tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-262313142024-03-07T08:53:56.256+00:00Wild LifeA daily look at what's living around us.Nevil Hutchinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866051722151190056noreply@blogger.comBlogger368125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26231314.post-83092878281390755812016-03-01T21:33:00.000+00:002016-03-01T21:33:14.984+00:00Spurge-laurel<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Came across this growing by the side of a path on our way to the Half Moon in Plumpton. It also caught the eye of our friend who was visiting who runs Alexandra Nursery in Penge (think Petersham on a smaller community scale). I've not seen it before but recognised it from Mr Rose's book. My subconscious botanist suggested laurel-spurge but on checking I find it's actually Spurge-Laurel, <i style="font-weight: bold;">Daphne laureola. </i>It looks like a garden escape or an introduced species but in fact it's native in England and Wales. The only other Spurge-laurel in the UK is Mezereon which seems to be even rarer.</span></div>
Nevil Hutchinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866051722151190056noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26231314.post-91315597337683486652016-02-18T11:49:00.002+00:002016-02-18T11:49:24.659+00:00Rhizocarpon geographicum - Map Lichen<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My annual Scottish winter trip was based in Tongue, Sutherland, at the end of January. Our time was bookended by two storms: Gertrude and Henry. Consequently we enjoyed spectacular weather: howling winds whipping the skin off the sea on Loch Eriboll; stinging rain on our coastal walk; spindrift off the mountainsides; snow; hail; sudden shafts of sunlight and cloudscapes to rival the dramatic scenery below. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the middle was a day of peace and an opportunity to walk upwards. We set our eyes on Ben Hope, the northernmost Munro and an easier walk than the lower, but more imposing, Ben Loyal. We returned to Tongue via Altnaharra on the longest single-track road segments devoid of passing places that I've ever been on. Quite what we'd have done had we encountered on-coming traffic I don't know. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just south of the starting place for the Ben Hope walk is a ruined broch: Broch Dun Dornaigil. Brochs are unique to the north of Scotland, the Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland. Most were built around 2000 years ago in the late Iron Age. Archaeologists still don't agree on their nature, although it is generally agreed that they are not militaristic. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This one had an impressive array of lichens on one of the large stones on the southern side. There are a number of species but the obvious one is <i style="font-weight: bold;">Rhizocarpon geographicum</i> forming the appearance of a map of English counties. </span></div>
Nevil Hutchinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866051722151190056noreply@blogger.com0Highland, UK58.366165967260322 -4.638547897338867258.362001967260319 -4.6486328973388673 58.370329967260325 -4.6284628973388671tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26231314.post-22194017849503150852016-02-04T13:01:00.000+00:002016-02-04T13:01:06.048+00:00Box<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A new species. Possibly not the first this year as I've managed to identify a few mosses and liverworts, but I was reminded of the blog by one of my erstwhile readers whilst we perambulated Box Hill in Surrey and nudged into action. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Box Hill is famous for, and named after, the Box, <i style="font-weight: bold;">Buxus sempervirens</i>, which grows in profusion on its flanks. It is just north or Dorking and part of the North Downs chalk ridge. From it we could clearly make out Chanctonbury Ring on the South Downs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Box seems to behave a bit like yew. The seedlings develop in areas of deep shade and, presumably because of its evergreen nature, can continue growing before the deciduous canopy gets the upper hand. The canopy here is mostly beech. There is also plenty of yew around.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Box is a smelly plant. It is slow growing, producing very hard wood which is especially valued by wood-engravers who carve into the end-grain of blocks formed from it. It is perhaps most familiar to people as a plant of topiary and parterres, leading many to think it must have been introduced. It is, however, a stalwart native with many places named after it. e.g. Bexhill, Bexley, Box Hill, Bix and Bixley.</span></div>
Nevil Hutchinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866051722151190056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26231314.post-36278297926797756512015-12-31T18:40:00.001+00:002015-12-31T18:40:40.536+00:00Little Egret<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Little egret" by Karthik Easvur - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So here is the 365th post for 2015. I have scratched my head about which species to make the last. All the species I have photos of have been included already and I didn't get out today to find a new one. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The choice of Little Egret, <i style="font-weight: bold;">Egretta garzetta</i>, was made because birds were the first 'wildlife' I began to take notice of and their establishment as a breeding bird in the UK is a relatively recent phenomenon which many consider evidence of climate change. Their big cousin, the Great Egret, is soon to follow in its footsteps.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And it is its feet that are worth noticing. Usually you can't see them as they are wading about in shallow water, but they are bizarrely yellow. Perhaps because on light muddy or sandy shores it disguises them better? Not a strategy shared by other birds with similar feeding habits.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Will I post again tomorrow?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have decided to stop posting 'daily' but to continue to post when I encounter a new species. It has been a great thing to do over the last twelve months and the aim, to enhance my appreciation of other living things, has been amply met. I have learnt a lot and developed an appetite to learn more. It feels like a proper beginning of something; it's not quite clear what.</span></div>
Nevil Hutchinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866051722151190056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26231314.post-32579985965345317052015-12-30T23:58:00.000+00:002015-12-30T23:58:06.559+00:00Azure Damselflies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A pair of Azure Damselflies, <i style="font-weight: bold;">Coenagrion puella</i>, flying in tandem and laying eggs in the pond back in June.</span></div>
Nevil Hutchinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866051722151190056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26231314.post-79047408086784084202015-12-29T12:40:00.000+00:002015-12-29T12:40:18.163+00:00Iris Rust<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This <i>Iris foetidissima </i>leaf is infected by the Iris Rust, <i style="font-weight: bold;">Puccinia iridis</i>. It is the sort of life one overlooks, even as someone with an expressed interest in natural history. The Rusts are all in the genus <i>Puccinia</i>. They are all obligate parasites of other plants and part of the Fungus kingdom, in the <i>Basidiomycota </i>phylum. There are over 4000 species worldwide, many of the them significant economic pests.</span></div>
Nevil Hutchinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866051722151190056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26231314.post-24836041533672956082015-12-29T12:31:00.003+00:002015-12-31T00:00:09.812+00:00Labyrinth Spider<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You have to look carefully but when you do you can just make out the palps of a labyrinth spider, </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="font-weight: bold;">Agelena labyrinthica, </i> waiting patiently at the end its tunnel.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is common in the south of the country and is often referred to, inaccurately, as a 'funnel web' spider. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1em;">As usual, there is an impressive amount of information out there on the web, in particular the</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1em;"> <a href="http://srs.britishspiders.org.uk/portal/p/Summary/s/Agelena+labyrinthica" target="_blank">Spider and Harvestman Recording Scheme</a>.</span></div>
Nevil Hutchinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866051722151190056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26231314.post-1443021105523746332015-12-27T18:21:00.001+00:002015-12-27T18:21:46.685+00:00Neat Feather-moss<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another moss, this time collected on our Boxing Day walk across the Downs from Firle Beacon and back along the old coach road for a warming pint of Harveys in the Ram's snug. It is Neat Feather-moss, <i style="font-weight: bold;">Pseudoscleropodium purum</i>, and this is a terrible photo of one of the branches of it taken through the stereomicroscope. Through the hand lens it appears to have succulent overlapping leaves that completely obscure the stem, each with a small recurved mucronate point.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is common throughout the British Isles.</span></div>
Nevil Hutchinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866051722151190056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26231314.post-84594762755069316742015-12-26T14:05:00.002+00:002015-12-26T14:05:43.705+00:00Dangling Marsh-lover<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, another find from Ashdown. I think it's the first hoverfly (<i>Diptera</i> order, <i>Syrphidae </i>family) on the blog. I was looking at the excellent Hoverfly Recording site and according to them 106 hoverfly species have been recorded in my postcode (BN7)! This is <i style="font-weight: bold;">Helophilus pendulus</i>, one of the commonest species in the UK. Besides being important pollinators, hoverfly larvae are big aphid-eaters, making them a valuable friend in the garden.</span></div>
Nevil Hutchinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866051722151190056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26231314.post-63793825840514593492015-12-26T13:42:00.000+00:002015-12-26T13:42:02.393+00:00The Streakt Cloudy Hog<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having done the Streaked Golden Hog (aka Small Skipper) I realised I hadn't done this beauty, photographed during my extremely productive sojourn to Ashdown Forest back in July. It is the Large Skipper, <i style="font-weight: bold;">Ochlodes sylvanus</i>, the commonest of our eight Skipper family (Hesperiidae) butterflies. It used to be known as The Chequered Hog or Streakt Cloudy Hog - much better names if you ask me, especially the latter.</span></div>
Nevil Hutchinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866051722151190056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26231314.post-80854954545628176942015-12-24T14:31:00.001+00:002015-12-24T14:31:25.938+00:00Roesel's Bush-cricket<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Found on the same day as the Mottled Grasshopper, this is a bush-cricket: Roesel's Bush-cricket, <i style="font-weight: bold;">Metrioptera roeselii</i>. You can tell a bush-cricket from a grasshopper easily: the latter have long antennae, usually longer than their bodies. Also the females have long, scythe-like ovipositors. Roesel's Bush-cricket has a cream edge to the prothorax. It is also an organism that is spreading in the UK as a result of global warming.</span></div>
Nevil Hutchinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866051722151190056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26231314.post-53989916266897355952015-12-23T20:11:00.002+00:002015-12-23T20:11:17.686+00:00Small Purple-barred<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another find from the Ashdown haul. This is a Small Purple-barred, <i style="font-weight: bold;">Phytometra viridaria</i>, whose larva feed on Common and Heath Mildwort which is plentiful around where it was found.</span></div>
Nevil Hutchinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866051722151190056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26231314.post-31389199481150627232015-12-23T19:53:00.001+00:002015-12-23T19:53:54.541+00:00Goldenrod<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having re-discovered my photos taken on the camera (or possibly Ian's camera) there are lots of things from our trip to Ashdown Forest that I didn't use nearer the time. This is one - a rather striking member of the Daisy family, about 70cm tall, with delicate flowers in a tight raceme. It's Goldenrod, <i style="font-weight: bold;">Solidago virgaurea </i>and at the time I didn't recognise it. The upper leaves are quite distinctive and differ from the basal rosette of long obovate slightly toothed leaves.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is found in a range of habitats: dry woodland (where it can be an Ancient Woodland Indicator), grasslands (as here), cliffs and dunes.</span></div>
Nevil Hutchinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866051722151190056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26231314.post-25281042153342783632015-12-23T18:47:00.003+00:002015-12-23T18:47:58.806+00:00Mottled Grasshopper<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You will have to zoom in or take my word for it, but this is a Mottled Grasshopper, <i style="font-weight: bold;">Myrmeleotettix maculata. </i>You can tell because of the distinctive club-tipped antennae (lacking a white tip). This was take up on the heath in Ashdown Forest back in July.</span></div>
Nevil Hutchinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866051722151190056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26231314.post-84313086468902123152015-12-20T18:59:00.000+00:002015-12-20T18:59:04.409+00:00Great Cormorant<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Plenty of these in the Ouse Valley. They nest colonially on a tiny island in a small lake made by the owner of a local farm. The vegetation has been ruined through shear numbers. The Great Cormorant, <b><i>Phalacrocorax carbo</i></b>, is not to be confused (but often is) with the Shag, most notably by Christopher Isherwood in his poem <i>The <a href="http://www.blueridgejournal.com/poems/ci-corm.htm" target="_blank">Common</a> Cormorant</i>. </span></div>
Nevil Hutchinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866051722151190056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26231314.post-32783403445344033172015-12-20T18:42:00.004+00:002015-12-20T18:42:45.635+00:00Creeping Feather-moss<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Bob Osborn (via Flickr)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The problem with mosses is that it's very difficult to show them well in photographs. I was going to take a photo through the microscope but it didn't come out well and wouldn't be that instructive. This is a moss collected growing on the site of a WWI sea-plane hangar at Newhaven. (Well it's not the actual moss but the same species.) This time keying it out was a bit simpler - Creeping Feather-moss, <b><i>Amblystegium serpens</i></b>. It's very common and usually found on living or dead wood, but also on soil and stones, the bases of walls and tarmac. </span><br />
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Nevil Hutchinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866051722151190056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26231314.post-90889684991515020792015-12-19T17:04:00.001+00:002015-12-19T17:04:58.017+00:00Rook<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Corvus frugilegus -Dartmoor" by Brian Snelson Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Commons</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I've noticed that some Rooks, <b><i>Corvus frugilegus</i></b>, are already nest building and possibly even sitting on eggs. It's such a mild winter that this can happen, although a cold snap can be catastrophic for the young if it is prolonged after hatching.</span><br />
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Nevil Hutchinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866051722151190056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26231314.post-48547120935433514062015-12-19T16:51:00.001+00:002015-12-19T16:51:15.119+00:00Black-Headed Gull<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Black-headed Gull from the Crossley ID Guide Britain and Ireland" by Richard Crossley - The Crossley ID Guide Britain and Ireland. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There were plenty of these around today down at Newhaven and roosting on the Lewes Brooks RSPB reserve earlier in the week. The 'black' heads of the Black-Headed Gull, <b><i>Chroicocephalus ridibundus, </i></b>is in fact chocolate brown and only seen in the breeding season. They have black wing tips which distinguishes them from the similar Mediterranean Gull. The latter also has a heavier bill without the black tip and a truly black hood which extends further down the nape. </span></div>
Nevil Hutchinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866051722151190056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26231314.post-61541446332229359492015-12-19T16:42:00.000+00:002015-12-27T18:05:08.472+00:00Purple Sandpiper<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Calidris maritima" by Andreas Trepte - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Commons</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Saw about eight of these little chaps milling about on the lowest parts of the east arm of Newhaven harbour. They are funny to look at with their short legs and dumpy bodies. The slightly down turned beak and beady eye gives them a somewhat shifty appearance. There's something incongruous about their habit of pootling about where the mighty ocean crashes into the land right next to them.<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> The Purple Sandpiper, <b><i>Calidris maritima</i></b>, isn't particularly purple even in <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">its breeding <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">plumage. It <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">breeds on Ar<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">cti<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">c is<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">lands and most don't come as far south as Sussex. Their loss from<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> this county is<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> possible with continued global warming, al<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">though some <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">regula<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">rly overwinter in P<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ortugal.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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Nevil Hutchinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866051722151190056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26231314.post-7346914896506241102015-12-15T23:00:00.001+00:002015-12-15T23:00:19.321+00:00Pointed Spear-moss<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">CiarĂ¡n Byrne</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a class="ProfileHeaderCard-screennameLink u-linkComplex js-nav" href="https://www.blogger.com/null"> @kiwibyrne </a></span></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This grows (abundantly) in my lawn and I've tried a couple of times before to identify it. The last time was probably February, which was probably the last time I'd got the moss book out. It was a eureka moment to finally pin it down but not before I'd arsed about in the acrocarp keys: what an idiot! It's a pleurocarp of course. That's what happens when you don't know what you're doing and you don't start at the beginning.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, having dissected it under the stereomicroscope and looked at the cellular structure of the leaf under the compound microscope, I could have identified it without either if I'd just followed the key.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is Pointed Spear-moss, <b><i>Calliergonella cuspidata</i></b>. I've nicked the photo from Ciaran Byrne's twitter feed. Ciaran is an amazing ecologist and prolific tweeter. I would urge anyone with Twitter access to follow him. </span></div>
Nevil Hutchinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866051722151190056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26231314.post-21577535866827045622015-12-14T13:14:00.001+00:002015-12-14T13:14:31.703+00:00Floating Sweet-Grass<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is Floating Sweet-Grass, <i><b>Glyceria fluitans</b></i>, doing what it says on the tin. It is common in slightly nutrient enriched fresh water ditches where it forms rafts, as seen here.</span></div>
Nevil Hutchinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866051722151190056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26231314.post-26718433368843700662015-12-14T13:05:00.001+00:002015-12-14T13:05:11.240+00:00Watercress<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is Water-cress, <i><b>Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum</b></i>, which is common in the ditches around the reserve. The Latin name gives away its culinary comparison with nasturtium - a peppery flavour. Care should be taken if eating wild Water-cress as it can harbour the cyst stage of liver-fluke, a parasite of sheep and cattle. Only take it from a stream with running water where there are no grazing animals. </span></div>
Nevil Hutchinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866051722151190056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26231314.post-69040678399357962852015-12-14T12:51:00.001+00:002015-12-14T12:51:35.805+00:00Broad-leaved Pondweed<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's been so mild that there is quite a bit of growing going on out there. This is Broad-leaved Pondweed, <b><i>Potamogeton natans</i>,</b> growing in one of the many ditches. It's only in this ditch that I've come across it, unlike the ubiquitous <i>Lemma minuta</i>. The pondweeds are a tricky group with around twelve species. This is fairly easy to identify because the leaves float and there is often a discoloured joint at the end of the long leaf-stalk.</span><br />
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Nevil Hutchinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866051722151190056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26231314.post-11513979567182320172015-12-14T12:36:00.000+00:002015-12-14T12:36:04.903+00:00Black-Tailed Godwit<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By Richard Crossley (Richard Crossley) CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was doing the WeBS survey down on Lewes Brooks RSPB reserve this morning. There was no wind and it was cold but not crisp. Still few wildfowl, just mallards and a handful of wigeon and teal. But the lapwing were there in numbers, around 200 or so, and when the flock was in the air I noticed another bird flying with them. It looked like an oversized snipe but the trailing feet, clear black terminal band on the tail and white trailing edge of the wings showed it to be a Black-Tailed Godwit, <b><i>Limosa limosa</i></b>. It is unusual to see a solitary bird and I think this was the first time I'd seen one on the Brooks. The birds in the UK are of the Icelandic race, <i>L. l. islandica</i>. It calls repetitively in flight.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The similar Bar-Tailed Godwit has a barred tail (no, really) and an equally long beak which has a slight curve upwards. The Black-Tailed Godwit has been Red-Listed since 1996 but the numbers overwintering in Sussex have been increasing over the last 20 years with Pagham and Chichester harbours holding around 3% of the national total. </span><br />
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Nevil Hutchinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866051722151190056noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26231314.post-90333690814032529442015-12-10T10:07:00.001+00:002015-12-10T10:07:50.443+00:00Red Campion<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Red campion". Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bizarrely I didn't take a picture of Red Campion, <b><i>Silene dioica</i></b>, so this is from the amazing resource that is Wikipedia. Red Campion is a bit more widespread than White Campion, growing up to 1000m altitude whereas White Campion is confined to lowland areas, especially those with calcareous soils. It grows at the back of the pond in the garden.</span></div>
Nevil Hutchinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14866051722151190056noreply@blogger.com0