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Tag Archives: tree bumblebee

Midsummer Woods

05 Sunday Jul 2020

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

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

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

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

09:59 – Woodland Path

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

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

An arch of Honeysuckle

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

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

Wood Sage-Teucrium scorodonia
Wood Sage-Teucrium scorodonia
Navelwort-Umbilicus rupestris
Navelwort-Umbilicus rupestris

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

Honeybee on bramble blossom

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

Faded Tree Bumblebee
Faded Tree Bumblebee
Fresh Tree Bumblebee
Fresh Tree Bumblebee

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

Speckled Wood
Speckled Wood
Red Admiral
Red Admiral

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

Yellow and black beetle- Rutpela maculata
Yellow and black beetle- Rutpela maculata
Yellow and black beetle-Rutpela maculata
Yellow and black beetle-Rutpela maculata

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

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

Path edged with False Brome

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

Cock's-foot-Dactylis glomerata
Cock’s-foot-Dactylis glomerata
False Brome-Brachypodium sylvaticum
False Brome-Brachypodium sylvaticum

 

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

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

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

PATH EDGES

Nipplewort-lapsana-communis

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

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

Curled Dock
Curled Dock
Common Nettle
Common Nettle

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

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

Gt Pied Hoverfly-Volucella pellucens
Gt Pied Hoverfly-Volucella pellucens
Marmalade Fly-Episyrphus bateatus
Marmalade Fly-Episyrphus bateatus

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

The Woodland Trail

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

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

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

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

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

Volucella pellucens
Volucella pellucens
200615-1126-BEWT (122b)-Bumblebee no id
Tiny Tree bumblebee
Tiny Tree bumblebee
Early bumblebee
Early bumblebee
200615-1122-BEWT (110a)-Fly
200615-1116-BEWP (102a)-Fly

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

Tutsan with berries
Episyrphus balteatus

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

 

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

 

Trees arch across the path creating shady leafy tunnels

First wild raspberry

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

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

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

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

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

a good place to take a break..

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On a Perfect Spring Day

03 Thursday May 2018

Posted by theresagreen in birds singing, British hoverflies, Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, Butterflies of Wales, Local Nature Reserves, Nature of Wales, North Wales, Wildflowers of Wales, woodland birds, woodland walks, woodland wildflowers

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

ashy mining bee, Bee-fly, Blackcap, blackthorn blossom, Chiffchaff, comma, cowslip, Greater Spotted Woodpecker, hairy-footed flower bee, tawny mining bee, tree bumblebee

April 19th – Bryn Euryn

Today was the middle day of the three consecutively warm sunny days that tantalised us with the notion that Spring had truly arrived, and judging by the activity here today it had a lot of our wildlife fooled too. The sky was clear and that almost-unbelievable shade of deep blue, the birds were singing and best of all, it was warm!

WOODLAND PATH

A few metres along the Woodland Path of my patch is an untidy-looking stretch, divided by the narrow path, where missing trees have opened up the canopy, letting in the light and warmth of the sun. Somewhat mysteriously, it holds great allure for diverse species of insects, some of which at certain times can be found here in surprising numbers. At the right time on the right day, ten minutes spent in this  ‘hotspot’ can be as productive as two hours spent ranging over the rest of the site.

11:44 Today I was here at the right time to see a surprising amount of insects. Most prolific were hoverflies in all shapes and sizes from big and bulky to teeny-tiny and dainty.

Eristalis sp hoverfly
Eristalis sp hoverfly
180419-BEWP- (6)-1148

Syrphus sp.

There were few flowers here for nectaring upon, so that wasn’t the attraction for the majority of the hoverflies; I caught just one on the tiny flowers of Dog’s mercury. There were dozens of this small black and yellow striped species here, all very fresh and shiny and mostly basking on the sun-warmed leaves of brambles and nettles.

One side of the ‘hotspot’ is open to sunlight, clear of trees but sheltered by those standing behind it and by large shrubs of laurel and holly on either side. A large tangle of bramble fills the gap in the vegetation and is the only barrier between you and the Expressway below at the bottom of an almost-vertical slope. (Only joking, there’d be plenty of trees to stop you if you fell!) On the other side is a large patch of nettles, the aforementioned Dog’s mercury, more bramble and a pretty patch of periwinkle, all growing through a ground-covering of ivy.

Periwinkle
Periwinkle
Dog's Mercury
Dog’s Mercury

A lone Tree bumblebee flew in, visited a couple of the periwinkle flowers then stopped to bask on a last-year’s half-eaten bramble leaf. I think it was a male (no pollen baskets) and was looking a bit the worse for wear. He seemed to have a burden of mites and I wondered if exposing them to warm sun might dislodge them. I’ve seen birds do that.

180419-BEWP- (4)-1146
180419-BEWP- (18)-1155

A smaller bee caught my eye as it came to rest on an ivy leaf. I didn’t realise what it was until I saw my photograph, then was excited to see it was a Hairy-footed Flower Bee, this one a male and my first record of this species here.

Hairy-footed Flower Bee – Anthophora plumipes (male)

Hairy-footed Flower Bee (m)-Anthophora plumipes

A species common and widespread in much of England and Wales, especially in towns, cities and villages. Often nests in the soft mortar and exposed cob of old walls, but occasionally will nest in the ground, preferring bare compacted clay soils. Flies from late February to mid-June, and is particularly partial to Lungwort (Pulmonaria) flowers.

Males and females look very different from one another: the female resembles a small, black bumblebee with orange-red hairs on the hind leg and a rapid-darting flight; she’ll  often approach a flower with her long tongue extended. Males are mostly brown with a dark tail (fresh specimens are gingery). Cream markings on face distinguish it from all bumblebees.They are often among the first bees of the year to emerge and often hover in front of flowers and when pursuing females.

Another little bee came to rest on a nettle leaf, this one I recognised as an Ashy mining bee and another male.

Ashy mining bee – Andrena cineraria (male)

Ashy mining bee (m)-Andrena cineraria 

A distinctive and obvious spring-flying solitary bee. Females are black, and have two broad ashy-grey hairbands across the thorax. Males emerge well before the females. They look similar, but their thorax is entirely covered with less dense grey hairs, and there’s a pronounced tuft of white hairs on the lower face. Species has a single flight period each year from early April until early June. Nests are constructed in the ground; entrances are surrounded by a volcano-like mound of excavated spoil; often in dense aggregations in  lawns, flower beds, mown banks and in field margins.

And where there are mining bees there are those who would prey upon them….. Bee-flies: quirkily-cute in appearance but not good to know if you’re a hard-working mining bee; they’ll spy out your nest-hole and craftily kick their eggs inside with those long legs, then later their hatched larvae will feast on yours.

Bee-fly-Bombilius major
Bee-fly-Bombilius major
180419-BEWP- (15)-1150-

Wasps were out on the prowl too; I didn’t get a clear enough image to tell if this was a German or Common Wasp – the latter have a distinctive anchor mark on their face; this image is a bit fuzzy.

180419-BEWP- (26)-1203
180419-BEWP- (28)-1203

12:07 I could have lingered longer, but birds were singing, I’d been serenaded by a Song thrush and a Robin as I stood watching insects, Blue tits twittered on all sides and I was keen to see what else was happening.

Bluebells are beginning to flower and offer nectar to those that can reach it, there’s also Greater Stitchwort and lots of Dog Violets. A male Orange-tip butterfly raced past me over the bluebells and through the trees, clearly on the trail of a female and not stopping for an instant.

180419-BEWP- (39)
180419-BEWP- (39)-1217

Greater Stitchwort – Stellaria holostea

There are masses of glorious glossy golden yellow lesser celandines shining in the sunlight too.

I stopped to admire the celandines lining a section of the path and not at all concerned by my presence, a Blue tit perched above me and began to sing.

180419-BEWP- (48)
180419-BEWP- (44)

Beneath him dozens of shiny new flies arrived to bask on soft sun-warmed new bramble leaves.

There’s one special spot I know where Wood Anemones light up the woodland floor like fallen stars, turning their faces to the sun

180419-BEWP- (56)
180419-BEWP- (57)

and another where those of the shamrock-leaved Wood sorrel shyly hide theirs.

Over the boundary fence, the formidable thorny boundary hedge of gorse and blackthorn is softened now with their fragrant gold and white blossoms.

I heard a bird singing, a short loud burst of notes that I thought at first was a Wren, but it wasn’t quite right. I’d forgotten that another tiny bird, the Goldcrest also has a disproportionately loud song, remembering when he broke cover and flitted about in shrubbery in front of me. He wasn’t going to oblige me with a photograph, much too busy! So I stood gazing upwards for a while – you can’t get too much beautiful blue sky…

… or pretty blossom, can you?

WOODLAND TRAIL

12:58 There’s another hotspot around the junction of my Woodland Path with the reserve’s Woodland Trail, this one for birds. Here there is a territory of both Blackcap and Chiffchaff so there is the possibility of hearing if not seeing both species here. Today I was lucky; I heard the Blackcap’s song as I approached and walking slowly and as quietly as I was able I spotted him. He continued to sing but moved restlessly through the branches as I got nearer then flew off across the other side of the track.

While he sang from behind foliage over there I watched a pretty female Tawny mining bee feast on Blackthorn blossom.

180419-BEWP- (73)
180419-BEWP- (71)

Then the Blackcap came back to where he’d started, so I think perhaps his red-headed mate may be on their nest somewhere close by.

This gorgeous gorse is below his singing tree. It would make a safe place to nest and the flowers would attract insects for dinner.

I had heard a Chiffchaff singing nearby too but was pleasantly surprised when he appeared, continuing his song while flitting about amongst the twiggy branches searching for insects.

13:21 Further along the trail I spotted a flutter of orange – a lovely fresh Comma butterfly  basking on dry leaves at the edge of the path. As I watched it moved, (look away now if you’re squeamish) onto a thankfully dryish dog poo deposit. I had to take the picture as it nicely presented its underside showing off the distinctive white mark for which it is named.

180419-BEWP- (85)
180419-BEWP- (86)

The disturbed ground of the pathsides supports some of the ‘weedier’ wildflowers like dandelions which provide important nectar when there’s not much else in flower.

You’d be very unlucky not to hear and see a Robin singing along here, there seems to be one at regularly spaced intervals. They sit and watch out over the track then dart out to pounce on any potential prey they may spot. This one had been singing but stopped to watch me.

I waited to see if he’d start singing again and was distracted by a bird whistling loudly. I scanned around searching for whatever was making the sound, one I didn’t recognise at all but that sounded to be being made by quite a large bird. After a few minutes the whistler appeared and to my amusement turned out to be …. a Great Tit! Of course it was, one of the basics of birdsong recognition is ‘when you don’t recognise it or haven’t heard it before, chances are it’ll be a Great Tit’; they have an incredible repertoire of sounds to call upon. I was thankful to him for keeping me in that spot though, as this gorgeous Greater Spotted Woodpecker flew onto a tree trunk literally right in front of me.

The Woodpecker stayed there, keeping a watchful eye on me. This bird is a female and is holding something small in her beak, so I imagine she has a nest nearby and was unwilling to reveal it. I moved away quickly, thanking her for the photo opportunity as I did.

Great Spotted Woodpeckers are about the same size as Starlings. Their plumage denotes their age and sex. Juvenile birds have red foreheads that are replaced by black as they moult in the autumn. Adult males then have a red nape while females have no red on their head at all.

 

The Lesser Celandines have been late flowering this Spring but are glorious now and more prolific than I’ve seen them before. It’s not just the flowers that are prolific, so too were hoverflies and Bee-flies seemed to be everywhere.

180419-BEWP- (106)
180419-BEWP- (103)

Approaching the entrance to the meadow another Robin, which looks as though it is singing, but was actually ‘ticking me off’, let me know it didn’t appreciate my disturbing it.

THE UPPER MEADOW (ADDER’S FIELD)

The grass of the meadow was cut back hard last autumn and so far there’s not much happening there yet, but the grass is beginning to grow and the cowslips are starting to come out. They’ll be later on the more exposed ‘downland’ side of the hill.

180419-BEWP- (115)
180419-BEWP- (120)

Another Bee-fly settled on an exposed rock in the pathway, fluttering its wings rapidly and making flicking movements with its legs as they do when depositing their eggs, but there was no sign of a mining bee nest anywhere near, so not sure what it was doing.

Summer Rainfall Prediction:

If oak is out before the ash, there’ll be a splash ; if ash is out before the oak there’ll be a soak…

180419-BEWP- (121)
180419-BEWP- (117)

Keep the brollies handy, looks like ash is furthest on so far….!

Wriggling across the still-damp ground on the way to the Summit Trail was an earthworm. Double jeopardy came to mind – exposure to warm sunshine and hungry birds; foolish worm.

Last year I noticed spots along the trail here where Mining Bees were making nests. having seen a few about today I kept an eye out for more signs of their activity and spotted these little ‘volcanoes’, evidence of their presence. I waited a while but no bees showed, so I don’t know which species had made them, but I think maybe Tawny Mining Bees.

180419-BEWP- (128)
180419-BEWP- (126)

THE SUMMIT

It was cooler and breezier up here. I walked carefully, hoping there may be Small Tortoiseshell butterflies basking on the bare earth of the path, but not today, although I did see two busily chasing one another at speed as they disappeared over the edge of the cliff.

The mountains and the distant Conwy valley were veiled by a misty haze.

The blackthorn is smothered with blossom and looking beautiful. It will be interesting to see how much of it gets pollinated and develops as fruit this autumn. Sloe gin comes to mind.

Blackthorn – Prunus spinosa

The path back down to the Woodland Trail felt almost bridal with falling petals showering down onto the ground like confetti. A pretty way to end this account of a lovely walk.

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Signs of Summer Passing

12 Friday Aug 2016

Posted by theresagreen in Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, bumblebees, Butterflies of Wales, calcareous grassland, Nature of Wales, North Wales, plants important to wilflife, spiders, Wildflowers of Wales

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

gatekeeper butterfly, hazelnuts, hemp agrimony, male bumblebees, Nature in August, Nursery Web spider, Odontites vernus, Red Admiral, Red bartsia, tree bumblebee, white-tailed bumblebee

Historically August can be quite a wet month and is statistically less likely to have long spells of sunny holiday weather than July. This August of 2016 is certainly following the trend.

August is the traditional month for the harvest in the British Isles, which is the reason it became the main school holiday month. In the past village children were recruited to help with the then labour-intensive process and the first general Education Acts drawn up in Victorian times, providing general primary education for all, took this into account. Even the youngest child could play a useful role in keeping the pigeons and crows away from the gleanings (spilt grains). 

060712-Cornfield & Poppies

August 5th

Finally, this mid-afternoon, having waited patiently all day for an interval of more than half-an-hour without signs of imminent rain, I seized my moment and headed for the hill. Not confident the break in the rain would last long, I didn’t linger on the pathway up through the woods, only stopping to photograph a Sycamore leaf afflicted with Tar-Spot fungus …..

160805-Bryn Euryn (1)-Sycamore leaf with tar fungus

…. and those of a shrubby plant I don’t recognise, well-patterned by leaf mines.

160805-Bryn Euryn (10)-leaves with leaf mines

A quick look over the fence on the wood’s edge didn’t look too promising; the Carneddau mountains to the west were veiled heavily by approaching rain clouds.

160805-Bryn Euryn (7)

Incoming rain

I reached the Woodland Trail in record time for me,  again stopping only briefly by the big bramble to note any activity on the late flush of newly-opening flowers. Just a male Tree bumblebee and a Meadow Brown butterfly. (It’s fairly easy to spot male bumblebees as they have no pollen baskets and no real purpose other than to eat to stay alive for as long as possible, so they don’t rush about like workers).

Tree Bumblebee (male)
Tree Bumblebee (male)
Meadow Brown butterfly
Meadow Brown butterfly

I had reached the line of used-to-be-coppiced Hazels when the rain arrived. Fortunately the foliage of the tree canopy is so dense there that hardly a drop got through, so I was kept dry even minus a waterproof. The Hazels here produce few nuts; perhaps because they know their efforts will be squandered by Grey Squirrels; they take them while still green, have a quick nibble to reach the soft kernel inside, then cast them to the ground when they are done.

160805-Bryn Euryn-Hazelnuts (not ripe)

160805-Bryn Euryn (18)-ground littered with hazelnuts

I waited until I could no longer hear rain on the tree leaves and carried on walking, noting how surprisingly green and fresh-looking the greenery was for this time of year.

160805-Bryn Euryn (23)-steps up to field

However, despite the greenery there are sure signs that this summer is past its peak. In Adder’s Field the Burnet roses are bearing fruits; the hips already dark red although not yet as dark as they will become. The Wild onion flowers are coming to an end and they too are producing fruits;  tiny bulbils which will sprout in situ, then drop to the ground and produce roots ready to grow into a new plant.

Hips of Burnet Rose
Flowers of Wild Onion
Fruits of Wild Onion are tiny bulbils

Stretched vertically between the rose stems was the tightly woven web-tent of a Nursery-web Spider. Peering down to its base I tracked down the weaver to where she was hiding, only some of her legs properly visible. These spiders are quite big and clumsy-looking yet produce such surprisingly fine web fabric; it’s like a piece of silk organza. (Arachnaphobes maybe scroll down quickly now!)

160805-Bryn Euryn (40b)-Nursery web spider160805-Bryn Euryn (40a)-Nursery web spider on web

The Wild clematis, or Old-man’s Beard as it will become, is in flower too, another signaller of the slide into Autumn.

160805-Bryn Euryn (34)-Wild clematis flowers

On the opposite side of the field the swathe of Hemp Agrimony is in full flower and after the rain, the warming sunshine was drawing out a crowd of insects, literally buzzing with excitement at the abundance of nectar and pollen on offer.

160805-Bryn Euryn (60)-stand of Hemp Agrimony

Again, takers were mostly male bumblebees with a few hoverflies and butterflies.

Bumblebee dusted with pollen
Eristalis sp hoverfly
Helophilus sp. hoverfly

160805-Bryn Euryn (62a)-Gatekeeper

Sightings of Gatekeeper butterflies were top of my wish-list for today. I had already seen a few flying about in the last few days, but was pleased to find my first photographable one of this year. Its tiny size was emphasized by  the proximity of a large Red Admiral on a neighbouring flower.

160805-Bryn Euryn (61)-Red Admiral front view

Nearby, ragwort was also working to attract pollinators. A damaged 6-spot Burnet had taken respite on a flowerhead and was still there hours later when I passed it on my way home. There were more male bumblebees, hoverflies and a tiny black-and-white striped bee.

Damaged 6-spot Burnet
Male bombus praetorum
Small striped flower bee

At the top end of the field a patch of umbellifers – tall Hogweed amongst  shorter Upright Hedge Parsley.

160805-Bryn Euryn-Umbellifers

In previous years I have found a few stems of Red bartsia in flower amongst the long grass at this end of the field; this year there is a significantly larger patch of this interesting semi-parasitic plant.

160805-Bryn Euryn (73)-Red Bartsia-Odontites vernus

Given a week or two to finish ripening, a good crop of berries on the Rowan tree should keep the blackbirds going for a while.

160805-Bryn Euryn (74)-Rowan tree

Break here to sit on my favourite rock (still slightly damp), have a drink of water, eat a peach and scribble down notes before heading up towards the summit.

Click for more info within this blog about:  Nursery Web Spider : Gatekeeper butterfly

 

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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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Bumbles, Masons and Miners

10 Sunday May 2015

Posted by theresagreen in Bryn Euryn Nature Reserve, bumblebees, Little Orme, Local Nature Reserves, Nature of Wales, Rhiwledyn Nature Reserve

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

buff-tailed bumblebee, common carder bee, early mining bee, mason bees, mining bees, red mason bee, red-tailed bumblebee, tawny mining bee, tree bumblebee

Early spring is a good time to look out for some of the different species of bees found locally, catching them before they settle in to producing the next generation. On recent outings Bryn Euryn was particularly well blessed with bumblebees and some other interesting species and the Little Orme brought an unexpected treat so I thought I’d put them all together.

The Buff-tailed bumblebee- Bombus terrestris is the largest of our native bumblebees. Queens, workers and males have a dirty golden yellow collar near the head and one on the abdomen.

Buff-tailed bumblebee

Bryn Euryn – Buff-tailed bumblebee queen

The queen’s tail is an off white/buff colour which can sometimes appear orange. The queens are busy establishing new colonies and may be seen collecting pollen to stock it and crawling around on the ground where they nest in burrows underground.

Buff-tailed bumblebee queen on the ground

Bryn Euryn-Buff-tailed bumblebee queen on the ground

I didn’t spot any workers or males on the days I was out and about, if I had these would both be smaller than the queens and look slightly different as workers have a white tail and that of the males is white ringed with a buff line.

Red-tailed Bumblebee- Bombus lapidarius queens are also establishing new colonies and can be seen feeding and collecting pollen from flowers and also crawling around on the ground as they too nest underground.

Red-tailed bumblebee queen with full pollen baskets

Red-tailed bumblebee queen with full pollen baskets

Queens are distinctive with their black bodies and red tails and are large, between 20 -22mm long which is a similar length to that of the Buff-tailed bumblebee queens, but the red-tailed is less bulky.

Red-tailed Bumblebee queen emerging from a patch of ivy-leaved speedwell

Bryn-Euryn -Red-tailed Bumblebee queen emerging from a patch of ivy-leaved speedwell

There are Red-tailed bumblebee workers about too. They have the same colouring as the queens but are smaller, varying in size from 1-16mm in length, with some early workers being no bigger than a house fly.

They have comparatively short tongues and favour flowers that provide them with a landing platform such as dandelions and daisies and later on, thistles and ragwort. In gardens they like chive flowers and lavender.

24/4/15-Red-tailed worker bee on dandelion

24/4/15-Bryn Euryn-Red-tailed worker bee on dandelion

To make things confusing there is a cuckoo-bee that closely resembles the Red-tailed bumblebee. The main differences are that the cuckoo bee has black wings and the back legs are hairy and without the shiny hairless patch, the pollen basket, of the true bee.

There were a very few Common Carder bees Bombus pascuorum about and I only managed one quick shot of one visiting a dog violet flower. There will be many more later on.

Carder Bee

Bryn Euryn – Common Carder Bee

An exciting new recording for me here was of the Tree Bumblebee Bombus hypnorum, that’s is not to say they weren’t here before, just that I had never seen one. I was lucky to spot two that were taking nectar from the Green Alkanet flowers which grow in a big patch next to the car-park gate.

21/4/15 -Tree bumblebee-Bombus hypnorum

21/4/15 – Bryn Euryn-Tree bumblebee-Bombus hypnorum

Tree bumblebees are fairly new arrivals to the UK, first found in 2001 in Wiltshire. Since then they have spread across most of England and Wales and made it to Southern Scotland in 2013. Queens, workers and males all have a similar colour pattern; the thorax is tawny to reddish-brown, the abdomen is black and the tail is white.

Tree bumblebee burdened with mites

Tree bumblebee burdened with mites

Queens vary significantly in size and can reach up to 18mm in length. Males are quite chunky and can be as much as 16mm in length; fresh males have a patch of yellowish facial hair which eventually wears off. Workers, which is what I believe I photographed range from 11-16mm in length; they move around rapidly and are effective pollinators.

Basking on the leaves of the butterbur plant that also grows near the gate at the bottom end of of the car park was another little bee. I’m not positive about its identification but based on the colour of the hairs on its thorax I think it may be an Early Mining Bee – Andrena haemorrhoa.

150421TGNW-BE68c-Early Mining Bee

Bryn Euryn-Early Mining Bee-Andrena haemorrhoa

A couple of days later I was walking on the Little Orme and came across another species of mining bee that cannot be mistaken for anything else, the Tawny Mining Bee-Andrena fulva.

There were two individuals attempting to nectar on Alexander’s while a particularly strong wind was bending and tossing the flower around. It was tricky trying to get focussed images.

28/4/15- Tawny Mining Bee on Alexanders -Little Orme

28/4/15- Little Orme-Tawny Mining Bee on Alexanders

Males are 10 to 12 mm and the females 8 to 10 mm long. The females are covered with fox red hair on their backs and black on the underside, whilst the males are more slender and yellower in appearance.

Tawny Mining Bee

Little Orme-Tawny Mining Bee

One of the two managed to hold on and kept searching over the florets, but the other gave up and dropped to the ground.

Tawny Mining Bee on the ground

Tawny Mining Bee on the ground

The bees mate in spring, after which the male dies and the female starts to build a nest. Sometimes more than a hundred females build nests in a few square metres but the Tawny Mining Bee normally does not create a colony: each female has her own nest.

Finally I’d like to mention another little bee found locally, the Red Mason Bee Osmia rufa, also most likely to be spotted around this time of year.

Fairy Glen-Red Mason Bee

Fairy Glen-Red Mason Bee

The males are smaller than the females at 6 -11 mm. Both sexes are covered in dense gingery hairs, the male with white tufts on the head while the female’s head is black.

Red Mason Bee

Red Mason Bee (m)

It is a solitary bee, each nest being the work of a single female bee working alone. They nest in pre-existing cavities such as hollow plant stems, old garden canes, air bricks, and even old nail holes in fence posts, lining the inside of the cavity with mud.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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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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