Late Spring Flowers

Meadow Saxifrage, Saxifraga granulata.  Hayes churchyard.  4 May 2015.

Many Spring flowers are all around, and the full Summer bloom is not far away.   Here are some I found at the start of May.  The first, Meadow Saxifrage, is scarce in Kent but can be found in (at least) two places near me.  This group is in the churchyard in Hayes, where it is widespread and well established.

Cuckooflower, Cardamine pratensis.  Hayes Churchyard.  4 May 2015.

It competes in size and location with the Cuckooflower, also called Milkmaids or Lady's Smock (Why, I wonder?).  In Latin it's the Meadow Cardamine.  The colour of the flower varies from white to this slightly bluish pink.

But one of the biggest hits of this season is the glorious Bulbous Buttercup.

Bulbous Buttercup, Ranunculus bulbosus.  Keston Common.  4 May 2015.

This is the earliest buttercup to flower en masse.  The woodland Goldilocks Buttercup is earlier, but that is scarce and fleeting.  This one can fill fields with its bright golden glow.  It can be told apart from the Creeping Buttercup, also common, by its fully reflexed sepals, all turned back to touch the stem below them; and most of the Creeping Buttercups come out later.

Germander Speedwell, Veronica chamaedrys.  Hayes Churchyard.  4 May 2015.

Also coming out now, following on from the Common Field Speedwell (which is a foreigner from Persia) is this small bright blue flower, Germander Speedwell, sometimes called Bird's-eye Speedwell.  There are half a dozen common Speedwells and several scarcer ones which are not all that difficult to find, and actually people sometimes mistake this Germander for the Persian species, so you can tell this one by: 1. Flowers in racemes - many of them developing in turn from one flower-stem. 2.  Leaves with no stalks, or hardly any. 3. Twin lines of hair on the stems, on opposite sides, their positions alternating between leaf nodes. 

White-flowered Herb Robert, Geranium robertianum var. bernettii.  Keston, 4 May 2015.

Last for today: an unusual variety of a very common little Geranium, Herb Robert, that normally has reddish-purple flowers.  There are two white-flowered varieties.  The other one, var. alba, is sometimes sold commercially as Celtic White; it has no red pigment at all in the leaves or stems.  This one, var. bernettii, does, as you can see. I saw this in the same spot four years ago, so it seems to be persistent, not just an occasional sport.

A Couple of First Sightings

Flame Shoulder, Ochropleura plecta. Hayes, 29 April 2015

I'm not seeing many moths yet in my garden trap, but here are a couple of common favourites turning up again for the first time this year.  These are both fresh and pretty specimens and more of them will keep coming for several months. 

The Flame Shoulder is easy to recognise with its distinctive striped wings.  The caterpillar eats a range of plants and has no trouble finding food.  The caterpillar of the Pale Mottled Willow eats seeds of many sorts and can establish itself where humans store grain, for example.

Pale Mottled Willow, Paradrina clavipalpis. . Hayes, 25 April 2015

This one is on my measuring paper, with 5mm squares. This is a lot easier than trying to get a moth to pose next to a ruler.  Beginners sometimes have trouble recognising it, but those white flecks around the kidney-mark are very distinctive; there may be one or several and they might be in different positions, but if you see them you will know.  There is a row of dark triangles along the leading edge of the wing to confirm the ID.

Early High Elms

Conservation Field, High Elms, with cowslips, 21 April 2015.

High Elms Country Park looks bare at this time of year because so much has been mown or grazed.  This has mixed results, but it does allow a lot of early flowers to flourish where they might otherwise become overgrown.  This is what they call the Conservation Field, taken with my iPhone, full of cowslips.  This composition isn't great, being pretty much bare in the middle ground, but I wanted to get a cowslip in focus.

Cuckoo Wood with bluebells.  High Elms, 21 April 2015.

Here's a similar shot of a beautiful bluebell wood, also part of High Elms.  The iPhone is limited as a camera, but very good for taking photos that you can then email to someone straight away.  But I also had my proper camera with me.

Common Dog-violet, Viola riviniana.  Burnt Gorse, High Elms, 21 April 2015.

Violets are flourishing just now; in fact some of them are already over or hard to find.  The chalk meadow at Burnt Gorse has Hairy Violets, a chalk-loving species, but when I went on 21st April I could only see hundreds of these Common Dog-violets.  Their distinguishing features are: a light coloured, notched spur behind the petals; pointed sepals; leaf-stalks not noticeably hairy; and large sepal appendages, one of which you can just see here sticking up where the flower stalk joins the flower.  There are four common wild violets, some of which can be hard to tell apart unless you check all these details.

Bee-fly, Bombylius major.  Burnt Gorse, High Elms, 21 April 2015.

This Bee-fly was just interested in whether it had nectar.  It is a fly that looks and acts like a bee, though bees do not have that long sharp-looking snout.  They are a pleasant sight, buzzing about in Spring and hovering by flowers.  This shot shows that the fast-moving wings may be holding it up, but it is also positioning itself and perhaps being steadied by its legs; so it's not a fully committed hoverer like a hoverfly.

Some common flowers are about in the woods.

Garlic Mustard, Alliaria petiolata.  High Elms Country Park, 21 April 2015.

The young leaves of Garlic Mustard are usable as a salad plant.   It's also called Jack-by-the-Hedge, which accurately tells you where else you can find it.

Herb Robert, Geranium robertianum.  High Elms Country Park, 21 April 2015.

Herb Robert grows all over this area, mostly in woods and hedgerows.  At the back left is a rosette of Wood Avens leaves. They are also very common and will flower later.  In fact, there is some in the previous photo too.

Toothwort, Lathraea squamaria.  High Elms Country Park, 21 April 2015.

Toothwort only grows near trees, usually Hazels, because it is a complete parasite.  It has no chlorophyll of its own.  It is a very early flowerer and its season is almost over.  This specimen only has a few open flowers left, and most of those I saw were completely finished.

West Wickham April Moths

Lunar Marbled Brown.  In the West Wickham Common light trap on 15 April 2015.

Last time we were able to put out the trap in April on West Wickham Common we only caught two moths, both Oak Beauties.  They are nice enough, but that was a meagre catch.  This year we had a second chance and it was a warm night .. there were nearly 100 moths, and ore than 40 of them were this species, the rather pretty Lunar Marbled Brown.  Here it is on measuring paper.

Lunar Marbled Brown.  In the West Wickham Common light trap on 15 April 2015.

The lines are at 5mm intervals.  It is of the family Notodontidae, which typically have those beautiful antennae and furry forelegs. 

We picked up one scarce specimen:

Dotted Chestnut, Conistra rubiginea.  In the West Wickham Common light trap on 15 April 2015.

Not really rare, but nice to see.  It was quite lively and I was only just able to focus and shoot before it scuttled off the edge of the paper. 

This next one looks superficially like the Lunar Marbled Brown, but the antennae are tucked away and the legs are less furry.

Brindled Beauty, Lycia hirtaria.  In the West Wickham Common light trap on 15 April 2015.

The Brindled Beauty is from the large family Geometridae.  We also had one representative of the Nolidae, an Oak Nycteoline, an unremarkable-looking moth except from the front:

Oak Nycteoline, Nycteola revayana.   In the West Wickham Common light trap on 15 April 2015.

When it looks rather menacing.  And there were some micromoths.  This green one is of the family Tortricidae:

Acleris literana.  Near the West Wickham Common light trap on 15 April 2015.

It is a little aged and worn.  It stood out on the paintwork, but among lichen it would have been invisible.  (Mothers would say "It is a Tortrix," and my rather convoluted phrasing is intended to give the full correct family name.)

And the last one, family Eriocraniidae (yes, two i's together) which can be seen flocking in oak woods in Spring.  The larva feeds as a leaf miner on oaks.

Dyseriocrania subpurpurella.  Near the West Wickham Common light trap on 15 April 2015.

Those vivid purple dots only stand out like that in the camera's flash, but then they are a useful pointer to identification.  Lots of moths are about this size and shape.

Herald and Plumes

Herald, Scoliopteryx libatrix.   In my garden light trap on 15 April 2015

When I put out a trap on my small balcony, I catch a different range of moths than when it is sheltered down below.  Most are the same, but I get more micromoths and a few beauties.  This is such a moth.

The Herald overwinters as an adult, and comes to light in the spring, showing its dead-leaf shape and beautiful autumnal colours in quite the wrong season.  Hibernating butterfiles also have dead-leaf disguises, but none quite so lovely.  I photographed this on one of my collection of bark backgrounds.

I am also seeing some plume moths.

Common Plume, Emmelina monodactyla.   Near my garden light trap on 9 April 2015

This Common Plume was on my garden seat, resting in its typical geometrical shape.  Plume moths roll up their wings like umbrellas when at rest, giving this T-shape.  (You might also notice that my garden seat has a thriving population of very tiny beetles, as small as a moth's foot, not identified.)  Here is a slightly more fancy plume moth:

Beautiful Plume, Amblyptilia acanthadactyla.   Near my garden light trap on 9 April 2015

The Beautiful Plume does not furl its wings quite so tightly, leaving gaps at the end between fore and hind wings.

This year I also saw a March Moth for the first time.

March Moth, Alsophila aescularia.   In my garden light trap on 24 March 2015

It's not rare, but there are so many species of moth that often it's pure chance whether one comes to my trap. 

Trosley in Spring

Trosley Country Park, steps down.  27 March 2015.

I posted some photos from Trosley Country Park in January last year. Two months further into the year this time, there are many signs of life.

These steps might look daunting, but they are far from the steepest part of this route.  They cover about half of the downhill path through the wooded slope.  It's actually easier to walk alongside them, when going downwards at least.  They have the texture of wood but are actually some sort of cast stone.

Higher up, before I got this far, the path was bordered by primroses.  (But these are less dramatic for an opening picture.)

Primroses in Trosley Country Park.  27 March 2015.

The path turns left at the bottom and is fenced off from the outside world. But just over the fence is another path, part of the Pilgrim's Way, which is supposed to have led from Winchester to Canterbury.  On the park side, there are clumps of Dog's Mercury under the trees.

Dog's Mercury in Trosley Country Park.  27 March 2015.

All the plants in one clump are genetically the same, and have a single gender.  I saw many male clumps, with pollen like this plant, but none that were female; but some clumps were not yet flowering.  Later in the year, it should be possible to spot the females easily because they will be bearing seeds.

One green patch looked different.  It was a charming, rather tender little plant which is called Moschatel because it is supposed to smell musky at dusk.

Moschatel in Trosley Country Park.  27 March 2015.

The flowers normally all have the arrangement you can see here in bud, four at the sides and one on top.  An alternative name for it is Town Hall Clock.  This plant flowers early and disappears before the middle of summer.

Further on I crossed the grassy chalk slopes, the grass kept short by rabbits.  The grass was full of Hairy Violets, a species typical of chalk country.

Hairy Violets in Trosley Country Park.  27 March 2015.

It is the leaves that are hairy.  And further still, I climbed back up by the side of a disused chalk quarry.  This route was steep enough for me to need to hold onto the fence round the quarry to help pull myself up.

Here's a shot taken from halfway up.

Horse riders on the Pilgrim's Way, taken  from Trosley Country Park.  27 March 2015.

I had been hearing voices from half a mile away, getting closer.  Of course, you would have to speak quite loudly to be heard when riding in single file like this.  Seeing the horses explained all!  This is where the Pilgrim's Way turns away from the park.

Finally, walking back along the top I saw masses of Wood Anemones under the trees, always a lovely Spring sight.

Wood Anemones in Trosley Country Park.  27 March 2015.

(The top photo was taken with my iPhone; all  the others with my EOS 6D and 100mm macro lens.  I turned the ring flash off for the view of the riders.)

First Moths of 2015

Pale Brindled Beauty,  Phigalia pilosana.  Hayes, 14 February 2015

Moths are stating to appear in my garden trap at last.  I actually had one in mid-February, the Pale Brindled Beauty shown above, which flies from January to March.  It was good to see one of the winter-flying species.  There are several, but last year I saw none of them.  This species was a first for my garden, unlike the other three below:

Hebrew Character, Orthosia gothica. Hayes,19 March 2015

This is the easily recognisable Hebrew Character, a spring flier with strongly marked wings.  The Common Quaker also has well marked wings, but I like taking these front views.

Common Quaker, Orthosia cerasi.  Hayes,19 March 2015

The antennae are curved backwards in this shot, and look rather like eyebrows. 

And I have seen one micromoth, not in my trap but fluttering on the inside of my window.  You can never be sure of the provenance of moths found doing this because they might have had an unusual life cycle in the warmth of the house.

Mompha subbistrigella.  Hayes, 15 March 2015

This 5mm long creature with the strongly upcurved palps is Mompha subbistrigella.  Most micros don't have proper common names, though they all have vernacular names which have recently been made up for them, which are really not worth memorising as they make no more sense than the proper scientific names.