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.

Surprises

In my last post, I showed the buds of Barren Strawberry. The flowers have now opened:

Barren Strawberry

As I was taking the shot, my eye was attracted to a flash of purple to my right and I saw the first flowers of Germander Speedwell:

Germander Speedwell

The second surprise for today was the sudden appearance of the Scarlet Elf Cap - Sarcoscypha austriaca var. austriaca:

Scarlet Elf Cap

This isn't a scarce species in damp woodland at this time of year, but it's the first time I have seen it on this patch.

Third surprise was this little Sepsid fly:

Sepsis punctum

Sepsids are known as 'Semaphore flies' due to their habit of waving their spotted wingtips up and down in some sort of signalling ritual. This one was busy cleaning itself, so I'm pretty sure it had just emerged, triggered by the warm sunshine. New identification.

Next surprise was the Cow Parsley beginning to open. I don't normally expect to see that until April.

Cow Parsley just opening

When looking at flowers, I always check for miners, and sure enough, the usual suspect was present and correct:

The mine of Phytomyza chaerophylli on Cow Parsley

You can just make out the shiny black pupa at the top of the mine.

Staying with miners, I noticed this odd mine of the micromoth Stigmella aurella on Bramble:

Badly-formed mine of Stigmella aurella

This one made its first wrong turn when it met the second vein and turned back on itself, and compounded this with another wrong turn as it returned to the first vein. It has now gone into a decreasing spiral and has run out of food. That's one genetic experiment that won't be passed on to future generations.

The frogs in the ditch have finally spawned:

Frogs (left) and spawn

This is approximately two weeks later than I would normally expect, although the adults have been around for at least 3 weeks.

My search for species for the 1k square challenge has now reached just over 200 species in a week, with very few new additions to the square apart from the Sarcoscypha and the Sepsid.