The Dark Days of December?

 

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.

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.

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.

Field Buttercup

Primrose

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

Tawny Funnel Cap

Perenniporia ochroleuca

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.

German Wasp

7-spot Ladybird

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.

Red Fox

Roe Deer

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.

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.

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

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Hunting for Hornets

I was fortunate to be invited on a Hornet Hunt by the Lundy Warden when I was over there last week.

Dean Jones, the Warden, had found some empty chrysalis cases on old Willow trees in the Quarries on Lundy.  He identified them as potentially Lunar Hornet Moth (Sesia bembeciformis) cases and ordered the newly released Pheronome for that species.   

Two of the empty chrysalis cases in Willow

Eggs are laid in the bark of Willow trees which hatch, and the larvae burrow deep into the wood.  In early June or July the white grub like caterpillars, and emerge from the chrysalis which are left half in the hole they bored.  The usually takes place around 8:30am early in June so we were probably a month and 5 hours too late. The cycle of mating and egg-laying then repeats.

We had hoped for a quick response to the pheronome order and, within the limitations of thrice-weekly sailings of the island's transport, MS Oldenburg it arrived before I left.  But, only just.  The day before I was due to leave, Dean asked if I was up for a visit with the lure to the site.

Dean and Rosie waiting expectantly

Dean, Rosie the Ranger and I duly set off north from the village to the 1860s quarry workings and to the site of the emergent moths.  Pheronomes are detected by male moths from at least 100 metres distant so we gave it half-an-hour but with no response.

Empty chrysalis extracted from Willow (0.5cm squares)

A few hundred metres south was another stand of Willow, but there were no chrysalises there.  We tried again but still with no success.

Nevertheless, we had tried and we did find at least half-a-dozen emergent cases at the original site but probably had missed the adult moths by a few days.  

Maybe next year when a picture of the spectacular adult might be available.

Recommended blogs

Lundy Birds

Mary Atkinson Wild

Shark! Shark!

Friday night is the night chosen for co-ordinated moth trapping for those who submit their records to the Garden Moths Scheme (GMS).  This gives a nation-wide comparison of the diversity and abundance of moths throughout the year.  This week, (22nd May) was unseasonably windy, which is not the best weather to catch moths, and continued the same through Saturday.  So, I delayed my GMS until Sunday night when the weather was expected to improve.

I was not disappointed.  The wind had dropped and there were no clouds.  This meant that it was not very warm overnight, but with a minimum of 7℃ it was not too cold for moths.

My trap is a Skinner design 20 Watt twin blue light bulb type.  As such, it will never attract the multitude of moths that a Robinson trap with Mercury Vapour bulb does.  Over Sunday night, it did not do too badly attracting 26 moths of 11 species.

The largest number of  a single species trapped, was eleven Heart and Dart - named somewhat imaginatively for the two dark marks on each wing of a dart shaped mark above a heart shaped mark.

Heart and Dart 

Next in number came four of the prosaically-named Treble Lines, named for the three horizontal lines across both wings.

Treble Lines

Apart from three Flame-shoulder (not illustrated) the remainder of the moths were all single records.  Moving away from the predominantly brown moths, there was a very attractively marked, and appropriately named, Broad-barred White  

Broad-barred White

Other single specimens were Pale Tussock, Common Pug, Brimstone and Flame.  The final three were huge moths.  Those who visit Lundy or walk the North Cornwall cliffs may be familiar with the large, brown, hairy caterpillars that feature there for most of the year.  These are the caterpillars of the Fox Moth, but the moth itself is more elusive.  It is a big moth with 34mm long wings and has a large fat body and similar colouring to a Fox.

Fox Moth

Another large 34mm long moth is the aptly-named Great Prominent.  As well as having big wings and a large body it has heavy hairy legs.

Great Prominent

Finally, a slightly smaller moth around 30mm in length but much slimmer and more streamlined.  This is  a grey finely marked moth - the Shark.  It is so named because of the prominent crest projecting over the head of the moth resembling the fin of a Shark.  It was not Jaws, but a shark in the garden is a most unexpected first for me.

The Shark

Of course, it being May, there were three of the almost obligatory large Maybugs or Cockchafers.

Weather wise?

After the fabulous weather that brought all the butterflies out, I was not sure that the last couple of days would come anywhere near that.

Yesterday it was so hot that we shortened out usual walk.  We did not see many invertebrates at all but were very pleased to see this newly hatched batch of Garden spiderlings Araneus diadematus</.  They can easily be dismissed as a flower head until tickled with a piece of grass when they disperse symetrically from the centre.

Garden spiderlings - Araneus diadematus

Today (22nd) was even less promising with quite a strong wind and overcast.  Nevertheless we completed out usual walk and were delighted to find new invertebrates along our normal route.

A Blood-vein moth Timandra comea was sheltering deep in the roadside vegetation and made no move while I took an extreme clos-up.

Blood-vein Moth - Timandra comae

Similarly, slightly further on,we spotted a Leaf beetle of the Chrysomelidae species.

And, just to round things off, a Wasp mimic Longhorn beetle Clytus areitis was found clinging on tightly to Hemlock Water Dropwort alongside the road near Stanbury Cross.  It is harmless without a sting, but uses its wasp-like colouring to deter predators

There is always something to be seen no matter the weather.

Big Butterfly Count

Comma

Small Tortoiseshell

I have taken part in the event over the years.  It is an excellent way of involving people in nature and giving everyone who takes part some ownership in the decline of butterflies.


Bur, for the last couple of years I have undertaken a weekly butterfly transect - waling a set route on a day when conditions are good for seeing butterflies.

This occupies me for an hour and a half for 30 weeks of the year - spring to autumn - and as well as being good exercise, it has really honed my butterfly identification skills.

Red Admiral

Silver-washed Fritillary

Today (17th July) was challenging.  The temperature in the shade, that is, under my car, was 22͒C.  Half the walk is through the woods, in the welcome but humid, shade.  The rest is in the open with hardly a breeze today.  Near the start, section two takes me down 50 step to the the river valley.  At the end of next three sections, near to the sea, I have to climb about 100 meters to  the top of the cliffs on the South West Coast Path.

Peacock

Gatekeeper

But, this was not the most challenging part of the walk.  It was the sheer number of butterflies I counted; 127 butterflies of 12 species in all.  It's times like this that it takes at least two to survey, one to spot and identify, the other to log them all.  And, if you want pictures too, an additional cameraman would be useful.

I'm not complaining though, it was the best transect of the year - so far.

Oh, I didn't really miss the Big Butterfly Count.  I walked to a different cliff, at Stanbury for lunch on Friday and in the first 15 minutes recorded 27 butterflies of 7 species, plus a couple of day flying moths all of which have been submitted to BBC.

A Wonderful Wildlife Week

Every now and then there is a week that is day after day of natural history. 


This last week was just such a one. There was an event planned for every day and the weather was kind.

Great Crested Grebe on her nest

Monday The monthly BTO Wetland Bird Survey was due, and as usual we deferred it for a day to avoid the busy weekend at Tamar Lakes. It is April so the winter visitors had gone and there was only a chance of spring or summer visitors being present. We did hear a single Sedge Warbler staking out his territory and spotted a Great Crested Grebe sitting on a newly constructed nest. There was also one or two Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers and a lone Swallow.

Peacock butterfly

After lunch the weather was warm and sunny with hardly any wind. It was the ideal time to walk our newly registered UKBMS butterfly transect. This starts at the Bush Inn at Crosstown in Morwenstow, descends to the Tidna Valley and follows the river to the coast then up the cliff before heading inland along a green lane to Crosstown Green. It was a good decision with butterflies of four species – Speckled Wood, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma and Peacock.

Sunset over the south end of Lundy

Tuesday We had an early start, leaving Bideford quay at 9am for Lundy. The sea was like a mill pond but we saw no cetaceans and few birds. The island was alive with spring birds though – Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps. I spotted a Sparrowhawk at Quarter Wall Pond after a long meeting inside. The return trip was spectacular with a brilliant orange sunset over the island as we returned at 7pm.

Piscicola geometra

Wednesday The first Riverfly survey of the year on the Torridge near Bradford Mill and the first since the July 2015 was planned. In August and September last year, the river was in spate and two metres higher than normal. In the event, the river was slightly higher and faster than normal, but it turned up plenty of invertebrates. It was interesting to record the difference in abundance of the eight indicator species. Stoneflies were particularly abundant with a few extremely large specimens almost ready to become flying insects. The normal Perlodidae were joined by two specimens of Taeniopterygidae. Another unusual species, not part of the survey set, was a fish leech, Piscicola geometra.

Planting Marram Grass

Thursday This was a Bude Valley Volunteers working party day. Following the “planting” of retired Christmas Trees after 12^th night in January at Widemouth Bay the plan was to supplement this with the planting of Marram Grass. The trees were already doing their job of accumulating sand around themselves. We were allowed to dig up randomly selected Marram plants and transplant them between two rows of the trees. The expectation is that the Marram will further stabilise the sand allowing and embryo dune to form.

 This will in future plug a gap where the dunes had “blown out” and reduce the chance of sand blowing onto the adjacent coast road.

Picnic at Dexbeer Bridge

Friday The culmination of a busy week – to walk the whole length of Bude Aqueduct. Four of us started from Lower Tamar Lake and walked the whole 5 miles to Vealand Reserve where we then followed the permissive path for a final 700 yards. The weather was again kind allowing us to have our first picnic of the year at Dexbeer Bridge on Councillors Shadrick's memorial table. We shared the area with a pair of Willow tits – confirmed as they responded strongly with identical calls to those Willow Tit lure. We recorded a total of 34 species of birds on our walk including all 5 tits – Great, Blue, Coal, Long-tailed, Marsh and Willow and 4 finches – Gold, Green, Chaff and Bull. We also noted 4 spring plants – Wood Anenome, Wood Sorrel, Cuckoo flower and Lesser Periwinkle together with all 3 mammals so far seen on this walk – Roe Deer, Grey Squirrel and Rabbit.

The only let down was Friday night's Garden Moth Survey which due to the cold and wet attracted not a single moth.

Orchids and Tortoises

Bee Orchid

Southern Marsh Orchid

Every year we count Bee Orchids Ophrys apifera in an unimproved meadow in Bude.  The field is mowed once a year but despite becoming overgrown with rank grasses, it continues to be quite species rich and diverse.

We counted over 30 Bee Orchids and there were also over 80 Southern Marsh Orchids as well as Yellow Rattle, Vetches, Fleabane, Bird’s-foot Trefoil and many other flowering plants.

5-spot Burnet moth

I was supposed to be concentrating on Orchids but could not fail to notice the Sedge Warbler singing for the whole time of the survey.

Walking head down with notebook, pencil and camera in hand I also recorded all the invertebrates that I kept seeing.  This included butterflies and moths – Common Blue, Meadow Brown, 6-spot Burnet and Silver Y Moths.  The Burnet was particularly well represented with adult, larva (caterpillar) and many cocoons on the stems of long grasses.

Fleabane Tortoise Beetle

The best sighting was of something totally new to me; a strange orange and black-spotted beetle that looked like a tiny armoured vehicle.  Within half and hour of posting the image on an insect group in Facebook, I had an identification.  It was something that until then I was unaware of as there are no pictures in my insect book – the aptly named Fleabane Tortoise Beetle Cassida murraea

Garden Moths

Moth Trap

On Friday (6^th March) I took another step outside of my comfort zone.

A couple of years ago when I decided to look at moths seriously, I researched and dismissed the Garden Moths Scheme (http://www.gardenmoths.org.uk/) deciding to collect moths as and when the mood took me. GMS asked for a commitment to trap moths every Friday night for the period between March and November. The minimum effort is to trap for 27 of the 36 weeks. Not every moth is required to be recorded, GMS provide a spreadsheet of the 200 or so most common moths for the the South West region.

The idea is to reduce the variables to a minimum – moth species, day (irrespective of weather), moth trap and location – to provide a good statistical basis to account for why, where and when moths are present.

Moth Trap in the dark

In 2012 when I started with moths, this was all too daunting. So, I plodded along putting out my moth trap on warm, cloudy, moonless nights and have managed to record over 100 species in my small rural garden. I rely heavily on my County Moth Recorder to determine tricky, new, out of season, or very worn specimens. (Determine = expert confirms or suggest the correct species)

After a couple of years the County Recorder referred me to GMS and now is does seem less daunting. I don't expect to see all the moths on the South West list but I am more confident in my ability to identify at least some of them and I now have two experts to help with determinations!

Common Flat-Body
Agonopterix heracliana

I have recently converted my Skinner 40W actinic trap into a more rain friendly type of moth trap – a twin 20W Compact flourescent. This means it will cope better with adverse weather conditions that regularly trapping on a Friday night entails. One of the major tenets of GMS is to establish distribution and flight times irrespective of weather conditions so I am pleased to add my location to the database and continue my mothing learning curve.

And, the result of my first session – a single moth which is not on the GMS common 200 list -Agonopterix heracliana!