Beech Flowers

Flowers of the beech tree,  Fagus sylvatica. Coney Hall, 29 April 2011.
Lower left, out of focus, a harlequin ladybird, an invader species.

Where Are The Serotines?

Part of my bat-watching zone.  13 May 2011.

Unlike my last bat post, this one has a photograph. Are there any bats in it? There are not.

Serotine bats have been seen in the neighbourhood of Hayes. They like to roost in old buildings, but no-one has found where these come from. Last night, a dozen people surrounded a large building in Hayes.

It seemed a likely candidate. They had been seen in the woods nearby, as well as other woods a mile or so away. Other likely buildings have already been checked out, with no results.

Organised by Ishpi Blatchley, a local bat expert, we started to assemble half an hour before sunset. Ishpi split us up to surround the building, and we watched, and listened on our detectors. I was covering the aspect of the building in the photograph. We saw no serotines. One of us saw a pipistrelle, which we weren't looking for.

Planes flew past a gibbous moon. Bats didn't. We waited until well after sunset, when any bats would definitely have flown out to eat. Our target building was eliminated as a serotine roost.

Serotines are twice as big as the common pipistrelles. My route back home took me through the wood behind the building. I heard pipistrelles as I walked along, and suddenly I saw two serotines flying and feeding along the edge of the trees. They were echolocating at 27 kiloherz, a loud popping call like a giant pipistrelle on my heterodyning detector. Another of the group joined me and we watched them cruising back and forth, snapping up insects, sometimes swooping just above our heads.

Where are they coming from? We could see houses nearby. Less likely, but that will be the next investigation.

Red Clover

Red clover, Trifolium pratense. Hayes Common, 12 May 2011.

St. Mark's Fly

St. Mark's fly, Bibio marci, so called because the adults emerge around St. Mark's day, April 25th.
West Wickham Common, 29 April 2011."

Castor Oil Plant

New leaves of a castor oil plant, Ricinus communis.  Crowborough, 13 April 2011.

Field Maple and Sycamore Flowers

Flowers of a field maple, Acer campestre, with winged seeds developing. A native species. 27 April 2011.

Flowers of a sycamore, Acer pseudoplatanus, 29 April 2011. Winged seeds are developing. Not a native species.

Streptocarpus

Streptocarpus "Gwen," grown from a starter plant in July 2010.  6 May 2011.

Even though some of the natural flowers I have shown here are colourful, Streptocarpi outdo them in ostentation. These plants grew from tiny starters, rooted cuttings about three inches by one inch, which I got in July and August last year. They grow happily on a north-facing windowsill and add a bit of life to the kitchen.

They are cultivated hybrids of a plant which originated in South Africa. There are hundreds of varieties. Most are scent-free, but a few have a pleasant and subtle aroma.

In these photos, an exposure that is right for the lighter flowers has left the leaves looking a bit dull. They are not really like that. See the bottom photo, where the leaves look natural but you can't see any detail in the light flowers.

Streptocarpus "Margo," grown from a starter plant in August 2010.  6 May 2011.

Streptocarpus "Bristol's Goose Egg," grown from a starter plant in July 2010.  6 May 2011.
This is a scented variety.

A group of Streptocarpi being upstaged by Roxy the cat. 13 April 2011.