Raindrops keep falling on my head

It seems that we have had rain pretty constantly for the past two months, although I know we did actually have one or two dryish days. Interestingly enough, when it's raining you can't get those attractive shots with water droplets on mosses and other things: it's too wet. But when the rain drops to a drizzle or mist, then we can get those eye-catching shots where the water is just gathering, but isn't getting blasted off by new raindrops all the time. Yesterday was one of those days.

Woody Nightshade, or Bittersweet, is a member of the Solanum family, which includes tomatoes, potatoes and aubergines (and these are all closely related to tobacco, peppers and petunias, amongst others).

Woody Nightshade - Solanum dulcamara

I had always associated the Solanum family with the Americas, since that's where tomatoes, potatoes and tobacco came from, but I note from the references that Solanum dulcamara is documented as a native. This jarred with me a bit, as another interest of mine is the origin of national cuisines: try imagining Italian food without tomatoes or Indian without chillies. So I began to wonder whether the diversity of all those foodstuffs in one place was a series of genetic flukes or the interference of the human hand. It turns out that the Solanum family is very widespread, but is most diverse in south and central americas. Add in the fact that the americas were effectively isolated from world trade routes until the 16th century, and it is quite possible that this family of plants, possibly aided by congenial weather and geography, diversified with some human assistance in glorious isolation until the european trade built up.

Did anyone notice the fly on the droplet under the fruit furthest on the left?

Ivy-leaved Toadflax grows on most of the old walls around here, and can be seen in flower all year round:

Ivy-leaved Toadflax

Mosses are always good for droplet shots, and a particular fencepost is always fruitful. This specimen of Tortula muralis sports two distinct sets of droplets: one on the capsule-bearing setae and the other set on the much lower leaves.

Droplets on the moss Tortula muralis

Another angle and specimen brought up this shot of two capsules with a suspended piece of spider's web between them:

Tortula muralis with spider's web droplets

Ivy is a major source of late nectar for insects, and the overall flower display seems to last a couple of months, although individual flowers are very short-lived:

Ivy flowers

The five-sided fruit are starting to show now:

Ivy fruit

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".

Slowing down

Things are definitely getting colder now, and the morning dew clearly shows how many spider webs there are on the Gorse:

I wonder what the spider thinks when it sees a host of water droplets in its web for the first time:

This close-up shows that the droplets have even more minute droplets in between them:

We appear to have quite a heavy crop of Haws this year:

Even though most insects have now gone for the year, Ivy continues to provide valuable autumn and winter nectar for the few hoverflies and bees that are still around. A sunny spell will make Ivy worth looking at just in case:
This curious fuzzy bobble on Germander Speedwell took me some considerable time to identify when I first spotted it a few years ago:
It's a gall caused by the plant louse Jaapiella veronicae. If you open the gall you'll find tiny larvae living inside it.

Blue Sky

A wonderful spring morning dragged me out of my torpor and the hedgerow was found to be full of 7-spot Ladybirds. Every Hawthorn had a few basking in the sun. These two are on Ivy.


A few dry nights, and the moths are returning. This is the March Moth, Alsophila aescularia (male) , and is new to me.


And this is the Hebrew Character - Orthosia gothica: