Vegetative State

Another rainy day. So with no new invert news, here's a vegetative interlude.

First up some more garden weeds wildflowers ....

Procumbent Pearlwort growing on the edges of the front driveway

Shepherd's Purse growing on the kerbside

Creeping Buttercup - all over the garden waiting to flower be pulled/mowed

Daisy - a few always manage to evade the whirring blade

A Dandelion sp. - a few in the borders

Hert Robert now flowering

Also flowering, I noticed that on the embankment there are a few straggly sallows starting to show themselves - would be good if these manage to outgrow the brambles, dogwood and others.

And the rest are cultivated, after a fashion.

We planted this Oak from an acorn a number of years ago, and it's just coming into leaf. It was nurtured in a pot to try and limit it a bit bonsai style, and it gets pruned, though the pot itself was then semi-planted so the roots are probably broken through the pot by now. Either way it's never going to be a multi-hundred year old veteran!

Red Valerian - I nicked an errant plant from one of the neighbours gardens when the house was vacated, and we now have a load self-set/spreading on the front garden.

We have a variegated shrub on the front which has these nice but pretty well hidden flowers. Managed to find a label on it saying it's a Pittosporum tenuifolium [Irene Paterson].

Some sort of cultivated bluebell from bulbs planted last autumn

"Look at my ring ...

... they're all the rage you know."

Nipped over to Watermead CP South again this afternoon after work - needed some fresh air and a chance to wield the camera at something. Anything. As it happened, as soon as I got out of the car I noticed a colour-ringed Black-headed Gull and decided to get a few shots. Eventually I got shots of three different ones. I've sent off the details and await the ringing reports, though I already know that a couple of these at least have been recorded at Watermead before and I know where all three are from.

VH85 - Denmark

JAN4 - Norway

T9NH - Poland

Aside from the gull diversion, not a lot to get excited about though the Whooper Swan is still knocking about.

Otherwise, I was entertained for a few minutes by some skanky Brown Rats milling about the edge. Always makes me smile a little to know that the very same people who would go mental at the sight of a rat are the ones bringing the ridiculous amounts of bread n shit which sustains them.

I also noted a few common flowers ..

Colt's-foot

Daisy

Sunny respite

Last week, during the glorious sunny weather and excellent mothing conditions, I was too busy at work to capitalise. On Thursday we had several consecutive design sign-offs for a new drinks range. I left work as normal and had an early evening walk down the lane, before going back into work to cover the last design - I got home from that at around 01:00 on Friday. The only highlights of the Thursday walk were a couple of OFFH yearticks - a singing Chiffchaff and a Jay along the old railway line that crosses Whetstone Gorse Lane. So, on Friday afternoon when everything was a bit calmer at work and the sun was shining I managed to leave at a reasonable time and get back out down the lane for a bit of sun. I spent a good couple of hours enjoying a bit of peace before heading home and out for a meal and drinks last night - hence this belated update.

One of the areas I've never really looked at is an old strip of rough roadway at the back of the Springwell Lane fields. Thinking it might be good for odd insects and flowers, I spoke to the farmer and got permission to walk down there - expect a few shots in future. I had a quick look yesterday and there were plenty of butterflies dog-fighting in the sunshine - three species involved:

I carried on over to Whetstone Gorse Lane. Yellowhammers and Skylarks still singing away, and now at least 2 Chiffchaffs. Red-legged Partidges singing everywhere also - not quite so pleasing to listen to! One of the fields has a big rotting pile of shite near the gateway which usually has one or two wagtails, Pied and Grey. Today it was Pied only ..

King of the shite. Click for big - the black specks all over the place is not dust on the sensor ...

Plenty of Pheasants around aswell - usually legging it away from me as fast as possible ..

Lots of ladybirds around at the moment - all 7-Spot.

Also this shieldbug, which I'm assuming is a Green Shieldbug still dull after over-wintering.

No exciting flowers really, though at least I can remember what Lesser Celandine looks like after learning it last year ..

Daisies in every patch of grass now ..

.. and Hawthorn coming into leaf with flower buds forming

The Lane - looking north towards Whetstone

Today is dull, cool and cloudy. Bloody typical. May still head out mothing tonight if the rain holds off.

Narborough Bog 21/05/2010

First of two posts this evening.

I nipped over to Narborough Bog yesterday late afternoon with Nichola and the boys for a mooch about with the net. It was a bit quiet though, plenty of Micropterix calthella on buttercups, a few Adela rufimitrella and Bactra lancealana, plus Green and Common Carpets, but nothing else.

Micropterix calthella - I had the wrong camera with me but you get the gist

Narborough Bog is also a good site for general wildflowers and fungi - not that I am any good at identifying most of them. Here's a few I think I do know - let me know if I'm wrong!

Yellow Archangel

Red Campion

Ground Ivy

Daisy!

Anyone got any idea what this strange foamy-looking fungi is?

I was a bit disappointed with the general lack of moths, and despite the warm sunny days we've had I only saw 1 teneral and 1 adult 'blue' damselfly (I really couldn't be arsed to grill it for an ID). Still, a pleasant couple of hours away from the masses and man-made noise. Aside from the M1 trundling past. And the railway line of course ...