26th November 2021

Strange autumnal growths! Here are a couple of weird things you may find around in autumn, even a relatively dry one like this has been. The Earthtongues are fungi which need very specialist study to identify different species, but generally they are black or dark green excrescences, that appear mainly in sandy soils, dunes or short, unimproved grassland. Not to be confused with the even stranger ‘Dead Man’s Fingers, these have flattened surfaces- fascinating fungi. Another even weirder thing, which is often confused with fungi but is actually a slime-mild, is the politely named Scrambled Egg Slime Mould, less politely named the Dog-Vomit Slime Mould, (or Mold) for obvious reasons. There are many forms of slime moulds and they can appear anywhere there is rotting material, even in your garden on mulches and wood-clippings. They feed on bacteria and natural yeasts and can move around! Revisit one in an hour or two and it might well be in a different position, as it creeps to new food sources. Conditions: Chilly, with rain showers. Temperature: Max 8 Min 1C.

22nd November 2021

Curlew- is there anything more beautiful than the warbling call of Curlew across a moorland in summer or an estuary in winter? Yet these birds, our largest wader, are one of our most rapidly declining species. There has been a recorded loss of 42% in twenty years in the UK and a staggering 80% in the same period in Wales, once a stronghold. Various theories are being tested- an increase in predator-species taking the eggs and young, changing farming methods and loss of habitat (rough grassland, moorland or heath are important for breeding) and climate change are among the candidates, while many areas are urgently trying to work across agencies and farming communities to try to reverse the increasing losses. Wales has a particularly urgent plan as the Curlew is highly appreciated and a significant bird of Welsh folklore and inspiration. Dylan Thomas wrote of it: “Through throats where many rivers meet, the Curlew cry’. We were lucky to see and hear several on Islay recently and on the moors above Sheffield in the summer but the experience is becoming a less and less frequent one.- part of ‘the great thinning’ coined by Michael McCarthy in his great book, ‘The Moth Snowstorm’. Conditions: Chillier but continuing dry and bright and mild for the season. Temperature: Max 11 Min 4C.

Curlew

16th November 2021

Rowan Joseph Rock– I planted this Rowan around 20 years ago just for this reason- having yellow berries, the birds take them later than red or orange-berried varieties, which means they are appreciated late into autumn and early winter by a range of birds. True, this year we have had more Wood Pigeons snaffling them than we’d have liked, but Blackbirds and Mistle Thrushes, Blackcaps and Bullfinches and in some years, the winter migrant Thrushes, Redwing and Fieldfare, also join the feast but they haven’t shown up here yet this year. You might notice that one of the male Backbirds has a dark bill, rather than a yellow one, which indicates that it is a winter migrant itself, here from Scandinavia or Northern Europe. The colour of the leaves of Joseph Rock is also wonderful, and they stay on late into the year as you can see from the photos today (though he light has been very poor). Conditions: At last a Lyle drizzle and a bit chillier. Temperature: Max

10th November 2021

Starlings in winter: The irridescent plumage of Starlings gradually becomes duller as winter approaches, with white dots appearing on their plumage, and their bills change from yellow to black. But other, unseen changes happen too- in the summer months Starlings feed mostly on invertebrates in the soil and among seaweed on the coasts. However, as the weather gets colder and invertebrates are harder to find their diet shifts more towards fruits and berries but these are harder to digest so, in a fascinating evolutionary development, their digestive tract lengthens to enhance the digestion of more plant material! As is well known , the numbers of our summer residents are boosted by the arrival of migrants from Europe, in places in such numbers that the well known murmuration flights before evening roosting are spectacular. However, numbers overall have decreased dramatically, mostly die to changed land-use- between 1987 and 2012 numbers fell a desperate 80%. Conditions: Still quite mild for the time of year, and mostly dry. Temperature: Max 12 Min 7C.

Starling

6th November 2021

Stonechat: We had a lovely encounter with one of my favourite small birds while on Islay. This male and female Stonechat followed us as we slowly drove up one of the narrow tracks on the island, moving from fence-post to bush and back to fence-post in the late, low sunlight. Stonechats are not in particular danger– you can see them in a range of scrub and moorland in the south and west particularly, in summer, and more widespread in winter. They often stand atop a bush, like gorse as here, or on a post or fence, flicking their wings. Their name comes from their call, which is like two stones being banged together. The male is more strongly coloured, with a chocolate head, white collar and orange chest. About the size of a robin, both male and females have a roundish shape, with a large head and short wings. Eating invertebrates and fruit in summer, they concentrate more on seeds through the winter. Conditions: Mild and sunny again. Temperature: Max 12 Min 8C.

4th November 2021

Brambling– these beautiful, small finches, about the size and shape of a Chaffinch are only present in most of the UK once they migrate from Russia and Scandinavia in winter. We have just had this one in the garden, which often happens, but we seldom see many. Bramblings feed on insects when they are around but concentrate on seeds and Beech Mast once insects are in short supply. In fact the numbers travelling here for winter vary greatly depending on the amount of Beech Mast (seed) in their summer territories. In winter the males lose their black caps, which come ‘mealy’ (see photo) and females are paler in general but both have a distinctive white rump and the male’s orange breast and their striated backs make the stand out from other finches that they may turn up among. Bramblings are one of the species that migrate differentially- that is, there will be more females and juveniles further south and more males in the North of the UK. They prefer feeding on the ground so we were lucky to have one up o garden feeders, however briefly. Conditions: Another unseasonably mild, sunny spell of weather. Temperature: Max 8 Min 1C.