Watercress

This is Water-cress, Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum, 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.

Broad-leaved Pondweed

It's been so mild that there is quite a bit of growing going on out there. This is Broad-leaved Pondweed, Potamogeton natans, growing in one of the many ditches. It's only in this ditch that I've come across it, unlike the ubiquitous Lemma minuta. 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.

Black-Tailed Godwit

By Richard Crossley (Richard Crossley) CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

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, Limosa limosa. 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, L. l. islandica. It calls repetitively in flight.
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. 
 

Red Campion

"Red campion". Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons

Bizarrely I didn't take a picture of Red Campion, Silene dioica, 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.

White Campion

Another plant I can't believe didn't get blogged before. The campions, Silene, are a familiar genus. Red Campion is probably best known, but White Campion, Silene latifolia, is also widespread. It can be confused with Bladder Campion and, by the sea, Sea Campion, which both have white flowers. White Campion is usually very hairy. It is also dioecious - having separate male and female plants.

Japanese Knotweed

This is the dreaded Japanese Knotweed, Fallopia japonica, introduced from Japan in 1825 and causing problems ever since. In my native Swansea it was a spectacular problem. Entering the city by train you passed through seemingly endless groves of it. It is listed by the World Conservation Union as one of the world's worst invasive species. In Australia it is actually illegal to have it growing on your property. This was growing on the edge of Amberley Brooks in West Sussex.

Grove snail

This is a common snail which can have be found with a wider variety of patterns. Cepaea nemoralis is known as a Grove snail or Brown-lipped snail and is a terrestrial, pulmonate, gastropod mollusc. Nice.

Cinnamon Bug

This is a hemipteran bug from the Rhopalidae family: the Cinnamon or Black & Red Squash bug, Corizus hyoscyami. It is pretty common but can be confused with other red and black bugs like Firebugs, which are rare here but common on the continent.

Straw Foxglove

This appeared in our front lawn back in June. It looked like a foxglove but not like any foxglove I'd seen before. I did have a cursory look in the books to see if I could find it but failed to find it. Reviewing the year's photos I came across it again and this time I've found it. It's Straw Foxglove, Digitalis lutea, an introduced species that has naturalised in the south of the country. It's actually rather rare, as this BSBI map indicates, and there hasn't been a record in Sussex since 2010 when it was noted in Brighton.
The flowers are distinctly those of the Figwort family, Scrophulariaceae. The most striking feature is the extremely hairy corolla.

Common Spotted-Orchid

Here's another common plant: the Common Spotted-Orchid, Dactylorhiza fuchsii. It has transversely elongated spots on its leaves (hence the name) which help distinguish it from Early Purple-Orchid, which has longitudinally elongated spots, and Heath Spotted-Orchid, which has circular spots. These plants were found on the same day, not far from each other,  illustrating the range of colours and patterns found within this species.

Burnet Companion

This day-flying moth was spotted enjoying the nectar from Horseshoe vetch up on the Downs. It's Burnet Companion, Euclidia glyphica, and is reasonably common down south, especially on chalk grassland.

Woodbine

I didn't realise that Woodbine was a synonym for Common Honeysucke, Lonicera periclymenum. I was also suprised I hadn't already blogged this as it's a lovely and common plant. There turn out to be lots of photos of plants taken in the middle of the year when there was an abundance in flower which I didn't have 'room' for at the time. 
Honeysuckle is famous for its scent, which is strongest at night to attract the long-tongued moths that pollinate it. They can detect it from quarter of a mile away (how is that known?).

Heath Spotted-Orchid

Although similar to the commoner Common Spotted-Orchid, this is Heath Spotted-Orchid, Dactylorhiza maculata, growing in fairly boggy ground in a ghyll in Ashdown Forest just next to the Lesser Skullcap posted recently. All orchids seem exciting. There's something exotic about them despite their abundance.

Giant Bellflower

Giant Bellflower is not common down south. This is the white form, Campanula latifolia var alba, which is often grown in gardens. Indeed this is likely to have escaped from a garden. It was found back in early July on the Downs near Lewes.

Lesser Skullcap

This is Lesser Skullcap, Scutellaria minor. It is not as common as Skullcap, which has toothed leaves and curved blue-violet flowers. 
I came across this by a stream when I did my National Plant Monitoring Scheme surveys in July. It took me a while to identify!

Common Chameleon

Common Chameleon, Chamaeleo chamaeleon, (and to a far lesser degree the African Chameleon, Chamaeleo africanus) is found in many Mediterranean countries. This one was picked up (literally) in Morocco where they are associated with the devil and a great deal of folklore. 

Butcher's Broom

I came across this growing at the base of a hedge bordering a driveway to some old cottages and the church at Compton Beauchamp. It's Butcher's Broom or Ruscus aculeatus. It is a peculiar plant. The 'leaves' are actually flattened modified stems (cladodes) in the middle of which the small whitish flowers appear. The red fruit look almost artificial in colour.
In many areas of the country it is an ancient woodland indicator. It used to be part of the Lily family but this has now been re-named the Asparagaceae family.

Red Kite

"Red Kite - Gigrin Farm" by Tim Felce (Airwolfhound) - Red Kite - Gigrin Farm. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons

I had to finish off my trio of birds from my recent trip to the Wessex Downs with the Red Kite, Milvus milvus. This magnificent bird is recolonising the country after near extinction save for a small area of central Wales centred around Gigrin Farm where this bird was photographed (and no doubt fed).
They remind me a little of Marsh Harriers with their striking wing markings and gliding habit of tail-twisting. In medieval times they kept the streets clean of carrion, helping to reduce the risk of water pollution and other sequelae of putrefaction.

Yellowhammer

"Emberiza citrinella -New Zealand" by Alan Vernon - originally posted to Flickr as Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) in New Zealand, North Island. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Commons

A rather grey and occasionally drizzly walk today. The wildlife highlights were the prodigious numbers of spindle trees in the hedgerows (almost as many as the hawthorns) and the flock of yellowhammers, Umberiza citronella.
There were around twenty birds with half as many Chaffinch and a pair of Bullfinch. Certainly the largest flock I've seen to date. The intensity of the yellow male plumage is shocking when you first see it, making you think that this must be an escaped exotic such as a Canary.
They have a distinctive song which is usually rendered in the books as "a little bit of bread and chee-eese."
 

posted from Bloggeroid

Fieldfare

"Turdus pilaris" by Arnstein Rønning - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons

I saw my first fieldfare, Turdus pilaris, of the season today whilst walking along the Ridgeway above the white horse at Uffington. In fact I saw about 300, more than I've ever seen before in a flock. They made an impressive sight, outnumbering the starlings nearby.