Whew, what a scorcher!

I set out for my walk early today, having received dire predictions regarding temperatures later. Nor did I walk far either, once again only making it as far as the local pocket park.


A plant of Tutsan, Hypericum androsaemum, greeted me as I entered. Its status here is uncertain; it is probably not native to Northamptonshire, but occurs frequently as a garden escape, the seeds probably spread by birds. I understand it can be invasive in places but here it is very welcome.

I sought shelter from the already blazing sun by checking out the foliage of a Field Maple. One leaf bore a mine which I didn't immediately recognise so I took it home for further examination.



Field Maple bearing a mine made by Heterarthrus wuestenii.

Stefen Hill Pocket Park, 25 June, 2020

 It turned out to be the work of a sawfly, Heterarthrus wuestenii and, as there are only about 30 records of it on NBN* maps I was rather pleased. Truth be told, it is probably quite widespread but, I suspect, easily overlooked.

We have arrived at that time of the year when the Horse Chestnut leaves are being ravaged by the moth Cameraria ohridella. I obviously do not need to include a picture since, sadly, we all know what the damage looks like, and I do so only to compare the leaves to those of Aesculus carnea.

The moth Cameraria ohridella has ravaged the leaves of this Horse
Chestnut tree. Stefen Hill Pocket Park, 25 June, 2020

This second species (actually it is not a true species being a hybrid between Aesculus hippocastanum and A. pavia and should be written as A. x carnea) was growing about sixty metres away and the foliage was untouched. It is sometimes attacked but the consequences are far less severe.

In contrast the leaves of a nearby Aesculus  x carnea were

untouched.

The cherries are now bearing fruit. They are clearly the native Wild Cherry or Gean, Prunus avium. It is a species found genuinely wild only about three miles away but here they may in part be planted.

The fruits of Wild Cherry are now ripening. Stefen Hill Pocket Park,

25 June, 2020

They are eagerly eaten by thrushes, bullfinches and various other birds and the cherry stones are obvious in their droppings. The poo I photographed was only about fifty metres away but this is obviously a very effective means of distributing the seeds. During their passage through the bird's gut does the hard outer coating of the cherry stones get softened?

The cherry stones are very obvious in bird droppings.

A highlight of the morning was a Marbled White. Is this butterfly on the increase? It seems to have had two or three good years recently. It briefly settled on bramble blossom but was away again before I could bring my camera into action. On arriving home I checked the Stefen Hill species list and found that it failed to include Gatekeeper, Ringlet or Meadow Brown, although I see all of these butterflies regularly. The arthropod species list for the site currently stands at 328 but should probably be far higher. Careless! 


* National Biological Network