WildlifeTring

Wintery Abstracts

2012-01-31T17:34:00.000Z

On a November walk at Ivinghoe Beacon a few years ago, my eye was caught by the way a light dusting of snow created wintery abstract patterns on a bleak stubble field.

Stubble Field, Ivinghoe Beacon (29/10/2008)

Postcard From The Himalayas

2012-01-30T16:17:00.001Z

The Himalayas above Dharamasala, Himachal Pradesh, India (09/01/2012)

I have just returned from a rather fraught few weeks, travelling and birding in Northwest India. Unfortunately I was plagued by heavy snow in the Himalayas, which curtailed many of my plans as roads soon became impassable or were closed down. Despite the problems the snow caused it did make for some spectacular scenery and drove many birds down from the mountains into the lower valleys, making the birding very interesting. Once out of the mountains I thought I would be leaving the poor weather behind me, but I was in for a shock as heavy morning fogs and rain set about ruining my plans and making birding very difficult. Add to that a couple of bus breakdowns, train journeys which ended up arriving hours late and to cap it all being bitten by a stray dog and I was beginning to get the feeling that I was cursed! I had so much bad luck that I half expected the plane to crash on the way home so it was quite a relief to touch down at Heathrow in one piece!

On my first morning back, head still blurry from jet lag and lack of sleep, but feeling the need for some fresh air, we wandered over to College lake to try and see the Little Auk Alle alle that had been found there the previous afternoon. This was a really bizarre record and I was quite keen to see the bird as soon as possible as I knew that Alcids have a habit of going belly up when they turn up in land. Sadly we arrived too late. The poor little thing had pulled itself up onto the shore and had been promptly pecked to death by two Carrion Crows. A rescue bid had been made but to no avail, and all I got to see was the tiny dead bird in the hand. Quite sad really. To cheer myself up we stopped of at Startops Reservoir to try and find the long staying Snow Bunting that had been in residence since December. We soon found it feeding unobtrusively on the same stretch of stony shoreline that I had last seen the bird a month before. For second it felt as if I had not been away at all.

Frosty Morning

2011-12-11T18:25:00.001Z

Frosty morning at Weston Turville, Buckinghamshire (04/01/2010)

Brown Hairstreak

2011-12-11T17:59:00.002Z

Brown Hairstreak Thecla betulae - Whitecross Woods (30/07/2011)

The Brown Hairstreak is an elusive butterfly that I have struggled to photograph for years, that is until this July when at last I struck gold at Whitecross Woods in Oxfordshire. On two previous visits a couple of males had stayed resolutely at the top of a large Ash 'master tree' feeding on aphid honeydew and waiting for females, so I was not feeling very confident. Wandering slowly down one of the flowery rides enjoying the sun, I was surprised to bump into a couple of birding friends whom I had not seen for some time. After catching up on news they told me about a spot where a Brown Hairstreak had apparently been seen earlier that morning. They had spent a fruitless hour searching the area and had just given up. After parting company I hurried down the ride to the place they had described and instantly found a beautiful fresh male nectaring on a Knapweed flower. I couldn't believe my luck! The butterfly was incredibly obliging and at one point I encouraged it to walk on to my finger and so that I could reposition it on a better flower head. After a while it flew into a nearby Salix to rest and I realised guiltily that I should try to tell my friends, and not having their phone numbers hurried off to catch them up, only to find that they had already left. After mating females descend to lay eggs but male Brown Hairstreaks rarely descend to feed so I felt especially privileged to spent so much time with such an obliging and pretty little butterfly. Without doubt one of my wildlife 'moments' of the year!

Brown Hairstreak Thecla betulae - Whitecross Woods (30/07/2011)

The First Frost

2011-11-29T16:11:00.001Z

We woke up on Monday morning to the first frost of the Winter. It didn't turn out to be a hard frost and as the temperature rapidly rose it soon faded away. It seems hard to believe that this time last year there was snow on the ground and the country was in the grip of the big freeze that would last until the end of the year. In complete contrast, with Westerlies dominating, the weather this Autumn has been mild, wet and windy.

Frozen reeds (Western Turville Reservoir)

There'll be Bluebirds over...

2011-11-27T12:34:00.001Z

A few days ago I found a copy of Local Life, a free magazine of 'news and views', nestling on top of the day's consignment of junkmail that had been violently forced through my letterbox. Packed with gardening tips, church news and adverts for mobile hairdressers, school fetes, (a fete worse than death) and Dog-walking services, the arrival of this exciting magazine is always highly anticipated in our household! As I trod the well worn path to the recycling bin I glanced at the front cover and it stopped me in my tracks. An attractive seasonal scene featured couple of Bluebirds at a bird table feasting on Mealworms, a photograph obviously taken in America. A quick glance at Sibley's Birds of North America confirmed, as I had suspected, that they were female Eastern Bluebirds. Obviously the twit who had chosen the photo had seen the reddish breasts and had thought that they were Robins! Unless of course there are a couple of Bluebirds lurking in a garden in the Tring area! Now that really would be something.....

Late Butterflies and Dragonflies

2011-11-17T17:38:00.001Z

The butterfly and dragonfly season just seems to go and on. On Sunday morning with the weather unseasonably warm, and we decided to take a long walk in the Chilterns, the plan being to end up at one of our favourite pubs. It felt more like a spring day and I was not surprised to see a few Red Admirals, a couple of Peacocks and a Brimstone out enjoying the mellow sun. Red Admirals are immigrants from Southern Europe and North Africa but there is now evidence that they are successfully overwintering in Britain. I recently saw a photograph of a Red Admiral resting on a snowdrop, taken in January! I was much more surprised to see a male Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum out and about. The flight period for this familiar little dragonfly is from late June to late October, making this a very late individual. Only a few days ago I came across a Migrant Hawker patrolling a pond in a garden I was working in - another late dragonfly.

A Red Admiral was out in the late afternoon sun today, probably my latest ever butterfly record and possibly not my last sighting of the year as there are few more mild days to come. It certainly makes the Winter seem shorter!

Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum - male

Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum - female

Murderous Mute Swans

2011-10-31T21:19:00.001Z

On Saturday morning with a cold North-westerly wind blowing in my face, I whiled away an hour or so on the jetty at Wilstone Reservoir, swapping news with Steve, a birding friend from Tring. We were watching a Water Pipit threading a path through a gaggle of sleeping Shovellers, as it worked it's way busily along the water's edge, when something rather strange caught my eye. For a few seconds I couldn't work out what was happening. A Mute Swan had clambered onto the back off another Swan and was pecking violently at it's neck and head as the half submerged victim swam slowly towards the spit in a desperate bid to escape. This proved to be a bad move as the stricken bird soon became beached in the shallow water and unable to break free, lay prostrate, neck outstretched as it's assailant rained down blows and attempted to hold it's head under water. Several other curious Swans soon gathered at the scene of the crime and I feared that they were going to join in the attempted murder, but instead they became very territorial and set about squabbling with each other. Steve told me that he had witnessed Mute Swans trying to drown each other before and had once seen a man in a rowing boat repeatedly beating a Swan with an oar in a bid to persuade it to release it's victim. We had begun to talk about the possibility of making a strategic rescue bid when the aggressor suddenly seemed to lose interest and stepped off it's bedraggled victim, who waddled unsteadily onto the spit, only to be chased away by another Swan. Many people believe that nature should be allowed to take it's course but I am a confirmed intervener, so I was relieved when the situation resolved itself without our help.

Eurasian Coot

2011-10-27T17:19:00.000+01:00

I took these photos of an oddly marked Coot at Wilstone Reservoir way back in October 2009, so was quite surprised to see the same bird again a few days ago. Coot numbers are building up at the reservoirs, probably encouraged by the low water levels, with at least 1500 at Wilstone recently.

Eurasian Coot Fulica atra - Wilstone Reservoir (18/10/09)

Red Admiral

2011-10-23T17:39:00.001+01:00

Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta (5/7/2008)

This morning I found a beautiful Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta, basking lazily on a clump of flowering ivy in the mellow late Autumn sun. It has been a good year for these elegant butterflies and there are still plenty on the wing in Gardens and Orchards taking advantage of the mild October weather. Sadly, it looks as if the butterfly year is about to end with the weather forecast to turn cold, windy and wet next week. It will be a long wait until Spring when the first Brimstones are on the wing again!

Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta (5/7/2008)

Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta (19/7/2006)

In The Pines

2011-09-29T19:54:00.001+01:00

''In the Pines, In the Pines,

Where the sun never shines''

The Triffids - In the Pines, 1986

Pine plantations can be dull and depressing places, devoid of life and sound. The sun struggles to penetrate the dense evergreen canopy and little grows on a forest floor that is often cloaked in a thick blanket of dead needles. This photograph was taken in Baldwin's Wood, near Wendover in early March this year. The winter sun lighting up the bright green moss at the base of the trees brings some welcome colour to the otherwise gloomy scene.

Baldwin's Wood, near Wendover (05/03/2011)

Adonis Blue

2011-09-28T20:56:00.000+01:00

I've come to the conclusion that the Blues are some of my favourite Butterflies. Maybe it's because they are such a familiar and welcome sight dancing over the grassy slopes of the Tring area or perhaps it's because they provide a real identification challenge, as anyone who has been butterflying in Southern Europe will know only too well. Maybe it is that these tiny glittering jewels are so redolent of high Summer in England. Whatever the reason there is no doubt that of all the Blues, the most beautiful must be the sky blue Adonis. I have spent many hours this summer photographing these glorious little butterflies at Radnage, near Princes Risborough. The small population on the grassy south facing slope above the village has been in decline recently but this year made a spectacular recovery, with a particularly strong second brood in August and early September. Sadly, the late summer weather was not kind, with constant cool nagging wind and low light levels, which suppressed butterfly activity and made photography a bit of a challenge. The Butterflies were often buried deep in the grass or clinging on for dear life to wildly shaking grasses and flowers. It took several trips to Radnage and a huge amount of patience before I had some pictures I was happy with. The Adonis Blue is our rarest blue, having suffered a long term decline due to agricultural intensification, so it is great to know that it's numbers are now rising thanks to careful land management and grazing. Losing such a beautiful butterfly would be unthinkable.

Adonis Blue Lysandra bellargus (Radnage, 21/08/2011)

Incombe Hole

2011-09-25T22:16:00.001+01:00

September has flown by and summer is slipping into Autumn. A music festival in Dorset and then a holiday in Norfolk has left me little time to get out and about locally and of course the penalty for taking time off when you are self-employed is that there is always a mountain of work to catch up with. Things have calmed down now and on Saturday morning I decided to head for the hills and spend a couple of hours at Incombe Hole, a narrow, steep-sided valley just south of Ivinghoe Beacon. The trees and scrub at the bottom of the Hole are excellent for migrant passerines and I was spurred on by the news that a friend had found a Firecrest in the area earlier that morning. It was a windy morning but in the relative calm of the valley it was obvious that there was a lot of activity. Blackcaps gorged themselves on Elderberries and several Chiffchaffs flitted restlessly through the bushes, a large flock of Mistle Thrushes burst angriliy from the trees and a Raven kronked lazily overhead, but there was no sign of the Firecrest. Birding was curtailed for a while, when a noisy group of people climbed down the slope and milled about at the bottom for a while, before realising that they couldn't think of anything to do and then climbed noisily back up again. I occupied myself for a while with the late Summer butterflies that had been encouraged out by the warm weather. Speckled Woods danced in the morning sun, a very faded and ragged Common Blue basked on a patch of bare earth, a few Small Heaths flitted about and this beautiful fresh Brimstone Gonepteryx ramni perched for a while on a Clustered Bellflower Campanula glomerata.

Brimstone Gonepteryx ramni (24/09/2011)

Despite the warm weather the seasons are changing and the signs of Autumn are everywhere. The dry chalky slopes are still studded with Clustered Bellflower, Autumn Gentian and Devilsbit Scabious, but the flowers are slowly fading away. The Whitebeam Trees are laden with bright red berries, the Hawthorn bushes are turning brown and a multitude of Mushrooms are exploding through the soil. This pristine Dung-heaped Ink Cap Coprinelluss cinereus, growing from some Sheep droppings, caught my eye. This common mushroom, also known as Grey Shag has a conical white cap, covered in flaky white scales, that gradually turns a smoky grey as it expands.

Dung-heap Ink Cap Coprinelluss cinereus (24/09/2011)

Late Summer Butterflies

2011-09-25T20:29:00.000+01:00

Adonis Blue Lysandra bellargus (Radnage, 21/08/2011)

Silver-spotted Skipper Hesperia comma (Aston Rowant, 14/08/2011)

Brown Hairstreak Thecla betulae (30/07/2011)

Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon (Radnage, 15/08/2011)

Cornfield Flowers

2011-08-28T16:44:00.010+01:00

Common Poppies Papaver rhoeas and Cornflowers Centaurea cyanus (14/06/2008)

These plants were all photographed at the College Lake Cornfield project, which is an attempt to conserve several rare and plants, such as Corncockle and Pheasants Eye, both sadly extinct in the wild in Britain. The small cornfield, which is cultivated traditionally using vintage farm equipment, is at it's most colourful in June and July, and it is a sobering thought that not so long ago our arable fields were full of these beautiful plants. Tragically, intensive agriculture and the relentless drive for cheaper food means that sights like this have been lost forever from our countryside.

Common Corncockle Agrostemma githago (26/06/2008)

Pheasant's Eye Adonis annua (06/06/2010)

Cornflower Centaurea cyanus (20/06/2008)

Crested Cow-wheat Melampyrum cristatum (06/06/2010)

Yellow Bird's-nest

2011-08-25T21:26:00.010+01:00

Yellow Bird's-nest Monotropa hypopitys, also known as Dutchman's Pipe or Pinesap, is a strange herbaceous plant completely devoid of functional leaves and unlike most plants, containing no chlorophyll. It is a saprophyte, obtaining it's food from decaying organic material in the soil by forming a mycorrhiza (symbiotic relationship) with fungi that have formed a mycorrhiza with nearby trees. In this way the Yellow Bird's-nest is able to feed without the need for photosynthesis. The tiny fleshy plants are between 10cm to 35cm, flowering in woodland from early summer to mid autumn, the small bell-like flowers drooping before becoming erect as the plant begins to fruit. Plants that flower in summer are tinged yellow, whereas those that flower in autumn are coloured pink. I found this lone plant whilst attempting to photograph Narrow-lipped Helleborines on a steep, slippery roadside bank near Princes Risborough. The tiny plant was just peeping through the leaf litter and could have been easily overlooked - in fact I nearly trod on it. I revisited the site a week later and the plant had grown to about 3 cms and I was able to confirm it's I.D and take a few photographs.

Yellow Bird's-nest Monotropa hypopitys (August 2011)

Great Green Bush-cricket

2011-08-22T18:33:00.008+01:00

I came across this beast a couple of weeks ago, whilst hunting fruitlessly for Adonis Blues on the grassy slopes above Radnage village. I was surprised to bump into a friend whom I had not seen for some time, also searching for butterflies. Confidently claiming that he could hear a Great Green Bush-cricket Tettigonia viridissima singing above the hum of Meadow and Field Grasshoppers he set about tracking one down and soon found one clinging to a tangle of grass stems. Grudgingly, I had to admit to being rather impressed! It was a good lesson in the importance of learning the songs of Grasshoppers and Crickets if you want to find and identify them. Frustratingly, it took me ages to tune in to the loud, high pitched song, especially as high above us two Red Kites were screaming furiously as they harried and chased a Common Buzzard. At about 5 centimetres long the Great Green Bush-cricket is Britain's largest insect and is found sporadically throughout the south on rough grassland, overgrown scrub and hedgerows. The stridulation (song) of the this vivid green cricket sounds like a sewing machine or maybe a bicycle free-wheeling downhill and can be heard up to 50 metres away, but is ventriloquial, making the insect frustratingly difficult to track down. The Great Green Bush-cricket is a poor flier and relies on excellent camouflage and an impressive jump of up to a metre to escape danger. It also has a fierce bite and is quite capable of drawing blood!

Great Green Bush-cricket Tettigonia viridissima - Radnage ( 01/08/2011)

Common Toad

2011-08-17T20:47:00.002+01:00

One of the real characters of the British countryside, how could anyone not love a Toad?

Common Toad Bufo bufo (26/09/2009)

Chalkhill Blue

2011-08-16T20:58:00.010+01:00

I have been spending quite a bit of time recently chasing Adonis Blues over the dry chalky slopes above the tiny village of Radnage, near Princes Risborough. Unfortunately the recent dull and windy weather has made butterfly photography incredibly difficult. and at times virtually impossible. Trying to take a picture of an Adonis Blue, in low light, as it clings on for dear life to a wind tossed flower can be a bit of a challenge and the poor weather is especially frustrating as I have a new 105mm macro lens to play with! Luckily there were hundreds of Chalkhill Blues to keep me occupied in between sporadic Adonis sightings. As I tramped across the slope they rose in their dozens from the short grass, glittering and spinning away from me before disappearing, just as suddenly, back into the vegetation. Every so often the sun would break through the low clouds and the nagging wind would briefly drop, encouraging a few butterflies to climb the stems of plants and grasses to bask in the transitory warmth.

It seems only moments ago that I was anticipating the first Brimstone of the year and now the butterfly season is drawing inexorably to a close. The second brood of Brimstones are flying and Red Admirals are haunting gardens and orchards waiting for Autumn's rotting fruit. I always get a bit melancholic at this time of year as the butterflies slowly fade away, like lights being switched off one by one. It seems sad that all that colour and beauty should brighten our lives for such a short time. The party is coming to an end for another year.

Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon, mating pair - Radnage (15/08/2011)

Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon, female - Radnage (15/08/2011)

Common Rock-rose

2011-07-31T19:27:00.002+01:00

The bright yellow flowers of Common Rock-rose Helianthemum nummularium brighten the hot south-facing hills of the Chilterns throughout the Summer. This beautiful little trailing plant is the larval food plant for several species of butterfly, including Green Hairstreak, Brown Argus and Silver-studded Blue. It also provides an excellent source of nectar for bees and food for several species of small beetles. I have yet to come across one, but pink and white colour variants are occasionally found. Common Rock-rose is a member of the Cistaceae family and as the genus name Helianthemum suggests is sometimes known as the Sun-rose. There are eight sub-species found throughout much of Europe.

Common Rock-rose Helianthemum nummularium, Ivinghoe Beacon, 19/07/2011

Late Summer Butterflies

2011-07-28T19:29:00.025+01:00

A gallery of some the Pieridae and Nymphalidae commonly seen flitting across the dry flowery slopes in the Tring area at this time of year.

Green-veined White Pieris napi - female

Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus - male

Large White Pieris brassicae - female

Marbled White Melanargia galathea

Brimstone Gonepteryx rhamni - female

Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina - male

Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria - male

Small Heath Coenonympha pamphilus - female

Comma Polygonia c-album - female, possibly of the form hutchinsoni

Small White Pieris rapae - male

Purple Emperor

2011-07-27T07:26:00.011+01:00

If any proof were needed of the Purple Emperor's unsavoury habits, then here it is! This beautiful male is doing what Purple Emperors like to to best - feeding on a large pile of Dog muck. If you don't have a Dog handy, then Shrimp paste or Banana skins offer a less grisly alternative for attracting these stunning butterflies to the ground. Once they land and begin feeding Emperors can become very docile and can be very easily approached and photographed. Sometimes they will even crawl on to your finger to take salt from your skin, although you might want to wash your hands afterwards!

Purple Emperor Apatura iris - Bernwood (04/07/2009)

Dwarf Thistle

2011-07-26T19:24:00.010+01:00

Anyone who has accidently sat on a Dwarf Thistle Cirsium acaule will know why it is also known as the Picnic Thistle! Lurking in short grazed grasslands on dry calcareous soils, it lies patiently in wait for the unwary picnicker. This low perennial usually has a single stemless purple flower perched on a rosette of spiny leaves, although occasionally 2 or 3 flowers can be found. Dwarf Thistle is common in the Southern half of the country but it becomes rarer as you travel North, with no records at all in Scotland and only a few in Wales. Between June and September these perky little plants help to add colour to the chalky slopes of the Chilterns, along with Selfheal, Rock Rose, Devilsbit Scabious, Thyme and Marjoram.

Dwarf Thistle Cirsium acaule - Ragpits, Buckinghamshire (17/07/2011)

Purple Emperor

2011-07-05T16:57:00.008+01:00

After mating the elusive female Purple Emperor Apatura iris descends from the tree-tops and searches for a suitable tree for egg-laying. She usually lays her single egg on the upperside of a leaf, in a shady spot near the crown of a Sallow Salix sp. I stumbled across this approachable beauty resting at eye level on a Goat Willow Salix caprea at Bernwood a few years ago, on a boiling hot morning in early July.

Purple Emperor Apatura iris - Bernwood (13/07/2008)

Purple Emperor

2011-06-30T07:25:00.020+01:00

I can hardly believe that it's the last day of June! The month seems to have slipped away, and looking back I realise that I have spent very little time out and about locally. A wonderful week birding and butterflying in Bulgaria and a weekend visiting friends in Suffolk, combined with a lot of bad weather meant that last Sunday was the first time that I had a chance to get out. A friend and I decided to drive down to Bernwood, near Thame, in the hope of seeing Black Hairstreak Satyrium pruni, a butterfly I still haven't photographed successfully. To be honest my hopes were not high as I had a suspicion that it was probably a bit late in the season for these elusive little butterflies, and so it proved. We carefully scanned the Blackthorns where I had seen them the previous year, but without luck. That's the problem with butterflies with limited flight periods such as Black Hairstreak - get the timing wrong and you have missed them for another year! Despite our disappointment we had a feeling that Purple Emperors might be on the wing as it was the sort of hot, humid day that encourages these enigmatic butterflies to descend from their lofty tree top world to display their beauty to us mere mortals. Actually they come down to drink or feed on animal droppings and decaying carcasses, which rather tarnishes their glamour! We spotted a few White Admirals roving restlessly from tree to tree and a couple of Silver-washed Fritillaries bombing purposefully down the rides, but there was no sign of any Emperors. Feeling hot and a bit downcast, we arrived back at the car-park and immediately spotted a beautiful male, it's wings closed, sipping from the edge of a puddle. Eventually it flew lazily up to the lower branches of an Oak tree, where it settled for a while before dropping down again and sunning itself on the bonnet of a car! What a stunning butterfly. I took a few pictures before being distracted by a Silver-washed Fritillary that chose to settle on a nearby Bramble bush for a while. Eventually the Emperor flew off and we decided to drive to nearby Whitecross Woods in the hope of seeing Black Hairstreak or maybe Wood White, but it was strangely quiet and with the heat rapidly becoming unbearable we decided to call it a day and head home.

Purple Emperor Apatura iris at Bernwood (26/06/2011)

Silver-washed Fritillary at Bernwood (26/06/2011)

Spring Orchids

2011-05-31T19:41:00.026+01:00

Green-winged Orchid Anacamptis morio

Common Spotted Orchid Dactylorhiza fuchsii

Common Twayblade Listera ovata

White Helleborine Cephalanthera damasonium

Common Fragrant Orchid Gymnadenia conopsea

Man Orchid Orchis anthropophorum

Greater Butterfly Orchids Platanthera chlorantha

Fly Orchid Ophrys insectifera

Birdsnest Orchid Neottia nidus-avis

Pasque Flower

2011-05-15T14:29:00.006+01:00

I spent Saturday morning in a cold, nagging wind hunting for Burnt-tip Orchids at Knocking Hoe Nature Reserve, over in Bedfordshire. Whilst wandering around trying to find the tiny Orchids I was surprised and delighted to come across a few small Pasque Flowers Pulsatilla vulgaris still in flower on the dry chalk slopes. I suddenly remembered that I hadn't made my usual spring visit to see the little colony growing at Incombe Hole near Ivinghoe Beacon. I suspect that it's too late now as the majority of the plants at Knocking Hoe had gone to seed and those in flower were small and stunted, probably suffering from the dry, windy weather. The Pasque Flower is one of Britains most beautiful plants with a large bell of violet velvety petals surrounding a circle of golden anthers. As the flower ages it begins to droop before straightening so the feathery seed heads can catch the wind. Pasque Flowers belong to the Buttercup (Ranunculaceae) family and flower in April and early May on sunny lime-rich grasslands in central and eastern England and often attract early bees. The word Pasque refers to Easter, the traditional flowering time of these lovely little plants.

Pasque Flower Pulsatilla vulgaris, Incombe Hole

Small Blue

2011-05-02T14:08:00.011+01:00

It was all quite exciting. The sort of thing that would probably be described as "the drama of nature in the raw" on television. I was sitting in the hide at College Lake with a couple of friends watching a Greenshank and a pair of Little Ringed Plovers pottering about on the mud, when two more Greenshank flew in, their loud clear calls ringing out above the racket of the breeding Lapwings. Suddenly there was mayhem and at first it was hard to see what was going on. The Lapwing all rose as one, screaming furiously and then out of the chaos of tumbling, wheeling birds a Sparrowhawk emerged carrying an unfortunate Lapwing chick in it's claws. When the dust settled and the Lapwing had calmed down we realised that all the Greenshank had fled the scene of the crime in panic. After all that excitement we decided it was time to look for a few Butterflies and I had a feeling that it would be worth searching for Small Blues even though they are not usually out until mid May. Sure enough we found two of these inconspicuous and rather drab butterflies, sheltering from the cold nagging wind at the base of the bare chalk cliffs which are already festooned with dense clumps of bright yellow Horseshoe Vetch Hippocrepis comosa. These two were males, dusted with silvery blue scales, spending their lives loafing on vegetation waiting to compete for passing females. Sadly these little butterflies are in decline in Britain with many of their colonies small and isolated.

Male Small Blue Cupido minmus at College Lake (30/04/2011)

Male Small Blue Cupido minmus on Birdsfoot Trefoil at College Lake

Comma

2011-05-01T17:55:00.016+01:00

I still haven't seen a Comma Polygonia c-album this year, but rather annoyingly my wife Indra has already seen several! She took this photo of a beautiful freshly emerged Comma and a bee having a Mexican stand-off on an old Hogweed stalk earlier in the month near Wilstone Reservoir. I'm not sure who won the argument! No doubt when I do eventually see a Comma, like buses they will come along in droves! Incidentally, my previous attempts at bee identification have been pretty futile so it would be great to hear from anyone who can put a name to this one.

Comma Polygonia c-album, Wilstone, 17/04/2011 (Indra Jackson)

Spring Butterflies

2011-04-23T13:02:00.030+01:00

It's looking like another great butterfly year! The hot dry spring has seen several species on the wing remarkably early, including Duke Of Burgundy, Grizzled Skipper and Dingy Skipper. I rarely see any of these species before the end of April, but on Saturday morning, with the weather feeling more like mid-summer, I caught up with all three at Ivinghoe Beacon and Church End, near Pitstone Village. I found several Dukes pottering about in their usual sheltered gully near the Beacon and they posed nicely for me on Hawthorn leaves and grasses. If only all Butterflies were as easy to photograph! At Church End I counted 10 Dingy skippers but came away with taking a single shot. The newly emerged males, buzzing with sunshine were so concerned with chasing each other and battling for territory that they rarely had time to settle for more than a second. Orange Tips, Green Hairstreaks and Holly Blues are also out in good numbers and the first Red Admirals have emerged, although strangely I have yet to see a Comma, a species I would have expected to catch up with weeks ago.

Duke Of Burgundy Hamearis lucina (23/04/2011)

Grizzled Skipper Pyrgus malvea (18/05/2008)

Green Hairstreak Callophrys rubi (23/04/2011)

Dingy Skipper Eynnis tages (14/05/2008)

This afternoon I set myself the task of taking some pictures of Orange Tip, a tricky butterfly to photograph well. Orange Tips are always on the move and when they do settle, often keep their wings half closed. I have just spent an energetic hour in the late afternoon sun running up and down the Cow Parsley clad banks of Wilstone, chasing after these delicate, flighty butterflies. I managed to grab a few shots before the temperature dropped as the bank went into shade and all the butterflies suddenly disappeared for the day.

Orange Tip Anthocharis cardamines (24/04/2011)

A Cuban Interlude

2011-04-16T16:21:00.018+01:00

I have just returned from a wonderful trip to Cuba, and it feels as if I have come back to a different country than the one I left a few weeks ago. When I left in March the first hesitant signs of spring were showing, but winter was still clinging on grimly and the nights were cold and the weather unpredictable. I stumbled out on Friday morning, eyes blurry and head fuzzy with jet lag and was astonished at how much things have changed in just three short weeks. As I stepped out of the car at Wilstone Reservoir I was greeted by a racket of Blackcaps in the hedgerows. Chiffchaffs were singing all around and Swallows and House Martins were chattering happily above me. I spent a few minutes searching through a large group of Common Terns feeding noisily over the water, hoping to find an Arctic Tern, but with no success. The sounds of spring echoed all around me, the morning sun felt warm on the back of my neck and I instantly felt the post holiday blues melt away. Over at Marsworth, Sedge Warblers were making short noisy display flights over the reed beds and a Cetti's Warbler was shouting exultantly from the bushes on the far side of the reservoir. On Saturday morning I watched at least 20 Northern Wheatear chasing each other across the rabbit scarred slopes of Ivinghoe Beacon, the air filled with their angry tacking calls. Further along the slope I was lucky to have great views of a male Ring Ouzel, feeding boldly in the open until, suddenly spooked, it disappeared into a tiny Hawthorn bush. Ring Ouzels are one of my favourite birds and each spring I look forward excitedly to seeing one of these enigmatic and shy Thrushes. This morning, wandering idly round Wilstone on another glorious sunny day accompanied by the raucous cries of the Common Terns, I heard my first Cuckoo, singing and occasionally displaying over the reed beds - a sound that sums up the joy and thrill of Spring like nothing else. If you have to come home from holiday, what better time than Spring!

But it's my blog and I'll post what I want to! This is Cuba's national bird, the vivid and beautiful Cuban Trogon Priotelus temnurus, whose repetitive deep 'toctorok' call was a constant soundtrack to my time birding in the forests of one of the most colourful and friendly countries I have ever visited.

Cuban Trogon Priotelus temnurus (11/04/2011)

The First Swallow

2011-03-20T07:33:00.011Z

On Friday it was my birthday and I had the unexpected present of my first Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica of the year. I had the day off and decided to drop in at Wilstone Reservoir despite the pouring rain, in the hope of seeing a Scandinavian Rock Pipit Anthus petrosus littoralis that had been found earlier that morning. Two Chiffchaffs were cheerfully singing, a few Sand Martins were sallying high over the water and then all of a sudden there it was, a lone Swallow, hugging the surface, feeding busily. This was the earliest Swallow I can remember seeing by several days and a heartening sight, bringing with it the faint promise of summer. Frustratingly, the Rock Pipit was constantly flushed by a group of noisy ramblers and proved hard to see, so I visited the reservoir again in the evening and was lucky to have some excellent views as it fed quietly in the evening sun amongst the rocks by the jetty. The Swallow had already moved on, it's visit brief but welcome.

Barn Swallows in Autumn, (21/08/2010)

Spring

2011-03-12T19:38:00.013Z

The first Swallow may not make a summer but the first Sand Martin means spring is here as far as I am concerned. I always wait with mounting excitement for the first spring migrants and today turned out to be a red letter day with the welcome sight of 6 Sand Martins busily feeding over the water at Wilstone Reservoir and a handsome male Wheatear along with a pair of Stonechats on the southern slope of Ivinghoe Beacon.

All this, and I saw my first Brimstone of the year, racing along a hedgerow in the warm morning sunshine. The fields are full of tiny tottering Lambs, Sweet Violet and Celandine are brightening the budding woods and everywhere Daffodils are exploding into flower. There's no doubt about it - spring is here!

Lamb on Ivinghoe Beacon (13/03/2011)

Ashridge Forest

2011-03-07T20:50:00.021Z

Around this time of year I always spend a few mornings wandering around Ashridge Forest, in what sadly, seems to be an increasingly futile search for a Lesser-spotted Woodpecker. Ashridge used to be an excellent site for these increasingly elusive birds, but has become more and more unreliable over the last few years. Despite failing to find any Lesser-spots it is wonderful to be out in the forest on a cold bright morning with the low sun cutting through the Beech trees in thick smoky shafts. The woods echo to the drumming of Greater-spotted Woodpeckers and the songs of Nuthatches and Treecreepers. Stock Doves moan from the high branches and float lazily between the tree-tops, while nervous chattering flocks of Lesser Redpoll bounce busily through the Silver Birches. Fallow Deer relax in the golden light, soaking up what warmth they can glean from the cold sun, enjoying the peace and quiet before the joggers and dog-walkers arrive. Then it's time to leave, before the sounds of the forest are drowned out by the racket of dogs and their owners.

Early morning sun in Ashridge Forest (21/03/2011)

Brimstone

2011-02-28T17:02:00.019Z

The weather was so mild and spring-like last week that I half expected to see my first Brimstone Gonepteryx rhamni restlessly wandering the hedgerows. I was so excited to see my first butterfly of the year that I found myself almost willing one into existence, but in the end was disappointed and it was Indra, my wife, who spotted one fluttering along a roadside verge on the 24th of February, as she was driving home from Surrey. Meanwhile I spent the day loitering in a street in Chipping Norton trying to get a decent view of the hopelessly lost Oriental Turtle Dove that has settled in the town and caused such a sensation in the national press. Not my idea of a great birding day out but at least I saw the bird! I have been doing a bit of shameless twitching recently, having also spent a rainy day in picturesque Rainham in order to see the Slaty-backed Gull, a new bird for me. Birding really does take you to the most exotic locations!

Brimstones are always a welcome sight in the spring sunshine and seem to herald the start of the Butterfly season. Brimstones are one of the longest lived butterflies, living for up to thirteen months, although much of this time is spent in hibernation. Adults emerge on warm spring days and busily nectar on yellow flowers such as Cowslip, Primrose and Daffodils. Mating takes place in early spring, after which some individuals can live until July when the next generation appears. It is commonly believed that the Brimstone is the origin of the word "butterfly", a corruption of butter-coloured fly. Brimstones can be frustrating butterflies to photograph as they never sit with their wings open and are always on the move, rarely settling to nectar for long.

Sadly a nagging northeasterly wind has brought with it cold and wet weather, so I doubt I'll see a Brimstone for a while, although I won't stop hoping!

Male Brimstone Gonepteryx rhamni, (21/09/2008)

Red-crested Pochard

2011-02-19T21:42:00.006Z

A couple of weeks ago while I was wandering past Marsworth Reservoir I noticed a pair of Red-crested Pochard Netta Ruffia. The male was swimming alongside the female and energetically displaying by stretching it's head back and flicking it's bill upwards. These attractive ducks prefer to nest in lakeside vegetation, so Marsworth, which is fringed by extensive Reedbeds is ideal. Unfortunately the water is full of predatory fish and the area is also plagued by Mink, so keeping a family of downy young safe is virtually impossible.

Here are some photos taken last May and then again a month later showing the last remaining duckling from the original brood of nine.

Let's hope that they have better success this year!

Female Red-crested Pochard and duckling (Marsworth Reservoir, 14/05/2010)

Red-crested Pochard duckling (Marsworth Reservoir, 14/05/2010)

Female Red-crested Pochard and juvenile (Marsworth Reservoir, 09/06/2010)

Juvenile Red-crested Pochard (Marsworth Reservoir, 09/06/2010)

Winter Aconite

2011-02-14T19:30:00.018Z

Winter Aconite Eranthis hyemalis (08/02/2011) - Photo: Indra Jackson

There can be no more cheerful sight on an early February day than a group of bright yellow Winter Aconites Eranthis hyemalis lighting up the gloomy winter woodland. This pretty little plant is a native of Southern Europe belonging to the Ranuculaceae or Buttercup family and is widely naturalised in woodlands, copses and parks throughout the Eastern half of the country. They have long been popular garden plants, grown for their early flowers and bright green foliage and are particularly useful as ground cover. The plant is also known as Wolf's Bane and is highly poisonous, although the acrid taste makes poisoning unlikely. In Greek mythology it was believed that the Aconite contained the toxic saliva of Cerberus, the three-headed dog who guarded the Underworld. Hercules dragged Cerberus from the Underworld and the dog, shying from the light, dropped saliva on the ground and it's deadly poison entered the plants that grew in that spot.

I am usually out of the country in January and February when the Winter Aconites are in flower and I was determined not to miss out this year. So last week on a rare sunny day I rushed over to Aldbury Village to photograph this large group, growing on a chalky slope at the edge of Ashridge Forest.

Winter Aconite Eranthis hyemalis (08/02/2011)

Old Barn

2011-01-31T17:03:00.020Z

A few days before Christmas I was on the way home from a long winter walk, when I came across this ruined wooden barn blanketed in snow, near Drayton Beauchamp Village, close to Wilstone Reservoir. I was dreaming of home and warming up with a hot cup of tea by this time, but stopped for a few minutes to take a some photographs. There was something timeless and haunting about the old building, slowly collapsing under the weight of time, like an out of focus glimpse of a lost rural past, fast slipping beyond the reach of memory.

Old Wooden Barn - Drayton Beauchamp (19/12/2010)

Brown Argus

2011-01-25T21:32:00.027Z

Last year I was sent these two photos of an interesting Brown Argus Aricia agestis by Tim Alps. Tim has a keen interest in encouraging wildlife into his large butterfly friendly garden in Aldbury where I have been working regularly for a few years. The photos were taken last May on the limestone grassland above Whipsnade Zoo, an excellent site for Downland butterflies. The specimen clearly shows that the black discoidal spot on the upper forewing is partly ringed with white. I have not found any reference to this feature in any of my books, but I have come across the odd photo of similarly marked butterflies on the internet. These butterflies appear to have similar markings to a small proportion of the salmacis subspecies of Northern Brown Argus Aricia artaxerxes, sometimes known as the Castle Eden Argus, which is only found in Northern England. The majority of specimens belonging to salmacis, have a black discoidal spot, but a small percentage have a white spot and resemble the Scottish subssp artaxerxes. Less than 10% of specimens have a small black discoidal spot faintly ringed with white, somewhat similar to the Brown Argus pictured below.

For many years Northern Brown Argus was considered to be a subspecies of Brown Argus but was eventually classified as a species in it's own right. Studies have shown that some of the colonies along the border of the two species ranges have been incorrectly classified and some colonies in the north of England are now considered to be A. agestis. Although the range of the two species does not overlap that situation may change as Brown Argus expands northwards as a result of global warming.

Brown Argus Aricia agestis, Whipsnade 26/05/2010 - (Tim Alps)

I'm fairly sure that the oddly marked Brown Argus on the right is a female due to the bold orange markings that reach the wing tips, and that the left-hand butterfly is a male as the sparser markings taper off and fade away. The male should be smaller than the female, with less rounded wings, but this specimen gives the impression of being noticeably larger, which is rather confusing. Strangely enough whilst searching through my own photos I came across a dreadful shot that I took several years ago at Whipsnade of a similarly marked Brown Argus, making me wonder if this aberration is present in some colonies but absent from others.

Photographs - Copyright: Tim Alps

Common Hogweed

2011-01-20T14:37:00.015Z

Tough and woody, this dead flowerhead creates a stark snow-capped framework against the cold winter sky. A biennial, Common Hogweed Heracleum spondylium is one of the most well known members of the Apiaceae or Carrot family and is usually found growing in profusion on roadsides, waste ground and at the base of hedges. Common Hogweed is also known as Cow Parsnip and is an Umbelliferous plant closely related to Cow Parsley, Fennel and of course the infamous Giant Hogweed. The young shoots are apparently one of the tastiest wild vegetables to be found, especially when cooked with butter and seasoning. The young leaves can be steamed or used in salads and the flower buds are also edible but the tap-root of is mildly toxic. The main problem is that while some of the Umbellifers are edible, several, such as Hemlock Conium maculatum are highly poisonous, and some veer between the two states depending on their environment. This makes eating members of the Carrot family a slightly fraught experience as the young leaves and shoots can be hard to safely identify!

Common Hogweed Heracleum spondylium (Ivinghoe Beacon, 29/10/2008)

Fungi

2011-01-19T14:08:00.011Z

Angel's Bonnet Mycena archangeliana

This delicate little Bonnet is widespread and common, especially in the South of England and is found on the decayed wood of deciduous trees, especially the stumps and fallen branches of Ash and Beech. The Angel's Bonnet above was found growing on a small piece of dead wood which I managed to rest on a tree stump a couple of feet above the ground allowing me to get a nice blurred background.

Common Bonnet Mycena galericulata

The commonest member of the genus Mycenae, this Bonnet is found throughout the country on the decayed and buried wood of deciduous trees and occasionally conifers. Common Bonnets are typically found in small clusters, such as this group growing in the damp mossy woodland at Whipsnade Heath

Candlesnuff Fungus Xylaria hypoxilon

This charming antler-like fungus is black at the base, grey in the middle and white at the top, resembling a snuffed candle wick. It is surprisingly strong and rubbery and can be bent without breaking. Sometimes called Stag's Horn Fungus, it is found all year round, but is particularly common in autumn and winter, growing on dead deciduous wood, especially Beech. This little group was photographed on a rotting stump at Whipsnade Heath in November.

Hoof Fungus Fomentus fomentarius

Hoof fungus is a large, impressive Polypore usually was used found on Silver Birch and occasionally Beech and Sycamore. The hard, leathery flesh burns very slowly and was once used for lighting fires; hence it's alternative common name, Tinder Bracket. If correctly treated by soaking in washing soda and then pounded, dried pieces of Hoof Fungus make an excellent desiccant which is sttil used by Trout fisherman to dry artificial flies to help them float more effectively. This substance is called Amadou and was used by ancient people as tinder and as a smouldering portable firelighter. The stretched and beaten flesh was also used to make clothing, including hats and gloves. This solitary specimen was found, after a much searching, growing on a fallen Silver Birch at Rammamere Common near Woburn. Hoof Fungus is fairly common in Scotland but is found less frequently south of the border, although possibly increasing.

Orange Peel Fungus Aleuria aurantia

This beautiful and fragile cup shaped fungus resembling scattered orange peel is usually found on disturbed ground, especially woodland paths and roadsides. Orange Peel is the only Elf Cup Fungus that is edible although it does not taste particularly pleasant and is therefore rarely used. The other Elf Cups are poisonous in varying degrees. This small specimen was found last November in typical habitat at the edge of a sandy path at Rammamere Common.

Wilstone Reservoir

2011-01-10T21:41:00.008Z

A Mute Swan floats drifts through the dying embers of an icy December day at Wilstone.

Sunset at Wilstone Reservoir (07/12/2008)

Ivinghoe Beacon

2011-01-06T21:13:00.002Z

The weather has turned mild, wet and windy and the snow and endless freezing days seem just a distant memory. We seem to be back to typical winter weather and there is even talk of a mild February - we shall see! Now that life is easier again the birds, fickle as they are, have abandoned my garden which apart from the odd bored Starling barely gets a visitor now. The reservoirs, trapped in deep frozen slumber despite the warmer weather have been released from winter's icy grip and have suddenly sprung back to life. I am not a great lover of the winter but when the snow arrives it always seems so beautiful and exciting. At least fleetingly! As a gardener, snow and frost mean no work and the novelty soon wears off as I start to fret about when I will be able to earn some money again! These pictures of Ivinghoe Beacon taken in early April 2008 are a reminder that Winter can often have one last nasty surprise up it's sleeve! I wonder what is in store for us this year...

Sheep on the southern slope of Ivinghoe Beacon (06/04/2008)

Steps Hill looking west towards Tring Reservoirs (06/04/2008)

Wilstone Reservoir

2010-12-19T15:24:00.024Z

The brief respite in the cold weather is over all too soon and winter has roared back with teeth bared and the countryside is once again in it's vice-like grip, iron hard and blanketed in deep powdery snow. It looks very beautiful, but with several nights of hard frosts and bitterly cold days ahead, life promises to be very hard for the local wildlife. I spent most of the day clearing snow in my little back garden and scattering vast amounts of food on small bare patches of ground for the beleaguered birds, most of which is being rapidly hoovered up by a gang of greedy Woodpigeons that regularly make smash and grab raids that are costing me a fortune! I've been regularly filling a bowl with hot water which the local Starlings seem to love. They fly down from my TV aerial and dive in, squabbling and splashing around and generally having a great time - a sort of Starling sauna! I've even managed to tempt a few House Sparrows away from a neighbouring garden where they seem to spend most of their time. More and more Chaffinches are arriving each day and today a Black-headed Gull dropped in for a few nervous seconds to grab some bread.

One of the last pools of clear water left at Wilstone (19/12/2010)

Wilstone Reservoir is almost completely frozen again with just a couple of tiny pools of clear water left, now crammed to bursting point with a frenzied gaggle of Coot, Grebes, Mute Swans and a variety of ducks - Wigeon, Pochard, a smattering of Tea and Mallard, and a miserable looking Red-crested Pochard, head tucked firmly under a wing, fast asleep on the ice. A Kingfisher, plainly struggling to feed in the brutal conditions sat forlornly on the concrete bank, occasionally making brief fruitless forays over the last small patches of open water. If I was a Kingfisher I think I'd be packing my bags and heading for the coast!

Wilstone Reservoir (07/12/2010)

Earlier in December, after a fiercely cold night, Wilstone Reservoir resembled a scene from Narnia trapped in an eternal winter. The distant trees thickly clad in hoar frost, floated like ghosts in the fog and everything was bathed in an otherworldly pale and sickly light. It was not hard to imagine the White Witch materialising out of the mist and gliding across the ice on a sledge pulled by Reindeer!

Ice at sunset, Wilstone Reservoir (07/12/2008)

Robin

2010-12-12T18:27:00.005Z

"Art thou the Bird whom Man loves best,

The pious Bird with the scarlet breast,

Our little English Robin;

The Bird that comes about our doors

When Autumn winds are sobbing?"

From 'The Redbreast and the Butterfly' by William Wordsworth

(European) Robin Erithacus rubecula (20/12/2009)

No apologies for the shameless sentimentality of this seasonal picture! I came across this particularly friendly Robin taken near Tringford Reservoir and it got me me thinking about why the Robin Erithacus rubecula has become a symbol of Christmas and traditionally appears on cards and decorations. The first card depicting a Robin appeared in the 1860's, the bird pictured delivering an envelope and Postmen at the time wore red tunics and were nicknamed 'Robin Redbreasts'. I assumed that there would be an interesting folk tale or myth that explained this close association with the Christmas season, but the truth is much simpler. With food scarcer, Robins are at their most tame and visible in the winter and their bright red breast, often puffed up to help retain warmth brings colour to dull wintry surroundings. Male Robins often sing in the winter to establish territory and their sweet song undoubtedly would have filled people with the promise of Spring and better weather to come to. Perhaps, as the familiar birds of summer slowly melted away people felt they could rely on the Robin to stay with them and brave the winter, to keep them company and cheer them up through the long dark days. So the Robin has long been a part of the festive season and when cards became popular in Victorian times they soon became a popular subject and in 1960 officially became Britain's national bird. Of course, what people didn't realise is that the Robin in their garden may well have come from Northern Europe to spend the winter here!There is however a wealth of Folklore surrounding the Robin with perhaps the strangest tale being that if one finds a dead body it will cover it with leaves and moss. In the ancient tale of the Babes in the Wood a Robin carefully covers the dead bodies of the two lost children with leaves. It seems a bizarre idea but perhaps it stems from observations of Robins throwing leaves around as they search for food on the forest floor.

"Can this be the Bird, to man so good,

Our consecrated Robin!

That, after their bewildering,

Did cover with leaves the little children,

So painfully in the wood?"

From 'The Redbreast and the Butterfly' by William Wordsworth

An old superstition says that it is very bad luck to kill a Robin and according to one story if you do your hands will never stop shaking. At least this has meant that the Robin has always been revered and treated well by man. As a gardener I am well used to Robins pottering around my feet, perching on Spades and Wheel Barrows and very occasionally taking a worm from my hand, but this is a sign of how well we have treated these iconic birds for centuries. Sadly this is not the case in some parts of Southern Europe where Robins along with many other small birds are still trapped and eaten in huge numbers. This persecution has meant Robins are very shy and wary and often hard to see. A few years ago we spent a cheap and cheerful week in Tenerife and it took me until the end of the holiday before I eventually found a Robin (since split as Tenerife Robin), skulking deep in the undergrowth of a montane pine forest.

There are several tales explaining the origin of the red breast which centre around acts of kindness by the "pious" and "consecrated" Robin. Its was believed that a Robin pulled a thorn from the crown that had pierced the head of Jesus Christ as he made his way to the cross and was splattered with blood. In another story the birds breast was burnt while carrying water to sinners in hell. It is ironic that such an aggressive and occasionally murderous bird has gained such a kind and holy reputation!

Wolf's Milk Slime Mould

2010-12-12T18:03:00.006Z

When I found these strange pink blobs while I was photographing fungus at Rammamere Common last month, I honestly thought that someone has stuck some old bubble gum to a fallen Birch truck. I initially thought that it was a fungus, possibly Coral Spot, but found out later that it was actually a Plasmodial Slime Mould called Wolf's Milk Lycogala epidendrum. How it got this strange name name I can't imagine, but Lycogala actually means Wolf's Milk and although easily mistaken for a fungus is in fact completely unrelated. If the outer wall of the young balls is broken they excrete a pink paste-like fluid which gives the mould it's other name, Toothpaste Slime. The fruiting bodies occur either scattered or in small groups as small, cushion-like blobs that usually turn browner when as they become more mature. Wolf's Milk is found from June to November on damp wood and large logs throughout Europe and North America.

Wolf's Milk Slime Mould Lycogala epidendrum

Bohemian Waxwing

2010-12-12T14:26:00.010Z

More Waxwings! But who could resist a flock of 40 of these gorgeous birds on a bright and beautiful sunny morning only a few miles from home. Typically, these birds had chosen to settle in the picturesque surroundings of the Tesco car park in Leyton Buzzard and to be honest, as I arrived I had an attack of cold feet and was almost tempted to turn round and drive home. There's something slightly cringe-making about bird watching in these sort of places, being stared at by shoppers who obviously think you are a bit of a twit and can't understand why you would possibly want to spend your Sunday morning watching birds when you could be Christmas shopping! Maybe it's just me, but I find the whole thing a bit embarrassing and it doesn't help being surrounded by photographers clad from head to toe in camouflaged clothing, which as we all know is vital for blending into the concrete habitat of a supermarket car park! Perhaps I will have to grow a thicker skin! Nevertheless the stunning birds soon took my mind off the hideous surroundings and I managed to grab these photos as the birds fed busily on the blood red berries of a group small Rowan trees, before suddenly flying off purposefully southwards.

Bohemian Waxwing Bombycilla garrulus (Leyton Buzzard, 12/12/2010)

Bohemian Waxwing

2010-12-02T11:34:00.013Z

At last! I spent the last days of November in an increasingly agitated state wondering if I was ever going to catch up with some Waxwings this year. With the severe weather in the north driving them southwards it seemed inevitable that a few of these wonderful birds would turn up in the Tring area. Unfortunately it was equally inevitable that when they did I would manage to miss them! A small group of 8 were found last Saturday and were briefly relocated again the next morning, but I was too late on the scene on both occasions. I spent a fruitless hour or so on Sunday morning scouring the residential streets of Tring carefully checking all the Rowan trees and other promising berry laden shrubs, but sadly they were not seen again.

Luckily some Waxwings chose to settle at Woburn in the same street lined with ornamental white Rowan trees that had been graced by a small flock earlier in the year. The snowfall in the night had made garden work almost impossible, so I gave myself the day off and took the opportunity to drive over to see them. Apparently there had been over 100 birds in the town earlier in the day which would have been quite a sight, but when I arrived at midday the numbers had fallen to small skittish flock of 24. Having gorged themselves on berries all morning the birds spent long periods perched high in the bare branches of a distant tree silhouetted against an ice blue winter sky, only occasionally dashing down to the Rowans for a few seconds to grab some berries in a half hearted way. It was almost as if they felt they ought to be feed as it was so cold, but actually couldn't be bothered because they were so full! The result was that I struggled to get any decent shots of the birds feeding and after a couple of hours the creeping numbness of my fingers and toes signalled to me that it was time to head home to the warmth and a cup of tea.

Bohemian Waxwing Bombycilla garrulus (Woburn, 30/11/2010)

Bohemian Waxwing Bombycilla garrulus (Woburn, 30/11/2010)

Wilstone Reservoir

2010-12-02T11:00:00.011Z

We are in the middle of the 'big freeze' as the newspapers love to call it, but in this area we seem to have avoided the worst of the weather. At least so far! Being so centrally located and far from the coast in every direction does have it's advantages as we have only caught the fringes of the really bad weather. Wilstone Reservoir froze very rapidly after a couple of bitter nights, perhaps because the water is so shallow at the moment and the last remaining small patch of open water was soon crammed with a busy gaggle of Coots, Mute Swans and Ducks. I have been up to the reservoir once or twice at the end of the day but the sunsets have been a bit of a non event, so I have dug out these picturesque photos of a frozen Wilstone taken on a beautiful evening just before Christmas in 2008.

Sunset at Wilstone Reservoir (December 2008)

Wigeon on the ice at Wilstone Reservoir (December 2008)

Sunset at Wilstone Reservoir (December 2008)

Ducks at Wilstone Reservoir (December 2008)

Rants, theories etc

2010-11-20T13:57:00.023Z

Three times in the last week I found myself making emergency trips to the Springwell Veterinary Surgery in Tring. Twice I came across Wood Pigeons, probably struck by cars, floundering helplessly on the pavement and then, worst of all, a Grey Squirrel, it's back broken after having being tortured by a cat. It can be very distressing but I am unable to leave an injured animal without doing something about it – I know that if I did nothing It would haunt me for days.

Wood Pigeons and Grey Squirrels? A lot of people might say, why bother? After all, they are both common and many would regard them as pests, but surely every creature has the right to any care available and should not have to suffer a second more than necessary if anything at all can be done to help it. I have often seen pedestrians stop and stare at an injured bird before hurrying on, probably putting it out of their mind straight away. I find this hard to understand, but I think a lot of people simply do want the responsibility or the hassle. After all caring is easy but getting involved is much harder. Understandably there are many who would like to do something but are frightened to touch or pick up an injured creature. Sadly, far too many people just don't care.

Last year I remember finding a stricken Blackbird, sitting stunned in the middle of the pavement in Tring, after having hit a shop window. Shoppers were virtually stepping on the bewildered bird, barely giving it a glance as they rushed past, yet when I picked it up, a women came up and thanked me for caring and doing something. Perhaps everyone is waiting for someone else to deal with the problem. Maybe that is just human nature. Thankfully, there are thousands who will take responsibility for the injured wildlife the find regardless of how inconvenient or distressing.

Whether it's a Kingfisher or a Crow it doesn't matter – everything suffers equally and deserves the same care. How many people would walk past an injured bird but instantly rush a cat to the vet? One of the many problems that conservationists have to deal with is convincing the public that slimy, crawly creatures are just as important and worth saving as cute, fluffy and colourful ones. After all, who want to save a snake or a spider?

In our increasingly isolated urban lives we have become so divorced from the natural world that we view the it in the same way that we watch television. We try to tame nature, influence it, watch it, mess with it, sometimes even try to save it and of course we can switch it off at any time. We are not part of the natural world any more, we chose to leave it behind and now we watch wildlife through windows. We find it harder and harder to engage with the natural world. Its easier keep nature at a distance and walk on by.

When their cats kill a bird, many people will say, “it's just nature”, but of course it is not. Domestic cats are not part of nature, they have been created by us for our own purposes and introduced into the environment at a terrible expense to the natural world. Cats are a convenience pet for people who don't want to have the responsibility of truly caring for or worrying about an animal. Let's face it, a bit of food and water is all a cat requires and after that it can be forgotten about. Often people haven't a clue where their cat if for most of the day or night and all that time it can come and go, wreaking havoc on the local wildlife. Many cat owners would not like to admit it, but their pets do not need them to survive and of course it is this that makes cats so damaging. Research has shown that a bell prevents about 50% of kills, yet how many cats do you ever see with bells on their collars?. It's such a simple thing, but it seems that most cat owners can't be bothered, which makes me wonder how much they really care about the problem.

In my work I often come across the depressing sight of gardens littered with the dead bodies of birds and small animals. Latest figures suggest that cats kill 55 million birds and 275 mammals in Britain every year. These are terrifying figures and are inevitably having a huge impact on our embattled wildlife that already has so much to contend with. I realise that many of the birds taken by cats are weak or sick and probably would not survive the winter. In fact research has suggested that cats have little effect on bird populations, but I find this a bit hard to accept. Birds are in a decline across a broad front and there are many factors involved so I find it difficult to believe that the loss of such a vast numbers every year is having no effect. The millions of young birds snapped up each spring, whether weak or healthy will not have the opportunity to survive the winter and to breed the following year. They are as vulnerable as a small child on a busy road. They don't stand a chance. And surely the loss of so many small mammals each year must have an effect on the feeding opportunities of predators such as Kestrels and Owls, especially in a hard winter.

Prey and predators populations control each other's size, but an introduced predator like the cat, that does not rely on it's prey for survival, has a terrible effect on wildlife that is already struggling. Effectively, whether we like it or not, cats are vermin. Many people who happily claim to love and care about the wildlife in their gardens also keep cats, but I am sure that many cat owners do not want to face the truth about their pets. It is surprising how often that it is the neighbours' cat or the cat from down the road that causes all the mayhem!

Those 'nasty' avian predators, the Sparrowhawk and the Magpie are often blamed for the decline of our 'nice' garden birds, but humans will always find something else to blame rather than turn the mirror on themselves. The painful reality is that almost all the problems confronting wildlife and the environment in this country can be laid at our door. We just don't want to hear it.

Ok, I know this is a bit of a rant! After all, I grew up on a farm and I am not squeamish and really shouldn't let an injured Squirrel get to me, but sometimes things get through a chink in the armour, burrow inside and won't leave you alone.

Frost

2010-11-18T18:03:00.015Z

Here are some seasonal images taken at Weston Turville Reservoir at the end of a bitterly cold, sunny day in early January. As the sun went down and the temperature, which had struggled to rise much above zero, began to plummet, the frost clad vegetation was bathed in a soft afternoon light that enhanced it's subtle rusty hues, creating an almost impressionistic effect. It was a beautiful and memorable scene but for sake of our already embattled wildlife (and my heating bill!), I hope that this winter will be a little more benign!

Frost on dead vegetation, Weston Turville Reservoir, (04/01/2010)

Bohemian Waxwing

2010-11-18T15:08:00.015Z

I'm still waiting excitedly for my first Waxwing of the year. It's a big invasion year but so far the vast majority of birds are still lingering in the northern half of the country and although there have been a few brief sightings reported locally as yet no birds have chosen to stick around. Driving through the country lanes I've been scanning the berry laden hedgerows and as I work I have been listening out for that beautiful shivering trill, but so far without success. These lovely birds always stir the imagination with romantic images of the vast Northern Coniferous forests, so it seems ironic that we usually end up seeing them in the grim surroundings of a business estate or supermarket car-park. These photos were taken in February 2009 in the slightly more upmarket environs of Woburn town centre, but sadly they do not really do these stunning birds justice. Waxwings seem to soak up the cold winter sun and positively glow, but sadly the Sorbus (Rowan) that these birds favoured remained in shadow despite it being a clear bright day. Fingers crossed for some better shots this winter!

Bohemian Waxwing Bombycilla garrulus, Woburn (21/02/2009)

Comma

2010-11-13T19:48:00.004Z

Outside the weather is in a foul temper. The wind is gusting and hurling of rain angrily at the windows and venturing out to work seems madness. It's the sort of day when I wonder if my decision to quit an office job for a career in gardening was such a clever idea! Then I think back to the long, hot days of summer spent working in gardens full of birdsong, butterflies and buzzing insects and realise how lucky I am!

The ragged, torn outline and rapid gliding flight of the Comma Polygonia c-album is a common sight in gardens and orchards throughout the summer. They are especially fond of Budleias and Sedums and are often found feeding on rotten fruit along with other butterflies preparing to hibernate, such as Red Admirals. After hibernation Commas emerge as early as March and produce two broods, one in July and another in August or September. The photos below were taken in September at Bernwood, near Thame and show what I am fairly sure is a female Comma nectaring on Devilsbit Scabious Succisa pratensis. The sexes are tricky to tell apart but the outline of the female is slightly less ragged than the male and the marbled underside is plainer.

Comma Polygonia c-album on Devilsbit Scabious Succisa pratensis

This second brood butterfly is destined to hibernate on a branch or in buried in leaves and the dark, cryptic underside will camouflage it perfectly keeping it safe through the winter. The Comma takes it's name from the small white 'C' on the underside hind wing.

Comma Polygonia c-album f. hutchinsoni on Wild Teasle Dipsacus fullonum

In warm, dry early summers large numbers of the brighter form Hutchinsonii appear in July and mate to produce a second brood that emerges in late summer. As these butterflies do not hibernate and therefore less reliant on camouflage they are paler on both sides with a more variegated underside. The female Comma above, pictured on the dead flowerhead of a Wild Teasle Dipsacus fullonum in July, displays the paler markings and orange upperside of f. Hutchinsonii.

They are now so familiar in our gardens and woods that it's hard to believe that by the 1920's the Comma had declined so dramatically that it was almost extinct in Britain. Since then it's been all good news, with a recovery in numbers and a huge range expansion in the last twenty years.

October

2010-11-04T21:29:00.008Z

Early October brought strong Easterlies and with them the first waves of Redwings quickly followed by large flocks of noisy, chattering Fieldfares swooping greedily onto berry heavy bushes. The last Swallows soon drifted away and Autumn was suddenly upon us. Bramblings gathered with Chaffinches and Greenfinches and feasted in the Whitebeams and Beeches near Ivinghoe Beacon car park and a few Northern Wheatear lingered on the sheep cropped southern slope of the Beacon feeding up before eventually heading south.

Northern Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe, Ivinghoe Beacon (04/09/2010)

Ring Ouzels were regularly reported from the hills throughout the first half of the month but despite several attempts I managed only a shadowy glimpse of one of these enigmatic thrushes, skulking deep within a Hawthorn bush. Marsh Tits were conspicuous and vocal in some of the gardens where I work and overhead, small bouncing flocks of Siskins were a regular sight. A pair of kronking, playful Ravens were a frequent and welcome sight in the St Leonards area along with the usual Red Kites and Common Buzzards. In early October we spent an exciting weekend birding on the North Norfolk coast. Migration was in full swing and Redwings, Starlings and Bramblings were pouring in from Scandinavia on the back of a stiff East wind and the bushes were alive with Robins and Chaffinches. We found a Great Grey Shrike as well as a smart Hooded Crow, and twitched an Olive-backed Pipit, a long overdue British first for me. Despite low water levels and vast expanses of mud, Wilstone Reservoir attracted few waders of note. Nervous flocks of Golden Plover began gathering with Lapwing on the causeway and the occasional bold Water Rail ventured from the safe haven of the reed bed into the open to feed. A Black-necked Grebe was present in the latter half of the month and the regular pair of feral Whooper Swans graced us with an occasional appearance. The month ended with the incongruous sighting of a lone Gannet flying south over Rammamere Heath a few miles north of Dunstable.

Mammals activity stepped up with the approach of winter. Grey Squirrels were industriously burying nuts and digging up freshly planted bulbs and Badgers began their annual destruction of lawns as they searched relentlessly for Leatherjackets and Chafer grubs. The rut was in full swing and Ashridge Forest echoed to the gutteral cries of Fallow Deer stags as they postured and swaggered through the rusty Bracken against a vivid backdrop of Autumn colours. I had a close encounter with a nervous Roe stag in Whiteleaf Woods and a few sightings of Chinese Water Deer knee deep in the mud on the far side of Wilstone Reservoir.

As October progressed Butterflies and Dragonflies faded away, although some warm spring-like weather late in the month provided the cheerful sight of a few Red Admirals and a very late Small White.

Common Bonnet Mycena galericulata, Whipsnade Heath (30/10/2010)

Much of the month was spent in the grip of Fungi fever. I made several forays into the woods in search of Mushrooms and Toadstools and attempted, often in vain to identify the bewildering array of species I came across. It is certainly a battle and one I am currently losing! As I found out many are virtually impossible to identify without dissection or the application of various chemicals to determine the colour they turn, neither of which I have the patience or inclination to do!

The Autumn colours have been stunning this year and the month ended bathed in warm sunshine that sparked a forest fire of red, yellow and gold.

Crab Spider

2010-11-02T19:56:00.002Z

The Crab Spider Misumena vatia will sit on a flower for days, even weeks, patiently waiting for insects, often flies and bees, to land close by. It will then pounce, and gripping it's prey with long crab-like front legs will paralyse the unfortunate victim with a venomous bite. Mature females have the ability to vary their colour to match their background, varying between yellow, white or tints of green and so can be easily overlooked despite being 10mm in size. The male is only half the size and browner in colouration and spends much of its time moving rapidly from flower to flower searching for females to mate with. It would appear that the yellow female below, photographed on the white flower of Hogweed Heracleum spondylium has not got to grips with the concept of camouflage, but in fact it it takes about 6 days to change colour from yellow to white and much longer in reverse. Mind you the common sense of the fly could be called into question!

Crab Spider Misumena vatia on Hogweed Heracleum spondylium (09/07/2008)

The Crab Spider Misumena vatia is found in Southern Britain and Wales but has a Holartic distribution and in North America is known as the Goldenrod Crab Spider due to it's habit of spending long periods of time on the yellow flowers of Goldenrod Solidago sp.

The photograph was taken whilst I was searching for Purple Emperors and White Admirals at Finemere Woods near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire on a very hot and sunny day in July 2008.

Chalkhill Blue

2010-10-25T19:54:00.037+01:00

It was an wonderful summer for Chalkhill Blues Lysandra coridon and back in late August I was still hoping to take some decent shots of the secretive females, but poor weather meant that by the end of the month the few remaining butterflies were looking decidedly tatty and past their best. So to cheer myself up as Autumn spirals into Winter I have dug out a few photos from August 2008, taken on a warm, cloudy late afternoon on the northern slopes of Ivinghoe Beacon. Female Chalkhill Blues can be quite elusive spending much of their time crawling around in the short grass but on this day, perhaps because it was overcast and humid, they were very showy, often settling for long periods on the purple blue heads of Devilsbit Scabious Succisa pratensis.

Surely there can be few more entrancing sights than dozens of silvery Chalkhill Blues dancing across the flowery slopes of the Chilterns in the late summer sunshine!

Female Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon (04/08/2008)

Male Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon (04/08/2008)

The two images above illustrate the marked difference between the darker undersides of the brownish females and those of the paler silvery blue males.

Male Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon (04/08/2008)

Male Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon (04/08/2008) on Devilsbit Scabious

Female Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon (04/08/2008)

Dark Green Fritillary

2010-10-17T17:08:00.039+01:00

The last gasp of Summer is over, Autumn is suddenly upon us and apart from the occasional Red Admiral still lingering around the last fallen fruit the Butterflies have gone, their brief, brilliant lives over for another year. So with fast shortening days and colder nights and Winter creeping ever closer it seems like a good time to look back at some of the highlights of what has been a wonderful year for Butterflies.

Dark Green Fritillaries Argynnis aglaja were out in spectacular numbers in late June and July racing across the sunny south-western slopes of Ivinghoe Beacon where the knapweeds and thistles they love so much grow in abundance. These powerful, fast flying butterflies, flighty and easily disturbed, rarely settle for long before speeding off to the next flower head and can be quite a challenge to get close to, let alone photograph successfully.

I spent a hot and frustrating morning at the end of June on Ivinghoe Beacon but came away without a single worthwhile photograph as the fritillaries, buzzing with sunshine rarely settled for more than a few seconds. I decided to make a return trip a few days later. It was late afternoon and much cooler and the butterflies, in a calmer mood were far more approachable, often settling on the Greater Knapweeds for long periods. Even so, obtaining some reasonable shots still involved an exhausting couple of hours running up and down the steep slopes in an effort to keep up with these active, fast moving butterflies!

Dark Green Fritillary Argynnis aglaja - Female (01/07/2010)

Dark Green Fritillary Argynnis aglaja - Female (left) and Male (right) - (01/07/2010)

The photos below show an unusual female Dark Green Fritillary found on Ivinghoe Beacon that looks very similar to the Scottish subspecies aglaja. This is the first time I have come across this beautiful boldly marked variation, much deeper and richer in colour with the fore-wings thickly veined and shot through with black.

Dark Green Fritillary Argynnis aglaja - heavily marked dark Female - (01/07/2010)

Honey Fungus

2010-10-04T21:42:00.016+01:00

Whilst I was out and about in Hockeridge Woods last weekend I came across this impressive clump of Honey Fungus Armillaria growing, as is typical, near an old infected tree stump. It is the fruiting body of the most destructive fungal disease found in British gardens, spreading underground, attacking and killing the roots of trees and woody perennial plants. Unlike most parasites, Honey Fungus does not have to control its growth to avoid killing its host, as it can feed and thrive off the dead plant material. Honey Fungus is the bane of gardeners as there is no way of killing it or controlling its rapid spread. In some of the gardens I have worked in over the years I have seen fruit trees, beautiful hedges and mature shrubs destroyed, and sadly there is nothing that can be done except to dig up the infected plant and burn it. No plants are immune to attack from Honey Fungus and only a few, such as Taxus (Yew) have any resistance at all.

Honey Fungus is actually a common name given to several species of Armillaria fungi of which seven are found in Britain. I was amazed to find that Armillaria are very long lived and form some of the largest living organisms on the planet. The largest single organism, of the species Armillaria ostoyae, which is found occasionally in Britain, is a thousand years old and covers an area of over three square miles in size. Quite mind boggling!

Honey Fungus Armillaria (03/10/10)

Amethyst Deceiver

2010-10-03T15:59:00.013+01:00

It's been a bumper year for Mushrooms and Toadstools and so I decided to take advantage of a pleasant sunny Saturday morning to go Fungus hunting in Hockeridge Wood near Berkhamsted, a mix of Coniferous plantation, Oak, Birch and Beech and an ideal habitat for Fungus. I was amazed at the sheer number of species on display, although many had been spoilt by the previous weeks heavy rain and were looking a bit faded and washed out. One of the first species that I came across was a large stand of Fly Agaric Amanita muscaria, a species I was hoping to photograph, but sadly they were well past their best and looking at rather tatty. There were many large and spectacular species on show but the one that captured my attention was the tiny and beautiful Amethyst Deceiver Laccaria amethystea, pushing up through the damp leaf litter. These tiny violet mushrooms are very easy to overlook, but are quite magical as they catch an occasional pool of dappled sunlight in the dark woodland shadows.

Amethyst Deceivers can be seen all over the UK between August and November in a variety of moist woodland habitats, but are most often found near Beech trees. When wet the Amethyst Deceiver is a lovely deep violet and can be quite hard to spot in the dark leaf litter, but then becomes more visible as it dries and fades to a pale powdery lilac or white colour. Although edible they are apparently difficult to cook as tending to fall apart. I haven't eaten them myself as I am a completely paranoid about eating wild mushrooms!

Amythyst Deceiver Laccaria amethystea

Yellow Flag

2010-09-26T16:22:00.010+01:00

Yellow Flag Iris pseudacorus, which is also known as Flag or more prosaically as Yellow Iris, decorates the borders of ponds, rivers and lakes from May to August throughout the UK, and is only absent from the Scottish Highlands. The name Flag may have originally come about when the iris was used as a symbol on the battle flag of Clovis, a 5th century King of the Franks, although this may be apocryphal. Yellow Flag seems to have had an amazing number uses to man over the centuries. Dye can be obtained from the the flowers and leaves and the roots produce a black dye used in ink called rather ominously Sabbath Black and roasted seeds can be used as a coffee substitute. The rhizomes were used to treat a variety of ailments including coughs, bruising, toothaches and ulcers and the powdered roots were used to be clear head colds. Irises were also hung over doors to ward of evil spirits in the Middle Ages.

The leaves of Yellow Flag provide food for some moth caterpillars including Water Ermine and Belted Beauty, as well as dragonfly larvae and large stands in Western Scotland form an important habitat for Corncrakes.

This photo taken in June last year at College Lake looks slightly like a studio shot, but the dark background which sets off the flower so well is actually shadowy water and vegetation.

Yellow Flag Iris pseudacorus

Migrant Hawker

2010-09-05T08:43:00.016+01:00

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta is now a familiar sight at ponds, gravel pits and reservoirs in the southern half of England but up until the 1940's was only seen as a scarce migrant, hence the name. A small population established in the south east and spread rapidly north and west and now the large resident population is regularly boosted by big influxes from the Continent. This attractive medium sized Hawker is on the wing from late August until well into October and can often be seen in large numbers flying at tree top height in woodlands and parks and often visits garden ponds along with the larger Southern Hawker. Migrant Hawkers are slightly smaller than the other Hawkers and to me appear neater, flying with the abdomen conspicuously tilted upwards. They seem very inquisitive often flying quite close to investigate, hovering motionless for a few seconds before darting away.

I spent over two hours in the hot late afternoon sunshine at College Lake Nature Reserve last Friday photographing these colourful dragonflies with some success as they were frequently perching up on reeds, the leaves of Yellow Flag Iris pseudscorus and Purple Loosestrife Lythrum salicaria which grow profusely at the waters edge. The picture below shows the diagnostic 'golf tee' marking on abdominal segment two, and the blue band at it's base.

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta. (03/09/2010)

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta on Purple Loosestrife Lythrum salicaria (03/09/2010)

Its always a challenge photographing Dragonflies, but because Migrant Hawkers frequently hover, one of my aims was to try and take some flight shots, but frustratingly all my efforts came to nothing with the results either slightly out of focus or much too distant. So I have had a rummage in the archives for some slightly more successful pictures, taken at the same small pool at College Lake back in September 2008.

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta. (20/09/2008)

Dragons Teeth

2010-09-04T17:36:00.012+01:00

Dragons Teeth Tetragonolobus maritimus is a perennial native to central and southern Europe found as far east as the Ukraine and north to Sweden, but is only found as an alien in Britain where it is naturalised in only a few locations in Kent, Buckinghamshire, Essex and Gloucestershire. Dragons Teeth is a member of the Pea (fabaceae) family which creates a dense mat which can carpet large areas of dry calcareous ground. The large yellow pea-flowers are marked by delicate brown veins and the little pods can be eaten when young. These photos were taken at College Lake Nature Reserve near Tring where Dragon's Teeth makes a spectacular sight growing profusely on the dry chalky banks.

Dragons Teeth Tetragonolobus maritimus (04/09/2010)

Dragons Teeth Tetragonolobus maritimus (04/09/2010)

Whooper Swan

2010-08-31T19:19:00.020+01:00

If you come across a couple of Whooper Swans Cygnus cygnus at the Tring Reservoirs complex don't get too excited, as chances are they are the feral pair that have visited the area periodically for the last three years. I am not sure of the exact provenance of these two birds, but they may have originated from a private collection in Bedfordshire. The photos below were taken on a dull, grey day in September 2008, but I saw what are probably the same birds a few days ago at Wilstone Reservoir. The pair were engaged in a raucous greeting or bonding display with entailed a lot of neck bending and stretching accompanied by loud honking and trumpeting. Wherever they come from it's good to have these elegant swans around for a few days and to hear their evocative calls echoing across the water, like the first breath of Winter.

Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus. Wilstone Reservoir 06/09/2008

Mint Moth

2010-08-30T16:41:00.022+01:00

I came across this pretty little moth resting on some Thyme in my back garden on a sunny late afternoon a few days ago, grabbed my camera and managed to take this picture before it flew off. I had seen this species earlier in the year and struggling with the identity, mailed some rather poor photos to my friend Jeff Higgott for help. He soon identified it as a Mint Moth Pyrausta aurata. Incidentally if you are interested in moths check out Jeff's excellent website, UK Lepidoptera, (it's in the links), which contains a vast collection of photographs of the moths he has seen, many of which have been trapped over the years in his Suffolk garden, where he has recorded an astonishing 994 species to date.

Pyrausta aurata is tiny, with a wingspan of around 18 mm and flies both by day and night in May and June, and again in July and August. The larvae feed on members of the Mint family including popular garden plants such as Lemon Balm, Catmint and Apple Mint and the adults can be seen throughout England, Wales and southern Scotland. The Mint Moth can be easily confused with Pyrausta purpuralis as both have similar bright crimson and gold markings. They can be distinguished by the differing pattern of gold markings on the forewing, with Pyrausta aurata having a round golden spot near the costa, although this can be variable, and Pyrausta purpuralis having three marks that sometimes form a continuous band. Pyrausta purpuralis is less likely to be seen in gardens preferring chalk downland and dry grassland.

Mint Moths, when fresh have beautiful rich markings, but when worn like the individual below, fade to a duller brown and yellow colour.

Mint Moth Pyrausta aurata on Thymus (22/08/2010)

The photograph below, taken in early June is of a fresh Mint Moth, and clearly shows a richer crimson and gold colouration, although this individual has weaker gold markings on the forewing.

Mint Moth Pyrausta aurata on Thymus (06/06/2010)

Common Frog

2010-08-28T14:42:00.032+01:00

Common Frog Rana temporaria

Wandering around Ashridge Forest early one damp March morning last year on my annual, fruitless search for Lesser-spotted Woodpeckers, I was happily diverted by hundreds of Common Frogs Rana temporaria that had gathered to breed in a tiny pond near Monument Drive. At times the water was a boiling mass of frogs, but the slightest movement sent them all diving under the surface making it necessary to lie perfectly still in the mud and wet leaves at the dark waters edge and wait for them to pop up again. Often one or two would swim closer to the bank and stare intently at me with large, curious eyes, and I was able to take these pictures, which I think convey something of the endearing and comical side to these wonderful creatures.

Common Frogs are able to breathe through their skin allowing them to hibernate in leaves or mud underwater, as well as in compost heaps and under logs and stones on land. In the early spring they travel to ponds to mate and spawn, often the same sites where they originally developed from spawn into adults. Interestingly Common Frogs have the ability to lighten and darken their skin to blend in with the surrounding environment and in Scotland completely red or black individuals sometimes occur.

I made a return visit to the same pond in early spring this year but was disappointed to find a much reduced number of frogs, perhaps as a result of the long, harsh winter.

Common Frogs Rana temporaria

Pair of Common Frogs in Amplexus

Common Frog Rana temporaria

Pair of Common Frogs in Amplexus

Snail Shell

2010-08-25T19:22:00.008+01:00

This photo taken in March last year shows a Snail shell floating in Common Frog Rana temporaria frogspawn in a small pond near the Monument in Ashridge Forest. The shell may have belonged to a Ramshorn Snail Planorbarius sp., but it is hard to be certain which species as they are notoriously difficult to identify.

Possible Planorbarius sp. Snail Shell and frogspawn. (14/03/2009)

Elephant Hawkmoth

2010-08-24T21:05:00.012+01:00

Looking for all the world like the result of giving an over imaginative child some crayons and telling it to colour in a moth, this Elephant Hawkmoth Deilephila elpenor was photographed in my back garden in early July. Actually it was a bit of a cheat as the stunning pink and olive-green creature was actually found whilst I was working in a garden in Hemel Hempstead. I put the moth into my empty sandwich box and carried it around with me for the rest of the day until I returned home in the late afternoon. Carefully placing the moth on a Peony paeonia I took some pictures before hiding it deep in the shrub out of harms way, where it remained until later that evening. Elephant Hawkmoths which are found throughout Britain, flying from May to July and are commonly seen in gardens at dusk where they visit tubular flowers such as Honeysuckle, Red Valerian and Petunias.

Elephant Hawkmoth Deilephila elpenor. (02/07/2010)

Holly Blue

2010-08-23T21:34:00.018+01:00

This obliging Holly Blue Celastrina argiolus was found nectaring on Bramble flowers and basking in the mellow late evening sunshine behind the hide at Wilstone Reservoir on Tuesday last week. I have always found this pretty little butterfly tricky to photograph as it tends to spend much of its time high up in the foliage of trees feeding on aphid honeydew, similar in habit the hairstreaks and rarely seems to settle for long. The Holly Blues found in Britain are of the ssp. britanna and appear as early as March with a second brood flying until late September. The males of both broods are identical but the females are seasonally dimorphic, the second brood a deeper violet blue with wider dark wing borders than the paler early butterflies.

Interestingly, unlike so many butterflies the Holly Blue is expanding rapidly, and is now found as far north as Cumbria, although it's stronghold remains Southern England.

Holly Blue Celastrina argiolus - female, second brood. (17/08/2010)

The picture below which was taken in May 2008 is of a first brood female Holly Blue and shows the paler blue colouration and reduced black borders to the wings.

Holly Blue Celastrina argiolus - female, first brood 912/05/2008)

Collared Dove

2010-08-23T19:28:00.016+01:00

Last Saturday after spending the day at the Birdfair at Rutland Water, I arrived home after the two hour drive, feeling tired and light of wallet to be confronted with an obviously sick and distressed Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto on the lawn of my back garden. I picked up the forlorn bird to examine it and my heart sank when I saw that the right eye was red, swollen and closed over and what appeared to be part of the brain, was protruding grotesquely from the side of the head. My first thought was that the unfortunate bird had been struck by a Sparrowhawk or possibly a cat. Resigning myself to a 40 minute round trip to St Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital near Thame I put the dove in a cardboard box, jumped back into the car and raced off. Arriving at the hospital I joined the queue behind a juvenile Common Tern and a baby Edible Dormouse and waited my turn. As soon as the Dormouse was dealt with the Nurse had a look at my casualty and immediately exclaimed, "oh it's only a tick!", much to my relief and mild embarrassment considering my rather dramatic diagnosis! What I had assumed was part of the dove's brain was in fact a blood bloated tick and the horrible state of the eye was the result of an infection caused by the bite. I was told that the tick would be removed and the dove given a course of antibiotics, and stood a very good chance of making a full recovery. Apparently Collared Doves are prone to tick bites and are often brought in to the hospital for treatment. I drove home pleased that this story would hopefully have a happy ending.

If anyone finds a sick of injured Bird or Mammal the address of St Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital is:

Tiggywinkles, Aston Road, Haddenham, Bucks, HP17 8AF

Tel: 01844 292292

Email: mail@sttiggywinkles.org.uk

www.tiggywinkles.com

Pitstone Hill

2010-08-20T16:24:00.007+01:00

Pitstone Hill, on the Ridgeway Path is a superb chalk grassland on the edge of the Chiltern escarpment on the Hertfordshire/Buckinghamshire border just south-west of Ivinghoe Beacon. It is an excellent site for butterflies including Chalkhill Blue and grassland flowers such as Autumn Gentian (Felwort). The occasional Ring Ouzel and Whinchat turns upon migration and the area is good for farmland birds such as Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer and sometimes calling Quail in the summer. Pitstone Hill, once the site of an ancient village or settlement is also an interesting archaeological site.

The view from Pitstone Hill looking north towards Mentmore

Long-winged Conehead

2010-08-20T15:27:00.011+01:00

This Bush Cricket was photographed on the 27th of July at Brush Hill near Monks Risborough. Although I initially identified it as a Long-winged Conehead Conocephalus discolor my field guide gave its distribution in the UK as restricted to the South Coast. I have since found out that these interesting crickets, which were first discovered on mainland England in 1945, have spread rapidly and are now widespread across Southern Britain and into Wales. Although in Europe they are found in a variety of habitats including marshes and reedbeds, in England they prefer drier rough grassland. This individual is a female, identified by the virtually straight ovipositor almost as long as the body and is also an extra long winged form with wings extending to the end of the ovipositor. Short-winged Conehead Conocephalus dorsalis, which is found in reedbeds, bogs and damp grassland is identified by its very short wings and a sharply curved ovipositor. There is also a long-winged or macropterous form burri, sometimes found in hot summers, which could cause confusion with Long-winged Conehead.

Female Long-winged Conehead Conocephalus discolor

Black-necked Grebe

2010-08-18T18:23:00.015+01:00

I spent an enjoyable hour in the hide at Wilstone Reservoir on Tuesday watching this juvenile Black-necked Grebe Podiceps nigricollis which showed really well in the late afternoon sunshine. It was actively feeding in between bouts of sleeping and eventually swam close enough to the hide for me to grab this photo. The upended Mallard in the background gives a good idea of the tiny size of Black-necked Grebe, only slightly larger than a Little Grebe.

Juvenile Black-necked Grebe Podiceps nigricollis - 17th August 2010

The supporting cast included this Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis which perched for some time on a branch close to the hide. Kingfishers must have had a terrible time in the hard winter so its great to see a pair regularly at Wilstone at the moment. Frustratingly the bird was in the shade, just out of the sunshine that would have brought it's stunning colours to life.

Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis

Working their way busily through the shallows were the 2 juvenile Black-tailed Godwits of the ssp. islandica that have been present at the reservoirs for a few days. These Icelandic birds have shorter bills and legs, and darker summer plumage than ssp. limosa from the rest of Europe. Also present was the rather drab eclipse drake Garganey that has been around for a while and, just as I was leaving, a Greenshank which must have flown in unnoticed popped up on the mud to the left of the hide.

Red-crested Pochard

2010-08-16T19:08:00.013+01:00

This pair of Red-crested Pochards Nettia ruffia stayed at Startops and Marsworth Reservoirs for a few weeks from March 19th to April 9th 2008 and the female was briefly seen later in June with one small duckling which did not survive. Like many Red-crested Pochards in this country these birds were fairly tame and approachable making them easy to photograph. This year a pair bred sucessfully at the reservoirs with one young bird surviving from the original brood of nine with the rest probably falling victim to predatory Pike or Mink. Sadly this is the fate that befalls many of the duckings and young Moorhens on the reservoirs.

Red-crested Pochard Nettia ruffia, male and female

Male Red-crested Pochard Nettia ruffia

Female Red-crested Pochard Nettia ruffia

Carline Thistle

2010-08-15T19:01:00.009+01:00

Carline Thistle Carlina vulgaris is flowering all over the grassy slopes of Ivinghoe Beacon at this time of year. It's a common plant of short lime-rich grassland flowering well into September and the dead plants, which look much the same as when they are in flower often remain standing throughout the winter. Chalkhill Blues are very fond of them and often settle and nectar on the photogenic flower heads. The pictures below were taken a couple of years ago on Wendover Downs.

Carline Thistle Carlina vulgaris

Violet Helleborine var. rosea

2010-08-15T16:44:00.005+01:00

Here are some pictures of the very striking rosea form of Violet Helleborine Epipactis purpurata growing by the roadside under Beech trees near Princes Risborough. The plant is large and robust but completely lacking in chlorophyll giving it a strange ghostly appearance. The plant is tinted with purple but really stands out in the dark woods, almost appearing to glow. There is another ghostly plant, much smaller, on the other side of the road and two conventional plants growing nearby. Orchids are dependant on mycorrhizal symbiosis and this allows some species to grow with reduced leaves and little chlorophyll. Violet Helleborine can survive with no chlorophyll at all and these plants are usually more heavily suffused with purple, rather than violet.

It was quite breezy and the light levels very low making it a real challenge to get any reasonable shots of this amazing plant.

Violet Helleborine var.rosea

Violet Helleborine var. rosea showing no chlorophyll

A normal Violet Helleborine Epipactis purpurata taken in July 2006 in South Buckinghamshire

Chalkhill Blue

2010-08-14T22:22:00.002+01:00

Chalkhill Blues Lysandra coridon are out in huge numbers all over the sunny slopes of Ivinghoe Beacon at the moment. Although many are starting to look slightly tatty there are still plenty of lovely fresh specimens about. I have made a couple of visits up to the hills on sunny late afternoons and was amazed by the clouds of males flitting over the lime rich grasslands occasionally settling on Greater Knapweed and Field Scabious. Although photographing the beautiful silvery-blue males was fairly easy, the brown females are more secretive spending much of their time crawling around in the short grass and proved much harder. In the end I had to settle for the shot below of a pair mating. The picture shows the much darker underside of the female. The males seemed to be very fond of the numerous Carline Thistles Carlina vulgaris which are flowering all over the slopes.

Mating pair of Chalkhill Blues

Male Chalkhill Blue Lysandra coridon

Male Chalkhill Blue on Carline Thistle

Two male Chalkhill Blues on Carline Thistle

The race of Chalkhill Blue found in Southern Britain Lysandra coridon coridon is also found across most of Europe, except Spain where the races asturiensis and caelestissima are found. These races are sometimes accorded specific status and are known to hybridise with Spanish Chalkhill Blue Lysandra albicans.

Apparently the numerous aberrations of Chalkhill Blue were highly prized by Butterfly Collectors in the 18th Century.

Chalkhill Blue should be around into September so there is still time to try for more shots of those elusive females!

WildlifeTring

2010-08-14T16:39:00.000+01:00

WildlifeTring is a mainly photographic diary recording the wildlife and landscapes encounted on my ramblings around the varied habitats in the Tring area. The lime rich grassy hills of Ivinghoe Beacon and Wendover Downs are excellent for orchids, butterflies and migrating birds. The Tring reservoir complex hosts huge numbers of wintering wildfowl, attracts migrant waders, terns and gulls and occasionally an exciting rarity, while the deciduous woods and coniferous plantations of Ashridge and Wendover provide good habitats for mammals and breeding birds. Then of course there is my tiny back garden where I put out mountains of food for the birds!

Although WildlifeTring will usually cover a fairly limited area centred on Tring I will occasionally break the rules and post sightings and photos from favourite haunts a bit further afield such as Bernwood and Otmoor in Oxfordshire.

WildlifeTring is an chance to share my photographs and sightings and provides an opportunity for me to learn more about the wildlife of the area that I have enjoyed living in for the last 10 years.

I hope you enjoy it!