Birds, Leps, Observations & Generalities - the images and ramblings of Mark Skevington. Sometimes.

Thursday 3 May 2012

Bug Hunt

Very late home from work yesterday, and the weather was mainly pants so nothing to report in any case. Today I had a quick look over Grove Park on the way home - still at least six Wheatears knocking about (though no idea if any were there yesterday so not sure if these are lingering or new in).

Later this evening I decided to head over to Narborough Bog - no camera, no bins, no net. I decided to try something different and go with just a pen-knife and some pots, and poke around looking for inverts. The light was crappy in the damp wood anyway so nothing missed with the camera being left behind. I came back with several pots full of stuff to look at and check out - and very therapeutic it was too. Most of us will have filled up jam jars with garden bugs during childhood, and this was just the same except the pots were smaller and I intended to actually sort out what the things were. Still a few beetles to sort out, but so far I've sorted out two millipedes (Flat-backed Millipede and Blunt-tailed Snake Millipede), a harvestman spider (Platybunus triangularis), a woodlouse (Common Pygmy Woodlouse), a couple of snails (White-lipped Snail and Monacha cantiana), a bug (Drymus brunneus) and three beetles (Leistus terminatus, Silpha atrata and Lathrobium brunnipes). Will try and get some photos tomorrow, though this sort of stuff is hard going as they don't sit still.

I also noted a new grass in the garden; with all the rain and crappy weather the lawn is well overdue for a good mowing and a lot of the grass has gone to seed including some Field Wood-rush which I would otherwise never have noticed.

The only other thing of note was a singing Lesser Whitethroat near to Narborough Bog alongside the cricket field.

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