The Naturalists' Notebook

English Stonecrop

Waterfall On the Afon Llafar

Lichen – Rhizocarpon species

Female Wolf Spider Pardosa sp. carrying egg sac

Common Green Grasshopper Omocestus viridulus

Barbara On Wooden Stile

Harry’s Sheep Skull

Dor Beetle

The Scenery 🙂

I had a visit over to the University Of Liverpool’s Ness Botanical Gardens on the Wirral. As well as being packed with traditional and rare garden plants it also has a number of wildflowers. A wildflower meadow area had been created which contained Corncockle Agrostemma githago, Corn Marigold Chrysanthemum segetum, Cornflower (a.k.a. Bachelor’s Button) Centaurea cyanus and Ox-eye Daisy Leucanthemum vulgare.

 Corn Marigolds and Ox-eye Daisies

Corncockle

 The drooping flowers of Borage (a.k.a. Starflower) Borago officinalis were just beginning to open out. The flowers have a cucumbery taste and can be added to salads or even to liven up your glass of Pimms!

The Monkey Flower Mimulus guttatus was introduced to Great Britain in the 1820’s and soon became naturalised in Wales growing beside streams and in wet marsh areas.

Viper’s-bugloss Echium vulgare was putting on a fine show with a branched spike of attractive funnel-shaped blue flowers. It is a favourite flower of bees and butterflies for their nectar fix.

The two Dave’s and I took a trip over to Minera near Wrexham in Wales whose name derives from the Latin for “mine” or “ore” (the Welsh name Mwynglawdd translates roughly as “ore mine”)

Hoverfly Eristalis sp. on umbellifer

Noonday fly Mesembrina meridiana

Our walk took us up a country track passing plenty of insect covered umbellifers through a wooded area growing on the old lime slag heaps whilst nibbling Wild Strawberries Fragaria vesca, up to the limestone quarry and onto a wildflower meadow before the return journey.

Highlights of the walk included the profusion of Orchids – Common Spotted Orchids Dactylorhiza fuchsii in a variety of colours along the track and wood, Common Twayblade Neottia ovata on the slag heap in the wood along with Broad-leaved Helleborines Epipactis helleborine that were not yet in flower, Pyramidal Orchids Anacamptis pyramidalis abounded in the quarry and we counted around a dozen Fragrant Orchids Gymnadenia conopsea that were just beginning to bloom.  

 Common Spotted Orchid

Common Spotted Orchid flower detail

Common Spotted Orchid var. albiflora

Pyramidal Orchid

Common Twayblade

 Other flowers included Field Bindweed Convolvulus arvensis, Hedge Woundwort Stachys sylvatica, Mossy Saxifrage Saxifraga hypnoides, Wild Thyme Thymus polytrichus,  Common Milkwort Polygala vulgaris, Eyebright Euphrasia officinalis, Common Rock-rose Helianthemum nummularium, Self Heal Prunella vulgaris, Bird’s-foot Trefoil Lotus corniculatus and Weld Reseda luteola.

Self Heal

Birdlife included singing Chiffchaff in the woodland, a squawking Jay, Peregrine, Buzzard and Raven up in the quarry. Plenty of Butterflies and Moths with Large Skipper Ochlodes venata, Dingy Skipper Erynnis tages, Small White Pieris rapae, Common Blue Polyommatus icarus, Small Tortoiseshell Aglais urticae, Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina, Ringlet Aphantopus hyperantus, Small Heath Coenonympha pamphilus, Six-Spot Burnet Zygaena filipendulae.

Common Blue Butterfly male

Six-Spot Burnet Moth on Wild Thyme

23 MNA members joined the coach for our visit to the RSPB reserve at Bempton Cliffs in East Yorkshire. Looking back at my records it is five years since we had visited the reserve so there were a lot of expectant members wishing to experience the thrill of a major seabird nesting colony in the midst of the breeding season. On arriving at 12:30pm after a long drive I immediately headed down to the viewpoint known as Staple Newk which has fine views over a sea stack with nesting Gannets.

There are around 6,000 pairs that nest on the chalk cliffs and Bempton has long been famed as having the only mainland nesting colony of Gannets in the UK. These huge birds seemed ungainly as they bunched together on their nests protecting their fluffy chicks from the beaks of their close nesting neighbours. It was in the air that they came into their own. It was breezy to say the least but these birds appeared graceful as they glided by with outstretched wings occasionally maneuvering with their tails and exhibiting some precision timing back flapping as they approached the cliff to land. A few Gannets did land at the top of the cliff and through the thick cliff top summer flowers and grasses you could see them collecting beakfuls of vegetation to take back to their nests to keep things looking ship-shape for Mrs Gannet.  

I slowly ambled back along the cliff path (mainly due to the weight of the tripod and new 500mm lens I was carrying) taking in the sights and smells of the seabird colony. There were a number of other viewpoints overlooking the cliffs and all the visitors were commenting on the comings and goings of the other nesting species.

Around 38,000 pairs of Kittiwakes are packed onto the cliffs. There was a real cacophony of sound with their ‘kitt-e-waak – kitt –e-wakk’ call being blasted from the cliffs and circling birds coming into land. Many of the nests held recently hatched fluffy white chicks and I watched one of the hungry chicks feeding greedily. Around 60,000 Guillemots were nesting side by side on the narrow ledges. Their eggs are pear-shaped so that they roll in circles rather than off the cliff ledge. I spotted a few ‘bridled’ Guillemots amongst the colony. These are exactly the same species but have a white bridle mask around their eyes. They become more common in colonies further north in the UK. There is a stable population of 5,000 nesting pairs of Razorbills. Like many of the nesting seabirds they mainly eat fish, like sandeels.

A favourite that many visitors were enthusing over were the Puffins. Bempton doesn’t have any rabbits so their more usual nest site of disused rabbit burrows isn’t available. Instead they lay a single egg in a crevice in the cliff rock face. Their dumpy little bodies and tiny wings are not designed for easy flight and you could hear the gasps from visitors as the Puffins appeared to plummet from the cliff edge before their tiny wings beating furiously took them out onto the water.

Other nesting seabirds included Herring Gulls and around 1,200 pairs of Fulmar. This stiff-winged ocean wanderer is a member of the Albatross or tube-nose family. Pairs often cackle to each other sounding like drunken witches and they will spit thick oily gastric juices at intruders. 

As I wandered along the cliff-path there were plenty of Swallows zipping around, Meadow Pipits and Skylarks battling with the wind performing display flights, Yellowhammers, Reed Bunting and a Corn Bunting performing its jangly-keys song. Rocks Doves were sat amongst the cliff-top flowers and Jackdaws were enjoying the breeze and could occasionally be seen pinning their wings back and plummeting almost like a Peregrine down the cliff face.

I stopped again at Jubilee Corner viewpoint trying to photograph Gannets in flight when one bird landed extremely close amongst the cliff-top grasses. It was the perfect end to the day and a last opportunity to appreciate these stunning birds with their snow white plumage, black wing tips, creamy-yellow heads, steel grey beaks with dark outlines and blue orbital rings.

MNA members John from Biobank and Martin Corcoran headed up onto the fells during our visit to Stocks Reservoir on 4th June 2011. They came across a pile of bird pellets on a rock amongst the moorland vegetation and brought me a prezzie of two pellets in a plastic bag.

The Barn Owl pellet collected from Carsington Water on our February Coach Trip contained bones from Field Voles see post https://naturalistsnotebook.mnapage.info/2011/02/28/owl-pellet/ These two pellets were entirely different.

I measured them – one being 4cm long the other slightly larger at 5cm.

After soaking in water in a petri dish I teased apart the two pellets. Here’s a photo of what they contained:-

Top left shows vegetation – moss, a couple of grass seeds and pieces of stem.

Bottom left shows three small stones and a snail.   

Middle show the bones that were visible on the outside of the top pellet with a random assortment of non-identifiable small bones probably tarsus with the odd claw from the bottom pellet.

Top Right shows mostly abdominal and sternite plates from black beetles.

Middle Right shows leg parts, heads and elytra – the wing cases from black beetles. 

Bottom right shows elytra and leg parts from brown beetles.

Here’s the beetle bits and pieces in greater detail. Could the piece of orange and black patterned elytra have come from a Sexton Beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides ? I saw one during our visit.

Little Owl pellets often contain a large number of beetles but these pellets were too large for that species.

Terry, Dave Bryant and me headed up to Hay Bridge, the private reserve owned by the John Strutt Conservation Foundation (JSCF) nestling in the Rusland Valley in Cumbria. As ever we were to have a wonderful day with a variety of birds, reptiles, insects and plants. We headed down to the compost heaps where we found a Slow Worm Anguis fragilis and around eight Grass Snakes Natrix natrix, one of which slithered away between Terry’s legs! A Meadow Ants Lasius flavus nest was in one of the heaps and the adults quickly began removing their larvae to shade when we peeled back the tarpaulin cover. There were a few recently shed snake skins and with a bit of ‘technical assistance’ with Dave holding one of the skins I took a close-up of the head showing the clear lens that would have been over the snake’s eyes.

We wandered down to the river through the fields. During last year’s drought in the Rusland Valley the cows weren’t grazed in these fields and a number of grassland species shot up including Ox-eye Daisy Leucanthemum vulgare, White Clover Trifolium repens, Yellow Rattle Rhinanthus minor and Yorkshire Fog Holcus lanatus. They’ve decided to continue keeping the cows out until the plants have seeded. Plenty of insect life around here including Grasshoppers, numerous Chimney Sweep Moths Odezia atrata, a few Garden Chafer Beetles Phyllopertha horticola, a Mirid Plant Bug that I later had identified as Leptopterna dolabrata a 5th instar nymph and single Common Blue Polyommatus icarus and Large Skipper Ochlodes venata.

Large Skipper

A Spotted Flycatcher was perched on a wire beside the study centre, occasionally dashing up to grab at a passing insect before returning to its perch. The woods held Pied Flycatcher, Blackcaps, Willow Warbler and a few Garden Warblers. Dave had a couple of Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries Boloria selene flitting around in the sunlight. Tree Pipits were performing their display flights in a few clearings. Terry on raptor watch saw wing-tagged Red Kites, Buzzards carrying snakes in their talons and Sparrowhawk.

At Black Beck Tarn a few female Four-spotted Chaser Libellula quadrimaculata were patrolling their patch of water and Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum, Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura elegans and Large Red Damselfly Pyrrhosoma nymphula were in good numbers staying in the vegetation on the tarn edge and a few pairs in copulating wheels on the White Water Lily pads Nymphaea alba. A few Emerald Damselfly Lestes sponsa were perched in their characteristic stance with their wings half-open.

Large Red Damselflies in copulation wheel

4-spot Chaser

A Longhorn Beetle Rhagium mordax with black spots on its wing cases landed on the grass beside me and walked quickly up the stems occasionally posing for a photo. The larvae of this species feeds on the rotten wood of deciduous trees.

Longhorn Beetle Rhagium mordax

There was a Sawfly Aglaostigma aucupariae, a dozen or so Longhorn Micromoths Nemophora degeerella resting on bracken fronds on the edge on the track passing White Moss Tarn and the Bird Cherry Tree on the track leading to High Hay Bridge again held the larval tents of the Bird Cherry Ermine Moth Yponomeuta evonymella.Returned to the Study Centre for a late lunch and to photograph some of the skulls including those from a two-year old Roe Deer buck, a ‘Hummel’ Red Deer stag –a rare condition where stags fail to develop pedicles on the skull and thus are unable to grow antlers and an Otter. A rather gruesome find in the Study Centre collection was the feet and talons from a Kestrel.

Roe Buck Skull & Antlers

Otter Skull

Kestrel Feet & Talons

Dave had been out on the mosses where he had seen a number of Large Heath Coenonympha tullia butterflies whilst having lunch. This species favours bog areas and acidic moorland, the main larvae foodplant being Hare’s-tail Cottongrass Eriophorum vaginatum. It has declined seriously in England and Wales and I have never seen it so we headed back along the boardwalk and onto the mosses. As we walked around we disturbed a number of individuals that flew low to the ground with the breezy wind and landed deep amongst the tussocky grass and moss. Eventually I managed a few shots of one nestled in the grass.

Large Heath

Other finds included Round–leaved Sundew Drosera rotundifolia, Common Milkwort Polygala vulgaris and a Common Lizard Lacerta vivipara basking on a pile of pine logs before quickly hiding beneath the bark.

Round-leaved Sundew

We headed back to the Study Centre and wrote up our sightings into the log book then Helen, the warden’s partner showed us a female Adder Vipera berus curled up on the side of a Meadow Ant nest. It frequently basks in this spot and Helen had been past it previously with the lawnmower and it had remained there undisturbed.

Female Adder

A great finish to the day… but there was more to come…We drove along some increasingly narrow lanes to check out where Roundsea Wood Nature Reserve was located. It is managed by Natural England and is home to Raft Spiders Dolomedes fimbriatus and Dormice Muscardinus avellanarius. As we headed back I spotted a bird of prey circling just above the line of oaks on my side of the car which was joined by another. We stopped the car and Terry identified them as a pair of Honey Buzzards with their wide wings held completely flat when gliding. Top birds to end a great day!