Long-billed Dowitcher at WWT

A belated post of the bird seen in July (see here for details). This is the nicest shot I have seen of this bird, taken by Ken Fifield.

(c) K. Fifield

Coming to a wood near you...fungi!

Fungal foray collection, Neath Valley, September

Mushrooms and toadstools seem to be coming up in abundance this autumn. A short walk through a Sitka Spruce forest near Pentreclwydau this week turned up about 20 species in 30 minutes, including some of the specimens shown in the photograph. I'll post more photos of individual species over the next few weeks. In the meantime, one of the most interesting species found this week was Orange Grisette (Amanita crocea). The Grisettes are a group of Amanitas that have a volva (a sac-like structure at the base of the stem) but don't have a membranous ring on the upper part of the stem - the volva can be seen in the specimen lying down in the photo (below). The floccose markings on the stem are an important diagnostic feature.

This is probably our most attractive Grisette species. It is usually associated with birch trees, and although it is widespread, it has a local distribution in Britain.
Other Amanita species seen in the Pentreclwydau forest this week were Grey Veiled Amanita (Amanita porphyria) and Blusher (Amanita rubescens).
The most notorious Amanita species is Death Cap (Amanita phalloides), which is deadly poisonous and responsible for more deaths than any other species in Europe. Death Cap does occur in our region, sometimes appearing under trees in parks (e.g. Clyne Gardens). It is variable in colour, but the fruiting body usually has a yellowish-green cap and the stem has both a membranous ring and a volva. It is frequently associated with oak and beech.

swansea university

2 spotted flycatchers together outside my window this afternoon, been a long time since I saw one in the UK.

Oxwich beach

Front: Prickly Saltwort and Babington's Orache
Middle: Sea Radish and Babington's Orache
Back: Curled Dock & Sand Couch

In the western half of Oxwich Bay there is only the smallest area of obvious strandline vegetation at the very western end of the beach car park, between the slipway and the wall by the Oxwich Bay Hotel. However, even in this small patch there is a good assemblage of standline plants, most now producing an abundance of seed to increase the chances of survival in this highly dynamic environment.

Left to right: Seeds of Sea Rocket, Sea Radish, Babington's Orache,

Frosted Orache, more Babington's Orache and Curled Dock.

A striking and seemingly familiar bee was feeding on some Sea Rocket, but it wasn't until we saw lots of them all over the Ivy-covered walls in the village did it click that it was The Ivy Bee (Colletes hederae), its discovery, survey and distribution in Gower having been well documented by Ian Tew last year [see here], this being the 'place' where I'd seen it before.

The Ivy Bee on Sea Rocket

An unexpected bonus was a single rosette of Sea Stock (Matthiola sinuata) at the rear of the beach car park. This species is listed as 'Vulnerable' nationally and the closest plants I've seen are part of a small but well established population around the foredunes either side of Nicholaston Pill. Hopefully the species will become better established in the western half of the bay.

Sea Stock

Hornets in Carmarthenshire

Following reports of hornets in the Llandeilo area, Nigel Stringer and I went on Friday (20.9.13) to the National Trust property at Parc Dinefwr, on the western outskirts of that town. Here, the NT own an extensive deer park, stocked with fallow deer and white park cattle and where the Trust is doing a first-class job in managing the many veteran oaks and other trees. I managed to get some photos of the hornets - the first live ones I have seen - and they are reproduced below; I was impressed by their large size.
They were quite docile (unless provoked!) and they may be overlooked elsewhere, in spite of their size. In Carmarthenshire, there is an early 1960s record by Chris Handoll from Laugharne and they were next seen by Ken Day at Dinefwr Court in 1999. A 2009 record (with photo) from Llanfynydd is also known of. Additionally, Nigel and I saw one near Edwinsford, north of Talley last Friday.

Mystery fungus

Found under a privet hedge, Overland road, Mumbles by Rob Ladds, who likens it to a moose with a moustache! Any suggestions as to the species?

Autumn Gentian

Autumn Gentian, Glyncorrwg

Autumn Gentian (Gentianella amarella) is an uncommon species of coastal, calcareous grassland in our area, e.g. south Gower cliffs. But the plant shown here was part of a fairly large inland population on a heathy verge at the side of a forestry road near Glyncorrwg. Other plants growing with it included Heather (Calluna vulgaris), Deergrass (Trichophorum cespitosum) and Heath Rush (Juncus squarrosus), all species typical of the acidic heathland or moorland that forms the upland matrix around the ubiquitous Sitka Spruce plantations. This is a surprising community for Autumn Gentian, a species normally regarded as a calcicole. However, forestry roads are often dressed with limestone grit, and in Neath Port Talbot (NPT) where natural calcareous soils are rare, this provides opportunities for species which would otherwise be absent or very scarce. So it is with Autumn Gentian, which I have never seen in NPT before.