-
Crystal Brain – Exidia nucleata
The other day I was walking Wilf, my daughter’s dog, when he stopped to have a sniff in the leaves underneath the hedge. He was intent on finding something so I had a look around the trees. Without that stop I’d not have found my first Crystal Brain – Exidia nucleata growing (or is it…
-
Clouded Funnel
Walking in the local woods these week has led me to a number of new mushrooms that I’ve not seen before, and luckily these have not needed microscopy to give an identification. So in this case I’m able to write a little about one of those I have found. The Clouded Funnel, scientifically known as…
-
Andricus curvator
One of my regular strolls through the village takes me over a bridge that crosses the M4. Though noisy, it does afford access to the higher branches of the trees that grow along the motorway embankment below. In normal circumstances I’m left on the ground looking up at the branches way above my head, leaving…
-
Riverside Ballet
Admiring the wonders of nature in the month of May can become an absolute joy, provided the rainfall decides to take a break. During a walk along the vibrant River Wye, between Simmonds Yat and Kern Bridge, we were fortunate enough to witness a captivating spectacle —the graceful ballet of the Drake Mackerel Mayfly (Ephemera…
-
Imports are not always good
The right plant in the right place contributes to biodiversity within the surrounding environment. However, this is not always true when organisms are introduced into new environments and countries, often by mistake but sometimes on purpose. Azolla filialoides, is one such example. Azolla filiculoides, commonly known as Water Fern or Mosquito Fern, is a small…
-
Scales on the Bay
I was having a look at the Bay Tree out the back of the house last year and noticed some tiny light brown ‘things’ on some of the leaves. Looking closely they looked a little like scale insects it had seen only on indoor plants in the past. An even closer look seemed to confirm…
-
Common Tamarisk Moss – Thuidium tamariscinum
Now this is perhaps one of perhaps 20 bryophytes that I can identify easily, and it has to be my favourite, not because I know what it is but because it is beautiful. Thuidium tamariscinum has an attractive and graceful growth pattern. It typically grows in large mats or cushions on damp, acidic soil or…
-
Isothecium myosuroides – Slender Mouse-tail Moss
There are many phyla that are beyond my amateur ID skills, and mosses are towards the top of that list. There are times though when I do have a go with some of the more striking species. During a recent walk around the lush temperate rainforest of Cwm Rheidol I noticed that many of the…
-
Clouded Magpies in the Wood
I’ve only come across the Clouded Magpie – Abraxes sylvata once, and this was in August this year during a woodland walk between Chepstow and Tintern. It’s easy to see how this beautiful moth got its name with the markings on the creamy white wings looking just like dark clouds. The cryptic brown markings on…
-
Spittlebug Hunters
Walking along the dunes just west of Rhyl I spotted a beautiful wasp I’d not encountered before. Now this isn’t really a surprise when you consider that I am not very good at finding wasps. Those I do find are by lucky accident, and then I usually need to spend many hours or days trying…