Still sunny

In this extended period of sunshine, most wildlife has advanced, regardless of the fact that we're still in March. I could see five Small Tortoiseshell butterflies at the same time in my garden yesterday, and that's more than I usually see in a year. Small Tortoiseshells hibernate as adults, so I think the mild winter has allowed a higher proportion of them to survive.

Some plants are flowering at roughly the usual time: I found Germander Speedwell:

Germander Speedwell

Wood Sorrel:

Wood Sorrel

And Common Dog Violet:

Viola riviniana - Common Dog Violet

But this flowering specimen of Herb Bennet is by far the earliest I have ever seen:

Herb Bennet

Field Horsetail is a bit unusual, in that it has early fruiting growths before the sterile green parts are seen:

Field Horsetail - fruiting growth

Again, these are a couple of weeks earlier than I would expect.

If have a microscope, I urge you to put one of those fertile cones on a slide and wait a couple of days for the spores to drop. The spores are fascinating: they have four curled 'legs' which expand and contract with humidity. As they curl and uncurl, they catch onto plant parts and debris, pulling themselves along in order to aid dispersal. This is a plant with 'walking' spores.

Even the uncurling fronds of Hartstongue Fern appear to be earlier than usual:

Hartstongue fern frond uncurling

As soon as the relevant plants are flowering, then their dependant insects appear as well. This is a new moth for me - Mottled Grey:

Mottled Grey moth

The Mottled Grey overwinters as a pupa and feeds on a number of Bedstraws, but the foodplant in my locality will almost certainly be Cleavers.

The Common Quaker feeds on Willow catkins, so March is the normal time to see them:

Common Quaker moth

I spotted a horde of Gerris lacustris Pond Skaters skimming over the surface of the stream beside the path:

Gerris lacustris Pond Skaters

These detect any unfortunate insects that have fallen into the water by sensing the vibrations in the water surface: they move instantly to the precise location in a feeding frenzy that lasts just a short while.

I think I have a new favourite picture. This is portrait of a female Platychierus albimanus hoverfly:

Female Platychierus albimanus hoverfly

I particularly like the way she is highlighted by the petals of the Celandine.

I wasn't too happy with the distance shot of the Small Tortoiseshell butterfly in my previous post, so I'm showing this closeup from yesterday:

Small Tortoiseshell butterfly

Life goes on

I've been following the progress of the larvae, parasites and pupae of the Large White butterfly around my front door. Today one of the adults emerged unscathed and proceeded to inflate its wings:

It was still there five hours later.

Wood Anemones are well-named: I usually find them in woodland. Occasionally I find a few hanging on in unexpected places, which is probably an indication of what the environment must once have been like.

Some fungi are like that, too: Amanita sp. can sometimes be found in fields or hedgerows, rather than in the deciduous woodland that they normally require.

One thing that continuously amazes me is the desire and urge for species to survive. I suppose it's an essential trait for something that has lasted for millennia. This Common Dog Violet is growing in the middle of a tarred roadway. The flower is about half the normal size and the leaves are 5mm long, rather than the 25mm to 35mm that I'd expect.

This same 'survival at all costs' attitude is evident in species like leaf miners and parasitic fungi. They appear almost as soon as the leaves have opened. No time or opportunity is ever wasted.

My heart sank when I saw this Pug moth: they are the most difficult of moths to separate, I think, and I knew I was in for a while with the books. It's also very worn, but I think it's Double-Striped Pug, which I've had here a few times before.

If you think it isn't that species, then I'll be glad to fix it.

Late update: a Great Tit had the butterfly for breakfast this morning:

Like I said: Life must go on.

Sun works

A very warm and sunny day brought out loads of wildlife: in the morning I saw a 'white' butterfly as I was driving along, then I saw a pair of buzzards circling overhead. An evening walk to the hedgerow brought new flowers:

Common Dog Violet - Viola riviniana:

Masses of Wood Sorrel, showing their delicately purple-veined insides:

And the Barren Strawberry - Potentilla sterilis:

I also noticed bud-break on Willows and Hawthorn, so we're well on our way, now.

How many species?

As I was cropping this shot of a Common Carder Bumblebee - Bombus pascuorum - I spotted something that led to the above question. So how many species can you see in this shot? Answer at the bottom of the page (don't cheat!). Helpful hint: all the leaves belong to the flower.


Greater Stitchwort - Stellaria holostea - sneaks up stealthily due to the fact that the leaves look like grass:

Common Dog Violet - Viola riviniana - is about two weeks later than usual this year.


I counted 4 species:-

Carder Bumble Bee.
Lesser Celandine.
Puccinia ranunculi (fungal rust on leaf)
A parasitic bug on the bee (shown below).

April Sun

Another small mystery resolved. Some Barbula sp. mosses are very difficult to tell apart unless you have setae to look at, and these can appear irregularly or not at all. This one has yellow setae, and is hence Barbula convoluta. The confusion species (which I also have locally) is Barbula unguiculata, which has red setae. The tumbled specimen at the rear is Bryum capillare. Again.


Things are moving along quite quickly, now. Viola riviniana is out. You can just see the notched, pale, spur at the rear.


The 'Yellow Brain Fungus' - Tremella mesenterica is associated with Gorse. Or rather, it isn't. It is parasitic on another crusting fungus that grows on Gorse - Peniophora incarnata.



Leaf miners will soon be in evidence: this is one from last year. It belongs to the micromoth Stigmella aurella, and is always found on Bramble. I like to look at the path of the mine and try to work out the strategy the larvae use to decide how to turn at leaf edges and veins.


I could happily have made a mystery out of this one: the leaves of Greater Stitchwort.


Just for the record, first Swallow of the summer was 4th April, and first Bombus terrestris queen was 12th April.