31 May 2021

The golf competition season is well underway.  I was in Wales last week taking Luke to the Welsh Youth Open and am up at Woodhall Spa this week taking him to another competition.  

In between I managed a quick walk round the course.  Conditions were rather murky first thing and there weren't many birds to photograph, but new flowers continue to appear.

Starting in the car park there are a few more flowers on the wall, in addition to the Fairy Foxgloves:

Biting Stonecrop Sedum acre [Car park]

Rue-leaved Saxifrage Saxifraga tridactylites [Car park]

Common Poppy Papava rhoeas [Car park]

In the trees to the left of the 13th fairway Red I came across Sanicle - not a plant that I have encountered before.   

Sanicle Sanicula europaea [13th Red]

Common in shady spots, particularly around the reservoir is Bur Chervil.

Bur Chervil Anthriscus caucalis [3rd Red]

On waste areas on various spots around the course is White Bryony.  This plant is actually a member of the cucumber family, although this particular species is quite toxic.  This one was growing on the right of 15 Red.

White Bryony Bryonia dioica [15th Red]

If you've walked near the fairway anywhere on the Green course, you have almost certainly trodden on Bird's-foot, a tiny pea-like plant that is prolific on the short turf.

Bird's-foot Ornithopus perpusillus [15th Green]

Another tiny plant growing on the Green is Parsley Piert with distinctive lobed leaves but flowers that are green and too small to see.

Parsley Piert Aphanes arvensis [14th Green]

On the thirteenth Red I found a Mayfly by the stream.  This is actually a different species than the ones on that I saw earlier in the month on the 3rd Blue.

Mayfly Ephemera danica [13th Red]

There are a surprisingly large number of shieldbug species in the UK.  Fortunately there are various internet sites devoted to them.  I found this one on the 18th Blue - I think that it's a Red-legged Shieldbug.  It was actually one of three - the other two fell off the leaf when I moved it with the camera - I'm not sure if this was a deliberate escape ploy or poor balance.

Red-legged Shieldbug Pentatoma rufipes [18th Blue]

27 May 2021

 There have been pigeons of some type feeding on the 16th tee of the Blue for the last couple of mornings when I have parked in the Blue range car park.

Woodpigeon [16th Blue]

Stock Dove [16th Blue]

There are lots of martins, swallows and swifts feeding on the reservoir each morning.  Swifts are one of the most airborne species.  They eat, drink, sleep and even mate on the wing, only settling to nest.

Swift [Reservoir]

Sand Martin [Reservoir]

A few more clover-like plants are flowering.  On the 15th Blue you can find both Lesser Trefoil and Hop Trefoil.  The latter has a denser flowerhead that look like hops once they go over.

Lesser Trefoil Trifolium dubium [Doghouse range]

Hop Trefoil Trifolium campestre [15th Blue]

There are also a couple more species of geranium growing in the rough here, both fairly common:

Cut-leaved Crane's-bill Geranium dissectum [15th Blue]

Round-leaved Crane's-bill Geranium rotundifolium [15th Blue]

Common Storksbill is also prolific on the 15th.

Common Stork's-bill Erodium cicutarium [15th Blue]

Next to the car park I found this Scorpion Fly resting in the shade.  This is a female - the males have a scorpion-like tail.

Scorpion Fly Panorpa communis [16th Blue]

This is the first damselfly that I've seen this year.  It was on the 16th Red and I think that it's a Large Red Damselfly.

Large Red Damselfly Pyrrhosoma nymphula [16th Red]

Also on the 16th Red you can find the two species of sorrel growing together, with the Common Sorrel towering above Sheep's Sorrel.

Common Sorrel Rumex acetosa [16th Red]

26 May 2021

 

Played 18 round the Green yesterday and had a wander round this morning.  I'm 80% sure that I saw a Goshawk from the 16th tee soaring over the road.  Sadly, by the time I'd dropped the golf club, got my camera out of the golf bag, switched lenses and changed settings it had flown out of site.  Despite this disappointment I managed to par the hole after a good up and down from the front bunker.

There are a lot of Dandelion lookalikes around the course at the moment.   Here's the real thing.  There are actually 232 microspecies of Dandelion - which I have no intention of learning.

Dandelion Taraxacum officinale [Doghouse range]

Similar, but slightly paler yellow and with long hairs on its leaves is Mouse-ear Hawkweed.  This forms large patches in the rough and I've seen it on the 12th Red and 15th Blue.

Mouse-ear Hawkweed Hieracium pilosella [15th Blue]

Catsear is rather taller and fairly common around the courses.

Catsear Hypochaeris radicata [Doghouse range]

The rarest is Smooth Catsear which is tiny and found on the Doghouse range.  When you go there mid-late morning there are thousands of these tiny yellow flowers, as they open up in the sun.  When you go any other time they close up and it is almost impossible to find one.

Smooth Catsear Hypochaeris glabra [Doghouse range]

Another that only opens in the morning sun is Goat's-beard.  This is about as fully as it opens and there are lots of them on the 15th Blue.

Goat's-beard Tragopogon pratensis [15th Blue]

There are also a few different flowers in the potentilla family, particularly around the fen on the 16th Red.  Silverweed is the most abundant and it's silvery leaves cover much of the area to the left of the 4th green on the Green.

Silverweed Potentilla anserina [4th Green]

Also in the fen is Tormentil, which is smaller and has 4 yellow petals.

Tormentil Potentilla erecta [4th Green]

I found this Wild Strawberry earlier in the week whilst looking for my wayward tee-shot on the left of the 18th Blue.

Wild Strawberry Frageria vesca [18th Blue]

Growing in drier conditions on the 14th and 15th Red is Common Rock Rose.

Common Rock Rose Helianthemum nummularium [15th Red]

24 May 2021

 A last look at the Oak and Ash trees in front of the 3rd tee Green before they are felled next week..

Quite a lot of different fungi around the course at the moment.  These rather odd looking things are Spiny Puffballs - growing to the left of the 4th green on the Red.

Spiny Puffball Lycoperdon echinatum [4th Red]

There are some very large mushrooms to the left of the 14th on the Red, which I think are Horse Mushrooms.

Horse Mushroom Agaricus arvensis [14th Red]

On the 5th Red I found these, which I think are Common Inkcaps:

Common Inkcaps Coprinopsis atramentaria [5th Red]

There are three species of comfrey in flower on the courses at the moment.  Common Comfrey is found on the 3rd and 4th of the Blue.  It's flowers vary in colour, but the leaves have broad wings where they meet the stem.

Common Comfrey Symphytum officinale [4th Blue]

The other 2 species on Boundary Fen, to the left of the 13th/14th on the Red.  White Comfrey has pure white flowers and has a few patches here.  Russian Comfrey grows just behind the 14th tee, is more roughly hairy and typically has pink or purplish flowers.

White Comfrey Symphytum orientale [14th Red]

Russian Comfrey Symphytum x uplandicum [14th Red]

23 May 2021

 

Had a walk around the Green and Red this morning in a bit of rare sunshine.  I couldn't see much unusual bird-wise but there were quite a few nice flowers, particularly in the fen on the 16th.  

Ragged Robin grows in marshy conditions and has a unique flower with thin branching petals.  As well as the 16th Red, you can also see this in the hazard on the 9th Blue.

Ragged Robin Lynchis flos-cuculi [16th Red]

Nearby is the green-flowered Common Gromwell.

Common Gromwell Lithospermum officinale [16th Red]

On drier grassy areas, Birds-foot trefoil is starting to flower,  this one was on the 15th Red.

Bird's-foot trefoil Lotus corniculatus [15th Red]

Greater Celandine is actually a type of poppy and is unrelated to Lesser Celandine.  This one was on the 5th on the Yellow.

Greater Celandine (Chelidonium majus) [5th Yellow]

This Coal Tit was feeding a young bird on the left of the 3rd Red.  It is impressive how it manages to catch multiple caterpillars in its beak with nowhere else to store them.

Coal Tit [3rd Red]

Hedge Sparrow [5th Red]

21 May 2021

Had a quick look around the front nine of the Red yesterday to see if I could spot any new flowers.   There were a few around.

Goatsbeard is in the Dandelion family and has distinctive grass-like leaves.  It is also know by the name of Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon as it tends to open in the morning sunshine and close up again by midday.  No surprise, given the recent weather, that this one is closed up

Goatsbeard Tragopogon pratensis (2nd Red)

There are a couple of nice patches of Heath Dog Violets on the footpath by the 4th.  These are uncommon nationally, but they are fairly frequent on our courses.  The flowers in this patch are fairly small, probably as an adaption to the mowing - I have found some larger ones by the heather on the Green.

Heath Dog Violets Viola canina [4th Red]

One of the least glamorous plants on the course is Lesser Chickweed, which is very common and often has no petals.  This one was by the relic green to the right of the 1st.

Lesser Chickweed Stellaria pallida [1st Red]

A rather more colourful weed is Wintercress, found short right of the 1st green.

Wintercress Barbarea vulgaris [1st Red]

Similar, but with smaller flowers is Hedge Mustard.  There is quite a lot between the 3rd Red and the reservoir.

Hedge Mustard Sisymbrium officinale [3rd Red]

A few fungi are starting to appear on the course at the moment.  These two Yellow Fieldcaps were at the back of the 2nd Green.

Yellow Fieldcap Bolbitius titubans [2nd Red]