Spring Begins

Just lately I've been ridiculously busy and pressured at work, so with the first signs of moderate weather I was more than pleased to get out and about for some fresh air over the weekend. A quick walk down the lane into my square on Saturday afternoon after working, and a couple of hours at Narborough Bog on Sunday morning. Even managed to find a few bits to point the camera at (and a couple of beetles that came home in pots to be keyed through under the microscope).

From Saturday ..

Acericerus vittifrons

Coral Spot

Large Yellow Underwing - found under a discarded welly

... and from Sunday morning ...

Scarlet Elfcup

Black Witches Butter

and this slime mould is probably Metatrichia floriformis

I keyed out a couple of small carabid beetles fro Narborough Bog to be Pterostichus minor and Agonum gracile, neither spectacular looking or paticularly photogenic but both fit in well with the habitat and VC55 records.

The Next Tort?

I like torts. My current garden list features 6032 records of 15380 individuals of 99 species of tortricidae (although Light Brown Apple Moth alone accounts for 1072 recs of 5868 inds). I had four new torts in 2013; Cydia ulicetana was the 96th species and a knackered Agapeta zoegana was the 99th, the other two were .....

Cherry Bark Moth (No. 97)

Gypsonoma oppressana (No. 98)

I am very hopeful that the 100th will grace my garden in 2014 - but which species will it be? I've had a bit of a look at the gaps and think that the following ten species are contenders, though some are more likely than others.

925	Phtheochroa rugosana
965	Cochylis hybridella
974	Argyrotaenia ljungiana
1024	Cnephasia incertana
1051	Acleris logiana
1061	Acleris literana
1144	Epinotia signatana
1177	Epiblema rosaecolana
1207a	Gravitarmata margarotana
1234	Pammene regiana

Acleris logiana and Epinotia signatana are very recent colonists that have popped up close by, the latter being one I added to the VC55 list in 2010. Gravitarmata margarotana is even more recent - both to Britain in 2011 and VC55 in 2013 (from not too far away, one I indentified) - but has all the marks of a fast coloniser and is a good outside possibility. Cnephasia incertana probably does occur, I just need to make the effort to pick a good pale one out for gen det, and Pammene regiana is perhaps the most likely on paper as there is plenty of Sycamore close by. Of the others, Argyrotaenia ljungiana is one that I expect will turn up in VC55 soon and it would be good if it was my garden first.

Predicting species that may turn up in your garden is almost impossible really, and I would not be at all surprised if the 100th tort was a complete unexpected outsider.

Retro ID

This is a sawfly larva that I found the in the pine belt at Wells-next-the-Sea back in August 2012. Thanks to some very helpful people on a Yahoo sawfly forum, it's now identified the pine-feeder Diprion pini. Appears it's in the final larval stage before settling down in leaf-litter for the winter, and pupation at the end of winter. Always nice to put a name to something that's been lingering in the unidentified pile.

Diprion pini

An Early Moth

Literally. First garden moth of 2014, attracted to the synergetic light and sitting tightly on the adjacent fence.

Early Moth

These can be a bit of a pain to photograph when fresh, as the wings are shiny and reflective.

Overdue - Seraphim

About time to highlight another moth from my garden list that is overdue for a reappearance ......

Seraphim

Just two records to date, both of individuals. The above was the first on 29/05/2003 and the second came almost exactly a year later on 30/05/2004. However apart from a ridiculous 26 at Pickworth Great Wood on 01/05/2011, I've only seen a handful of other individuals. And actually, given that the main foodplants are Aspen and Black Poplar and that its habitat preference is broadleaved woodland, perhaps it's more of a surprise that it has appeared in the garden at all rather than one to expect to reappear?

Eating the Tart

My interest in all things natural was established and rooted in birding, gradually grew and expanded with mothing, and has over the last couple of years started to flourish into full blown pan-species listing (albeit at a relatively leisurely pace). It is entirely unsurprising that there are literally thousands of species that I have yet to see that would be considered, certainly by those with a specific interest in that group, to be complete 'tarts ticks'. But of course the reality is that for everyone embarking on the PSL adventure, whatever their roots and background, there will be a number of essentially easy species to pick up.

A bit of banter on Twitter with Graeme Lyons a few weeks ago centered around 'bogey' species, and perhaps establishing a bit of a Bogey Blitz in 2014. My immediate thought was that I haven't really got any bogey species as such - there is nothing that immediately comes to mind that I have specifically tried and failed to see several times. But it did get me to thinking about species I really should have seen.

Despite a few years of avid twitching in the 90's, there are a number of birds that I really should have seen but haven't on account of never having once made the effort. I guess I always expected that I'd connect with these during a twitch or other birding trip. Similarly, most birders drift into watching butterflies and dragonflies in the summer months, but I never really did as mothing was my main alternative focus. Therefore my butterfly list, currently 40 species, is largely thanks to incidental encounters and there are some blindingly obvious gaps in my list. My odonata list is even more laughable at just 17 species, as previously I've really struggled to be bothered with looking for/at them.


So, my personal 2014 challenge will be to tackle some of these gaps ......

Metaphorically speaking, I'm going to attempt to devour this big tart by seeing the following omissions from my bird, butterfly and odonata lists:

Ptarmigan Cairngorm 29/05/2014
Cory's Shearwater
Great Shearwater
Leach's Petrel
Roseate Tern
Greenish Warbler

Swallowtail
Lulworth Skipper
Silver-spotted Skipper
Grayling Aylesbeare Common 13/08/2014
Pearl-bordered Fritillary
Small pearl-bordered Fritillary
Silver-washed Fritillary Brampton Wood 22/06/2014
High Brown Fritillary
Purple Emperor
Brown Hairstreak
White-letter Hairstreak
Black Hairstreak
Chalkhill Blue Barnack Hills and Holes 09/08/2014

Beautilful Demoiselle
Common Emerald Damselfly Woodwalton Fen 02/08/2014
Variable Damselfly
Azure Damselfly Ketton Quarry 11/06/2014
Red-eyed Damselfly Huncote Embankment 21/06/2014
Small Red Damselfly
Common Hawker
Hairy Dragonfly
Club-tailed Dragonfly
Downy Emerald
Keeled Skimmer

That's a nice round 30 species. Whilst I doubt that I'll see all 30 I'll have a good go, and I will be calling on the advice, help and company whenever possible of friends and the the various bloggers, twitterers and facebookers that I've made contacts with. Of course it would be great if other PSLers had hit-lists like this so we can share the odd tick along the way.