Saturday, February 16, 2013

Waxwings!!!!

Had a great day out in TQ1960 today - no rain, no snow, not cold, not too many people out there. Sweet. Undoubted highlight (for me) was finally adding Waxwing to my Patch List. It's taken over 26 years and typically I was under tree cover, so only heard them trilling low overhead. But thats a blank box filled with a tick on my BUBOListing Patch List so I'm happy.

Various logs were rolled, bits of loose bark peeled and tussocks peered into. I even did a spot of sweep-netting (which was a waste of time) for the first time this year.

As is the nature of this Challenge, I explored a dense area of wet woodland that I ordinarily bypass. Pretty much a quagmire and tricky to push through the low branches and bramble patches but worth it as I discovered a patch of Betony (previously unknown in this square) and 15 Scarlet Elf Caps which were lifers for me. Cool!!

A bit more moss was tried under the microscope. Most was put aside for another night but Cirriphyllum piliferum was a new one for me whilst Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus was new for the year.

Additions today were:

263 - Birch Shieldbug - 2 under logs on Epsom Common
264 - Waxwing - 2 or 3 HEARD ONLY over Epsom Common
265 - Slender St John's-wort - Epsom Common
266 - Gorse Seed Weevil Exapion ulicis - several beaten from Gorse, Epsom Common
267 - Horse Chestnut - sapling growing near Wells Road, Epsom Common
268 - Ground Ivy - Epsom Common
269 - Honeysuckle Whitefly Aleyrodes lonicerae - nymph on Honeysuckle, Epsom Common
270 - Betony - patch on Epsom Common
271 - SCARLET ELF CUP - clusters near Blake's Pond, Epsom Common (LIFER)
272 - Lesser Black-backed Gull - 1 overhead, Epsom Common
273 - Variable-leaved Crestwort Lophocolea heterophylla - Epsom Common
274 - Springy Turf-moss Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus - Epsom Common
275 - HAIR-POINTED FEATHER MOSS Cirriphyllum piliferum - Epsom Common (LIFER)

Also got a couple of spiders, a few Carabids, millipedes, a couple of slugs and some b*stard-hard mosses still awaiting identifications.






3 comments:

  1. Nailed one of the beetles as Sinodendron cylindricum (aka the Rhinoceros Beetle) but the rest seem to be in the genus Pterostichus. They can wait for another night...)

    So that's 276 species identified so far.

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  2. great work on the Waxwings mate - well deserved after 26 years of patch working!!

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  3. Cheers mate, I'd be more than happy if you threw a Needletail this way for my next patch addition...

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