A walk out yesterday (Saturday) morning before the heavy rain set in, produced a flock of 60+ Siskin feeding along Tram Road Side.
In the calm this morning I headed out to see what damage, etc, had been caused by Storm Dennis. The Quakers Yard pub had been flooded out and Mill Lane was blocked as a result of the flooding, so rather than head up to Parc Taf Bargoed, I decided to wander round Edwardsville Woods and try and catch up with the Chaffinch flock and see if I can pick up any of the Brambling that I had noted at the start of the year.
It didn't take that long to pick up the flock as they were feeding much closer to QY, and it didn't take that long before a female Brambling popped up onto a branch before flying further into the wood. A bit of searching and IO was rewarded with a brief view of a male Brambling before relocating the female.
I decided to leave the flock along and have a look at some of the mosses further along the road. I decided to have a good look at the mosses that cover the wall on the bridge over the Taff. Just after explaining to one of the local dog walkers what I was doing/looking at, I noticed something in the moss that looked more like an animal rather than plant debris. As I lent in for a closer view, it moved. Almost immediately I recognised it straight away and it was a mad dash to get the camera out to try to get half decent record photo's of this scarce insect.
About 5 mm in length, long legs, no noticible wings, but strange spike like appendideges were the wings should be. A piercing, type mouth parts. The Snow Flea, Boreus hyemalis, a member of the Scorpionfly family.
I've seen a lot of photo's of this species and had hoped to see one one day, but never really expected to come across one less than a mile from home.
A look on Aderyn shows 37 records for Wales, virtually all from mid or north Wales, with just a single record from the Abergavenny area. This makes this the first record for Glamorgan, and possibly the SEWBREC area (the Abergavenny record may have come from Powys, so outside SEWBREC area).
If storm Dennis had forced a change of plan this morning, I wouldn't found this. Thanks Dennis.
In the calm this morning I headed out to see what damage, etc, had been caused by Storm Dennis. The Quakers Yard pub had been flooded out and Mill Lane was blocked as a result of the flooding, so rather than head up to Parc Taf Bargoed, I decided to wander round Edwardsville Woods and try and catch up with the Chaffinch flock and see if I can pick up any of the Brambling that I had noted at the start of the year.
It didn't take that long to pick up the flock as they were feeding much closer to QY, and it didn't take that long before a female Brambling popped up onto a branch before flying further into the wood. A bit of searching and IO was rewarded with a brief view of a male Brambling before relocating the female.
I decided to leave the flock along and have a look at some of the mosses further along the road. I decided to have a good look at the mosses that cover the wall on the bridge over the Taff. Just after explaining to one of the local dog walkers what I was doing/looking at, I noticed something in the moss that looked more like an animal rather than plant debris. As I lent in for a closer view, it moved. Almost immediately I recognised it straight away and it was a mad dash to get the camera out to try to get half decent record photo's of this scarce insect.
I've seen a lot of photo's of this species and had hoped to see one one day, but never really expected to come across one less than a mile from home.
A look on Aderyn shows 37 records for Wales, virtually all from mid or north Wales, with just a single record from the Abergavenny area. This makes this the first record for Glamorgan, and possibly the SEWBREC area (the Abergavenny record may have come from Powys, so outside SEWBREC area).
If storm Dennis had forced a change of plan this morning, I wouldn't found this. Thanks Dennis.
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