Halfway there!!! :)

Quick blitz around part of the square this evening, lovely warm weather and high hopes in the 90mins I was on site. I was hoping for a butterfly or two (still missing GV White, Orange-tip, Small Tort, Holly Blue and Speckled Wood fer crying out!) but it was not to be. Still, a flyover Crossbill more than made up for that, just my 4th record for Epsom Common and over a year since the last one - unexpected and tasty stuff indeed!!

I netted a hoverfly and micromoth and finally identified a rather common and easy grass which puts me at precisely 500 species for The Challenge. Happy days, I've recently been in touch with the Countryside Team who are collating species data for the site (ultimate goal was to upgrade from SSSI to NNR, currently most of Epsom Common is LNR but is contiguous with world famous Ashtead Common NNR so maybe not as far-fetched as it seems?) They are more than happy to see the species list as it stands, approximately 80% of the 500 are within the LNR boundary. Good stuff.

Anyways, here's the extra few I managed tonight.

497 - Phyllonorycter coryli (micromoth) - adult netted, Epsom Common
498 - Crossbill - 1 calling as it flew overhead, site MEGA!!!
499 - Syrphus ribesii (hoverfly) - netted, Epsom Common
500 - Meadow Foxtail - lots in flower in one area, Epsom Common (LIFER!)

I'm off to Wales for 8 days with the missus (1st wedding anniversary prezzie from the Ma-in-law). The big day is the 5th. We're gonna have champagne on top of Mount Snowdon, hopefully we'll see a few of the endemic Rainbow Beetles too! Back to the 1KSQ Challenge on 12th May.