Today has been gloriously sunny, and I managed to make time to get out this
afternoon for a while. I headed over to Croft Pastures, a site that I haven't
visited too often but have been meaning to get to in early spring for a few
years and haven't for one reason or another. It was on the list for last year
before the lockdown scuppered those plans, and the year before I was
recovering from my first surgery. Otherwise I've either been too early or too
late for my target - today I was perhaps a few days too early but not far off.
See that small hump on the right in the above shot - that one small mound hosts
a good number of scarce/rare plants for VC55, many of which are very small. The
one I was looking for today was even smaller than I expected, and it was one of
those eureka moments as once spotted it was clearly all over one side of the
mound. Here it is in all it's tiny glory ....
It's Upright Chickweed, and I'll concede that it's not glorious at all
- especially when the flowers are not quite out yet. Only a couple of inches
high at the moment, barely rising above the other short plants in the
vicinity. Nice white-edged sepals, and once seen it's pretty unmistakeable.
I think I'll go back before the end of the month so as some of the other plants on site
should also be more evident by then.
Whilst I was there I tried the pheromone lures around some oaks but no joy - I
think Pammene giganteana may well be over now. I also took the wrong net
with me; sweeping the grasses and suchlike yielded a few bits that I've potted
to check but I think the butterfly net would have been more useful as there
were lots of solitary bees and their parasites on site. Again in another couple of weeks there will be more to swish at with any net.
Afterwards I spent a bit of time in the square and again I've got some bits
potted to check. I just wish the night-time temps would hold up - the garden
trap hasn't been on for well over a week now and the very cold nights look set
to continue until at least the weekend.
Whilst supping a coffee this morning and casually glancing at the garden
feeders, I mused to myself that as two were empty and one was about a third
full that I probably should re-fill them one more time (I usually stop feeding during spring). Seconds later I almost
spluttered the coffee all over the place as a small finch landed on the
feeders. I dashed upstairs to grab the camera, and thankfully it was still
there when I got back to the kitchen and grabbed a couple of shots ....
Well, I wasn't expecting a Lesser Redpoll any time soon! Throughout the day, it
kept re-appearing and occasionally spent time loafing in a neighbours large
shrub that overhangs our garden. I grabbed a few more shots, but all were
through the windows.
Eventually I decided it was time to try and sneak down the path from the front
garden and see if I could get shots without a window in the way. I was in luck
....
That'll do to mark this unexpected garden tick.
Seeing as the sun was out and I had the camera, a few other birds hit the
sensor.
House Sparrows have always been a garden scarcity up until the last year,
there is now a pair nesting in the eaves of one of the houses that backs
onto our garden. So nice to see and hear them more regularly. Also on the garden bird front, yesterday I noted both Blue and Great Tits
gathering mosses for nests, just before the skies darkened and we had a
series of hail showers. I'm still awaiting Blackcap in the garden; they're
late this year, I normally see and hear one well before Chiffchaff.
Here's another pretty Polly, coincidentally singing about Good Fortune ....
The sun has been out for most of the day, so it felt quite spring-like despite
the temps still not being quite up where they should be. I should have been in
for chemo today but it was deferred as bloods not right (possibly an effect of
my second Covid vaccine dose) so later in the afternoon we walked down to
the Dog and Gun for a pint or two. Aside from enjoying a pub pint in sunshine,
the walk also provided unexpected square ticks with a Field Pansy on a
roadside verge, and some escaped Wood Spurge and Aubretia.
Also some Ivy-leaved Speedwell growing on my front garden again ....
Finally, I've recently set-up an new fish tank to replace the
BiOrb
I set-up in 2010 as that was a total pain to clean out and I wanted something
bigger. The new tank is triple the volume and should be easier to maintain.
Once it was settled I transferred the remaining fish from the BiOrb and I'm
gradually adding a few new fish every couple of weeks. Tank cleanliness is
also assisted by the likes of these Amano Shrimps ....
Before you ask - I didn't stick the TG-6 in the water to get this shot. Cheers!
Yesterday I followed up on a tip-off from Graham Finch and headed out to look
for some larval life that would provide a lepidopteran tick. What I didn't
realise until checking afterwards was that I was getting a vascular plant tick
in the process. I headed out to Kinchley Lane that runs along the side of
Swithland Reservoir, the site that I usually go and look for Psychidae early
in the year.
See all that green stuff on the bank around the birch trees and at the base of
the wall, well it's not just grass - it's Great Wood-rush. Clearly I
have seen this many times whilst on that lane, but I've never taken any notice
of it and it wasn't on my list. Here's some shots of the general appearance,
hairy-edged wide leaves (for a wood-rush) and flower spike ....
Anyway, what I was looking for on this plant was leaf mines like this one ....
A creased blister causing the leaf to fold in on itself on older mines. I found
a few, and collected what I thought was two tenanted mines and one old vacated
mine ....
It was then that I noticed that what I thought was an older mine was going in
the opposite direction to the others: this one had a frass collection nearer to
the tip of the leaf with the mine heading basally. And, despite appearances all
three mines were tenanted.
I needed to open the mines to check the larva to be sure on the ID. This larva
was clearly not impressed as it constantly shuffled up and down the leaf so I
had to whack up the ISO to get a clear enough shot.
So, mines on Great Wood-rush tenanted by a greenish larva with a brown head
and prothoracic plate which is darker at the outer margins (as opposed to
whitish-grey with black prothoracic plate) confirm this is
Elachista regificella (and not Elachista gleichenella which may also
mine this plant). Sweet. Highly unlikely that I'll get one reared through but
it has to be worth sweeping the plants in late June - mid July. Great
Wood-rush seems to be localised in VC55, mainly around the Charnwood area
including Swithland Wood.
Whilst I was there I had a quick look for Psychidae. Every year there seem
to be fewer cases, or perhaps my eyesight is getting crapper.
A couple of Dahlica sp. above (probably D. lichenella based on size and
lack of obvious insect fragments), Narycia duplicella below.
I also found a few Dyseriocrania subpurpurella loafing about including
this pair in-cop.
And there were loads of Alder Flies, none of which I bothered collecting to
check exactly which one.
It was pretty nippy whilst I was out and certainly not inspiring enough to
spend a lot of time looking around. I headed to Ulverscroft to have another
look at the Infucitinea argentimaculella colony, and found absolutely
loads of tubes. None that I collected last year were successful, so I think
his year I'll go and collect a few in late June by which time they'll have
pupated.
Way back in May 2014, I found a couple of flat bugs under bark on dead rotting
wood at Ketton Quarry. I confidently identified them as Aneurus laevis on the
basis that they completely matched the images and, I believed, the description
on the excellent British Bugs website. Here's one of the beasts in question:
Fast forward to March this year, and I happened to be going through a load of
notifications on my iRecord account - these are mainly stating that records have
been verified etc, and don't come through as e-mail notifications at all.
Amongst them, I noted that my 2014 record had been re-determined by none other
that Tristan Bantock - it was now Aneurus avenius. I was perplexed, and
immediately went to check the British Bugs website to see how/where I'd gone
wrong .... only to find that there was no longer a page for A. laevis, and that
my images did indeed match well the images that were present for A. avenius. Had
I completely fucked this up, or was I going mad?! Quite possibly both.
But - I messaged Tristan to double check and discovered that the British Bugs
website page had been reworked from A. laevis to A. avenius as he'd realised
that all of his specimens/photos were mis-identified. I guess the follow up to
that was checking all records on iRecord etc.
So, some solace that whilst my ID was wrong there was a rational and good
reason for it - I was working to an incorrect reference point! As it happens,
my record was the only one for either species in VC55 - so changing it from A.
laevis to A. avenius does not deprive me of a VC first and all is good.
One of the bits I still had in pots to ID from the square turned out to be a
new leafhopper for me. I netted a few of these by swiping willow; I was
actually swiping the catkins but obviously caught leaves and twiggery in the
process. Anyway, it's spot on for Metidiocerus rutilans.
Meanwhile, that Abia sp. sawfly is proving to be a pain in the arse. It has
characters that fall between the two species - so not sure which is
predominantly correct and how good the key is (Mike Hackston, but I'm relying
on feedback from Andrew Green on the sawflies FB group). Unfortunately though,
with buggering about with the specimen the antennae fell off and are lost. It
has microsculpturing on the mesonotum (top side of thorax), giving it a
slightly leathery appearance that is not so shiny - good for Abia aenea.
However the mesosternum/mesopleura (underside of thorax) is quite plain
between deep punctures and is very shiny - good for Abia lonicera. It should
have microsculpturing on both features or not on both features - not a mix!
Prior to losing them, the antennae as far as I could make out are also good
for female A. aenea (no significant bulge on seg 4).
I can only hope that more of these are munching on my Lycestria this year. I
will be keeping an eye out it the hope of emerging adults in the next week or
so after this cold snap - more snow flurries today!
Blimey, I drafted the bulk of this on Friday 02/04/21 but have been busy or
otherwise disposed since then.
Time to update on the various year lists I'm keeping.
It's fair to say that my efforts in March were limited by chemo side-effects
and weather. I've not been out as much as I'd like, but nevertheless the lists
continue to creep up - although the unseasonal high temps on 30th and 31st
accounted for a fair chunk of the square additions.
On Tuesday, after the failed attempts to lure Pammene giganteana in the
square, I spent c15mins sweeping the grasses and docks on the lane (despite
the fact they are all very short at the moment). The amount of insect life
compared to what I'd been seeing earlier in the month was notable, and I
quickly and easily potted up a number of species including Notostira elongata
(which I'd not seen before), Himacerus mirmicoides, Dock Bug, Nedyus
quadrimaculatus, Apion frumentarium, Rhyzobius litura and Demetrias
atricapillus. Earlier in the day, casual sightings in the garden
included Agonum muelleri, Notiophilus biguttatus, Musca
autumnalis and Bombylius major. Wednesday was not quite so sunny, though
still very warm, and again whilst out trying the lure I picked up Tawny Mining
Bee, Honey Bee, Nabis ferus netted in flight and loads
of Scathophaga stercoraria loafing about. I also found a number
of Gyrinus substriatus and Gerris lacustris scuttling about on a
large flood puddle. With the moth-trap additions over the two nights, I added
30 species to the square list of which 29 were insects. I still have a couple
of bits in pots to identify.
At the end of March the list stood at 286 species (+64 species). For
comparison, the 2013 list stood at 189 species at the end of March and did not
reach 286 species until 23rd April. The list is likely to increase markedly in
April ... if we get a spell of decent weather.
The bird lists have not increased much; new 5MR species in March were Rook,
Treecreeper, Oystercatcher, Chiffchaff, Greylag Goose, Kingfisher and Little
Ringed Plover. The latter were a pair on the pool at Jubilee Park on
31/03/2021 whilst I was without camera sadly. Of these additions, only
Chiffchaff was also added to the square list. I also didn't get out to
anywhere outside of the square or patch during March, so a bit more effort in
April should see additions with migrants coming in.
The 44 species in the overall square list includes three only seen in/from the
garden so far: Goldcrest, Canada Goose and Mistle Thrush.
On 01/04/2021, I added Scarlet Lily Beetle to the yearlist and a late evening
drive to pick up Alex from one of his mates added a live Badger to the list -
pleased about that as expected I'd have to wait for a dead one on the main
road.
02/04/2021 pm, after writing all of the above I nipped out to Aylestone
Meadows. I ended up walking around the site for a fair while before I was able
to add a couple more warblers to the 5MR list. There were loads of Chiffchaff
all over the site, but only a couple of Blackcaps were singing and a single
Willow Warbler. I imagine a follow-up in another week or so will be different.
The site was awash with blooming Blackthorn.
I dropped into Jubilee Park on the way home, but sadly no sign of the pair of
LRP though the Oystercatchers were still around. Also another Blackcap.
What I didn't see on that afternoon was a White Stork apparently drifting over
Whetstone - I found out about it on a local Whatsapp group around 15 or so
mins after it would have been long gone. However it seems it was a colour
ringed bird (GB35) that was wild born but rehabilitated in Warsaw Zoo before
being released in 2020 as part of the Knepp scheme, so not a genuine
vagrant.
Saturday was spent walking around Bradgate Park with my brother's family,
and yesterday was blisteringly hot but again I was constrained by family.
Today was clear, cold and with a few small flakes of snow this morning,
before a nice afternoon with sunny spells but not much warmth. I reckon it
will be the best part of a week before the weather turns back around to
something properly productive.
