Almost at 300...

So much for the spell of good weather (an Adder was seen by a friend a few days ago) I spent much of my time in TQ1960 with very cold fingers and the snow falling all around. Anyway...

I found three tiny moth pupae in well-rotted fungi. I'm hoping they'll rear through easily for future ID. Under bark were various small spiders (all ignored, too damn cold!) and a couple of Dromius quadrimaculatus, Silpha atrata and more flatbugs. It transpires that there are two flatbugs in the genus Aneurus so I may have inadvertantly ticked the wrong one. Got a key from Mark Telfer via email so I'll go back and nail them soon as possible.

Plantwise I did quite well, additions were Ivy-leaved Speedwell, Ground Elder, Common Dog Violet, Compact Rush, Wild Cherry and two garden escapee Darwin's Barberry Berberis darwinii (safely outside the minimum required distance from garden of origin, lol). There's a good few bird-sown Cotoneasters scattered across the square that I'm currently clueless about. Biggest shock of the day was finding a cluster of puffballs growing over the roots of a large oak - huh? Epiphytic puffballs????? A few pics and subsequent book/web searches revealed the species to be Lycoperdon pyriforme aka the Stump Puffball. Sweet! Last but not least was a new moss found growing on the trodden earth of a little-used alleyway - Long-beaked Thyme Moss Plagiomnium rostratum.

So I finish the day just five species short of 300. Guess what... I've tomorrow off work too...

Additions today were:

287 - Compact Rush - Bramble Heath, Epsom Common
288 - Dromius quadrimaculatus (a beetle) - Horton Heath, Epsom Common
289 - Common Dog Violet - along main horseride margins and Blake's Pond, Epsom Common
290 - STUMP PUFFBALL LYCOPERDON PYRIFORME - on a tree near Christchurch (LIFER)
291 - Ground Elder - on edge of Stamford Green
292 - Ivy-leaved Speedwell - in verges of Lane End
293 - PLAGIOMNIUM ROSTRATUM (a moss) - in alleyway, Lewins Road (LIFER)
294 - DARWIN'S BARBERRY BERBERIS DARWINII - 2 garden escapes near Lane End (LIFER)
295 - Wild Cherry - several alongside Webbs Folly