Not a lot of botany and an update

Llangors very full of water

I now have a picture of the participants in last week's New Year Plant Hunt - I must say looking more composed and comfortable than I had been led to believe but they are in the new bird hide at Llangasty having a well-earned break. The third member of the party, Joan is behind the camera.

This week I joined the BWT Winter Bird Watch at Llangors Lake and Ty Mawr Farm, Llangasty for welcome day out and some good sightings of birds I was glad to  a) have pointed out and b) identified. (What I don't know about birds fills most of the many books on the subject.)

The pictures that follow are a sample from a very good, but cold day with great warming hospitality from the Ty Mawr farm to round it off.

BSBI New Year Hunt

Brecknock took part in this event again - ably led by Joan as I couldn't be there. Her small but dedicated team found 19 species flowering in and around Llangasty on Llangorse lake. This was quite an achievement, considering the wet conditions underfoot and from the sky on the day. (And the number of species was coincidentally the same number as found last year by more people.)

Some pictures from Anne:

 Alder - not really open enough to call "flowering"

 Holly berries

 and flower buds - a few open ones were seen

The lake was quite full!

Here is the list:

Anthriscus sylvestris	Cow Parsley
Bellis perennis	Daisy
Cerastium fontanum	Common Mouse-ear
Chrysosplenium oppositifolium	Opposite-leaved Golden-saxifrage
Corylus avellana	Hazel
Cymbalaria muralis	Ivy-leaved Toadflax
Deschampsia cespitosa	Tufted Hair-grass
Ficaria verna	Lesser Celandine
Geranium robertianum	Herb-Robert
Geum urbanum	Wood Avens
Heracleum sphondylium	Hogweed
Ilex aquifolium	Holly
Lamium purpureum	Red Dead-nettle
Lapsana communis	Nipplewort
Mercurialis perennis	Dog's Mercury
Potentilla sterilis	Barren Strawberry
Silene dioica	Red Campion
Tanacetum parthenium	Feverfew
Taraxacum agg.	Dandelion

- remember these were all seen flowering...

(There were catkins on the Alder trees as above but not really developed enough to consider within the strict rules of this event.)

When I went for a walk around last year's venue, Builth Wells a few days later I saw only a few daisies. But the Giant Butterbur was much closer to flowering than it was last year - due to the very warm conditions for the season no doubt.

Giant Butterbur, Yr alan mwyaf or Petasites japonicus at Builth Wells on 6th Jan

While I was away I photographed another of this genus near Croydon:

Winter Heliotrope, Petasites fragrans

(This will no doubt be flowering around here soon - eg at Hay Castle.)