In Stuifmail of Sunday, November 26 I talked about a sleeping nuthatch (following a photo of Amke and Marja from Moergestel), but David Ver Boven pointed out to me that it could be a male bullfinch. I immediately took a closer look at the photo and upon further inspection I also agree: we are looking at a male bullfinch. And that makes it even more special, because goldfinches are certainly rarer to see than nuthatches.
Not a clothes-eater, but a leaf-meat eater
Pascale Koning found a small insect and wondered if this animal would eat a hole in the clothes. I don’t think so and when we asked an expert we came to the same conclusion and we think it is a leaf miner. Leaf miners are plant parasites and therefore not clothes eaters. They owe their name to the fact that they eat tunnels between the veins in the leaf pulp. Such a complicated tunnel system looks a bit like the tunnels (mines) that people make underground to harvest minerals.
Waiting for privacy settings…
Leaf miners at work – Guido Bruggeman
Publication: May 28, 2017
The celery leaves in the garden started to turn brown. Further investigation revealed that leaf miners are the cause. Leaf miner is the name for species of insects whose larvae eat the mesophyll of leaves. The corridors can be white or yellowish to brown in color and the patterns vary in shape, from a spot to a complicated corridor system. Because of their similarity to mineral mines, the corridors are called mines, from which the leaf miner gets its name.
Beautiful fungus with many guttattie drops
Elvira Rombouts turned over a thick branch during her walk in the woods and saw a truly beautiful organism. Unfortunately, she only took a photo of the bottom, so it is difficult to put a name on it. So it is often better to take a few photos and from different sides. So it’s a bit of a guess, but I think it’s a neat labyrinth fungus. Of course I checked this with a colleague and he had the same idea.
The fruiting bodies of the labyrinth mushrooms can be found on branches lying on the ground, on buried wood, at wood sheds and also on wood chips in parks and public gardens. Next time, Elvira should definitely smell the fruiting body, because it gives off an unpleasant gas smell.
After being away for a while, they are back
Marij van Driel saw these two storks (see photo) returning after they had been away for a while. However, she does wonder where they had been in the meantime. I think these are Dutch storks, which come from a large-scale reintroduction program. At the end of the 1960s, the stork was almost extinct as a breeding bird in our country. This was a thorn in the side of many people and organizations, including the Bird Protection Society, and so a reintroduction program was introduced.
There were some stork stations, among others. ‘De Lokkerij’ was founded in the Reestdal in Drenthe. The employees there have started breeding storks. The birds born here are in principle not migratory birds and often stay in our country. But what they do do at the end of the breeding season is group with the other storks. When the other storks leave, the storks from those stork stations return to the breeding location.
What a beautiful bird has landed on my balcony
Ben Cornelissen saw a beautiful bird on his balcony and took some nice pictures of it, so that I could immediately see which bird it was. Well, bird, that’s quite a big word for one of the smallest birds in our country, because it is a firecrest. By the way, two birds are the smallest in our country, because in addition to the firecrest, we also have the goldcrest. Both can grow to about 8.5 centimeters and so they ‘win’ against the wren, which is 9 centimeters large or small.
Firecrest and Goldcrest look very similar, but there are also clear differences. First of all, the firecrest has brighter colors. Furthermore, the Firecrest has a clear white eyebrow stripe and as a nice contrast under that stripe a jet black eye stripe, clearly visible in Ben’s photo. Oh yes, and that black stripe also runs through the eye. Firecrests mainly live in the eastern part of the Netherlands. You hardly ever see them, because they live high above in mainly coniferous and deciduous forests, but in winter they often come to civilization.
What kind of mushrooms did my mother find?
Sabine Mustert’s mother found a number of mushrooms in the forest near Deurne. Sabine sent me a photo and they want to know which mushrooms they are. I think it’s a lot of fruiting bodies from the mushroom called common brimstone. When these mushrooms are still fresh, they have a beautiful sulfur yellow cap with a beautiful orange-brown color in the center. In general, the caps of these common sulfur heads are initially cone-shaped and later become more convex and flatter.
They are true saprophytes: they live on dead wood. They are most commonly found in mixed forests, where they grow at the base of deciduous or coniferous trees in forests. Of course also in gardens and public areas where there are dead trees or old stumps.
Hidden caterpillar did not pupate, but feeding in the late night hours, which one is it
Jan Baartmans sent me a photo of a caterpillar in a leaf, but the photo was a bit too blurry. Later, at my request, he sent a new photo, which immediately made it clear to me which caterpillar it was. The caterpillar in its leaf is a caterpillar of the moth with the beautiful name agate butterfly. Agate butterflies are true moths that belong to the large owl family. There are believed to be more than 25,000 species of this family of nocturnal birds in the world. The forewing of the agate butterfly has a maximum length of 25 millimeters.
You can encounter caterpillars of the agate butterfly almost everywhere. They live on herbs such as nettle and dead-nettle, shrubs – hazel and blackberry – and trees such as the pedunculate oak and the birch. After the caterpillar has eaten its fill, it hibernates as a caterpillar, but can also become a pupa. That is already very special. But what makes this moth even more special is that you can even encounter the caterpillar of the agate moth eating during mild winters.
A nice fungus on the way
Toke de Vries came across a small fungus during a walk in her village and she would like to know which fungus is on the branch. I think it is an ear fungus, but unfortunately Toke only photographed the underside of the fungus. It is better to photograph mushrooms or fungi both from the cap or top of a fungus and from the bottom, and in the case of mushrooms also the stem. This often provides more clarity about the species.
So we are probably dealing with an ear fungus here. You can find these fungi in all shapes and sizes. Basically, they are small shell-shaped fungi that are quite common in the forests. You will then have to look for dead branches or twigs. Once you have found such a branch, you will see more fruiting bodies together. What is extra nice is that you often see all kinds of stages of development together on such a branch or twig. The color of ear mushrooms can vary enormously, from white to yellowish white on top, and the color on the underside can be white or brownish.
What is the name of this incredibly small snail?
Lia Vorstenbosch sent me a photo of a snail, but the photo is a bit blurry and so I didn’t dare to start with it. Still, I wanted to know what it was and that’s why I sent the photo to a good friend. She immediately indicated that it is difficult if photos do not show clear characteristics. She dared to take a chance and she thinks it is a snail from the small snail family species with the scientific name Clausiliidae, also called Clausilia.
To really get a clear idea of which species of small land snails they are, you need to be able to count the number of coils, study the mouth edge of the shell and know the location and habitat. In short: great tips if you capture such small land snails. To see what species it could be, I have a link placed in this section.
Beautiful photos section
Fruiting bodies of the purple button fungus, photo Jeanne Keusters
Nature tip
On expedition: How flora goes
Saturday, December 9: 1:00 PM
Sunday, December 10: 11:00 am
On Expedition!
Put on your walking shoes and take your umbrella and join De Expeditie. Each walk lasts 30 to 60 minutes, filled with fascinating stories, art, nature and beautiful (historical) stories. Plants travel all over the world. How do they move? And what role does humans play in the dispersal of seeds? Discover the movement of plants by looking, feeling and listening. Take the time to delve deep into this fascinating process during a walk through the park, where the story of plant journeys is intertwined with being human.
More information:
• Register now for one or more of the Expeditions of your choice via this link: Register for The Expedition
• Be quick, because there are only a limited number number of places available!
• Starting location: Valkenberg Breda City Park, Kasteelplein entrance
• Learn more about it City park Valkenberg Breda