Autumn colours, fungi and galls at Cranford Park

Yesterday I was invited to meet our Madam Mayor, Councillor Teji Barnes, as she began a four day walk starting at Cranford Country Park and eventually finishing at Harefield. 

When I arrived at the park the Mayor and her assistant were being shown around St Dunstans church by Father Michael, Bob Barton (the secretary of the Cranford Park Friends group) and Charmian Baker (our Project Manager for the Cranford Park Heritage Lottery Fund Project). 

After our chat to Father Michael we started to show the Mayor the best of the rest at Cranford Park. 

Myself, Bob, Charmian and Madam Mayor

Whilst we were in the courtyard admiring the stable block, the donated clock from Hampton Court and the wild bee hive in one of the arches I spotted a Common Buzzard soaring over....

After a few horrible days of dark skies and plenty of rain, the sun came out for us and made everything seem vibrant and alive. 

The walk took us through the north side of the park where we found plenty of these beautiful creations amongst the dog roses. They are commonly called Robin's Pincushion and are a type of gall caused by a gall wasp called Diploepis rosae. The larvae of this tiny wasp live inside the fluffy red gall and feed on the tissue, emerging as adults in spring through tiny holes that they burrow out of. The galls are widespread and common, but only found on wild roses. The gall darkens with age and turns red as it matures. 

After I bid Bob, Charmian and the Mayor and her assistant goodbye I went to examine the young oaks by the River Crane. I was looking for more galls and it didn't take long to find some. All three galls below are only found on oaks. 

The wonderfully named Spangle Gall …. 

The Oak Apple or Marble Gall …. 

and my favourite, the Knopper Gall …. 

They start off green and sticky, eventually hardening and turning red, and by late autumn they are rock hard and dark brown. Again inside this weird structure is a larva of a gall wasp, this one is called Andricus quercusalicis, and it will emerge as an adult in the spring. 

Along the Haha wall a Blue Tit was investigating the nooks and crannies for any tasty titbits … 

Now they have finished nesting and rearing their young, their resplendent colourful plumage is back and in the great light of yesterday they really were lovely to see … 

I completed probably my last UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS) transect of the season with just two butterflies to record. One was a Large White, and the other was this vibrant Small Copper with a slightly damaged upper wing … 

In Cranford Woods the most predictable fungi are starting to fruit. 

The sunny Yellow Stagshead fungus was found where I always find it, on a fallen log near to the wooden bridge. As it grows the tips of each prong will separate and create separate prongs, which is where this little fungi gets it's name from … 

The aptly named Dead Mans Fingers was also found where I have seen it before, a bit deeper in the woods but again on a rotting fallen tree …. 

The knobbly black King Alfreds Cakes springs up everywhere and turns harder with age …. 

Now the leaves are starting to fall in the woods, the holly berries are emerging and adding lovely splashes of colour … 

and the huge clumps of mistletoe below can be seen from the wooden bridge …. 

I finished my walk by the River Crane and spotted this stunning Banded Snail amongst the dying back vegetation …. 

A truly lovely day for a walk in the park and apart from catching up with Madam Mayor, Bob and Charmian, I also got to see Ron and Lynne in the allotment garden and Phil with his two beautiful dogs, Ellie and Scruff. 

Damsels and Darters at Cranford Park wildlife pond

It was a good weather day yesterday to complete my regular UKBMS transect at Cranford Park. The 90 minute route saw only four species of butterfly but at this time of year that it generally to be expected. The season is winding down. 

Species seen were Large White, Small White, Small Copper and Speckled Wood … 

Small Copper underwing

Small Copper 

Speckled Wood

The Speckled Wood is one of my favourite butterflies as they show true character. They defend their chosen territory with true passion in early spring, often seeing off bumble bees and wasps as well as any other butterfly that dare go near it's chosen woodland glade patch. The Speckled Woods we are seeing at the moment are the offspring of the ones seen in April and May, and for some reason these second generation butterflies tend to be darker than their parents. 

I spotted two of the young Kestrels by the River Crane. As they are getting older they are becoming more wary of us humans, and as soon as this one realised I had my camera focused on it, it took off... 

After the transect I spent quite a bit of time at the Wildlife Pond in front of the Information Centre. The pond is three years old this month and is absolutely teeming with wildlife. 

The honeybees from several wild hives visit the pond to drink, and I watched quite a few gathering on the log in the middle of the pond to absorb the water from the bark …. 

with others taking advantage of the oxygenating plants and fallen leaves to balance and drink without falling in … 

It is the visiting Odonata that really interest me. Odonata are the order of insects that cover dragonflies and damselflies. All Odonata have two pairs of densely veined wings and long segmented bodies, which can often be brightly coloured. They vary in size from the large 8cm long dragonflies down to the tiny 3-4cm long damselflies. The family also cover Demoiselles, Chasers, Skimmers, Hawkers and Darters. I've recorded several varieties and species at the Cranford Park Wildlife Pond and I was really chuffed to add a new one to my list yesterday. More about that little beauty later, but I have to introduce one of the most frequently seen first …. 

The very attractive and charismatic Common Darter …. The males are red and the females are yellowy in colour, but be warned that juvenile males are also very pale until they mature. 

They have very dark red 'spots' at the top tip of each wing …. 

My very pleasant surprise was spotting a beautifully intricately coloured Willow Emerald Damselfly. In 2009 they were only recorded in Suffolk and Norfolk, so I was quite excited to see this small slender critter. By sitting very still on a nearby tree stump I was able to confirm at least three Willow Emeralds around the pond vegetation, often just perching on a leaf or twig …. 

The pale yellow wing spots distinguishes this from other damselflies …. 

A very pretty damselfly that blends so well into it's surroundings that it can be right under your nose before you spot it. 

The pond is attracting more than just dragonflies, damselflies and darters. The Robin and Blue Tit below both came down for a drink at the pond edge whilst I was perched on my woody seat, and I've often seen a Mistle Thrush come down for a bath. The surrounding thistles and wildflower seed heads are attracting the local Goldfinches, and I once found a male Mallard sitting on the submerged log. 

Sadly my observations were disturbed twice by dogs jumping in the pond. The pond is man-made with a liner (I know because I helped create it back in September 2017) and therefore susceptible to sharp objects like dog claws. Don't get me wrong, I love dogs and know most of the dog walkers that frequent the park, but there is the river for dogs to play in so please don't let yours play in the pond. 

As always a very enjoyable visit to the park. As it was also the first day of the Open House Weekend I got to see Bob, Lynne and Ron as well, and later had a good catch up with Max and Martyn. Photos of the Open House Weekend, including the Secret Garden can be seen on the Cranford Park Friends facebook page where there is also a virtual tour link. 

The start of autumn migration at Cranford Park and a bit from the Lockdown Loftroon

I was at Cranford Park yesterday primarily to do the UKBMS butterfly count, but also to see what was around. Late August is always good for migratory birds at Cranford Park and I hit the jackpot twice yesterday, but first back to the butterflies. 

I had a healthy count and species numbers were about average for this time of year …. 

26/08/2020

Large White x 9

Small White x 3

Small Copper x 3

Brown Argus x 1 (first of the year)

Holly Blue x 3

Red Admiral x 5

Speckled Wood x 3

Gatekeeper x 3

Meadow Brown x 10

Small Heath x 3

Large White

Red Admiral

In the cattle paddock and meadow I was really chuffed to spot two Whinchats and a solo Wheatear. 

Whinchats don't breed at the park but I often see them during early autumn as they stop over to feed up before continuing their journey to central or southern Africa to spend the winter. They spend the summer breeding in northern and western Britain where there are more suitable habitats. 

Wheatears also spend the winter in Africa and just like the Whinchat, I have seen them before at Cranford Park during early autumn. They are slightly bigger than Whinchats but just as attractive. 

out of focus Wheatear at the back and Whinchat at the front

Whinchat

Whinchat

Whinchat - female

Whinchat

Whinchat

Whinchat in typical 'topping' mode

Whinchat

Wheatear - female

Wheatear

Wheatear

Wheatear

Wheatear

The girls in the cattle paddock, as usual, showed little interest in what I was doing … 

and they are often followed around by a flock of Starlings. This young juvenile below stood out from the rest with it's very pale colouring … 

Elsewhere in the park there were plenty of Southern and Migrant Hawkers, and lots of Common Darters, including the one below that not only posed for me at eye level but also allowed me to get quite close … 

Some of the young Oaks dotted around the park already have acorns affected by the Knopper Gall Wasp. These tiny wasps lay their eggs inside very young growing acorns and the grubs feed inside. You can tell easily an affected acorn, but they don't really do too much harm to the tree in general. In early August the acorn is red, ridged and sticky and eventually turns brown and hard. 

Another tiny wasp that likes Oaks is the equally tiny Common Spangle gall wasp, and they've caused these red raised circles on the underside of this oak leaf. A single leaf can hold as many as 100 galls and even when they have fallen to the floor, the larvae continue to develop throughout the winter and emerge as adults in April … 

The huge Sweet Chestnut tree near the carpark is absolutely laden with fruit now, and looks spectacular …. 

In the woods I found my first fungi of the season. I think this is one of the Oyster mushrooms but I'm not 100% convinced … 

One of the young female Kestrels was loitering by the Information Centre and completely unconcerned by me pointing my camera at her …  

Back at the Lockdown Loftroom, there have been a couple of juvenile Red Kites hanging about the tall trees at the back of the field. They're not easy to photograph due to the distance but can you spot them both in the photo below ? 

The old male Muntjac was visible the other day in horrendous weather conditions. His new stubby antlers have grown well over the last couple of months, and although he still has that awful abcess on his hind leg, he still appears healthy and is eating well … 

A young Sparrowhawk visited the neighbours Oak Tree last week and I took loads of photos as it perched at almost eye level to the Lockdown Loftroom window. One of the Great Spotted Woodpeckers that visits the Birch tree, stayed completely still the whole time the hawk was perched ….

So a very interesting and rewarding visit to Cranford Country Park, and some nice recent experiences from the Lockdown Loftroom.