Mossing on the Side
Early morning by the harbour at Ward's Yard
Most of my bryophyte recording at the moment is done in the ten minutes before starting a bat survey, or whilst carrying out breeding bird surveys in the early morning (I am still listening....).
Amblystegium confervoides from the base of a wall on a ruined barn near Gwyddgrug in Carmarthenshire is, I think, only the second county record but less likely to be of concern to the planning system than the couple of pipistrelle bats inside. Syntrichia virescens on a concrete wall at Ward's Yard, Milford Haven is not far from one of Sam's three recorded locations, although perhaps not as interesting as the dwarf mouse-ear Cerastium pumilum new to south Wales on some limestone chippings between old railway lines nearby. The Syntrichia ruralis ssp. ruralis with ripe capsules alongside seems to represent the first fruiting record for Pembrokeshire.
Didymodon tomaculosus location, pond edge at Lower Harglodd
I was pleased to finally find Didymodon tomaculosus on the clay edge of a pond at Lower Harglodd, the Bug Farm near St David's. My record shot of the sausage-shaped rhizoidal gemmae isn't worth uploading, but confirmed it as the second county record. Riccia beyrichiana, Weissia rutilans, Entosthodon obtusus and Physcomitrium pyriforme and Ephemerum crassinervium ssp. sessile were among the other species on the pond edge.
Ditrichum pusillum track near Neath
Straying into south Wales blog territory, I found yet more Ditrichum pusillum whilst doing bird survey near Cimla, Neath - Sharon confirmed it as new to VC41. It must be widely overlooked in mundane acidic tracks such as this. It may also be overlooked, or passed over for Dicranella varia / howei on limestone-surfaced tracks too, as I've just found a small amount on my farm track, just 50 yards from the house. How many years has that taken me....
