tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-243524652024-03-13T10:53:28.468+00:00The Square Metre at TQ 78286 18846Since September 2003 the author has been making a minimum intervention study of a square metre of land and the immediate surrounding area in his garden in the East Sussex Weald at Sedlescombe near Hastings, UK. By April 2016 over 1000 species of plants and animals (none of which has been deliberately introduced) had been recorded and the area featured on many TV and radio shows including Spring Watch, and The One Show. Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.comBlogger302125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24352465.post-65473921810401395962023-05-03T16:40:00.001+01:002023-05-03T16:40:57.829+01:00Young leaves<p> Fresh young leaves are usually attractive and characteristic of spring. These are the developing oak laeves on the oak cordon in GCM3. The coppery tints fade after a few days.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWmrLOPjz0BXJtTuJGah7xYqTUHRC13axwjtBW11WE-4qZU_BKvNY3mVioSs--Rv_RJPOCtXuuvY8bGExY05E37a3fkby55USnSU3suQp7wj5EXGIy7Iz8PDYzfQyLh5DN6jPyfiesRWo7kmJbjORJzE4Z-LUPiAXjjnJUuLuwpnulhDRkwLI/s1650/IMG_5741.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1282" data-original-width="1650" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWmrLOPjz0BXJtTuJGah7xYqTUHRC13axwjtBW11WE-4qZU_BKvNY3mVioSs--Rv_RJPOCtXuuvY8bGExY05E37a3fkby55USnSU3suQp7wj5EXGIy7Iz8PDYzfQyLh5DN6jPyfiesRWo7kmJbjORJzE4Z-LUPiAXjjnJUuLuwpnulhDRkwLI/w400-h311/IMG_5741.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table>Hawthorns are very bright to but I feel there should be far more creatures in this burgeoning lushness. Scouring GSM3 with close focus binoculars every day, I not only look for invertebrates, but try to see if there is any feeding damage from larvae. There are some suspicious holes in wood dock leaves, but nothing else. Still the young leaves with their bright green leaves and red stems are very nice to look at. <br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwPNQy6gW6SGpOn7iK7IoJ3GhP64oJ0T3BMhvB93kmraNeb0X-sDdKnFhjIz8QBEiBlC0z1UNH56WHYZbAzfxEHq0vToO9DEKVWCI2wWm-b_5d5kwUW0yb3IUYqwf_icckUXF6c7EGoyPv4bRTSk1JhaHf0pFzCleYBVCWER1vBKp9dcoC8K8/s1150/IMG_5733.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="946" data-original-width="1150" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwPNQy6gW6SGpOn7iK7IoJ3GhP64oJ0T3BMhvB93kmraNeb0X-sDdKnFhjIz8QBEiBlC0z1UNH56WHYZbAzfxEHq0vToO9DEKVWCI2wWm-b_5d5kwUW0yb3IUYqwf_icckUXF6c7EGoyPv4bRTSk1JhaHf0pFzCleYBVCWER1vBKp9dcoC8K8/w400-h329/IMG_5733.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24352465.post-74791948404061990252023-05-03T14:41:00.005+01:002023-05-03T16:23:30.878+01:00In brief 1 May 2023 -<p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>3 May 2023. 18.8 max, 7.5 min.</b> Warmer and sunny. Frequent visits to Wild Onion Glade by a speckled wood butterfly. The first red campio is out on the eastern edge of Troy Track. I saw one of the first spiders of the year. There are shining streaks high on the birch truck. It must be shedding sap. I can see the top of one of the fronds of the broad buckler fern peeping out from behind the birch, The tightly clustered ball of foliage at the top looks like a chaotic bundle of screwed up leaves, but it will soon unroll to a fromd of perfect symmetry.</p><p><b>2 May 2023.</b> <b>16.6 max, 10,0 min.</b> Still cool, but sunny with only a couple of basking flies on sun-warmed leaves.</p><p><b>1 May 2023. </b><b>18.6 max, 6.4 min. </b> A rather cool May Day with little going on in GSM3. All the plants are growing fast and con't seem to mind the cool weather . I have bought a Max/Min thermometer specifically for GSN3. </p>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24352465.post-86401212488689638902023-04-30T19:24:00.000+01:002023-04-30T19:24:02.176+01:00Green shield bug emerges<p>The other day I spotted a green shield bug (<i>Palomena prasina</i>) on a wood dock leaf. This is a common species that emerges from hibernation at this time of year. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQo70pb5zy41uRzeVngxyQngq0k5kn5L3iikjd5T-3CNy4WkULdgaJc7BVQakY15_9Ip920KwPsezKMjuuH2MojpePs1yWWIaeye5ylwjEXJ7DaUHFJLLuRKVNOcNME4L2veBqcjGosgwo8INz3UOBQpk_d4mnFeDSe8hKBjE0w9KQ3vkKABU/s1231/IMG_5708.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1015" data-original-width="1231" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQo70pb5zy41uRzeVngxyQngq0k5kn5L3iikjd5T-3CNy4WkULdgaJc7BVQakY15_9Ip920KwPsezKMjuuH2MojpePs1yWWIaeye5ylwjEXJ7DaUHFJLLuRKVNOcNME4L2veBqcjGosgwo8INz3UOBQpk_d4mnFeDSe8hKBjE0w9KQ3vkKABU/w400-h330/IMG_5708.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After it had wandered off the leaf I noticed a couple of small, shiny black sub globulare objets. At first I thought they were small beetles or molluscs but, on closer inspection, I concluded they were droppings from the shield bug - a long awaited response to the call of nature after hibernation maybe.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieQh_jiN8q_vbHYZuj040ImGS-nOLJu7CmCUlWTC7wEzCqH79lFd4VVYmGOLPwd0Lox-NTEx1WjQx_Ux_q-SmhHFa1EJfLWfhV8GJEAhD7scaRHELV9AIHLPAVkp91qysDELhB_nSXHosbj2Waasd_3xJRwEIhGRKfzz4qFZq3l1Ub0cSOGNM/s1375/IMG_5725.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="986" data-original-width="1375" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieQh_jiN8q_vbHYZuj040ImGS-nOLJu7CmCUlWTC7wEzCqH79lFd4VVYmGOLPwd0Lox-NTEx1WjQx_Ux_q-SmhHFa1EJfLWfhV8GJEAhD7scaRHELV9AIHLPAVkp91qysDELhB_nSXHosbj2Waasd_3xJRwEIhGRKfzz4qFZq3l1Ub0cSOGNM/s320/IMG_5725.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><br /><p></p>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24352465.post-20572928787884514602023-04-27T16:59:00.008+01:002023-04-30T17:23:08.101+01:00In brief 27 April 2023 - 30 April 2023<p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>30 April 2023.</b> An <i>Andrena </i> mining bee landed on a leaf in the warm and hazy sunshine and I observed it through by close focus binoculars. It was an astonishingly beautiful thing with a bright ginger fur on the thorax and long black antennae. As an aesthetic experience I found it more wonderful than if I had been observing a distant lion on the African savannah. How much people miss.</p><p>On the floor of Medlar Wood there was a small splash of blue among the browns and greens - the self-sown bluebell which, all things being equal, might one day be the mother of a continuous blue carpet.</p><p>All the ferns are unfolding rapidly: the male ferns, the hart's tongue in Brambly Hedge and the broad buckler fern (which has six fronds this year) behind the big birch. The upper three quarters of the second birch (which I have kept to one metre tall has died during the winter but is producing quite healthy-looking shoots from its base.</p><p>I have now locate two budded spikes of bugle, but there seem to be fewer plants than any previous year. See https://squaremetre1.blogspot.com/search?q=bugle for the position ten years ago.. The flowering stems of sorrel are rising rapidly and the crowded buds are jammed into the spikes like green hard fish roes.</p><p>I made my first reading from the new thermometer in GSM3: max 18.6, min 6.4</p><p><b>29 April 2023.</b> Continuing warmer. Plant growth is very rapid now.</p><p><b>28 April 2023.</b> A warmer day with a soft and gentle breeze. I have updated the entry "Strange buds and leaves" of April 20th as my wonderment grows at the 'behaviour' of GSM3.</p><p><b>27 April 2023.</b> 12.5 C at 3pm. In other words cool, but with some sunshine. Three dandelion flowers fully out but few insects here or anywhere else. The three upper buds on the wild service seedling are now expanding quickly. The base layer is pale green dusted with reddish brown and overlaid with silvery hairs. The three lower buds remain tightly closed, small bright green balls. Wild service trees are very distinct in the wider countryside when the leaves expand. The croziers on the broad buckler fern behind the birch are starting to unfurl.</p><p>I have been unable so fasr this year to spot any bugle, a plant that has been one of the most abundant and attractive in GSM3 in spring. Nor can I see any red campion in the Square Metre or its immediate surrounds though they did quite well last year. There are plenty however, in the bramble cube end of Brambly Hedge though no tufted vetch has appeared here (it did well in 2022) though it has reached maybe 30cm already in nearby parts of the garden.</p><p>There is a detailed account of the green bottle, <i>Eudasyphora cyanella, </i>one of the commonest flies in GSM3 at present,<i> </i>here; http://ramblingsofanaturalist.blogspot.com/2017/03/behaviour-of-eudasyphora-cyanella-green.html</p><p><br /></p>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24352465.post-46057466099699614002023-04-24T18:32:00.003+01:002023-04-27T17:03:54.268+01:00A varied sward<p>The area between M3 and Medlar Wood is about two and a quarter metres square (1.5m x 1.5m). It has evolved virtually independently since the project began in 2003 and now consists of a leafy sward with an average height of 30 centimetres (1 foot).</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjglXDeIieXKmKgE5nUnuRdHIg5QnL0-vQDyK8cBUYv4I7Gsi9qnIC_0X_i3seqLjDU5V6jfQG9nLP3OyWlj2f_wypbayFi0ntDsuL9cjRZrQAiHA4dLPfvdoaUOfiAcsJQTbTEdCggtM3Uxnj5bn_KPXycP3kSfm5hBbAMKvTU3r4J9I70Rgc/s2736/IMG_5666.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1824" data-original-width="2736" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjglXDeIieXKmKgE5nUnuRdHIg5QnL0-vQDyK8cBUYv4I7Gsi9qnIC_0X_i3seqLjDU5V6jfQG9nLP3OyWlj2f_wypbayFi0ntDsuL9cjRZrQAiHA4dLPfvdoaUOfiAcsJQTbTEdCggtM3Uxnj5bn_KPXycP3kSfm5hBbAMKvTU3r4J9I70Rgc/w400-h266/IMG_5666.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The other day I made a note of all the vascular plant species growing there, a lsit the I doubt would fit any National Vegetation survey criterion. It included hazel (<i>Corylus avellana</i>), bramble (<i>Rubus fruticosus</i> agg.), black bryony (<i>Tamus communis</i>), false brome grass (<i>Brachypodium sylvaticum</i>), cochksfoot grass (<i>Dactylis glomerata</i>), bent grasses (<i>Agrostis </i>spp.), hawthorn (<i>Crataegus monogyna</i>), sycamore (<i>Acer pseudoplatanus</i>), hogweed (<i>Heracleum sphondylium</i>), stinking iris (<i>Iris foetidissima</i>), wild onion (<i>Allium vineale</i>), ivy (<i>Hedera helix</i>), wood dock (<i>Rumex sanguineus</i>), herb robert (<u><i>Geranium robertianum</i>)</u>, soft rush (<i>Juncus effusus</i>), dandelion (<i>Taraxacum officinale </i>agg.), creeping buttercup (<i>Ranunculus repens</i>), common sorrel (<i>Rumex acetosa</i>),<i> </i>goosegrass (<i>Galium aparine</i>), holly (<i>Ilex aquifolium</i>), lords and ladies (<i>Arum maculatum</i>)..</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Species that will grow taller have been appearing in the last two or three years and I will aim to maintain a 30cm sward by pruning as the whole makes s diverse and sunny woodland glade.</div><br /><p></p>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24352465.post-54102156835416721892023-04-22T21:01:00.009+01:002023-04-23T13:17:17.134+01:00Earth Day at the Square Metre<p>The press made quite an issue if its being Earth Day and seemed to be grasping the idea that if things go on as they are we are going to be in deep trouble before the end of this century. Drought, fire, flood, starvation, disease, riots, war, maybe nuclear. We, in global terms, may be able to mitigate the worst by carbon capture, less use of fossil fuels, change of diet and so forth, but I think it is too late. Some of us might survive, but what would then be the forward plan? The Extinction Rebellion demo in London today was popular with great crowds but it won't divert the rush of the Gadarene swine enough to stop most of us going over the cliff.</p><p>At least GSN3 put on a good face. It was warm and sunny, the first flowers (dandelions) were out and there were wild bees and other insects on hand for pollination. The picture below shows what I think is an early-flying <i>Andrena</i> mining bee well buried in the dandelion's petals. The insect on the lower edge of the flower is, I think, a big-headed fly (Pipunculidae) with its characteristically sub globular red compound eyes occupying most of the head with protruding antennae.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha_omrVxJtMfUVkGmPKoGJAfP5jo-Z_kW2Id9NB7mBb0qG-kgOT5GfreE_6L5aTq_xyhzFEqoS3GSUchgdiuXbpDUG9jYBU75RwbIE9UypUJmQcZhHkLuAZxqzGBM-0WBRySCMuQaqHyADzE19YRwv-MNRJWcW6xjSt9dxdpqOWr74d3o1S1c/s953/IMG_5654.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="790" data-original-width="953" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha_omrVxJtMfUVkGmPKoGJAfP5jo-Z_kW2Id9NB7mBb0qG-kgOT5GfreE_6L5aTq_xyhzFEqoS3GSUchgdiuXbpDUG9jYBU75RwbIE9UypUJmQcZhHkLuAZxqzGBM-0WBRySCMuQaqHyADzE19YRwv-MNRJWcW6xjSt9dxdpqOWr74d3o1S1c/w400-h331/IMG_5654.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Pipunculids can hover like hoverflies and their larvae are usually internal parasitoids of Auchenorrhyncha - plant hoppers and their relatives. There was another small bee sunning itself on a hogweed leaf: a <i>Lasioglossum</i> I think. It is good to hope that solitary bees may be doing better this year.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihbXdT9QVpqdEbgFrQ7hOAeTzbZgyDi1s1uSfM4l6E015hJLtnjbNPuxjIcDVq5E1_WhgI56Uv5EDBNg2RqD5ImUEh-tb28e8D5DYjYguTAVbtbdXqK975l1adndaONKCUXdpBRwrRol0zGoI2D13XPkwtMA3QnnmYb1EmnGdAhcpTn3LRJZ8/s852/IMG_5665.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="852" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihbXdT9QVpqdEbgFrQ7hOAeTzbZgyDi1s1uSfM4l6E015hJLtnjbNPuxjIcDVq5E1_WhgI56Uv5EDBNg2RqD5ImUEh-tb28e8D5DYjYguTAVbtbdXqK975l1adndaONKCUXdpBRwrRol0zGoI2D13XPkwtMA3QnnmYb1EmnGdAhcpTn3LRJZ8/w400-h283/IMG_5665.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I was visited too by the first speckled wood butterfly of the year, probably emerged recently from a pupa. Both caterpillars and pupae commonly overwinter in our area. I am always struck by the way one or two butterflies of this species appear annually in the same small area. It is as though they have returned, like the swallows, from a faraway place, to home. But they are of course the children of last year's butterflies, now long dead. Do they, I wonder, sense the presence of their forbears or is there something special about the small, sunny glade in GSM3? The area they favour has good showings of false-brome and cock'sfoot grasses, both of which are foodplants favoured by the caterpillars.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKiT6PMgHRj5kcbiFmIqsFISPH8YUmudIzXbxmh34P3DSzbSF1C371C698BsEQEwwbgxu43Jx1uRMAvtQswOknCwadyNmtCZGJqtRT3O4gWYyv8pN_efVqE4K3wgKvAjZjKtuWPdCsqtTR9a0xJc9tOgon6xbTOcdUkPu2IBSAInSUe3C3CYs/s1432/IMG_5662.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1112" data-original-width="1432" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKiT6PMgHRj5kcbiFmIqsFISPH8YUmudIzXbxmh34P3DSzbSF1C371C698BsEQEwwbgxu43Jx1uRMAvtQswOknCwadyNmtCZGJqtRT3O4gWYyv8pN_efVqE4K3wgKvAjZjKtuWPdCsqtTR9a0xJc9tOgon6xbTOcdUkPu2IBSAInSUe3C3CYs/w400-h310/IMG_5662.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table>As a bonus to the day's events, I spotted a small insect, maybe 3mm long, ascending a broken grass blade. It stopped at the top and was, I suspect, drinking from a drop of dew or sap. I am pleased to say that I have nit the slightest idea as to its identity, nor have I seen anything like it before. It is shaped rather like a tiny click beetle (Elateridae), but I don't think it is one of those. Suggestions welcome.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkLEk8q2DQPsmInIbR4NdfXmAG3F_-amXCa1zXLcrfnkpDOHtCwUbIRkjWRUfWg96a_VjqcSX89CIunFe4lT-K6xHKN-uCyB7TbS0WiSWo4uYuS7ZrTuC0bsk3d2PudD6EuC7IeYDrGgPENeFJtymvAjbYqvkc9RLvxUXIJDRbakRrsJvCViw/s475/IMG_5663.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="351" data-original-width="475" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkLEk8q2DQPsmInIbR4NdfXmAG3F_-amXCa1zXLcrfnkpDOHtCwUbIRkjWRUfWg96a_VjqcSX89CIunFe4lT-K6xHKN-uCyB7TbS0WiSWo4uYuS7ZrTuC0bsk3d2PudD6EuC7IeYDrGgPENeFJtymvAjbYqvkc9RLvxUXIJDRbakRrsJvCViw/w400-h295/IMG_5663.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /></div><p></p>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24352465.post-11408662421656098232023-04-20T20:21:00.006+01:002023-04-29T10:48:14.575+01:00Strange buds and leaves<p>Insects were slightly more abundant today: I probably saw three flies and I think a spider scuttled under a leaf. Dandelion buds are developing with characteristic speed and I was struck at how little regard we pay these strange objects that look like cephalopods on stalks (see below). They will turn to bright yellow flowers very quickly and then to dandelion clocks, so there isn't long to enjoy them. The buds often open overnight as they change to the completely different sun disc. This fades quite quickly and close up to another bud-like phase. At this point the flower stalk lengthens with remarkable rapidity, sometimes reaching three times the height it was when the flower was open in the course of one day. This raises the inflorescence above any unearby grasseses so the seeds , which appear very quickly, can float away unimpeded. from the beautiful geometry of the dandelion clock.. </p><p>After the seeds have floated away a scar-studded bun-shaped cushion, this receptacle, remains for some time while the flower bearing stalk lengthens for no reason I can grasp. This change to completely different forms propelled by intricate and coordinated cell pressures of a single reproductive apparatus I find quite a mysterious phenomenon. There is much about the natural world and its phenology which seems beyond our brain to understand. Here is a big 'why ?'.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAPtsfiAWOfN3YKW2P0e6nBg-jCY4KPyGS2mfOZwTVuIUyrDT8q1jqd_Uw-51UIVwTgY13rHpW0ugmxOCxMvkR3VLufuLU1CVK7wZ_sEvQ0OPjaOb3PF3U887eGDe3vIbRjM9CfjKMcFgR_ZsD_9dWgBiqz9Fo4e3jdaIfYD9jF7r66ES3t1M/s663/IMG_5546.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="663" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAPtsfiAWOfN3YKW2P0e6nBg-jCY4KPyGS2mfOZwTVuIUyrDT8q1jqd_Uw-51UIVwTgY13rHpW0ugmxOCxMvkR3VLufuLU1CVK7wZ_sEvQ0OPjaOb3PF3U887eGDe3vIbRjM9CfjKMcFgR_ZsD_9dWgBiqz9Fo4e3jdaIfYD9jF7r66ES3t1M/w400-h438/IMG_5546.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><div>There was a smudge of yellow however, supplied by a young hogweed leaf. There are probably hundreds of hogweed leaves in GSM3, but this was the only one that had turned yellow. I suspect it was caused by a virus of some sort.</div><div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjqwdtlaKcuiQEKFnMhTDpcENI_LTsxnQ50OFsIVzH0u1MwcY6Sfdd0QtVvupOCD4sm_IUKyF5DBhx0Sqkbr9RAALoOOvMazo7xc7PwsSVuC4mhu741ifAA9FIydghgMp6CnrJyXpAvn76WPX6oFSou-6tjxc6rvlIlhgKhtwi03lSDRB0Bhc/s1269/IMG_5548.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1269" data-original-width="1122" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjqwdtlaKcuiQEKFnMhTDpcENI_LTsxnQ50OFsIVzH0u1MwcY6Sfdd0QtVvupOCD4sm_IUKyF5DBhx0Sqkbr9RAALoOOvMazo7xc7PwsSVuC4mhu741ifAA9FIydghgMp6CnrJyXpAvn76WPX6oFSou-6tjxc6rvlIlhgKhtwi03lSDRB0Bhc/w354-h400/IMG_5548.JPG" width="354" /></a></div><br /><br />.<p></p></div>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24352465.post-38717954426883256992023-04-19T17:51:00.001+01:002023-04-19T17:58:42.824+01:00Silent Spring ?<p>A beautiful sunny day and reasonably warm. I sat at GSM3 for about half an hour but only saw one fly. In the past I would have expected ants and bumble bees, speckled wood butterflies,the occasional brimstone and plenty of flies plus a few beetles and other small fry. It all makes me reflect on the currently much discussed decline in invertebrate life and its knock on effects on birds and the ecosystem generally. Even the plants will miss their annual topdressing of fallen insects. At least a few seedlings are springing up on patches of bare earth. </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs0Q1J_qNSG77JAmCdzmnyWBvJE__KrjYfn_UGPTHCG3d1DoBhO58L7d7XVwbOjTLGDUQzY2FkGpjNKkTfJstHi5SzmxUjvHpqkMJgXXA5vJOr3Pdm-z6pV7jDjbM11Uvs9jmo8S7o_vLPRvGV2HamS3ajORjkwyqcZzo4SMkrtvEkhV4bIYg/s804/IMG_5499.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="804" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs0Q1J_qNSG77JAmCdzmnyWBvJE__KrjYfn_UGPTHCG3d1DoBhO58L7d7XVwbOjTLGDUQzY2FkGpjNKkTfJstHi5SzmxUjvHpqkMJgXXA5vJOr3Pdm-z6pV7jDjbM11Uvs9jmo8S7o_vLPRvGV2HamS3ajORjkwyqcZzo4SMkrtvEkhV4bIYg/w400-h266/IMG_5499.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p></p>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24352465.post-20841790509000312272023-04-13T18:51:00.000+01:002023-04-13T18:51:02.886+01:00The holly and the ivy.<p>At the back of Midsummer Pond I spotted a mine on an ivy leaf. This will be caused by the larvae of an Agromyzid fly <i>Phytomyza ilicis, a </i>common species everywhere though this is the first time I have seen it in GSM3. It was thought there might be more than one fly causing mines in holly leaves, by it now seems only <i>P. ilicis</i> is the culprit in the British Isles. The holly here also has suspiciously flat leaves and might have <i> Ilex x altaclerensis </i>blood in its veins.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ2VpzGtER7w0-CjdYBMH8jnO3os5j7ArogTd2-xPXMyfW7J371GqiT7z4cfSTtA8WUcznPEVBJzka4ggWgAm0pEgihTzNBtlF92tnwuDOBlqcVyZ0QsldF30hKjnND_jYmy657fuzGu0c19v50xDg6MgKITuXJ3ziLX3M8vHyImyN8M-FT3o/s1126/IMG_5500.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="836" data-original-width="1126" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ2VpzGtER7w0-CjdYBMH8jnO3os5j7ArogTd2-xPXMyfW7J371GqiT7z4cfSTtA8WUcznPEVBJzka4ggWgAm0pEgihTzNBtlF92tnwuDOBlqcVyZ0QsldF30hKjnND_jYmy657fuzGu0c19v50xDg6MgKITuXJ3ziLX3M8vHyImyN8M-FT3o/w400-h297/IMG_5500.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p>I photographed another fly too, this one on an ivy leaf. On most days of the year there are a few species like this wandering round GSM3 and settling on sunlit leaves if the sun is out. There is a large number of lookalike species and this one might belong to the very large genus <i>Fannia. </i>In the past I caught some of these leaf-loving visitors and brought them home to work out an identity. It was a difficult but satisfying operation needing microscopic examination of hairs and bristles on the thorax and legs and sometimes of dissection and slide mounting of critical structures. Now with failing eyesight and shaking hands such activities are a thing of the past and the flies can enjoy their leaves in peace.</p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYoS2Bm_IDDVPO3PE_Jv25HtqMgkxgk935RYfi0H8CzXYKBnhGq7WYihtlGov-9-86J1w5HdrVlloxv67rKz1aBoLvZOV2WhWlDZsQvZEFbwmxurTHPrN1imFTTfDThD5lIQBwD5rNyz5yzxO6KQqyD6fpvBoV8vb5R-Easd22UaaZSWeCgWc/s765/IMG_5492.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="693" data-original-width="765" height="363" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYoS2Bm_IDDVPO3PE_Jv25HtqMgkxgk935RYfi0H8CzXYKBnhGq7WYihtlGov-9-86J1w5HdrVlloxv67rKz1aBoLvZOV2WhWlDZsQvZEFbwmxurTHPrN1imFTTfDThD5lIQBwD5rNyz5yzxO6KQqyD6fpvBoV8vb5R-Easd22UaaZSWeCgWc/w400-h363/IMG_5492.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As an evergreen climber the ivy has attracted much folklore and medicinal stuff about it over the centuries. It is, of course, associated with the Ivy League, a group of elite American universities. One suggestion about the origin of the name of this group is not that it derives from the plant but from the Roman figure for four - IV - when there were only four members.</div><br /><p></p>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24352465.post-57442791506090622202023-04-12T13:01:00.001+01:002023-04-12T13:04:06.810+01:00A programme of browsing<p>At this time of year the leaf buds are starting to break on the various tree species in GSM3 that I keep in bounds by letting them grow one metre tall and keeping them to this height by pruning. I look at this as a form of browsing which, of course, happens to many wild trees and shrubs where browsing animals are present.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoCohqGAw-ilnIqDN-tR-P6s8PiZSzL-n3ItJw0tDH7gaN_U_S0nnbQON_gvWg55XTzMKtlt3XnIhVnkgjTEcwq8KppHyZwdxs4y8hAEBRNS5B6hfmMLo1U18mafaTKuGdgrSqnQwLKOo5DPVOi2SrbR7FGDyUgS35FBs31Jajk5vvRi0cPbU/s1929/IMG_5487.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1607" data-original-width="1929" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoCohqGAw-ilnIqDN-tR-P6s8PiZSzL-n3ItJw0tDH7gaN_U_S0nnbQON_gvWg55XTzMKtlt3XnIhVnkgjTEcwq8KppHyZwdxs4y8hAEBRNS5B6hfmMLo1U18mafaTKuGdgrSqnQwLKOo5DPVOi2SrbR7FGDyUgS35FBs31Jajk5vvRi0cPbU/s320/IMG_5487.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><p>The picture above shows the top of the GSM3 hornbeam tree which has been trimmed annually and seems in abundant good health with the buds for the coming season are swelling to break point.</p>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24352465.post-50488050985643798482023-04-11T21:18:00.000+01:002023-04-11T21:18:58.281+01:00Woundwort and broad buckler fern<p>This time of year produces the greatest variation of green leaves on the ground. <b>Hedge woundwort</b>, <i>Stachys sylvatica, </i>which has bright, pale leaves, perfectly formed is particularly striking.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRgMoVbW__l4zfP-xRmYyHKNlL0VFUeE5OScVVx79aM5t3jPFRclmnZq-JmVXoy0DjWlRC6NBztXhLMcYTYO19a8HcWIAnzJDMBTbWvZTf8r6VifiOIvpFEkCH6qNpu8yNFRC9Eapp-ddhibAxR9ABSjNsGtNMhXshFV35pgbOxmrIW0b0Nu8/s1388/IMG_5484.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1383" data-original-width="1388" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRgMoVbW__l4zfP-xRmYyHKNlL0VFUeE5OScVVx79aM5t3jPFRclmnZq-JmVXoy0DjWlRC6NBztXhLMcYTYO19a8HcWIAnzJDMBTbWvZTf8r6VifiOIvpFEkCH6qNpu8yNFRC9Eapp-ddhibAxR9ABSjNsGtNMhXshFV35pgbOxmrIW0b0Nu8/w400-h399/IMG_5484.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The appearance of these leaves is very timely as they can be used to heal wounds and, as the name suggests, they soothe the scratches from wild roses and bramble that are constantly attacking me in GEM3.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Broad buckler fern is also a very telling shade of green and has also been used to heal wounds and in a variety of other medicinal prescriptions. There are two plants in GSM3, one in Brambly hedge (pictured below in a muddle of other plants) which is almost completely developed and another, larger example in M3 proper behind the large birch tree. This second one shows no sign of frondingb and the leaves are tightly packed as dark brown lumps in the centre of the plant. This second fern grows in a dark and shady place which may account for its longer dormancy.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1n8IzHlGbyPumXaT0qHRM7zZ0gCoezdIHvrAD-oUKCju-APC70hseLYUewliVAQWlrQD3S5uZFbWyVRhbm15lOJWMcn-iVZtg3SfR-tM0Fx9Oo2IXWe5QhJS_s28xvHLJHiS7_3I9WmVXp_zceSkglXmVcEUCQoaU_E76tPUHKWpNZMNsDdQ/s867/IMG_5491.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="753" data-original-width="867" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1n8IzHlGbyPumXaT0qHRM7zZ0gCoezdIHvrAD-oUKCju-APC70hseLYUewliVAQWlrQD3S5uZFbWyVRhbm15lOJWMcn-iVZtg3SfR-tM0Fx9Oo2IXWe5QhJS_s28xvHLJHiS7_3I9WmVXp_zceSkglXmVcEUCQoaU_E76tPUHKWpNZMNsDdQ/w400-h348/IMG_5491.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24352465.post-43804240311055233962023-04-10T19:32:00.000+01:002023-04-10T19:32:20.940+01:00More galls<p> I promised yesterday, I would reveal the identity of the horror teddy bear in the picture. Henri Brocklebank gave the right answer and maybe others knew that is what remains of a bedeguar, a gall also known as ronin's pincushion, a bright red mossy thing with sticky filaments that grows on wild rose bushes. During the winter the red filaments are lost and te knobbly brown, chambered husk remains. The black holes are where the gall causing wasps or their inquilines or their parasites have escaped. The gall causing wasp is <i>Diplolepis rosae</i>, but many other micro-wasp species and their parasites and hyperparasites live within the gall, some killing the original gall former.</p><p>I have also found a few old ram's-horn galls, <i>Andricus aries</i> on the same GSM3 oak tree that hosted the bedeguar: young oaks often seem more susceptible than older examples. The ram's-horns turn black in winter after the gall causer has flown making them rather more visible that when they were green.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_CuySEOn7-lIyhuwOaR-lJ4H1Mgjuk7TsyKVguMLPAbpRX4GHTYRo3dUAR5AalfyXEECexY8rYgZ7rDvnoIopwmqF2OW5H9DYrijYmhGZyCrG4z2yrN8PzjBIDMhvlXls7ceiek0DI1x-b2Q8-YLJx6BMdly2hfAVo-MiidGhcg--H7vTm24/s663/IMG_5490.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="663" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_CuySEOn7-lIyhuwOaR-lJ4H1Mgjuk7TsyKVguMLPAbpRX4GHTYRo3dUAR5AalfyXEECexY8rYgZ7rDvnoIopwmqF2OW5H9DYrijYmhGZyCrG4z2yrN8PzjBIDMhvlXls7ceiek0DI1x-b2Q8-YLJx6BMdly2hfAVo-MiidGhcg--H7vTm24/w400-h301/IMG_5490.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Andricus aries </i>was, apparently, first recorded in Britain from Maidenhead Thicket in 1997 and is now widespread in at least the southern part of Britain. It has been expanding from original range in eastenr Europe for some years and I first noticed it in GSM3 i November 2018.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24352465.post-75792999937105939342023-04-09T18:15:00.000+01:002023-04-09T18:15:20.636+01:00A return to the Square Metre<p> Nearly a year has gone by since my last entry and my 85th birthday has come and gone. I have lost much of my mobility but can still walk from the house to the Square Metre and sit there comfortably provided the weather is warm. And winter seems especially hard at my time of life especially with energy prices going stratosphere. Still, as Shelley said "if Winter comes, can Spring be far behind" and, after a few rather dreary weeks, it has arrived here with a vengeance.</p><p>In the Green Sanctuary/M3 (GSM3), most of the trees and shrubs are now breaking into leaf. The ash and the oak are still tightly in bud as is the tiny, self-sown wild service tree (below laft). A week or two ago I visited GSM3 with a friend and, despite finger tip searching we could not find this little survivor, so I was pleased to discover it still in place..</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSZ4kUglQ1wtLzoi-nLkN4JkgX-S7HnYUM4M2feRCV997eYCul04O6T0OfWjjBgCdNO2vS7wrIUFJvafhl1f_Av9fCVLguPhNfzomuCIJTFySDikWqpGKNW5KvetkG-YwgRNO_TgZ0ELehDqXvPfIU5_VMHsiQb4ecEdy3cmUgXOHx63NxaiY/s432/IMG_5477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="279" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSZ4kUglQ1wtLzoi-nLkN4JkgX-S7HnYUM4M2feRCV997eYCul04O6T0OfWjjBgCdNO2vS7wrIUFJvafhl1f_Av9fCVLguPhNfzomuCIJTFySDikWqpGKNW5KvetkG-YwgRNO_TgZ0ELehDqXvPfIU5_VMHsiQb4ecEdy3cmUgXOHx63NxaiY/s320/IMG_5477.JPG" width="207" /></a></div>The ground flora in GSM3 consists of many of the usual suspects. There are many hogweed leaves, the bluebell in Medlar Wood fas some buds showing. I found three or four dandelion plants, the wild onions are doing well and climbing spirals of black bryony have reached surprisingly far at such an early season. Wood dock appears to be spreading. <p></p><p>Despite the warm, sunny weather there were surprisingly few insects about. A few dark, nondescript flies, a busy bluebottle and a questing brimstone butterfly that came and went several times. A chiff chaff called persistently from somewhere in the high bushes and the rattle of a woodpecker sounded loudly from Churchland Wood maybe 80 metres away.</p><p>The birch tree in M3, now some twenty years old, is full of ripening catkins and, in its far top, a small brown bird, perhaps a leaf warbler, was foraging among them.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPgdwMwaYJCiKJpdiJCIH6sg9y-N_bTIMtYBqBTY4mj2WV63ZC8eemsqr_kjSxNu5QCxFoybbYk7vgTXAdQHpVvW46TE6hLUhGpTJ8mN2SLd5HO01tFDjw9SnH5zJ6MGcHgscsUdEUi-lXclIITYKJf06kcB7k_xdJ1XQ9RgK5qCZDa5G5LMA/s1736/IMG_5482.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1411" data-original-width="1736" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPgdwMwaYJCiKJpdiJCIH6sg9y-N_bTIMtYBqBTY4mj2WV63ZC8eemsqr_kjSxNu5QCxFoybbYk7vgTXAdQHpVvW46TE6hLUhGpTJ8mN2SLd5HO01tFDjw9SnH5zJ6MGcHgscsUdEUi-lXclIITYKJf06kcB7k_xdJ1XQ9RgK5qCZDa5G5LMA/w400-h325/IMG_5482.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>My mystery object for today is the horror teddy bear pictured below. I will reveal its identity to those who haven't guessed it tomorrow.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiXWiAj-Ah_zZd9ag3OpIh6mykSnxJ76tgLq7PpcXGx-4lBI_oujtdYnqSL1a7r7j0abIu_8-SN39Oa8k-6M5Oru0e5atQUW9HPBuo3SgcCMaLgCi3QrVsGlhud0x3yrEmtKCz7JB-Vub-LUov08b4wUB6DOmPsDPI34Pb0BBweGXOgB11fNs/s685/IMG_5480.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="685" data-original-width="677" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiXWiAj-Ah_zZd9ag3OpIh6mykSnxJ76tgLq7PpcXGx-4lBI_oujtdYnqSL1a7r7j0abIu_8-SN39Oa8k-6M5Oru0e5atQUW9HPBuo3SgcCMaLgCi3QrVsGlhud0x3yrEmtKCz7JB-Vub-LUov08b4wUB6DOmPsDPI34Pb0BBweGXOgB11fNs/s320/IMG_5480.JPG" width="316" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24352465.post-43941124279023672132023-01-10T18:55:00.002+00:002023-01-10T19:28:06.502+00:00The Second Square in May<blockquote><blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLT8Iltm77n_NJe3RAGQDzSafxgxlW1kybqkPxCsgwS4fqlVq1TX0fbF1QbyhTowMjpjJXqfoy5bo-p-mRTqERkvObAJF9wulnRb9_RIGNJDE4ZBWaoFfiiYQY4WBnNj8hvRI_9YEMmSVcAYPFQk6Mpi5XkSgEkYqlGtCpBh6CsHz18pupZ4s/s2527/IMG_4304.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1824" data-original-width="2527" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLT8Iltm77n_NJe3RAGQDzSafxgxlW1kybqkPxCsgwS4fqlVq1TX0fbF1QbyhTowMjpjJXqfoy5bo-p-mRTqERkvObAJF9wulnRb9_RIGNJDE4ZBWaoFfiiYQY4WBnNj8hvRI_9YEMmSVcAYPFQk6Mpi5XkSgEkYqlGtCpBh6CsHz18pupZ4s/w400-h289/IMG_4304.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><br />I have a second square metre in open sunshine where we used to grow vegetables. This picture was taken in May 2022 and the plants include creeping buttercup, red campion, dandelion, hoary willowherb, ragwort, marsh thistle, goosegrass, musk mallow and other species not yet flowering.<p></p><div>I shall manage this one as 'meadow' with a cut once a year in early autumn.</div>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24352465.post-38985902621736615882022-12-25T11:40:00.007+00:002022-12-26T00:36:30.982+00:00Here I am again<p> It seems a long time since I updated this blog, but something has moved me to start again. We have had a peruiod of cold and snow unusual for early December, but the snow has melted and now on Christmas Day, the garden and the Green Sanctuary just look dank and asleep, the only variation being the oranget red leaves of the bird sown <i>Cotoneaster franchetii.</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq9O-Pd_AHb_c846xNUwB1sRRlpE51yyDDB3Zp3ME7sV0vj0wcfVm4ix4nHQnoogVp_9u73XBnIIUabUwIXY10OjTtbVphJTeRpkcSCalrWZTygHy9FwF42h6UkhlBGIqBmlKKqTvP8AM6Dv7ramP1iJB4FJWY7gJXsQkl-MXxfZuRfGh5UdM/s2629/IMG_5346.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1816" data-original-width="2629" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq9O-Pd_AHb_c846xNUwB1sRRlpE51yyDDB3Zp3ME7sV0vj0wcfVm4ix4nHQnoogVp_9u73XBnIIUabUwIXY10OjTtbVphJTeRpkcSCalrWZTygHy9FwF42h6UkhlBGIqBmlKKqTvP8AM6Dv7ramP1iJB4FJWY7gJXsQkl-MXxfZuRfGh5UdM/w400-h276/IMG_5346.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>I made a visit to the area mainly to do a little winter pruning - essential to ensure the many trees that flourish in the Square Metre and its penumbra don't get unmanageably large. I attended to the oak, the hornbeam, the sallow and the two hazels and the smaller of the two birches. During my visit I noticed an oak and a holly seedling on the outer fringes of the area, though it is unusual to see new seedlings after a particular sspecies has been established (do they have some way of blocking newcomers).</p><p>One of the most striking features was that the 'trunk' of the first ash tree which died around 2018, but has remained upright, was adorned with drifts of some small, white fungu<span style="font-family: inherit;">s. Mycologist Nick Aplin suggests it is the common crust fungus, <i>Cylindrobasidium laeve</i>. The National Biodiversity Network give <b>tear dropper</b> as the English name for this, so presumably liquid oozes out of mature examples..</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDyLcraN5fX_W84UbRXvhlknQKyt8m4u0IEV0G2RBhRkQJRlB2WGSt_kCwSlAZH8Sbg7SY-0jB4VW9R28hOpJ3RPrN3ecidZJacEt8QfcsLvQHs7i604nhcjiC07WhPU3Pthz9pGcCrJWvhuWUZ-is90Gjw_S4UUS6bJExrQUPX0BukySZR7o/s2234/IMG_5345.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1517" data-original-width="2234" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDyLcraN5fX_W84UbRXvhlknQKyt8m4u0IEV0G2RBhRkQJRlB2WGSt_kCwSlAZH8Sbg7SY-0jB4VW9R28hOpJ3RPrN3ecidZJacEt8QfcsLvQHs7i604nhcjiC07WhPU3Pthz9pGcCrJWvhuWUZ-is90Gjw_S4UUS6bJExrQUPX0BukySZR7o/w400-h271/IMG_5345.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24352465.post-5113060323796024912022-02-16T17:33:00.002+00:002022-12-25T11:45:06.985+00:00February 2022 update<p> My Metre/Green Sanctuary observations are now on my Ramblings of a Naturalist blog: https://www.blogger.com/blog/posts/23818283. But new material from Christmas 2022 will be posted here (until I change my mind).</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24352465.post-57183175975831930602021-09-04T18:47:00.002+01:002021-09-06T00:56:06.032+01:00Diary July and August 2021<p> The cold wet summer has resulted in overmuch green growth and M3 is dark and shady. I let in a little more light around Lammas (1st August) by pruning some of the more vigorous shoots on the cordons (hornbeam, ash, birch and oak). However, many of the usual plants have flowered including greater bird's-foot-trefoil, knapweed and hedge woundwort. The latter I noticed looks as though it has a spike of flowers but this is an illusion caused by coloured bracts, buds or faded blooms with only two or three flowers out at any one time.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eRPw6MmyQIo/YTOgNStwP_I/AAAAAAAAGEI/kk6z6pQDEbU7ADKpF3dY6OrbNU1yR06BwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1358/IMG_1359.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1358" data-original-width="1147" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eRPw6MmyQIo/YTOgNStwP_I/AAAAAAAAGEI/kk6z6pQDEbU7ADKpF3dY6OrbNU1yR06BwCNcBGAsYHQ/w338-h400/IMG_1359.JPG" width="338" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Ivy has enjoyed the cool, wet conditions and by the end of August had doubled its height up the birch trunk and has reached up some 3 metres.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PtWWna6Vv3Q/YTOin0ZrW0I/AAAAAAAAGEQ/ejoplbbt_10tLxdW9SNktrnAGgj8hnNwwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1766/IMG_1703.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1766" data-original-width="1374" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PtWWna6Vv3Q/YTOin0ZrW0I/AAAAAAAAGEQ/ejoplbbt_10tLxdW9SNktrnAGgj8hnNwwCNcBGAsYHQ/w311-h400/IMG_1703.JPG" width="311" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Invertebrates have been disappointing and numbers are down almost everywhere. One high light though was a silver-washed fritillary which glided imperiously round the area for two or three days in early August></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4_LzK5lylFE/YTOl7HQMmJI/AAAAAAAAGEY/oyJ9WZeTdDM0jkDP_BIDOUNBpfa0N_ykQCNcBGAsYHQ/s757/IMG_1674.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="695" data-original-width="757" height="368" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4_LzK5lylFE/YTOl7HQMmJI/AAAAAAAAGEY/oyJ9WZeTdDM0jkDP_BIDOUNBpfa0N_ykQCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h368/IMG_1674.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another new record for the Green Sanctuary was the het bug <i>Apolygus lucorum</i> exploring the bramble cube.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CmGtVAibbiQ/YTOrY23S3nI/AAAAAAAAGEg/OgcYr64I8PE5DopJBKH7H7-68DJxCi83QCNcBGAsYHQ/s541/IMG_1152%2BApolygus%2Blucorum.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="541" height="344" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CmGtVAibbiQ/YTOrY23S3nI/AAAAAAAAGEg/OgcYr64I8PE5DopJBKH7H7-68DJxCi83QCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h344/IMG_1152%2BApolygus%2Blucorum.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I spent much time during this period trying to photograph the various dolichopodid flies with their glittering green integument. Sometimes there were several of the tiny <i>Medetera </i>spp. leaf-walking (its size can be judged by comparison with the birch seed to the right of it). These were difficult to photograph but the larger insect (which I have not tried to name) produced a better result. I have given up catching and trying to identify small insects.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rawa4UVXQXY/YTOtRmacb_I/AAAAAAAAGEo/R64gdGooz0IWuNSOboNYvuVrfNp_Ax5LACNcBGAsYHQ/s1354/IMG_1389.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1035" data-original-width="1354" height="306" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rawa4UVXQXY/YTOtRmacb_I/AAAAAAAAGEo/R64gdGooz0IWuNSOboNYvuVrfNp_Ax5LACNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h306/IMG_1389.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GZM-q350R48/YTOwuvleA6I/AAAAAAAAGEw/BCQ6Ic6ZBI4UKsQiJgFeq4zmLYlZgsL1gCNcBGAsYHQ/s924/IMG_1396.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="707" data-original-width="924" height="306" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GZM-q350R48/YTOwuvleA6I/AAAAAAAAGEw/BCQ6Ic6ZBI4UKsQiJgFeq4zmLYlZgsL1gCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h306/IMG_1396.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The area was also visited by the bumblebee hoverfly (<i>Volucella bombylans</i>). See below.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-777bboSCd0E/YTUQCLP0nQI/AAAAAAAAGE4/bUKMGo2JXsonEkrWPkOogvntkjIjTLtrwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1412/IMG_1456.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1011" data-original-width="1412" height="286" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-777bboSCd0E/YTUQCLP0nQI/AAAAAAAAGE4/bUKMGo2JXsonEkrWPkOogvntkjIjTLtrwCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h286/IMG_1456.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div>And quite a few plants of goosegrass had their leaves rolled by the gall mite <i>Cecidophyes rouhollahi</i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 25px;">.</span></span><div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 25px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #333333;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UbOPnX9J2m0/YTUSuX8b1RI/AAAAAAAAGFI/7St_I42K-bM__HOQPloFgXRW5E_gNgBmACNcBGAsYHQ/s924/IMG_1504.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="834" data-original-width="924" height="361" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UbOPnX9J2m0/YTUSuX8b1RI/AAAAAAAAGFI/7St_I42K-bM__HOQPloFgXRW5E_gNgBmACNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h361/IMG_1504.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">This year I noticed several birds lying on warm surfaces and fluffing out their wings, maybe after a water bath or dust bath. Below is a robin doing this on a bench I use to contemplate the Square Metre.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tUsQIIoDUaE/YTUUBC6I4JI/AAAAAAAAGFQ/5S3BKBTdZQcMx4iUbRTee6pgZqQeIWi7gCNcBGAsYHQ/s1188/IMG_1169.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="871" data-original-width="1188" height="294" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tUsQIIoDUaE/YTUUBC6I4JI/AAAAAAAAGFQ/5S3BKBTdZQcMx4iUbRTee6pgZqQeIWi7gCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h294/IMG_1169.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Such close attention often enables me to find things a would normally overlook. For example, below is a cherry stone I spotted on 10 July, brought, I would guess by a passing bird. The probably source is some wild cherries trees further down the garden. I doubt whether it will get much further: mice and voles are masters at gnawing through to get at the kernel - a tasty treat.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fkuVVl_BZ0o/YTUU0_byKkI/AAAAAAAAGFY/66umdpdoNE8WBbMlrb_wJ_M0aDQznmWAQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1018/IMG_1321.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="792" data-original-width="1018" height="311" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fkuVVl_BZ0o/YTUU0_byKkI/AAAAAAAAGFY/66umdpdoNE8WBbMlrb_wJ_M0aDQznmWAQCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h311/IMG_1321.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="color: #333333;"><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 25px;"><br /></span></span><div><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /><div><br /><p><br /></p></div></div></div></div>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24352465.post-45323668115069766682021-06-15T15:50:00.013+01:002021-07-06T14:21:10.495+01:00Diary June 2021<p>The month started very warm and sunny and the western end of Brambly Hedge started to burgeon. The area is roughly a 1 metre cube and is another good example of a very small nature reserve looking rather like a green igloo with various leaves and flowers poking out of the tope. Brambles provide the basic structure and support and some of the other plants that flourish in the sheltered area are tufted vetch, narrow-leaved vetch, goosegrass, black bryony and red campion.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uflntlh8xi4/YOM_QABCa_I/AAAAAAAAGCE/YcdNeAy_pIkVPh7MlIyUCC-bbkjwv6diACNcBGAsYHQ/s1588/IMG_1121.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1293" data-original-width="1588" height="326" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uflntlh8xi4/YOM_QABCa_I/AAAAAAAAGCE/YcdNeAy_pIkVPh7MlIyUCC-bbkjwv6diACNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h326/IMG_1121.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On 8th June I managed to photograph a gout fly, <i>Chlorops pumilicornis</i>.<i> </i>The larvae of these tiny flies live in the shoots and stems of various grasses and cereals causing them to swell, hence the name 'gout fly'. This is the first example I have come across in our garden, so I think most of the grasses are safe. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lIH5XycbnAo/YONDG_kPWdI/AAAAAAAAGCQ/Dia0j7ZPGvM9Q3P5IH_tKTAWEgyU7cDFACNcBGAsYHQ/s1167/IMG_0809%2BGout%2Bfly.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="920" data-original-width="1167" height="315" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lIH5XycbnAo/YONDG_kPWdI/AAAAAAAAGCQ/Dia0j7ZPGvM9Q3P5IH_tKTAWEgyU7cDFACNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h315/IMG_0809%2BGout%2Bfly.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p><br /></p>The weather was now turning quite hot and grasses such as rough meadow grass, <i>Poa trivialis</i>, are in anthesis (flowering). The white powdery oak mildew, <i>Erysiphe alphitoides</i>, has started to appear on oak leaves, as it always does at this time of year, and later in the month I spotted that remarkable gall known as a bedeguar or robin's pincushion on what I think is a field rose, <i>Rosa arvensis</i>, growing in the penumbra of M3. The galls are made by a small wasp, <i>Diplolepis rosae</i>, but this is usually outnumbered by inquilines who get a free ride in a gall they haven't made.<p></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--A8hs04a6Is/YONkrihESxI/AAAAAAAAGCY/4D-ZNUBx6d0yEdGRRQW3PMbo7tU6KeXBgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1463/IMG_1108.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1316" data-original-width="1463" height="360" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--A8hs04a6Is/YONkrihESxI/AAAAAAAAGCY/4D-ZNUBx6d0yEdGRRQW3PMbo7tU6KeXBgCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h360/IMG_1108.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">It remained hot on 15th June and in the middle of the day there was so little insect activity I was reminded of Silent Spring. Maybe it was too hot, maybe it was something else. At least bumblebees seem to be doing quite well this summer except we come across many crawling on the ground or on leaves that seem unusually disoriented, or just not very well. One little highlight of the day was when I spotted a tiny creamy yellow globe on a grass blade in M3. I thought it might be an insect's egg until another even smaller appeared and I could see through my close focus binoculars that they were very small mites. The two faced up to each other then whirled round and round like dancers or duellists. After a few seconds they both retreated to the underside of the leaf. I reflected on how marvellous it was that such tiny creatures, perhaps 0.5 mm across were equipped with a nervous system capable of such complex behaviour.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">The <i>Cotoneaster frigida</i>, which flowered and fruited well last year has produced only a few small flowers this year, but is growing well. One of the flowers (below) is very swollen and I think it might be infected by mites or some such.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SAvT1euq6gM/YONnFkGruuI/AAAAAAAAGCo/uHmWIsdhA5EfSogFGQg6ZiwF2jA9qtvNACNcBGAsYHQ/s640/IMG_0891.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="497" data-original-width="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SAvT1euq6gM/YONnFkGruuI/AAAAAAAAGCo/uHmWIsdhA5EfSogFGQg6ZiwF2jA9qtvNACNcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_0891.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div>The weather turned cold and wet from mid June and mud returned to local woodland paths. Invertebrate activity was reduced and this must have had a damaging effect on nestling birds. Anyway, here are some of the insects I saw in, or very close, to M3 in mid to late June.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dP_XNaHFKyY/YOQ8-isu7LI/AAAAAAAAGCw/vYC5Yv07W9Q9iObaaPg9nCXSyRskIIxpwCNcBGAsYHQ/s2744/IMG_1079.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2169" data-original-width="2744" height="316" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dP_XNaHFKyY/YOQ8-isu7LI/AAAAAAAAGCw/vYC5Yv07W9Q9iObaaPg9nCXSyRskIIxpwCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h316/IMG_1079.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A male horsefly in Brambly Hedge looking at me head on as a potential blood meal. I haven't been bitten so far this summer.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uLdidKU0zxE/YOQ9wMsw0tI/AAAAAAAAGC4/yuq7QsJOcdIRWi3uWAKQ4HmsdxQiEOgEACNcBGAsYHQ/s1280/IMG_1081%2BSericomyia%2Bsilentis.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="974" data-original-width="1280" height="305" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uLdidKU0zxE/YOQ9wMsw0tI/AAAAAAAAGC4/yuq7QsJOcdIRWi3uWAKQ4HmsdxQiEOgEACNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h305/IMG_1081%2BSericomyia%2Bsilentis.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The solitary bog hoverfly (<i>Sericomyia silentis</i>) above turned up on Brambly Hedge on 24th June. This is a large, impressive species and The National Biodiversity Network (NBN) says it is "normally encountered in small numbers in mountain regions and moorland and bog locations." but I usually see it here once or twice a year. It breeds in peaty ditches and small pools and is mainly recorded from Wales and western Scotland. The nearest suitable breeding areas here are 2 or 3 km away in Brede High Woods.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TLf5L3rcwbU/YORItXdx0OI/AAAAAAAAGDA/aUjX_gA395AwJxALMLr9zSBrdD0F5WZhACNcBGAsYHQ/s1473/IMG_1100.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1286" data-original-width="1473" height="349" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TLf5L3rcwbU/YORItXdx0OI/AAAAAAAAGDA/aUjX_gA395AwJxALMLr9zSBrdD0F5WZhACNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h349/IMG_1100.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Spiders are far lerss common than they used to be in the early years of the project.. These <i>Pardosa </i> spiders used to scurry about everywhere but I have only seen this one eample (carrying her egg case) this year, probably because the site is more shady than it used to be.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0eXRFpWX8wA/YORJz6-Pm_I/AAAAAAAAGDI/fyRm4JHpafwoQrPp_UXWzAdWyFLKPCSHACNcBGAsYHQ/s1272/IMG_1142.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1272" data-original-width="1020" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0eXRFpWX8wA/YORJz6-Pm_I/AAAAAAAAGDI/fyRm4JHpafwoQrPp_UXWzAdWyFLKPCSHACNcBGAsYHQ/w321-h400/IMG_1142.JPG" width="321" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The <i>Phaonia pallida</i> above is, on account of its colour, a very distinctive memmber of the large <i>Phaonia</i> genus of muscid flies. It is not infrequent in M3. The predatory larvae are associated with woodland fungi and rotten wood. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hp6lsGD3Gso/YORL-foPKDI/AAAAAAAAGDQ/yjRQjvnRRogckqA9_ZDZiEzhULpjcnvsgCNcBGAsYHQ/s812/IMG_1144.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="635" data-original-width="812" height="313" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hp6lsGD3Gso/YORL-foPKDI/AAAAAAAAGDQ/yjRQjvnRRogckqA9_ZDZiEzhULpjcnvsgCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h313/IMG_1144.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The female tiger cranefly (<i>Nephrotoma quadrifaria</i>) above is the first cranefly I have seen in the project area this year. It was resting in Brambly Hedge West. This is a widespread and common species whose larvae live in soil.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On the botanical front I continue to examine the stigmas in the flowers of the weedier willow herbs as an aid to determination. Below is a good example of the flower of broad-leaved willowherb, <i>Epilobium montanum </i>showing the 4-lobed stigma (and its shadow) in the centre of the flower. M3 also has several plants of American willowherb, <i>E. ciliatum</i>, with club shaped stigmas and I am always conscious that these and other willowherbs are notorious hybridisers.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t19GWewy878/YORQLFLCEzI/AAAAAAAAGDY/jPx6okdCPJsflVPthqtON9_OBIQflINIgCNcBGAsYHQ/s2255/IMG_1063.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1731" data-original-width="2255" height="308" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t19GWewy878/YORQLFLCEzI/AAAAAAAAGDY/jPx6okdCPJsflVPthqtON9_OBIQflINIgCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h308/IMG_1063.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">At the end of the month I noticed some leaves in the area between the Square Metre and Medlar Wood and am pretty certain they are a baby field maple (<i>Acer compestre</i>) a native tree common in our local woods but of which we have no seeding examples in our garden.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tUCPXsGrrso/YORR8Y4vVwI/AAAAAAAAGDg/hddMKERk7uoNgXDl2NrNrGj4Ri1LbowrwCNcBGAsYHQ/s785/IMG_1110.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="668" data-original-width="785" height="340" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tUCPXsGrrso/YORR8Y4vVwI/AAAAAAAAGDg/hddMKERk7uoNgXDl2NrNrGj4Ri1LbowrwCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h340/IMG_1110.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This puts the M3 tree list up to 13 species, all self-sown: birch, oak, wild service, goat willow, holly, hornbeam, ash, hazel, hawthorn, field maple, wild privet, yew and sycamore.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If you were wondering about that roundish object towards the bottom right-hand corner of the picture, it is a hanging seed of common sorrel (<i>Rumex acetosa</i>).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /> </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><p></p>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24352465.post-82807295862476105062021-05-16T16:32:00.014+01:002021-07-09T19:23:32.980+01:00The Potato Square.<p> As I remarked earlier I have marked out for study a square metre in the bare earth of the potato patch tended last year by Tana. It is about 10 metres south of the original Square Metre and is already starting to green over I will run it as a sort of subsidiary to the Green Sanctuary/Square Metre proper and add updates in this section of the blog.</p><p>Things only started to happen towards the end of May 2021. Dandelions, creeping buttercup, herb robert and red campions started to flower, fallow deer came and grazed buttercup, sow thistle and red campion plants. I found a somewhat less than lively caterpillar which turned out to be a fragment of carpet. Bonfire moss is fruiting abundantly on patches of bare earth.</p><p><b>Plant list</b></p><div style="text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">American willow-herb (</span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Epilobium ciliatum</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Annual meadow grass (</span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Poa annua</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Bonfire moss (</span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Funaria
hygrometrica</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Bramble (</span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Rubus fruticosus </i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">agg.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Creeping buttercup (<i>Ranunculus
repens</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Creeping comfrey (<i>Symphytum
grandiflorum</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Dandelion (<i>Taraxacum </i>agg.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Druce's crane's-bill
(<i>G. x oxonianum)</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Goosegrass or
cleavers (<i>Galium aparine</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Herb bennett (<i>Geum urbanum</i>)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Herb-robert (</span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Geranium
robertianum</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">) </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">? Hoary willowherb (</span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Epilobium parviflorum</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Marsh thistle (<i>Cirsium
palustre</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Nipplewort (<i>Lapsana communis</i>)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Potato (<i>Solanum
tuberosum</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Ragwort (<i>Senecio
jacobaea</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Red campion (<i>Silene
dioica</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Rough meadow grass (<i>Poa trivialis</i>)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Rough sow-thistle (<i>Sonchus
asper</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Stinging nettle (<i>Urtica
dioica</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Sycamore (<i>Acer
pseudo-platanus</i>) Many seedlings<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">White clover (</span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Trifolium
repens</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Wood dock (<i>Rumex sanguineus</i>)<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Yorkshire fog grass (<i>Holcus lanatus</i>)</span></p></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Animal List</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Fallow deer (<i>Dama dama</i>)<br /><br /><i>Rhingia rostrata</i> (Diptera: Syrphidae)<br /><br /><i>Cantharis ? cryptica/pallida</i><br /><i><br /></i>Comma (<i>Polygonia c-album</i>)<br /><br />A shrew<br /><br />Marmalade fly (<i>Episyrphus balteatus</i>)<br /><br />Red admiral (<i>Vanessa atalanta</i>)<br /><br />Meadow brown (<i>Maniola jurtina</i>)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24352465.post-40074393929158968032021-05-01T19:27:00.014+01:002021-06-01T16:37:19.505+01:00Diary, May 2021<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tbCyVF8NxNQ/YLZMhOHjrJI/AAAAAAAAGA8/1SXhCv_ZVBQtyKUvkOhAfuFQVwzjsBpiQCNcBGAsYHQ/s5472/IMG_0142.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tbCyVF8NxNQ/YLZMhOHjrJI/AAAAAAAAGA8/1SXhCv_ZVBQtyKUvkOhAfuFQVwzjsBpiQCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h266/IMG_0142.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>A bright May Day morning to start the month off, but it was still quite cold with an overnight temperature just proud of 2 degrees C. Later there was some rain and for the first time in several weeks the leaves in The Green Sanctuary were sparkling with raindrops. There were four dandelion flowers and a few new primocanes of blackberry are growing visibly in Brambly Hedge alongside a good showing of tufted vetch.</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;">.Below is author overlooking the Square Metre on 3rd May.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UmlQkkYhEwE/YLZEH9meQiI/AAAAAAAAGAE/JyNh9ztVwV43R_vt1Ni0KXizK3LhvpSXgCNcBGAsYHQ/s5472/IMG_0229.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3648" data-original-width="5472" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UmlQkkYhEwE/YLZEH9meQiI/AAAAAAAAGAE/JyNh9ztVwV43R_vt1Ni0KXizK3LhvpSXgCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h266/IMG_0229.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>Last year there was a cluster of American willowherb (<i>Epilobium ciliatum</i>) at the southern end of Cynthia's Ridge. The basal rosettes survived the winter but one plant has turned quite bright red and I fear it is mortally infected. However, its near neighbours on the left of the picture below seem unaffected.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8M3wZaJ8dt8/YLZLQxqYbmI/AAAAAAAAGA0/fCJR4HcU8pkpGzpiM3Ew8AgNKiWbBg5SQCNcBGAsYHQ/s2508/IMG_0128.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1912" data-original-width="2508" height="305" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8M3wZaJ8dt8/YLZLQxqYbmI/AAAAAAAAGA0/fCJR4HcU8pkpGzpiM3Ew8AgNKiWbBg5SQCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h305/IMG_0128.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>On 4th May a red admiral butterfly was enjoying that part of the garden near the Square Metre, resting with wings open on any warm surface such as bare earth and logs. However it is still too cold for most butterflies although, on 5th, I saw one holly blue. It continued cold through 6th May with a northerly wind. Things continue to grow though and, in the Brambly Hedge West the tufted vetch plants have reached one metre tall. I noted that the first true leaves of sycamore seedlings vary through green to a variety of bronze shades.</p><p>On 7th May the red admiral was still in residence. One of the cleptoparasitic nomad bees, probably <i>Nomada ruficornis</i>, (see below) was prowling about as they often do at this time of year, looking for <i>Andrena</i> mining bee hosts. A bee fly, <i>Bombylius major</i>, was also hovering about looking for <i>Andrena </i>bees' nests. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Dg39kCkDgLc/YLZPbg-47HI/AAAAAAAAGBM/7zViDfEKvkgyN-qKY2CL9BPPr4b3GkrfgCNcBGAsYHQ/s807/IMG_0531.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="633" data-original-width="807" height="314" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Dg39kCkDgLc/YLZPbg-47HI/AAAAAAAAGBM/7zViDfEKvkgyN-qKY2CL9BPPr4b3GkrfgCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h314/IMG_0531.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>On 8th May the rain started and was very welcome after April's drought, but it continued on and off for the rest of the month with the dry and the wet making conditions difficult for nesting birds and early flying insects.. I found a female <i>Adela reamurella</i> on a birch leaf and the birch itself has great curtains of male catkins that give the \Green Sanctuary and interesting top dressing when they fall.</p><p>By 9th May there was much new, fresh, bright foliage - the stones along Cynthia's Ridge have almost disappeared - and the birds were singing lustily, but there were few insects for them to eat. The fluffy seeds of nearby sallow bushes kept floating through the air and I found a tiny spider on a bramble leaf which my old friend Andy Phillips identified from a photo as <i>Zilla diodia</i>.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O_c8_wkTUqU/YLZILPxfXgI/AAAAAAAAGAs/cQZHbA1f0LwDQmekvyto-dOTFPnQuwRcQCNcBGAsYHQ/s839/IMG_0216%2BZilla%2Bdiodea.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="647" data-original-width="839" height="309" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O_c8_wkTUqU/YLZILPxfXgI/AAAAAAAAGAs/cQZHbA1f0LwDQmekvyto-dOTFPnQuwRcQCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h309/IMG_0216%2BZilla%2Bdiodea.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>I have bought a pair of long-handled shears which are useful for trimming brambles as well as for cutting grass (especially in awkward corners). The weather is still cold for May and the only insect I saw over seral days was a nomad bee (<i>Nomada </i>sp.). </p><p> <a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qXpHFkIefqw/YLZHaT1WCYI/AAAAAAAAGAk/woyCb_A9QhUqJQqvJCei9R551C8CDlgawCNcBGAsYHQ/s770/IMG_0479%2BTC.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="556" data-original-width="770" height="289" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qXpHFkIefqw/YLZHaT1WCYI/AAAAAAAAGAk/woyCb_A9QhUqJQqvJCei9R551C8CDlgawCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h289/IMG_0479%2BTC.JPG" width="400" /></a><br /><br /></p><p>The first red campion in the Square Metre came out on 10th May. A few days later, with the weather still mixed and cold, various hoverflies started to appear including what I think is <i>Rhingia rostrata</i>, a rather scarce species that often appears in The Green Sanctuary in spring.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-irZi0cBZcJQ/YLZGLHMcAsI/AAAAAAAAGAc/MBtoeK86VvIhrZgVPV0bPANGLu2DYmXKACNcBGAsYHQ/s311/IMG_0427.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="231" data-original-width="311" height="297" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-irZi0cBZcJQ/YLZGLHMcAsI/AAAAAAAAGAc/MBtoeK86VvIhrZgVPV0bPANGLu2DYmXKACNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h297/IMG_0427.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>As the month wore on the rain continued to fall and the oak came out much later than the ash indicating, according to ancient custom, that we were in for a soak. The new oak leaves also sported two different kinds of gall: round, cherry-like ones (<i>Cynips quercusfolii</i>) and green bumpy ones that distorted the new leaves (<i>Andricus curvator</i>). On 19th May a few wrinkled ants (<i>Myrmica ruginodis</i>) appeared on leaves some way from the ground.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JMMkxIONZrM/YLZT4J0SPGI/AAAAAAAAGBU/HmSTktsw0Fgu_0M2ez0a2Jx2bVz5XxMSQCNcBGAsYHQ/s338/IMG_0510.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="269" data-original-width="338" height="319" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JMMkxIONZrM/YLZT4J0SPGI/AAAAAAAAGBU/HmSTktsw0Fgu_0M2ez0a2Jx2bVz5XxMSQCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h319/IMG_0510.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W4t0CK5wUNc/YLZFe-acJAI/AAAAAAAAGAU/TPhrD1lIRqI81gDe_VYlzMA5TsyQTjOGQCNcBGAsYHQ/s703/IMG_0358.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="703" height="291" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W4t0CK5wUNc/YLZFe-acJAI/AAAAAAAAGAU/TPhrD1lIRqI81gDe_VYlzMA5TsyQTjOGQCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h291/IMG_0358.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">After this we had several periods of high rainfall and strong winds. There were great pools of water in local woodlands and the ground was littered with young leaves and twigs. I heard on one occasion that it was the wettest spring on record. On 25th, however, a small white butterfly was flying around the Green Sanctuary area and I spotted a colony of greenfly on one of the new rose shoots (it had gone by the following day, predated no doubt), then from 26th it started to get warmer returning almost to the average temperature for the tome of year.. In the Square Metre sweet vernal-grass was nearly fully developed \and white herb robert flowers and the swaying spires of sorrel were a feature.</span></div><p></p></blockquote><p style="text-align: center;">The beetle below is <i>Cantharis decipiens</i> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SHz1CGIAIFY/YLZOEo1Vv4I/AAAAAAAAGBE/zYaePtaVo9I_TSm66XJYLbegjsVguZb1ACNcBGAsYHQ/s378/IMG_0498.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="273" data-original-width="378" height="289" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SHz1CGIAIFY/YLZOEo1Vv4I/AAAAAAAAGBE/zYaePtaVo9I_TSm66XJYLbegjsVguZb1ACNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h289/IMG_0498.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>On 29th May the first flowers on the medlar appeared above The Green Sanctuary and many dock bugs came out to sun themselves on the top of Brambly Hedge. Later in the day Tana saw a young fox sitting in the GS.</p><p>After the rains and the warmth the western group of dandelions has grown quite vigorously with their leaves standing up at 45 to 50 degrees. The last day of the month was hot, the warmest of the year. At 1pm many plants were drooping from the heat, though there must be plenty of water in the ground. There were few insects but it was good see the bee mimic hoverfly, <i>Bombylius major</i> make a fleeting visit.</p>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24352465.post-63302567254695874832021-04-08T19:24:00.000+01:002021-04-08T19:24:30.382+01:00Dandelions and sorrel<p>The dandelion season has begun again with one flower opening on a plant in Troy Track (where they get fairly well-trodden).</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PxZ5WmKTY3s/YG9IZacLVoI/AAAAAAAAF8M/adUAUHaW0O4I18zVWMzoVymTC7OuRYNbACNcBGAsYHQ/s2048/DSCN1357.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1664" data-original-width="2048" height="325" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PxZ5WmKTY3s/YG9IZacLVoI/AAAAAAAAF8M/adUAUHaW0O4I18zVWMzoVymTC7OuRYNbACNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h325/DSCN1357.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have been looking at the many sorrel plants in the Green Sanctuary and last year's plants seem to have broken up into small-leaved clumps. It will be interesting to see how they develop.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tO4MNEBwK6A/YG9JQOaCOzI/AAAAAAAAF8U/77qA6cZkhJIhwcbkCZZga-8sM8IvwYx5gCNcBGAsYHQ/s2048/DSCN1361.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tO4MNEBwK6A/YG9JQOaCOzI/AAAAAAAAF8U/77qA6cZkhJIhwcbkCZZga-8sM8IvwYx5gCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/DSCN1361.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24352465.post-22311763804174291192021-04-06T16:57:00.023+01:002021-04-30T19:07:54.693+01:00Diary April 2021<p> At the beginning of April, I found a yew seedling close to the original birch tree in the Square Metre. This puts the count of self-sown tree species up to 12.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g-eM2ea_Wfg/YHSTt5FUe5I/AAAAAAAAF8c/rQ5T4Pxj4WU3HGT7I7ToeVzXmM0KouQyQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1331/DSCN1334.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1331" height="321" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g-eM2ea_Wfg/YHSTt5FUe5I/AAAAAAAAF8c/rQ5T4Pxj4WU3HGT7I7ToeVzXmM0KouQyQCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h321/DSCN1334.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>It turned very cold from about the 4 April, which slowed things down a bit. However, the first dandelion, one in Troy Track, came into flower on 6 April.</p><p>There are dozens of sycamore seedling this year. When they first come up they can easily be spotted by the green gold colour of the underneath of the cotyledons. As these fold outwards the upper sides are the most visible surfaces and they are a plain green that merges with the nearby vegetation.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g7DK3wkWFXM/YG9B-ms2FdI/AAAAAAAAF8E/yQq0CnmA8R4xQoPoHBsceaM_eX5PA9BgQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1315/DSCN1359.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="965" data-original-width="1315" height="294" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g7DK3wkWFXM/YG9B-ms2FdI/AAAAAAAAF8E/yQq0CnmA8R4xQoPoHBsceaM_eX5PA9BgQCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h294/DSCN1359.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />The unfurling leaves of the second year sycamore seedlings are things of wonder with their rich coppery colour and intricate folding.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xau_5Lv50XY/YIBpzN2PKCI/AAAAAAAAF88/adHgRWBe0XAudLuv8ZVx0-haWL9U4nSVACNcBGAsYHQ/s2032/DSCN1402.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1959" data-original-width="2032" height="386" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xau_5Lv50XY/YIBpzN2PKCI/AAAAAAAAF88/adHgRWBe0XAudLuv8ZVx0-haWL9U4nSVACNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h386/DSCN1402.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U4NM0BbOjZQ/YHShV0XBzxI/AAAAAAAAF8k/Gkco_iT1n2EEvWsQii1--yox9X8lJ-nhACNcBGAsYHQ/s2035/DSCF0019.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1460" data-original-width="2035" height="288" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U4NM0BbOjZQ/YHShV0XBzxI/AAAAAAAAF8k/Gkco_iT1n2EEvWsQii1--yox9X8lJ-nhACNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h288/DSCF0019.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p>It turned very cold on the night of the 6th/7th with frost. Many of the early flowering and leafing plants in the neighbourhood were scunnered by this and looked brown and miserable. The cold wind continued all day on 7th and one worries about the birds, especially the insectivorous ones, as little or nothing appears to be on the wing. However, things started to warm up on 8 April and temperatures look like returning to normal next week.</p><p>The 8th was a warmer day with the temperature rising to about 15 degrees. A bee fly, B<i>ombylius major</i> flew by and settled briefly on the dandelion flower on Troy track.. There was one green bottle, <i>Eudasyphora cyanella</i> and a solitary speckled wood butterfly, the year's first.</p><p>I spent some time looking at the crumbling framework of Brambly Hedge. What happens is that the floricanes bear fruit and die but, in the case of Brambly Hedge, they are not being replaced with primocanes for next years flowers and fruit. So this leaves a tangle of pale brown thorny dead stems, with a few remnant leaves from last year. It is not very beautiful to look at, but creates a wonderful protective cage for vulnerable plants that grow within it. I also noticed that many of the old green bramble leaves are pock marked by something. On most leaves as well as the pock marks, all on the upper side, there are brown patches which might be vacated leaf mines. I suspect a Coleophorid moth may be the culprit.</p><p>On 10 April the temperature went up a little and there was some rain, though not enough to have much effect on the ground. Despite the rather wintry weather it has been quite dry for several weeks. By 11th the cold had returned with overnight frost, but things kept growing. Hazel, sycamore and hawthorn are leafing well in the Square Metre and not far away flowers are coming out with the leaves on the tall wild cherry. On 12th it was even colder with a light overnight frost and brief snow showers in the morning. Growth is now slower than in most springs in The Green Sanctuary and some of the more tender plants around the garden are being scorched by the chill.</p><p>The weather continued cold, but with sunny days. Very few insects though so it must be hard for the birds. On 15th a single male <b>green longhorn</b> moth (<i>Adela reamurella)</i> landed on the grass just outside the eastern boundary of the Square Metre (see below) but otherwise there were very few of the usual April bees and butterflies. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SNCAJwPVpDc/YIBquwbPOcI/AAAAAAAAF9E/sm2QfKczUBc5cb3yDOIjlrKUncyQY6AzACNcBGAsYHQ/s1403/DSCN1392.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="952" data-original-width="1403" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SNCAJwPVpDc/YIBquwbPOcI/AAAAAAAAF9E/sm2QfKczUBc5cb3yDOIjlrKUncyQY6AzACNcBGAsYHQ/s320/DSCN1392.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>On 16th, as an additional experiment, I marked out a second Square Metre in Tana's old potato plot about 10 metres south of the existing Square Metre. Tana dug it over last spring and the set and harvested potatoes, so it has stood as freshly turned earth over winter. On 17th I listed all the plants already established in it. I could identify: wood dock, creeping buttercup, red campion, sycamore (many seedlings) goosegrass dandelion, stinging nettle and dwarf comfrey. A fine selection of weeds. I think there was also some meadow buttercup, sowthistle and several grasses.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F01NeieP-I8/YIBrmFndtpI/AAAAAAAAF9M/4_FRvGBmyVgg7Qw43eSbqL3Tp2K403VnQCNcBGAsYHQ/s2048/DSCN1423.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1528" data-original-width="2048" height="299" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F01NeieP-I8/YIBrmFndtpI/AAAAAAAAF9M/4_FRvGBmyVgg7Qw43eSbqL3Tp2K403VnQCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h299/DSCN1423.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>The site is open and sunny and I intend to keep most of the vegetation relatively short so that I an run over the square with a sweep net from time to time. </p><p>Also on 17th I noted a small, dark insect which might be a bee or a sawfly on a rose leaf in the Green Sanctuary. It spent some time carefully exploring some of the newly expanded rose leaves and I am fairly certain it was getting something sweet. There is certainly a dearth of nectar for these early flying insects. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YNy530Im7gE/YIBsTJUWBtI/AAAAAAAAF9U/dcpjlIwULhAXn2kg_fGg72AEwo2pCqP7QCNcBGAsYHQ/s1933/DSCN1421.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1836" data-original-width="1933" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YNy530Im7gE/YIBsTJUWBtI/AAAAAAAAF9U/dcpjlIwULhAXn2kg_fGg72AEwo2pCqP7QCNcBGAsYHQ/s320/DSCN1421.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Over the next few days the weather changed to bright, sunny days and cold nights, but it was still generally cold for the time of year. Insect numbers increased a bit with bee flies and mining bees on the wing, but butterflies are very scarce or absent. However, on 20th April a <b>red tailed bumblebee</b> (<i>Bombus lapidarius</i>) landed in Brambly Hedge and rested for long enough for me to get a quick photo. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KFIBxcpzOG8/YIBvoZ1houI/AAAAAAAAF9c/80B64SoMrmo5yic8s69r5RJeR5XOMgIcQCNcBGAsYHQ/s855/DSCN1448.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="855" height="268" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KFIBxcpzOG8/YIBvoZ1houI/AAAAAAAAF9c/80B64SoMrmo5yic8s69r5RJeR5XOMgIcQCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h268/DSCN1448.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The following day, after several yoga-like contortions I managed to get a somewhat blurry picture of a <b>feathered leaf-cutter</b> moth (<i>Incurvaria masculella</i>) resting on a hawthorn leaf in the Square Metre (the foodplant of this species is hawthorn).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DvctIHLzBvw/YIBxDJGi94I/AAAAAAAAF9k/rMllH_6c2ysbxLdpluxD2FTbROq8no8XgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1063/DSCN1459.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="783" data-original-width="1063" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DvctIHLzBvw/YIBxDJGi94I/AAAAAAAAF9k/rMllH_6c2ysbxLdpluxD2FTbROq8no8XgCNcBGAsYHQ/s320/DSCN1459.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It is now getting worryingly dry and one or two friends have remarked that bluebells to not seem to be flowering in such abundance as usual. The forecast indicates many more days without rain and often with cold drying winds.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The drought continued, with more cold, bright days through 21st to 25th of the month (and maybe beyond as I am writing this on 25th). Dust whirls in the lane when traffic passes, lawns are looking thirsty. In The Green Sanctuary, I have noted a small ragwort plant, a species I thought I might have lost, both the eastern and the western dandelions are flowering intermittently and the wild service tree is shooting up well. On 22nd I spotted a green shield bug climbing up the wild onion plants (see below). This must be about the most difficult means of ascent in the area, but maybe the insect had its reasons.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fGSoYUddgK4/YIVWxobrbRI/AAAAAAAAF9s/19vauAFWxesHV4W8nzA_ZiohkN8ygOz8ACNcBGAsYHQ/s476/DSCN1464.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="476" data-original-width="415" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fGSoYUddgK4/YIVWxobrbRI/AAAAAAAAF9s/19vauAFWxesHV4W8nzA_ZiohkN8ygOz8ACNcBGAsYHQ/w279-h320/DSCN1464.JPG" width="279" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The 24th was designated Cherry Blossom Day by the National Trust and I made a small contribution by photographing one of the fallen petals of the wild cherry that had blown into the GS (see below). A few butterflies were out too and I saw a male orange tip and a female brimstone.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kcR4F5yI1ag/YIVX2msA7uI/AAAAAAAAF90/UiwjCoGppBs0VlsyFMput4KkBFJKMF8igCNcBGAsYHQ/s957/DSCN1519.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="685" data-original-width="957" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kcR4F5yI1ag/YIVX2msA7uI/AAAAAAAAF90/UiwjCoGppBs0VlsyFMput4KkBFJKMF8igCNcBGAsYHQ/s320/DSCN1519.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The ivy on the birch trunk is now starting to grow quite rapidly. The leading leaves are almost black and quite shiny so that they look like small beetles. A little bee with a distinct blue sheen was visiting the dandelions. It might be a male <b>blue mining bee</b> (<i>Osmia caerulescens</i>) but I would have to catch and kill one to decide and I am reluctant to do that. On 26th April the bugle spikes along Cynthia's Ridge were at their best and a speckled wood butterfly enjoyed the chilly sunshine, resting on leaves and bare earth.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NzZWr7w7ATo/YIxBwkaN3bI/AAAAAAAAF98/PZCA_Il_TEkde6_mb_lg5xNaLrxq2wAuACNcBGAsYHQ/s2064/IMG_0057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1550" data-original-width="2064" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NzZWr7w7ATo/YIxBwkaN3bI/AAAAAAAAF98/PZCA_Il_TEkde6_mb_lg5xNaLrxq2wAuACNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/IMG_0057.JPG" width="400" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It continued cold to the end of the month, with a shower or two of light rain on 30th. The weather people say that there has been a frost somewhere on every night of the month. Round about the spring countryside continued to unfurl with the hooded spikes of cuckoo pint, flowers on stitchwort, yellow archangel, hedge parsley and, of course woodsfull of bluebells and thick swags of blossom on wild cherry trees. Butterflies have been scarce but I saw the first <b>large white </b>on 27th. The following day there were muscid flies resting on every stone and other surfaces in the Green Sanctuary. I see singletons of this group of flies almost every day, but the sudden increase suggests a local emergence.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7o1bWbXz8NA/YIxCIS0DHlI/AAAAAAAAF-E/lrFgUVmTWTQzQFaeh1KBdeUFmWTeFjpHgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1483/IMG_0085.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1043" data-original-width="1483" height="281" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7o1bWbXz8NA/YIxCIS0DHlI/AAAAAAAAF-E/lrFgUVmTWTQzQFaeh1KBdeUFmWTeFjpHgCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h281/IMG_0085.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As a fitting end to the month I photographed the flower on the solitary new bluebell in Medlar wood.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pf5QyjyfbSw/YIxDLTdazhI/AAAAAAAAF-M/M0j9y0_FXhUce-GzuxjVnSaREjq9alSGwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1432/IMG_0095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1206" data-original-width="1432" height="336" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pf5QyjyfbSw/YIxDLTdazhI/AAAAAAAAF-M/M0j9y0_FXhUce-GzuxjVnSaREjq9alSGwCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h336/IMG_0095.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div></div>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24352465.post-80214143675048799132021-03-30T16:35:00.000+01:002021-03-30T16:35:09.528+01:00Bluebell,daffodil & bee<p> On the first really pleasant day of the year (21 degrees), I sat for some time in the Green Sanctuary and, as has been the case on this date sometimes in the past, it seemed unusually quiet. There were however brimstone butterflies and bee flies enjoying the sunshine. I keep thinking the garass is not growing as vigorously as it should and there are large areas of 'meadow' in the garden and M3 that are covered in moss, although bulbous plants such as daffodils, bluebells and colchicums seem to be growing more strongly than usual. I haven't seen an worm casts in M3 whereas 16 years ago they were a fairly obvious feature.</p><p>Under the medlar tree I have discovered a bluebell. Quite a large size so it must have been there for a year or two and an interesting addition to the plant list as it is associated with ancient woodland.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-foefpoFxcW8/YGNCXGV6ojI/AAAAAAAAF7Q/6iqjIK8BmIEdFdjm7Mz2ZXHNTCY9c00TwCNcBGAsYHQ/s2048/DSCN1310.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1813" data-original-width="2048" height="354" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-foefpoFxcW8/YGNCXGV6ojI/AAAAAAAAF7Q/6iqjIK8BmIEdFdjm7Mz2ZXHNTCY9c00TwCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h354/DSCN1310.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>The <b>small sallow bees</b>, <i>Andrena praecox</i>, are about again. They only sit very briefly on the birch trunk, but I caught the one below on a Tenby daffodil just behind the place I sit to study M3.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5FQed8R3i0o/YGND9CkHbWI/AAAAAAAAF7Y/Ly27Xf_dEog-XwXXHAKF8tRIFdEEm4pawCNcBGAsYHQ/s1372/DSCN1322.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1083" data-original-width="1372" height="316" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5FQed8R3i0o/YGND9CkHbWI/AAAAAAAAF7Y/Ly27Xf_dEog-XwXXHAKF8tRIFdEEm4pawCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h316/DSCN1322.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24352465.post-82674134735836163252021-03-24T19:00:00.001+00:002021-04-02T17:52:02.895+01:00Trees and flies<p> The picture below is taken from where I usually sit looking across the Green Sanctuary towards the north east. Within this picture which covers an area about a square meter in extent, and including part of the original Square Metre, the following tree species, 12 in all, are growing, self-sown by wind, birds or animals: birch, oak, wild service, goat willow, holly, hornbeam, ash, hazel, hawthorn, wild privet, yew and sycamore. There are two species of wild rose, ivy, bramble and spindle that has suckered in from the side. There is a planted hedge of box and Lawson's cypress at the rear.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R_sxT1fqyzc/YFuCoCRwyaI/AAAAAAAAF64/whkS2LYSK88Ntcbm-st3VLj5YujmeKCIwCNcBGAsYHQ/s2048/DSCN1293.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R_sxT1fqyzc/YFuCoCRwyaI/AAAAAAAAF64/whkS2LYSK88Ntcbm-st3VLj5YujmeKCIwCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/DSCN1293.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">It is difficult to see all these species in the picture and I keep most of them reasonably small so that they don't take over. However, it does show how woodland can regenerate from open grassland if nature is left alone to do the job for herself.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">The mature birch tree towards the left is now regularly shedding storm blown unopened male catkins.</span></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UBjb0CRL6QA/YFuFd2JoILI/AAAAAAAAF7A/dhv1u3xud2IinqKmwomzccoSDfaCXlmnACNcBGAsYHQ/s891/DSCN1302.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="631" data-original-width="891" height="284" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UBjb0CRL6QA/YFuFd2JoILI/AAAAAAAAF7A/dhv1u3xud2IinqKmwomzccoSDfaCXlmnACNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h284/DSCN1302.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The sallow flies, <i>Egle</i> spp., that breed in sallow catkins have emerged. The one below is settled on a dead oak leaf speckled with a microfungus that will eventually help with its breakdown and return to the earth.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NbpmLA0HeJY/YFuGe5npcJI/AAAAAAAAF7I/4LrtHKxdeMkc17ai6Dowi155KOMSAzzMACNcBGAsYHQ/s728/DSCN1305.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="537" data-original-width="728" height="295" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NbpmLA0HeJY/YFuGe5npcJI/AAAAAAAAF7I/4LrtHKxdeMkc17ai6Dowi155KOMSAzzMACNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h295/DSCN1305.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><br />Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24352465.post-44061162558556945222021-03-14T15:20:00.000+00:002021-03-14T15:20:07.019+00:00Cercospora leaf spot<p>Today I noticed that some leaves on the wild privet (<i>Ligustrum vulgare</i>) that grows, bird sown, in the north west corner of The Green Sanctuary had several leaves with brown ends. The brown, dead part was differentiated from the rest of the leaf by a purplish semi circle and, on closer examination indoors, many spore-bearing pustules were seen on this band and across the rest of the underside of the leaf.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V2UmLneP8bI/YE4hbPACKYI/AAAAAAAAF6A/qsImjkANLOcRo9Wl_MM_G-ZQpdCQsTMrwCNcBGAsYHQ/s2684/DSCN1281.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1172" data-original-width="2684" height="175" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V2UmLneP8bI/YE4hbPACKYI/AAAAAAAAF6A/qsImjkANLOcRo9Wl_MM_G-ZQpdCQsTMrwCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h175/DSCN1281.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div>This is caused by cercospora leaf spot (<i>Thedgonia ligustrina</i>). It is, I am sure, is quite common wherever privet grows in the British Isles, though it is rather seldom recorded. It does not appear to cause any great harm to the shrub apart from being, in gardeners' eyes, perhaps a little unsightly. Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.com