"For now we are young let us lay in the sun and count every beautiful thing we can see" Neutral Milk Hotel.

Sunday 29 May 2016

Hoverfly at Firs

   The first decent warm day for a while (24th May) produced the chance to photograph this hoverfly Leucozona lucorum at The Firs.



Car Park Clovers et al.

The car park is often the first place a botanist looks at when arriving at a site.  This is not without good reason as there is usually a good selection of plants, some possibly brought in by car tyres.
The centre of the car park of the Visitor Centre at Holme Dunes initially looks to be just sandy gravel.  However, get on your knees to take a closer look and you will find a good number of small plants of several species.  Among these are two small clovers.  Bird's-foot Clover (Fenugreek) Trifolium ornithopodioides was recorded on site as early as 1969 by E.L.Swann.  It has dark green leaves and pale pink flowers.  The other small clover is Suffocated Clover Trifolium suffocatum and this was first spotted and recorded by Philip Amies in 2015, although from the number of plants present (200+) it must have been around for a few years.  The Suffocated Clover has white petals but these are tiny and are hidden in the longer calyx tubes.

Suffocated Clover     and     Bird's-foot Clover


Suffocated Clover Trifolium suffocatum

Bird's-foot Clover Trifoilium ornithopodioides

Among other plants to be found in the car park at the VC are Mossy Stonecrop Crassula tillaea, Buck's-horn Plantain Plantago coronopus and Flattened Meadow-grass Poa compressa.
(If you go searching for these plants please be careful of moving cars!)

Wednesday 25 May 2016

Box-headed Blood Bee

Box-headed Blood Bee, Sphecodes monilicornis, female, Holme, 22nd May 2016


Tuesday 24 May 2016

Monday 23 May 2016

Coastal Silver Stiletto

Coastal Silver Stiletto, Acrosathe annulata, Holme NWT, 23rd May 2016


Common in the dunes, this female was amongst several on the wing today, though our first was on 14th May 2016.

Two huge weevils

Platyrhynus resinosus, Ringstead Downs, 23rd May 2016


Platystomos albinus, Ringstead Downs, 23rd May 2016


Monday Moths

Pine-cone Piercer, Cydia conicolana, Holme NWT, 23rd May 2016



Green Carpet, Holme NOA, 23rd May 2016


Flame Wainscot, Holme NOA, 23rd May 2016


Bird's-nest Moth, Tinea tinerrella, Holme NOA, 23rd May 2016


 Garden Midget, Phyllonorycter messaniella, Holme NOA, 23rd May 2016


Thrift Neb, Aristotelia brizella, Holme NOA, 23rd May 2016


Gorse Case-bearer, Coeleophora albicosta, Holme NOA, 23rd May 2016


Grey Pine Carpet, Hunstanton, 23rd May 2016


Scalloped Hazel, Hunstanton, 23rd May 2016


Sunday 22 May 2016

Off Patch: Purple Toothwort

Purple Toothwort, Norwich, 16th May 2016


Hairy Dragonfly

Hairy Dragonfly, female, Holme NWT, 22nd May 2016


Not the first to be seen this year, but the most obliging ! The first was on the wing on 14th May.

Four Sunday Moths

Green Longhorn, Adela rufimitrella, Holme NWT, 22nd May 2016


Yellow-triangle/New Oak Slender Caloptilia alchimiella/robustella, Holme NOA, 22nd May 2016



Vetch Piercer, Grapholita jungiella,  Holme NWT, 22nd May 2016


Cocksfoot Moth, Glyphipterix simpliciella, Baker's Carr, 22nd May 2016


Tuesday 17 May 2016

Cliffs, Wednesday 18th May 2016

    Wednesday 18 May 2016


Counting period: 05:05 - 07:05
Weather: wind South2, cloud-cover 8/8, temperature 10 ℃
Observers: Andy Brown

SNSN
Little Egret  5  -  Tree Pipit  1  -  
Swift  1356  -  Linnet  50  -  
Barn Swallow  582  -  redpoll sp.  1  -  
House Martin  293  -  Goldfinch  7  -  
flava wagtail sp.  5  -  Eurasian Siskin  10  -  

Totals: 2310 individuals, 10 species, 2:00 hours

Bold = Remarkable observation (scarce or rare species or large number)

Off Patch: a male Snow Bunting at Choseley

Snow Bunting, Choseley, 17th May 2016







Some May butterflies (plus a spider and a fly)


Brown Argus at Holme Dunes

Small Copper at Holme Dunes

Common Blue at Holme Dunes

Holly Blue in Hunstanton Community Orchard

Green-veined White in Hunstanton Community Orchard

A Wolf Spider (Pardosa amentata?) Male on female? Hunstanton Community Orchard

A Bee-fly (Bombylius major?) Ringstead Downs

May flowers selection

Photos of a few of the plants in flower on our patch (and one off patch).


There are over 1200 flower-heads of Horseshoe Vetch at Ringstead Downs.
Good news for the Chalkhill Blue butterflies?


The earliest flowers of Long-stalked Crane's-bill at Ringstead Downs
 
A flower-head of Hound's-tongue at Ringstead Downs



One of a few Sea Campion plants in flower at Holme Dunes

The Mouse-ear-hawkweeds have suddenly flowered en masse on the dunes

And one plant off patch at Burnham Norton.  Mousetail, a member of the Buttercup family, is flowering well in the corral and field gateway.  It likes bare earth where its hard fruits can be trampled by the feet of cattle.  It is a vulnerable and nationally declining species.  It also used to grow in arable where its fruits were probably trampled by the heavy working horses.