Megachile centuncularis: the patchwork leaf-cutter bee

Leaf-cutter by name because a leaf cutter by nature. Leaf-cutter bees cut pieces out of leaves, often rose leaves in gardens, to make cells in their nests in to which they lay their eggs. They nest in crevices above ground, often in decaying wood and old walls, sometimes in garden canes. 

There are six species of leaf-cutter bee in the British Isles and this one, the patchwork leaf-cutter (Megachile centuncularis), is a southern species and the one of the most encountered as it does have a liking for gardens and your best roses. However, it is such a fascinating and entertaining little creature I think you would have to forgive it for any limited damage it might do. They use leaves for nesting but visit brambles and thistles for food.

Just under half an inch long they can be seen from late May through until August by which time their work is done and their larvae are snug inside their leafy nests until

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False Oat-grass: the tall meadow oat

By venturing into the world of oat-grasses I am entering difficult territory! In my view this is really the domain of experts and that is something I am not; not even close. The problem is that there are four oat-grass species commonly found in Southern England and whilst the pictures in the books show them as being different trying to distinguish them in the field, even with a book to refer to, is a tricky business.

False oat-grass (Arrhenatherum elatius) has "stems, sometimes swollen at the base. The spikelets are shining with two florets and a long, straight awn. Leaves with a blunt ligule" (Wild Flowers of Britain and Ireland by Marjorie Blamey, Richard Fitter and Alastair Fitter.) I rest my case, I frankly struggle with that even though I reckon I know what spikelets, florets, awns and ligules are.

Flowering from May through until September you can find false oat-grass on roadside verges, waste ground, meadows and other 'grassy' places. It can also colonise limestone cliffs and scree and

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Small Toadflax: the dwarf snapdragon

Small toadflax (Chaenorhinum minus) is not a flower one encounters on nature reserves very often as arable land, which is its stronghold, rarely features on reserves. I have only seen this in the fields near Ashley Wood that one crosses to get to the wood from Tarrant Rushton. In the fields here it is quite common and I suspect that it is common elsewhere in north Dorset where wild flowers are given a chance. This is often in the corner of fields where the sprays do not reach and sometimes on footpaths that run across fields where the crops are thin.

Small toadflax is an attractive little plant having classic small snapdragon flowers on a slender, hairy stalk. Several purple and yellow flowers occur alternately up the central stem. Several stems come from a central root to make a small bushy plant. It flowers from June until October.

This plant is also known

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Lasioglossum calceatum: the slender mining bee:

Whilst walking across the downs at Durlston one day in summer I could not help but notice hundreds of small holes in the bare ground on the path and lots of small insects either flying around or  at rest near by. I was eventually able to find one at rest long enough to get this photograph. Given the insect itself was only a few millimetres long this photo came out quite well and I was able to get an identification, it is the slender mining bee (Lasioglossum calceatum).

This is a common mining bee in southern England and can be seen from April through until October and I saw it in May just as its breeding activity was beginning to get under way, hence all the activity. Whilst the are solitary bees, that is to say they do not have a hive with queen and workers, the do seem to like to nest in colonies. Being a mining bee it digs a small nest in underground and that is why the path was peppered with small holes. The Latin name suggest a preference for calcareous soils and that is certainly what you get at Durlston which is limestone. 

This species is

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Teal: the yellow peril

Every winter the number of immigrant birds builds all along the south coast and especially in Dorset around Christchurch Harbour, Poole Harbour, Radipole/Lodmoor and the Fleet. Amongst the incoming birds are waders, geese and ducks and, surprisingly to me, it seems that the teal (Anas crecca) is not only one of the most numerous but also the most overlooked by the casual observer. 

I think some inexperienced bird watchers may dismiss them as mallard because of the green on their head. Although closely related to mallard, teal are easily distinguished as they are much smaller and have a clearly visible yellow triangle to the rear, under the wing. This yellow is visible, especially through binoculars, from a considerable distance and is the essential mark of the teal. I think it is also true to say that they are a more social bird than the mallard and tend to keep together in quite large flocks, often a few hundred, some times a thousand, together. 

Generally found on our salt marshes around Phragmytes reed beds but you will also find them on sodden riverside pasture and large ponds. So,

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Heath Bedstraw: the acid test

Depending on common English names to identify plants can lead to mistakes but in the case of heath bedstraw (Galium saxatile) you are on fairly safe ground (as long as the ground is acidic!). Heath bedstraw is by far the most common member of the bedstraw family to be found on heaths and acid grasslands. In fact, in Dorset, you can be pretty sure that it is the only one.

Heath bedstraw in a low growing, somewhat sprawling plant that can form quite large mats of vegetation. The creamy white flowers appear from May through until August and, if you get down on your hands and knees and have a sniff you will find them fragrant. I would say that this plant is most common in dry, grassy areas but it can occur amongst heather and can even colonise rocky areas.

Redleg: new name same game

I recently purchased an excellent new field guide to the Wild Flowers of Britain and Ireland (by Marjorie Blamey, Richard Fitter and Alastair Fitter) and I discovered that this plant I had always known as redshank is now named as redleg (Persicaria maculosa). The reason for the change is, I think, quite obvious. It is to avoid confusion with the bird of the same name, the common  wader with red legs known as the redshank.

The name may have changed but the distinctive features are, of course, still the same! It is a member of the dock family, the polygonums. It is a sprawling plant, very variable in height and usually growing in large clusters. The distinctive feature is its central stem which is, inevitably, red and it has small pale red flowers which are in fact clusters of smaller flowers. Just to be sure, look for the triangular black smudges on the leaves.

This a very common plant of bare, damp ground and is often found on farms and in meadows where tractors or Land Rovers have made ruts that gather water. It is also common in drainage ditches and anywhere there is mud.

Although the plant has advantageous medical properties and 

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Hoverfly: Helophilus hybridus

Hoverflies are both fascinating and baffling! I confess to being a real fan of them and I marvel at their ability to go from nought to gone in a fraction of a second and their ability to hover in a stationary spot before suddenly darting off. The ability of some species to mimmic bees, wasps and even hornets and to enter the nests of these host species and lays eggs is a marvel to me.

Despite being very keen on them I find identification very difficult and often they need examination in great detail to a reliable conclusion. Having had experts look at this photograph I can be pretty sure it is of a species called Helophilus hybridus rather than of its close cousin, Helophilus pendulus. It is a female 'hybridus' because over half of the hind tibia are black whereas in 'pendulus' it would be about a third of the hind tibia that is black! 

As I said, identifying hoverflies is difficult but that

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Wild Oat: sewing but not reaping

It is easy to forget that our modern cereal crops were developed from wild varieties of common grasses. It is when one finds a grass and then identifies it as wild oat (Avena fatua) that this is brought home. Even though the family resemblance is there the wild and the cultivated oat differ in many ways and although related it does not take much wild oat to grow amongst cereal crops to cause problems in harvesting.

Wild oat has very delicate spikelets on fine stemmed branches, several (five or six) emanating from hubs at intervals along the central stem. The spikelets are covered in fine, silky hairs. The sheath-like leaf comes at the bottom of the stem. Flowering from June until September it can be found quite frequently in

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Early Forget-me-not: between a rock and a hard place

I suppose the early forget-me-not (Myosotis ramosissima) is not really a weed of cultivation,it is a small plant that manages to survive in dry, barren places and that includes pavements and gutters. It grows quite readily on the roadsides here where I live. It can also be found on rocks and walls near the sea.

It is a small plant, probably due to lack of nutrition from the hostile environments it grows in and also to its inability to get a firm foothold to support anything bigger. Each flower is tiny but indisputably 'forget-me-not' shaped. Usually there is a small cluster of three or flowers at the top of the stem and below that are seed pods from earlier flowers that have been pollinated. Each seed pod is at the end of a small stalk ans the stalks run alternately opposite up the stem. Although my reference book says that this plant flowers from April to June we can see them in flower as early as late February.

This is a quite inconspicuous little plant and as such

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Fairy-ring Longhorn Beetle: a chance encounter

Have you ever seen a ring of toadstools on grass in the autumn? Commonly known as fairy rings they are formed by the fruiting body of the champignon fungus. The main part of the fungus is at work in the ground dissolving vegetable matter but what has that to do with this beetle?

I love to look closely at bramble flowers in summer, you never know quite what you might find and this chance encounter with a small beetle I did not recognise was to reveal one of the most remarkable associations between species that I have come across. This beetle is known as the fairy-ring longhorn (Pseudovadonia livida) because although the adult beetle lives most of its life nectaring on flowers, its larvae a thrive in soil infested by the fairy-ring champignon fungus! I know some insects are dependent on other insects but an insect dependant on a fungus must surely be unique to this species?

Widespread in southern England but not that common it can be found from May until September. Given fairy rings

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Pale Butterwort: a sticky wicket

I expect most of us are familiar with the insectivorous plants known as sundews but perhaps many do not realise that the bogs and fens of the Dorset heath have other such plants that feed on insects; the butterworts. Although much more common on the moors of northern England, Wales and Scotland butterworts can be found here in Dorset and more so the pale butterwort (Pinguicula lusitanica) which has a preference for acidic conditions, its cousin the common butterwort prefers limestone.

Butterworts have a single small flower on a slender stem that emerges from the centre of a star of olive green, pointed leaves. The leaves are sticky and insects become glued to them. The leaves then curl inwards to cover the victim and the plant dissolves its prey. A bit of a nightmare scenario for the poor insect! The little flower self pollinates and

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Red-banded Sand Wasp: living down under

Not all wasps are yellow and black and spoil your barbecue or picnic! There are many species of wasps and can be quite variable despite being closely related. Some nest in communities like the familiar common wasp but others are solitary with the females living alone and bring up their young without hordes of workers to help.

The red-banded sand wasp (Ammophila sabulosa)  is one of those solitary species. They nest underground and the sandy soil of the Purbeck heaths is ideal for them. They have an interesting way of life; having dug their burrow they then find a caterpillar or other insect larvae, often much bigger than itself, and paralyse it with their sting and then carry or drag the victim back to the burrow. Once underground they lay their eggs on their prey so that the hatchling larvae have a ready made food supply. That may seem a bit gruesome but it is actually no different to us killing a cow for our Sunday joint.

The adult wasps can be seen from June through until September across dry heathland in Purbeck. There are similar species but

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Sainfoin: devoured by donkeys

Just one look at this lovely flower, sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia), and you can instantly see that it is a member of the pea family, a legume. Indeed, it is a striking member of the clover family with conspicuous purple flower spikes which make it somewhat unique amongst its cousins who tend to have rounded flower heads. Sainfoin flowers from June until August.

Sainfoin was once grown as a fodder crop for farm animals and survives in some grassy areas on lime soils; notably the meadows at Durlston. Although my book describes it as 'frequent' I have only found it there and along the coast at St Adhelms Head. The name, according to Wikipedia, derives from old French sain-foin meaning dry hay and its Latin family name, Onobrychis, comes from ancient Greek and means 'devoured by donkeys'!

This is a plant beloved by insects, especially bees, for its pollen and nectar as well as being the food plant of some butterflies. It also has medicinal properties for humans so, all in all, it is a jolly good flower to

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Hoverfly: Parasyrphus vittiger

With experience there comes a time when you see a fleeting glimpse of a bird and you know what it is instantly even though you did not see its plumage colouring or anything else in detail. A well known ornithologist, T A Coward, is credited with making the term popular by using it in a book he wrote in 1922 but whether he invented the term is not clear. There are various suggestions as to its origination but, to me, it stands for 'just is'. "Why was that flash a robin?"; answer "I can't explain, it just is, I could tell by its jizz."

What on earth has that got to do with a hoverfly? Well, jizz can apply to virtually anything and sometimes it does not tell you what a species is but it tells you that something you have seen is possibly something you have not encountered before. So it was with this hoverfly, Parasyrphus vittiger. 

I was walking on heathland with conifers nearby in September and I saw and photographed this insect visiting the last remaining heather flowers. There are several species with yellow and black bands on the abdomen but there was something about the jizz of this one that struck me as being different. Armed with the photograph, the date

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Shelduck: the shell eating duck

A visit to Poole Harbour at any time of year will undoubtedly yield a number of these handsome ducks. In winter, however, the numbers increase with birds coming south from northern Britain and Scandinavia.

The shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) is not actually a duck, and It not a goose either! Scientifically, it placed between the two and actually, it is not hard to see why as it displays characteristics of both. The diet of a shelduck is somewhat different to ducks and geese who tend to be vegetarian. Shelduck eat enormous numbers if hydrobia which are tiny molluscs that live in our estuary mud flats. Molluscs have shells hence the name - shelduck. The duck that eats shells; easy!

Males and females are very similar but the male (as in this photo) has a broader brown waste band.

Shelduck make their nests in burrows, often those of rabbits. How does such a large bird

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Lucerne: an insectary plant

Much of the wild flora in our countryside occurs as a result of human intervention. Many flowers that we now deem to be 'wild flowers' were originally brought here to adorn our gardens but, through various means, they have escaped to become naturalised. Some are welcome, some not so. Over the years the range of crops humans have sewn and reaped for food or have grown as fodder for farm animals has changed. Once fashionable plants are no longer seen in our fields except where they have self seeded, avoided the sprays and successfully continued to prosper. Once such plant is lucerne (Medicago sativa). 

Lucerne is a member of the pea family, it is a clover. Once commonly grown as a fodder crop it still lingers in places. The flowers appear between June and September and vary in colour from violet to rich purple depending on the soil. It is a very popular flower with insects and is planted in some parts of the world to enhance insect activity and to aid pollination of other crops planted with it. It is, therefore, considered an insectary; a place where insects are reared.

Known in the United States as alfalfa, lucerne is

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Hoverfly: Meliscaeva cinctella

Whilst a few hoverflies are readily identifiable many are, for one reason or another, very difficult. Despite being armed with a good field guide such as "Britain's Hoverflies" written by two national experts, Stuart Ball and Roger Morris, it remains a significant challenge. Even a photograph cannot help sometimes! Help is at hand, however, in the form of the Open University's iSpot website where experts from across the country keep an eye on photographs submitted and, quite often, they are able to name the species.

So it was with this little hoverfly. After thumbing through the book several times I had absolutely no idea what it was so I put it on iSpot and in no time at all I had the answer, Meliscaeva cinctella.  Armed with this knowledge I was able to go back the book and match my photograph to the image and text there; it is how I learn new things.

For the record Meliscaeva cinctella is a woodland species (I saw this one in woodland) that frequents woodland flowers such as bramble and umbellifers in mid summer, especially August which is when I found this one. It is a common and widespread species across the whole of the country. Its markings are unique but

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Tobacco-coloured Longhorn Beetle

The tobacco-coloured longhornbeetle (Alosterna tabacicolor) is a small beetle with huge antennae that are twice the length of the body so it is fully deserving the title of a longhorn (the antennae are not horns of course). The beetlke itself has a black thorax and head but the wing cases (the elytra) are, you guessed, tobaco coloured hence the other part of its common name.

This beetle is found in woodlands where the larvae feed on damp, rotten wood, especially soft woods like conifers and so can be found in the Corsican pine plantations in Dorset. The adult beetles visit flowers for food and the best place to find them is on the heads of flowers that occur along the rides and pathways in woodlands. They are widerspread and not uncommon in southern England from April 

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Lousewort: the cause not the cure

In areas of damp heath, often where there is grass rather than heather, you will often find lousewort (Pedicularis sylvatica). It can also occur in quite wet areas of bog and myre. It is a low growing plant that spreads along the along the ground producing pink or purple flowers that have a top lip that is longer and overhangs three smaller ones along the bottom.

It flowers from May until July and the blooms look much like those of the deadnettle family (the labiates) but lousewort is more closely related to the broomrapes and as such is a parasitic plant. Unlike broomrapes which tend to have specific hosts lousewort is more generalist although it seems to have a preference for grasses. Lousewort is actually hemi-parasitic so partly fends for itself and that is why it has green chlorophyll which the true broomrapes lack.

Lousewort does not get its name as a an old cure for lice, quite the opposite. It was thought 

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Marsh Harrier: hurray for the harrier

OK! OK! I know this is not a good photograph, but the circumstance surrounding it are truly amazing in my view. This is a photograph of one of the United Kingdom's rarest birds of prey, certainly as a breeding species. But that is not all; this photograph was taken in the middle of one of Dorset's largest towns, Weymouth. And that is not all; a pair of marsh harriers (Circus aeruginosus) have now bred in the middle of this large town! 

Take a minute to think about that; this is actually one of the most surprising and encouraging successes for bird conservation in recent times. No breed and release scheme here. This is down to planning and careful habitat management to create the right conditions for this bird to thrive. I may be wrong, but the last time this was truly successful was probably in the 1980's at Minsmere and the recolonisation of our eastern marshland by the Avocet.

 

Both projects were the result of expert and excellent work by the RSPB and

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Scarlet Pimpernel: poor mans weather-glass

There can be few more distinctive wild flowers than the scarlet pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis) and it is one I am sure we can all name on sight. The small, prostrate plant with clear red flowers is instantly recognisable and its popular name is one we learn at an early age. It flowers from May until September and is visible throughout the summer on disturbed ground and so is suited to arable fields and gardens where it is quite common.

What else can I tell you about this familiar plant that you will not already know? Very little in fact. One would expect such a popular plant (the emblem of the famous fictional character of the French Revolution of course) to be steeped in folk-lore but I can find nothing of note other than it has an old country name of the poor man's weather-glass because the flowers close up in when the sun goes in. I find it a bit strange that it should be called that given any poor man would know the sun had gone in without needing to look at a flower to tell!

This plant is found in all corners of the world and

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Hoverfly: Volucella zonaria

This hoverfly, Volucella zonaria, is yet another that mimics other, more fearsome, insects; in this case the hornet. Hornets are renowned for having a very painful sting and some people are terrified of them although the number of cases of hornet stings I believe is very low as there are few hornets these days and, in any event, they do not sting unless under threat. Sadly, this lovely, harmless hoverfly can strike panic in to people when it turns up in their gardens looking for nectar supplies.

Volucella zonaria is the largest species of hoverfly found in Britain and its appearance as a hornet mimic has a purpose, they lay their eggs in hornets nests but, more often, also in wasps nests where the larvae feed on debris in the bottom of the nest. That disguise certainly helps them avoid attack!

This is a fairly recent coloniser of southern Britain being first recorded in the 1930's. After establishing itself in the London area it has now spread west and north and can be found in Dorset quite frequently, especially around Bournemouth and Poole. It is very fond of buddleja and other such shrubs often found in gardens where it is most often seen. I suppose 

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Yorkshire Fog: the iconic grass species

To my mind there is one grass species above all others that speaks for its kind; Yorkshire-fog (Holcus lanatus). As well as being one of our most widespread and common species it is the one that nearly everyone would recognise even if they could not name it. I am probably a bit odd but I think the emerging flower head of Yorkshire-fog is a thing of real beauty, a beauty that my poor photography cannot capture.

Found in grassy locations everywhere from meadows to roadside verges to waste ground to open woodland glades, Yorkshire-fog is, to use the favoured Springwatch phrase, the iconic grass species. When first emerging it produces thick, close-knit spikes of purple florets which then open out in to glorious triangular shaped heads with the florets on layers of branches each decreasing in length as you go up the stem with the newest at the top still yet to open, it is like a Christmas tree! The florets become creamy-white as they open.

It flowers from July until September and can form great swaths of colour gently swaying in the summer breeze, almost a white haze over a meadow and that is, 

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Nipplewort: not just another dandelion

Dandelion-type flowers can be a real trial for even the experienced botanist on occasions so what chance have we amateurs got? Well, with a little thought, we have a chance with some and this one, nipplewort (Lapsana communis), is a good start.

Nipplewort is a fairly tall plant growing to a metre or more tall and so it cannot be a dandelion. The plant has multiple flowers on shorter branches emanating from a central stem so it cannot be a dandelion. The leaves are not toothed they are fragmented and they do not form a basal rosette but grow out from the central stem so it cannot be a dandelion. The flowers themselves are quite small and simple whereas a dandelion has bold, complex flowers. Nipplewort is a common plant of shady hedgerows and woodland whereas dandelions are found in the open in grassy areas. Hopefully you are getting the idea!

Nipplewort is part of a 'subset' of the dandelion family known as hawkbits and, with experience and using the various features of the flower it is possible to distinguish between them but it does take practice.

So, you are all asking "Why is it called nipplewort?"

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Dung Beetle: Aphodius rufipes

Imagine a world where animal dung stayed forever just as it was when it hit the ground! Nature wastes nothing, however, and fungi get to work on this material breaking it down and so too do species of beetles, the so called dung beetles or scarabs; Aphodius rufipes is one such creature. Mainly nocturnal and spending much time under ground this beetle is rarely seen although is apparently quite common. It is attracted to light and sometimes turns up in my moth trap. 

This beetle is just under an inch long and its wing cases (elytra) are anything from dark red to black but the legs are usually red and that makes this species distinctive when compared to other similar beetles.

This little chap goes about its work unnoticed but we should

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Heath Speedwell: common gipsyweed

Although heath speedwell (Veronica officinalis) has the classic 'speedwell' petal arrangement with three rounded petals above a single pointed one it is not always immediately obvious that this plant is a speedwell because each flower is so small. When you examine it more closely it becomes more obvious that it is the same family as the more familar germander speedwell of thre common field speedwell, often known as bird's-eye.

Heath speedwell is an attractive little plant that grows on heath or acid grassland. It forms mats of haisy lttle plants with each stem having a spike of small mauve, sometimes purple, flowers.  It flowers from May until August and is not that common but where it occurs there is usually quite a lot of it.

Also known as common gipsyweed it has medicinal properties and has been used for calming coughs and settling digestive disorders. Back in the 19th Century the French also used the leaves to make a tea

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Dipper: Dipping out

I always associated the dipper (Cinclus cinclus) with fast running streams in the granite country of Dartmoor, Wales, northern England and Scotland so when I moced to Dorset I was surprised to find that dipper occur on the species list of some nature reserves in Dorset. Further research reveals that they are pretty rare in Dorset but do occur in the far west of the county on the upper reaches of the River Frome and on a couple of its tributaries. It is listed as occurring at Kingcombe and Brackets Copse which both have fast flowing streams running through them but how recent or reliable these records are I do not know.

The best source of information about this sort of thing is, naturally I suppose, the excellent annual report published by the Dorset Bird Club which seems to suggest a couple of pairs nest on the Frome near Frampton and Maiden Newton where the river is much wider than at KIngcombe or Brackets but still quite fast flowing. I have had a couple of forays across to the far side of the county in the hope of seeing them but, to use the 'twitchers' term for failing to spot ones prey, I dipped out!

The photograph I have I took in Wales 

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Field Pepperwort: bedded in

When we first moved to Dorset we were fortunate to soon make some new friends who invited us round to their place for tea one Sunday afternoon. As out hosts showed us round their garden I was somewhat concerned to see the flower beds in places were full of field pepperwort (Lepidium campestre). Field pepperwort is a vigorous weed of cultivation and spreads quickly through the masses of seeds it produces. What was I to say? Fortunately the wife of the couple said "I like this flower but I don't know what it is" at which point I was able to tell her. When we next saw their garden there was no trace of the field pepperwort!

Field pepperwort is one of those wild flowers that is not that common but where it does occur there is a lot of it. Certainly the wild and waste places around Wareham have a good amount of it as does, or at least could be, our garden. It certainly thrives on thin, bare soils and gardens, arable fields, waste ground, even paths and gutters are ideal for it.

An erect, tall plant, often growing a couple of feet tall with flowers at the top of the stem and seed heads bellow, quite typical of the cabbage

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Hoverfly: Volucella pellucens

I have a real soft spot for hoverflies and this one, Volucella pellucens, has a particular place in my heart. When I first got the 'bug' for nature watching my interest was, as it is with many people, in birds but one day in the summer of 1986 I was walking along a country lane with brambles in the hedgerow and I saw one of these on a bramble flower. I guess it was love at first sight! I had no idea what it was but I was mesmerised and took a series of snaps of it and then I had to find someone to identify it for me; thanks to the Southampton Natural History Society I soon found out exactly what it was.

With my eyes opened I started looking for insects as well as birds; flowers and everything else soon followed. That encounter with this insect that day changed my whole perspective and opened up a new fascinating world for me. So it is, perhaps, not surprising that this little creature is one of my favourite insects!

Volucella pellucens is a striking black and white insect and is sometimes known as the great pied hoverfly. It is a devotee of brambles and is most often found around bramble bushes, often those in clearings in woodlands and copses. The males are very territorial and hover in the middle of their established piece of air space, often several metres above the ground.

They fly from May through to

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Soft Brome: bull grass

I have been criticised in the past for applying 'emotional' adjectives to certain animals and plants. It seems describing an flower as beautiful or an insect as ugly is just not scientific and human emotion should be left out of descriptions. However, having been bit of a rebel all my life I am going to do it again and describe soft brome (Bromus hordeaceus) as a very elegant grass species.

Soft brome does not grow particularly tall, anything from one to three fee depending on the conditions that exist where it is growing, but it holds its head up proudly and does not bow over like most other bromes. The spikelets are formed in a narrow cluster at the top of the stem and point upwards. The stems and leaves are generally hairy and the leaves are quite small, narrow and pointed, and grow alternately up the stem.

Probably the most common species of brome, soft brome grows on roadside verges, on waste ground, in meadows and also on cultivated ground where, naturally, it is considered a weed. It flowers from May until August.

Read more: Soft Brome: bull grass

Groundsel: the old man of spring

A quick survey of wild flowers in our garden shows that after the tiny hairy bittercress the rather dull groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) is the next most common species. Whilst the bittercress is the one my wife hates the most, for me it has to be groundsel. I am usually pretty positive about most animal and plant species but I am afraid groundsel is just ... irritating. It is that 'pull on site' weed for me!

It is a member of the daisy family although it lacks the white ring of petals, instead having yellow rays a bit like a closed up dandelion. Once they go to seed the flowers certainly look like miniature dandelion clocks. It is variable in height growing anywhere to a foot tall. The leaves are narrow, pointed and have jagged edges. 

Groundel flowers all year round and has many country names, one of which the the old man of spring! It is described as being both tenacious and noxious although not considered

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Soldier Beetle: Cantharis nigricans

My first memories of soldiers dates back to pictures of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953. I remember seeing the 'reds' and the 'blues' on their horses accompanying the state coach to Westminster Abbey. With soldier beetles we have the 'reds', the so called 'bloodsucker' beetles, and the blues represented by this little chap, Cantharis nigricans. Actually Cantharis nigricans is more grey than blue but for me they are still the 'blues'!

There is some debate, it seems, as to why they are called soldier beetles but their bright colours recalling the tunics of soldiers is certainly one reason put forward and understandably so. However, the common red soldier beetle is so numerous in summer it is as though there are armies of them and hence the name of soldier beetle for that particular species and that has then been applied to the family as a whole. Cantharis nigricans is far less common that the red soldier beetle and one does not see armies of the 'blues'.

Cantharis nigricans has a preference for damp vegetation where it wanders across leaves looking for small insects

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Wood Sage: not one for the pot

Although bearing the name wood sage (Teucrium scorodonia) it is not a woodland plant as one might assume. It is much more frequently found on dry, sandy and acidic soils and, in Dorset, that generally means heathland although not exclusively so. I suspect the name wood sage comes from the woody texture of its stem rather than its preferred habitat.

Wood sage is very common in the right habitat and is quite unmistakeable being a stout plant, growing to between one and two feet tall. As I say, it has a sturdy stem and pointed, pale, downy leaves. The flowers are small, pale greenish yellow trumpets that run down the stem. There is no other flower that comes to mind that is quite like it. It is a member of the germander family which are related to mints (or labiates) and bear many features of this group of plants. It is also known as wood germander.

This plant flowers from July to September but is visible virtually all year round as it is a sturdy perennial. Although sharing a name with sage

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Grey Wagtail: bridge over troubled waters

There was a time, not that many years ago, when you could stand on any bridge over a Dorset river and you would see a grey wagtail (Motacilla cinerea), well probably two, a nesting pair. They were quite common birds on streams and rivers where they fed on insects but it seems that now it is quite unusual to see them. Where did they go? Another species whose population level has crashed in the last twenty years or so and yet another indicator that all is not well in our countryside and rivers. 

One of the first things you notice about the grey wagtail is that it is yellow! Many people think that they are, in fact, yellow wagtails, but the yellow wagtail is much more yellow than the grey which is so named because it flanks and front are grey.  The two species are quite different in colouration and can easily be told apart, especially when you consider that they frequent very different habitats.

The grey wagtail has the long tail that bobs up and down (or 'wags')

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Hairy Bittercress: let battle commence

Hairy bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) may be a little plant but, in the wrong place, it can be a big problem! One of the wrong places appears to be our garden where despite my wife declaring war on it the more she attacks it the stronger it seems to come back. In fact, by pulling it out one merely helps to spread its seeds as the pods burst when touched. The seeds can germinate quickly and soon increase the number of plants you have. I try to explain this but the approach remains the same, pull on sight. 

It is such a shame that all forms of cultivation and wild flowers seem to be in direct conflict. Hairy bittercress is not a 'looker' as far as gardeners are concerned and so it has to go; and the same applies with other 'weeds' too, of course. Seeds often come in to gardens with plants purchased from garden centres and nurseries.

As a cress it is a member of the cabbage (crucifereae) family with four white petals but being a small flower this is not always obvious. It has the capacity to grow all year round in

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Hoverfly: Volucella bombylans

This hoverfly has a truly remarkable resemblance to a bumblebee and there is a good reason for it; they lay their eggs in bumblebees nests and to achieve this without being attacked by the bees the adult fly disguises itself as a bee! This is not a parasitic species, however, the hoverfly's larvae feed on debris in the bottom of the nest.

Volucella bombylans comes in three forms. One looks like a red-tailed bumblebee, the one in my photograph looks like a white-tailed bumblebee and there is a much rarer variety that looks like the common carder bee.

This is a widespread and quite common species, especially in woodlands, where the males can be very territorial and defend their territory that they establish in a woodland glade. They may be quite common but

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Barren Brome: sterile oats

The classic and rather lovely falling tassels of oat-like flowers makes barren brome (Anisantha sterilis) one of the more distinctive grasses of our hedgerows and roadsides.  It is quite common and readily occurs in suitable habitat flowering from May until July. The leaves are long and narrow, are a bluish/green colour and hairy whereas the main stem of the plant is smooth.

As well as being called barren brome it is also known as sterile brome (the Latin name is sterilis) and poverty brome but I am at a loss as to why it bears these names because the plant is self-pollinating and produces ripe seeds. If it is barren or sterile that would imply that it would not have ripe seeds would it not? Anyone who can shed light on this please let me know.

Growing between sea level and 365 meters it can be an invasive species in the wrong place and in some quarters it is deemed an obnoxious weed 

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Pineappleweed: a fruit squash

Pineappleweed (Matricaria discoidea) has two distinctive characteristics that mean that it should never go unidentified by anyone who takes the trouble to look at it; its petals and its scent.

I say that its petals are distinctive but they are distinctive by their absence. When you look at pineappleweed it looks every bit a daisy flower like scentless mayweed or chamomile except the petals are just not there, they have not fallen off, the plant never had any in the first place! Despite this lack of petals the plant obviously manages to pollinate and spread as it is one of our most successful colonisers of waste ground and paths. The central piece of the flower looks a little like a pineapple but that is not how it got its name.

The name comes from its second distinctive feature, its scent. Pick a piece of pineappleweed, squash it your fingers and take a sniff. What is that familiar smell? Yes, of course, its smells like pineapple.

It seems that this is a native of north America 

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Common Whirligig Beetle: never decreasing circles

So, you are not impressed with the photograph? Well, you try taking a picture of a tiny beetle about 5mm long that is charging around in circles on the surface of water! This is my best result yet but I am still trying.

There are eleven species of whirligig beetle in the United Kingdom and I am assuming this is by far the most frequent, the common whirligig (Gyrinus substriatus) but without catching one and examining it under a microscope I cannot be sure.

The curious habit of swimming rapidly in circles is presumably something to do with hunting for food. They feed on virtually anything that falls on to the surface of water and so either they swim around frantically hoping to find something or there is some clever science at work here, I have not been able to establish which as yet. What is interesting is that they have two pairs of eyes, one for seeing above the water surface and the other below. Jusy how does a tiny creature have the room for four eyes on its head? And how can they pack a brain clever enough to cope with processing all the information from its four eyes

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Common Dodder: the devils guts

The Dorset heaths are a really different sort of habitat to almost anywhere else in the county with some unique species to be found. One of those is common dodder (Cuscuta epithymum) although actually is not totally a heathland species but it seems it is most likely to be found there because it is a parasitic plant that grows on gorse and heather species. It was once found in corn fields and pasture, clovers are another host, but it has been almost totally eradicated from food growing areas now by spraying.

Common dodder is a member of the bindweed family and produces the same 'streamer' stems which entwine anti-clockwise and along which the tiny pink, five petalled flowers form in July and August. Being parasitic it has no roots and does not have chlorophyll as it draws the nutrients it needs from its host hence the stems are red/brown and so merge in with the heathers where it is most commonly found. That, and the tiny flowers, mean that common dodder can be very easily overlooked.

It has a number of country names and many of these reflect the 'supernatural' absence of roots

Read more: Common Dodder: the devils guts

Reed Bunting: an unfulfilled prophecy

My favourite bird identification book was published back in 1978, the year I started 'birding'. It says "Many birds suffer from human activity but a few show sufficient adaptability to profit from change and the reed bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) is one of these." Back then we regularly had reed buntings in our garden during the winter months and I would frequently see them on farmland around where we were living. Reed buntings then were common! 

How things change; those words from my book I quoted seem far from true now. The reed bunting has declined substantially in recent years and is is now nationally and locally scarce, usually seen only in its established habitat of Phragmytes reed beds. It is now on the 'Red List' for endangered species. The reed bunting was dependent on farmland for food in winter but modern farming methods which turn fields green with winter wheat rather than brown with corn stubble has hit this (any many other species too of course) very badly.

The reed bunting is a distinctive looking bird with that vivid white moustache and the noticeable pale eye stripe. The male 

Read more: Reed Bunting: an unfulfilled prophecy

Thale Cress: the gutter cress

Living on a development of bungalows build back in the 1960's our roads do not get much attention from the local council. That is not a complaint, I am actually quite pleased as we get all manner of wild flowers growing in the gutters and along the pavements and walls! I had never seen thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) until we moved here back in 2006 but it is quite common around our local roads.

Although quite a common weed of cultivation it does not generally occur on lime soils and much of the cultivated fields of Dorset and Hampshire are on the chalk downs. I am sure that is one of the reasons I missed it previously but there is another reason I suspect. Thale cress is a small, frail plant with just a few tiny four-petalled flowers at the top of the stem, easily overlooked in a field but less so in a roadside gutter.

The amazing thing about thale cress is that despite its very small flowers they create long, thin, cylindrical seed pods which point upwards. This distinguishes it at once from the similar shepherd's purse whose fruits are very different.

Thale cress is now used

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Hoverfly: Eupeodes corollae

Just as many of our wild flowers are coming to an end so the ivy flowers burst out. An inconspicuous flower perhaps but, nonetheless, an invaluable nectar source for late summer insects, especially bees and hoverflies. Here I found one of the wasp-mimicking hoverflies, Eupeodes corollae, taking a rest after enjoying the rewards from a newly opened Ivy blossom. 

This group of hoverflies is a tricky one and the pattern of the yellow patches on the back can be a key identifier but they can vary within the same species! In some cases the differences between species can be very small indeed, even down to the pattern of veins in the wings or the presence of hairs on the legs or even the eyes.

Eupeodes corollae is one of the most common of our hoverflies and can be abundant in some years, with migratory insects coming in from Europe. It can be found from April through to October and even in to November when conditions remain favourable although it is most common in late-summer. You can find it on flowers in gardens, fields and

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Hairy brome: the woodland oats

Hairy brome (Bromopsis ramosa) is a grass found in woodlands on rich soils and so is also known as wood brome. Bromes tend to have droopy heads with flowers almost like tassels and hairy brome certainly displays those features. Bromes are related to the oat grasses and the florets have longish, thin spiked florets.

Hairy brome is quite a tall grass, anything from 1 to 1.5 metres tall and it has long, narrow leaf that has hairs on the surface, hence hence the common name. The flower heads bend forward under the weight of the florets that run along a series of very slender stems, four of five florets to a stem. These flowers are in full flow during July and August.

This grass should not be confused with other species although giant fescue might seem similar 

Read more: Hairy brome: the woodland oats

Scentless Mayweed: daisy of the fields

Nobody who has been for a walk in the countryside and crossed an arable farm field cannot have failed to notice this daisy flower and perhaps rather taken it for granted and not given a thought to its name; it is just a daisy. Its common name is scentless mayweed (Tripleurospermum inodorum) although it is also known as false chamomile.

Scentless mayweed is undoubtedly one of our most common weeds of cultivation but it is one of seven superficially similar species and it would be quite possible for the casual observer like me to dismiss them all as scentless mayweed without a second thought. Sea mayweed is found in a different environment but the others are all likely to be found on disturbed soils, usually that means farmland and as a result most of the six have declined considerably in recent times due to the extensive use of herbicides; somehow though, scentless mayweed soldiers on! It is a European species but it has spread to north America where it is considered an obnoxious weed. 

The name mayweed is somewhat misleading as it actually flowers 



Read more: Scentless Mayweed: daisy of the fields