New challenge

I have decided to join the 2013 'Pan-species list for a 1k square' challenge. Basically, this is a record of all the species that are found in a 1 kilometre square of my choice during 2013.

The 1k square I have chosen is centred around C 256 038, and I have chosen it because it contains a very wide cross-section of habitat types from hedgerow to woodland, ancient walls, bog, rough pasture and a stream.

The progress can be found under the '1k challenge' tab at the top of this blog.

Although I'm starting late (7th March) I don't think I'll have missed too many species during January and February.

Today I walked the route for around 50 minutes and recorded 75+ species in that time. (I still have a couple of things to put under the microscope). I will have missed many more species and will update the list as I do the transect on my frequent walks in that area.

I plan to record everything that I can identify, from birds and animals through flowering plants, trees, insects, fungi, mosses, liverworts and lichens, so I expect to compile a list of several hundred species by December.

The progress of other participants, along with a 'league table', can be found at: http://1000for1ksq.blogspot.ie/

The signs are there

We have rain forecast for the next few days, so I took the opportunity to see what signs of spring I could find.

7-Spot Ladybirds hibernate as adults, so in theory they can be seen at any month of the year if the weather is warm enough. But I like to think that the first sighting of the year is a sign of things to come:

7 Spot Ladybird

Many plants are still in their purely vegetative state, but quite a few are making flower buds or new growth. I always consider Barren Strawberry to be the first true flowering plant in each year. True, Celandines will always flower first, but since they can flower any time from November onwards, the Barren Strawberry is my 'first flower' in any given year:

Barren Strawberry flower bud

The plant at top right of that shot is Germander Speedwell which had a very good year last year:

Germander Speedwell

The lowest stem in that shot shows the diagnostic paired lines of hairs that run along the stem.

Bush Vetch is also pushing through the dead fronds of last year's Male Fern:

Bush Vetch

It will be another 4 months before Slender St. John's Wort is in flower, but already the new growth is forming:

Slender St. John's Wort

I cropped this shot of Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage to show the rear wall of the ditch covered in liverworts and mosses:

Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage with liverworts and mosses

The main liverwort is Conocephalum conicum ('Snakeskin Liverwort') and the tiny moss is Plagiomnium undulatum.

A few years ago, one of the few local areas to have wild Reedmace was excavated to see if it would be suitable for building a house (it isn't!). Most of the Reedmace disappeared, but some has now made a recovery:

Reedmace - Typha latifolia

Typha is the sole host family for many insects, including some moths and hoverflies. I examined quite a few specimens of the Reedmace for any signs of those species, but none were found. I wonder how long it will take for them to return (if they ever do).

No time is ever wasted in nature: the leaves of Lesser Celandine are hardly full-grown and already the fungal rust Puccinia ranunculi has taken hold.

Puccinia ranunculi on Lesser Celandine

Last year there seemed to be a very wide-ranging absence of fresh mines of the micromoth Stigmella aurella from its main foodplant, Bramble, and I certainly found very few.  So it's good to see a good number of fresh mines (fresh mines are white, whereas old mines from previous years are brown) on the host plant this year:

Mines of the micromoth Stigmella aurella

There are 4 mines on that leaf, all of which appear to have grown to full size. I'm always entertained by the way the mines progress without falling out of the edge of the leaf and also how they seem to detect other mines and take avoiding action before they intersect them (or their own!), especially when older.

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).

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

The birds

It seems that my prediction of a locally mild winter has been fairly accurate so far: we have had a few nights with frost, but rarely anything below -2. One night delivered a couple of centimetres of snow, but it lasted barely a few hours. We have, however, had fairly unrelenting rain with dark skies and terrible light.

Buzzards are a fairly common sight in the area, and we often have a couple flying directly over the house as they circle looking for prey. A pair decided to survey the local rookery, so I tried to get a few shots. As soon as you point anything at them, they make a dash for cover, and this is the shot I got as they flew round the other side of my house:

Buzzard

The sky is the colour that I have become familiar with over the last 40 days or so.

When we arrived back from shopping today, I noticed a Song Thrush lying beside our front doorstep. It seemed to be in some distress, but it didn't move as I rattled off a few shots. After I put the camera down, I approached it to see if it had any injuries, but it flew off, apparently in good order. On close examination of the photographs, however, I see that there are injuries to each side of the head, as shown in the following shot:

Injured Song Thrush

Those injuries are indicative of a predator of some kind, but I don't think that our local cat has a mouth large enough for that.

Another mystery.

Interestingly enough, this is a new addition to my Species List.

Lying in wait

At this time of year I am cheered by the thought that although there is very little wildlife to be seen at the moment, everything is just waiting for the moment that is its time to appear: everything is there, but we just can't quite see it.

Hidden plants can be resting as seeds, bulbs, corms or tap roots deep under the ground. Fungi have retreated back to the invisible mycelium which lies below the surface or inside wood. Many warm-blooded mammals and all cold-blooded reptiles and amphibians are hibernating in holes or under the surface of pools, lakes and streams. Molluscs are underground, either as eggs or adults.

But it is insects that have the most varied means of existing through winter. Most insects exist as one of four states: egg, larva, pupa or adult, although some insects - such as bugs - miss out the pupal state and go through a series of nymph stages, and insects can overwinter in each of those four states.

Queen bumblebees - already mated last year - are dormant underground and will emerge in early spring to look for a nesting place to lay the eggs that will become the workers. Similarly, the tiny nests of solitary bees have a small population of pupae that will hatch to create this year's generation. The males are nearer the entrance and will hatch first to establish territories before the females emerge. (This male-first hatching is quite common in insects, presumably to give the males a chance to exercise their fighting and survival skills to ensure stronger future generations. Another example of this is the Orange Tip butterfly, where the males emerge around a week before the females).

We have just under 800 species of micromoth in Ireland, and they overwinter in the widest range of places of any of our species. Some are inside the roots of buttercups; others are inside the seedpods of plants like Gorse; some are inside the stems of grasses, others are inside berries, seeds or fruits. A few leaf miners also make winter mines. Almost any stable or persistent location can be used as overwintering shelter.

Hoverflies overwinter mostly as pupae buried in mud or some other moist substrate such as rotholes in wood, or the roots of thistles, but a few overwinter as mated females ready to emerge when the first sun is around in early spring.

Butterflies also overwinter as pupae, but a few species hibernate as adults and might even be spotted out nectaring in milder days during winter. These overwintering species are the first emergers in spring and will breed to form a summer generation.

Parasitoids, such as ichneumonids, braconids or chalcids will have consumed the host pupae and will have pupated either inside the original pupal case or close by the outside of it. They will emerge when the next generation of host larvae are active and feeding later in the year.

Flies are also quite diverse in their overwintering habits. Some have developed inside the seedheads of flowers such as Knapweed and have pupated there. Others, such as leatherjackets (the larvae of craneflies) are underground after feeding on the roots of grasses.

Few beetles can be seen during winter: most are inside the pupal cases in wood, underground, or inside seedheads.

Aquatic insects such as diving beetles, dragonflies, damselflies, stoneflies and caddis flies are inside pupal cases under water.

So although it might seem that there's nothing around, there is wildlife near you no matter where you're standing.

Just as I was in the middle of writing this, my daughter found a lacewing in a package of Raspberries. The label said 'Product of Spain', so this must be one of the Spanish species:

Spanish Lacewing

I have no chance of an identification, so it will have to go down as 'Spanish Lacewing'.

(I wish to immediately disassociate myself from the purchase. They were priced down to 10 cents, and a student has to do what a student has to do).

Winter moths

We have a few moths that only emerge once the frosts have arrived. At first glance, this seems to be a flawed plan, since there is little vegetation to support caterpillars and the low temperatures are a hindrance to cold-blooded species (and none of our butterflies have this 'alternative' lifestyle plan). But a bit of investigation reveals that these winter emerging species might actually have a couple of advantages. Firstly, there are no ichneumonids or tachinids around to parasitise them at this time of year. Secondly, there is much less competition for any limited food resources that do exist. Thirdly, the eggs stay inert for a while, so their caterpillars don't hatch until fresh leaves are available, and they pupate before the real competition for summer food arrives. (This early pupation also provides some limited protection from parasites and predators). Furthermore, male moths are generally guided to the female by smell, and the summer moths can travel great distances overnight as they search for a mate, but many (not all) of the winter emerging moths have flightless females that stay in one place after they hatch. This means that the males have much less hunting to do to find a mate, which is a bonus in cold weather. There are some summer-hatching species with flightless females, so it would be interesting to know which came first: the winter hatching or the flightless females. More research, I think.

Here are a couple of winter moths which I photographed in December:

I photographed this very fresh (the abdomen is clearly still pink) Pale Brindled Beauty on the 19th of December, although its normal peak season is in March. This tied in with my sightings of Bumblebees, Celandines, and Willow leaves and catkins all around the same time: all of those would be much more normal in March than December.

Pale Brindled Beauty

I have subsequently discovered that this is the earliest ever date (by one day!) in Ireland for Pale Brindled Beauty to be recorded.

I also saw the very handsome Mottled Umber on December 25th:

Mottled Umber

At first I thought that this was a new species for me, because I had certainly never seen the moth before, but my records show that I had photographed the caterpillar in 2006 (you can see it here). So it's a new adult moth, but not a new species for me.

Both of these moths feed on leaves of a wide range of trees when caterpillars. In each case, the photographs show males, because the females of both species are wingless.

For the last week or so, the wind has been mostly from the south, and I received reports that immigrant moths have been found in the south of the country. I didn't think that they would bother at this time of year: perhaps it's yet another sign of a mild winter to come.