An early afternoon walk on the Shemmy Moss part of my Newchurch Patch. Sunny and hot.

The first Green Hairstreak was seen but it flew off low over the bracken, not stopping in the heat. This looks like the first one in the UK and is 3 days earlier than last years first here. Last year the first UK date was 23rd March! Also seen were a Peacock and a different Comma to yesterdays one.

Two more Orange Underwing moths were seen, 9 now being the total! One actually landed and I grabbed a quick picture.

The first White-tailed Bumblebee of the year was a queen looking for a nest location in the bracken

A very short morning pop in at Newchurch Common, sunny and getting warmer.

In Big Pool at the favoured breeding bay at least 8 Common Toads were present.

Another Orange Underwing moth was seen, this time flying over the cabbage field towards a mixed woodland but crucially with silver birches in it! This was my fifth sighting of the species this year!

In the Pine Belt north of Big Pool another female Spotted Thintail hoverfly was seen in what is a bumper year for them too. Just one Tapered Dronefly as it warmed up, in Big Pool east meadow.

Yellowing Curtain Crust was in the Pine Belt north of Big Pool. A new location but a repeat sighting for the year.

A walk from c.11.45am onwards to try to hit the warmest part of the day, sunny & hot at first but cooler later.

On Shemmy Moss just 2 male Brimstones and a Peacock to show for the warmth, the former were the first here on the mosses as opposed to Newchurch meadows!

A dead Early Bumblebee was a new species and was on Newchurch Common as I did a brief detour off the mosses.

On my Newchurch Patch am and pm in the warm sunshine, morning was on the common proper and afternoon on the mosslands.

My fourth butterfly species was found, a Small Tortoiseshell in the Big Pool southwest glade, then followed by another Small Tortoiseshell pm on Shemmy Moss. A Comma was on Shemmy Moss am.

An Orange Underwing Moth was flying around in Silver Birch Canopies on Shemmy Moss pm, the first on the mosses after two on Newchurch meadows.

My first Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum) was on Newchurch by the main track between the pools, and a queen as expected. At least 3 Buff-tailed Bumblebees were seen, a queens, one on Newchurch and two on Shemmy Moss. A colony of c.25 Clarke's Mining Bees was seen by Small Pool, with mating observed, a usual location for this colony.

A new hoverfly was Syrphus torvus in the Big Pool northwest corner glade. Other repeat sightings included 7 Tapered Droneflies, 4 on Shemmy Moss and 3 on Newchurch Common. Also, 2 Common Droneflies on and 2 Marmalade Hoverflies, all on Newchurch Common.

The first Dark-edged Bee-fly (Bombylius major) of the year was seen in Big Pool east meadows, a species that eluded me last year on patch. Today it eluded my phone camera, zipping off, as they do, as I tried to get closer!

Several new flowers were added for the year, Common Daisy (Bellis perennis), Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), Red Campion (Silene dioica), and Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna).

-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Wednesday 19th of March 2025 04:27:57 PM

A walk on Newchurch Common am, frost but sunny!

A nice group of Wolf's Milk Slime Mould (Lycogala epidendrum) was found on the edge of Gull Pool Wood, showing signs of it being in the reproductive amoeba stage. This was new for the year.

The mining bees from a few posts back were revisited as an expert had said that my previous photos were not clear enough to be 100% re ID. I potted on up, cooled it and took much better photos from several angles. I am now 100% positive that my first thoughts were correct and that they are Gwynne's Mining Bees (Andrena bicolor).

Today on my Newchurch Patch in dull and cool weather.

Gull Pool has large swathes of Frogspawn clumps in the shallows now, hopefully water levels won't fall before these hatch.

Also in Gull Pool Wood was a clump of at least 30 Sheathed Woodtuft fungi (Kuehneromyces mutabilis) on a fallen tree trunk, the first record of this species this year.

Delayed my Newchurch Common walk until 12.30pm to take advantage of the highest temperatures today, hot and sunny, promising for invertebrates!

There were three butterfly species on the wing in the Big Pool east meadows. The first two were new for the year, namely 5 Commas and a Brimstone, whilst a Peacock was a repeat from yesterday but the first on 'Newchurch Common' rather than the mosses.

The first moth species of the year at Newchurch was added with 2 Orange Underwing Moths seen, one in east meadow and one near Finch Hedge.

A queen Red-tailed Bumblebee and 2 queen Buff-tailed Bumblebees were seen, both new for the year, the former in the Big Pool east meadows and the latter in the north meadow.

Around 4 Marmalade Hoverflies were in the north meadow on gorse as was a Spotted Thintail Hoverfly, both repeat sightings for 2025.

A 10-spot Ladybird (Adalia decempunctata) was a nice find in a gorse flower in north meadow, again new for 2025.

A tree trunk near the NE corner of Big Pool was covered by 15 Muscina sp. flies, new for 2025.

A new growth of 10 Blushing Brackets was by Big Pool Island Cut, but not a new species for the year.

The early flowering tree Cherry Plum (Prunus cerasifera) was near Common Farm and was the first time I have ever noted it on patch!

 

-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Sunday 9th of March 2025 10:23:24 PM

Out both am and pm on my Newchurch Patch to take advantage of the warm sunshine.

My first butterflies were added, as I'd hoped given the weather. These were 2 Peacocks on Shemmy Moss.

The first mining bees were also out, around 8 Gwynne's Mining Bees (Andrena bicolor) were prospecting a soil bank in Big Pool SW corner glade. Honey Bees were abundant, all over the gorse bushes.

A new hoverfly was added, the Spotted Thintail (Meliscaeva auricollis), found on gorse north of Big Pool. There were 5 Marmalade Hoverflies today, three on Newchurch Common, one at Gull Pool Woods and one on Sandy Lane.

Two more 7-spot Ladybirds were recorded, one on Newchurch Common and one on Shemmy Moss.

At least 4 Collared Earthstar fungi (Geastrum triplex) were still in reasonable condition by Shemmy Moss

Two more garden escape plants were in flower, both on Sandy Lane, Spring Crocus (Crocus vernus) and Winter Windflower (Anemone blanda).

On Newchurch and the mosses am and pm in the sunshine.

A Honey Bee was seen again. Two fly species were recorded for the second time this year, a Common Bluebottle and the muscid Phaonia signata, both on Shemmy Moss.

The first 2 x 7-Spot Ladybirds were seen, one on the outer edge of Gull Pool Wood and one on the edge of Shemmy Moss.

By Shemmy Moss 2 Garden Snails were seen and photographed.

A new fungus was seen in abundance with over 40 Stump Puffballs by Shemmy Moss, new for 2025. A brand new species for patch was the oddly named Conifer Root and Butt Rot (Heterobasidion annosum), on the end of a felled conifer by Shemmy Moss.

Two plants in flower today were Red Dead-nettle and Common Field-speedwell, both in Big Pool southwest corner glade.

 

-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Sunday 2nd of March 2025 03:21:31 PM

Another morning stroll on Newchurch, bright and colder.

In Gull Pool Wood 2 Smooth Newts were found in a new location and both were 'wet' so out of hibernation.

A new slug species was seen,with 2 Spanish Slugs (Arion vulgaris) in Gull Pool Wood.

A couple more new Scarlet Elf Cups were found (by Big Pool Island Cut) in what is proving to be a good season for this species.

-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Thursday 27th of February 2025 05:21:34 PM

A warm afternoon walk in the sun at Newchurch Common produced a few invert sightings today.

A Rabbit was in fields by Gull Pool Wood, the first live one of the year!

There were another 3 Honey Bees seen on Newchurch Common, all using gorse flowers. A Common Dronefly was seen again, this time in the Big Pool southwest corner glade.

A couple of fly species were recorded, both in the Big Pool southwest corner glade. Firstly a Common Bluebottle (Calliphora vicinia) and secondly a muscidae species Phaonia signata.

 

-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Tuesday 25th of February 2025 02:27:33 PM

A morning walk on Newchurch Common.

A new snail for 2025 was Hairy Snail, east of Small Pool.

Fungal additions included Silverleaf Fungus (Chondrostereum purpureum) and Witches Broom (Taphrina betulina) in Gull Pool Wood. Also new for the year were very old specimens of Velvet Shank (Flammulina velutipes) on a fallen tree east of Small Pool. Candlesnuff fungi were photographed for the first time this year.

A new plant was the cultivated Giant Snowdrop, north of Small Pool.

A bitterly cold morning walk on Newchurch Common.

A Rabbit skull was in the Pine Belt, found before I've seen a live Rabbit on Patch this year!!

The rest of the sightings were fungi. A new species was by Small Pool, a crust fungus Corticium roseum. A nice fresh clump of Oyster Mushrooms was by the main track A new small growth of Jelly Ear were nearby, again by the main track.

On 2nd February at dusk we were walking past the allotments in Appleton, Warrington and there were two bats hawking for insects over the allotments! It was 7 degrees and had been a fairly mild day but I was quite surprised by that. 

On Newchurch Common am, sunny and not cold.

In Gull Pool Wood a new plant, Hard-fern (Blechnum spicant) was recorded and some small patches of Hard-fern Rust (Milesina blechni) meant that I added a new fungus too!! Two other new fungus recorded in 2025 were Blushing Bracket (Daedaleopsis confragosa) and Scarlet Elf Cup (Sarcoscypha austriaca) over on the western edge of my patch near Nunsmere.

 

 

-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Thursday 30th of January 2025 11:23:04 AM

Another Newchurch Common walk, very cold but dry and no wind, so felt pleasant.

The first mammal, predictably Grey Squirrel, was seen for the year!

A few invertebrates, which are usually few and far between in January! Under logs in Gull Pool Wood were two small carabid beetle species, Paranchus albipes and Leistus spinibarbis. Under a log by Small Pool was a White-legged Snake Millipede. Brown-lipped Snail and Garden Snail were both recorded.

Again the rest of the records were fungi. Two were new for the year namely Common Bonnet (Mycena galericulata) which was near Small Pool and Yellow Brain Fungus (Tremella mesenterica) which was on the north side of Big Pool. Repeats were Birch Polypore, Turkeytail (but a white variant) and Hairy Curtain Crust.

My first visit of 2025 to Newchurch Common meant that everything recorded would be new for the year! All walking was done in the dry, mild spells even though it did rain over lunchtime.

All sightings were fungi as birds were being concentrated on today! A new flush of Tricholoma argyraceum were near Small Pool top car park where others were first found just before Christmas. A big growth of old Oyster Mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) was a new find in Gull Pool Wood where Variable Oysterling (Crepidotus variabilis), Turkeytail (Trametes versicolor), Birch Polypore (Fomitopsis betulina), Birch Woodwart (Annulohypoxylon multiforme) and Hoof Fungus (Fomes fomentarius) were all also found. Some new Collared Earthstars (Geastrum triplex) were in the usual location on the edge of Shemmy Moss.

On Sunday 15th, at Bod Petryal (or however they spell it this year!) in Clocaenog Forest - a medium-sized bat flying around the first parking area, presumably Noctule, at 3pm. Temp was a mild 10C

Another morning on Newchurch Common, dry and mild.

An exhaustive search for invertebrates as the sun was quite warm turned up just two flies basking on a farm trailer and even though they looked similar they were different species. The first, and larger, one was in the Housefly family and indentified as Phaonia tuguriorum. The second, smaller one, could only be assigned to family, being one of the Root Maggot Flies (Anthomyiidae).

A new fungus was Small Stagshorn (Calocera cornea) found in Gull Pool Wood. Otherwise just repeats such as Yellow Brain Fungus near Big Pool. Also found was the minute stalked Slime Mould Comatricha nigra (probable ID).

My first December patch walk on Newchurch Common today in misty murk!! All Fungi!

A new species for me and patch was Fragrant Funnel (Clitocybe fragrans), found in the ex meadow east of Small Pool and smelling beautifully of aniseed. It was so strong that it attracted a passing Labrador!! I found a new disc fungus on a dead leaf, possibly Snowy Disco (Lachnum virgineum), but I await expert opinion! This was in woodland south of Big Pool on deciduous leaf litter.

Repeat sightings included Sulphur Tuft, Common Earthball, Common Bonnet, Clouded Funnel and White Fibrecap (all photographed).

As an aside I had my 3rd ever record of the locally rare Southern Oak Bush Cricket in my garden this am, attracted by my moth trap. This was my second male with one female previously too. (photo)

 

EDIT: So far feedback agrees with my Snowy Disco ID on the small disc fungus

-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Thursday 5th of December 2024 03:17:39 PM

A brief visit to Newchurch Common this morning in the mist.

A Common Wasps nest by Big Pool that I had seen on each visit recently was still active with a number of wasps coming and going still, but the Hornets nests were both seemingly inactive now.

Not much on the fungus front, but some really nice mature Earthy Powdercaps east of Big Pool along with one Snowy Waxcap. Both had been previously recorded this year.

Glasson Dock (Lancs)

Late Report for yesterday 11th November (Lunchtime)

2 Red Admiral butterflies were seen visiting the flowers alongside the

deserted pub, opposite the Lockkeepers Rest cafe.

A short morning trip to my Newchurch Local Patch. Dull weather.

The trip was cut short by news of a male Red-breasted Flycatcher in Wales that I left to photograph! So all sightings refer to fungi.

Ones that I think were new for year were Netted Crust Fungus (Byssomerulius corium) and Common Jellyspot (Dacrymyces stillatus) in the woods by Big Pool Island Cut and Ribbed Bell (Galerina clavata) in Big Pool east meadow.

Repeat sightings included a Veiled Poisonpie, lots of new Candlesnuff, a new Blackening Waxcap and some new growth Jelly Ear.

Just had a rare catch in my Moulton garden when out looking around my moth trap. My second ever garden Southern Oak Bush Cricket and only the third ever in my tetrad :)