Wolvobirder's Nature Blog: May 2012

Thursday, 31 May 2012

May 2012 so far part II

Going through my photos I see that I have things slightly out of order but never mind.

On the 5th of May I paid a quick visit to Kinver Edge and found some Garlic Mustard in the woodland near the Rock Houses.

Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata)

Then on the 12th of May I found some Sulphur Tuft and Herb Robert while doing some gardening around the front of my house.

Sulphur Tuft (Hypholoma fasciculare var. fasciculare)

On the 13th of May we visited Highgate Common with one of my parents dogs and I found quite a few different plants as well as a pair of micro moths mating on my car when we arrived.

Green Longhorn moths (Adela reaumurella)

Frankie (Canis lupus familiaris)

Field Wood-rush is quite a common plant on Highgate Common and can be seen growing amongst the various species of grass. I had found some a few weeks earlier and I went back to get some photos for confirmation.

Field Wood-rush (Luzula campestris)

This species is rhizomatous, meaning that it can spread itself by extending a network of rhizomes (a horizontal underground root like stem) underground, with new shoots then appearing from the rhizomes. You can see this at work in the first picture with several plants within a tightly grouped area. An example of another common rhizomatous plant is bracken.

The Bluebells were still out in force in the wooded areas and formed a nice blanket of blue and white with some Greater Stitchwort.

Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta)

Greater Stitchwort (Stellaria holostea)

These are native Bluebells and not the Spanish or hybrid Bluebells that are often found in gardens. A member of the public has gone around planting Spanish Bluebells along some of the main footpaths but this should be discouraged as it readily hybridises with our native Bluebell!

Talking of introduced species we also found a large Rhododendron in the woods. It prefers shaded areas on acidic soil and can be a pest if allowed to spread.

Rhododendron (Rhododendron ponticum)

On the woodland edge there were also some Red Campion (pink flower) in flower.

Red Campion (Silene dioica)

Friday, 18 May 2012

May 2012 so far part I

After the almost complete washout that was April 2012 I have been keen to get out in the field as often as possible in May and document as much as I can. The result so far?.. about three trips to Highgate Common (including a work party), a very short visit to Kinver Edge and a spot of gardening.

Still this was enough time for me to see some interesting looking plants and the occasional insect.

On the 8th of May I went to the regular Tuesday work party at Highgate Common. Despite the awful weather of recent weeks it just about managed to stay dry for the whole day.

The Tree Pipits were obviously ill informed about the recent weather in the UK and have arrived back en masse from Africa to sing their little hearts out from the tops of the scattered trees on the main heathland area. They were also doing their song flight display using any post, tree or tall bush as a launching platform. This behaviour is a good way to tell them apart from the Meadow Pipit and Skylark as they both begin their song flights at ground level.

Other warblers were apparent too with a large number of Willow Warblers, a few Chiffchaff, some Blackcaps and a suspected Whitethroat but no sign of the elusive Cuckoo.

The work party was tasked with clearing away any re-growth of trees that we had cut down over the winter. It was during the course of this work when I noticed this little critter, almost chopped down with the branch it was sitting on.

Drinker (Euthrix potatoria)

The adult is quite a distinctive looking moth and you can see it by going to the following site ukmoths.org.uk