I led a small walk on my Newchurch Common patch today, mainly for photographers wanting a particular species.
That species was Downy Emerald and with my 'inside' patch knowledge I led my group to an area where they were able to get pictures of perched individuals and even mating pairs. In the end we had 8 Downy Emeralds, 7 on Shemmy Moss and 1 at Gull Pool, this included 2 pairs 'in cop' too. A first for the year was provided by 80 Large Red-eyed Damselflies this afternoon on Small Pool. Also seen were around 60 Large Red Damselflies and 120 Common Blue Damselflies. Only about 3 Azure Damselflies were seen as well as 2 Four-spotted Chasers.
A Small Tortoiseshell on Shemmy Moss may have been my first on patch this year. Also seen were Large White, Green-veined White, Orange-tip, Peacock, Comma and Brimstone.
A hatch of Garden Chafers was seen, the first of the year too.
Several butterflies but none new, a male Brimstone east of Big Pool was nice.
At least 3 Downy Emeralds were seen, they are well and truly out now. Also 2 Four-spotted Chasers were on Shemmy Moss. A Blue-tailed Damselfly was on Newchurch Common and at least 100 Common Blue Damselflies were still by the main track between the pools.
A couple of new moth species were added to my patch list. A Mother Shipton moth was on Shemmy Moss and a Satellite moth caterpillar was on the track between Big and Small Pools. A mating pair of Cream Waves was found near the main track too.
The soldier beetles previously seen on Shemmy Moss were photographed more clearly and a positive ID of Cantharis rustica was made. Red-and-Black Froghopper was again seen. There are still good numbers of Green Tiger Beetles on Shemmy Moss.
I had my first Common Blue Butterfly, on Shemmy Moss.
I also had my first Azure Damselfly, seen near Gull Pool. A fem Downy Emerald was seen perched up near Small Pool on Newchurch Common. A massive count of 400 Common Blue Damselflies was made near Big Pool.
A new plant for me on patch or anywhere was Fringecups, near Small Pool.
A walk on Newchurch Common in the sunshine yesterday morning : 14th MAY 2023
I had my first Small Copper of the year, on Shemmy Moss, a late (for here) Green Hairstreak looking very tatty was also seen here. Also seen were Speckled Wood, Green-veined White, Large White and Orange-tip.
I also had my first Blue-tailed Damselfly of the year, this time near Big Pool Island Cut. Also around Big Pool were at least 75 Common Blue Damselflies. Over on Shemmy Moss were around 12 Four-spotted Chasers and 2 Large Red Damselflies.
Two carpet moth species were new for the year, namely Silver-ground Carpet and Common Carpet.
The sun brought out lots of other invertebrates which included a couple of new beetles for this year. The most stunning of these was the striking Red-headed Cardinal Beetle on the main track near the barriers. Also seen were a couple of Athous haemorrhoidalis Click Beetles, on Shemmy Moss where the Soldier Beetle Cantharis fusca (probable ID) was also seen. The Red and Black Froghopper was seen in a couple of areas on nettles. A striking Tachina fera fly was by Big Pool Island Cut, an annual find mainly in this very location.
The interesting plant sighting of the day was the strange Springbeauty, which has flowers emerging from the centre of round leaves.
Wednesday May 10
Bempton cliffs RSPCA
Along with the millions of seabirds I was lucky to see two Bottle nosed dolphins very close in heading north closely followed by six more heading South. While I was watching the six go out of view another eight more heading south appeared including three which kept jumping out of the water. A great couple of hours.
Had a morning walk on my Newchurch Common patch, despite the rain I still got some good sightings.
I found my first Common Lizard of the year on Shemmy Moss.
Best lepidoptera record was a late instar Oak Eggar catterpillar, this was at least 8cm long, a real beast! A couple of butterfly species were on the wing, namely Orange-tip and Green-veined White.
Another great record was my first Downy Emerald dragonfly, flying along the Whitegate Way near Gull Pool. Also seen was a Large Red damselfly.
A new Nomad Bee (Nomada leucophthalma) was seen as well as an Early Bumblebee. The hoverfly Leucozona lucorum was photographed.
The beetle Cytilus sericeuson Shemmy Moss was new for patch whilst lots of Byturus ochraceuswere again feeding in flower heads.
A Metellina mengaispider was on the edge of Shemmy Moss. A group of White-lipped Snails were in the same area.
A Scurfy Twiglet mushroom was on Shemmy Moss. Herb Robert is in flower across my patch.
In the past week at Newchurch Common, my Cheshire local patch I have had a bumper week for non-bird sightings.
Today I found a large female Grass Snake basking on dead bracken on Shemmy Moss and watched her for a while before she gently slithered off.
A few new butterflies for the year were added, Holly Blue, Speckled Wood and Large White, with others seen being Orange-tip, Green-veined White, Brimstone, Peacock and Comma.
A first for the year today was a Four-spotted Chaser Dragonfly, with 2 teneral Common Blue Damselflies being new on 4th May and Large Red Damselflies flying throughout.
A new moth was added for the year today, namely at least 6 Brown Silver-lines, Common Heath moths were still present. A new micromoth for the year was the longhorn Adela reaumurella (May 4th).
For beetles a 2-spot Ladybird was new as were Brassy Willow Beetle, Byturus ochraceus, Nalassus laevioctostriatus and Poecilus cupreus. Hairy Shieldbug was also seen and was an addition to my yearlist as was the Strawberry Root WeevilOtiorhynchus ovatus and Nettle Weevil. Common Groundhopper was on Shemmy Moss again as were hordes of Green Tiger Beetles including mating pairs.
Other new species were Orange-tailed Mining Bee, Common Bee Wasp and Gooden's Nomad Bee. The hoverfly Syrphus vitripennis was seen. Dark-edged Bee-fly was again photographed. An Alder Fly was seen as well as a non-biting midge (Stenochironomus sp.) and Yellow Dung Fly.
New spiders were Pardosa amentata, Cucumber Green Orb Spider and a Metellina segmentata.
A totally new fungus for me was Sphagnum Greyling on Shemmy Moss. The rust fungus Melampsora caprearum was seen too.
Lots of new plants were added in this period; Bulbous Buttercup, Field Buttercup, Germander Speedwell, Field Forget-me-Not, Wood Forget-me-Not, Red Campion, Green Alkanet, Field Pansy, Common Stork's-bill, Comfrey, Dog Violet and Wood Sage.
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Monday 8th of May 2023 03:33:37 PM
A few baby Rabbits were the first young ones of the year.
A Great Crested Newt was under a log next to the Whitegate Way still, I thought they'd all be in the ponds by now.
Green Hairstreaks and a Peacock butterfly were seen. My first 2 Common Heath Moths were on Shemmy Moss.
I had my first Large Red Damselfly today also on Shemmy Moss.
A Eupeodes corollae hoverfly was by Shemmy Moss. An Early Bumblebee was here too and an Early Nomad Bee was near Small Pool by a mining bee colony which it is a parasite of. A Yellow-legged Mining Bee was also by Shemmy Moss. A Dark-edged Bee-fly was on Shemmy Moss.
A Long-jawed Orb-weaver (Tetragnatha extensa) was on Shemmy Moss.
A completely new species for patch was a huge Leopard Slug.
Plants new for the year included Wood Sorrell, Greater Celendine, Garlic Mustard and Bilberry (first time on Shemmy Moss).
A walk on Newchurch Common in drizzle this morning.
A Harvestman, Rilaena triangularis, was recorded, this species is often called the Spring Harvestman as it is the only adult Harvestman active at this time of year.
The first Bluebells were in flower by the main track, and even though they are in a very early stage they look like Spanish Bluebells rather than native or hybrid ones.
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Sunday 16th of April 2023 10:18:00 PM
A nip down to Newchurch Common in the heavy rain today produced a nice group of St.George's Mushrooms (Calocybe gambosa), just emerged and not far from St.George's Day when they are traditionally supposed to be first seen!
A late afternoon walk on my Newchurch Common Patch. Dull and cool.
A three amphibian species day with the best being a Palmate Newt on Shemmy Moss, a Common Toad and 5 Smooth Newts were at Gull Pool.
The ground beetles Nebria brevicollis and Pterostichus nigrita were in Gull Pool Wood where 2 carabid larvae were photographed but can't be IDed down to species. A Seven-Spot Ladybird was on Sandy Lane.
All day on my Newchurch Common Patch produced some excellent sightings.
Top of the lot was a Water Shrew on Shemmy Moss, a fantastic species to see. Other than that both Grey Squirrel and Rabbit made it a 3 mammal day!
At Gull Pool 4 Smooth Newts and Frogspawn made up the amphibian count.
All butterflies were seen on Shemmy Moss and were the years first 3m Orange-tips, at least 4 Commas, 3 Peacocks, 2m Brimstones and a very impressive 30 Green Hairstreaks.
Amongst several bees seen two were new for the year and both were on Shemmy Moss, a queen White-tailed Bumblebee and a Common Carder Bee. The hoverfly Eupeodes luniger was also on Shemmy Moss.
Yet again on Shemmy Moss 8 Green Tiger Beetles, supercharged in the sun!
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Saturday 8th of April 2023 08:51:13 AM
A whole day was spent on my Newchurch Common local patch today and it paid dividends with some cracking species.
Butterflies were a highlight with 12 Green Hairstreaks seen on Shemmy Moss as well as a male Brimstone butterfly, both firsts for the year here. A Comma was also seen on Shemmy Moss. An Orange Underwing moth was seen and photographed by Shemmy Moss, a pretty scarce Cheshire species.
A Dark-edged Bee-Fly was on Shemmy Moss as was a White-footed Hoverfly (Platycheirus albimanus). A Honey Bee was also seen.
At least 10 Green Tiger Beetles were on Shemmy Moss, great to see. A brand new species was added too, the diminutive Common Ground Hopper (Tetrix undulata), seen on Shemmy Moss.
Coral Spot fungus was on a dead twig in the Pine Belt.
Lesser Celandine, Red Dead Nettle, Goat Willow and Narcissus were all recorded for the first time this year.
As mentioned in another post I was on my Newchurch Common Local Patch at 4.20am this morning testing a Thermal Imaging Monocular for a review I'm doing at work.
The star mammal picked up by it was a Stoat, bounding along at the edge of Gull Pool Wood next to a field full of Rabbits, a species seen in every grass field I passed, in huge numbers. The other highlight was a Wood Mouse watched at only 10 foot range and showing in enough detail to confidently ID down to species.
Many moths were seen in the monocular but as expected no ID was possible!!
As well as the birds the sunny spells gave me the excuse to look for invertebrates and as before Buff-tailed Bumblebees were on the wing but a new Bumble was a queen Early Bumblebee with its bright rufous tail band. Also seen at the traditional nesting bank were male and female Clarkes Mining Bees, a colourful and welcome addition to the invert fauna of my patch. Two species of hoverflies were seen, the closely related Common Dronefly and Tapered Dronefly, told apart by abdomen shape but also tarsus colour, I had to be a leg man today!! The big common Blow Fly, Calliphora vicina, was also seen and photographed. Amongst a big stand of Yellow Archangel plants just one was found in flower, and so was duly photographed!
Away from the bird interest on my Newchurch Common local patch today I was really pleased to find my first frogspawn of 2023, in two traditional breeding pools. The Common Frogs may be out A-Wooing but the newts are still hibernating evidenced by another Smooth Newt found under a log in one of the wet woodlands. Under the same log was a small group of fungi tentatively IDed as Tubaria furfuracea. Another fungi seen was a stunningly colourful Turkeytail, which I just had to photograph as it almost glowed in the spring sunshine. A queen Buff-tailed Bumblebee was out looking for a nest site but no butterflies were seen today.
On Newchurch Common on a sunny morning I recorded my first butterfly, a Comma near Big Pool. Also on the wing were double figure numbers of Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax).
Went to Newchurch Common yesterday (21st Feb 2023) as it was warm and sunny so I was looking for inverts. The only record was a lone Honey Bee feeding on the gorse N.of Big Pool.
A walk on Newchurch Common produced more fungi than I expected this deep into winter, but many were the same as seen late last year.
Velvet Shank (Flammulina velutipes) was expected as the typical winter fungus, but nice to see near Big Pool. In the same area I recorded Silverleaf Fungus (Chondrostereum purpureum), Turkeytail (Trametes versicolor), Common Jellyspot (Dacrymyces stillatus), Black Milking Bonnet (Mycena galopus) and Scurfy Twiglet (Tubaria furfuracea). North of Big Pool I found Yellow Brain Fungus (Tremella mesenterica), Crystal Brain Fungus (Exidia nucleata), Bark Bonnet (Mycena speirea), Variable Oysterling (Crepidotus variabilis) and on the dung heap lots of Common Dung Cups (Peziza vesiculosa).
As on New Years Day Hairy Curtain Crust (Stereum hirsutum) and Candlesnuff (Xylaria hypoxylon) were seen.
A new lichen for patch was the striking Powdered Speckled Shield Lichen (Punctelia subrudecta) again north of Big Pool.
My foot bottom left by the way is the front 4" of twelve in size 12 wellies for scale!
The white feathers were adjacent.....but I must be being thick I think I just can't either i.d. the skeleton (I think it is a giant Rat) or disassociat the adjacent feather as being two seperate corpses....but surely they are?
My New Years Day Local Patch walk on Newchurch Common produced a few bits of extra wildlife even though I was especially concentarting on birds.
Grey Squirrels were abundant and a 'nice' Fox poo was found on Shemmy Moss indicating this species' presence.
Fungi photographed were Sulphur Disco, Birch Polypore and Hoof Fungus all in Gull Pool Wood, Common Puffballs on Shemmy Moss and Hairy Curtain Crust all over the place. Candlesnuff fungus was also seen as well as the Skeletocutis amorpha from the other day.
A late addition to the fungus list was most likely Skeletocutis amorpha, a white crust fungus found on a dead branch near the main track between the 2 pools. This is a member of a family of very similar looking fungi but given that the dead wood it was on was from a confer then this is the most likely species.
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Tuesday 27th of December 2022 10:01:24 PM
Sunshine, -6*c and 99% of the water iced over made for great conditions to look for Otters this morning.
The sluice channel next to the causeway was not iced over and I watched the adult female Otter and two young fishing for about 25 minutes about 30m down the channel.
Another morning mainly concentrated on fungi and again a few new ones.
Newly found were Bitter Oysterling (Panellus stipticus) near Small Pool, Sulphur Disco (Bisporella sulfurina) in Gull Pool Wood, and Yellow Stagshorn Fungus (Calocera viscosa) on Shemmy Moss.
Re-photographed were Angel's Bonnet, Powdery Brittlegill, Hairy Curtain Crust, Turkeytail, and Collared Earthstar.
A Red Campion plant was freshly in flower in December.
I thought that my fungus walks were over but I had a good walk this morning. A few new species were added and other nice specimens photographed.
New for the patch were Common Jellyspot Fungus (Dacrymyces stillatus) and Frosty Bonnet (Mycena adscendens), both near Small Pool. Also new was a clump of Glistening Inkcaps (Coprinellus micaceus) near Big Pool.
Seen before but recorded today were Common Rustgill, Spectacular Rustgill, Hoof Fungus and Coral Spot Fungus (all Gull Pool Wood), Iodine Bonnet (Small Pool), Common Puffball and Blushing Bracket (both Big Pool), Collared Earthstar and Upright Coral Fungus (both Shemmy Moss) and Sulphur Tuft (Whitegate Way).
The Springtail Dictyrtomina ornata (probable) was seen on the Coral Spot Fungus in Gull Pool Wood.
A couple of visits to Newchurch Common concentrated on birds this time!!
A couple of bits. A new fungus on the dungheap north of Big Pool, a Wrinkled Field Cap (Agrocybe rivlosa). Also on the dung was a Tarzetta sp. fungus, a tiny cup which may have bee impossible even with microscopy!
Other fungi seen before but photographed today included Common Dung Cup, Hare's Foot Inkcap and Witches Butter. A Suillia fungus feeding fly was again seen and photographed.
A new insect was added in the shape of a tiny 1mm Springtail, most likely Dicyrtoma fusca, with several seen feeding on fungi on Shemmy Moss and by Big Pool. Also seen were 3 Common Darter dragonflies still, all by Shemmy Moss.
My fungi hunting produced another 5 new species. The best was Frosty Webcap (Cortinarius hemitrichus) on Shemmy Moss, an occasional UK species according to the web. All the other new species were also on Shemmy Moss : Common Rustgill (Gymnophilus penetrans), Conifer Tuft (Hypholoma caproides), Mountain Brownie (Deconica montana) and Jelly Rot Fungus (Phlebia tremellosa).
Fungi photographed but seen previously were Ribbed Bell on the wet area of Shemmy Moss, Blushing Bracket of the non-red form by Small Pool, and by Big Pool very mature Common Puffballs by Big Pool and Witches Butter.
Early stage Common Spangle Gall Wasp galls were photographed on dead oak leaves by Small Pool.
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Wednesday 9th of November 2022 09:50:43 PM
Another morning walk on Newchurch Common for fungi.
On Sandy Lane a previously seen mushroom had been 'kicked' over so I collected it and the size and odour of aniseed confirmed ID as Horse Mushroom (Agaricus arvensis), my first confirmed on patch and one to be consumed in the near future! Other new species were Pipe Club (Macrotyphula fistulosa) north of Big Pool, Fairy Inkcap (Coprinellus disseminatus) near Big Pool Island Cut and Small Moss Oysterling (Arrhenia retiruga) in the same area.
Other repeat finds included a new huge stand of Wrinkled Club north of Big Pool and Variable Oysterlings everywhere!
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Sunday 6th of November 2022 06:40:04 PM
Another morning at Newchurch Common, again mainly for fungi.
A long-wanted find was a beautiful Parrot Waxcap (Hygrocybe psittacina), east of Big Pool in my 'waxcap corner' which has produced 4 species of waxcaps this year - amazing!! Also new in the same area was Earthy Powdercap (Cystoderma amianthinum). Very close by a regular find was photographed again, Blushing Bracket with Angels Bonnet re-photographed just a few metres away from the bracket fungi.
A walk on my patch Newchurch Common this am., amazing sunshine, warm too.
A total of 8 Common Darters were seen, all around Shemmy Moss.
A Common Drone Fly hoverfly was on ragwort on Shemmy Moss. Two more invertebrates were in Gull Pool Wood, namely Common Shiny Woodlouse and Black Millipede.
The usual fungus walk added four species to my list of photographed fungi over the last 3 weeks. These were Witches Broom (Taphrina betulina), an ever present common site all over the patch, Dwarf Bell (Galerina pumila) near Big Pool, Dark Honey Fungus (Armillaria ostoyae) near Big Pool and Common Stump Brittlestem (Psathyrella pililiformis) in Gull Pool Wood.
Other species photographed but recorded previously were Candlesnuff, Birch Polypore, Purple Jellydisc and Hairy Curtain Crust.