The Full Monty in Bristol

Disturbing reports from Bristol about the misuse of pet pythons (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/aug/09/python-bites-teenager). In one reported event, a gang of youths used a python as an offensive weapon by forcing it to bite a terrorised youth who did not appear to understand that the snake (like all constrictors) was non-poisonous. In this case, the snake was clearly an innocent bystander but it's an exceedingly nasty thing to do. In a second event in the same city, a snake that was allowed to slither around the garden by its owner apparently consumed a local moggie, only identified as the victim by the scanning of its identity microchip in the bulge. People should clearly be more responsible in their care of these reptiles.

Seeing the Changes 224

Yesterday at Oxwich, a hairy moth caterpillar roamed the dunes and an unidentified digger wasp invaded the car. Most of the Goose barnacles had been stripped from the log but I did locate more of these creatures on two planks at Three Cliffs.

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Between Swansea and Blackpill, there were masses of Soapwort (Saponaria officinalis) in flower. In Bynea, the Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) berries were turning bright red.

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In Oxwich, last Sunday (the day of the 'Sea monster') in the dunes saw Carling thistle (Carlina vulgaris) and Water mint (Mentha aquatica) in bloom. There was lots of butterfly activity and many of the day-flying Six spot burnet moths (Zygaena filipendulae) were mating. A Robberfly had captured a Small blue male. There was also a Common green grasshopper (Omocestus viridulus) and what appeared to be a Bog bush cricket (Metrioptera brachyptera) nymph. Viviparous lizard (Lacerta vivipara) were also active. The following wet day in Loughor, I spotted the Wasp beetle (Clytus arietis) an impressive mimic of a you-know-what that appeared to have been washed out ot its lair.

Sea 'Monster'

An extraordinary sight on the beach, with a large log washed up absolutely covered with Goose barnacles (Lepas anatifera). As one viewing child said "It looks like something out of 'Dr Who'!". The Western Mail carried a front page story on it (http://www.walesonline.co.uk/showbiz-and-lifestyle/showbiz/2009/08/04/tentacled-sea-monster-or-doctor-who-alien-91466-24307825/), followed by the Daily Mail (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1204196/Dr-Who-like-monster-stuns-sunbathers-washes-Welsh-beach.html). Also in The Sun (http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2571619/Mysterious-creature-emerges-from-sea-in-Wales.html) and the Daily Mirror (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/pictures/2009/08/04/the-latest-news-pics-3rd-9th-august-115875-21571043/). It is worth pointing out that the poor, old barnacles are hardly 'a monster' (being only dangerous to plankton and over-weight Spaniards- they are a delicacy in Spain) and that the 'tentacles' are the peduncle or 'foot' by which they are attached to the log. Went back to Oxwich with BBC journalists to film a small item for Welsh news. Many of the barnacles had died but the whole section of wood was much bigger than I had thought being around 5 m in length. I got to repeatedly recount the story of the C12th monk Giraldus Cambrensis who claimed to have seen (too much mead or simply a poor Biologist?) Barnacle geese hatch from these barnacles. This is the reason that these geese were reclassified as 'fish', enabling Catholics to eat them on a friday or even over Lent. I later heard that other pieces of wood with attached barnacles were washed up at beaches at Broughton, Nicholaston and Three Cliffs (the 2 pieces at this last location were respectively about 3 and 2.3 m in length).

Does the Answer Lie in the Soil?

Quite a fuss has been generated by a report, commissioned by the Food Standards Agency (based on an analysis of published studies), concluding that there is no evidence that 'organic' foods have benefits over regular crops in terms of their nutrient contents and effects on human health (http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2009/jul/organic). The Soil Association (supporters of the £2bn per annum organic foods industry in the UK) seem especially incensed but, as pointed out by Ben Goldacre (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/aug/01/bad-science-organic-food), many of their complaints seem directed at other issues (e.g. protection of the environment, 'taste' etc) outside the scope of the FSA report. The debate appears to be an interesting example of what happens when a scientific report doesn't reach the conclusions that a pressure group favours. I must admit to liking some of the spin-offs of organic farming (e.g. increased biodiversity) but can't help musing that our ancestors, if they move completely into hydroponic production of crops, might well regard growing plants in soil as primitive and dirty!

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Yesterday at the National Botanical Garden Wales, Monkshood (Aconitum napellus) was much in evidence. The Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) trees were laden with 'conkers'. In spite of the rain, Red admiral (Vanessa atalanta) and Painted ladies (Cynthia cardui) were active in the gardens. Today in Loughor, Beech (Fagus sylvatica) mast was being chewed and the berries of Lords and ladies (Arum maculatum) were completely red. Topically, Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) was coming into flower whilst the larva of the Knot grass moth (Aranicta rumicis) contemplated the wrong leaf. A weevil (probably Liparus glabrirostris) was visiting. Spotted my first Small copper butterfly (Lycaena phlaeas) of the year in Bynea.