my local patch and wildlife - Ian McDonald

[ian mcdonald]

The sunny weather has brought out more butterflies, this one is a female Common Blue.



A woodland fungus, often detected by its foul smell, is Stinkhorn.



Dog Vomit slime mould can be found on trees.



I think this one is Coral Slime, please correct me if its not.



This may be either a slime mould or a fungus?

[ashley]

Red squirrels here in the garden also vary greatly in colour, especially the tails which range from blonde through foxy & auburn to dark smoky grey.  Several individuals we can recognise also change tail colour gradually over time, presumably with molts.  Ear tufts vary from absent to long & luxuriant but here they don't seem to vary in any obvious way with time of year, so regular visitors on any given day may differ widely.  They're also very vocal & scold me regularly if I have the temerity to disturb them in order to refill the 'magic' boxes

Lovely photo of that common blue. 

[ian mcdonald]

I had a steady walk down by the river today. Wildlife seemed scarce at first. I saw insects around some Corn Marigold, a rare plant these days. Some insects were micro-moths, Nettle Taps.



A fresh looking Peacock butterfly was on the river bank in the sun.



I saw two Herons, one was in a tree waiting for a flying fish?



Mimulus (monkey flower) is still flowering.



I saw a blue flash as a Kingfisher zoomed away. Also seen was a Dipper, buzzard, sand martin, and several swallows and house martins.

[ian mcdonald]

A local wildlife site not visited by many people.



On a track were tiny red fungi, I think they are Waxcaps.





A species of Peziza?

Black Darter.



By a roadside are three clumps of Soapwort, said to have been introduced to the UK by the Romans.

[ian mcdonald]

The weather here has been mixed lately. Some dull cool days and some sunny warm days. A friend of mine was up for a few days and we went to look at Culbin Forest. Martin has better eyesight than me and spotted a young Crested Tit with other small birds.



We saw a few Wood Ant nests and despite the drizzle the ants were out.



Martin wanted to see the Red Squirrels so we went where there were likely to be some. One was pretending to be a branch.



At the coast we found stands of Lyme Grass, Elymus arenarius. Some of the flower spikes had Ergot.

[ian mcdonald]

Back along the river I saw two groups of Goosander, 27 in total. I managed a quick photo. of two in flight, out of focus.



Forget-me-not are still in flower, some with pink flowers.



Wagtails are often seen by the river, Pied and Grey.



I saw some blackberries and decided to see if they were sweet. The third one I picked had a Herald moth on it.



I see Dippers on the river quite often, diving into the water for insect larva.

[ian mcdonald]

A fairly common plant of light arable soils is Common Bugloss, Anchusa arvensis.



While looking at a still pool I noticed branches just above the water moving about. There was no wind so I looked with the binoculars and saw an Otter under the bush. It dived under the surface and I could see air bubbles tracing its direction. When it saw me it ran off towards the river and I lost sight of it. A great encounter.



Further down the river I saw two Alder trees with fungi on the trunks. Some reminded me of pies. I,m told by Dave Genney, a Fungi specialist that they are common on Alder. The scientific name is Pseudoinonotus dryadeus.



Further along the river I heard a squeeking sound but could not tell where it was coming from. A bit further on a Kingfisher flew from the bank and landed on a rock. I took some photos. but there was a willow branch between us. I waited till the bird was looking away from me and moved slightly to get a clearer view but it must have seen me and flew up river and I did not see it again. I was told by the Ghillie that someones dog had found a dead youngster some while ago. There was no sign of injury.

[cohan]

Lots of great sightings as usual!

[ian mcdonald]

A walk along a dis-used railway produced sightings of a Woundwort, Stachys sp. in a ditch. The flowers were lighter in colour than Hedge Woundwort but darker than Marsh Woundwort. It turns out they are a hybrid between the two, Stachys ambigua.



I think someone had been scattering seed along the track as I found a plant of Borage in flower.



There are many shrubs planted along the river, one being Swedish Whitebeam.



I saw a Caddis Fly on bracken by the river.



Sometime Goosanders are on the river, I saw a group of 13 plus another group of 14.

[ian mcdonald]

Although the weather has been fairly dry lately there are still many different fungi to be seen. One tiny fungus is Eye Lash fungus. The end of my little finger is there for scale.



Another fungus is Orange Peel fungus.



Chanterelles can be found in the woods and along tracks.



A Wren was scolding me while I was searching for Kingfisher.



Guelder Rose berries look appetising but could be mildly toxic if eaten raw.

[ian mcdonald]

Butterflies are still around during sunny spells, among them are Red Admirals.



The black spots on Sycamore leaves are Tar Spot fungus.



Herb Robert, Geranium robertianum, flowers throughout the year.



A birds nest had blown out of a tree in the winds. It looks like a Chaffinchs?



Devils Bit Scabious, Succisa pratensis is still flowering.

[ian mcdonald]

Some plants are still in flower until the frosts come. Among them are Bush Vetch, V. sepium.



Common Comfrey, Symphytum officinale.



Common Knapweed, Centaurea nigra.



Red Campion, Silene dioica.



Tuberous Comfrey, S. tuberosum.

[cohan]

Lots of flowers still! I always like to see fungus- to me indicates a living soil!

[ian mcdonald]

The same view through the seasons, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Flowering plants are few here due to the narrow, steep sided valley and tall conifers. The conifers are Scots Pine, Larch and Spruce. Greater Woodrush is common. Birch trees are clothed in Lichens. There are some Junipers, mainly females. Among the few flowering plants are Foxglove, Herb Robert, Yarrow and Greater Stitchwort.

[fermi de Sousa]

Great sequence, Ian!
thanks for sharing it with us,
cheers
fermi