my local patch and wildlife - Ian McDonald

[Robert]

Ian,

If I understand correctly, the bulk of the precipitation falls during the summertime. If so, then the "dry" season would be autumn (maybe winter) and this too would be the fire season? This is a situation encountered in places like Florida (subtropical) and seems extremely unusual in your part of the earth. Maybe I completely misunderstood the data sent to me. 

My wife and I were up at the farm today. Thunderstorms and hail were moving in, with quickly falling temperatures. It will be very cold tonight, even in Sacramento. It is good for us to finally have some winter weather. Sadly, we are still falling behind on our precipitation to date.

Next week I will have a good botanical outing. Where do I go? This is the big question. I have a lot of data to catch up on in many places.

Thank you for the report. 

[ian mcdonald]

Robert, you are correct about the seasons regarding rain. However, we don,t have a fire season in the UK. Even though we have less rain in our area during Autumn and Winter the ground usually stays fairly wet throughout the year.  It is wetter in the western part of the UK than the East. The site was subject to a surface fire in one area last April. It is thought this fire was started deliberately. The wild plants in the UK shut down in Autumn and winter due to the cold weather. I hope you have enough rain in your area, but not too much. I look forward to your next post.

[Robert]

Ian,

In California, when there is a wild fire on peat land it can be extremely difficult to extinguish. Is this also true at "your site"?

We had some wild weather yesterday with thunderstorms, hail, and down pours under the thunderstorms. I too am looking forward to my next outing. It will be on Thursday, rain or shine. 

[ian mcdonald]

Robert, in past years with long hot summers, fire was a feature of the site. Once it had taken hold it could be deep seated. The local fire brigade spent a lot of time digging out the smouldering peat. The firemen involved were volunteers and not the regular firemen,  so that domestic fires etc were not affected by delayed attendance.  For the last few years we have not had long hot dry summers in our area. I think that weather comes in cycles and we are in a cooler wetter period at present. No doubt the climatologists would present figures to give another view. My theory is that if the Earth is warming then more clouds will be generated from the sea. As we have a lot of sea to our West and the prevailing wind is from the west, then the UK will have more cloud cover. This in turn will make summers cooler and wetter and Winters milder and wetter. Combined with rises in sea level it is no wonder many areas in the UK have more flooding, with more to come. I wonder why our government allow housing to be built in low lying areas. Who would want sewage to flood their house. This is already happening in the UK.

[GordonT]

In my previous life on Canada's west coast, I've experienced the effects of bog fires. Burns Bog, is a large raised peat wetland south of Vancouver, but within the greater urban region. It has caught fire several times over the years, choking the city with smoke and soot. Vancouver may be a very wet place overall, but summers are usually very dry. Here's a link describing the last fire there

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/burns-bog-fire-highways-1.3663309

[Chris Johnson]

A tiny Fungi? was found on bare peat. The individual "cups" were just a few millimetres across, see photo.

Missed this Ian.

A microscope job really. Two possibilities are Byssonectria fusispora and Kotlabaea deformis, but there are others.

Nice find though. A bit more woodland here would be good.

[ian mcdonald]

Thanks Chris. I suppose it is too windy for woodland over there. Perhaps native shrubs which can stand strong winds would be a start?

[Chris Johnson]

It's not the wind Ian, but overgrazing by sheep, assisted by rabbits and far too many deer.

The machair (Atlantic side) where I live, wouldn't support too much tree growth because of the sandy substrate and more intense wind-speeds, but the eastern side would certainly support native tree growth.

[ian mcdonald]

Today started out sunny and then the rain came in. After a while the rain cleared and I decided to go out. Just after I arrived on site it started to rain and sleet. I met the two naturalists I had seen a few weeks ago and joined them in a wood. They were sifting through leaf litter again, looking for small insects. They found pseudo-scorpions, rove beetles and millipedes. After a while I went to look at another part of the wood. The water levels are still rising as the new pump still does not work. Several weeks ago I mentioned this problem to the Project Manager. He is over-seeing the water level management. He "passed the buck" and nothing has been done to rectify the pump problem. I was told today that some fuel had arrived and the old diesel pump will be brought back into use. In the wood I found a small patch of my favourite moss, Thuidium tamariscinum. I also disturbed a woodcock. I saw a couple of scarlet elf cups on a rotten log.



Millipede.



millipede and rove beetle.



pseudo-scorpion 3mm in length. Neobiscium carcinoides

[ian mcdonald]

Thuidium tamariscinum



scarlet elf cup





Birds seen today were marsh harrier, mallard, teal, long tailed tits, blackbirds, woodcock, starlings, fieldfares, crows, robin, pheasants, shoveler and grey squirrel. Seen by the other naturalists was a tree creeper.

[ian mcdonald]

Today was sunny and cold. Visibility was very good. The new pump is still not working. Water levels have risen again. Some diesel was delivered and the old pump has been brought into work again. I visited another wet woodland on site, one which I have hardly looked at. I found another Polypodium vulgare growing on an old willow. This is the third record for the site. I also flushed three woodcock while in the wood. One did not fly until I was about twenty yards away. It must have been watching me from a tree stump picking my way through the water. I could see that The Red Arrows were practising in the distance. Birds seen today were, woodcock, mallard, gadwall, teal, shoveler, stonechat, robin, grey lag geese, crow, pheasant, magpie, long tailed tit, moorhen, wren and wood pigeon.



Trail of the lonesome pine.



Area where scrub has been cleared and water levels are about right for re-growth of bog plants.

[Robert]

Ian,

This is the first time I have noticed a pine posted on your diary. What species is it? Are they indigenous? Was it growing on higher ground? It seemed out of place, but then I know nothing about your patch.

[ian mcdonald]

Robert, the pine is our native Pinus sylvestris. There are only a few on the site. This one is on slightly raised ground and clear of the water. The trees in the background are native birch, a mix of B. pendula and B. pubescens. They are on the fringe of the wet woodland I was in yesterday. The tall grass in the photo. is Molinea caerulea, probably the most common species on the site.

[ian mcdonald]

Yesterdays weather forecast was for wind and rain and it was accurate so I delayed my visit until today. A sunny and mild day which turned to sleet when I arrived. This soon cleared and it was a good day of sun and wind. I decided to check if the new pump was working. It was not. If no-one can fix it, it is no use. I went to look for a rare moss in the other wet wood again. There is now much water in this wood as well as the previous woodland. As a result, the landscape has changed and although I was in the right area I could not re-find the moss. It is an epiphyte growing on willow. Splashing about I disturbed 7 woodcock in various areas. It took quite a long time until I made my way back to a track. I noticed an orange lichen on willow and took a photo. It was not until I got home and enlarged the picture that I noticed there was a liverwort growing on the lichen. I think the liverwort is Metzgeria furcata. The wood contains quite a few mature and decaying willows. There are many mosses growing on the trees. Some of the willows are Salix alba, white willow. Birds seen today were, stonechat, mallard, skylark, pochard, goosander, blue tit, woodcock, crow, robin, chaffinch, pheasant, grey lag geese, moorhen, great spotted woodpecker, wood pigeon, marsh harrier, teal, shoveler, fieldfares, lapwing and magpie. Two days ago I saw a goldcrest in the garden, a rare visitor to the garden. When I arrived back this evening a song thrush was singing in the oak tree in the garden. A sign of spring.

[Robert]

Ian,

The photograph with the orange lichen is striking. Despite, or maybe even encouraged by, the air pollution, the yellow to orange yellow Candelaria lichens grow thickly on the small branches of many of our trees in Sacramento. They can grow as thickly as pictured in your photograph but are not as striking.

From the second photograph it appears that the habitat is flooded because the pump is still not working?