Green Weevils

Green weevil, Phyllobius pomacius, on the developing seed head of a wayfaring tree, Viburnum lantana,
on the border of Orchid Bank in High Elms Country Park, 15 May 2011.

There were lots of these green weevils around. The sun's rays bring out their iridescence. On the photo below, taken a few miles away, these nettles were full of them. There is another half-hidden in the leaf at the very top of the photo.

Green weevils, Phyllobius pomacius, on stinging nettle, Urtica dioica.  Hayes Common, 18 May 2011.

Common Knapweed

Flower head of common knapweed, Centauria nigra. Hayes Common, 30 May 2011.

Party Snail

White-lipped snail, Cepaea hortensis, on a discarded party noisemaker in the bushes on Saville Row, Hayes.  8 May 2011.

Spring At Keston

The group starting to spread out on Keston Common, 28 May 2011.

This was a morning looking around Keston Common and the Ravensbourne meadows with the Orpington Field Club. It was led by Ishpi Blatchley, accompanied by Judy John of the BCS, whose area this is.

It was not a ramble, nor even really a walk, but a sort of slightly mobile study of the local plants and wildlife. The first photo was taken just outside the car park, and you can see the group already splitting up. Most of the time there were two groups with a few pairs and individuals moving around and between the groups.

It was a chilly and mostly overcast day, but there were occasional sunny breaks and we actually saw a lot more than I had expected. After the recent dry weather, some of the plants were desiccated or stunted, but that didn't affect the wet meadows or the bog. There are some very reliable springs in this area.

Crustose lichen on an oak tree, Keston Common, 28 May 2011.
Identified by Ishpi Blatchley as probably Lecanora chlarotera.

Even the dry area we started in had lots of interest. Sheep's sorrel and cat's-ear were flowering, and a few ox-eye daisies. There were lichens and mosses, grasses, and several vetches.

The second photo is a small patch of crustose lichen on an oak trunk. To the naked eye it could be a stain from a bird dropping, but closer examination shows the apothecia, reproductive bodies looking like craters with white rims.

The flowers had the same beetle population which I have seen elsewhere recently; lots of bright green Oedemera nobilis, browner Oedemera lurida, and Malachius bipustulatus, green with two red dots at the end of its wing cases.

The white flowers of hairy tare. Keston Common, 28 May 2011.

Among the vetches were the pink flowers of some grass vetchlings, which were abundant last weekend at Darrick Wood, and some clumps of hairy tare, with small white flowers, identifiable by its pods which contain two seeds each.

The experts spent some time combing the ground around Keston's war memorial. I was looking around the back of the hedge, where some common cow wheat and herb robert were flowering. In the dry area by the road were some stunted cat's-ears and some mouse-ear hawkweed growing next to each other. The hawkweed has dandelion-like flowers, but of a lighter, fresher yellow. Ishpi, who is a lichen expert, was pleased by the excellent specimens of Parmelia saxatilis on the back of an old wooden seat.

We moved on to the Ravensbourne wet meadows. These were quite lovely, full of meadow buttercups. Around the edges and in the wetter areas were some real treats. Straight ahead of us was a patch of ragged robins, the same patch I photographed on a reptile walk two weeks ago, against a backdrop of hoary willowherb. Judy was anxiously searching for some black sedge, which used to be there; she found some a little way away. Along the edge here one of the predominant plants was water horsetail, just the fruiting bodies on the end of long green stems, looking very prehistoric.

Fruiting body of water horsetail, Equisetum fluviatile.
On a wet Ravensbourne Meadow.  28 May 2011.

We saw several flies and micromoths; a couple of Cantharids, carnivorous soldier beetles; a grasshopper; and a vivid froghopper, the red and black patterned Cercopis vulnerata.

Other meadow edges were quite different. To one side were large and showy clumps of wild yellow iris. This area of meadow also had wild angelica, woody nightshade, brooklime and the buttercup-like lesser spearwort.

Coming back through the woods we heard wren and blackcap song, and saw a goldcrest actually hovering among low branches after insects, almost like a hummingbird, most unusual behaviour and surely not energy-efficient.

Some of the group split off to examine the bog and the rest of us went to look at the ponds to see if there were any dragonflies or damselflies. We only saw one thing, but it was interesting; a damselfly that had recently emerged and had not yet taken its full mature state. The experts thought it was most likely a red-eyed damsefly, known to inhabit that area of the pond. It was on the flower of a water hawthorn.

Walking back towards the car park we saw some clumps of heath rush, scarce in this part of the country.

Some more images:

Identifying and recording common knapweed, Centauria nigra. Keston common, 28 May 2011.

Parmelia saxatilis on a roadside seat.  Keston, 28 May 2011.
The greenish lichen on the right of the main patch is Flavoparmelia caperata.

Flower of Herb Robert, Geranium robertianum, behind Keston war memorial. 28 May 2011.
A white flowered variety; they are usually more or less pink.

Common cow wheat, Melampyrum pratense, flowering on the edge of Keston Common. 28 May 2011.

Brooklime, Veronica beccabunga, on a wet Ravensbourne Meadow. 28 May 2011.

A clump of yellow iris, Iris pseudacorus, on a wet Ravensbourne Meadow. 28 May 2011.

A flower of the yellow iris, Iris pseudacorus, on a wet Ravensbourne Meadow. 28 May 2011.

Cantharis pellucida, a soldier beetle, in a wet Ravensbourne Meadow.  28 May 2011.

Insect eggs, probably a moth, on the underside of a willow leaf by the middle Keston pond.  28 May 2011.

Recently emerged damselfly, thought to be a red-eyed damselfly, on a water hawthorn on the upper Keston pond.
28 May 2011.  This was taken at full zoom and cropped, so is at about the limit of distance for my Ixus 100.

Heath rush, Juncus squarrosus, near Keston Ponds.  28 May 2011.

Cabbage White

Cabbage white butterfly, Pieris brassicae, sometimes called the Large White, feeding on bramble flowers
in the lower edge of the woods in Spring Park, 25 May 2011.

Broad-Bodied Chaser

Dragonfly, the broad-bodied chaser, Libellua depressa.  Male.
At the pond in Spring Park, resting on reed mace, 25 May 2011.

There were two of these large dragonflies patrolling the pond. They would not allow any sort of close approach until I was able to get near under the part cover of the clump of reed mace leaves this one was perched on.

The small pond is shown below. The reed mace is on the left. It is choked with mare's-tail, Hippuris vulgaris, which was introduced by accident.

View of the pond in Spring Park, 25 May 2011.

Fat Green Thighs

Oedemera nobilis male on a buttercup beside the pond in Spring Park, 25 May 2011.

Below is a photo of this beetle from above, showing the shape of those thighs, properly called femora. They are only like this in the male.

I am getting more interesting results now with my EOS 450D and macro lens. I could have taken a photo like the second one with my Ixus 100; perhaps even a better one. But this one above is something else, and reveals much more about the creature; its hairiness, the details of its iridescence.

Such a photo is only possible if an insect will sit still, or nearly still, and let me get up close. Some will not. Butterflies and dragonflies shoot off as I approach.

Oedemera nobilis male on ox-eye daisy, Leucanthemum vulgare.  Hayes Common, 21 May 2011.

Bumblebee and Hoverfly

Red-tailed bumble-bee, Bombus lapidarius.  Hayes Common, 18 May 2011.

Above, a bumblebee I photographed in a clearing in the woods on Hayes Common. It landed in front of me in a patch of dry grass. Below, a hoverfly from a different part of the same common.

This hoverfly is a good mimic. As a species it is variable and does not mimic any particular bee, but this specimen would be hard to tell from the red-tailed bumblebee at any distance (unless you're an expert). Closer, you can certainly see that the hoverfly has short stubby antennae, nothing like the bee's longer angled ones, and the eyes are set very differently.

I don't know what the tiny fly is on the lower photo. I often find small flies captured by accident in these photos.

Eristalis intricarius, a hoverfly that mimics a bee,  and a tiny fly on ox-eye daisy,
Leucanthemum vulgare.  Hayes Common, 21 May 2011.

Both taken with the EOS 450D and 100mm macro lens.

Common Blue Damselfly

Common blue damselfly, Enallagma cyathigerum. Male. Hayes Street Farm, 19 May 2011.

I posted a photo of one of these beauties as part of the report on reptiles in Keston, but this one has such a well-placed shadow that it's worth adding another. Below are a male and female in tandem; they were flying together like this.

(Later addition: An expert has since informed me that the pair below are azure damselflies, Coenagrion puella, so I have re-labelled the photo accordingly.)

Azure damselfly, Coenagrion puella. Pair in tandem, male above.
Hayes Street Farm, 19 May 2011.

Both taken with the Canon EOS 450D, 100mm macro lens, and ring flash.

Common Blue Butterfly

Male Common Blue Butterfly, Polyommatus icarus.  Hayes Street Farm, 19 May 2011.

The plant it is feeding on is cut-leaved cranesbill, flowering among stinging nettles. You can see its proboscis probing the flower. Here is the underside of a wing:

Male Common Blue Butterfly, Polyommatus icarus.  Hayes Street Farm, 19 May 2011.

Both taken with the Canon EOS 450D, 100mm macro lens, and ring flash.

Meadow Invertebrates at Darrick Wood

Mike Edwards and the group in the meadow at Darrick Wood. 22 May 2011.

Darrick Wood is adjoined by a group of meadows, and on Sunday a free training day was held there, led by Mike Edwards, an entomologist. Judy John and Jenny Price of the BCS were providing support, organising and facilitating.

It was a fascinating day. Mike started by telling us a little about the balance between woods and meadows, and how different parts of the same meadow might attract different kinds of creatures, depending on how moist or dry they were and what plants grew there. He was passionate about biodiversity — for good and practical reasons.

Although the meadow was full of grass, there were so many other plants that to call it just a stretch of grass would have been very misleading. The most visible flowers were buttercups, concentrated towards the edges, and ox-eye daisies, in swathes through the centre. Scattered throughout was a pink flower, grass vetchling, with just one or two flowers on each stem. The yellow rattle shown below is sometimes called the hay rattle, because when the fruit dries, it rattles, and that is the right time to make hay.

A Roesel's bush-cricket,  Metrioptera roeselii, on the net,
cleaning its antenna. Darrick Wood, 22 May 2011.

We went out with nets which we swept through the grass and flowers. At once we could see that dry areas had many fewer creatures we could catch this way than the more lush growths. And then when the sun came out there were suddenly more flying things.

From here on, the event consisted largely of people bringing things back to Mike for identification, and asking about their behaviour and modes of living.

At this point we were getting mostly flies and beetles of many sorts. Then we pulled up some clumps and took them apart over white trays to see what was in the earth. A coarse sieve helps, but we only had one. My tray had mostly ants, and some crickets that jumped off at once rather than wait to be examined, but there were always people finding interesting things nearby.

Sifting tussocks of grass onto a tray. Darrick Wood, 22 May 2011.

I noticed that Judy was making a list of the species we found. It was a very long list.

Further down the field, by the edge of the wood, we took up more clumps, this time tussocks of long grass. I found many more ants, a beetle larva, and one of the few things I recognised, a young earwig. One of the group found a lacewing larva, looking like a tiny gooseberry or a miniature green hedgehog.

Other invertebrates I have not yet mentioned included several species of bumblebee and hoverfly, some day-flying moths, hoppers, cutworms, weevils, picture wing flies, tachinid flies, sawflies, rove beetles. There were some wolf spiders carrying around their egg sacs. I saw — and caught, then released — both a male and a female common blue butterfly, pretty creatures.

Yellow rattle, Rhinanthus minor,
at Darrick Wood.  22 May 2011.

We broke for lunch back in the centre. There was a short-lived flurry when the key was lost, but it was found on the path, which, given the size of the meadow available for its loss, was quite lucky. Afterwards we returned to the meadow for more catching and identifying. I took my camera out and got some nice shots of beetles and crickets, and a few plants. I also shot some bugs; a sloe bug and a tortoise bug, both on the very edge of the meadow by the trees.

I was interested to see that particular types of beetle that I had found on other local commons also turned up frequently here. They must become common over the whole area for their season. For example, the red-tipped flower beetle, Malachius bipustulatus, and a soldier beetle called Cantharis rustica.

I took with me some photos of plants and creatures I had not yet identified and Mike told me several of them on the spot. My biggest surprise was to be told that what I thought was a bumble-bee was actually a hoverfly that imitates a bee. I have seen bee flies before, yellowish furry creatures, but this one, Eristalis intricarius, was mostly black and not a relation.

Once again, Judy was helpful in identifying the plants I saw. It's a real pleasure to go around with people who know so much.

Some more images from the day:

The meadow at Darrick Wood, showing how much of it is not grass.  22 May 2011.

Flower of the grass vetchling, Lathyrus nissolia. Darrick Wood meadow, 22 May 2011.
You can see these in the low-level shot above; there is one at the lower left.

Sloe bug, Dolycoris baccarum, on the edge of the meadow at Darrick Wood. 22 May 2011.

Tortoise bug, Eurygaster testudinaria, on the edge of the meadow at Darrick Wood.  22 May 2011.

In this post, the photos of the plants and insects were taken with my EOS 450D with the 100mm macro USM lens and the MR-14EX ring flash. The shots of people and meadow were taken with my Ixus 100. All have been processed with Photoshop CS4.

Brackets On Birch

Polypore bracket fungus on standing deadwood silver birch, Hayes Common, 12 May 2011.

Cucumber Green

Cucumber green spider, Araniella cucurbitina, in the axil of a new oak leaf on West Wickham Common, 30 April 2011.
You can judge its size by my fingers just behind it.

This is probably the best macro photograph I have taken with my Ixus 100. It shows very well the alien appearance of one of the small creatures I have been photographing recently; alien to us, yet actually more of the earth than we are.

A Flesh Fly

A smartly marked flesh fly, Sarcophaga carnaria, on open ground on Hayes Common, 17 May 2011.
Bigger than a house fly. The larvae eat carrion; the adult eats anything that is liquid or can be liquified.
Taken with a Canon EOS 450D and EF 100mm macro lens with ring flash, hand held.

Tachina fera

A striking fly, Tachina fera, on a bramble leaf in the woods on Hayes Common.  30 April 2011.
The larvae are parasites on various caterpillars. Adults like this one eat flower nectar.

Greenbottles

Common greenbottle fly, Lucilia sericata, in Hayes. 26 April 2011.

Meadow Grasshopper

Meadow grasshopper, Chorthippus parallelus, in a grassy clearing in the woods on Hayes Common, 17 May 2011.

Meadow grasshopper, Chorthippus parallelus, in a grassy clearing in the woods on Hayes Common, 17 May 2011.

These were both taken with my Canon EOS 450D and the EF 100mm USM macro lens, with the MR-14EX ring flash. I am still experimenting with this combination and I am not yet achieving the sharpness on these field shots that I can achieve with a still subject back at home, or with the little Ixus 100 for that matter. But the autofocus is fast and accurate. The Ixus wouldn't have focused on the right subject among all this grass. If you can find it!

Grey Heron

Grey Heron, Ardea cinerea, in The Knoll park, Hayes.  2 May 2011.

Blue Bugle

Common bugle, Ajuga reptans, near Orchid Bank in High Elms Country Park.
Easter Monday, 25th April 2011.

Longhorn Squadron

Adela reaumurella, the green longhorn moth, on beech leaves on Hayes Common, 30 April 2011.
There was a swarm of over 100 of these moths on and around this tree.

Reptiles — And More — In Keston

Keston top pond seen from the Westerham Road car park.  14 May 2011.

Yesterday, a group met in the Westerham Road car park near the south end of Keston Common to look for reptiles. The walk was led by Judy John of BCS, the Countryside Officer for this area.

Keston Common connects through some wet and dry meadows to the ancient Padmall Wood. Spread around the common and the meadows are small squares of corrugated iron, perfect shelters for snakes and lizards, and Judy aimed to take us around them to see what we could find there today.

Of the six reptiles native to Britain, we might see three today; grass snake, slow-worm, common lizard. There are also adders in the area, living on Hayes Common, but they have not been seen in Keston. Judy showed us some cast-off adders' skins. Grass snakes are present; they have been seen swimming in the top pond, shown in the first photo.

The head end of the cast skin of an adder, Vipera berus. 14 May 2011.

As usual, I was interested to see what plants and insects were around, and Judy was well able to identify almost all of those I asked about. It is wonderful to be walking around with someone who knows so much.

First we went up to the acid-soiled heath. Lizards and snakes can tell when someone is coming by the vibrations caused by footsteps, so we crept up to one of the plates and gathered round as Judy carefully lifted it with a crowbar.

This was needed, not because it was heavy, but just in case there was an adder nearby; unlikely, but best not to take an easily avoidable risk.

There was nothing beneath any of the plates on the heath but for some ants and sometimes some signs that something larger might have been there. Then one of the children saw a lizard under a bush! But it ran off before the rest of us could see it. So far, so elusive.

Cat's ear, Hypochaeris radicata, on Keston Common.

But there were other things to see on the heath. A startlingly coloured black and red cinnabar moth flew by. There were stretches of wavy hair-grass, with shiny flower heads rippling in the breeze. We saw the yellow-flowered cat's-ear, identified for me by Judy. Unlike a dandelion, which the flower resembles, this plant has branched flower heads with occasional scales.

Sheep's sorrel was widespread; it is an early coloniser of areas which have been scraped to restore the heathland to its former state, as I also saw recently on Hayes Common.

Judy showed us the droppings of a roe deer, distinguishable from round rabbit pellets by their irregular shape and pointed ends. They look like quite small pellets for such a relatively large creature.

We moved on past the sphagnum bog — where cotton grass was visible, common elsewhere but scarce in this area — to a group of meadows, some wet and some dry. These were full of interesting flowers. In the wet meadow we saw pink ragged robin, white milkmaids, and lots of field buttercups. We should look for bog asphodel to flower here in July.

Female slow-worm, Anguis fragilis, under a metal plate at the edge of a dry meadow in Keston. 14 May 2011.
Taken with a Canon EOS 450D and a Canon EF 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens.

It was in one of the dry meadows that we saw, at last, a slowworm under one of the plates. That was exciting! It didn't like being exposed and slowly made its way into the grass, apparently undisturbed by spiders and ants scurrying around and over it.

Common blue damselfly, Enallagma cyathigerum.  Male.
Dry meadow, Keston, 14 May 2011.

Despite its snake-like appearance, this is a lizard. You might read that you can tell it from a snake because it can't protrude its tongue - that's clearly wrong, and here you can see that the tongue is even partially forked. But a lizard it is.

Judy says that she sometimes finds several slowworms under that particular plate. So we didn't see as many reptiles as we might, but I saw more than I ever have while walking round this common in the past. OK, just one more, but one lizard is much better than none.

Also in this meadow we saw a damselfly clinging to a grass stem. Damselflies are like smaller, more delicate dragonflies and they are all quite beautiful, even this common species. I saw a couple of colourful beetles too, including a red-tipped flower beetle.

We saw field wood-rush and the bright blue eyes of germander speedwell. I was interested to see common or lesser stitchwort, after seeing so much of the larger greater stitchwort in the area. There were groups of bluebells still flowering, and some white star of Bethlehem flowers, which Judy told us don't really belong there.

On the way back, Judy pointed out a treetrunk with an orange stain. This was caused by an alga; algae are normally green but this species contains a carotenoid pigment. This alga, Trentepohlia, can combine with a fungus to form a lichen. The fact that it thrives without the fungus shows just which of the partners in a lichen is getting the better of the deal.

Here are some more images from this very interesting and instructive walk.

Ragged robin, Lychnis flos-cuculi, in a wet meadow in Keston. 14 May 2011.
Taken with a Canon EOS 450D and a Canon EF 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens.

Wavy hair-grass, Deschampsia flexuosa, on the acid heath on Keston Common.  14 May 2011.
Taken with a Canon EOS 450D and a Canon EF 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens.

Common or lesser stitchwort, Stellaria graminea, on a dry meadow in Keston.  14 May 2011.

Dropping of a roe deer, Capreolus capreolus. Keston Common acid heath, 14 May 2011.
Taken with a Canon EOS 450D and a Canon EF 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens.

Judy John addressing the group in a dry meadow in Keston.  14 May 2011.
Taken with a Canon EOS 450D and a Canon EF 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens.

Judy John cautiously lifting a metal plate on Keston Common. 14 May 2011.
Taken with a Canon EOS 450D and a Canon EF 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens.

Ash tree stained by an orange alga, Trentepohlia. Keston Common, 14 May 2011.
Taken with a Canon EOS 450D and a Canon EF 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens.