June 2009 Archives

Long gap since my last entry... been away , and busy.
Some of these observations were made two weeks ago. I shall try to catch up by posting again soon.

North past the Palace , then onto the riveside path that passes under the ringroad.
Many years ago I recall Sandmartins nesting on that stretch of the river : and they still do.
Six or so pairs diligently flying out to catch food then back to the burrows high in the bank.



Thirty years back there were scores of nests : like everything else they are declining , but at
least still with us for the present.

Plants now flowering :

The Meadowsweet : at its height now , this attractive plant is now decorating the Ings
with great swathes of fragrant off-white flowers.



Supposedly used for flavouring Mead in the distant past.....I'm a little dubious about
that tale , but it would certainly work. There is a common misconception that everyone
in the " Middle Ages " drank Mead. They didn't , they drank ale or beer. Anyone who has tried drinking mead in any quantity will find out why pretty quickly........

Tormentil : a low-growing member of the buttercup group.



Marsh stitchwort : dense clumps in a few places:



Bedstraw: another climbing , tangling plant amongst the long grass ,and some
amongst the Cleavers or Goosegrass. This latter is also flowering , tiny white
flowers almost unnoticeable amongst the climbing tendrils.
This is the Bedstraw :


And these the tiny Cleavers flowers :



White Bryony , another very handsome climber:



Medic ; a little ground-covering plant of the Pea family, very abundant in some drier places :



And even the rather tatty looking docks are flowering , but since their flowers
are green they pass unremarked :




And growing on the unyielding concrete of the Old Bridge, the Biting Stonecrop :



Finally , a spectacular plant appearing in some numbers along this end of the cycletrack , just beyond the Old Bridge : the Viper's Bugloss . Fantastically exotic looking , but quite common here :





Insects :

Bees are nesting in a large Beech tree in the Old churchyard : they've been there before ,
but good to see them again.

Another less welcome insect now appearing : the Horse-fly.
These grey , silently approaching biters are now around almost anywhere away from the housing .
They flitter up to any exposed flesh almost undetectably ,settle for a moment , then bite hard. The one we have here is certainly one of the genus Tabanus , but I'm not offering myself to one long enough to catch it intact and find out the species.

 
The females are in need of a blood meal to make their eggs, and now that we have some cattle about they are becoming noticeable.
Keep an eye out , and if you react badly , wear sleeves .

To add to the joy , the Mosquitoes are with us already .
The open windows in this humid weather let them in , and they have an uncanny knack of whining round one's head in bed within 30 seconds of putting out the light.
They home in on exhaled CO2, apparently.
Since stopping breathing is not an option,  bedtime becomes a trial for the next four months

A rather handsome bug on riverside plants : this one , Calcoris stysii , only bites the plants .



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I try not to dwell on rarities , and they don't turn up here very often . The common stuff is interesting and often overlooked ... but this time I shall indulge myself.
 
Last year I found six Bee Orchids down the cycletrack , and have looked several times recently to see if they have returned this year. Lucky the other day ....if you know where the newts live , look for them there .



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Insects again :


Tansy beetles : found four this week. These are our very own little rarity, whose last stronghold is the banks of the Ouse between Selby and Beningborough.
The larvae & adults feed on the Tansy plant, and the adults are now mating and complete the cycle by laying eggs.
The adult beetle is impressive ; you won't mistake them for anything else, since they are as big as your little fingernail.


 

There are just a very , very few of them in our parish , rather more in Acaster Malbis and Naburn .
Please just look, but leave them alone.
If you have Tansy growing on your property , please encourage it, rather than strimming it away, as some have been doing along the river ........
It's a lovely native plant anyway.


Damsel flies:
We have two species that appear to breed in the river , the Banded Demoiselle
Calopteryx splendens , and the Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum.

Like all Dragon-and Damselflies, these have a predatory larva that lives underwater ,
sometimes for several years , before it emerges and hatches into the adult form.
The adults are spectacular , particularly the Demoiselle:


 
The hot weather at the beginning of last seemed suitable , so I went looking along the riverbank where I'd seen them in previous years : bingo !
The change in the weather makes them hide again , but if we have a sunny and warm day , keep a look out.
The males defend a territory , so are more conspicuous.


Pics Robert Thompson.


The promised swarms of Painted Ladies seem to have been stopped by the weather , alas.
I found one very faded and battered individual on Wednesday, but that's all .
Maybe they've just run out of puff.

One small but startling looking insect I saw today :
A Scorpionfly , Panorpa communis :


Apparently feed largely on dead insects , and have even been seen using their long snouts to
to remove insscts from spiders' webs.



Birds :

Linnets: this formerly common bird is now rare here : I saw a charming pair along the river on Wednesday.
They specialise on feeding on field weeds : their decline is linked to the manicuring of the modern farm.
Reckoned to have declined by 60% in the last decade:

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If you watch the Television you might be forgiven for thinking that our wildlife is thriving.
It Isn't .
Although programmes like Springwatch do an excellent job in raising awarenesss, they also feed a kind of armchair complacency :" we saw it on Telly , isn't it cute, and all those nice people are looking after it ".

Well-publicised attempts to reintroduce glamourous rarities like Bustards and Beavers are splendid , but really just window-dressing .
Apart from the very few Reserves, and in the wilder fringes , throughout Lowland Britain our wildlife is in steep decline.
 
The reason is simple : there are far too many of us in these cramped little Islands,
we are all much richer than before and want houses, cars, and very cheap food,
more of the land is under concrete than ever, our farming is industrially intensive,
our habitat everywhere is quickly degrading.

Species like the Linnet , once uncountably numerous , are going down the plug, along with thousands of other things you have never even noticed, because there is nowhere for them to live , and nothing for them to eat.




Plants : Now flowering :

Dog Rose : if you want to see and smell these at their best , go out one nice evening and walk the cycletrack between Copmanthorpe lane and the Old Bridge .  Go on.....



Ground Elder : I know it's a pest in some places , but I've only found one plant  , so
no need to worry :

 



Meadow Vetchling : a member of the Pea family , tangling its way through the tall grass :



Ox-eye Daisies in old churchyard , and also along cycletrack :



Brambles just starting to flower ; think of the blackberries later :



Meadow Cranesbill , surely one of our most beautiful flowers . Along the riverbank.
and one or two clumps in the field edges :



Hedge Woundwort , appearing along shady edges :



Nettles : even they have flowers :



White Campion , growing sometimes close the the Red , which is closely related.
The two sometimes hybridise :




Stop Press : a dead adult swan in the river just north of the Old bridge ; apparently died snagged on something in the water : probably the usual angler's rubbish . Its mate and four cygnets still nearby .Thanks to the couple from Keble Park who pointed it out to me .
I have informed the Swan Rescue centre, who will doubtless know who else to inform.

Better news : whilst investigating the scene , a Kingfisher flew over my head !
At last , the first I have personally seen this year.


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