A Year in the Valley

A Year in the Valley

Discovering the flora and fauna in a small square of Portmellon Valley

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  • Redwing

    Redwing

    It was a blustery, grey Easter Sunday and I had no expectations of seeing anything unusual in the watermeadow.  However, as we looked out of our kitchen window, we could see a few birds hopping along the footpath.  The smaller birds were a dunnock and a robin, but there was a larger brown bird.  I dismissed it as a female blackbird, then I noticed speckles, so a thrush?  I picked up the camera – I still need to log a Song Thrush – and zoomed in.  This bird looked thrush-like but had very striking speckles and obvious pale eye stripes.  There was another further down the path.  I snapped a few photos of the pair and then got out the bird guides. 

    The Redwing has similar markings, but I thought it was just a winter visitor.  However, the distribution map shows that redwings overwinter as far south as North Africa and migrate up to Iceland and Scandinavia for the summer.  It’s nearly April, so could it be that these redwings were passing through on their way north?  I studied the photos and could clearly see a reddish patch on its side.  I didn’t see it take off, as it spent a long time on the bank of the stream, but if I’d been able to watch for long enough, I would have seen red flashes under its wings as it flew.  It was sheer luck that we happened to be watching as the redwings visited, but how lucky were we!!

    Daisy D

    31 March 2024
    Birds
    Redwing
  • Disc Snail (Discus rotundatus)

    Disc Snail (Discus rotundatus)

    I thought I had ‘done’ snails, but on the back of the old wooden bridge that was lying against the drystone wall of the ramp, I realised that this little brown snail was unlike the others as its shell was flattened like a disc.  The shell was brown and flat with dense ribbing and darker patches.  The body of the snail was blue-black on top with paler grey underneath.  The disc snail eats plant debris, fungi ad algae.  They live in moist sheltered places, like leaf litter, dead logs and under stones. 

    Daisy D

    30 March 2024
    Molluscs
    Disc Snail
  • Ground Beetle

    Ground Beetle

    There were some small beetles on an old wooden bridge that we had carried up the watermeadow for the winter, so that it didn’t get washed away.  Black and shiny with reddish legs, a longer shape than the bronze beetle that I spotted in October.  Ground beetles have long filiform (thread-shaped) antennae and five-segmented feet.  They live in moss and leaf litter in marshy habitats and wet woodland.  I think it might be a Bembidion gilvipes beetle looking at the colour and shape, with a relatively broad, chunky thorax.

    Daisy D

    29 March 2024
    Insects
    Ground Beetle
  • Crust fungus

    Crust fungus

    This was growing on the cut surface of a sycamore log.  It has been difficult to identify, using Google Lens and the Collins Guide.  The most likely is the wrinkled crust fungus (Phlebia radiata).  This one doesn’t look very wrinkled from the photo but is warty enough and orange.  Or white rot fungus (Phanerochaete chyrsorhizon) as there is obvious white rot next to it.  White rot fungus has the ability to break down pesticides and plastics.  The white is cellulose that they leave behind after they have digested wood.  I really like the bright pattern of the fungus on the log.

    Daisy D

    28 March 2024
    Toadstools and fungi
  • Goat Willow (Salix caprea)

    Goat Willow (Salix caprea)

    Goat willows border and overhang the watermeadow, so we get the benefits of the shade and any wildlife that might be associated with them.  They are mature trees with grey fissured trunks; some are pollarded, and others thinned out.  The leaves are smaller and more oval than our grey/hybrid willow.  The pussy willow buds appear before the leaves.  They start off furry and the male ones become bright yellow with pollen and the female ones pale and spikey.  Goat willows will tolerate a dryer habitat but prefer to live in damp areas.

    Daisy D

    27 March 2024
    Trees
  • Chiffchaff

    Chiffchaff

    I have heard the chiffchaff a few times with its unmistakable ‘chiff-chaff’ call, and I finally managed to track it down in near the top of this tree a little way up the valley.  The last time I actually saw one it was on the electric cables that slant across the bottom of the watermeadow.  They definitely seem to prefer being up high.  They feed on insects.  It is interesting that although they build their nests in bushes and undergrowth near the ground, they prefer to nest in habitats where there are taller trees.

    Daisy D

    26 March 2024
    Birds
    Chiffchaff
  • Grey Willow (Salix cinerea) or hybrid with Osier

    Grey Willow (Salix cinerea) or hybrid with Osier

    Willows are well-known for hybridisation, and I have had trouble identifying our ‘tall’ willow.  In the end I have plumped for either a grey willow or a hybrid with an osier.  Its leaves are long for a grey willow, but it has ‘pussy’ willow buds – and only the grey willow and goat willow have those.  Most of the buds have now fallen off the tree before turning yellow and are lying on the ground beneath.  The grey willow is also known as the Common Sallow and can be found in damp habitats, like wet woodland, reedbeds and ditches.  The leaves are supposed to be blunt-ended and oval, but ours are quite long and thin – not as slim as osier leaves which can be 20cm x 1cm – but 3-4 times as long as wide and pointed at the ends.  This is why it might be a hybrid.  Its shape is tall and slim, with new stems popping up every year.  We have found that it roots and shoots very easily.  The straight stems we placed on the ground to mark where we were going to dig our pond four years ago have now grown into willow hedges. 

    Daisy D

    25 March 2024
    Trees
    Grey Willow
  • Littoral Whiplash Rove Beetle (Paederus littoralis)

    Littoral Whiplash Rove Beetle (Paederus littoralis)

    There are four types of Paederus beetle in the UK.  This was Paederus littoralis because it was larger than 7.5mm (around 10-11mm) and had black mandibles.  Littoral means shore: and these beetles can be found in marginal areas of wetland.  They live in decaying plant matter and leaf litter but climb up plant stems and foliage to feed on smaller insects like aphids and mites.  These, they grip with their mandibles and pre-digest before consuming them (like houseflies).  They also exude a defensive toxin, so any direct contact can result in skin irritation or dermatitis. 

    Daisy D

    24 March 2024
    Insects
    Littoral Whiplash Rove Beetle
  • Weeping Willow (Salix babylonica)

    Weeping Willow (Salix babylonica)

    This week many trees across the valley and hillside have come into blossom or leaf.  It gives them a fuzzy look as the leaves scatter tiny green dots over the branches.  Our Weeping Willow is no exception.

    The weeping willow is not native to the UK but was introduced to England in the 18th century.  It is known for its long, weeping branches often dangling over and into lakes and streams.  They do best in broad sunshine, and it is said that they need four hours a day.  Ours must have been feeling pretty fed-up over the winter! 

    Many weeping willows are hybrids and that is true of willows in general.  I am now trying to identify the other willow in our garden and those that hang over our fences.

    Daisy D

    23 March 2024
    Trees
  • Black Oil Beetle (Meloe proscarabaeus)

    Black Oil Beetle (Meloe proscarabaeus)

    Mr C was working on the ramp and spotted this beetle.  He brought it up the garden for me to photograph before letting it go again.  There are a few different types of oil beetle.  The black and violet oil beetles are most similar, but the black has a straight lower edge to its thorax, so I think that is what this is.

    Oil beetles are nest parasites.  The female digs a nest in the ground and lays up to 1000 eggs.  The larvae are called triungulins, which means three claws, after their hooked feet.  The larvae climb onto flowers and wait for a solitary mining bee, which they then latch onto, and hitch a lift back to the bee’s nest.  Once there they climb off the bee and eat the bee’s eggs and stores of pollen and nectar.  The larva grows in the bee’s burrow and emerges as an adult the following year ready to mate and start the cycle again. 

    They are most often seen from March to July on bare ground, such as footpaths.  Their preferred habitat is grassland and heathland, as the adults feed on soft grasses. 

    Oil beetles are named after the bitter oil-like fluid that they produce from their knee joints to deter predators.

    Daisy D

    22 March 2024
    Insects
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  • January 2024
  • December 2023
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  • October 2023
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  • August 2023
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  • June 2023
  • Spotted in September
  • Spotted in August
  • Spotted in July
  • Spotted in June
  • Conclusions