Orchid blooms again

  Pyramidal Orchid.  Photo. John Elliott   

 

 

 

 The very small Pyramidal Orchid which appeared in the valley last year has re-appeared recently. There was a much better specimen in 2021 but that was dug up and lost, so this unusually stunted specimen which is difficult to see, may survive.

Damselflies on the up

  

 

  Beatiful Demoiselle.   Photo. John Elliott

 During the last three or four days the eastern end of the village has been invaded by many Beautiful Demoiselle damselflies.The male is easily reconised by its bright blue body and blueish, almost black, wings. The female has a green body, and wings with an overall light brown colouration. These lovely insects I first noted in the stream down the Weymouth Road a few years ago. They now seem to be working their way up stream so we have a chance of seeing them without facing the traffic hazards of that road.

My New Cuckoo.

 Following the untimely death of my sponsored Cuckoo, JAC, I have sponsored another one - Cuach Cannon.

     Cuach Cannon

              

 Cuach is the Irish name for Cuckoo, and Carran is the name of a mountain in the Burren National Park where this bird was tagged.

On examining him, the tagging team were able to establish that Carran is a juvenile male, hatched last year. All the other tagged birds this year are full adults.

Since being tagged, Carran has remained at his tagging location.

I have happy memories of a visit to the Burren, with its abundant wildlife, some years ago while on a journey through Ireland. I like to remember also that some of my ancestors were among the many thousands who had to leave Ireland due to the failure of the potato crop in 1845.

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Sad news in the latest BTO bulletin

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JAC's movements

09 Jun 2023 - The end of the road for Cuckoo JAC

We are very sad to report that we have heard the last from Cuckoo JAC.

JAC, named in loving memory of Professor Jenny Clack, was tagged at World’s End near Llangollen on 1 June 2021. Since then we have had the privilege of tracking him over two full migration cycles from Wales to Africa and back.

His route south across the Sahara took him via Algeria and Mali to the Sahelian areas of Burkina Faso or Niger. He then spent some time in northern Nigeria before heading on to the Congo. On his return migration north, he visited West Africa where he stopped in Ivory Coast in 2022 and Guinea in 2023, arriving back in Llangollen around the end of April each year. 

The diagnostic data received from his tag shows the recorded temperature dropping and this, along with the fact that he appears to have been stationary for quite a while, suggests that he has perished (rather than there being a tag failure).

He has made a very valuable contribution to our growing knowledge of Cuckoo ecology and we will miss reporting on his movements. 

Hemlock Water Dropwrort, Britain's deadliest plant.

   Hemlock Water Dropwort.   Photo. John M Elliott

 Providing a fine show just in time for this year's Open Gardens are the white umbels of Hemlock Water Dropwort all along the South Winterborne. This, Britain;s deadliest plant, is flourishing in the village as a result of the riperian owner's; 'gardening' efforts in the name of flood prevention. Last year a lamb was poisoned in the village -thankfully it recovered - but a few years ago a Dorchester dog had to be put down after eating the roots. 

Writing in the Gaurdian's Country Diary recently Jim Perrin remembers a Welsh instance, this time of human poisonning.

Harlech, Gwynedd                                                                                                                                   The path climbs slate steps before slanting left through oakwoods alive with the song of warblers.A long climbing traverse with views of Yr Wyddfa lures you on, takes you to the wood's boundary. I lean against a wall, look around, and down to my right in a moist ditch see a plant of which all who venture into the Welsh countryside should be very wary.

Its an umbellifer, less tall than hogweed. I check out crucial detail. White flower-clustersare already present. Stems are hairless and hollow, lacking purple blotches low down that would identify this specimen as Conium maculafum (hemlock). It's Oenanthe crocata, hemlockwater dropwort, deadliest of all British plants, every part of it very poisonous. A memberof the carrot family, it has pale, tuberous roots - dead man’s finger. Foragers beware! I first encountered it when I lived in Cwm Pennant in the mid-1970s. Three friends who rented the small cottage of Tanygraig used to call for tea at my house up-the valley. They were pleasant idealists, committed to an alternative lifestyle, living as much as possible off the land. They gathered some of those-tubers from the riverbank, grated them into a salad, served it up with sorrel and dandelion and ate it with home-baked bread. Later that evening they fell violently ill. All three were taken to hospital in Bangor.

 

My Hedgehog.

Hedgehogs are usually nocturnal, and if seen in daylight it is either because they are not very well or are feeding young. The one that turned up to feed last night just after nine o'clock seemed as active as normal and quite fit, so hopefully it has young somewhere in my garden or the next door neighbour’s gardens. No trouble taking a picture.

Hedgehog feeding in daylight.  Photo. John M Elliott

 

 I am still trying to get the  hedgehog video mentoned in an earlier post to an acceptable length. Watch this space.