Fosse Meadows 07/03/2020

Yesterday I headed over to Fosse Meadows for a quick poke around. The conditions were not exactly inspiring, but I felt I ought to try something as I knew today would be taken up with other duties. I headed into the wooded area with sieve and tray and found a few bits, mainly in areas with lots of oak litter like this ...

Didn't find a lot to be fair, though just about every sample had one of these ...

Notiophilus biguttatus (2nd elytral interval vs 3rd-5th, puncture on 4th interval)

Otherwise a few tiny Staphs &  various Tachyporus, a couple of Loricera pilicornis, and I also potted up this ....

Think this is Anthobium atrocephalum, as the head is dark, but probably need to check further.

Amongst the plethora of collembola was this hairy bugger ...

Orchesella villosa

A spot of log rolling was fruitful ...

Netted Slug, don't ask me about the darker one.

I spotted a ground bug covered in mud and potted it up, then found another which was cleaner ....

Matches femoral teeth and lack of tibial spines for Drymus, and with the all-black pronotum, overall dark colouration and blackened membrane I'm pretty sure it's Drymus ryei.

Remember the local floodplain with ongoing works?

Well through this week the waters receded and the contractors left site. Leaving not much more than a big hole. No idea what this is meant to be, though I am certain that it is not some attempt at a wader scrape though the timing could be a great coincidence. I stopped to grab a couple of shots today on the way home from the weekly shop (no panic buying, and not much evidence that there has been any other than a lack of Branston Beans which is good for the can-making business I work for!). Also a couple of shots for comparison with last week showing how much the Soar has dropped.