The Pool Frogs of Greenham Common 15th May 2024

Today, one that promised warm sun, I went to Greenham Common Nature Reserve in the neighbouring county of Berkshire.

In  the dark days of winter past, a chance conversation with a fellow birder alerted me to the fact that it was possible to see  Pool Frogs in a pond at Greenham Common during the months of May and June. I stored this information at the back of my mind until today when I decided to put it to the test.

The pond in question, fairly near the car park is situated away from the main paths in a quiet, neglected corner which is probably just as well as this large reserve can get very busy. Signs tell dog owners, of which there are no shortage, to not allow their dogs to run amok in the pond as.there are other ponds where they can let their dog do its worst if they so wish. By and large the dog owners that come here adhere to the request and if not there are volunteer rangers to ensure they do.

Consequently the pond's habitat has not been trashed, the water is clear and undisturbed and water lilies prosper in one corner whilst the margins are suitably populated with weed and reeds in which the frogs can hide and live out their lives.

I arrived at around 8am which was far too early and for the next hour and a half there was neither sight nor sound of any frog whatsoever. For a thirty minute diversion I walked over to some distant bushes where a Nightingale was singing loudly and even managed a brief glimpse of its russet coloured body as it sang, from deep within a hawthorn thicket.

I returned to the pond more in hope than expectation and as I feared there was  still no sign of any frogs. I had arranged to meet Peter here at 9.30am and was about to concede defeat when simultaneously Peter arrived and I heard the first frog's croak emanating from the far side of the pond .It was 9.30am! 

Pool Frogs breed later than our Common Frogs which commence in March and April whereas the Pool Frogs choose to breed in May and June.As with our Common Frogs the croaking comes from the male Pool Frogs which inflate a sac on each side of their head to create the sound which is surprisingly loud.

The sun was  beginning to warm the shallow water and in turn the frogs, which like to come to the surface to bask in the sun, commenced becoming more active

.

However the first tentative croaks soon fell silent as one of the frog's deadliest predators, a Grass Snake, its cold blood also energised by the sun, swam round the margin of the pond, eventually passing by almost at our feet. Its head was held above the water as its black forked tongue tasted the air. With sinuous grace its long body waved in curves under the water, propelling it forward. I was granted an expressionless pitiless stare from a golden yellow eye and then it was gone into the aquatic vegetation at the margin of the pond. Doubtless a luckless  frog would become its victim.

I have to confess to an uneasy relationship with snakes.On the one hand I feel an instinctive revulsion and fear but on the other a fascination and attraction I cannot rationally account for.

With the snake's departure the frogs croaking recommenced although remaining intermittent and slowly more and more frogs revealed themselves.Never having been to the pond before it took me a little while to familiarise myself with the frogs routine. There were definitely areas of the pond they preferred, close in to the margins where they would lie in the weed at the surface. They were ultra cautious and one had to move very slowly and carefully otherwise they would crash dive below the surface with an audible plop.

Standing quietly in a particularly favoured corner that was sunny, with lots of weed by some overhanging bushes, brought the best results and provided I remained motionless more and more frogs would surface there.

Pool Frogs are similar in size to Common Frogs but if examined closely can be told by their more pointed heads and longer legs. 

The males were in the majority, the larger females much fewer. All were predominantly brown or green in colour, overlain with darker blotches, bars and spots, the markings varying greatly from frog to frog. 

One large individual, possibly a female was intriguingly and attractively spotted all over its body, while others showed varying degrees of green on head and body and all a prominent light yellow or green dorsal stripe running down the entire length of head and back. 

Pool Frogs were, until relatively recently, somewhat shrouded in confusion as to whether they were truly native to Britain. There would appear to be two separate populations, the Northern Pool Frog, very much range restricted and endangered, found in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Estonia; the other, the Southern Pool Frog much more widespread, occurring across a large region of central, southern and eastern Europe into Russia

It has been established that the Northern Pool Frog was indeed native to Britain with bones being discovered that dated from mid Saxon times and there are records documenting their presence in England well before any known frog introductions. Unfortunately just as it was established they were the rarest  of our native amphibians the last known colony at Thompson Common in Norfolk became extinct in 1995!

However in 2000 Northern Pool Frogs from Sweden were re-introduced to two sites in Norfolk, one undisclosed, the other being Thompson Common, their last known location in Britain

This would suggest that the Pool Frogs at Greenham Common are of the southern form and therefore not native and must have been introduced at some point.Not that the frogs care about such semantics

Whatever the provenance it is nice to see them apparently thriving in their undisturbed pond and bringing much pleasure to those who know of them and wish to see them.

So it was that approaching noon I put the camera down and stood, silent and contemplative in the warm sun by the peaceful pond and its raft of water lilies and shared some time in the presence of the frogs, staring inscrutably with goggle eyes as they sunned themselves amongst the tangles of weed.The Nightingale's sublime notes, although coming from afar, clearly audible.

Spring in all its glorious profusion, variety and wonder encapsulated right here. 

A Trio of Orchids 13th May 2024

It has been a quiet few days on the birding front lately, especially after the excitement of the Alpine Accentor in Buckinghamshire last weekend. I fancied a change from birding so opted for another of my obsessions - Britain's native orchids.Now is the season to go out and find them and unlike birds they do not fly away or have gone the next morning so it is a relatively relaxing affair to search for them provided you know where to look.

Britain's fifty or so species of Orchids are both fascinating and beautiful but have suffered from the activities of humans so that now many are in decline due to habitat loss and wilful disturbance.This has resulted in a degree of circumspection and secrecy about sites where orchids are known to grow.So please indulge me keeping the locations of the orchids I went to see today deliberately vague

Although my orchid obsession is in its relative infancy I find I am becoming more and more enthused as not only do you get to see uncommon, strange and charismatic plants but most of the time they grow in beauitful out of the way places where you can, as they say, imbibe the spirit of both place and plant.

I called Peter yesterday who shares my orchid passion to see if he fancied going to look for Bird's nest Orchids. Courtesy of Duncan D. I had been given directions to a site in Gloucestershire where almost two hundred were to be found growing under some mature beech trees, a typical habitat.

I met Peter at my house around 10am and made an hour's drive across the Cotswolds to where the orchids  were to be found. Is it just me or do the trees and bushes seem just that bit extra green and leafy this year due to all the rain? Anyway, after a pleasant drive down narrow rural lanes passing through the aforesaid glorious green countryside of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire we turned into a narrow lane that ran through a mixture of deciduous and conifer woodland. The orchids were to be found growing right by the narrow lane within a green cathedral of huge beech trees.In fact you had no need to leave the lane as many were at eye level, growing on the top of the embankment by the lane and if so inclined you could even stay in the car and view them from there if you wished.

After I parked the car in a tiny layby Peter walked up the deserted lane (we never encountered a passing car the whole time we were there) and I followed.Within minutes Peter located a group of ten Bird's- nest Orchids growing in the deep spongy leaf mould at the top of the embankment.

They are given the name 'Bird's nest' because the abundant fleshy roots are concealed underground in a tangled mass resembling a badly constructed bird's nest.They are by no means spectacular or colourful but still retain the intrinsic charm that all our native orchids possess. The spike consists of anything up to a hundred close packed flowers of a honey brown colour and the substantial stem is paler almost milky white. Some of the plants we saw were around twelve to eighteen inches tall.

Note the two dead stems and split seed capsules from last year's flower spikes

It is not a particularly rare orchid even today, in fact it is still widespread in England despite loss of habitat due to woodland clearance and planting of conifers but for me these orchids were only my second ever sighting, so to see up to forty or fifty from the road, discreetly poking their unexceptional spikes above a thick mulch of rotting beech leaves was a real treat.

They are said to never be abundant but we must have seen over fifty without leaving the lane and we were told that many more, into the hundreds were further back from the lane.

We spent a pleasant forty five minutes photographing and just enjoying them in their lovely peaceful setting.

Duncan had been kind enough to also give us details of other orchids growing relatively nearby..These were a couple of rare hybrid Fly x Bee Orchids growing amongst pure Fly Orchids, and Sword leaved Helleborines. If we could locate them it would make a brilliant day of orchid chasing.

Fired with our success at finding the Bird's-nest Orchids we headed further west into deepest Gloucestershire, following Duncan's directions.

We came to rest on a narrow and quite busy road below a very steep bank of chalk grassland.We were unsure where to go and after several false starts found ourselves heading to where Duncan had dropped a pin on his map.It began to rain.Unforecast I was totally unprepared for its unwelcome arrival but it was at least light, a smirrr as it is described in Scotland, the kind of rain that although not heavy seems to permeate every item of clothing nonetheless.

We arrived at the base of the slope. Uncertain how to proceed further from here I called the ever patient Duncan again and found that by some miracle of chance we had got ourselves to roughly the right area.All that was required now was to find the Fly Orchids and then  a particular spot where the two hybrid examples were to be found.

The slope was intimidatingly steep, in fact the surrounding landscape was a series of severe inclines and precipitous roads.We found the semblance of a track, no more than a sheep trail that ran across the side of the slope.Peter took it gently while I forged ahead. Green winged Orchids now well past their best and looking distinctly ragged grew in the grass by the trail.I carried on, getting progressively more damp as the smirrr of rain was borne down the slope by a wind that had sprung up. It was not pleasant but nothing was going to deter me from my mission.

After walking someway I found a trio of Fly Orchids, smaller than I had expected, their narrow green stems, you could almost call them spindly, hard to see against the backdrop of grass on the slope that rose behind them.

The spaced darker flowers up the stem were more obvious and their appearance mimicked a fly to perfection.The upperpart of the flower with thin wire like petals replicating the antennae, the lower part of the flower called the lip is broader, mimicking the body of a fly and is the colour of rich mahogany with a texture of velvet, the crowning glory being a band of iridescent blue across the lip

Fly Orchid

I called to Peter who came to join me.

I moved on. A glance to my right and there they were, unmistakeable, the two hybrids. A five star rarity, this hybrid form was first discovered at Leigh Woods Somerset in 1968 and currently is known only from a very few sites in Britain. Magnificent, they stood over a foot tall, spaced a little apart and utterly distinctive in a little amphitheatre of chalk grassland and dwarfing some normal Fly Orchids nearby.

The hybrid Fly x Bee Orchid with two smaller Fly Orchids below it

The flowers were larger than those of a Fly Orchid and therefore more prominent and have been described as like a Fly Orchid but on steroids with superficially similar colouring, the colour and shape of the flower vividly likened by one enthusiast to 'an evil purple teddy bear wearing an elaborate horned helmet'. The flower is distinctive, the three sepals larger than on a Fly Orchid and less deep pink than on a Bee Orchid but not as green as a Fly.The lip is more red than mahogany and the iridiscent blue band across it is replaced with a band that is a paler pinkish mauve

The rain persisted  but was of no consequence as we continued to enjoy viewing these two beautiful hybrids. A first for both myself and Peter

We took our photos, paid our respects and for half an hour communed with these two specialities. Then it was a somewhat damp and soggy return across the scarp slope to a footpath that would lead us back to the road where we had left the car.. Peter struggled a bit with the steepness of the slope so we took it slowly and eventually we made it to the car and headed for our last destination and a much anticipated audience with the Sword leaved Helleborine or Narrow leaved Helleborine as it is also called.This would be another first for me.

Again we had to rely on the good nature of Duncan to guide us to where the helleborines were, which was a few miles from the Fly Orchids. After driving past it once we backtracked to find the well hidden turning to a small car park off the main road, and leaving the car we walked further up yet another deserted road below huge  beeches, the green leaves and massive grey trunks completely enclosing the road. 

We were looking for one particular tree, where according to Duncan lurked seven of the helleborines.They are tall and magnificent and should be easy to locate but we were uncertain of exactly how far up the road we needed to go.We had almost got to the end of the trees when I looked up the very steep bank at the side of the road to a tree that looked different.

At first I saw nothing but then came that eureka moment, a shock of surprise and delight as I located the tall stem of a helleborine bearing its multiple separate white flowers, standing proud from the grass at the far side of the tree. 

A supremely elegant orchid, possessed of great beauty, it must have been almost eighteen inches high. Majestic, the pure white petals of each flower, held separately out from the main stem were complemented with a lip showing three golden ridges.The green leaves, long and pointed added to the elegance of the flowers.

Once your eye is in you inevitably find others and so it was here as we found the other six plants of varying height, all ranged around the furthest side of the tree.

The roadside bank here was very steep and there was no way that Peter was going to manage to clamber up it but he was able to photograph the helleborines from standing below on the road. I managed at some risk to scramble up the very wet and slippery bank to get level with the helleborines but after getting some photos was glad to return to the road.

So there we have it. A very special day and only made possible by the estimable Duncan and his guidance.

Duncan had one more tip for us.

Go and celebrate with a home made ice cream at Winstones

It seemed remiss not to

 

Out of This World 10th May 2024

I was watching a football match involving Doncaster Rovers v Crewe Alexandra on the tv on Friday evening and my enjoyment (sic) was being frustrated by increasingly frequent interruptions of the transmission as the night drew on. This happens occasionally as reception for satellite tv can be idiosynchratic in the rural part of Oxfordshire where I live but normally rectifies itself within minutes. However this time was to prove to be very different as, unknown to me, a rare and very violent solar storm was the cause of the satellite's  intermittent malfunctions.

Grumbling about the satellite I finally got to the conclusion of the match after extra time and penalties which brought the time to just after eleven at night. My wife came into the room in a state of great excitement telling me to hurry outside into the garden as there was an ongoing  spectacular display of the Aurora Borealis more often  referred to as the Northern Lights.

Initially I was a trifle dismissive as Oxfordshire is not renowned for being a place to view such a phenomenon and there have been previous such alerts from Mrs U which failed to materialise. I reasoned that one normally has to travel at least to northern Scotland or even further to Scandinavia or the Arctic to view the Northern Lights - the clue being in the name surely?

At Mrs U's continued insistence I joined her in the garden and looked up.

The sight that greeted me was so unexpected I was unable to say anything! I was truly lost for words to both express and describe what confronted me. The sky was visibly pink and green for as far as I could see and I stood in sheer amazement. Our back garden faces open countryside so we had the advantage of no light pollution which served to enhance the vision. 

After absorbing this sight for some minutes we decided to drive a mile out of the village up onto higher ground where we were in total darkness and isolation. Stopping by a wood we left the car and looked northwest into the sky and over the open countryside of  Oxfordshire that stretched for miles in front of us. The sight that greeted us was even more spectacular than from our garden. It was benignly terrifying in its enormity as the colours stretched right across the heavens, charged with various shades of pink and green whilst  four broad shafts of paler pink which my wife told me were possibly called pillars, angled earthwards

The moon was dwarfed into insignificance, reduced to a crescent barely visible on the horizon.

Mrs U, encouraged by me was taking images as fast as she could on her superior i-phone and on a ten second exposure the colours were totally and utterly beautiful.and it is they that illustrate this blog. Never was the word heavenly more appropriate.The sheer enormity of what we were looking at and experiencing was difficult to adequately describe. Unique to both of us we could but just look and wonder and try to record what we were seeing whilst containing our excitement and amazement.

The colours subtley changed and moved across the sky, sometimes strong then fading before intensifying again. We knew this was probably a once in a lifetime moment and for my wife it was the culmination of an almost obsessive desire to see the Northern Lights.So many times she had been disappointed with false alarms but here, finally was success in spades and literally right on our doorstep.

I felt a spine tingling thrill at the sheer majesty and obvious enormity of what was happening in the firmanent above. It was humbling as I was made to realise how inconsequential I was in the grand scheme of things and how fragile was my existence and that of the planet on which I live 

What was happening in the night sky above me was on a scale beyond my mind to encompass. A conflict of emotions almost overwhelmed me - a primal fear of something almost incomprehensible and which probably struck similar fear into my ancestors long before science brought an explanation. At the same time an elation swept over me in waves at this spectacular affirmation of the overwhelming power and beauty of Nature.

An awesome and terrible beauty illuminating the vast loneliness of Space had tonight forever changed my outlook on the world

In the pitch darkness around us we could see nothing of the familiar landscape and so our eyes inevitably went to the sky. A muntjac barked from the wood behind us, loud and close and made me start.There came no other sound and we stood in the silence, awestruck at what was going on above us.

Professor Brian Cox commented on the aurora the next day, saying that by watching the aurora we got a rare direct glimpse of the power of Nature.The charged particles causing the atmosphere to glow came from a sunspot complex seventeen times the diameter of Earth and travelled across 90 million miles at a million miles per hour.Without the Earth's magnetic field to protect us our atmosphere would have been lost to the emptiness of space long ago.The colours in the sky was Nature reminding us that we are very lucky to be here amidst the terrifying violence of space. And perhaps therefore should also remind us not to continue to screw up our small insignificant planet as it is all we have.

Other people had stepped outside into this extraordinary night and took many photos.Social media was swamped with images from all over Britain and indeed worldwide.

A night I will never forget