Beat / Box

Wow. Almost two weeks to the day since I last did anything remotely like enjoying natural history. Going back to work has been good for me, but tiring. But that's not the main reason I've done nothing - it's just been such shite weather that there has been no inspiration or desire to get out. The moth trap has been dormant, and after a long spell of cold dry nights in April we've had a long spell of damp windy nights in May.

Yesterday was the first glimmer of hope though. By the time I got home and we'd eaten etc, it was looking like a really nice calm evening with low sun, few clouds and no rain. I headed down the lane with nothing but my phone and bins - I just wanted some fresh air and to take in the changes from my last walk. Whilst the rains have been crap for doing anything, they've clearly been good for vegetation. The strips that were mowed a couple of weeks ago are already recovering, and the uncut strips are now absolutely bulging with flowering cow parsley. Further into the square, alongside the main road, the biggest accessible hawthorns are blooming. It all looks very promising for a bit of effort over the bank holiday weekend when the forecast is much improved. I fully intend to spend some hours beating, bashing, and sweeping some inverts onto the square list. I will need to wash out the accumulated pile of glass tubes and pots ready.

Although I wasn't equipped for it, a few additions were noted on the walk including a couple of moths - Pammene rhediella and Nematopogon swammerdammella, both caught by hand flying around hawthorn. I also added a few more flowering plants, including Changing Forget-me-not, Dove's-foot Crane's-bill and Red Campion.

I ran the trap last night as it was forecast to stay dry (it almost did), but the catch was still woeful for late May - singles of Muslin Moth, Waved Umber, Green Carpet and Garden Carpet. I can see up and down the country that catches are low; the crazy spring weather patterns over the last few years are really starting to show an effect.

This morning, after a pre-work GP appointment, as I nipped out to the bins in the garden I noticed something on the fence. Wasn't expecting one of these to turn up here so casually ....

Box Bug - a garden tick

I suppose it could have been attracted by the light trap, but it was a good few hours after dawn and it was nowhere near the trap - more likely to have flown in from the embankment. Incredible that the first VC55 record was in 2014, and it was local to one site for a couple of years before it started popping up elsewhere. It is now pretty widespread and increasingly common in the county.