NOW IS THE MONTH OF MAYING

 May blossom is now gracing the hawthorn trees, bushes and hedges.  This arrangement of flowers in a flat-topped bunch is called a corymb.  Each creamy white flower has five petals, one green stigma in the middle and fifteen pink anthers, giving that decorative finish.

This is the 'white thorn' contrasting with the Blackthorn that flowered earlier in the year.

It is also called Quickthorn. 'Quick' meaning alive as in 'the quick and the dead'.  This is probably because it comes so easily from cuttings.  Push a row of twigs into the ground and you soon get a living hedge.

GOOD MOTHER BUT DANGEROUS WIFE

The Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis) is quite distinctive with a narrow abdomen and a white stripe on its cephalothorax (the front part with head and thorax combined).  They are very variable in colour but that stripe is always there.  It is often found sunbathing on a nettle or bramble leaf with four legs pointing forward and four legs pointing back.

This one, however, was resting in a watering can and I had to rescue it when I had filled the can.  It was all scrunched up into a ball and floating on the surface but unfolded when I put it down.  It's a handsome male as you can tell from the comparatively large pedipalps (like feelers) on the front end.

There are two more interesting things about this particular species of spider: how it mates and how it cares for its young.

The male catches something, probably a fly, and gift wraps it in silk before going in search of a female.  He then offers this tasty snack as a present to distract her and quietly mates with her.  When finished he has to leg it quickly or else he might find he has become the second course.  Females don't like to waste a tasty meal whether gift-wrapped or ambulant.

Unlike most spiders the female looks after her eggs and spiderlings.  She constructs a domed tent of silk - the nursery web - and places the cocoon containing lots of eggs in there.  She sits by them protectively and even stays after they hatch.  The spiderlings live off the yolk of their egg sac for a few days but when they start eating each other, mother despairs of them.  She leaves and the spiderlings disperse.

In summer you can often find these nursery webs at about knee height in long grass.

Photo: David Nicholls, Naturespot.

12: BIRD CHERRY

Many native trees have inconspicuous flowers.  Not so the bird cherry which presents a stunning display of blooms at this time of year.  

When not in bloom it is not immediately easy to recognise.  The leaves are leaf-shaped with a textured surface and tiny serrations round the edge. The leaf stalks have two little pimples near the leaf - the glands typical of most cherries.  The twigs and young branches are dark brown with light spots or lenticels. 

The small black berries are enjoyed by birds but too bitter for us.

The bird cherries at Filnore Woods are the type, the naturally occurring native.  But in parks and gardens you may come across a variety called 'Watereri' which has more conspicuous flowers but is a less attractive tree, in my opinion.

 

PHEASANT

We had 14 people on the Dawn Chorus Walk this morning.  Although the weather was dull and damp we still heard a dozen different birds including pheasants.

Below is another great photo from Jo Moe.  The story is that this character is the son of another pheasant that was a frequent visitor to Jo's trail camera.  They called the father HenryVIII because he had so many 'wives'.  Maybe this one should be called Edward VI.

This character was photographed on 16th April, as you can see from the figures at the bottom of the image, but unfortunately Henry's son perished on the A38 a few days ago.

 Pheasants were introduced to Britain as ornamental game birds in the 11th or 12th century.   The male birds are very colourful  Most of those in Britain sport a smart white collar, suggesting they are from Chinese stock.  Those without the collar are probably descended from south-west Asian birds.  But they ae all a mix of varieties now.  The females are a mottled brown - better for camouflage on the nest - and recognisable by their long tails.

Many of the pheasants you see in shooting country are captive bred and released to die by gunshot.

PS Jo tells me they did call this 'ex-pheasant' Edward, as he was the short-lived son of Henry.

MOSS

 Mosses are great for tiny mini-beasts, which are in turn food for birds and small mammals.  They are the first colonisers of damp ground and soak up water thirstily.  

Take a close look, even with a hand lens, to see the huge variety in the nearly 700 different moss species in the British Isles.  It's a mini-forest out there.

Many of them only have Latin names but recently people have been trying to make them more appealing by giving them English names.  Unfortunately bryologists (moss nuts) don't always agree about the English names and sometimes even change the Latin names.

Just look at them and enjoy.  

Here are two common mosses, easy to find at this time of year.  

  Rough-stalked feather moss  (Brachythecium rutabulum) is common in woods and lawns, on logs and on stones.  The Wildlife Trust website calls it 'Ordinary Moss' and in North America it is 'Rough-stalked Ragged Moss'. 

The leaves are glossy and slightly branched with a fine point.  It likes damp conditions.

See how it shines!

Then there is this one: Common Feather Moss.  It's very ferny.  Also likes the damp.  What am I saying: they all like the damp.

It was called    Eurhynchium praelongum  but has changed to Kindbergia praelonga   although some bryologists still call it by its old name.  In North America it is Slender Beaked Moss.

Only 690+ to go.

No, don't panic.  Most are uncommon and you can be an impressive amateur bryologist if you can identify 40 or so of the most common mosses.

 

DCW 3

Here's another set of nine common birdsongs for you to practice with before the Dawn Chorus Walk on Monday 2nd May at 5.00 am.

Woodland Trust birdsong guide 

We may hear most of these 17 birds:

Blackbird, Robin and Songthrush

Wood Pigeon & Collared Dove

Blue Tit & Great Tit

Dunnock, Wren

Chiffchaff & Blackcap

Goldfinch, Chaffinch & Greenfinch

Pheasant, Crow & Rook

image: scarlett of the fae

SHELL SHOCK

After hatching their nestlings, birds carry the egg shells away from the nest so as not to betray the nest's location to predators.  If you're lucky you may find an almost complete example. 

This one is a songthrush's, I think.

The songthrush is one of the many birds to be heard in the dawn chorus.

If you can, join me on a dawn chorus walk on Monday 2nd May.  We meet by the field gate of Thornbury Leisure Centre and set off on the walk at 5.00 am.