Frogspawn at Calf Hey....

Thanks Clifford (Hargreaves) for sending in this great photo of frogspawn on Calf Hey (taken on 23rd March 2010). Please click over photo to enlarge...

The outer channel of the Reservoir seems to be a regular place for this obvious main Social Gathering of Frogs, because I also had large amounts of spawn in the same place a couple of years ago (see earlier blog)...

New Mosses & Crustacean to the Grane List.

Thanks to Peter Jepson (Ecologist), I have now been able to add a further 9 species of Spagnum to the Mosses of Grane List. These were identified on Haslingden and Oswaldtwistle Moors.

Sphagnum capillifolium subsp. rubellum Red Bog-moss
Sphagnum cuspidatum Feathery Bog-moss
Sphagnum fallax Flat-topped Bog-moss
Sphagnum fimbriatum Fringed Bog-moss
Sphagnum palustre Blunt-leaved Bog-moss
Sphagnum papillosum Papillose Bog-moss
Sphagnum subnitens Lustrous Bog-moss
Sphagnum denticulatum Cow-horn Bog-moss
Sphagnum squarrosum Spiky Bog-moss

Also thanks to Charlie Payne for sending in photos of evidence of Freshwater Mussels that have been found on Holden Wood Reservoir (Bay Area). I also received reports from as early as the middle of last year that it was noted that freshwater Mussels where seen to be uncovered and left dying, probably owing to the more recent changes in water levels which the reservoir has been subjected too, this I believe has been necessary for the carrying out of certain essential repairs. It is now thought that these samples of old shells found on the walls, where the result of possibly corvid predation and then bringing the Mussels over to the perimeter walls to try and smash the mussels on the wall to open them.