BB's Nature Notes

Please follow the link

2009-08-22T07:51:00.000-07:00

Because I have had trouble trying to save my new email addy I have been unable to get into my blogs and had to start a new one. If you come here, I have now amalgamated both this blog and my original one Codlins and Cream into one again, and both can now be found at: http://www.codlinsandcream2.blogspot.com/

Oh, and if you hear screaming - that's ME!

Our very own fox . . .

2009-08-16T10:40:00.000-07:00

My son called me today to say there was a fox in the paddock, and so there was. I had grabbed my camera before we crept up the stairs to the half landing and got these photos. He's looking a bit manky - wonder if he has mange? His brush is not All It Should Be!

Wildlife on holiday

2009-08-12T23:19:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photographs taken from our recent holiday. Firstly, the ponies which the New Forest is famous for. They are all "wild-ish" but many are used to people and the ones in Burley itself will stand to be petted and posed with. There was one youngster, probably a 2 yr old, laid flat out asleep in the Burley car park, literally being crawled over by half dozen kids, all having their photo taken. Now if the Health and Safety brigade had noticed that, the ponies would all be shut away somewhere . . .

There are many fewer ponies on the Forest after recent re-organization, the stallions have been culled, only the better ones used, and only turned out for a few months in the summer to cover mares. There are fewer foals - many of which went for the meat trade - and prices should be better. However, there are a LOT more cattle on the Forest now. When I was a kid you would hardly ever see cattle, though of course there were plenty of pigs turned out for pannage each autumn, to clear up the millions of acorns. Acorns are poisonous to ponies, causing Vitamin B deficiency and ultimately death, but the ponies ignore the health risks and many have a real taste for them, as indeed my three horses did here, resulting in the chore of having to go round and pick up ALL the acorns each autumn - and we have half a dozen big oak trees on our land.

Two donkeys "parked" in the car park at Burley. They looked really cheesed off! I love the stripey legs of the darker grey donkey. My lovely Arab Fahly had stripey legs too, on his forearms.

Isn't he beautiful? This little chap, probably about 6 months or so old, came round every evening just before dusk. He got the shock of his life one night when there was Another Fox on the lawn already - a cooty old thing with mange. In this photo, he had just spotted the older fox and a few moments later, turned tail and was next seen crossing the paddocks beyond the garden. He turned up every night we were house-sitting. When we let the dogs out last thing, they would "trail" every step the foxes had taken . . .

The rabbits would come out a little earlier in the evening to browse. They were totally unconcerned by the possibility of predators . . .

The nut-nets were very popular with the birds, and despite being squirrel-proof, the visiting squirrel seems very undeterred. Sometimes the Jays and Yaffles would swoop by too.

Both Greater-Spotted and Lesser-Spotted Woodpeckers visited the nut net. This is the Lesser Spotted and I had never seen one until staying at Ann's house. There were also two families of Green Woodpeckers nesting either side of the garden which set up a tremendous fuss if yuo walked near their nests! The Hampshire (Wessex really) name for Green woodpeckers is "Yaffles" on account of their laughter-like call.

2009-08-10T04:58:00.000-07:00

This is the Rampion, photographed on chalky soil in Dorset. It prefers dry grassland - banks, waysides, and often closely-grazed habitats and flowers June to August. I can't find any herbal use for it, so it will have to rely on its pretty colouring and petals which are a little like Ragged Robin, only with a different flowerhead and colouring overall. I also know these as hard heads. There is a much-rarer Round-Headed Rampion which I would love to find one day.

I photographed this poor blackbird in a tree outside our eldest daughter's kitchen window in her new flat. He was totally bald and illustrates how hard parent birds work feeding their young. I think such a heavy moult is brought on following all that hard work.

Common Mallow

2009-08-05T11:20:00.000-07:00

Malva sylvestris. This is one of seven different Mallows to be found in Britain and this one is also found in North America where it is called High Mallow. Pliny said of these plants: "whosoever shall take a spoonful of the juice of any of the mallows, shall that day be free from all diseases that may come to him." Would that were the case!

Country folk in both France and England have used fresh mallow leaves soaked in hot water as an effective poultice for "strains, sprains and wasp and bee stings". Indeed a bee-keeping builder of ours advised that Mallows (Marsh mallow in particular) were good for bee-stings and to always have some growing in the garden. In the past it was recommended that mallows, boiled and buttered, be used 'for the Breasts or paps of women: for it not only procureth great store of milk . . . but aswageth the hardness of them . . . also all other torments that come by the stoppings of the belly.' I would assume it was the heat from using these as a fomentation which brought relief, in combination with the healing powers of the mallow leaves. Mallow was also recommended for treating pleurisy and other chest complaints, as well as skin irritation. Mallow root was used to whiten teeth. The plant is rich in mucilage, and for this reason was used in ointments and cough medicines, as well as in enemas!

Of course, the Marsh Mallow was used in the manufacture of the sweetmeat of that name - there must have been many millions of plants compared with today, when it is a lot rarer.

You will find the Common Mallow along roadside verges and rough ground.

Where to start? Yarrow I think.

2009-08-03T05:50:00.001-07:00

I have SO much to catch up on over this summer without broadband, it will be almost impossible. So posts for the next few weeks will probably be very random. I will begin with the most recent photograph i took, which is the one of Yarrow growing beside the River Dart in Postbridge yesterday afternoon. Sadly we only had a couple of hours on the moor, on our way home between the New Forest and following a family get together.

Yaarrow grows in poorish soil and is often found on dry verges. I remember it well along the edge of the wild half of our garden in Southampton when I was growing up, with Toadflax for company. Of course it has a cultivated version in various hues to grow in the garden. Its country names were Devil's Nettle and Devil's Plaything, following a connection with a witch's incantations and trial in the 17th century. Some folk made it into Snuff, hence it's other name of Old Man's Pepper.

The Latin name of Achillea stems from it being used to treat the Greek warrior Achilles, as it is famus for its wound healing and blood-staunching properties. He in turn used it to heal the wounds of his compatriots. Country names suggesting this are Soldier's Woundwort, Herbe Militaris, Bloodwort, Sanguinary and Staunchweed. It was also used for promotion of sweating as it is a strong febrifuge. Gypsies would stuff the leaves up the noses of any feverish animals to promote a nosebleed and lessening of fever. Presumably one nostril would be left clear for them to breath! It was also used to treat earache, a wad of the soft leaves crushed and warmed being placed against the affected ear.

There were many superstitions abut the Yarrow including the one that yarrow could provide a glimpse of a future sweetheart. This involved sewing some yarrow in a scrap of cloth and putting it under your pillow, when of course you would dream of the man you would marry . . .

Many thanks to Pamela Michael's "A Country Harvest" and Juliette de Bairacli Levy's "The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable."

Normal service will soon be resumed?

2009-08-01T03:59:00.000-07:00

Well, hopefully BT are fixing our line on 8th August, after fixing it temporarily. We will have to see how well it holds up when we next have heavy rain. I am currently on holiday in the New Forest with my husband - we are house-sitting for friends whilst they have a holiday.

We have been enjoying the wildlife here - LOTS of birds visiting the nut nets - including Greater and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers (I've never seen the latter until this week), Green Woodpeckers nesting in two places in the garden here, Jays, a Buzzard nesting nearby, and at night badgers in the paddocks and veg plot, and a leggy young fox who trots across the lawn at dusk every evening. I got a good photo of him one evening, so I will post that when I get home. There is an older - and very mangey - fox too, who our young one is very wary of. With big French windows, the garden feels like is is part of the room. So another "want" has been added to my long list for when we downsize!

I was fortunate to find a lovely book: The Countryside Companion in a charity shop this past week, and for only 50 pence. Here is a little extract from "Cornish Wilds", 1924, by H J Massingham:

"But, unlike the granite, the bramble, furze and blackthorn do not stand up to the elements nor bide the pelting of the wind, but, huddling, twisting, creeping close to the hollow soil, become its very garment. The shuffling badger that lives among the cairns, the little pennywort or navelwort that swings its bells in their safe niches are not in their way more reticent than is the gorse. Even so, the Atlantic gales have nibbled off their tops and mounded them into tiny ranges, through which the ling forces its purple spires, so that the flowers of each plant grow intermingled, in pressed clusters and on the same level. This blending is very beautiful, for the September gorse (Ulex nanus), which is a sub-species or variety of Ulex europoeus that sets the moors in points of smokeless flame in spring, is of the deep but subdued colouring of old gold. In wide patches grow the bents or white moor-grass, all silver and silk, and of a texture so fine that when the wind ripples their surface it is as though its wavelets had suddenly become visible. The same wind grips the waters and crunches the ships to tatters, and pounds and crumbles the granite into the mazy sculpture of the covers ans shatters even the iron-stone."

This and that . . .

2009-07-15T00:06:00.001-07:00

We appear to be having a steadier run of broadband (2 days of it now) so I will risk trying to post regularly again.

We had a little visitor the other night - well, not so little actually, as he was quite a good size with a hearty appetite:

Honey, just approaching, didn't know quite what to make of him! Now I know why there is always a clean bowl in the morning - and I thought it was a combination of stray cat/jackdaws/foxes . . .

I was delighted to find two Comma butterflies in the garden yesterday, squeaky-clean and probably newly-hatched, and luckily staying around long enough for me to find my camera. Butterflies this summer have been a fairly rare occurrence. There weren't many last summer, which was hardly surprising because of it being so wet and cold, and so I suppose very few butterflies actually got to breed. I have seen no Tortoiseshells at all, only 2 or 3 Peacocks, but regularly see one or two Meadow Browns, Speckled Woods and something which is probably a Grayling.

The scalloped wing edges of the Comma readily identify it. We never see them in large numbers in any summer, but this year even two are a bonus.

Finally, a beautifully-made bird's nest which had been blown out f probably the big oak tree dwn our hill. There was a flat bottom to the nest and a little scoop where it would have tucked against the trunk, but I'm not sure what bird made it. Perhaps a chaffinch? Suggestions?

Dragonflies and Bumblebees

2009-06-24T23:29:00.000-07:00

Here is an excellent link if you wish to identify the bumblebees in your garden: http://www.bumblebeeconservation.org.uk/#

I've had a LOT this year - sadly, replacing the honey bee, but hopefully that will make a come-back. I have a lot to learn about bumble bees as I only recognize three types . . .

And here's one for Dragonflies:
http://www.dragonflysoc.org.uk/

These two Dragonflies hatched in my garden - one yesterday and one prior to that. Odd they both chose the same spot to emerge. There are a couple more in that pond and at least one in the main pond, but not ready yet. I think mine is a Golden Ringed Dragonfly. I think . . .

I'm back - but where to start? Pond Life in May

2009-06-20T00:07:00.000-07:00

I did take some nature notes whilst I was "away", so I will write them up as they occurred. Today is jottings about the wildlife pond from the last week of May.

Broad-bodied chasers - male

And below, the female

Blue damselfly below

Another baking hot day. Too hot for me, especially as I wasn't up particularly early and so lost the hours when I often garden pre-breakfast. One of the earliest tadpoles in the wildlife pond has back legs, front legs, a distinctly froggy shape and will soon lose his tail. Several others have sprouted back legs. I couldn't help but think how strange that must feel, to be a little barrel blob with a tail and to suddenly grow extra bits. I wonder how much they have to compensate with their tail when they are swimming once they have legs? Or how about swimming along with a glorious tail one day, and then it begins to wither and drops off! In our main pond, I saw a grown-up bronzey-coloured frog, one of several who I believe live around the "island" that was once a tub of marginal plants that have now colonized through their container and taken over that corner of the pond. Both ponds were heaving with damselflies - red, blue and a ruddy-brown. I was amazed when I looked closely to see that the red ones have shining ruby-red eyes, and when I got a blue to stay still long enough, they have electric blue eyes to match their body, with a black stripe above them a bit like a mask. The browny ones have browny eyes. One sex has the bright colouring (male one presumes), whilst the other sex is darker and their quieter clours mirror the display of the other, with only thin bands of bright colour. When they mate, I presume it is the male! - places the tip of its body behind the female's head, and I believe the sperm sac is passed to the female in this manner. They often stay joined like this when they fly around and then the female can be seen dipping her ovipositor into the pond to lay eggs against the vegetation. The male is - of necessity - in a polt upright position when this happens and to be honest, looks a proper prat! Sometimes you see them totally joined up (this is called the "copulation wheel") and I saw one couple like this today resting on vegetation, although they can apparently fly like this. They all (Dragonflies and Damselflies) belong to the family of Odonata, but their Latin names don't exactly trip off the tongue - the Blue Damselfly is Enallagma cyathigerum and the Large Red Damselfly is Pyrrohosoma nymphula. We'll stick to red or blue damselflies then . . .

Whilst honey bees are not common in my garden this year, their place has more than been taken by the little buff tailed bumble bee, Bombus lucorum, but there is also a much larger buff tailed bumble bee - I wonder if this could be the cuckoo bee, Psithyrus barbutellus. She lays her eggs in the nest of the bumblebee Bombus hortorum.

Here is an excellent link to a bumble bee site, and if my brain wasn't quite so scrambled, I would put more notes from it on here, but you will have to look for yourself as I slept very badly last night!

Now I have the internet back, I will check out the ramblings above and correct/improve upon them. My little books on the subject don't have much detail and only the very commonest species.

Hoping to be back today

2009-06-11T23:39:00.000-07:00

I know this as 'Fox and Cubs' and saw it growing first alongside the - then abandoned - Swanage to Corfe railway line . . .

Many, many apologies but I have had dreadful phone line problems - changing provider and a phone line that has Had It . . . I have been taking notes over the 3 weeks I had no broadband, so I will post them up later on today, or whenever broadband comes back properly (this is just a "blip").

Wild Aquilegias . . . and the Council's verge-scalping habit

2009-05-25T05:23:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd carry on the trend, having done cultivated Aquilegias over on Codlins and Cream this weekend. These photos were taken early Saturday morning, when the soft but relentless rain from the previous night had spoiled some of the petals of the pale flowers. Along some of the local lanes, these are a common flower. On others they are nowhere to be seen.

We have some of the palest pink ones up by our field gate (on our hedgerow). We have had as many as 14 plants, but are down to about 4 again, partly because Next Door WILL insist n driving farm vehicles which are to wide down our narrow lane and gouging chunks out of the banks (always the chunks with Aquilegia growing on them). Secondly, if the gritting guys come along in the winter, and with hundreds of yards of bank to chose from, they ALWAYS chuck the grit and salt on - you've guessed it - some of my Aquilegias. Finally, the Council contractors WILL insist on cutting the banks before they can set seed (they probably do it early to eradicate that peril of narrow country lanes, Cow Parsley - I mean, if your vision is impeded, you might have to slow down - heaven forbid!) I see that this year they have been cutting the verges along the A40 with their profusion of white, pink and red Valerian and millions of Ox-Eye Daisies in mid-May. Last year they were an absolute picture - this year - scalped. "They" get earlier and earlier too . . . "They" don't seem to realize that the beauty of the Welsh countryside and wild flowers are part of the attraction to holiday-makers and some inhabitants, but "they" just want everywhere looking like a tidy back lawn - a pox on them. It must cost an arm and a blardy leg too - the number of vehicles with flashing signs involved to say grass cutting is in progress, all for one little man with a strimmer!

Isn't this such a pretty Midnight Purple? Or should that be Aubergine?

They come in such pretty colours - I love the Crushed Raspberry . . .

and the Faded Crushed Raspberry . . .

And the Deep Lilacy-Purple.

These look almost black from a distance.

And of course white. "My" wild Aquilegias, on the top bank of our field, are the palest of pale pinks. I've taken photos tonight so will share them tomorrow.

Habitat: walls . . .

2009-05-22T23:00:00.000-07:00

A brief posting as I am off to view a Nursery in Swansea later on (particularly for her Collection of Aquilegias). So just a make-weight post today.

I took these photos at Grosmont Castle recently, on my way home from Herefordshire. It was covered in wild wallflowers, which had colonized every nook and cranny and made it look SO pretty.

Some plants will grow anywhere. Above and below, wallflowers have colonized cracks in the walls at Grosmont Castle, on the Welsh borders beyond Abergavenny. There were some small seedlings growing in cracks in the wall base, so I pocketed 4 and they are growing on nicely.

Below - Navelwort just coming into flower. Also at Grosmont Castle.

Newt-watching and the Phantom Sheepdog Trials bird again

2009-05-20T00:04:00.001-07:00

Poor photo of the big baddy dragonfly larva at the bottom of the wildlife pond.

I am hoping that this video I recorded last night of that strange whistling bird will load and be properly functional. Bill Oddie, if you are reading this, please tell me what it is, as the lack of identification is driving me nuts! I was speaking to a neighbour last night, whose garden backs on to woodland, and she said they hear it a lot too, so it is obviously a fairly common bird. Drat - it won't load as I have to try and change the format somehow . . .

I have listened to all the possible birds on the two Sunday Telegraph CDs of birdsong I have. I have listened to even more candidates via the excellent RSPB bird song identification site (still no joy), and I really have NO idea what it could be. The upside of this is I want a video camera when we downsize!

Most evenings at dusk, when there is less glare on the water of my little wildlife pond, I watch the wildlife in it. Dusk is when the newts (Palmate I think - the common-as-muck sort anyway) come out to play. I have seen as many as 5 together, including a Big Boss newt who is obviously the male of the species as he has a pair of rather obvious - and bright yellow! - b*lls! I have found baby newts all over the place - one - a tasteful baby-poo brown with a yellow stripe down its back - was between the earth and the wall when I was gardening the other day. Sometimes in autumn they will march under our front door (there's a draughty gap!) and along the hallway and we will find dessicated little corpses in shoes or overlooked corners. The tadpoles are VERY wary and seem to live on their nerves. If you throw a shadow across the pond there is a scurry of little bodies hurtling for cover. The newts sometimes tease them by suddenly appearing in their midst and looking threatening, but their real enemies are the Dragonfly larva, which casually snooze amongst the tadpoles (who seem to live in total ignorant bliss) and then - when they feel peckish - will suddenly leap into action and the nearest tadpole will be the next meal, to be sucked grey and discarded. Nor are the newts safe from the dragonfly larva - we once found a very pregnant - and nearly dead - female with a dragonfly larva clamped to her side, where the blood had been sucked into a huge "bruise".

I am so glad that I decided to start this blog because in doing so it has given me more reason to stop, look, listen and really OBSERVE wildlife.

Above: Pied Wagtails on our bridge. A few weeks ago I was watching the courtship display of a pair in the forecourt of the garage at Whitemill. He thought he was a very splendid jack-the-lad, and was wooing his lady by running very fast in front of her. Then he would check to see if she was interested (she looked bored rigid to be honest!) and then he would run past her again, little legs twinkling. Eventually she deigned to notice him and moved a little nearer, but boy, he had to run his legs off to get her attention!

Jew' Ear fungus

2009-05-18T02:18:00.000-07:00

A common Fungus, often found growing on Elder, and edible. It feels rather strange to touch and really is incredibly ear-like! Grows throughout the year (photo taken this morning).

Owl Pellets

2009-05-13T01:36:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the poor photo quality, but these are just some of the Red Kites I saw on my way home from Tracy's recently. There must have been a good 50 birds, but I couldn't get them all in the same photo. Double-click to enlarge.

I was away near Ross-on-Wye over the weekend, and was taken to the Forest of Dean to walk around a sculpture trail. Of course, I was taking photos of wildlife too, though I did restrain myself from taking a photo of half a dozen dung beetles at work, mainly because they were at work on a pile of dog poo and it didn't make a very pretty picture . . .

Anyway, as we walked round I happened to notice an owl pellet lying broken on the ground. Either dropped from a great height or someone had stepped on it, and it was full of the wing cases of beetles (mostly black dung beetles I suspect). My friend Judy's bird book mentioned that Little Owls would kill a mole, but instead of eating it would leave it to attract the beetles which it loves to eat. So this pellet suggests to me it may have come from a Little Owl, even though open countryside rather than woodland is its natural habitat. This was the very edge of the woodland though, and it was very open here.

A Little Owl's favourite snack, one of the dung beetles in the forest.

Owl pellet consisting mostly of beetle wing covers.

Here at home in our part of Carmarthenshire, we have mostly Tawny Owls. They will sit in the trees behind and to the side of the house in late summer/early autumn, and hoot to one another for hours. Someone suggested they were teaching the youngsters to hunt, but this goes on for several months, so they would be having LOTS of broods.

Bluebells in a forest clearing.

One of the Mountain Ash (or Rowan) trees in full bloom.

Talking of moles, here's a very dead one that Honey caught earlier. Poor little chap.

I'm back

2009-05-13T01:36:00.000-07:00

If you wondered what had happened to me we had no broadband for nearly a week, then it was fixed over the weekend I was away at Badminton Horse Trials, came back Monday to find a tree had fallen on the phone line, so neither phone nor broadband, and then phone fixed, but no broadband again. Imagine a rather bald middle-aged blogger beside a pile of hair and ground-down teeth, and you have me! LOTS to post about but have to proof read my daughter's dissertation first . . . "Think" that the bird may be a Wood Lark as we actually heard AND saw one at Llantony Priory last week. Spotted chest, thrush size, very slim insect-eater's beak, and this time was in a Rowan tree beside the car park, and nothing like as well hidden . . .

The Phantom Sheepdog-Trials Bird and the evening chorus

2009-05-01T22:38:00.000-07:00

The weather cleared to provide us with a lovely evening yesterday, so I went for a walk up the valley. Perhaps townsfolk never notice, but there is a distinct evening chorus and last night's was lovely. Our eldest daughter always prefers to walk in the evenings, and now I see why. Anyway, I came across the most peculiar bird. I called it the Phantom Sheepdog Trials bird as I couldn't see it or identify it. Its call was 4 very strong whistles (wheat-wheat-wheat-wheat), then two long Football Referee type whistles (wheeeeeeee-wheeeeeeeee), and then a little short scold. A lady PST bird answered, not as piercingly, but softer and throatier. They were hidden in the middle of a stand of larches, and I haven't the foggiest what they might look like. I thought at first that it was mimicking the whistles, but it was a repeated refrain and the hen bird answered in a similar fashion. I've looked and looked through my bird books but nothing like it. Anyone? What I want to know is, where's Bill Oddie when you need him?

Thoroughbred mare and fal on a neighbour's farm.

View cross the sun-drenched valley.

More ferns unfurling.

A few bluebells in the woodland beside the lane.

Our river looked so beautiful in the evening sunshine. Really tranquil.

Wild Ramsons just starting to flower.

Sorry - this is meant to be longer but my internet connection is VERY iffy. Photos aren't loading now.

P.S. I "think" that the bird might be a Nuthatch, though the recording I've heard of a Nuthatch isn't like what I heard, so - dunno . . .

Gardening with Kites

2009-04-29T23:36:00.000-07:00

Two Red Kites. Photo courtesy of Creative Commons.

Earlier this week I went up to a friend's smallholding near Aberystwyth to help her with her garden (she's recently had major surgery).

As I tidied up the front of a grassed-up stone wall, I found two frogs (one small and yellowy and the other full grown and much darker). There were two big Canada Geese in the field behind me, and I heard the first cuckoo of the year. Two Orange Tip butterflies fluttered about in the company of a Small White. Above me I heard what I thought was a Buzzard, and looking up, I saw a pair of Red Kites. Kites are the success story of the century, coming back from the brink of extinction in this country with just a few breeding pairs to a very healthy 672 - 840 estimated pairs in 2007. This wonderful site will show you some amazing photographs and videos. Enjoy.

Anyway, as I worked, I looked up again and counted TEN pairs of Red Kites swirling in the sky above my head. I always feel very privileged just to see ONE kite, but ten pairs were amazing. I always count myself to be so fortunate to live in countryside so rich in wildlife.

Back at home, my new (Niger) seed feeder has attracted firstly Goldfinches and now the Siskins which Rowan said she has visiting her seed feeder. I have never seen them in my garden before so I am thrilled. If I get the Redpolls she has visiting her garden too, I shall be over the moon as I've never seen them before either - not anywhere.

Oak before ash . . .

2009-04-26T22:31:00.000-07:00

There's an old saying, "oak before ash, naught but a splash; ash before oak, you're in for a soak." So let's hope that the trees are forecasting a wonderful summer this year (we are more than due one).

One of the oak trees leafing up. This one is particularly green, but many of the ones around our house have the pinky, bronzy young leaves which green-up later.

A very bald-looking Ash tree down by the river. They are WAY behind the oaks.

The pretty lime green leaves of the Beech tree, which can be used to make a liqueur.

Red campion, this is a lovely deep colour. Sometimes they are very insipid and pale. In our part of Wales, we tend not to have the White - or Bladder - Campion, which I remember from my Hampshire childhood. It used to grow along the edge of our garden, along with Yarrow and Tadflax.

A bankful of Violets.

You've seen these before I am sure (probably my photo of exactly the same patch growing on the wall by the bridge). Ivy-leaved Toadflax anyway.

It was about to rain and so the windflowers (Wood anemones) had shut up their blooms.

This is one of the Euphorbias - Sun spurge - which grows on the bank down by the river. All the Euphorbias have a milky sap which can be an irritant on skin. It was known as 'wart spurge', so one may assume it was applied as a cure for warts. I rather like its other psudonym - 'madwoman's milk'!

This is Spignel, also known as Bald Money for some unaccountable reason!

Only an old book . . .

2009-04-25T00:13:00.000-07:00

One on nature of course - The Spirit of the Wild by H W Shepheard-Walwyn. It was published in 1924, just the one printing I think, so this is a First Edition by default. Apart from the content, and old black and white photos, I bought it for the dedication: "To my darling, on her 17th birthday." My initial instinct was a gift from a father to his daughter. That daughter would have been born in 1908, over a hundred years ago now. It was a much-loved book. The top of the spine soft and slightly outward-bent from years of an index finger drawing it down from the bookshelf. The bottom of the spine slightly grubby from years of being held by a hand as it was read - perhaps its owner was a keen gardener! It is written in the wonderful descriptive way which is so out of fashion in modern times. Nothing like as eloquent as "BB" (Denys Watkins-Pitchford), and there is an element of the somewhat strangulated Victorian voice in it, but some passages evoke a different time, as when he writes of "the monotonous burr-r-r-r of a nightjar - appropriate name indeed! - suddenly burst jarringly upon the stillness, while small brown objects scurried from my path into the undergrowth. Rose at length, like some gaunt spectre in the waaxing moonlight, with naked fingers pointing heavenward, the pathetic husk of a once mighty monarch of the forest, struck by lightening a few years since, and still overlooked by the woodman's axe . . ."

"To my darling, on her 17th birthday" - just the sort of thing I have written on flyleafs myself . . .

Nesting time

2009-04-22T10:05:00.000-07:00

My thanks to 'Planetcam' who shared this lovely photo on Creative Commons.

I thought I would write about this separately, as it has very little to do with tadpoles and garden ponds! Two days ago when I walked into our upstairs bathroom, I noticed a female blackbird on the windowsill outside, her beak full of nesting material. After a minute or so, when we looked at one another with fascination, she flew into the thicket of Clematis which has now reached the roof. I have seen her several times since - each time we regard each other warily - me frightened to move in case I scare her off, her doubtless wondering what that strange tree is the other side of the glass . . .

Anyway, whilst I was out in the yard this afternoon, pottering about and planting Cherokee Trail of Tears beans for my garden, my eye was caught by a House Sparrow, emerging from the Clematis - that very area of the Clematis in fact, where Mrs Blackbird is heroically constructing her nest (she seems to be a single mother . . .) - with a beakful of Mrs Blackbird's nesting material. The Sparrow then disappeared behind the bargeboard higher up. What a little Beast of Berlin as my friend's late mum would have said! I know that House Sparrows will take over the House Martin's nests as they do this at my friend Jude's house and make her hopping mad, as she loves her House Martins. No wonder they are such survivors, although numbers are apparently very low in comparison with 10 or 20 years ago and House Sparrows are no longer regarded as a "common" bird. Perhaps they have been murdered by annoyed lovers of House Martins . . .

Then as I have been sat typing this, I heard an absolute clamour of startled Blackbirds in the garden and had to shoot downstairs to gather up the Honey Monster (our gorgeous golden Maine Coone), who had obviously got too close to another Blackbird family's nest. Both birds were taking their lives in their hands by landing within a few feet of Honey to try and distract her. She has gone out again now and I can hear irate Blackbird chattering in the bushes nearby. I think these must be young birds as they are nesting rather low in the thicket of Paul's Himalayan Musk rose at the back of the garden.

I will try and get photos over the next few days.

Revenge of the Tadpoles . . .

2009-04-22T09:56:00.000-07:00

Sounds like a rather dire "B" movie title doesn't it? I look in my nature pond every day, to see what's arrived (the water skaters arrived about 3 weeks back now but no dizzy whirligig beetles yet) and check out the tadpoles. There seem to be far fewer of them now, but I am guessing that lots have headed out into the deep water, where there is a lot of floating pondweed to hide amongst. Anyway, about 10 days ago there was very dead common newt in the shallows, and I suspect that one of the deadly Dragonfly larva had captured it and sucked it dry of blood, as they do - it was very flat and very white anyways. The tadpoles then began to tuck in and have been nibbling at its little pale corpse every day. Anyway, they had a new victim today. I don't know what did for it, but there was a dead dragonfly larva, and the worm had turned and they were feeding on that! Normally the tadpoles are fair game for the dragonfly larva, which literally suck the lifeblood out of them until they are pale grey in colour . . .

Distant picture of the pond at the top - it's starting to look quite pretty in all its spring finery now and yes, I have rescued the empty pond planter from the deep end, from whence the wind blew it recently.

A walk up the hill

2009-04-20T22:36:00.000-07:00

You will have to forgive the lack of posts, but with our daughters here over Easter, my time was taken up - 4 long-distance journeys took up four days of the time they were home.

Anyway, back on an even keel again now, and here are some photos from a walk up our hill last week, when more wild flowers were starting to bloom.

Garlic Mustard, or Jack-by-the-hedge. The leaves may be eaten, raw in salad or boiled.

Ground Ivy - a better picture than the one from the Preselis recently. A Greater Stitchwort also getting in on the act.

Shining Cranesbill flower.

Herb Robert flower.

You could miss it easily - a little Fairy Forest of lichen on an old log.

Young Sycamore leaves with their pinky-bronzey tint. They are much larger than the similar-looking . . . .

Field Maple. This big old tree grows in the hedgerow in our top field.

Here is the trunk, for identification. With that flaky bark that looks a little like a Plane tree. The hybrid London Plane tree which is what we see (deliberately) planted in our cities is a deliberate cross, and the Plane tree is not indiginous to Britain as it is to Europe and America and Mexico.

I have recently bought a proper niger-seed feeder to try and attract the Goldfinches to the garden. Now, when I put the seed in a cheap-and-nasty feeder (which kept falling apart!) they didn't come near, but the Blue and Great Tits enjoyed it. Within hours of putting the proper feeder out, I had four Goldfinches appear from nowhere. Here are two of them, to prove it!

So I have been enjoying their colourful plumage and their antics. There is a definite pecking order - these two are a pair, but if one from the other pair tries to muscle in on the seed, there is a bit of bother! You can just see the third of the four, beak-on, to the right and below the feeder - or better still, double click and you will seem them all clearly.

I still put crumbs out for the birds on the window sill too, and thought I was seeing things recently when a little Blue Tit arrived, but his face was completely YELLOW. Anyway, I looked in one of my bird books, and found that immature birds do indeed have yellow faces. A couple of them looked a bit fluffy still - obviously moulting off fluff - so I wonder if the Blue Tits had a very early brood and these are they?

In the paddock, I noticed a Tree Creeper recently. He is often around, but as I was sat in the car, he didn't notice me and flew to the smaller apple tree near the car, so I could get a close look at his curved beak - used for hunting out insects in the cracks in the fissures in the bark - and his white tummy and eyebrows. He is a regular visitor over the years.

Spring has sprung . . .

2009-04-14T00:40:00.000-07:00

. . . even in the city. We had to take our middle daughter to her friend's house near Newport, for the onward journey back to University and took the opportunity of a little bit of culture and visited the Museum and Art Gallery in Cardiff. On the way back to the car, I noticed these bluebells flowering - much further forward than ours at home.

One of our local bluebells - we have very few out at all yet in our valley.

My eldest daughter and I had a lovely walk along the valley last week and I took some photos of some of the wild flowers we encountered.

Bitter Vetch growing on a hedge bank.

Cuckoo Pint also known as Lady's Smock.

Flowering Wood Rush.

A happy bankful of Anemones (Windflowers to me).

A trio of ferns unrolling.

These different sorts of fiddleheads of fern can apparently be cooked - bit like asparagus - and have good levels of Vitamin C.

These I can identify - Hart's Tongue ferns.

Over the hills . . .

2009-04-10T01:18:00.000-07:00

I had a birthday day out this week, down to various places west of here in Pembrokeshire. There everything was further advanced than our cold valley (we are a bit higher up too).

Wood sorrel (centre) with goosegrass clambering up past it. On a sheltered rocky bank near Pentre Ifan burial chamber. It's also known as Cuckoo's bread and cheese, and Granny's sour grass). It is also known as 'Alleluia' because it appears around Easter tide.

Above is a little piece of Ground Ivy, flowering on a sheltered rocky bank.

These violets were just along the lane. There were the first Stitchwort flowering too, but unfortunately it was blowing a bit up there and I couldn't hold the camera steady enough for a recognizable picture!

A whole hillside of gorse at Moylegrove.

The very first Bluebells on a bank in the pretty village of Moylegrove. Can I suggest you visit this site and click on the Flora and Fauna link, which gives excellent photographs of what can be found in that area.

Alexanders are often one of the first plants to put up fresh shoots at the back end of winter. They grow on banks near the sea and were originally a Mediterranean plant, obviously introduced - probably by the Romans, who used them as a spring vegetable and tonic. They take their name from being 'the parsley of Alexandria'. It was widely grown in Monastic herb gardens, and all of the plant was utilized and the young buds were pickled. It is strong-tasting with a 'pungent, angelica-like savour'. Celery eventually overtook its vegetable use.

Close up of Alexanders.

I saw this which I couldn't identify and had to refer to Marjorey Blamey. It is Common Scurvey Grass.

From its name you will deduce that it was taken on sea voyages because it is very high in Vitamin C content and helped reduce the Scurvey suffered by the sailors. Captain Cook took it on his voyages of discovery. Country folk also used it as a spring tonic.

Recent walk

2009-04-04T22:17:00.000-07:00

The briefest of posts as I am meant to lready be on the road up North to collect our eldest daughter from uni. These photos are from a recent walk near Pembrey.

Such an inviting path.

Another mossy old tree, with its feet in the water.

At the side of the path were old blackthorns, covered in mosses and litchens.

Wonderful changes of habitat. I shall come back here bird-watching when I have blown the dust of my binoculars! There should be Cuckoos here, making the most of the Reed Warbler' nests.

The path was so inviting . . . I didn't have time to follow it all the way up the mountain (think, big hill) but I shall another time.

Oh dear - this is a brown b*gger with a Latin name! It's ages since I've been on a proper fungi foray - must get myself geared up again this year.

There was a lot of diseased wood amongst the trees along the side of the trackway. I think this is one of the Polypores - perhaps the Many-zoned.

It was a sheltered spot and so the honeysuckle had got away to a good start.

Blackthorn in flower.

Around my acres

2009-04-02T23:45:00.001-07:00

The sunshine has really brought the wild flowers out on our own little plot here. The paddock, rather than the top field, is looking an absolute picture, though I have a mass of young Primrose plants clustering under a hawthorn bush up on the top field line, in a little triangle of land which is fenced off from the main field.

I looked across the paddock on Wednesday and saw a haze of blue. Speedwells, but I have been pondering exactly which sort. I believed they were just the Common Field Speedwell, but having looked very closely at Marjorie Blamey (The Illustrated Flora of Britain and Northern Europe), I think they are 95% positive the Slender Speedwell because of the petal colouring and the mostly opposite pairs of leaves. Double click to enlarge the photos.

Close-up of Marsh Marigolds (Kingcups) growing around my wildlife pond in the garden. More about them tomorrow. The tadpoles by the way, are growing well, and now have their own halo of bubbles above them where they are whipping up a storm by wriggling so much en masse . . .

This little corner of the paddock, leading to what my daughters always called TheFairy Dell when they were younger, has a wonderful display fo Celendines on the bank.

And a few more for luck, growing on the slope of what was the Mill Pond.

Here are the Speedwells - a blue-grey blush from the distance.

Happy little faces closer to.

And positively radiant in close-up.

Wonders of Wild Flower Life

2009-03-30T21:48:00.000-07:00

Over the next few months I shall share little bits of this book, when appropriate flowers come into bloom.

Here are Polypody Ferns growing on one of the trees along by our river.

In these parts we generally have good air quality, and proof of this is in the ferns growing on the trees (so I have heard). These Polypody ferns grow readily on oak, ash and any tree offering bark rough enough for it to find a home. The rough fissured bark collects dust and decaying leaves and rainwater, and the epiphytes soon take advantage of this, and the humous offers these perching ferns a home. They are lodgers rather than parasites. My book states: "During a spell of dry weather the absorption of moisture by their roots slows down or for the time being is suspended. But when there is a spell of wet weather, the rain streaming dwn the upper surface of the trunk and boughs cleanses the bark, and as it travels lower and lower brings down particles of dust which have been blown into the fissures by the wind. All soluble matter is in this way caught up and dissolved in the downward progress of the rain and is carried along together with the less readily soluble particles mechanically held in suspension, and ultimately deposited in the larger cracksl, where the Ferns have found lodgment, so that the requisite water and humus reaches them. Thus these perched plants are provided with all the necessitives for sustaining life and vigorous growth without contact with the soil at the foot of the tree." I am sure there is a much shorter way of putting that though!

A close-up of the Polypody fern amongst hazel and blackthorn saplings on a mossy bank.

What price knowledge?

2009-03-29T07:15:00.000-07:00

Yew Tree at St Michael's church, Llansteffan, which has the wonderful pilgrim's gravestones debated recently on Codlins and Cream. Apologies for not having posted regularly this week but I am busy with gardening and painting . . .

This morning it was twice times 50p . . . I picked up two tatty old books from a car boot stall (actually 3 x 50p, but I've forgotten one's downstairs so I will have to review that tomorrow.) I am certain that no-one else would have bought these books as their covers are warped and one very faded, and even I thought twice, but when I really looked at them, I had to have them.

One is 'Wonders of Wild Flower Life' by F Martin Duncan. Undated but I would guess late 30's or just around wartime though paper quality is quite good. It has black and white photographs and photographs of line drawings and an absolute wealth of information which will get imparted on this blog in due course. No other book I have (or ever read) deals with what times of day wild flowers open and close. Or the movements of plants - I knew that the Compass Plant followed the sun around, but apparently other plants including the diminutive little Ivy-Leaved Toadflax will move their fertilized flowers so as to deposit their seeds inside the wall they grow in. I could go on at length, but you get the picture.

The other book I have on my lap is a battered copy of 'The Countryside Companion', dated by Gillian Riley in 1942. Again, black and white illustrations, but lots of them and all sorts of information. I never knew, for example, that yew trees, like holly trees, came in male and female varieties. The Poplar is the same. The Rowan has long been known as a powerful charm against witches, especially I believe in Scotland. It deals with wild animals, birds, flowers, trees, and all manner of countryside topics.

Edited to add a scanned photo of the other 50p's worth of book. I'll scan some of the wonderful illustrations tomorrow. It's 1878 and I love the title!

More about Orpine

2009-03-25T00:38:00.000-07:00

GTM's comment yesterday about the "Livelong" name of the Orpine has led me to do some research, and I am amazed to find that it is just one of many names for this familiar plant. I say familiar, because its very close relative grows in our gardens as the Ice Plant - properly called Sedum spectabile in its 'tame' form. The wild form is Sedum telephium. Otherwise known as Livelong, Midsummer Men, Vazey flower, Alpine Broklimbe, Arpent or Arpent-weed, Harping Johnny, Jacob's Ladder, Lib-long, Orphan John, Orpies, Orall, Solomon's Puzzles. Arpent, etc., is a variant of Orpine, and Harping is probably a corruption of the same.

It has a rich folk-lore: "The people of the country delight much to set it in pots and shelles on Midsomer even, or upon timber slates or trenchers daubed with clay, and so to set or hang it up in their houses, whereas it remayneth greene a long season, and groweth if it be sometimes over sprinckled with water". And hence the name Midsummer Men. Orpies is a contraction for Orpine, and Orpy leaves were said to be good for wounds. The name Orpine was given first of all to yellow-flowered species, hence its origin. In Chaucer's day they called it Ornal.

Orpine was used as a charm against lightning. With St. John's Wort it was hung over the doorways to scare away witches. Formerly, too, it was employed as a love-charm."

Extract above taken from:

http://chestofbooks.com/flora-plants/flowers/British-Wild-Flowers-2/Orpine-Sedum-Telephium-L.html

Recent walks

2009-03-22T20:25:00.000-07:00

I am trying to walk every other day, 3 miles or so - would like to manage more but I am SO busy in the garden right now, which is very time-consuming as it has been quite neglected whilst I had the horses and was nursing mum. By the way, tadpole update, they are hatched, and in little black 'rafts' above the egg sacs in the pond, but starting to wriggle more and some moving away when the sun comes out, but they all congregate together each night.

Yesterday's walk saw me dropped off 3 miles up the valley so I could walk back along the lanes.

The bridge across the river where I was dropped off. I must say, I'm not sure I would have been so keen to cross when it was a rope bridge 50 years ago . . .
Looking upstream from the bridge. Not much colour in the landscape yet, but in 6 weeks' time it will be a hundred shades of green.

This is Orpine, growing on a bank. It's other name is Livelong, and it is one of the Sedum family. It is supposedly fairly common across most of England (not Eastern though), but I have only ever seen it growing here in Wales. It has a mid-pink flower head in high summer.

The silver paws of the Pussy Willow have turned golden with pollen now. They vary in the time of flowering however. I saw some with silver paws in December in Carmarthen, yet ours at the gate is only just starting to put out silver paws now, and these are somewhere in between . . .

Looking like a golden powder puff, this Pussy Willow stands out from the mainly Alder woodland around it. You can just see the faintest maroon-purple haze on the Alders.

A beautiful Beech tree with its graceful branches and smooth silver bark.

The rough bark of the wild Cherry Tree (Gean).

They grow in our local woodland and this one is particularly tall.

These are Marsh Marigolds growing in wet (Alder carr) woodland about a mile or so from home, which I passed on Friday's walk. Council workmen were taking down leaning trees there last week and I was worried that they would trample all over the MM's, but fortunately they were back beyond where they were working.

These are the little wild daffodils which grow in such splendour still in the woodlands at Dymock, Gloucestershire. Little pockets of them still remain in our part of Wales to show how beautiful the countryside must have looked a century or so ago. I sigh at the thought of how our countryside has changed, and for the worse. Imagine how stunning it must have been in Shakespeare's time, with all the flowers of field and hedgerow growing in profusion. Roger Phillips' 'Wild Flowers of Britain' lists 8 "corn" species - Corn Buttercup, Corn Chamomile, Corn Cockle, Corn Crowfoot, Corn Marigold, Corn Mint, Corn Salad, Corn Spurrey and Cornflower. We live a long way from corn-growing areas (Pembrokeshire just about gets away with having enough warm weather), otherwise it's near the English border, and I doubt I would ever see any of these nowadays due to efficient spraying . . .

The Spring Walk (poem)

2009-03-22T00:23:00.000-07:00

Spring on the river Cothi.

I was looking in a lovely1970s book this morning (as I feel in a retro mood!) - Country Bazaar - does anyone else have it? Anyway, I came across this lovely poem which really sums up my spring walks at the moment. I know it's Mother's Day, but if you have a chance - get out for a walk today and enjoy the countryside around you.

THE SPRING WALK by Thomas Miller

We had a pleasant walk today,
Over the meadows and far away,
Across the bridge by the water-mill,
By the woodside, and up the hill;
And if you listen to what I say,
I'll tell you what we saw to-day.

Amid a hedge, where the first leaves
Were peeping from their sheaths so shy,
We saw four eggs within a nest,
And they were blue as the summer's sky.

An elder-branch dipp'd in the brook,
We wondered why it moved and found
A silken-hair'd, smooth water-rat
Nibbling and swimming round and round.

Where daisies open'd to the sun,
In a broad meadow, green and white,
The lambs were racing eagerly -
We never saw a prettier sight.

We saw upon the shady banks,
Long rows of golden flowers shine,
And first mistook for buttercups
The star-shaped yellow celandine.

Anemones and primroses,
And the blue violets of spring,
We found whilst listening by a hedge
To hear a merry ploughman sing.

And from the earth the plough turn'd up
There came a sweet refreshing smell,
Such as the lily of the vale
Sends forth from many a woodland dell.

We saw the yellow wallflower wave
Upon a mouldering castle wall,
And then we watched the busy rooks
Among the ancient elm-trees tall.

And leaning from the old stone bridge,
Below we saw our shadows lie,
And through the gloomy arches watch'd
The swift and fearless swallows fly.

We heard the speckle-breasted lark
As it sang somewhere out of sight,
And we tried to find it, but the sky
Was filled with clouds of dazzling light.

We saw young rabbits near the wood,
And heard a pheasant's wing go 'whir',
And then we saw a squirrel leap
From an old oak-tree to a fir.

We came back by the village fields,
A pleasant walk it was across them,
For all across the houses lay
The orchards red and white with blossom.

Were I to tell you all we saw
I'm sure that it would take me hours,
For the whole landscape was alive
With bees, and birds, and buds, and flowers.

Perhaps not the BEST poetry I have ever read, but it certainly sums up what can be seen outside at present, though of course it's a bit early for swallows yet. The earliest they've arrived around here is on my birthday, early in April. Mind you, with this warm weather, you never know. Our starlings have upped and gone, sometime in the last week. They were here a week ago and gone by Wednesday, who knows where? No singing ploughman round these parts - they all have the tractor radio going full blast these days, and sadly no water rats either - I remember them vividly from my childhood - even in the polluted stream down in our valley - but here although the river has Dippers and 'Water' (Grey) Wagtails, the vicious Mink have done for poor ratty . . .

A bit about voles, and whose nest is this?

2009-03-20T23:02:00.001-07:00

I've been working very hard in the garden all week, making the most of this glorious spring weather. In the hay barn I found a nest which had been made, then abandoned, last spring. I know who made it - any guesses out there as to its owner? It is beautifully crafted and SO cosy inside and was built inside a haynet hanging from the beams . . . .

Out in the new intake veg/soft fruit area in the paddock, I have laid down old bits of carpet to try and kill the grass a little before I dig it. Yesterday Lucy, our one-eyed cat, could hear the voles beneath it so I rolled it back and found a little vole-town. I took some photos of one part of it - and how easy to build an extension to your home!

First of all the bedroom, cosily lined with chewed up bits of grass woven into a bowl-shape and SO snug.

Then there are the runs in-between the "rooms" - no need for a roof with a carpet on top, but normally they just go beneath the top layer of longish grass. My cats spend hours hunting in the paddock now it is overgrown.

Finally, the loo. If you look in the centre between the two stems forming a V, you can see droppings. I never knew they were such tidy creatures, and clean in their habits.

Next time one of the cats brings one home, I shall think of the family it left behind . . .

Here's Lucy sniffing them out!

The Millennium Way from Burry Port

2009-03-17T12:06:00.000-07:00

I had to go to Llanelli yesterday, to have my eyes checked at the hospital. As it was such a beautiful day I set off early and stopped at Burry Port, so that I could have a walk along the Millennium Way coastal path. I happened to park right by a memorial commemorating Amelia Earhart's epic flight in 1928.

The walk was well worth it, as I spotted a Kestrel straight away. He was hovering above the path and then stooped to pounce on something in the long grass the other side of the fence. I was hoping to lean over and capture him close up with the camera, but he heard me coming and took off again. However, he did deign to come to perch on his favourite tree and I got a reasonable shot of him. For some reason, I haven't seen many Kestrels in Wales (though we have been here 21 years today) - we see them when we are driving along the M4 in or out of Wales, but I have NEVER seen any locally and I was surprised to see this one.

I could hear Oystercatchers, but not see them - the sun was very bright on the water - and there were the usual gulls, full grown and juvenile, on a little lake, plus some Mallards. Then I heard a Skylark. It filled me with joy to hear it. Then several others joined it and one descended to my right, giving me a good close-up view (but fumble fingers couldn't get the camera focused in time) and it sank into the long grass a few yards away. I quietly crept up hoping to see it but it sat tight.

Then I spotted a plant I've not seen for years - since I lived in Dorset I think - when we would see it regularly. It was Coltsfoot - whose flowers appear before the leaves - and which is an easily identifiable plant because of the "scaley"-looking stem. Its botanical name is Tussilago farfara - which derives from tussis ago (to drive away a cough). In earlier times it was used for treating lung complaints. I believe you can still get Coltsfoot "tablet" at some old-fashioned sweetshops.

I walked back along the shore, which only had a few shells to offer of the commonest sorts, such as the Razor shell, below. Unlike Pembrey beach, it could only offer a single fragment of Sea Potato. At Pembrey it is the dominent species.

The only rockpools were sadly of the Industrial variety. There used to be a Generating Station here and when it was demolished in the 80s, the remains were dumped along the edge of the beach.

The sunshine and spring in the air was wonderful and really lifted my spirits. I shall go back again, as I would like to walk much further.

A country walk . . .

2009-03-15T11:08:00.000-07:00

Some more photos from a walk I took yesterday. How I stayed awake I don't know, as I could NOT sleep the previous night.

A harbinger of summer, let alone spring. These are the leaves of Rosebay Willow Herb (or Fireweed as it is known in America and Canada). It has tall spikes of pretty fuschia pink flowers in summer.

Wind Anemones we call these, though their proper name is Wood Anemones.

Maths in action! This thistle is so beautifully symetrical.

I have heard these Canada Geese honking as they fly overhead up our valley. These have decided to have a few night's B&B on Next Door's pond, before heading further south.

This plant always brings great plesure - it is the Wild Columbine (Aquilegia). We used to have 14 plnts growing along our top hedgerow, but sadly farm machinery and the council men chucking heaps of salt and grit have done for all but five of them, but I have just spotted one growing further along the bank, so I am hopeful of 6 this year. They come in some stunning dark reds, purples and blues as well as white and the very palest of pinks (which is what mine are). There was half an acre of them in a Chapel graveyard near us and they were stunning - made me think it was such a beautiful place to be buried. Then the Chapel Elders or whoever, decided they would "tidy" up the graveyard and chopped them all down before they could set seed . . .

The easily-identified Foxglove-to-be.

The Scarlet Elf Cap fungus on rotton wood. It is quite prolific in this area and adds a splash of colour in the woods where I was walking yesterday.

A close up of the largest Elf Cap, against the bed of Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage.

Along the top of the Chapel wall, all sorts of little plants have taken hold. Here a wild strawberry is flowering.

This is Bistort, which will have a pale pink flower head between May and August. In the North, a pudding is made (Ledger Pudding) at Easter time - a number of edible wild plants with hard boiled eggs, the most important of the plants being the Bistort.

You can see a Fox (probably other animals too) has been using this part of the bank as his personal pathway down to the road. Usually you will find the onward path on the hedge opposite, but not on this occasion. You can often tell if it is a Fox which is using it by the sharp tang of Fox. There are some rabbit exit holes along the top of this bank, so I think he is probably hopeful of catching something unawares.

A badger sett in woodland half a mile from my house. One of several, with huge mounds of excavated clay outside.

Back to BB . . .

2009-03-12T11:30:00.000-07:00

View across Dartmoor fields and moors and tors.

It's no good, it was annoying me. Meadowsweet that is, in my header. I just didn't feel right, and I have had to change it. "BB" is my shortened pseudonym - in full Bovey Belle, which is a name I post under on my favourite forum. It derives from Bovey Tracey in Devon, the gateway to Dartmoor, and where my dad's paternal side of the family hail from. BB sounds right, and you never know, there may be some folk looking up the REAL "BB" (Denys Watkins-Pitchford) and come across this blog.

Elder - and a few more leaves!

2009-03-12T00:52:00.001-07:00

Well, I could write "Leaves Are Us!" right now, as lots of plants seem to have suddenly started putting out either leaves or buds for same. I am delighted to see the first little leaves on my Elders at the bottom of the yard (photo above) - very dark when they first sprout, but lightening up as they grow larger. We have a tree a little further along on the stream bank which is much darker anyway in the leaf, and its flowers are a slightly creamier colour. The Elder has so many uses - you can cook the blossoms in batter, add them to jam, make a soothing hand cream with them (as I do, and something very similar was also shown on Tales from the Green Valley), make Elderflower Champagne and E. Cordial and E. Wine, and then there are the berries which make a wonderful port-like wine, and can be used to make Elderberry Rob, wonderful for winter coughs, or added to Hedgepick Jam, or pies. The branches are hollow and used to be hollowed out and turned into pea-shooters in country areas. We found this out when a man turned up at the door who was evacuated here during the war. He used his as a protection against the geese which were kept in the yard and which used to pinch his short-clad legs when he had to go amongst them to use the little Ty Bach which straddled the stream.

Below, Red Dead-Nettle growing with the creeping buttercup in my VEG patch!

I think these will be Red Campion, but they don't look quite right, so if YOU know exactly what they are, tell me or else we'll have to wait until they flower!

Ground Ivy.

Betony.

Cut-Leaved Cranesbill - I 95% "think". Lack of sleep is making me groggy.

Sun Spurge on bank down by the river.
Below is Ivy-Leaved Toadflax. It has a little lilac flower later on. I first saw it growing in a wall beside the - then defunct but now restored - railway line which ran from Swanage up through Corfe Castle and beyond.

On the way to Hay-on-Wye we pass this wonderful apple orchard where the trees are bedecked with Mistletoe. Winter is the best time to spot Mistletoe growing of course.

Following the comments

2009-03-10T10:48:00.000-07:00

European Dipper, found on fast flowing upland streams and rivers.

I don't know how many of you follow the comments on blogs, and check them out for further comments, but sometimes we have wonderful discussions going on "behind the scenes." The latest (yesterdays' comments) has been about a couple of American birds, the Purple Finch, and the Red-winged Blackbird. I have been Googling them to discover more about them and thought I would share the following link with anyone who has an inquisitive mind:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Red-winged_Blackbird.html#fig1

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Purple_Finch.html

You can listen to their calls too - the Blackbird is really raucous and jungle-like, nothing like the genteel English Blackbird.

http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birds/blackbird.htm

Here, the above site gives a list of the more regularly seen birds:

http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birdindex.htm

where you can identify different garden bird and common species and learn about them.

I did a short walk today, and was hoping to see the Dipper down by the river, but there were none to be seen, though I lingered for a while on the bridge.

I have discovered, if you really go looking, you can source videos - here is our Eurasian Dipper, in various poses:

http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/white-throated-dipper-cinclus-cinclus

Wild birds again

2009-03-09T00:42:00.000-07:00

Some of these photos are a bit blurred as there was so much action at the nut nets. If you click on them, they will enlarge, so you can do a head count. I think there are 10 or 11 Blue Tits in the top photo for starters . . .

It was cold and windy here yesterday. I was amazed at the number of birds visiting the nut nets - the garden was a hive of activity, with birds taking their place in the queue, and going from nut-net to branch, or branch to nut-net, or down to the ground. I also put out a handful of rolled oats (I have a sackful) for my Robin and the Blue Tits and Chaffinches who visit the kitchen windowsill. Normally one handful will suffice, but yesterday I have to put four lots out. I know it was windy, but the wind was blowing the oats in against the window. These were very hungry little birds. It was as busy as it was in the coldest of the winter weather in January. At one point the long nut net was absolutely heaving with the colony of House Sparrows who live behind the barge boards on our house. Now you see why I can never take part in the RSPB garden bird count!

Identifying wild flowers by their leaves

2009-03-07T00:20:00.000-08:00

I had a little stroll with my camera to hand yesterday, and took photos of various leaves that I am able to identify (and a couple I'm not sure about so will have to check). I will assume no knowledge at all, so even the humble Dandelion is here . . .

Herb Robert, which has a pink flower from late April through to October. The red colouring of the stalks and leaves is fairly typical of winter foliage, but much greener leaves will show later. Sometimes the leaves go a deep rusty pink when they are old.

The humble Dandelion with its saw-toothed leaves, next to the spotted leaves (right) of a Wild Arum Lily. The Dandelion is also known as Jack-P*ss-the-Bed, Wet-the-Bed and other country names, indicating the plants use for urinary problems, as it is a diuretic. The round seedheads are of course the country man's clock, the time depending on how many blows it takes to release all the seeds. Very scientific! The leaves were and still are used in salads (though I find them bitter) and the roots may be dried, roasted and then used for making coffee. Amazingly, there are more than 200 micro-species in the UK.

A splendid dark varient colouring of the Ivy leaf, with a lighter sort behind it. I like the really deep burgundy red ones you sometimes find in winter.

The strap-like Harts Tongue Fern to the right of a good early growth of Cow Parsley. In sheltered spots here they have been showing young leaves all winter.

The male flowers of the Dog's Mercury, a hedgerow plant, and beneath it the heart-shaped leaves of a Celandine.

The tiny yellow-studded "flowers" of the Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage, which grows in damp places here. The 3-leaved wild Strawberries beneath it, and what looks like an early growth of Ground Elder top left.

Hazel catkins, and you can just see the little red female flower which will be the Hazel nut once it is fertilized.

This is Garlic Mustard or Jack-by-the-Hedge. Its leaves are also good in spring salads.

Finally, Ramsons, or Wild Garlic, which are wonderful in cooking. You may smell them before you see them, as they have a very strong aroma of Garlic, particularly when crushed.

More tomorrow.

Deer at Gelli Aur, Carmarthenshire

2009-03-06T01:35:00.000-08:00

Gazing into the view. I intend to walk this and other footpaths this spring.

There was another hard frost here this morning. The temperature is NOT conducive to long posts on the computer, so I will be brief. I stood for a brief while in the yard this morning, listening to the birdsong. The starlings which have billeted with us this winter for the first time, are very vocal first thing in the morning, when they seem to be planning the day, and late afternoon, when they debate where they will sleep that night. It is always the same stand of ash trees, but they try out other trees for size, setting up a constant clamouring twitter. A few birds will leave the current trees and move on elsewhere. Then a few more join them. Then a deafening silence falls and in a mass, all the birds swirl up into the sky and stream away towards a new roost. The crow family act in a similar manner.

At the top end of our yard this morning, there were several Blue Tits in the apple trees. One couple seemed to be thinking of pairing up, and would fly in a loop - he following she presumably, land again, bounce nearer to one another and loop the loop once more. I don't have nest boxes here, but think I will talk to my husband . . . he has plenty of wood.

These Oak Apples are the result of a Gall Wasp, which lays its eggs in the oak leaf, and as they turn into larva, they inject the leaf with chemicals which cause this mutation.

Another photo of the long tailed Bank Vole which I was watching last week. His hole was just a few feet away and he was totally at ease - I don't think he can have noticed me at all. He probably thought I was a tree!

One of the line of stunning lime trees at Gelli Aur (which is Welsh for Golden Grove). Note the natural 'witching' or burring of the trunk. In spring, when they are in flower, the lime blossom has the most wonderful scent, and it produces honeydew which is very attractive to insects.

There are three species of Lime tree - the Small-leaved Lime, the Large-leaved Lime and their hybrid, the Common Lime. These are introduced plantings - they only occur naturally in southern Britain, and indeed, that is the very northern edge of their range.

The photos were taken at nearby Gelli Aur last week. There is a lovely walk through the Deer Park, but I watched them from the back of the tea shop and they weren't at all bothered about me taking photographs. These are Fallow Deer, but as they have their winter coats on, they are much darker than in summer when their spots reappear.

http://www.worlddeer.org/fallowdeer.html

Compare with the smaller Roe Deer:

http://www.worlddeer.org/roedeer.html

There are 6 species of deer found wild in the UK. These are Fallow, Roe, Red, Sika, Muntjac and Chinese Water Deer. All were introduced to Britain, bar the Red and Roe deer, which are indiginous species. Fallow deer were originally introduced by the Normans and were hunted by the nobility - deer parks were surrounded by a pale - or ditch and fence (I know of one at Lordswood on the edge of Southampton - even the name is a give-away now.) The expression "beyond the pale" can be traced back to this term. Sika, Muntjac and Chinese Water Deer either escaped or were let loose from private collections.

I couldn't resist this handsome chap, who was watching the deer park near by me. The rangers have had to paint the glass in the bottom of the tea shop windows white, to stop the peacocks attacking the 'strange birds' they see!

Your local Wildlife Trust

2009-03-05T09:52:00.000-08:00

Young Hart's Tongue ferns unfurling.

One of the best ways to learn about the countryside, and especially the county you live in, is to join your local Wildlife Trust. When I lived in Hampshire and then Dorset, I belonged to the relevant Wildlife Trusts, and have some happy memories of outings, especially Fungi Forays. Adult membership is in the region of £30 a year, so less than 50p a week. Junior membership is usually half that, and family membership half as much again, so very good value for money.

For this small sum, you will usually have free access to all the Nature Reserves belonging to the Trust (and indeed, your membership helps to purchase more). You will have a copy of the Trust's own magazine - usually quarterly - as well as 3 issues a year of the national magazine of the Wildlife Trusts. You will be sent regular events guides which will give details of walks, talks, Junior Wildlife Watch activities, and Volunteer work parties.

Your membership will help to maintain current Nature Reserves and save other threatened areas. It will pay for the Trust to train and employ conservation and education officers and it will help to train and educate the Volunteers.

Find out about YOUR local Wildlife Trust and join. Learn through the Wildlife Workshops. Find out how to make your garden more wildlife-friendly. Record the wildlife you see in your patch.

Click on the Wildlife Trusts link to the right of the blog for further details.

The leaves of Shining Cranesbill.

Plants in your post code area

2009-03-03T05:37:00.000-08:00

Meadowsweet, where the inspiration for the name of this blog come from. It grows all around here.

Several of these sites on the right were highlighted for me by Hen - all I can say is a HUGE thank you, as they are all excellent resources. Some I was aware of, but the post code plants . . . well, I have my summer mapped out. I downloaded ELEVEN pages of plants which had been recorded in my part of Carmarthenshire. Many I already knew and had seen, quite a few I know and haven't seen, and some are totally new to me. I shall sit down with my all-encompassing Marjorie Blamey/Christopher Grey* botanical book this afternoon and extend my knowledge. I intend to try and put ticks beside most of these this summer . . . (*The Illustrated Flora of Britain and Northern Europe).

A lovely photo of Meadowsweet and Purple Loosestrife. Many thanks to contributors on Creative Commons for these photos.

Stop. Look. Listen.

2009-03-02T03:36:00.000-08:00

Those words are SO important when it comes to studying the natural world around you. How often do we find ourselves running from one chore to the next, wishing that we had time to relax, sit down or fulfil those magic words "do nothing" - which sadly are rarely guilt-free moments . . .

I am as guilty as the next person, in my ticking off the jobs from the mental list, but at the weekend I stood with a cup of tea and just watched the birds at the nut nets, and I mean REALLY watched. Normally I am just counting off species. We have Blue Tits, Great Tits, Coal Tits, House and Hedge Sparrows, a Greenfinch, a Nuthatch, a pair of Greater Spotted Woodpeckers and even a starling last week which regularly use the nut nets. On the ground beneath, pecking at bits there are Chaffinches, Robins and the Sparrow overflow. I was delighted to see a pair of Bullfinches in my Damson tree last week, but fortunately for the tree, there weren't any buds to tempt them. They were once the bane of the Head Gardener's life, as he tried to save his blossom from them.

Really STUDYING nature is another thing. Watch the pecking order on the nut nets. See where the queue of birds waits until there is an opening. Notice that they will use a nearby water source to drink from - my birds like the nature pond, which has overgrown edges and they can utilize a twig or stem bending into the water to perch on (a good reason NOT to be too tidy in the garden.) Note which other areas of the garden they use a lot, which trees they hunt for insects on. Where do they roost at night? Listen to their song and learn to recognize which bird is paired with which song. At this time of the year in particular, see them choosing mates, checking out potential nest sites. Notice the squabbles , the territorial fights (Robins are particularly fierce!) whilst Blackbirds tend to just edge their way out of the territory of another bird. I watched 3 cock birds one day who had all alighted in one tree. The bird whose territory it was pursued the other two, who kept moving further and further along their respective branches until they had to fly away or fall off the end!

In the terrible cold spell we had in January, I was out at dusk (or dimpsey as I call it - a lovely Devon word which my father used). I noticed several wrens congregating first in an apple tree, and then gripping the side of the house wall, and on the guttering, and then one by one they would disappear behind the barge board. If one was out of turn, it was promptly thrown out again, and another bird took its rightful place. About 8 or 9 wrens coopied up together to stay alive through that bitter night. The same thing happened at the other end of the house, much to my amazement and delight. Troglodytes indeed!

A pair of Blue Tits on one of the nut nets. Distinguishable from Great Tits because they are smaller with blue heads and a little strip of blue on their chests. Great Tits have black heads, and a manly black stripe on their chest. In the past their family were known as "titmice".

Two photos of "Woody" who comes regularly to the net, sometimes bringing his partner. They always fly off over the yard, to the woodland beyond. The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is a shy bird and you will not see that on nut nets. "Woody" has a buff coloured chest and the most splendid scarlet rump.

The Nuthatch, upside down as always. He is a bully boy and the other birds clear off the minute he hoves into view! Please forgive the poor quality of the pictures, which were taken through the kitchen window . . .

We have plenty of frogspawn in the nature pond again. We dug it specially to have a shallow shelf for wildlife to use. At the beginning of the week, we had two patches of frogspawn. Now we have about a dozen and what was laid laid night, despite my topping the water level up a bit, was slightly out of the water and the hard frost last night froze the pond a little, so it may not survive. We shall see. The earlier frogspawn has sunk to the bottom of the little ledge, and is dusty looking from the silt which has been stirred up by frogs hurtling for cover when they hear footsteps (feel them rather) or hear a door bang shut. If you go out after darkness, you can hear them croaking - it sounds like the African savannah! Creep up with a torch and you will see them until, disgruntled, they make for cover again. Ours are really WILD and don't care to be seen if they can help it. I spotted a Common Newt the other day, and they will be mating around now and laying their eggs also. We often have them in the house when they are first leaving the pond, and they march resolutely under the gap beneath the front door and die of dessication in the inner reaches of the house - carpets and walking boots not being good habitats for them!

Go out into your garden. Shut your eyes, and listen, really LISTEN. Even in a town garden you will be amazed at how many birds you can hear, and perhaps realize how much you screen out without realizing it . . .

Leisure

2009-02-28T04:04:00.000-08:00

Bank vole(long tailed) at Gelli Aur this morning. My reward for being quiet and standing and staring. He wasn't aware of me at all.

I would like to share with you one of my favourite poems, by W.H. Davies. It is a well-known poem and worthy of keeping in the public eye, especially as so many people are racing here and there and never have a moment for themselves or their families, let alone the natural world about them.

LEISURE

What is life, if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep and cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at beauty's glance,
And watch her feed, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this, if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

The first whispers of spring

2009-02-27T07:33:00.000-08:00

I took a long walk yesterday in an area we normally visit infrequently, and then usually by car. It is amazing how much more that you notice when you are on foot. I began below the village, exploring a trackway which on the map looped round to the next road across.. In the corner of a field, where the trackway turned right, I was surprised to find ruins with a drift of snowdrops sprinkled over them, and several well-established yew trees keeping all in shadow. Yew trees are usually only associated with churchyards hereabouts, but as I walked along the trackway, I noticed more young yew trees planted in the hedgerows. This is unusual as Yew is deadly to livestock and this is a farming area. These mixed plantings had been double fenced to keep livestock off. I climbed the hill out of the village and past the Big House, with its long driveway, and all around the perimeter were more young yew trees, planted with others, and double fenced. It was easy to see where the land of the Big House ended.

In the hedgerows were the first signs of spring - Celendines with their beautiful lemon-yellow flowers, which open with the day. They have tiny heart-shaped leaves and in country areas, are harbingers of spring, arriving when the Primroses do. In previous years they have been earlier than this, but the cold snap in January and the snow earlier this month, has got spring back on a more even keel again.

There has been a dearth of Sloes on the Blackthorn in recent warm springs, which suggests they may have been encouraged to bloom too early and got caught by late frosts. There is an old saying that when the Blackthorn is in bloom, it is a Blackthorn Winter. This stems from there often being a warmer period at the end of winter - a false spring - and then a sudden cold snap returns. Here is a photo of the blossom, courtesy of Creative Commons.

The Sloe fruit is like a small black plum (it is a wild member of the Prunus - Plum - family) with a blue bloom on it. It is VERY sour, but makes wonderful jam and even better Sloe Gin! Its hedgerow relative the Bullace, is slightly larger and thought to be a cross between Sloe and domesticated plums.

This 'witch's broom' is caused by a viral infection attacking the tree and causing a mass of twiggy growth.

The fruit of the Ivy. The leaves in the background are rather shapeless, unlike those three-cornered ones in the picture of the mossy bank below, which is how ivy normally grows. Likewise, holly leaves tend to lose their prickles when they are higher up in the tree and presumably because they are under less threat from predators!

These are the leaves of the Ribwort Plantain which is very common in grassy places - banks, hedgerows and fields alike. When we were children we would 'fight' with the flower heads of these, which are brown cylinders on the end of the stalk, and by running your hand briskly up the stem you could catapult the head at your 'enemy'.

Ivy leaves, top left, climbing over a mossy bank. Here in Wales there is no shortage of rainfall, and in consequence, plenty of mosses!

Here are the young leaves of Lords and Ladies, or Cuckoo Pint as they are also known. Their 'proper' name is the Wild Arum Lily. When in flower they look like this:

Here is Navelwort, so called becuse of the dimple in the middle of the leaf. They will grow on banks, treestumps and dead branches (as here), and on walls. My children used to pick the leaves and use them for doll's teaparties. Their leaves are prolific in winter, then they flower and put out a creamy stem of flowers (which I shall photograph when they bloom locally) and then they die back in the summer months.

Now today (Friday) since clearing the shallow shelf of my wildlife pond, the first frogspawn has been laid. Photographs tomorrow.

Beginnings

2009-02-26T22:59:00.000-08:00

Ox-eye daisies flowering in God's acre down in the village . . .

This blog has been born of my desire to share my love of the countryside with anyone who is interested. I was fortunate enough to have been born at a time when parents had a knowledge of country things - my parents had both been born in the country but moved to the town. I grew up being able to ask what that bird or this flower was and being told the name and often the country nickname too - I have always called Wagtails 'pollydishwashers' for instance.

I grew up on the outskirts of Southampton, one half of our "garden" was wild, with Damson trees where the Nightingales sang on hot summer nights and a glorious tangle of gorse and broom where we made camps in the summer. Yarrow and Bladder Campion grew at the lawn-edge, and we had a dry stony soil in banks around a triangle of land where my dad grew strawberries. Here lived the lizards and slow-worms. Kids used to come from miles around to try and catch them! I grew up learning how to recognize and handle reptiles. How they would first wee on you in an attempt to get you to let go of them, and if that didn't work, they would drop their tail. I cringe now at the memory of both a common lizard, with its beautiful skin pattern in browns and beiges, and one of the ubiquitous slow-worms, who varied from deep chocolate brown to almost silvery, dropping their tails whilst being held captive by my curiosity.

When I was about six, a neighbour's daughter who was a couple of years older was doing a project for school where you had to identify wild flowers and press them into a scrap book, and thus began my life-long interest in botany. I'm not an expert - I know more than many people, not as much as others, but I continually try and extend my knowledge. I can still recall where I first saw such-and-such - the highlight of my (botanical) life being the first time I saw Viper's Bugloss growing in Dorset (near the village of Kingston in the Purbecks). It was one of the coloured illustrations in my Observer's Book of Wild Flowers which I got when I was 6 or 7 and with its pink and blue flowers it looked so exotic.

I enjoy watching birds and identifying them here in our Welsh garden. We have nothing exotic, but I love to see the Nuthatches and 'Woody Woodpecker' arrive, and I will shortly do a post of our visitors to the nut nets and try and get some photos. Where my camera has not captured something I write about, I shall rely on that marvellous resource Creative Commons Search.

In sharing what little knowledge I have, I should love this to become a resource for parents and children alike, as well as those of you who have an innate interest in the countryside but are living in town, or even in another country. This, I hope, will go some way to replacing the Nature Table we always had in my Junior school and which is now just a dim and distant memory in the education of children.