Linnet

Linnet  Carduelis cannabina

In winter this small finch has a dark pointed bill, long wings and a forked tail.  The upperparts are uniform warm brown, and the underparts are buff with dark streaks.  The head is a grey colour, with pale areas above and below the eye.  Perhaps the most distinctive feature, though, is the white flashes on the primaries and tail, more so in flight.

Flight is undulating and flitting.  When not feeding on the ground, birds perch on low bushes and fences.  In winter, flocks of linnets can be large and it is at this time of the year that they associate with other finch flocks making comparisons interesting for the birdwatcher.

Calls are 'tsooeet', and flight call is 'chichichichit'. Also the musical fluty twittering song can sometimes be heard in winter.

Birds can be found on stubble and set aside fields.

Goldcest

Wintertime is always a good time to see small woodland birds as the trees are now denuded of leaves and, as in the case of the tits, form mixed flocks. The goldcrest, our smallest bird (8.5-9cm), is one bird that attaches itself to these flocks of great, long-tailed, blue, coal, marsh and willow ( the later now very rare) tits.

 It has a small black pointed bill, black eye, whitish underparts, green upperparts and a short tail. The most distinguishing feature, though, is the yellow/orange crest on the male bird, and yellow on the female, which is black-edged - from this the goldcrest  gets its name. Other features are two white wing bars and a dark band on the wings and dark legs.

The call is a persistent high 'zi-zi-zi' which is uttered while birds flit through the trees in search of food - which can be heard in winter, and a good way to locate them. The song, which again can be heard in winter months, is a 'cedar-cedar-cedar-sissi-pee and is likened to the coal tit's and even tree creeper songs,

Goldcrests can be found in association with tit flocks in woods, gardens and any wooded area especially where there are conifers.

It is the acrobatic behaviour of goldcrests that delights the birdwatcher as it flits from twig to twig and tree to tree looking for its diet of spiders and insects.

Wild Teasel

Wild Teasel  Dipsacus fullonum

Wild teasel is one of our easiest wild flowers to identify and a favourite for dry flower displays. It's tall, up to two metres, with strong, prickly stems and leaves. The flower heads are egg-shaped, 2-8 cm long with purple flowers which die off leaving a brown dead head which lasts throughout the winter. Basal leaves are in a large rosette, oblong unto other and prickly. The stem leaves are lanceolate and fused together around the stem forming a cup in which rain water collects.

The plant is widespread and locally frequent along river-sides, rough places and bushy areas.

Dipsacus is the Classical Greek name for the plant. As mentioned, rain water collects in the cup formed by the leaves. This gives rise to its generic name which is taken from the Greek 'dipsao', thirst. In the eighteenth century, this was collected and used as a face lotion.

Very similar to wild teasel is fuller's teasel; the bracts not ascending and overtopping the flower-heads. The name is taken from the Latin 'fullo', a fuller. The old tough flower- heads were used for 'teasing' cloth and the worker who did this was known as a fuller or burler. At one time fuller's teasel was cultivated inmany parts of the country around cloth manufacturing towns and villages.

Teasel is used in dry flower arrangement. They are often painted or sprayed with different colours for decoration.

Westonbirt

I had a meander to Gloucestershire today to Westonbirt Arboretum, which is probably the best time of year to visit because the Japanese maples are at their best.

Japanese Maple

Japanese Maple

Japanese Maple

Chinese Red Birch

Chinese Red Birch

Lime Avenue

Monterey Pine Cone

 The oldest small-leaved lime in Britain, some two thousand years old. We usually think of old trees as being large and gnarled, but, apparently, this lime has been continually pollarded every thirty years or so through those two millennia.

Small-leaved Lime

Small-leaved Lime

Small-leaved Lime Sculpture

Wollemi Pine

Wollemi Pine

Autumn Flowers

A short walk in autumn produced some flowers as below.

This sweet-scented flower is a universal favourite with people.  It is a deciduous climber, twining clockwise.  The flowers are in terminal heads, yellow, yellow-pink or red; leaves are broad, not serrated, opposite in pairs, each pair lying in a plane at right angles to the next; the berries are red.

Honeysuckle is from Old English "hunigsuce".  It is also known as woodbine.

The generic name "Lonicera" is after sixteenth-century German botanist Adam Lonitzer. Its specific name "periclymenum" is from the Greek "peri", around, and "klymenon", a tendril, which indicates its twinning habits.

Honeysuckle

Honeysuckle

Snowberry

Snowberry

Snowberry with Flowers

Ivy

Elder

The elder bushes are full of berries this time of the year for birds to gorge on and people to pick for elderberry wine.

The bark of the tree is corky,  fissured and internally has a soft white pith.  The large dark green leaves are opposite and pinnate. In the spring and early summer the flowers are small, umbel-like, creamy-white cluster and are fragrant. But it is the fruit this time of the year that stands out: a juicy purple and black berry.

The name elder is probably derived from the Anglo-Saxon "aeld" or "ellarn" meaning fire or kindle. The hollow stems were used for blowing fires to re-kindle them or get the fire started.  Hence its former names were pipe tree and bore tree.

The generic name "Sambucus" is probably derived from "sambuca", a kind of harp made from elder. Of course, the specific name "nigra"is Latin for black referring to its black berries.

In the past, the wood of elder was used for butchers skewers, needles for weaving and shoemakers pegs. Today, the berries and flowers are used for making wine and cordials.

Eardington Halt railway station

Sunday 28 September, 2014

Whilst driving to Chelmarsh today I noticed Eardington Halt railway station was open so I stopped and took some photos.  It seems volunteers open it occasionally for the public but the train doesn't stop there.

Severn Valley Steam Train

Ticket Office

late summer wildlife

Buddleia 

Lords & Ladies

Red Admiral

Clouded Yellow

Himalayan Balsam

Wormwood (Artemsia absinthium) & Mugwort (Artemsia vulgaris)

Both wormwood and mugwort grow in similar habitat: roadside verges, waste ground and old railway lines.  They are easily identified: wormwood having a grey tinge to its green foliage, branched spikes and a soft feel to it.  When in flower, there are small yellow button like flower-heads and the plant stands up to 60cm tall.

Mugwort is similar but with purple stems, leaves pinnate lobed, dull green above, grey underneath and much taller being up to 120cm.  Both plants, though, are strongly aromatic, with wormwood being by far the most pungent.

The genus artemsia is named after the Greek virgin goddess Artemis.  She was the goddess of hunting and chastity, it is also identified with the Roman goddess Diana.  She is not to be confused with the Artemis of Ephesus who was a fertility goddess with multiple breasts, a turreted crown and a kind of nimbus behind her head. - see Acts 19:27.

Wormwood has the scientific name "absinthium" and was used to flavour the drink Absinthe. This was first produced commercially in 1797 by Henry-Louis Pernod.  Wormwood came to be considered dangerous to health and was thought to cause hallucinations and sterility.

Wormwood is mentioned to be used in medicine 4-5 hundred years before Christ. Highly esteemed by Hippocrates and the Greeks who claimed it helped with disorders of the brain.  Wormwood is also mentioned in the Bible where it is compared to the after effects of living an immoral life - Proverbs 5:4.  Also the bitter experience that came upon Judah and Jerusalem by the hands of the Babylonians - Jeremiah 9:15; 23:15; Lamentations 3:15, 19.  It is also mentioned in the book of Revelation - 8;11.

In herbal remedies of old, these two plants were used for a variety of reasons ranging from women's problems and was recorded as the herb of Venus.  The Romans used put them in their sandals when on the march.

More Summer Flowers

One of the photos below is tansy. It is a stout aromatic perennial with pinnate leaves.  The flower heads are small, flat-topped, button-like and golden-yellow.  The leaves are finely divided and feathery.

It is widespread and frequent and often found along disused railway lines, on canal towpaths and other waste places.

Tansy is believed to have derived from the Greek "athanasia", immortality, which is reference to the flowers which are long-lasting when dried. Its other common names, which always refer to the flower-heads, are golden buttons, bitter buttons, bachelor's buttons, buttons and scented fern - the later being reference to the fern-like leaves.

Buddleia

Butterbur

Evening Primrose

Himalayan Balsam

Tansy

Woad

Barn Swallow

No summer would be complete without one of our most graceful hirundines - barn swallow (Hirundo rustica).

The adult swallow is steel-blue above with greenish gloss on the wings and tail; most of the tail feathers have an oval white spot.  The forehead and throat are rich chestnut.  The bill and legs are black and sexes are similar.

The twittering song is heard throughout the summer stay with us and birds sing on the wing and when perched.

Flies and other winged insects are its food of choice and even large butterflies and day flying moths will be taken.  The best time to observe their feeding behaviour is, ironically, when it is wet and windy because birds will come down low to catch their prey.

Swallows can be found almost anywhere from farms to the suburbs and often over water.  Late summer is the best time to see them as they gather on telephone wires and fences in large groups, young and adult birds, getting ready for the departure to warmer climes.

High Summer Flower

Just a few more high summer flowers, one of which is comfrey (Symphytum officinale).

Comfrey is a robust hairy perennial, 60-90cm. high, with broad lanceolate leaves.  Flowers are bell-like and may be white, cream, blue, mauve, purple or pink.

The habitat is widespread and common along river banks and streams. 

"Symphytum" is derived from the Greek "sympho", to heal or unite, and alludes to the plant's use in medicine in the past in the treatment of healing bones.

Other names for comfrey are boneset, knitbone, blackwort and ass ear, the later from the shape of the leaves.

Alder

Bindweed

Bramble

Comfrey

Summer's silent beauty.

The countryside is ablaze with wildflowers this time of the year and you can feel spoilt for choice where to look next. There is one, though, that sits back from the crowd and can go unnoticed, and is the opposite of its cultivated cousin which adorns gardens up and down the country and is the prime focus of attention at flower shows. What is this enigma of flowers?  Wild rose (Rosa canina) or dog rose as it known in parts of the country.

The dog rose is the most commonest wild rose in Britain with pale pink or white flowers and fragrant. It is not, though, as sweet-scented as the cultivated ones which again adds to its mystic. It is a tall, stout shrub, 1-3m high, with large curved thorns.  The fruits are typically red and egg-shaped.

The common and scientific name comes from the Latin "Canis", dog, which is thought to be alluding to the plants inferiority - others think it may be referring to the plants use in veterinary medicine.  Other common names are common brier and dog brier.

Dog Rose

Dog Rose

Dog Rose thorns

Yellow Flag

This time of year yellow flag is in flower and looking resplendent with its bright yellow flowers.

Iris, the mythological Greek messenger, who came to the earth via a rainbow, gives our wild iris - yellow flag - its scientific name - Iris pseudacorus.

Yellow flag is easily identified when in flower by its rich yellow flowers, which are similar to the garden iris so popular as border plants. There are three outer petals (sometimes called falls); three erect inner petals (standards); and three large stigmas.  The leaves are long, sword shaped and flat.

They occur in large numbers by fresh water and in marshes.  The flowering time is June-August.  They occur throughout the British Isles.

Some, with many an anxious pain,
Childish wishes pursue,
From the pondhead gazed in vain
On the flag-flower's yellow hue;
Smiling o'er its shadow'd bloom,
While the flood's triumphing care
Crimpled round its guarded home.  ("Recollections after a Ramble". J Clare).

The name, flag, is from Middle English "flagge", sword, referring to the sword-shaped leaves.  These leaves can be between 60-120cm long and 2cm across, sharp-edged and pointed.

When you do come across yellow flag think of the poem above which well describes the yellow flowers smiling and gazing out from their guarded pondhead home.

Other names given to yellow flag include Jacob's sword, fliggers, daggers and fleur de lys.  The later is reference to the role taken by iris in heraldry.  The "fleur-de-lis, heraldic lily, has long been associated with the royal arms of France.  Even today, it is popular with heraldic designs.

More Spring In South Shropshire

Bank Holiday Monday got off to a good start with a visit to the Wyre Forrest.  I had hoped for wood warbler, but I didn't see or hear one.  I did, though, connect with garden warbler and blackcap singing their heads off which made a good exercise in comparing their songs - which can be difficult at the start of the year until you get your "ear in".

I soon moved on to Clee Hill where there were lots of wheatears at the summit and a peregrine flew over.  Whilst there I was lucky enough to find a meadow pipits nest with young.

I moved on to Bridges and saw two iconic summer visitors - pied flycatcher and redstart. Also got some more photos of spring flowers - red campion, forget-me-not, dandelion and kingcups.  The kingcups looked fantastic and the dandelions looked more like chrysanthemums! - see photo below.

The highlight of the day, though, was a visit to the Hollies.  The holly trees are the oldest in Europe, some 400 years old!  The are located on the north-east edge of the Stiperstones.  Because of their age they are cracked and gnarled and even rowan trees are growing up through them.

Dandelion

Forget-me-not

Kingcups

Kingcups

Red Campion

Holly Flowers

Holly Tree with Rowan growing through it