Stuck the garden trap out last night, first time in a few days as it's been pretty chilly overnight. But even then it was decidedly nippy when I had a quick check at around midnight. Not too much to get excited about this morning, Early Grey NFY, nice to see another Twin-spotted Quaker, a nice cloudy Clouded Drab and a couple of Small Quakers [I like Small Quakers].
Clouded Drab
Twin-spotted Quaker
Small Quaker
Small Quaker
Brindled Beauty
Early Grey
Diurnea fagella
There was also a Caloptilia sp. which I feel sure will turn into C. falconipennella when it is checked out properly.
Yesterday afternoon I headed over to Charnwood Lodge again to escape the histeria. I am hoping that I will not at any point in the near future be expected (or forced!) to self-isolate. But if I am, does that really mean staying in the house (in one room) or can 'isolation from others' be extrapolated to getting out of the house (in a car on my own) and walking around huge open spaces where there are no other people, or at the very least there is ample opportunity to maintain a significant social distance. All I do know is that I will go absolutely barking mad if I am stuck at home as spring rolls through to the peak season for ento-action.
Anyway, Charnwood Lodge is a big open space, and aside from a few locals it is not on the radar of the mass populace. Here's a bit of it, you can see maybe a quarter of the overall site from this:
I fully expected to see no, or at least few, other people. I was almost right; I saw three other people in four hours rambling around the site. Except one of them was an old bloke with a huge dog who insited on approaching me to ask what I was doing (with genuine interest, but clearly no fear for his own respiratory safety).
It remained overcast and relatively dull through my visit, though there were no showers and it was fairly mild. I managed to have a really good walk around the site, lifting stones, poking logs and sieving tussocks, leaf litter and thrashed bracken on the way around. I need to get hold of a useful saw or similar to do proper tussocks properly. I've also ordered a proper large white tray from NHBS to lug about.
Whilst on site, I wandered around parts of the woodland I've not seen before, and made a point of looking at a couple of areas that I've not been to for years including Colony Reservoir.
It felt like I wasn't finding much for the effort, but I've ended up with a few carabids, a couple of clicks to key through and a small selection of small beetles to ponder over. I also saw a few other bits which I'll post about separately over the next couple of days.
The biggest beetle I found was under bark on a well-rotted log, and is one I've been looking forward to seeing though I am sure any snail coming in its way would not feel the same ..
Snail Hunter (Cychrus caraboides)
Other beetles found under bark were ..
Silpha atrata
A couple of large dark/plain click beetles to check
Quite a few beetle larvae, think these are probably Elateridae?
Maybe it's just as well I've got a few things to check and post about over the next few days - no chance of getting out today as the weather is fithly. And in any case, after the blissful afternoon I was headlong into the madness with a trip to Sainsbury's for the regular weekly shop. No bedlam or chaos, as no hoards of people in the evening, but equally nothing on the shelves so I need to get back out for cat food and rich tea biscuits. I've ordered a family set of bio-suits and breathing aparatus from Amazon, the garden filtered bunker is coming on well and I've poached a cow and a pig for sustenance .......
Anyone else remember the excellent docu-film Dance Craze about the late 70s early 80s Ska revival, featuring live footage of The Specials, The Selecter, Madness, The Beat, Bad Manners and The Bodysnatchers? Great stuff it was, went to see it at the flicks as soon as it was on (cFeb 81 I think).
I'd love to see it again, but in the meantime there's some grainy LD footage on You Tube.....
Nothing remotely interesting to report today, as I've been busy on various things including (of all things) proper work. So, time to propose another Classic Track that I reckon every 40-something should have in their music collection, or at the very least remember fondly!
This time up, it's the superb debut single from Madness, and the track that got me into the 2-Tone / Ska revival in my very formative years - The Prince ....
Absolutely classic stuff, don't you think? Meanwhile, this week I have mostly been listening to .... .... Goldfrapp
The Black Cherry album to be precise. I quite like the recent synth-pop revival by the likes of La Roux and Little Boots, but let's not forget that Alison Goldfrapp has been putting this stuff out for a few years.
