, so I didn’t feel obliged to negotiate brambles and stinging nettles to reach it, but to acknowledge its presence, I thought I’d put in a photograph I took earlier on in the garden.

Holly Blue

Holly Blue-Celestrina argeolis

Last but not least of today’s sightings was of one of my favourite butterfly species, a fresh, feisty little Speckled Wood.

Speckled Wood

Speckled Wood-Parage argeria

I added a Large White to my ‘tick-list’, but didn’t get a photograph. Eight species of butterfly in a matter of a few minutes and all within such a confined area was quite magical and far more than I had expected.

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Hogweed days

12 Friday Jul 2013

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

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

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

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

Hogweed, Cow Parsnip – Heracleum sphondylium  

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

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

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

Hogweed-Heracleum spondylium

Hogweed-Heracleum spondylium

etymology

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

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

Hogweed leaves

Hogweed leaves

A snail tucked into hogweed stems

A snail tucked into hogweed stems

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

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

The inflorescence of a Hogweed plant

The inflorescence of a Hogweed plant

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

A tachinid fly nectaring on hogweed

A tachinid fly nectaring on hogweed

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

Hogweed seedhead

Hogweed seedhead

1/9/12 - Hogweed seeds

1/9/12 – Hogweed seed cases

traditional medicinal and culinary uses

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

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

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

hogweed and insects

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

8/7/13 -Comma butterfly

8/7/13 -Comma butterfly

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

Probably a hoverfly an Eristalis species

Probably a hoverfly an Eristalis species

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

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

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

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

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

Picture from Naturespot: Graham Calow - Sapcote - 26 April 2012

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

53.308051 -3.749941

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A hill not too far – part 2

21 Friday Sep 2012

Posted by theresagreen in Bryn Pydew, butterflies, Limestone Pavement, Nature, nature of woodlands, nature photography

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

common blue, dropwort, filipendula vulgaris, juniper, limestone pavement, Meadow Brown, scabious, scarlet pimpernel, small tortoiseshell, taxus baccata, wildflowers and insects, yew

Limestone Pavement

Limestone pavement is very scarce and only covers 2600ha in Britain, but it is a habitat with a high geological interest. The following is an extract from the Limestone Pavement Conservation website: http://www.limestone-pavements.org.uk/geology.html which explains their formation much better than I could, so I am quoting it here:

“The formation of limestone pavements in the UK and Ireland began with the scouring of the limestone by glaciers during the last ice age. The weight of the ice removed the soil that lay over the limestone, and also fractured the limestone along existing horizontal surfaces of weakness known as bedding planes. Fractured rocks were stripped away leaving level platforms of limestone on which a thick layer of boulder clay (glacial till) was deposited as the glaciers retreated. Wind blown material was then deposited on top of the boulder clay. This external material is particularly important for soil formation, as limestone does not weather down into soil which would mean if there had been no glacial deposits, there would have been no soil development. From the flat limestone surfaces, the characteristic features of limestone pavement have been formed by water in the glacially deposited soil exploiting cracks and fissures in the rock.”

Part of the limestone pavement at Bryn Pydew (my photograph)

On the website linked above there is a lot more information, including a photograph taken here, labelled ‘Sheltered wooded pavement’. under the heading ‘flora’.

I had a potter around the rocky pavement and found a few little plants still flowering, but it is a bit late in the season for most species of the wildflowers that could potentially be found here to be blooming, so I will have to come back in the spring for another look.

Scarlet Pimpernel – Anagallis arvensis

Below the pavement, loose gravelly ground slopes away and merges into a grassy area. Following recent rainfall shallow streams of run-off water were trickling down, making the bare ground muddy and the grassy area quite marshy, so any plants here would be well watered. There were some pretty groups of scabious, (not sure which species) flowering here, that were proving of great interest to a variety of insects including several species of hoverfly and a few butterflies.

Scabious is still flowering strongly

Common Blue (f)-Polyommatus icarus

A Common Drone Fly-Eristalis tenax- on scabious giving a better view of the pretty flower

Meadow Brown

During the time I was here I had the whole place to myself and as I was muddling around I suddenly realised that there were  sizeable chunks of time when there was absolute peace and quiet. Not a single sound from a bird, a car, a plane, an animal or a person. It was so blissful I had to sit down on a rock to better enjoy it together with the wonderful views across to the hills  in front of me and Penrhyn Bay, the sea and the Little Orme beyond.

The view over the treetops to Penrhyn Bay and the Little Orme (click to enlarge)

My peaceful reverie was suddenly broken by intermittent rather muffled but quite loud voices. I thought at first that it must be people that had arrived to picnic somewhere close by as the level of the sound didn’t change as it would had they been walking around. Then the penny dropped; what I was hearing was the disembodied commentary from the ‘fun dog show’ just down the road in the village hall. It was a breezy afternoon too which meant the instructions being delivered, amplified by a PA system being used none too expertly, were probably clearer to me half  a mile away than they were to the dog owners. It amused me to picture the scenes from the little village hall and hoped dogs and owners really were having fun.

There are some interesting trees and shrubs growing around the perimeter of the pavement area, including two of our three British native conifers, juniper and yew. Juniper is now a threatened plant species in Britain. Plantlife have warned that it is  in serious trouble  in Britain and with some southern counties having lost 70 per cent of their populations, the species is facing extinction across lowland England within 50 years. The loss of juniper would represent more than the loss of a single species – it supports more than 40 species of insect and fungus that cannot survive without it.

Juniper shrub

Junipers have been part of Britain’s landscape for thousands of years, and were one of the first trees to colonise Britain after the last Ice Age. Their aromatic berries are used in cooking and medicine, and are the key ingredient of gin.

I have mentioned already that there were yew trees growing in the woodland, but this one out in the open was easier to photograph.

Yew-taxus baccata

Yew–Taxus baccata; Welsh: Ywen

Native to Britain and Ireland, the evergreen coniferous yew tree tolerates a wide range of conditions including the dense shading of woodland. It often grows singularly in woods but in groves elsewhere. It has long been planted in parks, gardens and has a long association with churchyards.

The leaves are highly toxic, as too is the seed inside the red berries owing to the presence of toxicantin and consuming as little as 50 to 100 grams of chopped leaves would be fatal to an adult.

Hart’s Tongue Fern – Asplenium scolopendrium.The sori (spore) pattern is reminiscent of a centipede’s legs, and scolopendrium is Latin for “centipede”.

Heading back across the limestone pavement I stopped to photograph a female Common Darter dragonfly that was basking in a sunny spot.

Common Darter (female) on limestone pavement

The information board describes the marked route around the reserve as ‘circular’, so I walked around the woodland edge to see if that meant there was another track to walk back on. As I was looking  I spotted a plant with white flowers tucked in amongst some oak seedlings and long grass stems.

Dropwort flower tucked in between oak seedlings. This is a late-flowering stem, there are others around it that are going to seed.

The plant is Dropwort – Filipendula vulgaris, and is related to Meadowsweet (it is in the same Genus). The flowers are larger than those of Meadowsweet, and the plant is much shorter, typically less than half the size. Dropwort also prefers a chalky or limestone grassland whereas Meadowsweet likes to grow on damp ground or near water. This was a late-flowering stem, its main flowering time being June-August, so I was lucky to find it. There were other stems close by going to seed, but I doubt I would have noticed them it the flowers hadn’t caught my eye.

This Dropwort  is not a relation to Water Dropworts which are mostly extremely poisonous to people, and in this instance the name of the plant does not mean that if it is eaten they will ‘drop down’; it refers to the large pea-sized drop-like tubers on its roots. However, the leaves and roots do contain  Methyl Salicylate, which serves to attract beneficial insects but to kill any that dare try to eat it, as it is toxic. Due to the presence of the chemical, if the leaves or root are crushed they do smell faintly of oil of Wintergreen.

Dropwort – Filipendula vulgaris

I walked back through the woods and back out into the sunshine. There were a number of  little dragonflies flitting about on the woodland edge, again Common Darters. Amongst them a pretty red adult male that obliging ‘perched’ for just long enough for me to photograph him.

Common Darter male

The flowery bit of land I described in the first part of this post was still busy with insects, but now they were joined by butterflies, a Meadow Brown, Large White, a couple of Small Tortoishells and an absolutely gorgeous Peacock.

Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell butterflies on red valerian

Small Tortoishell – Aglais urticae

Peacock-iInachis io

The beautifully textured underside of the Peacock

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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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