No Wood Warbler, but ...

On my way home from work, this afternoon, I stopped off at the Merthyr Tunnel (Cwmbach portal) on the slim chance that Wood Warbler might be in. Unsurprisingly, there were none there as it is towards the end of next week is when I would normally expect them.

I loitered around the tunnel approach cutting for a while and then spotted some bright golden yellow blobs in the little stream that runs alongside the old track. I hoped they might be Bog Beacon (Mitrula paludosa) and wasn't disappointed.

I have always thought that drain would be ideal for this species, but despite looking from time to time, I had never seen them there until now. There were around a hundred individual fruiting bodies emerging from the water, but they were difficult to photograph with my compact and I ended up on my hands and knees, leaning out over the water as far as I dared, with arm at full stretch and the camera's zoom on full telephoto, as I took the photos single handed.

I knew this species was only occasionally recorded and looking on the NBN gateway, I see there are no records at all for Glamorgan and the nearest for a woods, near Libanus. Martin and I have previously seen it in VC42, in a ditch alongside the Penderyn mineral line, but that record has never made its way onto any database. I'll have to check if it is still there and if so, get the record in for it.