A new bit of the river Deele.
Recorded a radio piece for Radio Ulster, today. Transmission date to be announced.
Dull but warm. Bright later.
One old Sycamore was overhanging the river. Every square cm. of the lower branches was covered in lichens.
Parmelia sp. on the left, and Ramalina farinacea on the right.
The round orange discs are fruiting bodies of the lichen Xanthoria parietina, and the purple/black discs are a fungus - Xanthoriicola physciae - that infects the lichen.
This very large (15 cm.) specimen of Ramalina fraxinea has very noticeable round, blue/green, fruiting bodies.
A
very large White Willow straddled the riverbank. I noticed a great many of
these galls on the leaves. These particular galls are interesting in that
they appear both above and below the leaf.
This is a shot of Eristalis intricarius - a Hoverfly that mimics a Bumblebee. When I looked closely at the left wing, I noticed that it clearly showed the diagnostic Hoverfly wing veining.
The False Vein usually fades to a point, and isn't connected to any other vein where it terminates. The False Margin is the rearmost vein, and is quite distant from the actual physical edge of the wing. I suspect this 'free-floating' rear edge of the wing is associated with the hoverfly's ability to hover in a stationary position. I suppose it's also reasonable to point out that the Hoverfly has only 2 wings, whereas the Bumblebee has 4.
Three fruits to remind us of the season: An unripe Hazel nut, the berries of the Honeysuckle and this year's first ripe Bramble.
Lastly, a variegated Sycamore. This is a very elderly specimen, but it has looked like this for as long as anyone can remember.