Birds, Vampires and ‘Catkins – Servicing the Bees’
It’s been a while since I wrote a sightings log – meteorological winter has ended - not that we had much snow in my part of the world just wet horrible rain failing day after day and grey overcast skies. The Winter Olympics has been on which I loved watching, I got engrossed in the snowboarding events and I reckon I could now commentate on curling having seen that much of it. But it has now finished, there were some terrific competitions and several GB medals to show which was nice. I did enjoy the whole occasion, first time in 20 years it's been in my time zone, which allowed me to watch more than I normally would. It even inspired me to produce a fun article about hoverflies at the Olympics, which seemed to have been well received and enjoyable to create. If you haven’t seen that post, please do click on the link – Hoverflies at the Olympics 🥌.
The last few days there has been some actual sun, and the temperatures have started to hit mid-teens, so I was hopeful of catching a hibernating hoverfly awakening from its sleep. I have been out and enjoying the spring flowers as they emerge. First there were Snowdrops then Dog’s Mercury followed by Crocuses, Helleborine, Daffodils, and Lesser Celandine and who does not love a Dandelion. I call them ‘Dandy – lee – on’ making them sound a little more exotic, not that they need that, but they are a much under-appreciated flower often considered a weed, yet the bees love them and so too do the early emerging hoverflies. But unfortunately, the only emerging insects I have spotted are the 7-spotted ladybirds, 2 Brimstone and a Peacock butterfly. I am sure by the end of the week I will have found one, so watch this space.
RSPB Old Moor Nature Reserve – South Yorkshire
At the weekend I took a trip out to my local reserve to see some birds with members of the British Naturalists (BNA). It’s that time of year for the booming Bitterns but unfortunately not today with the skies grey and the threat of rain. I did however spot 48 other birds’ highlights being Water Rail, Goldeneye, a pair of Marsh Harriers and a Redpoll. I have been reliably informed that Arctic, Greenland, Mealy and Lesser varieties have now been categorised under one species of Common Redpoll (Ancanthis flammea). If they are not genetically different it makes sense to me, let me know in the comments below if you disagree.
Redpolls to become one species - BirdGuides
What didn’t disappoint were the Peregrine falcons. One of the group members mentioned to me earlier in the day that they would like to see one, only to miss it when it shot through disturbing all the birds around the Wath Ings hide. But luckily later in the day there was the ‘kek-kek-kek followed by the ‘ee-chip’ of a pair of Peregrines flying over with lunch, not a McDonald’s as someone postulated or a Kingfisher which was missing from from the list as I joked with a member, but a pigeon. It delighted a large crowd at the visitor centre who were able to watch the female pluck the pigeon as it sat on the pylons close by whilst the male waited patiently. It will not be long before they will be nesting on Sheffield Cathedral or some high-rise platform close-by. This crowd did however prevent us from getting locked in as we had forgotten it closed at 4pm and we were on the other side of the reserve with 3 minutes to go, so I guess we had to get a gallop on.
Here is a full listing of species spotted.
Some members also got interested in the Alders on the reserve. These are fabulous trees with their little brown cones (formed the previous year) and there are enough mature trees in the local area that I now see large flocks of Siskins fluttering around the treetops feeding on the seeds within those cones. So, if you look up and hear ‘tluee’, ‘tilu’ or ‘tzsy-ee’ you might get a green and yellow bird that is neither a gold nor green finch but a visitor to lowland areas in winter with increased numbers from the continent. In summer they are more strongly associated with uplands and pine/conifer woodlands where they breed. No Siskin on the reserve today but I am quite sure the Common Redpoll was enjoying the Alder cones to itself.
Alder Trees catkins
With the Common Alder (Alnus glutinosa) the male and female catkins are on the same tree, even the same branch. The flowers appear before the leaves, the males are long pendant, yellow to purplish catkins much like those of a hazel tree. Whereas the females are small and purplish cones, which will swell and turn green when fertilised.
Did you know – the roots of have an alder tree have nodules that contain bacteria that can fix nitrogen just like in pea and clover plants.
Also, if you cut the branch of an Alder tree it bleeds blood-orange and was thought in medieval times to be associated with evil spirits. Thankfully it is now known to be a form of ‘Maillard reaction’ between the sugars and amino acids in the wood when exposed to air, like why an apple turn brown when cut.
So, what else have I spotted this week so far:
Parasitic plant – Toothwort (Lathraea squamaria)
Found at the base of a tree. The first thing to notice is its lack of green colouring, as this plant contains no chlorophyll. Its scientific name Lathraea (Greek) means clandestine and secret which is appropriate as this plant lives most of its time underground sucking and absorbing nutrients from its host, rather like a vampire. The ghostly flower which emerges see below, is orchid like in appearance, with a soft hairy feel, creamy white in colour, tinged with pink which you can just about make out in my photograph. The flowers are arranged such that they resemble rows of discoloured teeth hence its common name. The fleshy colours give it its other nickname ‘Corpse flower’ from observations that it is often found growing in soil above dead bodies. If this were true it would be prevalent in graveyards which it isn’t. Well, I hope there is no dead body underneath the soil next to the TPT. Last year I recorded it on the 4th of April, although it was much better established than the one below, will see if it is still there in a month.
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| Left photo taken yesterday Right photo taken last April |
Pussy Willows servicing the Bees.
Another sighting that got me curious and looking for pollinators were Goat Willow (Salix caprea)
Did you know - that there male and female Goat Willow trees?
Look for the catkins early spring, these appear before the leaves. As shown below the male catkins are egg shaped 2-3cm in length hairy grey which develop yellow anthers when the pollen ripens. Whereas the female catkins are green, turning white and hairy later as the seeds develop. The ones I saw were covered in Buff-tailed Bees (Bombus terrestis), first of the year.
Female Catkins
Male Catkins
I now need to prepare to lead a field visit at the weekend on wall mosses which might be my next article, so have a good week all, hope you find some wonderful nature.
In the meantime, please do check out some of my other articles on the site, there are over 50 posts about all kinds of things, hoverfly species, books, morphology, art and culture - there is much to be discovered if you haven’t already.
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