Old Weston welcomes the Cowslip and Bluebell
Spring is here!

Birds - Butterflies and Moths - Spring Flowers

Birds

As expected, this month saw the return of several species of summer bird migrants.

Sightings included a Blackcap on the 4th; Willow Warbler on the 5th; Swallow on the 7th; House Martin on the 13th; Lesser Whitethroat and Common Whitethroat on the 16th; Garden Warbler on the 22nd; Turtle Dove and Yellow Wagtail on the 25th.

Other records of interest were a Barn Owl hunting in the evening on the 2nd, a Siskin on the 13th, at a nut feeder, and a Jay, which in itself is not unusual, but it was doing a perfect impression of a Buzzard call!

The first fledged chicks of the year were about such as robin, blackbird and moorhen which noisily pursue their parents, demanding to be fed.

Butterflies, Moths and Damselflies

The orange-tip is probably one of our most distinctive butterfly species. The male having bright orange tips to its fore-wings, the female has white tips, but both sexes have the distinct green patterning on the under side of the hind-wing.

Orange tip butterfly April brought a slow improvement in moth numbers, the cold nights not helping. Several attractive moths emerged this month.

Pebble Prominent Moth

Herald Moth

Purple Thorn Moth

A Large Red Damselfly was recorded. This species is usually the first of the Odanata, (i.e. Dragonflies and Damselflies) to emerge but this example on the 24th was the earliest local record to date.

Large Red Damselfly

Small piles of finely grained soil like a small volcano are often seen at this time of year, on trampled bare footpaths in sunny locations; these are the excavations of mining bees. These mines can often occur in large numbers in favourable locations but are just as likely to appear as solitary excavations.

Mining Bee excavation

Cowslip and bluebell - spring flowers

Many of the spring flowers have had a good flowering season.

The first recorded flowering Bluebell was on the 2nd and by the end of the month there was a good display.

A common species locally is the Cowslip which has had a good flowering year. A species which flowers at the same time as the cowslip is the Primrose but this is not recorded in the wild in the parish, although it is very numerous in Salome Wood.

The cowslip is a species of open grassland whilst the primrose is a woodland species. Where both species meet at woodland boundaries a hybrid occasionally turns up, the False Oxslip, which has characteristics of both parents.

Cowslip

On the photograph above of a cowslip, note the multiple small flowered flower heads of deep yellow flowers and the abrupt narrowing of the leaves.

Primrose

The primrose has single large pale yellow flower with a darker centre on each flower stalk and the leaf narrows gradually to the base.

The cowslip and primrose shown in the pictures above were growing about two meters apart and this False Oxslip between them was the only specimen found.

False Oxslip

The plant has a multiple flowered flower spike like a cowslip but of large pale yellow flowers with a darker centre similar to a primrose. The leaf narrows more quickly than the primrose but not as abruptly as the cowslip.

Lichens and Fungi

Several people recently asked what the growths are that are becoming more frequent and noticeable on shrubs and trees. Many of these are Lichens an organism composed of a plant, an algae and a fungus. Lichens are doing no harm to the plants and are providing a greater range of habitats for other organisms.

Two species of lichen growing on Field Maple

The fungal partner provides anchorage, minerals, water and a sheltered environment for the algae which photosynthesizes, providing food in the form of sugars for the fungi. Each partner is dependent upon the other in a genuine mutualistic relationship.

Lichens are epiphytes which live on the surface on many substrates. A good place to see a range of lichens is on old grave stones as these are frequently made from different rock types which allows a greater range of lichens to occur.

Lichens are roughly divided into two groups, the prostrate forms as in the photo and the foliose forms, which grow bushy and hang down from branches.

Lichen are clean air indicators, the more varieties present, the better the quality of air and, in the case of foliose forms, a wet environment. The recent increase in local lichens is probably due to the closure of most of the brick factories around Peterborough. The fumes released from the brick making process included sulphur dioxide. Sulphur is beneficial in small amounts for plant growth and is also used as a base for fungicides. It is this fungicidal action that restricted the occurrence of lichens as the fungus was killed which prevented the lichens colonising.

Spring is not the main season for finding fungi but numerous species do turn up especially after a wet period. The Little Morel is a spring woodland species. Peziza vesiculosa is a species found growing on rotting straw and woodchips.