Birds, Leps, Observations & Generalities - the images and ramblings of Mark Skevington. Sometimes.

Thursday 13 May 2021

The Cutter

I headed out down the late yesterday afternoon, with butterfly net in hand, a bag full of pots and camera, and a happy disposition. Occasional sun, light breeze, Skylarks a-singing etc. I'd barely got more than a few meters onto the actual lane when I could hear something mechanical approaching - and my fears turned into reality minutes later as a tractor came past and then a couple of minutes afterwards had turned around and headed back down the lane ....


What is it with the owners/custodians of rural lanes and highways, why do they have to cut and mow at all let alone just as flowering plants are starting to provide for increasing insect life and in turn the nesting birds. And aside from that, why mow it just as I was heading down with my net ....

In the end, to be fair, the destruction was not quite as bad as it could have been. Whoever it was driving that tractor-mower (and I don't think it was the farmer as he carried on around other lanes in the square, so likely arranged by the County Council as some unnecessary road-safety bollocks) they did not cut the full width of the verge and they stepped the mowing from one side to the other.



Despite this activity, I managed a decent haul of c30 additions for the square yearlist including a handful of plants, 22 insects and a couple of mines/galls. I also said hello to some recently introduced tenants in one of the fields - potentially bringing in a few more insects later in the year.


Immediately in front of the gates holding back this raging hoard of shite-covered menaces was a couple of plants close together that I was pleased to see ....


One significantly bigger and better established than the other ....

Greater Celandine

Green Alkanet

Nearby, I found galls on hawthorn ....

Taphrina cataegi

Further down the lane I was more intent on netting stuff from umbelifers and suchlike and ended up with a decent range of species. Later in the evening I set about pinning the some of the Diptera and a few other bits. I clearly need to take more care and time over this as I made a bit of a hash of one or two of them with pins coming out under the scutellum. I should have got the microscope out to see properly what I was doing but I was rushing. Anyway, it was sufficient to get them identified ....

This shows the diptera I (badly) pinned, clockwise from top right: Empis opaca, Melangyna lasiopthalma, Melanostoma mellinum, Platycheirus albimanus, Eumerus funestralis and - best of all - Phania funesta, a new fly for me.

That small Tachinid was only netted by chance, when I saw it saw on a Garlic Mustard leaf it was sat with wings held out a bit like a Sepsis sp. It was only when I peered into the glass tube with my eyeglass that I could see the distinctive back-end bristles sticking out like a porcupine.





Otherwise I didn't point the camera at much whilst out, though this Cardinal Beetle was still enough to invite an effort.


5 comments:

Gibster said...

I've never seen verges mown in 'steps' before. If you accept that they're going to mow it anyway, that's actually a pretty damn cool way of doing it. We just get Highways morons with sit-on mowers churning the verges into mud here. Nicely done with that tachinid, one of two species in that pic I've never yet seen.

Skev said...

Ah, thought you gone off grid again with no posts - nothing doing up there?
Yes, the mowing wasn't anywhere near as bad as it could have been. Leaving it alone entirely would be better for my ento interest and looking at grasses ....
What's t'other fly you've not seen?

Gibster said...

Nah, just pacing myself...flies here only woke up two days ago and now I've a sudden backlog. Second fly is the Eumerus.

martinf said...

Not seen a stepped cut before but would rather see this than the usual Armageddon. Hope you enjoyed the match!

Skev said...

Yes, a stepped cut is better than full - would still prefer a zero cut on verges where there is no real reason to mow. Th day out yesterday was fantastic, almost like real life again! All the better for the long-awaited lifting of the cup - I was not quite one when LCFC had their last FA Cup defeat in 1969.