More fledglings from west Gower

Barrie Swinnerton sent me these images taken this week of two of our less common breeders, Peregrine and Dartford Warbler, both of which seem to have fared well this year.

Neath Valley

The Scullcap Leaf Beetle Phyllobrotica quadrimaculata is an uncommon beetle found usually in damp places where Scullcap Scutellaria galericulata can also be found.

Also today the very striking Pyrausta purpuralis. I was able to identify this via David Painter's post earlier this year; found by this link http://goweros.blogspot.com/2010/04/pyrausta-purpuralis-at-horton.html Thanks David.

Some other nice stuff from the Day

2 above are Grayling with the one below showing how well they can blend in with their surroundings
Above Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly (male)
Above Blue-tailed Damselfly (male)
The separation of males of each Scarce Blue-tailed from Blue-tailed can be found at the apex of their abdomen. In Blue-tailed the whole of segment 8 is blue, but in Scarce Blue-tailed only part of 8 is blue and segment 9 is completely blue.
Above Golden-ringed Dragonfly (male)

Dotted Sedge at Baglan Burrows

Today Charles Hipkin showed me the patch of Dotted Sedge (Carex punctata) that he and Hilary found a couple of weeks back at Baglan Burrows. The species has a a very restricted distribution in Britain and Ireland and the only other Glamorgan record of I’m aware of was made by A.J.E. Smith at Oxwich saltmarsh on 16th June 1962, so this is a very significant discovery. Other noteworthy species seen included Distant Sedge (Carex distans) [a new species for NPT], Marsh Helleborine (Epipactis palustris) and Ray's Knotgrass (Polygonum oxyspermum subsp. raii), all very localised in NPT.

Baglan Burrows is a fabulous site and is the only sizeable dune remnant between Port Talbot Docks and the Neath River. It probably supports some of the best pioneer dune communities in the county. That it has no conservation status seems incredible given the quality of habitats and species, not to mention its strategic importance in linking dune systems along the South Wales coast.

Bombus jonellus?

I have started to look at bumblebees a bit more closely this year and I've found that it's not as simple as if first appears. I found a couple of bumblebees today that resembled B. hortorum but something seemed a little different to the one's I've seen this year. I hoped that it might be B. jonellus and so I took a couple of photo's in hope that I could shore up the id later. Having consulted the books I can see that there are 2 possibilities. Males of B. lucorum and B. jonellus both show yellow hairs on the face as well as 2 bands of yellow on the thorax and 1 on the abdomen which also has a white tip.

The best separating feature for these species is that B. jonellus has long hairs on the dorsal edge of the hind metatarsus. The photo below seems to show these long hairs I would be very grateful if anyone could confirm whether I have made the correct identification of this bumblebee.

Mothing at Foxhole and Overton

Veteran Junipers on cliffs at Yellow Top

147 species of Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) were recorded during a combined afternoon session at Foxhole Slade/Yellow Top (GHJ & BS) and evening session at Overton Mere (GA, GHJ, CMM, RJR, VS & BS).

Unfortunately we failed to see any Chestnut-coloured Carpets at the Foxhole / Yellow Top Junipers, though we did see 2 Chalk Carpet & 4 larvae of very rare plume moth Agdistis meridionalis. Interestingly these were found feeding on both Common Sea-lavender as-well-as the usual foodplant Rock Sea-lavender, something that I have not seen before.

The moth traps at Overton produced the bulk of the species list, highlights including Mecyna asinalis 15, Dolicharthria punctalis 20, Trachycera marmorea 5, Pempeliella dilutella 15, Lackey 60, Mullein Wave 6, Small Blood-vein 3, Silky Wave 9, July Belle 20, Wood Carpet 1, Galium Carpet 1, Lilac Beauty 1, Brussels Lace 2, Annulet 3, Privet Hawk-moth 8, Lime Hawk-moth 2, Muslin Footman 3, Short-cloaked Moth 3, Crescent Dart 45, Brown-line Bright Eye 1, L-album Wainscot 4 & Devonshire Wainscot 1.

Dolicharthria punctalis (Long-legged China-mark) 

Other wildlife seen included 6 female Glow-worms at Overton together with a huge female Toad on the lower coast path.

Thanks to all who turned up for an excellent couple of sessions.

Scorpion Fly

This Scorpion Fly Panopra communis was in the garden today. Quite common, but not numerous, flying May to August. This one is a female unfortunately and doesn't quite show the features that derives the name. The male has a far more pronounced tip to the abdomen (the red part of the photo above) which it holds over its body scorpion style. One of the main diagnostic features is the downward extension of the head to form a stout beak (shown below).
Scorpion Flies, order Mecoptera, is a small group of flies. There are about 400 known species worldwide, with about 30 found in Europe. Mecoptera is a very ancient group and some of the present day Australian scorpion flies appear to have survived with little change since Permian times and qualify for the title "Living Fossils."