Work took me to Clwyd for 2 nights and 1 day. The day was spent mapping some very nice limestone grassland, with 50+ Frog Orchid and some Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries (eventually photographed and IDed, to my disappointment as I was hoping for Pearl-bordered!). Both evenings were spent on the stunning limestone escarpment of Creigiau Eglwyseg/Trevor Rocks, whilst a pre-breakfast wander by the River Dee just upstream of Llangollen produced a completely different bryoflora.
Eglwyseg is phenomenally spectacular, but its bryoflora doesn't quite live up to its appearance (or to its rich lichen flora). Some areas, such as World's End, have been regularly worked by bryologists and have been visited by BBS groups, and these hold a few Nationally Scarce species, such as
Entosthodon muehlenbergii and
Plagiopus oederianus.
Ditrichum flexicaule s.str had been recorded in the past, and the most recent BBS visit revealed
Schistidium robustum and
Entodon concinnus, but the site looks ideal for rarer things: why aren't Pennine specialities such as
Encalypta rhaptocarpa,
Mnium thomsonii and
Zygodon gracilis there?! My two sites, to unknown areas in the south of the escarpment, produced a few Nat Scarce mosses, such as
D. flexicaule,
Pleurochaete squarrosa and potential
S. robustum, as well as
Encalypta vulgaris,
Schistidium elegantulum,
Barbilophozia barbata,
Tortula subulata and an excellent tufa spring with
Philonotis calcarea, but I don't think there are any surprises among my scant collections for checking. Any bryo walk when I spent my time photographing lichens must be bryologically disappointing!
Barbilophozia barbata among Dicranum scoparium, and Encalypta vulgaris with a view!
The stretch of the Dee that I checked was also disappointing, with the sunny riverside rocks far too shaded by trees and rank vascular plants, and no sign of
Grimmia laevigata or
G. ovalis (I hope they are still nearby...). Equally down-curved
Pterogonium gracile and
Scleropodium cespitans were perhaps the most notable species, although a
Grimmia lurking among the
Pterogonium might be better.
Downcurved Pterogonium gracile and Scleropodium cespitans by the Dee.
My daytime survey, in the Eryrys area, produced
Entodon concinnus,
Didymodon acutus and
Pleurochaete squarrosa.
Pleurochaete squarrosa in the Eryrys area.
Both walks on Eglwyseg were enlivened by 100s of
Plutella xylostella: part of the massive national influx of this moth.
Plutella xylostella with Dinas Bran in the background.
