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?

Dynamic habitat

Our highest local point was originally deciduous woodland which was felled in the 1950s to make way for a Spruce plantation. The Spruce was clear-felled 5 years ago and replanted with mixed Beech and Larch. One particular spot was excavated for use as a log store for a couple of years and that has now turned into a small pond. So within a very small area we have remnants of the original deciduous woodland, decaying Spruce residue and an evolving pond ecology.

The following shots illustrate the confused (and, I think, transient) ecology.

Spotted Orchids are rather common around this area, but this is the only local spot that has Northern March Orchids - Dactylorhiza purpurella.

These freely hybridise with Common Spotted Orchid and Heath Spotted Orchid, and I'll show both of those hybrids in the next few weeks.

A few water plants have appeared at the pond's edge: This is Water Forgetmenot - Myosotis scorpioides:
And this is Brooklime - Veronica beccabunga (what a wonderful name):

While I was watching some Water Crickets - Velia caprai - skating over the pond's surface, a Dungfly accidentally landed on the water. Within about two seconds, the fly was surrounded by perhaps twenty of the Water Crickets that skated up to two metres to get to the surprise meal:

I suppose they must use water vibration to detect the prey.

One species that remains from the deciduous days is Wood Horsetail - Equisetum sylvaticum:

Through the ice

I took a little walk along the northern end of leg 1 today. It was about 1° in the sun and zero in the shade. This part of the walk is under Ash trees and has an excellent wet area in a rutted entrance to a field.

Given the long spell of cold weather I was quite surprised to find so many plants showing new growth.

First, Brooklime - one of the Speedwells:

Note the fallen piece of the lichen Ramalina fastigiata floating on the Ash seed.

Next, a few specimens of Ivy-leaved Water Crowfoot were actually encased in ice:

Watercress was also making an appearance:

The back of the stream was covered in plants of all kinds. This shot has Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage (centre), Lesser Celandine (top), Cow Parsley (left), and Hard Fern (left).

The back of the stream is also home to a wide range of liverworts. The central specimen is the thallose liverwort Conocephalum conicum on a background of a much smaller liverwort that I haven't had time to identify yet. Conocephalum group about 15 cm. across.

And here's a close-up of the thallus: