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

Monday 23 January 2017

Saturday 21 January 2017

Spotted Redshank & Ferruginous Duck

Spotted Redshank, Thornham Harbour, 21st January 2017


Ferruginous Duck, Broadwater, Holme NWT, 21st January 2017





Sunday 15 January 2017

A new diptera family member for the patch

15th January 2017

    Last Sunday (8th) an unfamiliar fly entered the reserve visitor centre at NWT Holme Dunes, and today after mounting the specimen, and a few tweets of images sent out by Robert Smith the family was revealed to us by Ian Andrews (thanks Ian). Later I spent sometime trying to get to grips with my first diptera key! Anyway to cut a long story short Robert called me later to inform me it had already been identified on line thus putting me out of my misery. It turns out to be Suillia variegata and hopefully a new record for the site and area, for us at least.




A stranding at Holme

Robert Smith, Holme NWT, 15th January 2017 (shown next to jawbone of baleen whale (possibly Fin Whale) to show scale)




Teal, Coot, Heron and Great Black-backed Gull

Great Black-backed Gull, Holme NWT, 8th January 2017 (note the bird bears a black Darvik on its left leg inscribed in white with JC216, indicating it is of Norwegian origin)


Heron, Holme NWT, 14th January 2017


Teal, Holme NWT, 14th January 2017


Coot, Holme NWT, 14th January 2017


Wednesday 11 January 2017

Early natterjack!

9th January 2017


    On arrival back to The Firs in cold conditions (4 degrees) I saw what I thought was a toad in the headlights, sitting still on the track. I thought I better check, and was shocked to find a very cold natterjack toad! We had some winter sightings last year but in very mild conditions (9 degrees or above).

Monday 9 January 2017

3496 species recorded by us on the patch so far........

We have now recorded 3496 species on the patch since we began recording at the start of 2014. The table below gives the species breakdown by major taxonomic group (revised from earlier years).

Taxonomic Group
New in 2016
New in 2015
New in 2014
Total
Acarina - Mites
1
5
2
8
Algae - Seaweeds
1
0
17
18
Amphibia - Amphibians
0
0
4
4
Annelida - Leeches
0
0
1
1
Annelida - Polychaeta
0
4
3
7
Araneae - Spiders
22
4
27
53
Arthropoda - Crustacea
3
2
17
22
Arthropoda - Diplura
0
1
0
1
Ascidiaceae -Tunicates
1
0
0
1
Aves - Birds
4
14
227
245
Bryophytes - Mosses & Liverworts
0
49
32
81
Bryozoans
0
0
4
4
Chilopoda - Centipedes
5
1
1
7
Cnidarians - Anemonies etc
0
0
8
8
Coleoptera - Beetles
116
122
580
818
Collembola - Sprintails
1
0
1
2
Ctenophora - Sea Gooseberries
0
0
1
1
Dermaptera - Earwigs
0
0
1
1
Diplopoda - Millipedes
8
2
0
10
Diptera - Flies
61
26
116
203
Echinodermata - Urchins, starfish
0
1
3
4
Ephemeroptera - Mayflies
0
3
0
3
Fleas
0
0
1
1
Pisces - Fish
1
6
19
26
Fungi 
7
11
128
146
Hemiptera - True Bugs
35
52
170
257
Hymenoptera - Bees, Wasps, Ants etc
58
21
47
126
Lepidoptera - Butterflies
0
1
29
30
Lepidoptera - Moths
30
48
534
612
Lichens
25
0
1
26
Mammalia - Mammals
1
0
28
29
Mecoptera - Scorpionflies
1
1
0
2
Mollusca - Gastropoda
10
0
43
53
Mollusca - Bivalvia
0
0
17
17
Mollusca - Polyplacophora
1
0
0
1
Mollusca - Cephalopoda
0
0
2
2
Neuroptera - Lacewings
1
1
2
4
Odonata - Dragonflies & Damselflies
0
2
15
17
Opiliones - Harvestmen
0
3
5
8
Orthoptera - Grasshoppers, Crickets & Alies
0
0
12
12
Plecoptera - Stoneflies
0
1
2
3
Psocoptera - Booklice
2
1
5
8
Pseudoscorpionida - Pseudoscorpions
0
0
3
3
Reptilia - Reptiles
0
0
2
2
Zygentoma - SIlverfish
0
0
1
1
Trichoptera - Caddisflies
2
7
1
10
Vascular Plants
8
23
567
598
GRAND TOTAL 
405
412
2679
3496