Category: Nature Notes

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The Big Butterfly Count

The results for the Big Butterfly Count for 2022 show a continuing overall decline in numbers – a 2.8% drop for the UK but an increase of 9% for Wales was encouraging. The butterfly with the biggest rate of decline was the Marbled White and this was the same result for Wales. Wales also showed significant reductions for Ringlet, Large White and Small White. The biggest increases were for the Common Blue and Holly Blue but with Wales recording the biggest increases for Holly Blue and Brimstone. We have noticed Holly Blues doing well in Wenvoe particularly along the trees in the school and in gardens. A blue butterfly flying higher up, say around 5 to 10 metres above the ground, is likely to be a Holly Blue.

The Speckled Wood (see photo) has done well both in Wales and throughout the UK with several local people reporting them in their gardens. One interesting behaviour we have noticed is how territorial they can be. One adopted a small section of patio, turning up by mid-morning every day and then furiously defending it against any other trespassing butterflies, no matter which species. Even the occasional falling leaf would be checked out and warned off.

Those who want to help our butterflies are encouraged to plant wildlife-friendly habitats – for instance Holly and flowering Ivy for the Holly Blue and Hop, Elm and Nettles for the Comma. The caterpillar of the Speckled Wood favours our taller wild grasses such as Cocksfoot, Yorkshire Fog and False Brome so if you have sufficient space for a wild area, that can help all sorts of wildlife

 

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Hedgerows – Small But Mighty

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Described by the Woodland Trust as ‘small but mighty’ these are ‘the most widespread semi-natural habitats in Britain’. We mean, of course, hedgerows. Taken for granted by most people they bring a huge number of benefits as have been described by the Peoples Trust for Endangered Species. Soil erosion is reduced as a hedge lessens wind speeds which can blow topsoil off a field and this helps to minimise the pesticides which can accompany the soil into our watercourses. Pollution is also reduced from herbicides which can be washed off fields in the same way. The severity of flooding can be minimised as hedge plant roots improve the ability of water to penetrate the soil but the roots also themselves suck up some moisture. Biological pest control comes from all the spiders, beetles and birds for whom hedges provide shelter. Climate control benefits from the ability of a hedge to absorb carbon and a well-managed hedge can provide some wood fuel. The benefits of a hedge extend to 16 times its height so a 2-metre hedge spreads its help to some 32 metres over the adjacent land. The warmer soil brings benefits to livestock as lamb mortality from hypothermia is reduced and during hot spells cattle are kept a little cooler. Crops are also helped with warmer soil and the host of insects which pollinate the crops. Many species of wildlife, including Dormice, get an advantage from the corridors provided by a hedge rather than ending up in isolated pockets.

In spite of all this, farmers were once incentivised to grub up hedges and since 1950 we have lost 118,000 miles of hedgerow in Britain. Nowadays planting a hedge can attract grant money but there is some way to go. Many people may be able to help by planting a stretch of hedgerow in their garden or replacing an existing hedge which may just consist of Leylandii, Privet or Laurel which brings limited benefits to wildlife. A traditional hedge often included a mix of Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Hazel, Ash and Oak with extra fruit from Bramble and Guelder Rose (pictured). The Scouts are planning to plant some more hedgerow at Goldsland Farm this Autumn so if you would like to help, look out for more details in the coming weeks

 

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A Key Plant For Wildlife

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It features in John Constable’s famous picture, The Hay Wain. It made an important and powerful wand in the Harry Potter stories. Its pith has been used by watchmakers for many years. Its flowers are used to make a rural ‘champagne’ and the berries a jam and wine. Cultivars can be seen in many Wenvoe gardens. And there is much, much more we could write about this small tree which, if you have not already guessed it, is Elder.

In the Hay Wain you can see a small tree growing by a wall on the edge of the cottage and this has been identified as Elder, emphasising its importance to country folk. Herbalists used it – in the 16th century, Gerard recommended its seeds for those who were too fat. It was often planted close to cottages as it was believed to ward off the Devil but may also have helped because its ability to absorb water might have reduced the incidence of damp.

It is a key plant for wildlife, the berries consumed by more bird species than any other native tree although mammals tend to avoid them. It is second only to Ash in the number of Bryophytes (mosses and lichens) it supports. However, you should not see it in any of our orchards except for the Wild orchard. It is believed to inhibit the growth of sweet apples, plums and pears etc. so the recommendation is to avoid having it growing there. Our Wild orchard is made up of native trees which have co-existed with Elder for thousands of years and you will see Elder there growing alongside Crabapple, Wild Cherry, Wild Pear and Bullace.

Unspectacular and easily overlooked, Elder is a key plant in our countryside both for wildlife and for its rich cultural history. For more on this topic try articles by Jeff Ollerton e.g. British Wildlife vol 33, no. 6.

 

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Unusual and Interesting Variations

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Even the commonest plants and animals can throw up unusual and interesting variations. This photo shows a wildflower found all round the village which is Great Bindweed. Usually it is trumpet shape but the variation in the photo has the petals split and is called Quinque partita. It is growing close to the bus-stop near Pughs Garden Centre along with plenty of the normal version. And whilst the bindweeds can be a nuisance to gardeners, the bees love them.

Several people have noticed white versions of the Common Spotted Orchid growing in the Upper Orchid Field and the field by the Premier Inn. White versions of the Early Purple Orchid often appear on the footpath between Whitehall Farm and Burdons Hill and an albino buzzard was spotted a few years back which was being mobbed by crows. A blackbird was reported in Vennwood Close which had some white feathers – a form known as leucism caused by a melanin pigment deficiency. Last year we found a double form of a buttercup growing in the wild.

So, keep your eyes skinned and be on the lookout for anything unusual. If you find something different, take a photo and let the Wildlife Group know.

 

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There Is Wildlife All Around

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Look up – look down; there is wildlife around. Scan the skies for a sighting of the Red Kite, being spotted more frequently around the parish. Common in Shakespeare’s London where they helped to keep the streets clean by scavenging for dead animals, the Red Kite has been here in Wales far longer than Homo Sapiens. Bones have been found in Gower caves dating back 120,000 years along with those of lions, bison and rhinos. In mediaeval times the birds were protected but by the 16th century, farmers were poisoning them in the mistaken belief that they killed lambs and a bounty was put on them by the king – you could earn yourself a penny for every one you killed. By the beginning of the 20th century they were extinct in England and Scotland and there were just two breeding pairs in mid Wales. With protection and reintroductions from abroad we are now back up to around 4,500 breeding pairs in the UK. It is the National Bird of Wales so look up and see if you can spot one.

Many of you have a pond in your garden, so look down and you could well find a newt or two. If you do have them they are likely to be the Smooth or Common Newt. The small Palmate Newts tend not to be found here but the very large and rare Great Crested Newt has been found in the parish but usually in larger ponds in the countryside. Create a pond, large or small, and newts will soon find their way to it. Whilst they seek out ponds to breed, newts spend much of the year on the land. They breathe air so if you are patient you will often see them breaking the surface to take in air. Better still go out after dark and shine a torch into your pond as newts are more active at night. Many residents have reported having them in their ponds but as they love eating tadpoles you might not get so many frogs. A young newt is called an ‘eft’.

 

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How old is that meadow?

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Ever wondered how old that meadow is? A new method should give you an idea. Count the number of Creeping Buttercups with more than 5 petals in any hundred and multiply by 7. So if you find 2 buttercups in any hundred the age of the meadow is roughly 14 years.

The first challenge is to know your Creeping Buttercup. There tend to be 3 types of buttercup in our meadows. Bulbous Buttercups are quite uncommon in our parish but look behind the petals and if the sepals are folded back it is Bulbous. It is much more likely that you have either Meadow or Creeping Buttercups. Look online to see the differences but the easiest indicator is to see if there is a groove or furrow in the stalk leading to the flower. If there is you have Creeping Buttercup. Most buttercups have five petals but occasionally they will turn up with more than 5 and as these buttercups can spread by cloning, each new plant from these will also have over 5. Scientists have correlated the numbers with meadows whose age is known to confirm the formula.

Why not try this out with the children? All they have to do is check for a groove and then count the petals. Simple!

 

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The Adder 

The Adder is possibly one of the public’s least favourite wild animals yet it has an important role in our local ecology. Maybe its reputation as Britain’s only venomous snake does not help but cases of humans being bitten are few and far between, less than one case a year over the last hundred years and most of these occur when people pick the snakes up. Between 1950 and 1972 there was only one death from an adder bite in England and Wales compared with 61 who died from bee or wasp stings.

There should be records of them in the parish but there are none on the Aderyn database. Despite that there are several anecdotal reports of them, so if you do come across one locally, do get in touch with the Wildlife Group preferably with a photograph and details of the location. The snake is quite easy to identify with its characteristic zig-zag pattern, the female brown and the male black. You are more likely to come across a grass snake which is much larger and completely harmless. They have been seen at the Watercress Beds and the Elizabethan Orchard.

Like so much of our wildlife, adders are in decline. Much of this is down to habitat loss and disturbance by people and dogs. They are also predated on often by pheasants which frequently kill slowworms as well. Larger birds of prey, like Buzzards, are likely to be a threat. The future for this unique species does appear bleak.

 

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Ladybirds 

Many of you will have noticed large numbers of ladybirds congregating on the outside of houses. These come in many different colours and patterns but they are most likely to be the one species, the Harlequin Ladybird, which, as its name suggests, has a variegated colouring.

The one in the photo is plain orange but they come with spots, blotches and stripes – some even have 19 spots. An Asian species which first arrived in Britain in 2004, they have spread rapidly and are believed to out-compete our native species. Introduced into North America it is known as the Halloween Bug where it invades houses and is now the commonest species.

 

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What, No Acorns? 

Have you noticed the lack of acorns this year? Robert Reader got in touch as he had noticed they were few and far between combined with large amounts of the husks of conkers lying around. So, what are the squirrels up to?

Last year, 2020, was a ‘mast’ year for acorns. ‘Mast’ derives from the Old English ‘maest’ which simply means the nuts of forest trees which have accumulated on the ground. We tend to use mast to mean years when there are a lot of them and this applied last year all over Britain. This year, the reverse applies and whether you are in Glamorgan, Somerset or Yorkshire people are reporting few if any acorns. Interestingly the Knopper Gall which distorts growing acorns and can often be found scattered on the pavement underneath the School oaks, are not to be found. The reasons behind mast years are varied including the weather but also may be linked to ensuring the continuation of the oaks by producing a bumper crop, many of which are buried by squirrels, birds and rodents. These are then followed by lean years which keeps the populations of small animals under control.

So with a shortage of acorns this year for the squirrels to bury are they turning to conkers? Well, yes and no. Conkers contains a poison which squirrels can detect if they try to eat them but this will not prevent their hoarding instincts from kicking in. So wherever you find loads of conker shells but no conkers you can assume that the squirrels have been carrying off the conkers and burying them. The net result will be loads of Horse Chestnut saplings next year!. More recently Sweet Chestnuts have been falling and the squirrels are losing no time in gathering these up. Grange Park is a good spot to see them in action.

A few things to look out for at the moment. Every garden seems to be festooned with spider webs, most of which will be the Garden Spider which can be quite a chunky size. And the Harlequin Ladybird is everywhere. These come in different patterns but they are larger than our familiar 7-spot Ladybird. They also move into houses and can be found in any gaps around doors and windows where they can gain access and spend the winter. Also check out the flowering Ivy which is all over the place in Wenvoe. If you see what looks like a wasp but has a hairy back it is probably the Ivy Bee which only arrived in Britain in 2001 so has made a good job of spreading around the country.

 

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“Bugs”

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Some people call all insects bugs but ‘true’ bugs are of the order Hemiptera. All of these have piercing mouthparts designed for sucking juices from plants or animals. So, the following are not bugs – Ladybirds, beetles, earwigs, crickets, grasshoppers etc. There are 1,830 species of bug in Britain compared with just 59 resident species of butterfly.

Anyone with a garden with live plants, shrubs or trees will have bugs in them. Some are less than welcome such as aphids, but most bugs are harmless and often quite colourful. And they do have some wonderful names such Shieldbugs, Leatherbugs and Firebugs. There are Stiltbugs and Lacebugs – not to mention Bedbugs although hopefully you will not have encountered those! The Assassin Bugs hunt Bed bugs, Silverfish, Harvestmen and spiders. In the water you might find Pondskaters, Backswimmers and Water Boatmen. Then there are Froghoppers, Lacehoppers and Leafhoppers. Some have descriptive common names such as Stinkbugs and Squashbugs.

The Parent Shieldbug protects its offspring by sitting over the eggs before they hatch and then guarding the young nymphs. The photo shows a couple of Dock Bugs which could be found in large numbers down at the Watercress Beds in September. The Red-legged Shieldbug seems to have done well in Wenvoe this year and is often associated with Apple, Birch and Hawthorn.

So, look out for the ‘true’ bugs and unless they are aphids encourage them to flourish and they will repay you by keeping down some of the garden pests that might not be so welcome.

 

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