As the end of the year fast approaches, the days become increasingly shorter. There is less time, and less light, so I don’t expect to be able to see much of nature, especially flowers or invertebrates.
I began this blog on the 21st of December; the Winter Solstice which is the shortest day and longest night of the year. Literally, one bright phenomenon to look out for was the so-called Star of Bethlehem, the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. In the days leading up to this “once in 400 years” event, early evening cloud prevented it being visible. We have an excellent dark sky view to our south and west from home but couldn’t beat the clouds. That is, until the 22nd when the vision was apparent
The rain during these few days meant that even the view from our windows to the feeders was blurred and indistinct.
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| Saturn and Jupiter |
Our daily walks were punctuated with rain, but even when it cleared, there was no much expectation of seeing anything of note.
The farmers had been using this quiet time to trim their hedges and verges, further reducing opportunities as vegetation and any insect population was trimmed back to woody branches.
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| Neatly trimmed hedgerows |
The omni-present Red Campion was seen every day as well as its companion Herb Robert. We were unprepared for an out of season Field Buttercup but not too surprised to see an early Primrose and a single Lesser Celandine right at the beginning of the month. The vanilla/marzipan smell of the groups of Winter Heliotrope are a welcome Christmas flower.
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| Field Buttercup |
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| Primrose |
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| Winter Heliotrope |
An advantage of trimmed hedges and verges, is that the hedge bottom is visible and in the gaps, can be seen the fields normally hidden by Cornish Hedges.
Fungi were found in the hedge bottoms but despite the wet damp weather, were not abundant. Brackets and encrusting fungi could be see as well as a few Candlesnuff fungi (Xylaria hypoxylon) the rare, but spreading Perenniporia ochroleuca as well as Tawny Funnel - Lepista flaccida and my favourite, Cobalt Crust.
https://northcornwallnaturalist.blogspot.com/2020/11/blue-sky-experience.html
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| Tawny Funnel Cap |
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| Perenniporia ochroleuca |
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| Cobalt Crust |
Invertebrates were very few, although any sunshine brought out masses of midges near the stream at Crosswater. A late German Wasp was seen on Ivy, no doubt seeking a hibernacula. One Green Shieldbug was also found on an Ivy leaf for three days in a row, before it either succumbed to predation or fell lower down the hedgerow. We also had a couple of sightings of active 7-spot Ladybirds.
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| German Wasp |
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| 7-spot Ladybird |
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| Green Shieldbug |
The views through the hedgerow was welcome allowing us to see a Red Fox crossing a field and a Roe Deer busily eating amongst the Purple Moor Grass until it sensed us. Two areas on our walk have quite a number of trees and here, on three or four occasions we were rewarded with sightings of Grey Squirrel. We often see the hoofprints of deer on the paths that cut the hedges and cross the roads, but carrying the correct lens at the right time to get a photograph of a deer itself is more challenging.
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| Red Fox |
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| Roe Deer |
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| Deer slot |
Another advantage was to be able to find abandoned bird nests. We identified these as Tits, Blackbird and at least four Wrens’ nests.
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| A Wren's nest |
Apart from the permanent presence of Gulls and Corvids, we were rewarded by the sighing of a small flock of Long-tailed Tits, a couple of Great Spotted Woodpeckers chasing each other and, at regular intervals along the walk, a singing Robin.
Back home, there are more invertebrates with Winter Moths regularly seeking out our lighted windows and a rain speckled 7-spot Ladybird rescued from the house wall and brought into the garage.
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| Winter Moth |
The last sighting of the year on the 31st was of a Rabbit. It's good to know that they are surviving Myxomatosis and VHD.
Blogs I follow
https://downgatebatman.blogspot.com/
https://maryatkinsonwildonline.blogspot.com/
