Proyecto Lepides – Recorrido A, 30TVN09, Casar de Periedo – 13.02.16

February 13, 2016 bartvanhoof30TVN09, Aglais io, butterflies, Cantabria, Casar de Periedo, Colias croceus, Gonepteryx cleopatra, Gonepteryx rhamni, Lasiommata megera, Pararge aegeria, Pieris rapae, Proyecto Lepides, Recorrido A, Spain, Vanessa atalantaLeave a comment

Introduction
When I woke up, at around 7am, it was still fairly dark out but I could see if would be a nice morning. By 10am I was ready to go and knew that I’d still have a window of sunshine before the rain would come back. Since the start of the month it has been raining almost non-stop.

Recorrido A – 13.02.16 – 30TVN09, Casar de Periedo
The weather was quite good to start with, I didn’t need to wear a sweater. It was sunny with no clouds in sight and no wind at all, at 10am it was 14C. About halfway it was probably up to 17C or so, but towards the end of the route, the wind picked up a bit (not too much) and there was a lot of cloud cover all of a sudden, was back down to 16C when I got home around 12 noon. A little while later the rain was out (in good amounts too!).

I wasn’t expecting much … the rain had been almost constant over the previous days and the ground was really soggy everywhere in the fields. I stopped to look at some birds, when I spotted something dark flittering through this strange soggy/grassy area … I quickly aimed my binoculars in the distance and as I was focusing in saw flashes of white on the wing-tips

Red Admiral in Cantabria, Spain. 13.02.16

… I instantly recognised this from the previous year … Vanessa atalanta (Red Admiral) … the butterfly dipped behind a large tussock of grass and so I dived into the soggy field to get confirmation (mostly for myself, as I really like to be sure about an ID, especially so early in the year). With some difficulty I was able to get a couple of bad photographs in (that thankfully do show the required characteristics) for a positive ID.

After a short while there were three in fairly quick succession along the route (I took a 15 min. detour to see if I could buy something for my son at the gas-station) and those were the regular patrons along the transect; Gonepteryx rhamni (Brimstone), Pieris rapae (Small White) and Pararge aegeria (Speckled Wood). At one point I’d seen so many Speckled Wood that I stopped counting, I also didn’t take pictures anymore, they were just everywhere. Although, I did take one funny snapshot of a copula and a male sitting on the two, waiting.

Speckled Wood in Cantabria, Spain. 13.02.16 - copula + male — Speckled Wood in Cantabria, Spain. 13.02.16 – copula + male

It was at my favourite spot along the transect that I spotted something odd … I thought it was a Speckled Wood by the general colouring, but I found it strange that the butterfly was so small (max. 2/3 of what I’d normally expect) and it was behaving in a strange manner. It hugged along a vertical embankment along the road, stopping here and there, usually under grass, twigs etc. What was this? I took many pictures, hoping to get an underside picture, but that proved very difficult (though in the end I managed it). I had an idea what it might be, but I’d only seen this butterfly once before and it had been exceptionally difficult to photograph too. Later when I got home I conformed my suspicion … Lasiommata megera (Wall Brown) … and I also saw that she was placing eggs (or so it seems!). I cursed that I hadn’t picked up that detail in the field.

Wall Brown in Cantabria, Spain. 13.02.16

Wall Brown in Cantabria, Spain. 13.02.16 - underside. — Wall Brown in Cantabria, Spain. 13.02.16 – underside.

I continued on, within a minute both a Colias croceus (Clouded Yellow) and Aglais io (Peacock) flew by at great speeds. Luckily those are fairly easy to ID in flight, especially as the Clouded Yellow was a male. A week earlier, on a walk nearby I’d been surprised to see a Clouded Yellow … I’d been pushing the stroller, looking at the ground and spotted a strange yellow leaf, strange as everything else was brown in mud, fallen leaves etc. I was able to get really close to it (was practically next to me anyway when I walked past it) and got some good pictures.

On I went, looking at butterflies through my binoculars, checking out the Buteo buteo (Common Buzzards) circling overhead … and then, as I was looking at a Brimstone (or so I thought) zip by I noticed flashes of orange … wait a minute … Brimstone don’t have orange, but Cleopatra do! I jogged along after it till it settled down (luckily not far off) and took some pictures. I also made sure to take one just as it set of for its next short journey, the flash of orange was clear on the picture, Gonepteryx cleopatra (Cleopatra), my first confirmed ID of this species by photo.

Picking up the pace a bit I headed home, the wind was picking up and it was starting to feel a bit chilly (had left my jacket at home), but was happy that I’d spotted a new species (the Cleopatra) for the UTM square I am monitoring.

Summary
– Vanessa atalanta — 1 (first of the year).
– Gonepteryx rhamni — around 10 in total.
– Pieris rapae — 3.
– Pararge aegeria — I stopped counting after 20 … maybe 30 in total?
– Lasiommata megera — 1 (first of the year).
– Colias croceus — 1 (I’d seen one a week earlier but not along this transect).
– Aglais io — between 10 and 15 in total.
– Gonepteryx cleopatra — 1 certain, probably 2 (first of the year).

Species year total — 9 (2015 – 45).

Further Reading
– My sightings for the day on Observation.org.

Butterfly Bulletin – Dryad – Minois dryas (Scopoli, 1763)

February 11, 2016February 14, 2016 bartvanhoofbutterflies, Cantabria, minois dryas, Proyecto Lepides, SpainLeave a comment

Introduction
As I stated in a previous post, butterflies are one of the drivers behind this blog. So, I thought I’d start my Butterfly Bulletin posts off with one of the most spectacular species I managed to see in 2015 … and that I hope to see many more times.

Mid-August I was out with my oldest son, we had gone for a walk (him in the stroller) around his siesta time so that he could have a bit of a rest, the new addition to the family (at that time around 1 month old) was tiring us all out a bit (i.e. lack of sleep) … so I decided to walk Recorrido A of my volunteer walks for Proyecto Lepides.

With my son snoring away we’d reached the back part of the route, with a south facing hill covered with trees on one side of the road and fields on the other. I was just rounding onto that stretch of paved road when out of the corner of my eye I noticed something dark and big flopping around in the field to my right. I pushed the stroller to the bank-side (son facing the field in case he woke up), put on the brakes and dived into the field, camera at the ready …

Dryad
A few quick shots of the camera and I knew I was onto something interesting … while going through my Tolman/Lewington guide (Collins, 2009) during the previous winter months, Minois dryas had been one of the species that I’d marked as hoping to see. I had no idea that this was a fairly rare species (not that clear in the field guide) in this part of its range. In general, the Dryad can be found across a band stretching across the central area of Europe and further on to Japan even. There is a slight sliver of its range that hugs the northern coast of Spain from País Vasco to Asturias (the Cantabrian Mountains). The Dryad can be found between 100-1600m in grassy and bushy margins of mixed deciduous woodland, often in damp places … the field I found her in (turned out to be a female) was thus the perfect habitat, all be it slightly below the altitude range (by about 10m).

When I spotted the butterfly, it was flying just above the grass, not in any determined fashion, but more floppily. As I entered the field it settled down in the grass (my first photos were from a side angle, see below), I slowly circled around a bit so that I could get a picture of the fully open wings. She just sat there, relaxed. I was able to creep a bit closer, but I almost always remain at a distance so no to disturb the butterfly, I did so here too. When I was satisfied I’d taken enough photos I headed back to the stroller. As I walked off I glanced back several times and she remained where she was.

Minois dryas has big oceli on the fore and hind wings that have a beautiful tings of blue to them. The one I saw was a bit “beaten up” with arts of her wings missing etc. and so the blue was not as vibrant anymore, still a great sighting and one that will stay with me for quite a while. The female is larger than the male and also has colours that are not as vibrant in general.
It was only when I was uploading the photos and data at home that I realised how special the sighting had been in a general sense.

A few months later, I went to a small exhibition, in a nearby village, on butterfly photography. The museum in which it was held also has some cabinets filled with pinned butterflies. These have been donated by a local lepidopterist. There are many tropical species but also regional species. There were around 4-5 examples of Dryad pinned, each with a tag noting year and region … they were all from the early 2000s (maybe a couple from the 1990s or earlier, cannot remember exactly). The location for all was Novales, a village/area on the other side of the large hill (extended hilly area) to the north …
Will I see this species again in the future? There’s a reasonable chance … maybe she laid eggs somewhere nearby … but, I probably won’t be as lucky as this anymore and will have to put in a lot more effort …

Oh, this butterfly is not on any red list in Spain, but it should be, as it seems to be fast disappearing due to changes in agricultural techniques.

Further Reading
– A PDF with specific distributions of various Satyrinae in Spain, Minois dryas is in that family. In Spanish but easy to understand for non-Spanish speakers.
– A list of my sightings of this butterfly on Observation.org.
– All butterfly sightings in Spain as recorded through Proyecto Lepides.

Flowery Fields Forever – Hoop-petticoat Daffodil – Narcissus bulbocodium (L.)

January 27, 2016January 27, 2016 bartvanhoofCantabria, flower, Narcissus, Plants, Spain, winterLeave a comment

Introduction
Has been a while since a post, too busy with work. Anyway … I thought I’d start with a surprise flower that I saw at the start of January of 2016. Individual, little yellow flowers were scattered across various fields where I was walking (looking for birds). After some searching on internet it turned out to be Narcissus bulbocodium, or Hoop-petticoat Daffodil as its common name.

Hoop-petticoat Daffodil
The Hoop-petticoal Daffodil sits in the Amaryllidacaea family and the Narcissus genus. Apparently there is a specific subspecies of N. bulbocodium in the area where I saw the flower, it is called ssp. citcirrus, but I am not sure what the exact characteristics of the subspecies are.

The flowers emerge early in the year and last till about March. The plants need wet soils, but well draining. This flower also grows from bulbs, usually not in big patches, but individual flowers here and there. I saw these in exactly the same field as the Crocus nudiflorus (see a previous post).

Spain is a hotbed for Narcissus and this particular species is found from southern France down through the Iberian peninsula. It can cross with N. asturiensis, but that plant is found at higher altitudes in the hills (usually around 800+ metres).
In N. bulbocodium the corona (trumpet, as it where) extends out quite a bit and the tepals are thin and spiky. One cannot really mistake the ID of this flower (though I did).

Hoop-petticoat Daffodil (Narcissus bulbocodium) in Cantabria, Spain.

Flower detail of Hoop-petticoat Daffodil (Narcissus bulbocodium) in Cantabria, Spain.

Further Reading
– A link to the Royal Horticultural Society’s page on this plant. More info and how to grow it in your garden.
– A PDF detailing the different Narcissus species in Spain (there are quite a few!). From the Flora Iberica publication, in Spanish, see page 26 for more info.
– A list of my sightings of this flower on Observation.org.

Flowery Fields Forever – Autumn Crocus – Crocus nudiflorus (Sm.)

November 5, 2015November 6, 2015 bartvanhoofautumn, Cantabria, Crocus, flower, Plants, SpainLeave a comment

I do not know much about flowers or plants, but I started taking an interest when I started taking pictures of bumblebees, butterflies and such. Certain bumblebees may only visit certain flowers and such information may help in determining the species of bumblebee. The same is for butterflies, where they will lay eggs on certain plants which will be food for the caterpillars when those hatch.
Secondly, the database where I record my observations has the option of adding the plant species from which an insect was eating, taking pollen or taking nectar. Therefore, knowing the genus (in this case Crocus) or family (in this case Iridaceae) adds extra information to the observation. If you then also know the correct species, great.

Introduction
So I started taking pictures of flowers in April of this year (2015). Mostly of those on which I saw bumblebees, but also of ones that I thought were pretty or strange. These last two categories meant that I took pictures of orchids (see future posts) and of this flower, the Crocus nudiflorus.

Autumn Crocus
The Autumn Crocus is a bit of a weird one in the Crocus genus, as it is one of the species that flowers in the autumn (hence the name) and it grows on humid soils, whereas many other Crocus species prefer well-drained soils (I assume this has to do with the possibility of the corms rotting). This plant spreads through both seeds and corms (the underground bulbs, which produce stolons). The flowers emerge from late September onward and at first there are no leaves visible. The patches of flowers can become quite dense, I saw them this past weekend in a park in Colombres, Asturias and whole areas of grass under the trees was covered in these flowers. The observation from which the photos below are had a lot less flowers, around 15. Crocus nudiflorus is found in southwestern France and along northern Spain, especially in upland areas.

I noticed these flowers in one of the fields nearby that are used for hay and grazing of horses/donkeys. In this area the ground is generally very humid and during the winter months can become quite boggy with all the rain. I think the flowers are poisonous to animals. Anyway, it was great to see this new injection of colour into the landscape, especially as I never expected it and had no idea Crocuses also flowered in the autumn.

When IDing this species here in northern Spain one has to take care not to confuse it with Late Crocus (Crocus serotinus), which looks very similar except for the stamen (both anther and filament) being completely yellow. On Crocus nudiflorus, the anther is yellow and the filament is white/light purple/blue (in the top picture you can see a hint of white filament). There is also the fact about the plant showing leaves or not, but I do not think that is completely reliable in determining the species. Furthermore, I believe that Crocus serotinus likes drier soils.

Autumn Crocus (Crocus nudiflorous) in Cantabria, Spain. — Autumn Crocus (Crocus nudiflorus) in Cantabria, Spain.

Further Reading
– A link to the Alpine Garden Society page on this flower. Has more in-depth information and also a bit more about growing this plant in your garden.
– A PDF detailing the different Crocus species in Spain. From the Fauna Iberica publication and in Spanish. See page 7 for C. nudiflorus.
– My sightings, to date, on Observation.org of this species.

Bee-news – Common Carder Bee – Bombus pascuorum (Scopoli, 1763)

October 29, 2015November 6, 2015 bartvanhoofBee, Bombus, bumblebee, Cantabria, Common Carder, SpainLeave a comment

I was not sure with which insect/animal I’d start off the blog, but have decided to go with the Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum). Since I’ve been out and about in nature (start of 2015) and recording what I see … well, to the extent that I record what I know about and what interests me … this little bumblebee has been present throughout. I first saw one mid March and have seen them around till now (October). Furthermore, I’ve seen them in all types of environments, from in the city, to near the coast to the farmland around our house. So, without further ado …

Introduction
Bumblebees are social bees that form small hives of 50 to maybe 250 individuals, depending on the species. These bees are usually recognised by their roundish, compact, hairy bodies and can be anywhere from around 10mm to over 20mm in size, the larger forms being some of the larger bees you’ll see around and thus when they land on certain flowers the stalks will bend due to the weight of the bee.

Carder
Carder bees are a group of bumblebees that (subgenus Thoracobombus) usually build their nests in grasses etc. near the ground. The nests are built of mosses and such materials. The name carder comes from the term carding in wool-making, which is the separating and cleaning of the wool fibres. The bees do a similar action with their rear legs in taking moss and such.
Here in Cantabria there are a possible 9 species of carder bee present. I’ve seen 4 of which the Bombus pascuorum is by far the most common. 4 of the species are on IUCN’s Red List with a category of Near Threatened or worse, one of those is also on Spain’s Red List as Vulnerable.

Common Carder
So, yes, the Common Carder is quite common, and here too. It is the one little bumblebee I can rely on seeing when going out. One of the reasons why it might not be as famous as the black and yellow cousins is that the colour is a gingery brown, not something that flashes between all the flowers that it visits … as it visits all types of flowers, both for pollen and nectar.
There are 23 subspecies (ssp.) of B. pascuorum and I’m not quite sure which can be found here, more research to do on my part … I think B. p. dusmeti and/or B. p. maculatus, but don’t quote me on that and I don’t know the differences.
One of the things that makes identification difficult is that these bees look quite similar to Bombus muscorum (Moss Carder) and Bombus humilis (Brown-banded Carder) and I’ve seen both those around here too … therefore, when spotting a fresh Common Carder looking bee it takes a clear photo etc. in order to really ID it properly, the other two bees are quite rare. The Common Carder has more black hairs on both the thorax and abdomen. Also you can approach these bees quite closely and really get down to have a good look as they are rummaging about in a flower. Sometimes they are a bit in a rush, but if you’re lucky it is just slowly moving from flower to flower and there will probably be others around so you can just sit and wait for them to come to you. A good sized bush of Lavender is great as they love it (as do other bees and insects!). There is a park in Santander (Las Llamas) where they have huge stretches of lavender … on sunny days those flowers are covered in bumblebees including some Common Carder (however, Buff-tailed Bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) were more common when I was there this past summer).

I’ll post a couple of pictures of Bombus pascuorum bees from around here, however, for this bee other sites (see below) are better to really get a good idea how to properly ID one.

Common Carder on a type of Knapweed (Centaurea spec.) in Cantabria, Spain.

Common Carder on an unknown plant in Cantabria, Spain. — Common Carder on a type of Betany (Stachys spec.) in Cantabria, Spain.

Further Reading
– Here is a link to Steven Falk’s Flickr page, lots of good pictures and basic info. He’s got a book coming out in a week (early November 2015) or so on Bees in GB & Ireland!
– A link to P. Rasmont’s page with a distribution map and some other basic info.
– A link to the Natural History Museum page that gives an overview of the colouration of the Common Carder Bee. I love how they’ve created the images, can at times be better than a drawing. The site can be used to compare different bees’ colourations.
– A link to the IUCN page. Great site.
– The Bumblebee Conservation Trust is a great organisation, especially if you live in the UK, they’ve got a helpful site for the beginner and also a place to upload photos and ID other people’s photos. I’m a member even though I live abroad.
– There’s a cool app for the iPad/iPhone by NatureGuides with great drawings (those will probably be in S. Falk’s book as it is the same artist). I’ve got the Pro version which has been a good resource for info.
– Dave Goulson’s A Sting in the Tail is a fun read about the world of bumblebees.
– My sightings to date on Observation.org of this species in Cantabria.

Searching for Cullum's Bee

Biodiversity of Cantabria

Spain