What's outside

Diolch yn fawr!! Symbiosis is the word I had lost!!
Now, we see these all the time

collared dove. colomen, I think, is dove, but collared? This one landed just as I was trying to photo siskins!

@ramblingjohn did you tell me the Cymraeg for siskin?
Sorry the dove is blurred!
Oh was siskin pila gwyrdd?

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The question of have i used the word parasite correctly was because of the doubt these are parasites, apparently if they are just using the bee to ride from nest to nest the word i needed was ‘Phoresis’.

The problem can be, not the mites but the disease they carried unintentionally with them,
Like the fungal spores carried by beetles that wiped out the elm trees. (it’s often complex).

Cydfywyd - Symbiosis.
Turtur dorchog - Collared dove.

Heddiw: un gwlithen braidd yn mawr - today: one rather large slug.


Gwlithen y goeden - Tree slug.

Aderyn du ifanc - Young blackbird.

I’m really hoping the weather will improve soon as nature is ready to blossom.

Cheers J.P.

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Yes, but ours aren’t Turtle, they are Collared, Aren’t Turtle Does the white ones?

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A very pretty slug:) Looks like a close relative of my pet giant African snails (achatinas).

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This language learning is having strange effects, i had put the correct Welsh name and then got the English wrong.

Cheers J.P.

So ‘colomen’ doesn’t get used for our doves at all? Shame, I like the word!

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I love reading all this. You are incredibly knowledgable about nature,
John. I’m learning so much, and learning Welsh at the same time. Do you use a dictionary for the Welsh or have you got nature books in Welsh?

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Dw i’n gytuno efoch di, on i meddwl colomen yr eu enw nhw yn Latin, ond on’i anghwir.
I agree with you, i thought colomen was the Latin name for them, i was wrong.

Both, and thanks for the kind (caredig) comments, i hope it is of use and interest to some as it is a way for me to use and learn the language.

Heddiw, oedd dydd dda iawn, i bod heb gwaith. - Today, was a very good day, to be without work.

Today started in the woods where i met a man with an impressive camera, he had found nothing to photograph and a short chat revealed he had never heard of green tiger beetle. Half an hour later he had some photo’s to take home of something new to him.

Now while this was happening i happened to notice.


Enteridium lycoperdon. (sorry no English or Welsh name).
A large slime mold that appears at many times of the year @johnwilliams_6 and @pippapritchard should remember this from our last Oxford ramble.

Fioled gyffredin - common dog violet.

Llyffant melyn/broga braidd yn bach - fairly small common frog.

Mae’n y prynhawn,wnes i fynd i’r pentref lle mae fy mam yn byw.
In the afternoon, i went to the village where my mother lives.
Tra on i’n gerdded wrth ochr gwrych, mae geni syndod. - while i was walking beside a hedge, i got a surprise.

Gwrych - hedge (covered in ivy and a great spot for insect, but something unexpected was sticking out of the hedge).

Neidr ddefaid - Slow worm. (i picked it up to check it was fine then put it back).

rwan, wrth ochr y camlas - Now, beside the canal.


Pollen beetle on (Llygad ebrill - Lesser celandine).
I don’t have a welsh name for pollen beetles but a direct translation would be (paill chwilod).

Now a photo that does not look exciting but it is.


I notice (Glas y dorlan - king fisher) flying back and forth at one point and was lucky to spot this hole in the canal bank, i retreated some distance and waited, it was not long before a pair of the beautiful birds returned and carried on digging in this hole, yes of all the luck i happen to find a king fisher nest under construction, this could lead to some nice photo’s soon.
Pwy sydd yn gyffrous - who’s excited.

Cheers J.P.

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A wonderful post, John, as always!

Some Siberian squill from Vitebsk

- nothing extraordinary, but it’s so nice to see these tiny gentle flowers waking up after our long winter.

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Lovely.

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I remembered seeing it but not the name. Since then I have seen some closer to home too. Surprised by how different it is to the one I was watching at New Year.
Da iaaaaaawn on the Glas Y Dorlan nest. I’ll look forward to seeing the pictures.

Nuthatch - Delor Y Cnau. First time we’ve had this bird as a regular visitor to the bird feeders in the garden, very pleased to see him.

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How old? Looks too big for this year. In fact ours are still spawn or tadpoles at best!!
I love violets which never look ‘common’!!
Brilliant pics and pretty good luck as well!
To @seren In English squill are scilla. As a small child (plentyn fach) I had a book of flower fairies! The beautiful blue scilla which came out so early and was so small and lovely was my favourite!! I never seem to see them now!
I don’t know what they are in Cymraeg!

[quote=“pippapritchard, post:1433, topic:971”]
Nuthatch - Delor Y Cnau
[/quote]Beautiful picture and lovely bird! I don’t think we get them!

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Here they are called “сцилла” too, but there seemed to be two English names for this plant - scilla and squill. They are pretty popular here as early flowers to grow on flowerbeds:)

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Well i went to Oxford today in search of flowers rare and anything else that may appear.
There has been much talk on the forum of foreigne travells but so far i have not come across a
Slavonian grebe - Gwyach gorniog (there is always maybe one day).

Heddiw - today.

Torthau’r tylwyth teg - Sulphur tuft (the Welsh name transates as ‘the fairies loaves’).

Gold y gors - Marsh marigold.

Llaeth y gaseg - Cuckoo flower (glad to see these appearing as that means the butterfly that likes them should appear soon).

Pont braf iawn - Very nice bridge.

Britheg - The snakes head fritillary.

Briallu mair - Cowslip.

Cheers J.P.

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Gorgeous name! Are they edible, or only for fairies?!! :grinning:
We have

[quote=“ramblingjohn, post:1436, topic:971”]
Britheg - The snakes head fritillary.
[/quote] in our front garden and marsh marigold by the pond in yr ardd wyllt. I grew cowslips in drier climes because I could see the ones on Gower disappearing due to spraying and wanted to keep some alive!! So, all of my favourite things in one posting!
Diolch!

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I don’t think i would want to try eating them.


Ffesant - Phesant (turn the sound up, they often make a noise like this, never quite sure why).

Cheers J.P.

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Heddiw. - today.

Dau madfall ar hen tire - two common lizards on old tire.

Blagu o Miaren - shoot of bramble.

Peziza repanda (likely ID for this fungus but needs microscope to be sure, no English or Welsh name).

Tegeirian brych - Common spotted orchid .

This maybe a heath bumble bee (yellow around waist ahead and behind the wing roots and white tail, no welsh name. After last weeks parasite discussion i have been trying to photograph more of the same but keep finding bees without parasites.
Maybe they just don’t have parasites, or have started new nests now and the parasites are staying there.

Tri neidr ddefaid - three slow worms (just as found under a sheet of tin).

Llaeth y gaseg - cuckoo flower (better image than yesterdays).

Carn yr ebol - Colt’s food, (now after flowering it develops a seed head rather like a dandelion.
(click on images for full size).

Cheers J.P.

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Saw picture - thought, however did he find three all at once together? Then saw caption and understood!!
But I used to find one at a time in roughly the same place on or near where the path to Mewslade Bay leaves the woods, but I never saw more than one! Clearly there must have been others, but where??? [There were no sheets of metal in the vicinity!]
p.s. Just noticed that a slow worm is called a snake ‘neidr’ yn Gymraeg. I find this sad as it must increase the number of folk scared for no good reason and likely to kill on sight like my next door neighbour back when!

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Heddiw, Mae’r dydd yn dechrau gyda eira - Today, the day started with snow.

Wystrysen y coed - Oyster fungus.

Gwlithen fannog - Leopard slug.

Malwen fefus - Strawberry snail.

Sorry folks, the colourful insects seem to be hiding.

Cheers J.P.

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A very good-looking slug, and the snail, of course.

Birch catkins, we call them “seryozhki” (“earrings” in Russian), for obvious reasons.

And a very pretty crocus - I thought there were none of them left by now, at least in the city, but bad weather has its advantages and even the first, very fragile flowers survive here and there.

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