Drumboe Wood

Whilst Ards is a rare, ancient, coastal forest, Drumboe is perhaps even more unusual: it's an old woodland in a central urban setting. Shops, main road, schools, church, hotels and a GAA football ground are no further than 100 m. distant and thousands of people pass it every day with no idea of the rich biodiversity just a stones-throw away.

This shot show shows the River Finn with Drumboe to the left:

River Finn: Drumboe to the left and Ballybofey to the right

The woodland is maintained by Coillte, and the management plan shows a strategy of at least partial replacement of Spruce with native broadleaf trees when the conifers are harvested.

I only had time for a quick visit, but I managed to find a few interesting specimens:

Scleroderma citrinum is a common earthball with a surface criss-crossed with sharp grooves which will eventually act as fault lines for the skin to split along when the fungus is ready to disperse its spores. This specimen is about the size of a golf ball:

The earthball Scleroderma citrinum

Phycopeltis arundinacea is an algal infection that looks very much like a fungal rust:

Phycopeltis arundinacea on Ivy

I find it mostly on Ivy, but I have also found it on other plants with shiny leaves, most often Rhododendron.

Lycoperdon pyriforme is one of the more common puffballs in this area. They can often be seen to form long rows, seemingly growing on the ground, but they are actually following the line made by buried dead wood:

Lycoperdon pyriforme

Leafy liverworts are very often mistaken for mosses, but their habit and form are very different. I spotted this specimen (sample shown about 8 cm across) and suspected it was something I hadn't seen before:

Liverwort growing with moss in damp bank

I took a sample back to the microscope and saw that it has two tiers of leaves (large ones on top and small ones below). The presence of underleaves is unique to liverworts, although not all species have them. This microscope shot of a single frond (12 mm long) shows the view from underneath:

Calypogeia neesiana

It keys out in a couple of keys to Calypogeia neesiana, which is new to my Species list.

This shot shows two mines of the micromoth Stigmella aurella on Bramble:

Two mines of the micromoth Stigmella aurella on Bramble

These mines usually grow quite long, so they are usually found at a maximum of one per leaf; perhaps the second egg was laid by a different female. Each mine progresses quite normally from its starting point, but they eventually meet just left of centre. The mines then become very confused, with much to-ing and fro-ing in the left part of the leaf before they separate and at least one has matured safely (top left). I'm not sure what happened to the second, though.

Bumblebees have historically been summer-nesting species, with the queen making her nest from March onwards. But in recent years, southern queens of Bombus terrestris - the Buff-tailed Bumblebee - have been observed gathering pollen in autumn and they have successfully created winter nests. Presumably we have reached a critical temperature due to warming, since winter nests are common on the continent.

Yesterday I spotted a queen gathering pollen from the Lavatera in my garden:

Queen Bombus terrestris gathering pollen 29/10/2012

This is quite a surprise. I knew of southern specimens trying to establish a nest at this time, but it's not something I would have expected to see this far north. Granted, we did have a few days of sun, but I tend to think that she isn't confused and has decided that it's worth a try this year. So here is a rash prediction, based on a single queen bumblebee: "Mild winter ahead".

Progress

On an average walk along a hedgerow, I reckon 90% of the flying objects considered to be flies will actually be micromoths. Micromoths vary in size from 2-3mm long to around 25mm long, but the majority are around 10-12mm.

In flight they can be distinguished as solitary fliers with an ungainly, often spiralling, flight. I followed this one until it landed (often the only way to get a good look at them) and was delighted to find it was a handsome specimen of the gloriously-named Schrekensteinia festaliella. Those rear legs have been turned into thorny spikes that would prevent any predator from approaching. Length 5-6mm. Note the feathered, almost hairy rear edge to the wing, which is a recurring feature of many micromoths.

My first mollusc of the year is the Banded Snail:

And yet one more member of the Orthosia family of moths. This is Orthosia gothica - Hebrew Character, and it feeds on.......willow pollen.

The last of the new queens that I expect to see: Bombus terrestris. These are huge bumblebees that buzz slowly over the ground looking for a nesting site.

Willow is important

As soon as the Willow catkins start producing pollen, the trees become a valuable food source for insects of all kinds.

This queen Bombus terrestris is stocking up before she retires to her nest:

And a number of flies were also feeding, including this Lesser Dungfly:

The Twin-Spotted Quaker moth - Orthosia munda - is also a Willow pollen feeder, which is why it is only seen in March and April:

Another new moth came to light last night: the Red Chestnut - Cerastis rubricosa. The various Chestnut species can be very tricky to separate, especially in the cusps when their flying dates overlap, but the reddish colour, combined with the wing shape and the grey flashes at the edge of the wing make this look fine for that species: