To the windmill

Some weeks have passed since I last visited Newnham Windmill. This is wonderfully situated on high ground between Daventry and Newnham and a fine view of the former is offered by looking north.

Looking north from Newnham Windmill to Daventry.

29 August, 2019

According to www.windmillworld.com. it has been converted to an observation tower. If only that were true. In fact, due to vandalism, the only door to this Grade II listed building has been bricked up and no entry is possible.

The windmill, all points of enttry securely blocked.

Conditions were fine when I went there earlier today. There was enough breeze to have turned the windmill sails but not enough to be troublesome. Butterflies danced around and a pair of Small Coppers, Lycaena phlaeas, courted on the head of a Creeping Thistle.

Female (left) and male Small Copper butterflies on thistle.

29 August, 2019

The female was in good condition, her colours bright; the male was rather tattered but clearly still game. It appears to be a declining species but is still plentiful in some areas, though much varying in numbers from year to year.

Coppers are in the same family, the Lycaenidae, as the blues and a bright male specimen of the Common Blue, Polyommatus icarus, settled in some grasses nearby.

The Common Blue depends on legumes for its larvae.

Windmill Hill, Foxhill Farm. 29 August, 2019

My photograph is a considerably improvement on my miserable effort in Byfield Pocket Park just three days ago. Of course, that was a female - women can be difficult!

The underside of the butterfly is attractively speckled.

The Common Blue is rather similar to the Holly Blue, Celastrina argiolus,  but, as well as differences in colour, the Holly Blue is in flight three or four months earlier in the year.

Apart from the inevitable Speckled Wood a few 'whites' were in the wing. This Small White, Pieris rapae, (formerly Artogeia rapae), posed patiently as I crept forward for a picture. The grass was wet and I had to watch my footing us I made my way down to the lower slopes.

The Small White is decidedly less common than fifty years ago.

Foxhill Farm, 29 August, 2019

The photograph clearly shows the raindrops on the grass from the previous night and by now my feet were thoroughly wet. But a pair of buzzards circled overhead, a raven called from a nearby tree and, at the other end of the scale, a wren burst into astonishingly loud song nearby. My cold feet were forgotten.

In truth it wasn't the best of days in terms of flies or spiders but I headed for home, ascending crabwise back up the precipitous slope towards the windmill, well content.

Wildlife bric-a-brac in Byfield

It's Wednesday so it must be Byfield. Chris and I always have a couple of hours in the village, Chris spending the two hours at the Coffee Club, I doing likewise but having a break to visit the pocket park.


On my stroll down to the P.P. a clump of parasol mushrooms give me cause to pause. The parasols are members of the genus Macrolepiota, and there are at least six species present in the U.K. The one seen today was M. procera, the commonest species and, in my limited experience, the most attractive. The specific name procera means 'tall' and fully-grown it can be quite impressive. It is apparently makes very good eating but correct identification is important, for the rather similar Shaggy Parasol, Chlorophytum rhacodes, may cause stomach upsets.

Macrolepiota procera is the commonest of our parasol mushrooms.

Byfield, Northants. 28 August, 2019

 
To be honest, although my visit was interesting there were few photo-opportunities to brighten up a blog. This female Common Blue, Polyommatus icarus, resolutely refused to pose in anything approaching a pleasing position but, rather surprisingly, was a new species for the patch.

The female 'blues' are not blue at all. On marjoram, Byfield Pocket Park.

28 August, 2019

The next photograph, though unsatisfactory, is of interest to all those thousands of people who love flies. There were several specimens on hogweed. The species is Linnaemyia picta. It was first described as British as recently as 2010 but has now been found widely across southern counties.

Linnaemya picta on hogweed. Byfield Pocket Park, 28 August, 2019

In fact it has probably been in this country for many years, probably decades, but had been confused with another, very similar species. It has been astonishingly common in Byfield Pocket Park this year.

The gap between the eyes is clear on this second photograph and shows

that the specimen is a female.

As usual, it will be my microscope that finally reveals fully what species were present today. (The total ultimately went up to 159.)

First elephant of the year

This is the time to be on the lookout for elephants - Elephant Hawk Moths that is. Not the adult but the caterpillars, and for about three weeks I have been checking clumps of willowherb. Plenty of Great Willowherb, Epilobium hirsutum, grows in Byfield Pocket Park, and Rose Bay too. Rose Bay Willow herb is placed in a different genus as Chamaenerion angustifolium, but the Elephant Hawk Moth, Deilephila elpenor, isn't that fussy. There have been some willowherbs crop up in our garden (although they got short shrift!). But my searches have been in vain - until this evening when I visited Stefen Hill Pocket Park.


I'd seen little of interest and was on the point of returning home but then diverted slightly to take my walk past the little pond. Purple Loosestrife, Lythrum salicaria, was in bloom at the pond's edge and I paused for a look around, but no insects were in flight.

Purple Loosestrife grows beside the pond. Stefen Hill Pocket Park,

26 August, 2019

I was about to set off again when a dark object on the loosestrife caught my eye and I stooped for a better look. Two eyes stared up at me.

The 'eyes' are clear on this Elephant Hawkmoth caterpillar.

26 August, 2019

They weren't eyes at all but curious markings on the head of a caterpillar, the Elephant Hawkmoth! These eye-like markings may deter birds, perhaps giving the creature the appearance of a small snake. My presence had alarmed the caterpillar and in response the head region had swelled and the 'snake' had reared its head.

When alarmed the creature rears it head, perhaps deterring predators.

In the failing light I had to make several attempts to obtain anything like a decent photograph but they will have to suffice. The false eyes are distinct enough and the little tail which marks it out as a hawkmoth caterpillar are reasonably clear. But Purple Loosestrife!

The caterpillar generally feeds on member of the Onagraceae Family, which includes not only the willowherbs but Fuchsias and Evening Primroses, both frequently food for this creature. Purple Loosestrife is in the Lythraceae so I had not even considered it in my searches. It only occasionally accepts the loosestrife so I had been very lucky! 

On the warm side

A bit on the warm side! But, as Donald Trump says, the problem of climate change is not man-made. Absolutely right - and the earth is flat and the moon is made of cheese.


Anyway, warm or not I made my way over to Stefen Hill Pocket Park to see how the wildlife was coping. To date I have recorded 241 species from this site but there are plenty to come. (For comparison the scores from my other three 'patches' are: Byfield Pocket Park 153, Foxhill Farm 483 and Kentle Wood 536.) Not important as I have said before, but these figures and lists provide a snapshot for future generations of the situation at this time.


A handsome Red-legged Shieldbug, Pentatoma rufipes, greeted me as I entered the park. I suspect that, given its pristine appearance, it had freshly attained its adult form. It is a handsome bug but there is still much to be learned about its life, particularly its feeding habits: carnivorous, herbivorous or omnivorous? The latter seems most likely but we just don't have a lot of evidence.

Red-legged Shieldbug, aka Forest Bug, in Stefen Hill Pocket Park.

25 August, 2019

This is the time of the year when many spiders become conspicuous. The large house spiders, Eratigena species, cause alarm when they dash across the floor during a Poldark episode. The Garden Cross Spider, Araneus diadematus, becomes obvious at it sits in its orb web, the threads sparkling with moisture droplets in the early morning.

Female Garden Cross Spider, Stefen Hill Pocket Park.

25 August, 2019

The photograph shows a female which may not yet have mated. Once she is gravid her abdomen will swell greatly. She will then leave her eggs in a silken cocoon and die, her life's work done.


Autumn fruits are becoming noticeable. The berries of Bittersweet, Solanum dulcamara, aka Woody Nightshade, ('Deadly Nightshade' in some areas) are also aiming to tempt the hungry bird or maybe even a Wood Mouse, but there are tastier foods currently available. They are mildly poisonous but cases of illness resulting from their consumption are very rare. Anyone tempted to sample the tomato-like berries would quickly spit them out as they are very bitter.

Woody Nightshade's relationship to tomatoes is very obvious.

Stefen Hill Pocket Park, 25 August, 2019

The genuine Deadly Nightshade, Atropa belladonna, is a different kettle of fish, but it appears confined to alkaline soils and does not occur hereabouts.

A few 'Cabbage Whites' - Large and Small Whites - were flitting around, together with the inevitable Speckled Wood but the only lepidopterans to come to my notice were grass moths.

A grass moth...

These are tricky individuals and I attempt to name them rarely but publication of the superb Field Guide to the Micro-moths of Great Britain and Ireland has greatly improved the chance of a correct identification. This is the Satin Grass-veneer, Crambus perlella, and must rank among the most dazzling and flamboyant moths in the British fauna!

...or to be more precise, a Satin Grass-veneer.Stefen Hill Pocket Park.

25 August, 2019

Well, at least it was a new record for the site. Not so this gall, Aceria macrochela. It is confined to the Field Maple, Acer campestre, but on getting home I found that I'd recorded it on another occasion.

Aceria macrochela on its only apparent host, Field maple.

25 August, 2019

Rhubarb!

Cinnamon Bugs and Painted Ladies

Byfield yet again, on a fine sunny day. The weather had brought out many interesting creatures, but no real surprises.


A Cinnamon Bug, Corizus hyoscyami, seated on the head of a sow thistle, greeted me when I entered the pocket park (and was still there an hour later). Once a considerable rarity, this striking insect is now relatively commonplace.

Corizus hyoscyami on a sow thistle seed head. Byfield Pocket Park.

21 August, 2019

Another bug, also unmistakable but for a different reason, is the Dock Bug, Coreus marginatus. Dozens of these, in various stages of development, were on dock plants throughout the area. The shape is shared by a number of other, less common, bug, but none has quite the sharp angles displayed by this species.

Dock bugs were out in force. Byfield Pocket Park. 21 August, 2019

A Silver-ground Carpet Moth, Xanthorhoe montanata, briefly made an appearance before fluttering deep into a bush. The carpet moths, and there are dozens of them, all sharea similar wing patterning and can be tricky. Noting the food-plant of the caterpillars is helpful, but the Silver-ground, though variable, is not too difficult. It is ubiquitous.

Silver-ground Carpet. Not a silvery moth despite the name.

Byfield Pocket Park. 21 August, 2019

Less than a metre away a Painted Lady butterfly was visiting marjoram, a plant irresisable to many insects. It was easily spooked and kept flitting away before a decent photograph could be obtained.

Painted Lady on marjoram. This butterfly has been reasonably common

this year. Byfield Pocket Park. 21 August, 2019

Still on the subject of lepidoptera, a geometrid caterpillar was chomping away at an elder leaf. Geometrid larvae are often dull but, without wishing to hurt any feelings, this one was particularly dull.

Swallow-tailed Moth? Probably, but I can't be sure enough to record it.

Elder is a plant which many caterpillars seem to find distasteful, so this narrows down the possibilities. I pretty certain it was the larva of a Swallow-tailed Moth, Ourapteryx sambucaria. Sambucus is the elder genus and the specific name gives us a strong hint.

It had the typical looping movement of a geometrid moth.

Byfield Pocket Park. 21 August, 2019

This is one of our most spectacular moths in a sometimes dull group. It is widespread and reasonably common.


I'll keep an eye open for an adult.





Tutsan - with postscript

If people are asked to name their favourite British wild flower the answers tend to be predictable: the primrose, the foxglove, the bluebell, perhaps one of our wild roses... They are lovely plants certainly but one that is rarely mentioned is Tutsan, Hypericum androsaemum.

Tutsan is a rather rare British native...

I was delighted to find a strongly-growing specimen today in Byfield Pocket Park, but how did this theoretically rare plant come to be there? A wild flower mix seems the most likely answer. In fact it is quite common around buildings and on waste ground as a garden escape and I suspect that few non-botanists realise that it is a British native. With lovely buttercup-yellow flowers followed by scarlet berries it is the parent of several lovely garden hybrids but imo few are as attractive as the wild original.

… but is widely naturalised. Byfield Pocket Park. 19 August, 2019

It is poisonous, causing nausea and diarrhoea if eaten. All this is theoretical for it seems that no cases of poisoning have ever been reported!

At the time of my visit it was only mid-morning and quite cool. The only butterfly noted was this Gatekeeper, soaking up the sun.

This Gatekeeper was the only butterfly seen. Byfield Pocket Park.

19 August, 2019

In a similar way this tachinid fly, Tachina fera, was also warming itself but unfortunately would not approach closely enough for a decent photograph. The word 'fera' can mean 'fierce' but can also mean 'prickly' or 'spiny'. This striking fly bears many spiky bristles and so the second meaning may be the correct one here. However it is fierce in a sense, for its larvae are parasitic on noctuid moths. In fact all tachinid flies are parasitic - fascinating but ghoulish!

This specimen of Tachina fera fly kept its distance. Stefen Hill

Pocket Park. 19 August, 2019

The yellow-berried Guelder Rose, Viburnum opulus 'Xanthocarpum' was heavy with fruit but, as with most viburnums its leaves had been badly damaged by the Viburnum Leaf Beetle, Pyrrhalta viburni. It is a native beetle but seems not to have been a pest until the mid-20th century and in 2010 this insect was declared 'number one pest species' following a survey by the Royal Horticultural Society.

This yellow-berried viburnum was heavy with fruit.

Byfield Pocket Park, 19 August, 2019

Gorging themselves on nectar from a clump of marjoram nearby were numerous Bumblebees, together with a small, slightly odd-looking wasp. Could it be... Yes, a closer look showed that it was a conopid fly. To be precise it was Conops quadrifasciatus, perhaps the most widespread species and a parasite of the bumblebee Bombus lapidarius. And it was new for the site.


To top it all I gathered a fine collection of beetles to peruse later.


Postscript 20 8.2019


Chris and I went to Dobbies garden centre, near Dunchurch, today. There was Tutsan on sale.

Hypericum 'Magical Red' at Dobbies Garden Centre.

20 August, 2019

It had been given the name 'Magical Red' although how the name could be justified I've no idea.



To my mind it wasn't as good as the plant in Byfield Pocket Park, and a ridiculous price had been placed on it.

Mushrooms and mines

I strolled over to Stefen Hill Pocket park in the late afternoon today. It was warm but very windy and the signs were not promising.


A couple of grey squirrels were once again screaming at each other regarding territorial boundaries but a pair of blackcaps were working through bushes together, searching for insects and berries perhaps to feed a brood.


I stepped out on to a broad grassy area and my eye was immediately caught by a white object the size and shape of a cricket ball. It was a specimen of Agaricus arvensis. It is related to the Field Mushroom, Agaricus campestris, but is considerably larger.

Agaricus arvensis, the size and shape of a cricket ball.

Stefen Hill Pocket Park, 17 August, 2019

Known as the Horse Mushroom it is a good edible species but, given the large numbers of dogs which use the pocket park for the expulsion of their waste products, I decided against eating it. Although the cap was yet to open it measured 110 centimetres across. The stem, covered in floccules, is distinctive.

The floccules on the stem are helpful in determining this species.

This mushroom was probably the most photogenic object I found although a group of subadult bugs on a nettle was interesting. There were several of these clusters, each consisting of a dozen or so individuals. They were Nettle Ground Bugs, Heterogaster urticae, and are found the length and breadth of Britain.

Groups of Nettle Ground Bugs were to be found throughout the pocket park

They were at their final instar stage. 17 August, 2019

A few weeks ago some native alder trees beside the pond had their female catkins attacked by the fungus known as Alder Tongue, Taphrina alni. A hundred or so yards away some Green Alders, Alnus viridis, were apparently unaffected. Today however, their catkins were also showing Alder Tongue. Green Alder is not native to the UK although it is found across Eurasia from Japan to Central Europe and also in North America.

Taphrina alni on Green Alder was a surprise. Stefen Hill Pocket Park.

What else caught my eye? A cherry leaf bore a leaf mine which hugged the leaf edge for some 20 millimetres, but a careful examination showed that it was the extremely common Lyonetia clerkella. This micro-moth, known as the Apple Leaf Miner, attacks a wide range of trees in the rose family such as cherry, apple, hawthorn and so on, but it will also be found mining birch leaves.

Cherry leaves were everywhere being mined by Lyonetia clerkella.

Stefen Hill Pocket Park, 17 August, 2019

Zeller's Midget, Phyllonorycter messaniella, had mined beech leaves and was a new moth species for the pocket park, but the excitement won't keep me awake at night.

The mines of Zeller's Midget were found on beech leaves.

Stefen Hill Pocket Park, 17 August, 2019

Oh dear, as my depressing school reports so often stated: Tony must try harder.

Garden goodies

The approach of autumn has seen more interesting plants come into bloom, some large and spectacular, other smaller and more delicate.


The most diminutive of these is the delightful Acis autumnalis. I have often looked for flowers around the western Mediterranean but Chris and I usually visit these areas in spring, too early for the Autumn Snowflake, as it is called, to be in bloom. 

Acis autumnalis, the Autumn Snowflake, seems very happy in our sink

garden. 17 August, 2019

I grow it in our sink garden where it is thriving in a gritty mix. It belongs to the Amaryllidaceae family, a complex group over which botanists have argues for decades, and certainly I intend to say nothing more about it.

Our Myrtle, Myrtus communis, is now in flower. I am at a loss to know why it is not  grown more widely. Perhaps at one time it was regarded as borderline hardy but, providing it is not planted on an exposed, windy hillside or a very wet site, it is easy. 

Our myrtle is becoming smothered in bloom. 17 August, 2019

The white flowers are very attractive, the aromatic foliage is evergreen (as are its relatives, Eucalyptus) and, if you are so inclined, the purple-black berries are edible. Myrtle jam is often seen for sale on the continent. What's not to like?

The most spectacular of the three plants considered in this blog was given to us by our friend Linda Talmadge, whose lovely B and B we visited a few days ago. It is a Clerodendron and is almost certainly Clerodendron bungei.  There seems to be confusion about the name, for in some books it is 'Clerodendrum' bungei.

Although Clerodendron bungei hails from China, it is clearly happy in

Daventry. 17 August, 2019

A native of China, this woody plant may be cut down in a hard winter but, as such weather conditions are increasingly rare, I'm sure it will be fine against our garage wall. Any disadvantages? Well yes, there are two.

The first concerns the foliage, which has an unpleasant smell when rubbed - so don't rub it. Simple. The other potential problem is more serious: it can be invasive, getting into places where it can be a nuisance, but I am growing our specimen in a tub. Again, simple.

The flowers are reputed to be very attractive to Humming Bird Hawkmoths. A visit from one of these would be lovely - but I won't hold my breath.

Late summer/early autumn, can be a lovely season in the garden.

Garden surprise!

For the last three weeks I have been puzzled by a plant which has appeared in our front garden. It had no label and so I decided it could be a weed, although our plant labels do have an annoying habit of disappearing. Birds perhaps?


Anyway, today I had my answer. It was Tricyrtis formosana.

The appearance of this toad lily was a surprise. Our garden at Stefen Hill,

Daventry. 12 August, 2019

It was planted last year and, the label having vanished, I had forgotten about it. These curious plants from south-east Asia are known as toad lilies. As can be seen, the petals have spotted leaves spotted like a toad, and this may be the origin of their name - although I am by no means convinced.

The unusual structure of their flowers has seen these plants placed at various times in five different families but for convenience it seems that most botanists place them in the lily family, Liliaceae.

The species is Tricyrtis formosanum, a variable but always attractive plant.

Growing next to the toad lily is a variety of Dianthus alpinus known as 'Joan's Blood'. It is perhaps a little past its best at the moment but is still a lovely plant. I suspect it is in fact a hybrid, but who the parents are I'm not sure.

Dianthus alpinus 'Joan's Blood' with delicately pencilled petals of pale and

 dark mauve stripes. Our garden. 12 August, 2019

I have been growing Eryngium bourgatii in our front garden. Despite it being a native of Morocco, Lebanon and other Mediterranean areas it is perfectly hardy and in fact it has now become too robust and will have to go. Instead I am growing a dwarf form of Eryngium planum called 'Blue Hobbit', a single plant of which I purchased about three years ago.

Eryngium planum 'Blue Hobbit'. It is a delightful plant for the rock

garden. 12 August, 2019

It seems very happy and has produced a few seedlings which are true to the parent, and a satisfying clump has now developed.

Staying with blue flowers, I am also blessed - or cursed - with a patch of Pratia pedunculata (sometimes referred to as Lobelia pedunculata). It is referred to on the RHS website as a 'thug', but what do I see on sale at the RHS gardens at Rosemoor last week? Yes, There it was, Pratia pedunculata.

Pratia pedunculata: avoid it like the plague. Our garden at Stefen Hill,

Daventry. 12 August, 2019

Hailing from Australia it is quite a pretty thing but every few weeks I am out in the front garden grubbing out parts of it.

Lastly Seseli montanum. This member of the carrot family was sold to me as Seseli montanum and although I at first had doubts it appears to have been correctly named. It is a close relative of our very rare native Moon Carrot, Seseli libanotis, which is a more robust plant.

Seseli montanum, from central and southern France. A rarely-grown but

delightful plant. 12 August, 2019

It has delicate feathery foliage, typical umbelliferous flowers and is altogether a very graceful plant. It has steadily grown but has so far failed to produce seedlings. It may be self-sterile.

I also grow the related and very rare British native Bunium bulbocastanum. Known as Great Pignut it too is a graceful plant with deeply dissected leaves giving a feathery appearance but it is now past the flowering stage. I must check the inflorescences for ripe seed.

But now for some weeding!

Abington Meadow, with postscript

Abington Meadow is quite a large area of River Nene floodplain on the southern perimeter of Northampton. Today it was the venue for a 'Bioblitz' - a meeting to which all recorders are invited in order to build up a comprehensive list of species present. Currently the list stands at 938 and given a reasonable day our combined efforts should see this total comfortably pass the 1000 mark.


I was only able to stay for a couple of hours and, shortly after leaving I ran into very heavy rain near Weedon. If this weather has affected the Abington area that will have put the kibosh on most recording.


Mints and their relatives were in full bloom and acted as a magnet for many insects. Unsurprisingly the commonest mint present was Water Mint, Mentha aquatica.


Water Mint was abundant in the flood plain. Abington Meadows,

11 August, 2019

It is common in  suitable habitats throughout Northants and was certainly familiar to John Clare: 

                   The brook resumes her summer dresses,

                   Purling* 'neath her grass and water-cresses,

                   And mint and flag-leaf swording high

                   Their blossom to the unheading sky.   

                                            Clare's Shepherd's Calendar, 1827 

Rather more interesting was Pennyroyal, Mentha pulegium. This site is one of only a handful of sites in Northants for this species. Nationally it is listed in the Red Data Book as 'Endangered' and prior to its discovery at Abington Meadows it was thought to be extinct in the county.

Pennyroyal is now flourishing at Abington Meadows

It has a very pungent odour when trodden on and once had a reputation as an abortifacient. Pennyroyal may be a corruption of puliol royal, the Norman name for the plant (after the Latin pulegium , a flea deterrent).

The Gipsywort, Lycopus europaeus, could easily be mistaken for a mint, and indeed is a close relative. It too favours wet areas and, along with mints, it was described by G.C.Druce as 'paludal' (Ref. 1). It is still quite common though perhaps less so than in Druce's day. It was once believed to be used by gipsies to further darken their skin and so pass as Africans, but there seems little evidence that this was really the case. (Ref. 2)

Gipsywort was common beside the river at Abington Meadows.

11 August, 2019

Despite being mint-like its jagged leaves seem to be odourless, unusual in a family, the Lamiaceae, which also includes lavender, sage, thyme, hyssop, horehound, marjoram and rosemary.

'What of insects?' I hear you cry. The large and handsome hornet mimic, Volucella zonaria, was present (and is a new record for the site) but for the rest it will require a spot of microscopy, meticulousness and midnight oil to sort them out.

* The word 'purling' in Northamptonshire dialect means 'tumbling'. My grandmother, if she saw someone fall to the ground, would say 'Whoops, she's gone a purler.'

Postscript  After going through specimens later I found that my efforts had added twelve more species to the list.

References

1.  Druce, G. Claridge (1930) The Flora of Northamptonshire. Arbroath, T. Buncle & Co

2.  Mabey, Richard (1996) Flora Britannica. Chatto & Windus