Benburb bioblitz

This bioblitz was based around Benburb castle, but also included the grounds of what is now known as Benburb Priory. The 17th century castle is being restored and the priory was formerly a manor house built in the 1880's.

The underlying geology is limestone and the site slopes downwards towards a river which is extensively engineered with cuts and sluices, and could almost be regarded as a canal. The riverside area has been allowed to run wild and is covered with Giant Hogweed, Bamboo, Japanese knotweed, Laurel and Himalayan Balsam. The grounds closer to the Priory are maintained as a decorative garden, but again, large areas are running wild, with a collapsed victorian greenhouse/orangery attached to outbuildings. This feature runs for some 50 metres and was clearly an important structure in its day. This is a shot of the old glasshouse:

Part of the glasshouse area with priory in the background

The south-facing glasshouse area contained a mixture of wild and cultivated plants, notably an overgrown herb garden, and attracted a huge number of hoverflies, butterflies, solitary bees and bumblebees.

Here's a shot of a Holly Blue on the approach path: 

Holly Blue butterfly

We made a quick survey to see where we should concentrate our efforts and it was clear that the riverside paths would be most productive. When I noticed that the area was limestone, we looked for Garlic Mustard, since this is a host plant for the Orange Tip butterfly and we immediately found an occupied flower:

Orange Tip egg on Garlic Mustard

We saw many Orange Tips, both male and female along the river bank. This female was nectaring on Herb Robert:

Female Orange Tip on Herb Robert

The same area yielded 14-spot Ladybird:

14 spot Ladybird

And a 10-spot ladybird with the rear spots missing. The 10-spot must be the ladybird with most variation in the spotting:

10-spot ladybird

Also from this area were the hoverfly Leucozona lucorum:

The hoverfly Leucozona lucorum landing on Bush Vetch

And I caught a glimpse of a huge pond skater down below in the cut next to the river. It's a poor shot, but there is only one pond skater this size. It's Aquarius najas, and is around 5 cm long from front foot to rear foot:

The River Skater Aquarius najas

New to my Species List.

We found a couple of leaf miners in the wooded area closer to the castle:

Phytomyza chaerophylli on Cow Parsley

And:

Phytomyza ranunculi on Celandine

Phytomyza ranunculi was also found on Creeping Buttercup.

Closer to the castle, I found a moth larva grazing on lichen on a fence post. It's Brussels Lace, Cleorodes lichenaria:

Larva of the Brussels Lace moth

That's a good example of the formal name clearly stating the nature of a species.

A final shot of Lords-and-Ladies or Cuckoo Pint, which I only ever find on lime:

Arum maculatum

Overall we submitted perhaps a hundred species on the day. This is far fewer than I would normally expect on a day's hunting, especially on a bright sunny day, but the habitat is essentially 'cultivated but abandoned', so the biodiversity could be expected to be low.

We have lift-off

This is the second day of sunshine and everything has leapt into action.

Along the sheltered ditch I found:

Lesser Celandine:

Lesser Celandine

Coltsfoot:

Coltsfoot

Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage:

Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage

Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage covers the rear wall of ditches and wet banks around here. Here's a habit shot from the back wall of the stream:

Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage on the ditch wall

I also checked the Greater Stitchwort plants just a little further along, but they're still pretending to be blades of grass:

Leaves of Greater Stitchwort

I also hunted for 7-spot ladybirds along the sunnier side of the track and found this single specimen just before the end:

7-spot Ladybird

Back home and I spotted this female Eristalis tenax hoverfly on Dandelion:

Female Eristalis tenax nectaring after emerging from hibernation

Females of Eristalis tenax are the only members of the family to hibernate. Other Eristalis species overwinter as pupae and won't emerge for a few weeks yet. So although the puparium will offer some protection from the cold, the female E. tenax has survived the exposure and now has a head start on getting her eggs laid.

Gap in the rain

I decided that enough was enough and went out to look for some Celandine. The most likely local location is near a sheltered stream, and sure enough, the first buds were just visible:

Lesser Celandine bud

The ditch is also home to a wide range of liverworts, mosses and ferns, but they will keep for a few weeks.

I did, however, spot this Scarlet Elf Cup - Sarcoscypha austriaca - just beside some Celandines:

Sarcoscypha austriaca - Scarlet Elf Cup

It seemed strangely out of season, but the Fungal Records Database shows that spring sightings are quite common..

Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage is also ready to flower:

Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage

Just a reminder that my new database is up and running, with around 20% of my species illustrated. You can find it at donegalwildlife.altervista.org

Late news.

On 2nd July 2010, I showed a photograph of what I thought was a sawfly larva. Turns out it's the caterpillar of the wonderfully-named micromoth Schreckensteinia festaliella. Thanks to Linsepatron of Denmark for that.

Ashes to ashes

Last night, I found a newt lying apparently dead on a country lane. I picked it up and it moved a little, so I decided to take it home to check for damage (a car had just passed):

Male Smooth Newt

It seemed ok and survived the night, so I took it up to the local stream and released it there.

The stream runs alongside a country lane that is edged on both sides by Ash trees:

Craigs Road with Ash trees

Given that Chalara fraxinea has been detected not far from here, I rather suspect that these trees won't last much longer (hence the title of this post). This will, of course, be disastrous from the perspective of the trees, but Ash isn't the obligate food source of very many fungi or insects, so the impact on overall biodiversity is not likely to be as bad as it could have been.

The stream runs alongside the right-hand side of the road in the deep shade of the trees, and is a great source of water plants, with numerous liverworts and mosses on the rear wall:

Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage with the liverwort Conocephalum conicum

Many of these plants like dark, damp conditions, so I suspect the rear wall flora will be altered until some other trees grow to provide more shade.

The stream is where I always find the first flowering specimens of Lesser Celandine, and a few flowers were just beginning to open:

Lesser Celandine just opening

Just as I was taking the above shots, I heard the unmistakeable deep croak of the Raven. I looked up and saw a pair circling overhead:

Ravens over Craigs Road

They circled and kept me in view for quite a while before flying off west. I managed this shot showing the very distinctive tail:

Raven

At the top of the stream, where it emerges from an underground run, there is a wall that is always good for a few moss shots. This is a back-lit shot of Tortula muralis:

The moss Tortula muralis

I like to think that the setae (the 'stalks' that hold the capsules aloft) are light pipes, driving sunlight directly to the interior of the plants.

The capsules of many mosses are held well clear of the foliage in order to enhance the chances of spore dispersal, but Grimmia pulvinata continues to puzzle me with its insistence on keeping the capsules buried deep under the leaves:

Grimmia pulvinata, with buried capsules

You can just make out the brown capsules in that shot.

This shot of Barbula unguiculata would make a nice banner for somewhere:

Barbula unguiculata

 On the other side of the road, we have an untended copse where dead wood is ideal for fungi. This white crusting fungus is Meruliopsis corium:

Meruliopsis corium

There are also a few patches of Snowdrops in the same area:

Snowdrops

A quick check on the Willows showed that the catkins are well advanced, so perhaps spring is on the way after all.

Willow catkins

Update

A bit of sun today, so I went out to see what was happening.

A check of the usual ditch turned up a single flower of Lesser Celandine along with a few buds:

Lesser Celandine flower and bud

This area is sheltered by Ash trees, so I suppose it will be a bit more exposed next year or the year after.

Most fungi have been killed off by the recent frosts, but a few are still emerging. This little Mycena arcangeliana was growing through moss at the base of another Ash.

Mycena arcangelicastri

I spotted a new liverwort on a dead branch nearby:

The liverwort Radula complanata

It keyed out quickly to Radula complanata, which is described as 'epiphytic on wood in areas of high rainfall'. Bang on.

New to my Species list.

In my last post, I mentioned that some lichens reproduce by growing on unstable substrates, such as crumbling soil on embankments. This specimen of Lepraria incana is growing on the surface of moss:

Lepraria incana on moss

I took time to update my Species list with the recent new additions, and the grand total is now 1461 species. I suppose the magic 1500 might arrive next year.

Species recorded by year

The rise in number of species is remarkably constant since 2006, when I started to record everything I could identify.

Dry and warm

A high pressure weather system has been lurking to the south of Ireland for a few days, bringing some dry and warm weather. This morning was bright and warm, so I dashed off to a likely spot to see what I could find. An inspection of the stream bank revealed hundreds of Lesser Celandines in bud, and a single flower which is - to all intents and purposes - open:

Lesser Celandine

And right beside it, a single specimen of Creeping Buttercup in flower:

Creeping Buttercup

A nearby boggy area revealed Ivy-leaved Water Crowfoot in bud:

Ivy-leaved Water Crowfoot in bud

And Brooklime making strong green growth:

Brooklime

Further along the hedgerow I found a couple of specimens of Tubaria furfuracea, which is a Hawthorn associate:

Tubaria furfuracea

And Gorse in flower:

Gorse

Whilst examining a wall for mosses (more of those later) I spotted a few Snowdrops with open flowers:

Snowdrop

Well done to anybody spotting the small fly on the flower sheath!

Mosses are truly beautiful in all their parts, especially when they have sunlight to brighten them up. Yes, they are very small, but if you 'get down to their size', both physically and metaphorically, you will find beauty that is almost beyond belief.

This shot shows three specimens of Tortula muralis:

Tortula muralis

Here's a close-up of the maturing spore capsules:

Capsules of Tortula muralis

I'm convinced those setae (the 'stalks' of the capsules) are light pipes that transfer light directly down into the dark parts of the mosses.

Grimmia pulvinata has globular capsules that never emerge much beyond the leaf tips:

Grimmia pulvinata, showing hidden capsules

Bryum capillare has 'nodding head' capsules on long setae:

Bryum capillare capsules

Is this really early January, or did I miss a couple of months?