Meltdown

Dunlin on the Yorkshire coast. Dunlin are just one of a number of wader species we regularly get along this stretch of coastline both as wintering birds and on passage. 

With January drawing to a close, so ends the first month of the Yeti challenge. January is perhaps one of the less productive months within the region in terms of what can be seen, but it still has provided enough raw natural history to keep everyone entertained. Challengers have recorded scarce birds like woodlark and grey phalarope, a wide range of plants, invertebrates including those amazing porcelain crabs and small amounts of fungi, most of the regions common mammals and a few bonuses for the time of year. Hopefully when all of the months records are collated we will be able to see how much damage we have done to the 3000 species target and have a January review sometime next month.

Cordyceps growing on the ground beetle Pterostichus madidus var. concinnus (red legs). Unfortunately we couldn't add the beetle to our list as had expired. Simply amazing. . . 

Certainly from a personal perspective my favourite find to date is so close but yet so far away. So close in that it really is an under recorded group of organisms which could quite easily produce a new species record for the region. So far away in that we still don't know exactly what it is, with much appreciated help from Peter and Chris Yeates from Huddersfield Museum, we have what we believe to be Cordyceps, a genus of Fungi. One of many science is stranger than fiction (just wait until the summer this becomes my favourite quote) moments, in which the fungus grows within its living host before bursting out through every conceivable gap in its hosts body. If there isn't a gap it makes one in an attempt to break free and release its spores. Ridley Scott had no imagination when he created the Alien films. This find also shows that it pays to lift up every log and get covered in mud. 

Angle Shades one of few adult moths which can be found throughout the winter, not only as an adult but larvae and pupa. In evolutionary terms, certainly hasn't got all of its eggs in the same basket. 

With most of the recent snow and ice melting we have perhaps survived the first ice age of 2013, which strangely reminded us and perhaps some of the regions animals and plants that it is still actually winter. Prior to the recent freeze invertebrates were quite easy to come across, since most have either retreated into deeper stable hibernacula or ceased to exist. Despite this I did manage to end the month with and adult Angle shades (my second of the winter but first of 2013) and the gall inducing mite Aceria fraxinivora on ash (the first representative of this family on the list I believe).

Feral? Escapee? Rare Vagrant? Who knows? either way red crested pochard are certainly fantastic looking ducks. Nationally a small breeding population occurs, however this is thought to be under recorded by many bird watchers due to their feral existence. 

Despite being busy at work I have managed to find a few hours since the last post to snap a bit more of the regions wildlife, albeit common things to end the month. Perhaps not on this blog, but certainly for the legacy of the Yeti challenge, I have been attempting to photograph every single species I record, needless to say the computer's memory is filling up and I now have quite a gallery full of random slugs, mosses, lichens and bugs.  

A young  Leaf Brain Tremella foliacea, not to dissimilar in texture and appearance to jelly ear but much more clustered. This was found growing in conjunction with a Stereum species of fungus. 

Polytrichum formosum a moss, with a couple of similar species differentiated largely by the leaf shape and habitat. This was found in mixed woodland. 

A 1st winter Mute Swan, enjoying the ice thaw. Incidentally it was swimming above a large bed of swan mussels another mollusc for the list. 

Goosander action shot, the cold weather in the middle of January allowed for some close views of this species, with what appeared to be a small influx into the area. 

Amaurobius a genus of spider that is largely unidentifiable from a photo, without wanting to cause to much disturbance in the cold, I left this one well alone. These guys tend not to give much warning and are a species that has bitten me on number of occasions. 

Early mornings and late evenings, recording around work has lead to some atmospheric photographs in January, like this shelduck coming in off the sea, to settle in the surf. More in February please.