A colourful autumnal scene: apples from the big old fruit tree left over from when the area was railwaymen’s gardens, floating in Gunnersbury Triangle’s seasonal pond
Leaf Spot on Oak. The spread of the fungus is limited by the tree’s defences, resulting in circular patches of damaged tissue.Margaret and Netty trying to get a Garden Spider to sit still for its photographGarden Spider on leafRed (and Grey) FoxSouthern Hawker dragonfly in Gunnersbury Triangle, 4 October 2017Tricholoma knight fungi
We also saw Fly Agaric, Trooping Funnel, Collared Earthstar, and Deceiver.
Armillaria mellea Honey Fungus by rotting Birch logs. The fungus is both parasitic (killing trees) and saprophytic (rotting their wood afterwards).
Hips Haws Berries – autumn is definitely on the way nowHimalayan Balsam (Policeman’s Helmet) – either a delight or a scourge, depending on point of view, but still, an elegant plantAlfalfa – the king of forage plants, which is what its name means in Arabic (apparently)Southern Hawker, a magnificent dragonfly of late summer and autumn. Banded Demoiselles and Common Blue Damselflies were still flying, tooRed Admiral, basking on the Wraysbury brambles
Fish and Chips to Take Away, with watchful Herring Gull Customer, HastingsFish Stall, netted against Herring Gulls, Hastings. The stallholder reported that they had lost a Dover Sole and a Plaice to gulls in the past few days, so the netting is anything but purely decorative. Customers choose through the netting, and then pay and collect through the quickly closed door!A fine Plaice … stainless steel sculpture, Hastings. The rainbow coloration is created by the heat of welding the spots on to the skin, forming thin layers of oxide which interfere with light (structural coloration).Rowan in leaf, flower and fruit, Wakehurst PlaceGolden-Ringed Dragonfly, Wakehurst PlaceWheatear, below Pett cliffs, which are inhabited by Fulmars; the gulls were accompanied by noisy Oystercatchers, and a Little EgretTiny hemispherical Jurassic shark tooth, Pett cliffs
Not illustrated are the family of three Spotted Flycatchers and the Redstart surprisingly seen in a Sussex hedge! At this time of year they could easily be migrants from somewhere further north, of course. The Peregrine falcon that had a go at a Rook, however, was probably a local.
Herald Moth on Netty’s glove, whirring its wings to warm up. Its food plants are Willow and Aspen; we found it under a Grey Poplar so that’s probably what it grew up on. We found another specimen a minute later. They were cold and groggy on this cool, rainy day.Clipping path edges: the ivy had grown over the edging poles, sometimes by a foot or so.
Round-Leaved Sundew Drosera rotundifolia, an insectivorous plantRed-topped Cladonia floerkana lichens
OK, ok, you wanted some dragonflies. There were masses of Black-Tailed Skimmers chasing about in groups at Pudmore Pond. Black Darters, Common Blue Damselflies, and Small Red Damselflies skittered about the smaller ponds. A large Hawker or two dashed past, unidentifiable, probably Southern Hawker. A Keeled Skimmer perched conveniently nearby, daintier than the Black-Tailed.
Female Black-Tailed Skimmer (doing a Tiffany Lampshade impression)Keeled Skimmer
Among the birds, some 50 Swallows were roosting on telegraph wires early in the day. Families of young Stonechats gave grating contact calls, unlike the stone-clicking call of the adults. A Redstart flicked its tail in the bushes. Skylarks rose and sang almost too high to see against the clouds over the heathy hills, Shelley described it perfectly in his ‘To a Skylark’: “a flood of rapture so divine”.
Black-Tailed Skimmer
The English seem unemotional … except for their passion for nature
