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What I do on Mondays!
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sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Fri Apr 13, 18 10:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

After Googleing lesser Celandine, I remember we had some of that in our back garden when I was a youngster. It just turned up one year and spread life wildfire.

buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 18 9:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

This Monday we had a reprise of last year's Adder hunt (see post on April 10 2017) and this year we were successful! We saw several Adders (though not all in very easy to see positions = this was the best picture I took:


.

We also saw several Palmate Newts, having got to their pools before the dogs had muddied them to invisibility.

And we saw one Common Lizard and one Slow Worm (though we didn't search the prime Slow Worm habitat, wishing to leave them undisturbed as we had already seen one).

As before, Red Kites just about every time you looked in the sky, and several Bumble Bees and Brimstones, and a sunbathing Copper (edit to say that should have been COMMA, not Copper!). On one of the paths we found a very attractive, and rather moribund small bee, which turned out to be a Tawny Mining Bee (though originally misnamed Towny Mining Bee, due to small print in the bee guide!). I took it home, thinking it was dead, but it made a partial recovery and is now taking its chances in my garden.

Henry

Last edited by buzzy on Wed Apr 18, 18 5:01 pm; edited 1 time in total

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 18 6:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Sounds as if things are really waking up from winter then. We found a solitary bee (unidentified) among some honey bees trying to get through a tent at a pub at the weekend. Silly place to put a tent!

Have seen brimstones and smell tortoiseshell butterflies in the woods, and see and hear plenty of bumble bees as the queens are setting up home at this time of year.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45375
Location: yes
PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 18 8:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

"i have lost 3 good dogs in 5 yrs" scottish keeper
and a little later
"delicious" dpack

i have mixed feelings about adders, a charming and useful part of the fauna which should be considered honoured or mutt killers that should be avoided if practical or "subdued" if necessary.
some chums of mine lost a dog last year to an adder, i actively avoid places where they live so as to avoid such issues.

gz



Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 8576
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland
PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 18 8:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I heard skylarks last Saturday,for the first time this year..today should be the first time we're in double figure temperatures.

buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 18 4:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Oooops! I see I typed "sunbathing Copper" when it should have been "sunbathing Comma". This old age stuff is a bind!

Henry

sean
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42207
Location: North Devon
PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 18 6:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

A couple of years ago someone wrote to the Torrington Commons Conservators suggesting that they collected up all the adders and relocated them.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45375
Location: yes
PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 18 9:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

sean wrote:
A couple of years ago someone wrote to the Torrington Commons Conservators suggesting that they collected up all the adders and relocated them.



buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 18 10:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I hope the volunteers for the job formed an orderly queue

Henry

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Thu Apr 19, 18 6:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

On a similar but slightly different note we have had it suggested that if we exclude deer from the new coppice coups, we or the council should feed them.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45375
Location: yes
PostPosted: Thu Apr 19, 18 9:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

.... should feed on them

mended

my favourite like that was being harangued for "murder" on the evidence of white fibres on the chopping block.

animal product? or bits of kevlar rope from chopping lengths and fluffing it up for improvised rollerbars? it shouldn’t be too difficult but it seems it was. the vegan fury at my silent wry smile was a joy to behold
the apology later was even funnier

buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Thu Apr 19, 18 11:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Mistress Rose wrote:
On a similar but slightly different note we have had it suggested that if we exclude deer from the new coppice coups, we or the council should feed them.


And there was the lady who, when walking in a 150 hectare wood, said to me that the owners should take away all the twigs and branches and leaves so that the paths were clear for walking.

Henry

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Tue Apr 24, 18 7:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

We have had that, and complaints about the mud. Also, why are there wheel ruts round some of the tracks. I didn't think about it at the time, but the pastime of carrying 1ton logs by hand is very over-rated. Even carrying a chainsaw for a long way is tiring, and gone are the days when you can leave your tools under a bush and they will be there next day.

buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Sat May 12, 18 10:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Didn't go walking for a couple of Mondays - once because I was busy and then because we believed the dire weather forecast and cancelled.

But last Monday, a beautiful (and slightly too warm) day, we visited a site that was new to most of us. An old traditionally managed meadow that was pretty well carpeted with Green Veined Orchids (Orchis morio), and quite a good sprinkling of Cowslips as well.




But, though the plants were great, there was surprisingly little insect or bird life. We didn't see a single butterfly over the meadow, though we saw quite a few in the walk up to the site.

We did see another interesting plant on the way - Greater Celandine (Chelidonium majus), which, though supposedly common is not a plant I see very often.



Despite the name, it is not closely related to Lesser Celandine, but a member of the Poppy family.

Henry

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Mon May 14, 18 7:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I think the butterflies depends upon the temperature as they tend to fly more when it is warm. We have seen the first orange tips of the year and lots of brimstones, the odd small tortoiseshell, and possibly a comma.

Those orchids are lovely. I am not familiar with them, but will look out for them in my travels. We have a moderate lot of early purples in the woods at the moment, and quite a few twayblade, but not sure it is a really good orchid year this year.

I have greater celandine in my greenhouse, so to me it is a week I am afraid. We also have some cowslips in the lawn, so it is at least partly doing its duty as the intended downland turf.

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