Blue skies smiling at me

We rarely have high pressure weather systems over Donegal, but the past week has been like this:

Con-trail over Mongorrey

High pressure at this time of year produces sun during the day and frost at night, so we have had a couple of nights with -4 and -5c, but the days are warm enough to bring out the first insects.

I can almost predict that the first hoverfly of the year will be a female Eristalis tenax, and sure enough, I spotted this one today on a Dandelion:

Female Eristalis tenax on Dandelion

Females of Eristalis tenax overwinter as mated adults, so they are ready to produce eggs as soon as it's warm enough. Related Eristalis species overwinter as pupae, so although the tenax females have a head start, they are at risk if the winter is very cold.

I went up to see if there was any frog spawn at the usual places, but none was visible, although I have seen a few frogs at night. I did, however, see a few midges in loose clouds:

Midge cloud

This is still a good time of year to see lichens before the green growth obscures them. I found a large specimen of Peltigera membranacea (Rabbit's-Paw Lichen):

Peltigera membranacea - 'Rabbits-paw lichen'

The underside of the thallus is covered with spiky rhizines, which are used as anchors:

Rhizines on the underside of the thallus of Peltigera membranacea

There are quite a few different species of Peltigera on the patch, but P. membranacea is easily distinguished by the pale blue thallus.

Evernia prunastri can be distinguished from other similar species by the twin-forked branching structure:

Evernia prunastri on Willow

Cladonia portentosa is most often seen apparently growing on the ground amongst mosses and heaths, but it's actually growing on buried wood. This specimen is growing on a badly-decomposed log:

Cladonia portentosa on decayed log

Night brings out the spring moths, and my first for the year is the Dotted Border:

Dotted Border moth

The Dotted Border feeds on a wide range of broad-leaf trees as a larva. I'll leave you to work out where its name comes from.

Here's the result of living in a wet climate:

Peziza domiciliana

Peziza domiciliana is a fungus which is most commonly found indoors, growing through concrete. This specimen is happily growing in the boot of my car.

New to my species list (and not previously recorded in Ireland, although I find that difficult to believe).

Good signs

Having seen a few frogs during the week, I went up to the place where I always see the first spawn, and every ditch and pool was full:

Batches of Frogspawn

The area covered by that shot is perhaps 50 x 100 cm., so there's a lot of spawn already in place.

Surprisingly enough, that location is very near our highest local point, but the much more likely lower areas are still empty, although I've heard plenty of croaking there.

While I was up there I checked out the local mosses and lichens. The first specimen is the foliose lichen Peltigera membranacea, also known as Rabbit Paw lichen:

The foliose lichen Peltigera membranacea

The amazing colour is accurate.

The next shot has many species of moss and lichen including Racomitrium lanuginosum (centre), Polytrichum urnigerum (male, dotted round the Racomitrium), and I can tell that the white stone to the lower centre has been moved quite recently because it is dotted with Trapelia coarctata, which is one of the pioneering lichens and usually appears very briefly before it gives way to secondary and more persistent species:

Lichens and mosses 

Another prominent lichen is Lecidia lithophila, which is recognised by the orange/brown thallus (body) and black fruitbodies:

Lichens and mosses

Notice that the Lecidea is being parasitised (or at least replaced) by the grey Porpidia-type lichen that is encroaching from the left.

Coltsfoot in full flower is a pleasant reminder that spring is almost upon us:

Coltsfoot

Perhaps a bit more surprising is a colony of Cow Parsley which is in full flower:

Cow Parsley

This is also at fairly high altitude, and not particularly sheltered. Since other nearby specimens are also either in flower or in bud, I have to assume it's an early-flowering sport or strain, because the location isn't any more favourable than many other areas where the plants are just coming into leaf.

Recolonisation

The area I went to today was Spruce plantation for 50 years, then it was clear-felled about 10 years ago.  The original heath environment has recovered somewhat, leading to a wide diversity of wildlife where there was nothing but a black, arid desert for 50 years.

The area is rich in lichens, mosses and heathers, and the remaining stumps and logs are home to more lichens, fungi and insects.

Bilberry is just flowering now, and this flower has drops of what I presume is nectar forming on the inside:

Bilberry flower

Racomitrium mosses have a very distinctive appearance: each leaf ends in a long, twisted hair that gives the plant an overall pale colouring.

Racomitrium lanuginosum

Peltigera lichens are very leafy in appearance, although their colouring ranges from black to palest grey. This huge (40 cm.) specimen of Rabbit's Paw lichen -Peltigera membranacea - is growing on a dead log. 

Here's a close-up of one or two of the individual 'leaves' (properly called 'thalli'):

Peltigera membranacea

Equisetums (popularly known as Horsetails) are some of our most ancient plants. This immediate area has three species in very close proximity, although I do know of a nearby area with Wood Horsetail which clings onto remnants of its original woodland habitat (which presumably preceded the Spruce plantation).

Marsh Horsetail tends to grow in the fringes of wet areas:

Marsh Horsetail

Whilst Water Horsetail definitely prefers its feet to be very wet:

Water Horsetail

Field Horsetail has separate, pale, fruiting growths, which precede the green non-reproductive shoots:

Field Horsetail

Horsetails reproduce via spores which have hair-like growths attached to them. These hairs are very sensitive to humidity and they expand and contract very rapidly, enabling the spores to move through the undergrowth as if they were walking. 

This next shot is rather interesting:

Bombus bohemicus

It's Bombus bohemicus, one of the parasitic Cuckoo Bumblebees. Bombus bohemicus is parasitic on the white-tailed Bombus lucorum complex and, yet again, timing is critical here. The queen of the host species finds a place for her nest and lays her first batch of worker eggs. The cuckoo bumblebee then invades the nest and kills the original queen before laying her own eggs. The host workers then proceed to feed the cuckoo bees for the rest of the season. I watched this cuckoo bumblebee feeding on nectar and then it proceeded to remove all traces of pollen from its legs (you can see the pollen on the grass in the picture.) Since one of the primary roles that bumblebees perform is pollination, it's clear that adult cuckoo bumblebees are of no benefit to either plants or their hosts.


Another legacy of the original woodland environment is the occasional specimen of Wood Sorrel:

Wood Sorrel

Micromoths are just beginning to make their appearance for the year. This is Grapholita jungiella:

The micromoth Grapholita jungiella

These micros are very active at the moment, and you usually have to be patient enough to follow their very erratic flight in order to see them at rest after they eventually land. 

More small things

Up in the deforested heath there is a slab of rock about 1m. across. This slab is a continual source of mosses, and I like to watch it at this time of year. This shot shows two of those mosses: in the foreground we have the hair-tipped leaves of Racomitrium lanuginosum, and the species with the elegant ruby-tipped capsules is Ceratodon purpureus.

This is how the Racomitrium looks in a habit shot. Specimen about 5 cm across.

Also on the rock is one of the smaller Polytrichums, Polytrichum juniperinum. These are male specimens, with the antheridia at the centre.

This green rosette might be a bit confusing at first, but once you get your eye in, it shouts 'liverwort'. Specimen about 6 cm. across.

Close-up examination reveals two rows of complex leaves, each doubled back on itself. This is diagnostic liverwort structure, and it turns out to be the very common Diplophyllum albicans. Main shoot about 12mm long.

There are also a few lichens in the area, on an old tree stump. This is Cladonia polydactyla, with tiny red fruitbodies. To the right you can see the Donegal speciality: Cladonia monodactyla (just joking).



And this is also a lichen, believe it or not. Peltigera membranacea, or Rabbit-paw lichen, growing through grass. Specimen about 30 cm. across.