my local patch and wildlife - Ian McDonald

[Chris Johnson]

I didn't comment on the 'field mushromm' as you didn't question-mark it, but it doesn't look right and, as you say, the habitat is wrong.
Agaricus is a large genus with similar looking fruit-bodies and need to go under the microscope for determination. Some are very unpleasant.

[ian mcdonald]

Today started bright but with a cold wind. In the afternoon a spell of rain came through. The wildlife seemed to be playing hide and seek so I decided to go to an area which was in the shelter of trees. I flushed a buzzard from a bush along a track. Further on I saw a bullfinch sitting in another bush then a great spotted woodpecker. Among some trees there appeared a dark shape. Stopping to look through the binoculars I saw it was a red deer hind grazing with its back to me. I managed a photo. before it noticed me and ran off, followed by two more hinds which I hadn,t seen before then. A red deer stag was heard roaring once. I met two bird watchers who said they had found an unusual fern. Looking at their photos. I recognised the fern as common polypody. As far as I know this is the first recent record for the site and may even be a new record. We flushed a woodcock in a nearby wood and saw several willow tits. Another unusual find for this time of the year was bramble in flower in a wood. Other species seen were, teal, crow, magpie, reed bunting, bullfinch, chaffinch, starlings, buzzard, mallard, goldcrests, goldfinchs eating teasel and thistle seeds, long tailed tits, great tits, blue tits, blackbird, wood pigeon, great spotted woodpecker, robin, wren, redwing, fieldfare, willow tits, woodcock, pheasant, dunnock, lesser black back gulls and a roe deer.

[ian mcdonald]

A clearing in a wood.



Bramble leaves in Autumn colour.



A goldcrest.





bramble in flower.

Common polypody

[Robert]

Ian,

Do you have a species name for the Polypodium fern? I am curious.

I was up on Peavine Ridge today. The only bird I saw was a Common Raven, and yes they are quite common in this area. I see them almost every time I visit, winter, summer they always seem to be around.

Most of the snow from a few days ago has already melted. More later.

[ian mcdonald]

Hello Robert, the fern is Polypodium vulgare, unless there has been a name change. We have three species in the UK. P. vulgare, common polypody. P. interjectum, intermediate polypody. P. cambricum, southern polypody. There have also been hybrids between the three species recorded but P. vulgare is the most common. I have searched through records of the location and can,t find a record of the fern at the local site. I have now sent a message to the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology to see if they have a record of the fern here. The CEH hold many records for the country.

[Robert]

Very 

Thank you for the information.

[ian mcdonald]

Todays weather was mixed but no rain. I met the two bird watchers I saw last week and we went to look at a wet woodland. Several species of fungi were seen growing on trees, mainly willow. Birds seen were reed bunting, mallard, redwing, fieldfare, blue tit, great tit, long tailed tit, chaffinch, wren, robin, woodcock, blackbird, crow, marsh harrier, wood pigeon, stock dove, goosander 2 male and 5 female, shoveler, male hen harrier, stonechat, pink foot geese and a roe deer.









The last is called dead mans fingers.

[Chris Johnson]

Hi Ian

Nice fungal images.

#2 is almost certainly Galerina marginata although I would have liked to see the gills. It has the evocative name of Funeral Bell - not one to dine out on  The dark on in the centre with the white stipe is Pleurotus ostreatus Oyster Mushroom, variable in cap colour.

#3 is Phellinus igniarius Willow Bracket.

[ian mcdonald]

The weather forecast for today was rain. It started out dull but dry. By early afternoon the rain came in and what birds were showing were dark shapes. The site became too gloomy so I decided to come home early. This is the first time in quite a few years that I have been rained off. Birds seen were robin, blackbird, reed bunting, crow, magpie, pheasant, chaffinch, moorhen, fieldfare, sparrowhawk and stonechat.

[Robert]

Ian,

I wish we would get some rain or precipitation of some sort. Dry conditions are prevailing; we are falling farther behind average precipitation to date. The snow is melting at the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada. This is little or no snow below 6,000 feet (1,829 meters). There is no rain in sight! 

Was the rain intense or was it just too gloomy to see anything well? Photography can be challenging in rainy weather. The weather has been so warm lately many insects are out. I saw a Hover fly on Peavine Ridge the other day. Many of the birds have not left the higher terrain in the Sierra Nevada. Steller's Jays are still hanging around.

[ian mcdonald]

Hello Robert, maybe you will get some rain for Christmas if you put a message in your stocking to Santa.

[ian mcdonald]

The shortest day today. Following several sunny and cold days, today was mild and misty. Mist was rising from many of the pools on site. I saw two birds on a pool which looked like geese. Through the binoculars I could see that they were a pair of Pintail. The mist seemed to be keeping some of the birds closer to the ground and I saw a sparrowhawk, a kestrel and a marsh harrier nearby. On a track I noticed a fox but it saw me and went into cover. Quite a few small birds were seen, some in groups but due to the mist I could not identify them. A few bullfinches were feeding in willow bushes. Birds today were, mallard, pintail, teal, crow, wren, reed bunting, robin, blue tit, willow tit, marsh harrier, sparrowhawk, kestrel, bullfinch, moorhen, pheasant, wood pigeon, blackbird, magpie and a fox.









marsh harrier in the mist.

[ian mcdonald]

Today was bright and frosty, with ice covering many of the small pools. Ducks were on larger and deeper pools with mallard and teal being present. I met three other naturalists who had seen some red deer in the distance. Altogether I counted 70. Another naturalist came along and the two of us went to look at a wet woodland. While there we flushed a male hen harrier from some birch trees as we were walking. We saw a male goosander on a large ice free pool. The light was good for taking photos. with the sun being low in the sky and it highlighted dead grass stems. Birds seen today were, crow, marsh harrier, blackbird, blue tit, long tailed tits, mallards, teal, goosander, goldcrest, chaffinch, jay, water rail, pheasant, magpie, wren, robin, grey lag geese, herring gull, male hen harrier, sparrow hawk, kestrel, moorhen, song thrush, stock dove and a grey squirrel.









Picture 1 shows lichen and moss on a birch tree. Picture 3 is a Polytrichum moss.

[Robert]

Hi Ian,

Nice wintertime scenes. What type of lichen did you find on the birch tree? A Lepraria?

I saw a fair number of birds on my outing last week to Kanaka Valley, however only two at Flemming Meadows the other day. When I get a chance I will list the birds I saw at Kanaka Valley.

[ian mcdonald]

Hello Robert, Lepraria is common on birch trees on the site. It seems to be the first to colonise the trunks. I did not go so far as identifying the lichens (not my main interest, so thanks for that.) The picture shows (not very well as a close up would not provide the bigger picture) a Cladonia species growing with a moss.