One month on since last update and County Durham like elsewhere has had it's snow and for most of the month it's meant me checking bryophytes and looking under frozen logs and stones for any old invertebrate to be found... and there wasn't many. There were only two days where it was worth putting the moth trap out and 6 species I reckon was good considering the weather even though I should expect 13-16 by now if the last few years is anything to go by.
Only the birds are performing reasonable with a few common species still to get before the summer migrants arrive (June at this rate). A Long-eared Owl was the best. It breeds within a good stone's throw of the square and has visited the garden in the past but the bird I flushed was from a winter roost that hasn't been used for 3 years. The other 10 new birds since last month were all the usual fare but Tree Sparrow wasn't bad either, as they too tend to lurk just outside the square's boundary.
I am going to try and be good and like everyone else not count hybrids or aggregates but I don't think I will get the 400 sp. of flowering plants as my estimate included these, time will tell.
The total for NZ2549 so far is 190, all fairly common stuff, no county records or anything like that but a Chestnut worm (Lumbricus castaneus) was new for me and 1 of 3 earthworms recorded this month. Easter tomorrow and off all next week. If only it would stop snowing.
| To date | Anticipated | |||||||||
| Birds | 54 | 70 | ||||||||
| Vascular Plants | 76 | 400 | ||||||||
| Mosses & Liverworts | 25 | 50 | ||||||||
| Lichens | 8 | 12 | ||||||||
| Fungi & Slime Moulds | 6 | 20 | ||||||||
| Terrestrial Mammals | 4 | 8 | ||||||||
| Butterflies | 0 | 20 | ||||||||
| Moths | 6 | 350 | ||||||||
| Dragonflies | 0 | 9 | ||||||||
| Hoverflies | 0 | 25 | ||||||||
| Other inverts | 11 | 50 | ||||||||
| Amphibians & Reptiles | 0 | 5 | ||||||||
| TOTAL | 190 | 1019 |
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