my local patch and wildlife - Ian McDonald

[ian mcdonald]

Yesterday was overcast but still muggy. I met my colleague on site and we decided to walk along a short stretch of path which is sheltered and a good site for insects. My colleague is interested in many aspects of natural history and has the good eyesight to find even the smallest of insects. He also can hear high pitched bird calls, which I struggle to hear. He heard siskins calling in the trees along the path but I failed to hear them. He also heard a cettis warbler but it was too far away for me to pick it up. I did hear a green woodpecker which then flew over. In the distance we could hear cranes calling. It took us about two hours to cover a distance of about half a mile, stopping to look at and photograph a variety of insects. Most of which were identified by my colleague. Many insects were on either burdock, Arctium sp. or mugwort, Artemisia vulgaris, (see close up photo.)  An interesting spider was found, along with its egg sacks. This was Araniella cucurbitina, described by my colleague as the cucumber spider. It is said to be abundant but I have not noticed one before. An unusual hoverfly was seen. This was Baccha elongata. This seemed to favour mugwort. There were a good number of Silver Y moths flying low and diving into vegetation at our approach. One was seen in the shelter of a
burdock leaf. Another species seen on a burdock leaf was Tortoise Beetle.












 

[ian mcdonald]

An ichneumon or sawfly was found with a white stripe on each antennae. Another sawfly? was found but not identified. An interesting beetle with four orange spots was seen on mugwort but it took a capture to get a good photo, hence the thumb in the picture. Many small spiders were found on a variety of vegetation and only a few were recognised. One of the flowers along the track was water chickweed, Myosoton aquaticum.

[ian mcdonald]

Butterflies were numerous with a good number of species present. These were, Comma, Polygonia c-alba, Small Tortoishell, Aglais urticae, Painted Lady, Cynthia cardui, Peacock, Inachis io, Common Blue, Polyommatus icarus, Brimstone, Gonepteryx rhamni, Speckled Wood, Pararge aegeria, Large White, Pieris brassicae, Small White, Artogeia rapae and Small Copper, Lycaena phlaeas.  Birds seen were, grey lag geese, coot, siskin, marsh harrier, green sandpiper, sparrow hawk, heron, jay, cettis warbler, willow warbler, chiff chaff, wren, blackbird, long tailed tit, robin, pigeon, lapwing, crow, green woodpecker, teal, gadwall, mallard, yellow wagtail, hobby, buzzard, blue tit, great tit and crane.

[Tristan_He]

An ichneumon or sawfly

That's an ichneumon Ian - you  an tell from the 'waist' at the top of the abdomen. No idea what species though, there are a lot of them!

[ian mcdonald]

I only made one visit to the site this week. It was windy, which made photography difficult in close up. My colleague was working this week so most of the day was spent on my own. I did meet someone who travels to the site from away. He managed to spot an adder along one of the tracks. I just saw the tail as it disappeared into the grass. Likewise, I only saw the back end of a lizard as it scuttled off. We saw four Hobbys flying about plus another raptor which seemed to have a light coloured patch underneath. This was about the same size of a Hobby and may have been a juvenile? Later a young Kestrel was seen perching on a tree stump. A green woodpecker flew up from one of the tracks. One of the pools had a large number (for this site) of Grey Lag Geese. Also there were several Canada Geese. A single Swallow was flying near a farm on the edge of the site. I  did not see so many invertebrates without my colleague being there. There are still a good number of butterflies in more sheltered areas.









Goose lake.



22 spot ladybird.

[ian mcdonald]

Dingy footman.





A species of Robber fly.



Meadow Brown, they close their wings on landing.



Aeshna cyanea.

[ian mcdonald]

Common Blue.



Vervain.



Red Admiral.



Common Cudweed.

As we were leaving we stopped to scan the goose lake. I happened to look around and noticed a black animal, about the size of a small cat, leap into the vegetation at the side of the track. The only explanation I could think of was it was possibly a mink which had been in the water.
Birds seen on this visit were, crow, linnet, grey lags, canada geese, yellow wagtail, hobby, pigeon, stock dove, great tit, blue tit, long tailed tit, green woodpecker, marsh harrier, kestrel, buzzard, swallow, magpie, wren, blackbird and gadwall. Butterflies seen, small white, large white, red admiral, common blue, gatekeeper, meadow brown, speckled wood and small tortoishell.

[Hoy]

Ian,
I reckon mink is an unwanted animal? At my summerhouse the population of some seabirds have diminished much the last 30 years. Mink is one reason I think. (On the other hand the populations of some other species have increased.)

[ian mcdonald]

Yes Hoy, mink are unwanted here also. They were released from mink farms. This week has been mixed as far as the weather is concerned. Some days have been mainly dull but dry. Other days have been mostly rain. On the first outing this week I met a local naturalist who, with a colleague, has been studying the un-common Sundew Plume Moth, Buckleria paludosa. I mentioned the species last year. The adult lays its egg on the leaf of Sundews, in our site Round Leaved Sundew. When the egg hatches the the larvae appear to feed on the mucilage on the sundew leaf. The larvae do not seem to be affected by the sticky globules of the leaf, which are at the end of short stems. Likewise, the adult moth seems to lay its egg without being trapped. The study of the life cycle of this tiny moth is continuing here. 



Larvae of plume moth.



Adult plume moth.



Egg of plume moth.

[ian mcdonald]

Bog Myrtle, Myrica gale is on the site but is not common. There are several small colonies of the shrub in the centre of the site.



Bog myrtle showing next years male catkins in bud.



Spider on a bog myrtle leaf.



Bog Rosemary occurs across the site. Most have flowered now and are in fruit.



Hemp Agrimony can be found in scattered areas and is a late flowerer.



Trifid bur-marigold is spreading along the edge of one of the larger pools.

[ian mcdonald]

The mowing of vegetation, necessary to reduce the effect of more aggressive species, has not been carried out this year for various reasons. Paths have become overgrown with the risk of Ticks attaching themselves onto animals and humans. Some mowing has started and strimming around gates and benches. One area of heathland has become overgrown with bracken and reeds.



Area of heathland which has become overgrown with just a narrow path mown.



A recently mown path.



The first time I have seen a goose in a bush, Grey Lag Goose.



A first record for the site as far as I know, Wild Clematis, C. vitalba.



Amblytylus nasutus on Fleabane, Pulicaria dysenterica.

[ian mcdonald]

Birds seen this week were, hobby, grey lag geese, canada geese, stonechat, lapwing, marsh harriers, one with red tag on each wing, buzzard, peregrine, gadwall, mallard, teal, wren, crow, pigeon, jay, chaffinch, siskin, about 200, great tit, crane, sedge warbler, blackbird, robin, bullfinch, green woodpecker and cettis warbler. Also seen were several small frogs on paths and a grey squirrel.

[ian mcdonald]

The weather on Tuesday was very warm with hardly a breath of wind. Thursday was warm and windy. I met my colleague on Tuesday and we went looking for birds that had recently been seen on site. We saw a spotted flycatcher in the top of a dead tree, flying a short distance to catch insects, then returning to the tree. We did not see the reported pied flycatcher or the redstart. We came across an interesting caterpillar on a fence, the name of which I can,t remember.



On a burdock seed head we found a spider, Araneus quadratus.



Along another track we found a harlequin ladybird, which mimic native species.



The site is starting to look autumnal, with grasses and cotton-grass turning colour.



At the north end of the site we saw an ear moth , well camouflaged on a dead fleabane.

[ian mcdonald]

A small bee which feeds on fleabane flowers is Epeolus sp.







On a large pool were grey lag and 130 canada geese.



Adders are still active.

[ian mcdonald]

There are still good numbers of butterflies here, including common blue.



A caterpillar was crossing one of the paths, possibly a buff tip.



The site is used by a small percentage of dim-wits. Hence the discarded cooking tray.





I found two more colonies of devils bit scabious.