Marsh Bryum

Although it was Pete's birthday I spent the morning helping out at a Family Day at Swaddywell NR. Despite a chilly start, all those who attended saw plenty of interesting wildlife. By chance, Mike Horne, Sue Welch and Chris Topper were rescuing some Common Frog tadpoles that were at risk from their pond drying up, and everyone had good views of these, together with a couple of Smooth Newts. A Great Crested Newt was also seen later on.

Lots of Common Lizards were out in the sheltered corners of the quarry, basking in the warm spring sunshine. We lost count of how many individuals we saw, but they were in four locations, and probably numbered about fifteen, including plenty of juveniles and  one very pregnant female. The sun also brought out several species of solitary bee and bumblebee.

While the children were doing Easter crafts I found lots of Marsh Bryum in the damp  limestone areas of The Horseshoe. This is quite a local moss that is usually associated with lime-rich wetlands.  We also found a large and unusual looking fungus in the quarry called Bleach Cup. It fruits in April and  appear to favour banks and slopes and sheltered sites.

On my way home I dropped into the farm shop and bought three grass-fed rib-eye steaks for Pete's birthday dinner. The two of us had a nice afternoon pottering in the garden, and then Alex helped me cook the meal - the steaks were really delicious and nicely contrasted by home-made chimmichurri sauce. It was rather lovely to have just the three of us, though by the end of the evening father and son had finished off a surprising number of bottles containing the dregs of the Christmas liqueurs!