A nice surprise

A very interesting walk can be taken from Byfield via 'Muddy Lane' (more officially known as Pit Lane) to Byfield Pool and Boddington Reservoir. It is a walk I have enjoyed many times over the years but yesterday Chris and I, together with our friend Lynda, made the journey in pursuit of a clump of orchids.

Lynda had located them a few days previously following a tip from 'Pom' Boddington (whose surname, incidentally, has nothing to do with Boddington Reservoir). Having walked a couple of hundred yards along Muddy Lane we turned south-west to follow the track-bed of the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction railway. It was a locally valuable but generally uneconomic line which, having left Byfield continued, via Aston-le-Walls and Fenny Compton, to Stratford. There was a tiny halt at Aston-le-Walls from 1910 to 1953 which appears to have been mostly used for the transportation of sheep and cattle.

One of the last times the track was used was for a specially organised tour,

 here seen near Aston le Walls. Date unknown.

The line was single track and therefore our path was narrow. Nevertheless a steady stream of walkers has kept this (unofficial) footpath open and clear of brambles, etc. Few plants of interest were noted, the most exciting being a few specimens of the foul-smelling Black Horehound, Ballota nigra and some spikes of Weld, Reseda luteola.

Black Horehound plants were present here and there
beside the old track. 28 July, 2020

Eventually we turned off the old railway track and began skirting the edge of Parson's Spinney. Finally we found our quarry and the plant in question proved to be Broad-leaved Helleborine, Epipactis helleborine. Interestingly in 2009 it was found in Daventry, again beside the disused railway there, although in general it is an orchid of old, even ancient, woodland.

Broad-leaved Helleborine on the edge of Parson's

 Spinney, near Byfield. 28 July, 2020

We discovered ten spikes but there is little doubt that a careful examination would have revealed several more. Lynda told us that she had noticed some growing in an adjacent cornfield - a surprising habitat.

Botanically this is a little-known area and an observant botanist could possibly find many species of more-than-usual interest.

Thanks to Lynda we had a very enjoyable walk and I returned well pleased. Once home I sent the record off to Brian Laney, Northamptonshire County Botanical Recorder.

If only...

If only DDC (Daventry District Council) could be persuaded to hold back in the incessant mowing of the roadside verges hereabouts.


I popped out early today to post a letter, a walk of less than thirty yards, and for curiosity checked out the plants in the close-cut sward. There was Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), White Clover (Trifolium repens), Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris), Field Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), Dove's Foot Cranesbill (Geranium molle), Ribwort Plantain (Plantago lanceolata), Common Cat's-ear (Hypochoeris radicata), Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens), Lesser Trefoil (Trifolium dubium), Dandelions (Taraxacum spp) and, of course, Daisy (Bellis perennis). Eleven colourful species within a few paces (ok, Ribwort Plantain isn't colourful but you can't have everything). Apart from one plant of Broad-leaved Dock, Rumex obtusifolius, I saw no plants that could be perceived as a potential nuisance.


Anyway, postal duties completed I strolled over to our local pocket park, passing on the way a hedge of Box, Buxus sempervirens, and I took the opportunity to (badly) photograph its curious fruits.

Box is currently carrying its curious fruits, Stefen Hill, Daventry.

28 July, 2020

It gives its name to the Buxaceae, a family which, to quote Colin Tudge (Ref. 1) 'has not been easy to place'. Despite lacking latex some taxonomists have seen a link to the Rubber Tree family, the Euphorbiaceae, but that was never satisfactory. It is now seen as allied to the proteas, which on the face of it seems equally odd.

As so often seems to happen, dark clouds obscured the sun as I entered Stefen Hill Pocket Park and the brisk wind carried a few raindrops. But was I deterred? Well, yes, and a few minutes I turned on my heel and, after directing a few choice words in the direction of the Hyades, I headed home.

However, in those precious minutes I took a look at the Honeysuckle, Lonicera periclymenum, as it scrambled through some shrubs. Its scarlet berries were intact, as they are in my own garden. Succulent and tempting they may look, but in our back garden they are ignored and the local blackbirds are instead stripping the fruit from our blueberries.

Honeysuckle fruits seem to be failing in their attempt to attract birds.

Stefen Hill Pocket Park, 28 July, 2020

The leaves of the honeysuckle had been mined by Aulagromyza cornigera. This fly, a member of the Agromyzidae, is common enough, but pleasingly was a new species for the pocket park.

Nor was I finished, for a few paces further alone a plant of Common Ragwort,  had been mined by another Agromyzid fly, Liriomyza erucifolii. This too was a new record for the site, bringing up the 350 mark. Leaf miners are ideally identified by obtaining the organism responsible, but by carefully examining the plant species, position of the mine, its shape, and the distribution of the frass (poo) many can be determined with accuracy. 

Liriomyza erucifolii mines on ragwort. Stefen Hill Pocket Park.

28 July. 2020

I netted a few flies too, so my visit wasn't entirely a waste of time, but a reliably warm and sunny day would be welcome (ask the cricketers currently playing in the Third Test). Perhaps tomorrow...

Reference

Tudge, Colin (2005) The Secret Life of Trees  Penguin Books (A fascinating book to which I constantly return.)

Cinnabars and Urchins

I was very pleased, when walking, in our neighbourhood today, to find evidence that the recent wildlife campaigns, basically calling upon people to 'forget the lawnmower' are having an effect. Here and there Chris and I have chanced upon gardens where the owners have done just that, with remarkable results.



Yeomanry Close, Daventry. 19 July, 2020

It may be that the bulk of organisms that take advantage of the new habitat are commonplace, but all have a place in the resultant food webs. Imagine the delight a child - or indeed, an adult - will get from seeing cinnabar caterpillars on groundsel and ragworts.

Caterpillars of the Cinnabar, Tyria jacobaeae. Yeomanry Way, Daventry.

19 July, 2020

And of course, if they see the imago, that is a bonus.

The Cinnabar imago is a lovely creature.

Given time many other organisms will move in and one of the creatures which could benefit is the hedgehog. I was reminded of this when, a little later, I ended up in our local pocket park. I was told recently that hedgehogs, or to use the older vernacular term of urchins, are frequent in Stefen Hill Pocket Park at dusk. But I am rarely out that late so to find a specimen in the daytime, as I did today, was a pleasant surprise.

Hedgehog, Erinaceus europaeus, in Stefen Hill Pocket Park.

19 July,2020

It was quite a young specimen and was out on the grass in a potentially vulnerable situation where dogs (of which there are many) could bother it, so I moved it into a rather concealed area of long grass.

Each year, around now, the female catkins on the alder trees show that they have been infected by alder tongue, Taphrina alni. Of course the tongue-like growth has been developing for many weeks but it is now that they become conspicuous. Given a few more weeks they could turn red or even purple. These female catkins are often referred to as cones, and indeed in winter they do look cone-like but structurally they are quite different.

The tongues of the fungus, Taphrina alni, are now obvious on female

alder catkins.

There are several apple trees dotted around the pocket park and the fruit, though not to the taste of most people, can become an important autumn/winter food for thrushes and other creatures.

Apple trees are carrying a heavy crop of fruit.

Stefen Hill Pocket Park, 19 July, 2020

I examined the fruit of one tree but in truth the foliage was more interesting. It had been mined by the larvae of (probably) Callisto denticulella.

Known as the Garden Apple Slender, this moth is frequent in orchards and gardens over much of Europe.

The Garden Apple Slender

Maybe sometimes I'll be able to find the rather attractive imago.





Meadowland

Attached to Byfield Pocket Park, and officially part of the park, is a patch of meadowland, covering maybe 300 square metres. At least it was meadowland, occasionally grazed by sheep, until about three years ago, when someone made a serious misjudgement and authorised the use of the land for the tipping of hedge clippings et cetera. It was the et cetera bit that caused the trouble. The land is now a jungle of head-high hogweed, thistles (both creeping and spear), nettles, docks and rank grasses, growing through mounds of wood chippings. From these chippings Shaggy Inkcaps, Coprinus comatus, were also growing.

In the 'meadow 'the hogweed was head-high. Adjacent to Byfield Pocket

Park. 16 July, 2020

Now the parish council want to do something about it, and have asked me to do a survey of the area.

Toadstools, Coprinus comatus, grow in the wood chippings.

Meadow area, Byfield Pocket Park. 16 July, 2020

In fact to get down to the plant-soil interface - where many organisms of interest are found - will be rather tricky. I must give the matter some thought - not an activity which comes easily to me.


Of course the hogweed umbels were being visited by numerous insects, particularly hoverflies such as the so-called Batman Hoverfly, Myathropa florea.

Myathropa florea was common on the hogweed umbels.

16 July, 2020

The thistles were receiving bumblebees and the occasional butterfly including a Large White, a Gatekeeper and a rather dark Ringlet, probably a male.

A solitary Gatekeeper paused on some dock before passing on...

I secured a very large number of insects but all are likely to be common and previously recorded from the main part of the pocket park.

… and a Ringlet made a very brief visit. 16 July, 2020.

On the whole my visit was rather disappointing but I am optimistic that in the long run a good range of invertebrates will be recorded.


In fact my first visit secured 30 species of insect and two spiders. Two of the insects (a click beetle and a small bug) were new to the pocket park complex. 



 

Foxhill Farm: around the big pond

A lovely, sunny day, so I decided it was time to pay another visit to Foxhill Farm, this time concentrating on the new lake. I got off to a bad start as I have mislaid my pond-dipping net, but I went ahead anyway.


There is a broad margin of vegetation around the pond and it was supporting large numbers of insects. Every thistle and sow thistle was covered in flies - but they were overwhelmingly of one species: Eriothrix rufomaculata. This is one of the first species a would-be Tachinid enthusiast will encounter, the size if a rather large house fly and with its rust-red abdominal flanks it is instantly recognisable. (In truth there are a couple of other species broadly similar but they are much less common.)

Eriothrix rufomaculata is abundant during the summer months

The Tachinidae are flies with parasitic larvae which are in fact usually parasitoids, i.e. their attack leads to the death of the 'host'. In the case of E. rufomaculata the host is usually a caterpillar of a crambid moth, a tiger moth, a lappet moth or one of the ermine moths.


Clumps of Scentless Mayweed, Tripleurospermum inodorum, were particularly favoured by the Eriothrix.

Scentless Mayweed formed large clumps on the land surrounding the

pond. Foxhill Farm, 12 July, 2020

This extremely common weed of disturbed or waste ground flourishes perhaps because it is unpalatable to livestock. Apparently its sap contains an anti-viral agent that inhibits the growth of polio and herpes viruses. The flowers are too tatty to give it garden merit, but that doesn't bother insects.

Scentless Mayweed has rather tatty flowers but are much visited by

small flies.

I was pleased to note that Purple Loosestrife, Lythrum salicaria,  had gained a foothold. It is certainly less common than a century ago  but is still frequent beside suitable bodies of water.

The Purple Loosestrife belongs to the Lythraceae family.

Foxhill Farm, 12 July, 2020

Oddly enough Dotted Loosestrife, Lysimachia punctata, was also growing at the pond side. It is not at all related to Purple Loosestrife and is a garden perennial which has become well established in many locations. Unlike the  native Yellow Loosestrife, Lysimachia vulgaris, its leaves are stalked, i.e. with petioles.




The Yellow Loosestrife is a member of the Primrose family, Primulaceae.

Foxhill Farm, 12 July, 2020

Oddly enough, the walk to and from the pond took me through a hayfield overwhelmingly consisting of Rye Grass, Lolium perenne or a closely related taxon bred for the grazing.

It was predictably poor in insects but yielded many spiders, largely of the Money Spider family, Linyphiidae. These are a microscope job and will be dealt with when time allows.(In fact they turned out to be largely Erigone atra.)


This pond will ultimately become important for wildlife but was only constructed a couple of years ago. We must be patient

Grey days

So far July has been cool, grey and windy. It really won't do! Chris and I are still limiting our outings to safe and little-frequented areas' I am a little more adventurous perhaps, but Chris is very vulnerable and plays it safe.


Stefen Hill Pocket Park received a visit today but I didn't tarry. I did a little desultory sweeping of grassy areas and noted a leaf mine on a Meadow Buttercup, Ranunculus acris.

The mine of Phytomyza ranunculivora on Meadow Buttercup.

Stefen Hill Pocket Park, 6 July, 2020

It appeared to be the work of a phytomyza and once home I confirmed that it was Phytomyza ranunculivora. No surprise there but it was new for the pocket park.

I had netted a brown, dark-headed beetle which I initially failed to recognise. In truth it did look familiar but not until I was home could I confirm that it was one of the Darkling Beetles, in this case the common Lagria hirta. It is sometimes placed in its own family. the Lagriidae.

Lagria hirta was in a grass-litter mix beneath trees. Stefen Hill Pocket

Park.. 6 July, 2020.  Photo via Google

As the specific name suggests, it is a distinctly hairy beetle but it was a little worn and its hirsute nature wasn't obvious in the field.  Excuses, excuses! But it too was new for the pocket park.

The Horse Chestnuts are becoming disfigured by the depredations of the Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner Moth, Cameraria ohridella.

I gathered a handful of the worst-affected leaves and took them home. The moth is attacked by a number of parasitoids, mostly wasps, so I am keeping the leaves to see what emerges. So far five insects have emerged and they are all...Cameraria ohridella. Bugger! But I'll keep the leaves for another two or three weeks.




Bumblebees, after what I felt was a slow start, are now present in numbers, with the Buff-tailed Bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, particularly common, working bramble blossom in droves.



Buff-tailed Bumblebee on bramble blossom.

Stefen Hill Pocket Park, Daventry

Three days later and I still haven't got around to checking out all my specimens. This evening perhaps...

Despite the weather...

A bright start to the day proved deceptive; I almost called off a planned visit to Kentle Wood but, as it turned out, my visit was worthwhile.


I have remarked before how the track leading to Kentle Wood is quite as interesting as the wood itself. Today reinforced the point. A clump of Musk Mallow greeted me as I got out of the car; I cannot recall having seen this species flourishing in so many places as it is this year.

Musk Mallow, Malva moschata, blooming along Brown's Road, Daventry.

7 July, 2020

Only a few metres away was a reminder of just why Rhagonycha fulva is often called 'the Hogweed Bonking Beetle'. This very common insect seems to congregate on hogweed, the large umbels acting as a trysting place.

Rhagonycha fulva was in copula on Hogweed, Brown's Road,

Daveentry. 7 July, 2020

Likewise, it was made abundantly clear today, as I approached a line of poplar trees, why these plants are referred to as 'cottonwoods' in North America. The 'cotton' consists of the long hairs on the female flower bracts and as I passed the trees drifts of this material bore seeds to - who knows? Poplars include aspens and, along with willows, they are members of the Salicaceae family.

Poplars with their cottony catkins. Brown's Road, Daventry.

7 July, 2020

Plants of Creeping Thistle were heavily infested with black aphids and had attracted the attention of numbers of 7-spot ladybirds. As my photograph shows, they were present in imago and larval form.

7-spot Ladybirds with, bottom right, a larva. Brown's Road, Daventry.

7 July, 2020

Despite these distractions I did eventually make it to Kentle Wood, arriving at the same time as light rain began to fall. I had brought an umbrella with me and I began employing it immediately - but for insect colleting - with a dog rose as my first target. I was delighted when a nice Herald Moth, Scoliopteryx libatrix, dropped into my brolly.

A Herald Moth seemed happy to stay in my umbrella.

Kentle Wood, Daventry. 7 July, 2020

With its warm russet and grey wings I regard it as a very attractive insect, not at all rare, but always nice to see. It is easy to recognise and, if there is any doubt, the deeply scalloped rear edge to the wings are a clincher. The generic name comes from the Greek skolios meaning 'crooked' or 'bent', thus scoliopteryx is 'crooked wing'.

The Herald Moth has scalloped rear edges to the forewings.

Kentle Wood, Daventry. 7 July, 2020

The rain eased off and a jay screamed in nearby bushes. Insects re-emerged from sheltered spots and a handsome hoverfly visited bramble flowers. It was a male Volucella pellucens, known as the Pellucid Hoverfly. It is among Britain's largest flies, and its size, combined with the ivory-white band across the abdomen make it a striking insect.

Volucella pellucens visits a branble flower, Kentle Wood, Daventry.

7 July, 2020

I was rather pleased to find the mines of a moth, Coleophora fuscocuprella, on a hazel leaf. It is known as the Hazel Case-bearer but I failed to find the insect itself which is rather elusive, being drab and easily overlooked. There are only thirty or so records from the U.K. but in reality it could be quite widespread. To judge the opinions of others I have placed a photograph on Facebook and so far have received two 'thumbs up'.

Hazel Case-bearer Moth? It would be a very interesting record.

Kentle Wood, Daventry, 7 July, 2020

The cherry crop on the much-planted Prunus avium is clearly heavy and ripening fast. I was surprised to see no birds feeding on the fruit. However, the weather is set to deteriorate and they will probably begin stripping the fruit.

As usual, I returned home with an interesting mix of flies, beetles and a surprising caddis fly - which I will almost certainly fail to identify. 

Wet basin treasures

A modestly-sized housing development has recently been completed - or almost completed - along Badby Road West, in Daventry. Very sensibly a stormwater pond, aka wet basin, has been included as part of the scheme. Measuring about 40 metres by 6 metres it is obviously capable of holding a great deal of water, but the basin is currently dry and, along with the perimeter, is developing a fine display of weeds. (At least, I think it is fine; I suspect householders overlooking the area fail to share my opinion.) Covid-19 restrictions have led me to give the area closer scrutiny.

Rank weeds now occupy the perimeter of the stormwater basin. Lovely!

Badby Road East, Daventry. 4 July, 2020

A stroll through the area revealed nothing unusual in botanical terms although White Campion, Silene latifolia, was present, a species I rarely see in the Daventry area. Unlike Red Campion, S.dioica, it is not native but is a long-established neophyte.

Although White Campion is well-established I find it tends to occupy

disturbed ground. 4 July, 2020

A wide range of insects has been drawn to the thistles, clovers and so on.

Looking west across the sunken area of the stormwater basin.

Butterflies flittered about the despite the occasional spot of drizzle, and included the Meadow Brown, Ringlet and Large White.

Large White, Pieris brassicae, re-fuelling at Spear Thistle.

Badby Road West, Daventry. 4 July, 2020

There were no brassicas to attract the latter but they were content to re-fuel, largely at the Spear Thistles, Cirsium vulgare, although there were plenty of Creeping Thistles, Cirsium arvense, available.

Creeping Thistle was common too. Badby Road West, Daventry

Broad-leaved Dock, Rumex obtusifolius, is abundant on waste ground and was present in large quantities. Dock Bug, Coreus marginatus, was common of course but of more interest was the Tortoise Bug, Eurygaster testudinaria, swept from grass. For many years this species was confused with Eurygaster maura but distinguishing characters have now been established and it is clear that E. maura is far less common and largely confined to the south-east. Even so, Northamptonshire is close to the limit of the range for E. testudinaria and it is always pleasing to find it.




Tortoise Bug in its final instar. Badby Road West, Daventry.

4 July, 2020

There can be no doubt that the area will be tidied up but for the moment I will enjoy its goodies. I have lots of specimens to identify and there are unlikely to be any rarities but, hey - carpe diem!

A female Oedemera nobilis enjoys the Spear Thistle flowers.