WHAT I HAVE LEARNT THROUGH THE YEAR

The title for this post is the wrong one. But it's near enough. With the rain so rainy, the ground so squishy, the cliffs so dangerous - liable to melt away and disintegrate after weeks of steady downpour (and it's not stopped yet!) . . . it's simply not practical to do much in the way of  a regular post - so I'll shelter under cover of the season and reflect on the year passed.

Those of us who live in Dorset are specially fortunate in that we have great variety right on our doorsteps. We don't need to go far to find wonderful things. The view may change little but what's under-foot is constantly on the move.

Chicory flowers. August 8th 2012

Plants come and go.

Caloplaca aurantia  - September 8th 2012

Lichens spread.

A bi-valve fossil (don't know of what). Photograph -  November 8th 2012

The sea wears away at the rocks and reveals layer upon layer of creatures from the past.

Blackthorn blossom - April 16th 2012

To some degree, seasons have become a little passé.

I know when and where the blackthorn will flower,

Janaury 13th 2012

ivy berries form,

One of King Alfred's Cakes - Daldinia concentrica

November 17th 2012

fungi appear . . . 

so I find myself looking closer and closer to find the 'more' - and the closer you look, the more and more you do find.

Hence being entranced by lichen. Lichens are here all year round. If you stand back, they are unchanging. Walk forward and you are caught in a world of widening circles, fruiting bodies, fantastic and fantastically changing colours. I know nothing about lichen and know I never will - I know I'm not about to start trekking around with a microscope. BUT, for all that, you can count yourselves lucky I don't show you the same patch of lichen every week, saying 'isn't this lovely? over and over.

Common Orange Lichen - Xanthoria parietina - on the Elderberry We're Following - December 8th 2012

There's a lot of lichen on the elderberry tree we're following. (To see the elderberry posts, click HERE. In giving the link, I realise I have been remiss and should have posted more.) Indeed, I've lost track of the tree as a whole and have got stuck on this one little crook in the branch where the leaves don't grow much and the lichen (a very ordinary, common lichen) is lovely.

Groundsel - Senecio vulgaris - June 15th 2012

Another way in which you might be glad I don't indulge my interests is that I'm drawn, more and more, to the streets. I expect the moment will come when I feel I have photographed enough groundsel to last me till I die. But not yet. It seems to be ever present, ever lovely, ever despised.

Mexican Fleabane
- Erigeron karvinskianus -
July 4th 2012

Sometimes, I'm able to stand back and see unkempt roadsides as others see them - a mess. Mostly though, I'm delighted by the way all sorts of plants find ways to live along side us, in the cracks and in the kerbs - and if I walk down a street where the residents or authorities are assiduous in sweeping them away, I think 'How boring'! (Not that they ever manage completely. I track along the pavements till I find something green - and rejoice in its dogged rebellion. Sorry!)

Insects - through much of the summer I had to resist showing you hoverflies in every post.

Hoverfly - Eristalis tenax- September 13th 2012

I hadn't realised before that there are so many different kinds of hoverfly, how many patterns there are on their backs - that they have hairy eyes. (Hairy eyes!) In this I've been helped and inspired by Chris Webster - see the site British Hoverflies.

And, through the year, I've come across new blogs, new resources - and learnt to value some old ones even more than before. I don't know whether you've explored the Loose and Leafy Pages (you find them via tabs along the lower edge of the header picture) but many of these are there. There's a new tab too - with links to articles I've found specially interesting. There are not a lot there yet - I've only just started - but you might like to take a look. During the year, something technical went wrong with a couple of the others, making them inaccessible so I deleted them and began again. I've been putting back the links as I remember them and flinging them in in no particular order -so they are still in a muddle and some still be missing - but do browse! One day, I'll give them better categories. Meanwhile, enjoy the chaos.

* * *

Maybe I could mention a few of the blogs and sites I admire? Some old favourites. Some new.

Green Shield Bugs (Palomena prasina) mating
July 1st 2012

INSECTS ET AL.

Try Bug Blog. (And the woodlice post under 'Recommended Reads'.)

And Ed Philips' Insect, Macro and Wildlife Images.

Chris Webster's British Hoverflies.

For people who like pictures and use Google Circles - you might like 'Bugs Every Day'. I truly can't fathom Google Circles. Can't make head or tale of it. Bugs Every Day doesn't post pictures of insects every day . . .  but . . .  I think it's amalgam of lots of people's pictures and is something to do with tagging . . . but . . . as Circles develop . . .

By the River Stour, Dorset
November 17th 2012

FOR PEOPLE WITH GARDENS

"You Can Grow That' articles in Tree Care Tips are an invaluable resource - not only wonderfully helpful for people wanting to grow trees but for the rest of us who would like to understand trees better. (Take a look down the 'categories' section in its right hand margin too.)

CONTRIBUTE TO THE GENERAL STORE OF KNOWLEDGE IN EXCHANGE FOR HELP WITH ID.

Click to go to iSpot

Regular Readers will know how enthusiastic I am about iSspot - It's a must for anyone in the UK who takes natural history photos and a brilliant inspiration and resource for everyone. (If you are interested to see my contributions, they are HERE. As you will see, it's a place where I not only contribute pictures but check identifications before putting them on Loose and Leafy - and learn new ones.)

Click to go to Nature Plusat theNatural History Museum

I've recently joined the general-public-and-ID-section (Nature Plus) of the Natural History Museum too. I'm not entirely admiring of this. . . where iSpot is clean and precise, the NHM site has fallen into the social-networking-trap . . . you get your own page . . . you can set up little quizzes . . . but do take a look - it might be just right for you. (I'm still at the 'getting lost there' stage!)

The Sycamore Tree we are following
as it was on October 17th 2012

WOODLAND, HEDGEROW AND SUCHLIKE

Are you following The Cabinet of Curiosities? Like Loose and Leafy, the content is random, you never know what might come up next. But unlike Loose and Leafy - the writer (Paul Gates at Durham University) knows what he is talking about.

(See the links in his sidebar? To his under the microscope blog - Beyond the Human Eye - and his Digital Botanic Garden.)

For identifying wild plants - Nature Gate (based in Finland!)
and Wild Flower Finder (extensive and absorbing).

If you are in America - The Wildflower Journal - every day a picture. The cataloguing is primarily by month - which is interesting - but there are plant labels in the margin too. This is part of a wider project - take a look.

Fucus Serratus - October 11th 2012

SEASHORE

Do you know Wanderin' Weeta? where Susannah in (British Columbia) tracks all sorts of tiny seawater creatures - barnacles and mini-crabs - often in a tank so her pictures can be very precise.

Diploicia canescens - August 19th 2012

LICHENS

Can't help it but, every time I suggest sites to look at, I have to include this one - Alan Silverside's Lichen Pages. (Scottish and Other British Lichens)

BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS

Gatekeeper - Pyronia tythonus -
August 25th 2012

To identify a butterfly or day-flying moth.  (With Butterfly Conservation.)

UK Butterflies is really good too - one of my favourite sites. It's a great place to browse - with lots of pictures, lots of information - a very handy route to  IDs.

BIRDS

Kestrel - November 4th 2012

Bird Identifier. (With the R.S.P.B.) (I'ts surprising how well this works.)

June 23rd 2012

IDENTIFYING GARDEN SNAILS

See the Bug Blog Gallery.

Cliffs at Charmouth - April 2nd 2012

GEOLOGY BLOG

In the Company of Rocks and Stones

(I haven't found a good way yet to look up fossils on the internet - any ideas and links would be welcome.)

A FEW OF THE TOPICS ON LOOSE AND LEAFY

• FLOWERS
• FUNGI
• HEDGEROWS
• INVERTEBRATES
• LICHEN
• SEASHORE
• SEAWEED
• THE ELDERBERRY WE'RE FOLLOWING
• THE SYCAMORE WE'RE FOLLOWING
• THE VIEW WE'RE FOLLOWING
• TOWNS
• TREES
• SPRING
• SUMMER
• AUTUMN
• WINTER

There!
A mammoth summary of the year! (With quite a lot missing!)
Lots of links for you to follow in an idle or inquisitive moment.
Hopefully, they will be useful in the coming months too when you need a natural history ID.
All that remains is to wish you a happy new year so . . .

HAVE A VERY HAPPY 2013

EVERYONE!

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a P.S. re. my other blogs.

Blogger got confused about how much space we each have for pictures.

I got confused along with it and moved new pictures for

Message in  a Milk Bottle to a new place.

Even the URL for that got in a muddle at first - but 

THIS, NOW, IS IT! - M2

However . . . Blogger has now given us more space for each blog so I'm gradually re-activating my original blog -

PICTURES JUST PICTURES

The two blogs will have the same photos - but the different backgrounds give them different atmospheres. If you are not already following either - you might like to choose between them.

(Or, if you are, there's the option to switch - or even to follow both.)

L.

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WALKING INTO THE VIEW

December 12th 2012

This is what the view I'm following looked like 12th December.

December 17th 2012

This is how it looked on the 17th. Apart from the light - it's pretty much the same. Indeed, if it weren't that my camera marks the date on the 'negative' I would have suspected I'd got in a muddle and they were taken on the same day. I've been going spare looking between one and the other, trying to find a difference. It's a sort of puzzle. But all I can see is that the tide is marginally further out in the second. If you count how many of the nearest rocks are uncovered, you'll see there's one more. Even the blackberries on the left have retained all their leaves.

Not a lot of substance for a blog . . . so . . . I decided to walk into the view. See the group of red trees at the foot of the cliff, slightly to the left of the castle? That's where we are going. If we take a direct route, it will take us about ten minutes but everything is very muddy and slippy at present - it has rained and rained and rained - so it'll take more like fifteen. And we need the tide to go further out before we can get there. We'll have to skip to the next day. Unfortunately, by then the light is going. (That's the trouble with winter!) None the less . . . nothing daunted . . .

. . . here we go!

December 18th 2012

Willows!

We have our backs to the water. Notice seaweed on the rocks? On the right is a tall, rusty pole. It seems to be what's left of an old notice. There are lots of these along this patch of shoreline. I don't know what they would originally have said and don't know how to find out but I've always assumed they are left over from the second world war to warn vessels against landing. If anyone local is reading the blog - maybe they can leave a note to say?

See the hollow between the middle willows? That's where we're heading. 

December 18th 2012

It would be nice to say we are going into a cave but, it's more like a dent in the cliff. Given the action of the tide, maybe it will one day hollow out . . . even then I doubt it will be a cave. The ground above is soft. There's more likely to be a landslide.

December 18th 2012

In another post, I'll show you the inside of the dent. It deserves a blog of its own (let alone a post!) but, for the moment, we'll keep focused on the trees. . . . Swinging round to the left, we can see the way many of the branches are growing horizontally. The bark is rough. Some of the branches are broken - yet they are alive. There is plenty of new growth.

December 18th 2012

Here we see the reason for the reddness in the view.

And, here too, we hit a problem. What kind of willows are they? I uploaded pictures to Ispot (if you are unfamiliar with Ispot, click the link, you won't regret it) but am still up in the air about whether they are Salix alba (White Willow) or Salix fragilis (Crack Willow). Salix fragilis is called Crack Willow because it cracks easily and bits fall off. The fallen bits root easily and, thus, it spreads.

As you know, I am not an expert in anything but comments on Ispot suggest that with neither tree would one expect to have shoots quite this red. Could it be a cultivar? It would be an odd place to plant a tree - right by the shore where the sea comes up to the cliff and chucks seaweed into its lower branches. On the other hand . . . landslides have tipped Horse Chestnut trees from people's gardens onto the shore not far from here so could a garden willow have slid down, clung on and carried on growing? Another puzzling thing is that this group of willows is happily living right by salt water. How are they surviving? Could it be there's enough fresh water filtering through the cliff to keep the salt at bay? And, finally, are all these trees of the same variety or are there two kinds of willow here? At the moment, I'm thinking only one but . . . but . . . I'll have to go back to see - maybe soon . . . or maybe in the spring.

Meanwhile, let's take in two more views. The first, standing within the dent and looking out to sea.

December 18th 2012

If you enlarge the photo, you'll see cormorants sitting on the marker buoys and another swimming near them. Can you see a ship beyond the harbour wall?

And, finally, lets step back again. Below is a picture from this morning (December 21st 2012).

December 21st 2012

By chance (and I'm not sure if this is fortunate or not) the tide is roughly in the same position. (It can go out quite a long way. I'll have to make a point of catching it with the sand showing to prove it!). Do you see where we've been?

* * *

Recent Tree Following Posts on Other Blogs

Garden's Eye View - Latest view of the (Ash) stump.
Welsh Hills Again - The Chestnut Tree
Down by the Sea - Where the Willow's At
Gardening Ways - Plane Tree 2012
Experiments With Plants - London Plane Tree
* * *

Have you updated your tree?

Who else is following trees? ClickHERE

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THE FUNGI

Since there's no particular order in a wander, I might as well start with my favourite picture. It's of Candlesnuff Fungus (Xylaria hypoxylon).

Candlesnuff Fungus (Xylaria hypoxylon)
November 17th 2012

This year is the first time I'd come across it and it was so tiny (though my book says it can grow to 6cm high) it might easily have been missed. It was growing on a felled tree trunk. When I first saw it, I thought it might be 'Stagshorn Fungus' (Calocera) because some of the white tops look just like antlers - and it rang a bell. But, no, Candlesnuff - like little grey wicks with white ash left where the flame has been blown out. (The white 'ash', says, my book (*), is produced by asexual spores. It also says it's very widespread and very common. Apparently, it grows all year round but I've never noticed it before so I'm thinking of writing a book for myself in which it's described as 'incredibly rare' and 'a wonderful find' and things like that.)

A long time ago, in another part of the wood (14th November 2009) I came across what looked like burnt chestnuts on fallen twigs.

King Alfred's Cakes (Daldinia concentrica)
November 14th 2009

 I didn't, then, know what they were. I may now. (Slow cooking, this blog!) . . .

King Alfred's Cakes (Daldinia concentrica)
November 17th 2012

If you have been reading Loose and Leafy over the last few years, you will know I give fungi new names. Not only do I find my names easier to remember than those invented by others, it means no-one will be tempted to use this blog as a sure and certain route to identifying them. So, for me, these are Continental Chocolates. But, it turns out they are really . . . King Alfred's Cakes (Daldinia concentrica)!

Sometimes, things are confusing. What is what?

Lumps on bark of living beech.
November 17th 2012

There were lots of these lumps on Beeches - on some trees more than others. As you can see, they seem to be pushing up, alien style, through the skin of the trunk. This picture was taken from the ground and the little lumps were at quite a distance from the lens but they are clear enough to get the idea. I'm assured these are not fungi and have been given the suggestion that beech bark damages easily so this is some kind of . . . of . . . something that gets in . . . a bacterium . .  ? I don't know. Whatever it it, it seems odd for there were masses of them and all in lines . . . how did apparently healthy trees get damaged to this degree?

Probably Ganoderma
November 17th 2012

It's a hard life, being an amateur and an ignoramus. This post would have appeared much sooner if it hadn't been for the next fungus..

Probably Ganoderma
November 17th 2012

This specimen is about two inches from top to bottom and two inches across at its widest. Following my habit of giving things names, I thought it looks like a hoof. Lo and behold, there is a Hoof Fungus (also called Tinder Bracket because it's useful when lighting fires) so, naturally, I thought this must be it. However, when I looked it up, I had two problems. Hoof Fungus is more likely to be found in Scotland than in the south of England and, in the pictures I found, it has a cream underside whereas this one is pink. Which means, bother, it probably isn't a Hoof Fungus after all, even though it looks like one and is a Ganoderma instead. (There's more than one kind - but I'll leave that up in the air.)

This last picture (the one below) is of Lumpy Bracket (Trametes gibbosa).

Lumpy Bracket (Trametes gibbosa)
November 17th 2012

The name of this fungus puzzles me. Masses of fungi are lumpy. I think 'Dragons Scales' might be a good name. Or maybe 'Grebe' fungus - because it seems to carry its offspring (or 'outcrops?) on its back. The green, by the way, is an algae - not the colour of the fungus. (And, if the focus seems odd - it's because I was concentrating on the tiny fragment of lichen.)

* * *

For the woods where these fungi grow,

see last week's post

Walking in the Woods

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*Collins Complete Guide to British Mushrooms and Toadstools

If you need help identifying fungi - try Ispot (can't praise it enough)

You might enjoy browsing through The Beginners Guide to Some Common Types of Fungi

And Visual Fungi is a good site too.
Earthfast Imgages (Roger Butterfield's Photos)

Members of Facebook might like to take a look at the Dorset Mushroom Hunters Page