Hogs #7 and #8

We recently released two more hogs and both seem to be sticking around. Since the release of hog #6 we have been putting the soft release pen in the barn and surprise, surprise, the hogs seem reluctant to move their sleeping quarters from the barn. They have snug houses filled with hay and protection from rain and hard frost so I can understand how they feel. We think hog #6 may also be in the barn as there is a big pile of hay where we think she may be resting up. The photo is hog #8 who broke out of his soft release pen on night one by digging underneath it and then broke back in again to sleep in the hedgehog house in the pen. We have named him 'Steve McQueen'.

Euphrasia update

I have at least two species of Eyebright (Euphrasia spp) on site and the more interesting one has long glandular hairs which means in practical terms it is either E. rostkoviana, E. montana or E. anglica (newer names used) Previous study by me in 2014 ruled out E. anglica and it looked like it was E. montana. That would have been the first record for the area. However now that there are enough plants to send six examples to the Eyebright referee it turns out it is E. rostkoviana. One thing I had not counted correctly was the lowest flowering node. So it is Rostkov's Eyebright - not quite as uncommon as E. montana but still an exciting find.

Hogs #5 and #6 released

We released two more hogs as part of the release plan from the local hedgehog rescue place. They are just the ones that can't be placed back where they came from. The aim is to get a breeding population going in this hedgehog-friendly environment that can hopefully meet up with a second release site about a mile away as the hedgehog walks. For the first time a hog has come back to their temporary house after release. They are kept in a couple of days then the cage is removed and they are free to go - which they rapidly do. However after one night away one of the two released hogs turned up back in the house. Just in case it is contemplating hibernation and to keep it warm and safe in those circumstances we have moved the temporary house to the barn. Hopefully the trail camera will reveal whether the hog is still feeding or whether it has popped off to sleep for a while. The photo captures the hog returning to the release house and partaking of the food we left out.

The King of Waxcaps is back

#25 for the season here and probably the last one I will find is a great finale. The Splendid Waxcap (Hygrocybe splendidissima) is both rare and stunning to look at. The colour depth and vividness of the red cap is matched by an amazing contorted stipe that is both red and yellow. The gills are a deep pinkish red with an orange margin. At a distance it might be confused with either of the other large red waxcaps (the Scarlet and the Crimson Waxcaps) but close up it is in a class of its own.

Ivory Bonnet

Only the second time I have found this attractive bonnet Atheniella flavoalba on site and this time it was a single example. It was in the West Field this time so a new record for that field. The subtle but distinctive pale yellow centre does not come out well on a photo but is clearly distinguishable to the naked eye.

Ruby Tiger Moth caterpillar

I am not sure what it was doing floating in the sink full of water but I managed to rescue it. I had put a large rock in for any mammals or amphibians getting stuck in the sink but I hadn't catered for caterpillars. I have had a Ruby Tiger Moth in the house but this confirms they are breeding on site.

Waxcaps #23 and #24

Only a handful 'missing' waxcaps after finding the Oily Waxcap and The Crimson Waxcap today. Twenty four is a respectable number but I think a thorough search tomorrow is in order to see if the Splendid, Slimy, Cedarwood or Vermilion Waxcaps are around. Pictured is the Crimson Waxcap (Hygrocybe punicea).

New Species - Toasted Waxcap

Waxcap number 22 for the season and also number 28 for the site - the Toasted Waxcap (Cuphophyllus colemannianus). I nearly missed this one as a glance a couple of days previously made me think it was some more Snowy Waxcaps (of which there was a clump not too far away). However the colour and size were not right and closer examination showed it to be the Toasted Waxcap - albeit one at the lighter end of the colour range. Now we are getting some frosts I am not sure we will have many more waxcaps here. There are mainly Meadow, Scarlet and some fading Pink and Golden waxcaps left. That means so far no Splendid, Crimson, Slimy or Vermilion waxcaps this year.

New Species - Blue Edge Pinkgill

I would guess I have in excess of six species of Pinkgill but I struggle with their identification (as do a lot of people). However I can add a fourth ID (following E conferendum, E porphyrophaeum and E griseocyaneum) following the relatively easy ID of the Blue Edge Pinkgill (Entoloma serrulatum). This one has a distinctive colour to cap and stipe and distinctive gills with a blue and serrulated edge. the photo is very noisy as it was taken on highest ISO in fading light but the distinctive blue black colour of cap and stipe can be seen.

New Species - Water Shrew

I found a dead shrew in one of the fields and was surprised that closer examination revealed it to be a Water Shrew. As there is no suitable water close by I imagine it was dropped by a predator - maybe a bird - although there were no obvious wounds.

Female hog release

Our hedgehog release programme was interrupted by the escape of the first female due here, in high winds down at the hog hospital. The winds blew over her cage and with that she was gone. However we have now released a female who was found stuck in a drain and could not be returned to her home territory after rehabilitation. If the three males are still around then she has a choice of mates.

New Species - Pink Domecap

This is quite a low key fungus, not very big and low to the ground. I don't think it's uncommon but I have only come across it once before so it was good to find it right by the barn. It used to be in the Calocybe genus but it is now Rugosomyces carneus.

Toads

I rescued a small toad from an old sink which had filled up with water recently and that reminded me how few amphibians I have seen this year. It is true that a frog spawned in my pond for the first time but the tadpoles didn't seem to make it and I have seen very very few frogs and toads hopping around in the fields. Maybe that is an effect of this year's hot dry summer.

And still they keep coming..

More Waxcap species around including most recently, the Pale Waxcap (not really a separate species as it has the same specific name as the Meadow Waxcap even though it seems quite different to me!), the Dingy Waxcap and the Earthy Waxcap. Both these last two species seem to be thriving here which is great as neither is commonly found. That makes 17 species for 2018 so far (or 16 if you are a stickler about the Pale Waxcap). Still no sign of the large red species, the common Scarlet Waxcap which is usually here in big numbers, or the Crimson or Splendid Waxcaps which have each only appeared at one place and even then only in the last few years. Pictures is the Earthy Waxcap (Cuphophyllus fornicatus).

Waxcaps #9 to #13?

Just one small area of the West Field has become full of waxcaps suddenly. I spotted my first Pink Waxcap of the season two days ago, first, but walking up the field a bit further came across a great find, a few Orange Waxcaps (Hygrocybe aurantiosplendens). When I went back to take some photographs yesterday I found in the same area some Yellow Foot Waxcaps (Cuphophyllus flavipes) - already recorded this year -, a group of Honey Waxcaps (Hygrocybe reidii), a few Goblet Waxcaps (Hygrocybe cantharellus) and a probable (hence the '?') Gioixanthomyces vitellinus) but the last was a bit far gone to be absolutely sure. Why this one area is so diverse in waxcaps and indeed was surrounded by hundreds of Fibrous and lots of Citrine waxcaps as well, I have no idea. It must be the specific conditions that have affected this patch this year. Illustrated in the brilliant Orange Waxcap, a species I rarely see.

Waxcap #8 - Glutinous Waxcap

In the same place where I saw it last year, amongst moss (not surprisingly) at the edge of the North field. The cap was gloopy and the gills distant and semi-decurrent.

Helleborine reprise

I was sure that this year's orchid count was closed but a walk round the margins of the fields yielded five Broad-leaved Helleborines that I somehow had missed previously, including the above clump of four spikes. That makes up for the high proportion of Helleborines that had been eaten (by deer I think). Last year I had five Helleborines in total whereas this year the total is now sixteen. The addition of these five orchids now means the year's orchid total is 221 vs 138 last year so a very pleasing increase of 60% in one year.

Waxcaps #4,#5, #6 and #7

They are starting to appear in greater numbers and I was surprised to find a Yellowfoot Waxcap (Cuphophyllus flavipes) (pictured above) today in a field where I haven't seen it before. So that is species #7. #4, #5, and #6 were Blackening Waxcap (Hygrocybe Conica), Golden Waxcap (H chlorophana) and Citrine Waxcap (H citrinovirens). I am looking forward to reaching double figures soon.

Buzzard

At the moment I am seeing a lot of a Buzzard who is hanging around at the front of the house. It may be related to my clearance of an area which I am hoping to make into an enticing slope for solitary bees.

Waxcap #3 - Butter Waxcap

The third species has arrived - the Butter Waxcap (Hygrocybe ceracea). The give away to distinguish it from similar waxcaps are the translucent spot and striae, broadly attached gills and a knobbly surface to the cap plus a greasy cap but dry stipe. This one was a classic ceracea.

First Clavarioid of 2018

After yesterday's Waxcap we have today's Clavarioid - White Spindles (Clavaria fragilis). I feel the grassland fungi season is now underway........

Spangle Waxcap

It's been a very quiet year so far on the grassland fungi front. Just a Fibrous Waxcap or two in June and the odd Pinkgill. However yesterday we had the first Waxcap since June, a solitary small Spangle Waxcap (Hygrocybe insipida). It is typically one of the early ones to appear so maybe we are about to start the season proper? The fresh photo was out of focus so the above is a shrivelled version taken today.

New Species - Climbing Corydalis

In a hidden away corner I found a giant clump of Climbing Corydalis (Ceratocapnos claviculata). It may have been there in previous years but this is the first time I have recorded this on site though I have seen it on Trellech Common.

Rewilding - Beeches stylee

The first two rescue hogs are tonight in their soft release pen and in three days we open the door..... There should be plenty of natural, pesticide and chemical free food around for them and we hope that we can re-establish a breeding population here. We haven't seen a hedgehog on the property for about four years. Thanks to Carol and Philip at the Rescue Centre.

New Species - Red Cracking Bolete

It's becoming a good year for Boletes even if there are no other fungi around. I spotted a Bolete, which at first I assumed was another Scarletina Bolete but closer examination and cutting of the flesh, which yielded no colour change told me it was something different. I then noticed it was under Larch and after checking the options I realised it was the Red Cracking Bolete (Xerocomus chrysenteron).

Common Fleabane

The Fleabane patch, as it now is, is left as a late-flowering treat for invertebrates. This means it is getting bigger each year and there are now well over 50 plants in the patch. The conditions must be just damp enough in this low-lying part of the field as the species has not spread anywhere else.

New Species - Scarletina Bolete

There is very little fruiting of fungi - none in the fields since mid June - so it was nice to come across a group of Boletes under a Beech Tree. I was able to identify them from and one particular characteristic is that the bright yellow tubes turn immediately bright blue when cut. It is quite spectacular and when you add the striking brown cap colour and the deep red pores, it is a dazzling fungus. It is a new species for The Beeches although I did see it last year on a neighbour's lawn.

Common Blue really are common in 2018

This has been the best year yet (since we moved here in 2011) for Common Blues. The second brood are pretty abundant in the fields at the moment and there were plenty of adults in the first brood earlier. I have read that numbers plummet after a hot dry summer so it could be a bad 2019 for the Common Blue. Photo is a male.

Flesh? Flies Mating

I have never got to grips with identification of True Flies - I think I would need a book as good as 'Britain's Hoverflies' to even try. However these flies mating attracted my attention so I took a photo and then tried to see whether they could be identified. As far as I can tell they look like Flesh Flies but that's as far as I can go - and I'm not even sure about that.

New Species - Burnet Saxifrage

Every year there seems to be a new meadow plant species but I was wondering whether this year was going to be an exception - until today. In the middle of the uncut part of the East Field is a single umbellifer which turned out to be Burnet Saxifrage (Pimpinella saxifraga). As usual I have no idea why it should turn up after we have been managing the meadows for eight years. Was the seed waiting all this time for the right conditions? Could a bird or animal have brought it in? Is there some Burnet Saxifrage in a nearby field or garden? Anyway it's a brilliant new flower to have - as a late flowering umbellifer it must be great for invertebrates. When I went to photograph it this morning there was a Silver Y moth resting on the stem. I just hope it manages to seed before it is eaten by a careless deer or rabbit

Deer en masse

We had nine fallow deer at the back of the house this morning, three fawns who spent their time like any children, hanging out together separate from the adults who were mostly engaged in stealing apples off the Golden Delicious tree. They did this by brilliantly balancing on the back legs and stretching up to pluck the unripe apples off the tree. One fawn lay down at one point but the mother came over and made it get up and join in with the other fawns.

Comma

There has been a reasonable number of Commas this year - it makes regular but not numerous appearances here. A dead one in the house gave me the opportunity to view its underside for once and I was struck by the greenish colour of the spots which I had not noticed before. I was also surprised in looking it up in my Butterfly book (Thomas and Lewington) that the Comma had almost disappeared from Britain by the end of the 19thC. Its last redoubt was in the Marches here, specifically Herefordshire, Monmouthshire and Gloucestershire. The start of a recovery was first noticed in 1914 and continued until the 1950s and since the late 1970s it has kicked on again. There is no accepted explanation of the population fluctuations with climate and farming practices likely to be involved

Dark Bush Cricket

I thought I had found a new species for the list when I spotted this light brown cricket close by a dark brown Dark Bush Cricket (Pholidoptera griseoaptera) but it turned out to be a female of the species. I had forgotten that these crickets come in a range of browns.

Broad-leaved Helleborine

In some ways the biggest success of the Orchid season here in that they have more than doubled in number from 5 last year to 11 this year. However 6 of them have been eaten so at the moment we have only 5 that can procreate. They are not the extrovert brightly coloured stars of the orchid world but close up their flowers are a symphony of pink and cream. I'm hoping they spread quickly.

Bees

A Bee expert has helpfully done a couple of surveys here so for the first time I am building a species list that includes more than just White-tailed Bumblebee and Buff-tailed Bumblebee. In fact my bee book says that some of the species being recorded are rare in Wales, although I suspect it is more likely that they are rarely recorded in Wales. After two surveys I have the following list: Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum) White-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lucorum) Hawk's-beard Mining Bee, (Andrena fulvago) White-zoned Furrow Bee, (Lasioglossum leucozonium) Shaggy Furrow Bee, (Lasioglossum villosulum) Chalk Furrow Bee, (Lasioglossum fulvicorne) Patchwork Leafcutter Bee, (Megachile centuncularis) Garden Bumblebee, (Bombus hortorum) Grey-banded Mining Bee, (Andrena denticulata) Blunthorn Nomad Bee, (Nomada flavopicta) The photo is the Patchwork Leafcutter Bee, (Megachile centuncularis)

Butterfly Update

Today was the first sighting this year of a particularly beautiful butterfly - the Painted Lady (photo above). This is turning into a good year for butterflies, particularly in quantities of some species although the dry weather may lead to a poor turnout next year the experts are saying. It has certainly been the best year since we moved here in 2011 for the brilliant Marbled White. I don' think it has been seen for more than two weeks in any year until now when it has been flying for more than four weeks and in much higher numbers than usual. Other species recorded recently as first sightings for 2018 include the Gatekeeper, Peacock and Small Copper.

New Species - Silver Washed Fritillary

It's been a great butterfly day today with loads of Marbled Whites, some brand new Commas looking very fine, large quantities of Meadow Browns and Large Whites and best of all some Silver Washed Fritillaries which are a new record for here. In fact that is not strictly true as I now think the butterfly I identified as a Dark Green Fritillary in 2014 was probably a Silver Washed. My photo was not quite good enough at the time to be sure but this photo (whilst still not very good - these butterflies move around a lot) is clearly that of a Silver Washed.

New Moth - Dark Arches

Last July I found a Black Arches moth and this July I found the apparently unrelated Dark Arches (Apamea monoglypha) just sleeping on a window. This is a common and abundant species which uses grasses such as Cock's Foot as a larval food plant.

Final? Orchid Count

I had an 11% increase when I counted up the orchids as of the end of May. However the final tally has exceeded my expectations with 216 orchids - an increase of 57% on last year. As before the vast majority are Common Spotted Orchids but there has also been a stand out increase in Broad-leaved Helleborines. There was a total of 5 last year and there are now 11 with 5 in one group and the rest spread around the field edges. The photo is of one of these gorgeous orchids in the act of unfurling itself as they do. Of course should the Bee Orchid reappear the total will rise to 217 but no sign of it at the moment.

Butterfly update

It was looking like a very poor year for butterflies until the last week or so. Still not as wide a variety of species as previous years but at last the sunny weather has brought out the numbers and also many of the species. Recorded recently have been the Marbled White which is flying in good numbers, loads of Meadow Browns and Ringlets and some sightings of the Large Skipper and also one Comma today. The photo is a Marbled White resting.

New Species - Western Bee-Fly

I managed to get a photograph of a Bee-Fly and it seems clear that it is a Western Bee-Fly (Bombylius canescens) as it lacks the wing shading or spots of other similar species such as the Dark-edged or the Dotted Bee-Fly.

New Hoverfly species - Eristalis nemorum

Again due to the excellent 'Britain's Hoverflies' book I am able to ID a hoverfly I snapped. The strong loop in the wing vein narrows the ID down to a few species which helps. It is Eristalis nemorum which is described as a bee mimic. Could do better in that respect.......

First Waxcap of the year

In both the East and West fields I found fruiting Fibrous Waxcaps (Hygrocybe intermedia). Surprisingly early even for this fungus that is usually one of the earliest waxcaps.

Our Crows Nesting?

Possibly my favourite birds here are the resident pair of Crows whcih until the last week or so were always foraging for food together, waddling through the long grass looking for stuff. For the last few days it has been a single Crow so I am assuming that the partner is sitting on a nest somewhere. Also on the Corvid front I am seeing Magpies regularly for the first time. There could well be Corvid trouble ahead....

Green Dock Beetle Larvae

There's definitely a whole lot of Dock Beetles around. This could just be a reflection of my poor Dock removal progress but it does leave a dilemma about whether to remove Docks which are 'infested'. I've taken to removing the flowering tops if I see signs of the eggs or larvae rather than the whole plant. Here's a photo of some larvae doing their good work.

Stock Dove

Almost all of the pigeony birds we get here are Wood Pigeons but I get infrequent sightings of Stock Doves which look pretty similar to Feral Pigeons as seen in Trafalgar Square. The differences are in both colour and markings and the Stock Dove is altogether a more elegant and beautiful bird.

New species - Nemophora degeerella

N. degeerella is a day flying micro moth that is 'common in England and Wales' according to the Field Guide to the Micro Moths of GB and Ireland. It is similar to the much less common Adela croesella but there was a very helpful explanation of the differences that allowed me to confirm the ID. The thing that amazed me was the length of its antennae which stretch out beyond the frame of the photo.

Fox cubs

Inevitably soon after I remarked that there were no foxes around two cubs turned up and played in the garden and on the patio. One chased a rabbit but didn't even get close, but generally they just looked around explored and had some playful scuffles.

Large Yellow Underwing

I found this caterpillar on one of the larger Common Spotted Orchids having just stripped the plant of its flowers and started on the leaves. I resisted the urge to punish it and took a photo for identification purposes. It looks like it is the larva of the Large Yellow Underwing moth - one of our commonest large moths.

Orchid first

I always have a an orchid surprise each year. Last year it was the appearance of a Bee orchid. This year it is the first Common Spotted Orchid to appear outside the four fields. I found one flowering just near the barn in an area which I have started managing by letting it grow then cutting for hay but without the aftermath grazing that the fields get. As usual I wonder how the seed got there - has it been lying dormant or has it arrived from seed generated by the increase in Orchid population in the last six years? Anyway it has a cage around it to stop the large rabbit population eating it.

Orchid Update

It feels like there is a shortage of orchids this year but the facts don't lie. Comparing the figures for Common Spotted Orchids with last year I find that there are in fact 11% more at this stage and increases in three of the four fields. Last year ended up at 138 Orchids (mostly but not exclusively Common Spotteds) which was an increase of 12% on 2016. A similar increase would see us above 150 Orchids this year. I'd settle for that.