New Species - Clouded Agaric

The waxcaps have largely gone by now but it is still a prolific fungi season this year. Here is a species that I have identified for the first time. It is growing in profusion close to a Beech tree and a compost heap. It is Clouded Agaric (Clitocybe nebularis).

New Species - Apricot Club

Even more fungi are coming up in our fields and I have found a new species today. I am fairly certain this is Apricot Club (Clavulinopsis luteoalba)and I found it growing just under the edge of a large Meadow Waxcap. That makes probably five species of clubs and spindles so far here; White Spindles, Crested Coral, Meadow Coral, Apricot Club and one yellowy spindle I didn't identify.

New Waxcap variety

Returning to the subject of the moment here at The Beeches which is grassland fungi, I have a new waxcap which is pretty much a white version of the Meadow Waxcap. This year I have had hundreds of Meadow Waxcaps (Hygrocybe pratensis) and it is probably the most common waxcap on site but there are a few white fungi which look very similar in size and in the gill formation. There is a question as to whether these are a separate species or a variety - the variety proposal is based on the fact that it is only the colour that distinguishes it whereas the lack of any intermediate forms argues for a species definition. However as I have the book by Boertmann on genus Hygrocybe, I shall follow him in treating it as a variety. The photo above is therefore Hygrocybe pratensis var. pallida.

Pied Wagtail finds a friend

The male Pied Wagtail who has been around on our roof for a couple of weeks has attracted a special friend and they were doing what looked some display type flying today. I was a bit surprised as I would have expected this sort of behaviour early in the new year rather than in the Autumn.

Parrot Waxcaps in profusion

Until yesterday I had only seen a single Parrot Waxcap (Hygrocybe psittacina) on site and that was in 2011. Yesterday I spotted three groups of fungi close together that at first sight looked like three different species. The central group was clearly Parrot Waxcaps, the unique green colouration evident on caps, stems and gills. The left-hand group was basically an orangey colour and the right-hand group a yellowy colour. Closer examination showed them to be all Parrot Waxcaps. I knew that Parrot Waxcaps came in a range of hues aside from showing the green colouration unique amongst waxcaps but had never thought that there would be such a range of colours in fungi so close together. It has been an epic waxcap year so far. The photo is the right-hand yellowy coloured group.

The Scarlet Waxcap is back

I was wondering where this waxcap was as it has been one of the more common waxcaps here but it has started appearing in the last few days. This is definitely an outstanding waxcap season in terms of quantity - there are hundreds of waxcaps in three of the fields. I am not sure whether this is an effect of management and in particular the sheep grazing, or whether it is just a weather-related phenomenon.

New fungi species - Coral Spot

I was looking at one of my decomposing log piles and there were dozens of fungi and slime moulds that I couldn't identify - it seems as though every decomposing log is host to its own species. One caught my eye as distinctive however both in colour and form and a while later I spotted its picture. The 'spots' are distinctly warty close up and the fungus is the apparently very common Coral Spot (Nectria cinnabarina).

Crimson Waxcap at New Grove Meadows

One of the most impressive waxcaps for its size and colour is the Crimson Waxcap (Hygrocybe punicea). Unfortunately it is not a waxcap I have found here at The Beeches. However two miles away at New Grove Meadows it is found and I saw a few on a visit yesterday. The specimen I photographed is about twice the diameter of any waxcap I have seen here. The one waxcap that is somewhat similar, though actually much smaller and red rather than crimson, is the Scarlet Waxcap (H. coccinea) but for some reason I have not seen a single example here this year. For the last few years it has been one of the commoner waxcaps.

New species - Goldcrest

I arrived home today to find a dead Goldcrest by the front door - it must have flown into the window near to the door which has caused some bird strikes in the past as it is on a clear line to a further window. In previous strikes the bird has beens stunned for a while but has recovered and flown off but maybe because of the tiny size of the Goldcrest it didn't survive. Not the way I wanted to add this delightful bird onto the species list.

Eyebright identified

Eyebright first appeared on the site in 2013 - two years after we instituted a meadows management regime. At the time I struggled to get a firm ID of the species even with some expert help but there are around 20 species and 70 hybrids of Eyebright so that is not surprising. This year the single small patch in one field has turned into five patches spread around three fields. Whilst having a further go at an identification I noticed that the tiny patch of three plants to be found in our South field was different to the others. It had a feature that they didn't which was hairs on the undersides of the leaves. In addition the flowers were bigger (10 to 11mm rather than 8 to 9mm) and the plants were unbranched whereas others had multiple branches. (Photo above) I set out again to try and identify the Eyebrights on site. In the end I came to the conclusion that the plants in the South field were Euphrasia montana (aka Euphrasia officinalis ssp monticola). This seemed unlikely as the only recent record in Monmouthshire is from 1997 between Pontypool and Abergavenny. However an Eyebright expert at the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland has agreed with my identification and so I can formally add this to my species list. He was not able to come to a firm conclusion on my other Eyebrights as I had not collected all the evidence necessary to make a determination but the range of suspects is narrowing and they may well be a hybrid species. I am hopeful of nailing the other Eyebrights next year.

Waxcaps back in force

The recent rain seems to have produced a second crop of waxcaps with some of them appearing in numbers. The photo is a pre-lunch* picture of one group of Meadow Waxcaps in the East field. There continue to be a large number of Lemon-green Waxcaps (Hygrocybe citrinovirens)and also further examples of the iconic Pink Waxcap as well as several other species. -- -- * Meadow Waxcaps are the only edible waxcap.

New Species - Hoverfly, Heliophilus pendulus

I actually took this picture in August 2013 when a hoverfly presented itself whilst I was photographing butterflies. However I had not a hope of identifying it from my generalist insect books once I found out that we have 281, yes 281, species of hoverfly in the UK. This ID is the first fruit of my recent purchase of the excellent 'Britain's Hoverflies' by Stuart Ball and Roger Morris that has a brilliant set of annotated photographs.

New Species - Green-brindled Crescent

The results of my first night's moth trapping are in - one Moth and one Caddis Fly. The moth is a Green-brindled Crescent (Allophyes 0xyacanthae) I am not sure I have the reference sources to ID the Caddis Fly - there are apprently nearly 300 species of them in the UK.

New Species - Pale Tussock Moth

Just before setting a moth trap for the first time I found a stupendously coloured moth larva in the field which turns out to be the larva of a Pale Tussock (Calliteara pudibunda). The larva features a lime green and black body with lemon yellow showing on top at the rear and deep yellow pads of hair sticking up at the front, the whole surrounded by white bristles and with a bright red 'spine' sticking up at the rear.

Waxcap round-up

I can, with a lot of difficulty identify most of the waxcaps I find here at The Beeches. I can also more or less manage the corals and spindles as they are limited in number and quite distinctive. The rest of the grassland fungi are more or less a mystery to me. I do look through the books but rarely do I get a conclusive ID. A book which just contained the 100 most common species found on old grassland would be a boon I'm sure but there doesn't seem to be one. Anyway I have been checking on the waxcaps seen this year and of the eleven species that we have here that I feel reasonably confident about the ID of, I have seen nine this year. The exceptions are the Parrot Waxcap (Hygrocybe psittacina) which I only found once in 2011 and the Scarlet Waxcap (H. coccinea) which has been plentiful ever since we moved in but has not appeared yet this year strangely. The nine that have appeared so far this year are Blackening Waxcap (H. conica), Meadow Waxcap (H. pratense), Butter Waxcap (H. ceracea), Golden Waxcap (H. chlorophana), Spangle Waxcap (H. insipida), Pink Waxcap (H. calyptriformis), Lemon-Green Waxcap (H. citrinovirens), Fibrous Waxcap (H. intermedia) and Snowy Waxcap (H. virginea). Of these there are normally quite a few Golden Waxcaps and Meadow Waxcaps but the ones that appeared in greater numbers this year so far are the Lemon-Green Waxcap and the Pink Waxcap. The Pink Waxcaps are mostly in one large group but the Lemon-Green Waxcaps are popping up as numerous individuals throughout the the three main fields. The photo above is a couple of these waxcaps. Another difference this year is the appearance of one or two waxcaps in the fourth field where I have not seen them before and of one Blackening waxcap in the garden area where again they have not been seen before.

Lots of Pink Waxcaps

I have had a few Pink Waxcaps (Hygrocybe calyptriformis) on site in the three years since we moved here, mostly isolated individuals. They are a Welsh Government action species and are regarded as uncommon and special. However this year I have a group of twelve in one place although I didn't recognise that they were all Pink Waxcaps until an expert took a look at one of them and told me it was a diseased individual. In fact most of them appear to have the same infection which has discoloured them from their normal bright pink colour.

Wasp Spider repeat

I noted that we had a Wasp Spider on site last month but it was only today when I bumped into the Welsh Spider Recorder that he told me that this is the only record he has received this year. Last year he knew it from just one site and there has been none recorded on that site this year. So we have the only Welsh site for 2014 that has recorded a Wasp Spider. I thought that merited a further post and picture (this time it is the underside of the spider)......

Not a good place to sleep......

I came back from a week's holiday yesterday, opened the garage doors and a pile of bats (well five) fell out. The foolish pippistrelles had decided that the gap between the doors was an attractive roost. I have ordered a batbox to put up on the garage and hope it arrives before I have to open the garage doors again. I'll then open the doors at night and hope they find the handy new purpose built roost. It may well be that they have already vacated given the rude awakening. Two of the bats regained their place on the door which I then closed very carefully. One flew off imnmediately and two sat on the ground for a few minutes. When I went in to get something to move them safely back to the doors they disappeared. I assume they also went back into the roost but in any case there are plenty of little gaps and spaces for bats all over the garage so I am sure they are fine. I managed a quick ID shot when they first sat on the ground. I think they are soprano pips (Pipistrellus pigmaeus) as they are the ones that are always around according to my bat detector.

Dragonfly central

The new pond is becoming a big attraction for dragonflies. At one point there were at least five Common Darters and a Southern Hawker around it today. I had the privilege of watching a pair of Common Darters ovipositing. They were flying in tandem and she would flick her tail down every so often into the water to deposit her eggs. She seemed to favour the shallow edges of the pond and the sound of her tail hitting the pond liner was sometimes quite audible. Meanwhile one of the other males was chasing after the pair and trying to get in on the act or at least to scare off the male who was getting the action. He had no success however.

New Species - Painted Lady

Ignore the excuses for the lack of a photograph below - the Painted Lady has returned a couple of days later to feast on the Buddleia in the garden so I do have a photo. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I thought it had been a great year for butterflies as I had recorded 20 species including two superb new ones - Clouded Yellow and Dark Green Fritillary. Well into September and a third new one has appeared - a single Painted Lady fluttered past me and into the field in front of the house. It sunbathed long enough for me to get a positive ID but when I returned with the camera it was nowhere to be seen.

Fibrous waxcap

This is not a new species for the site but it is one waxcap that is quite distinctive and easy to identify. Both the colouration and the surface of both cap and stem are unusual. I haven't seen this mentioned in the reference books but it also seems to occur often in a close group of several fruiting bodies as per the photograph above. I didn't spot this here in the last couple of years but there are a few around this year.

Meadow Coral fungus - new species

Another spindle-like fungus found as I clear the fields of cut grass. This time it is Meadow Coral (Clavulinopsis corniculata). That makes it four species of spindle-like fungi - the Crested Coral I found a couple of years ago, the White Spindles of a couple of days ago and another Clavulinopsis species I have photographed but not yet identifed. Like Waxcaps these type of fungi are indicators of old grassland.

New Species - White Spindle

I am immersing myself in the grassland fungi to be found on site and whilst most of my attention is on the Waxcaps I have also come across a couple of spindles. The White Spindle (Clavaria fragilis) shown above is a confirmed ID but I am still working on the orange coloured spindle I found a few days ago. The fungi is a bit mashed up as I only found it whilst cutting the fields for hay.

Red Admiral completes the butterfly set for 2014

The only butterfly of the 20 species I have recorded over the four years we have been here, that I hadn't seen this year, was the Red Admiral and one made itself known today. It had a large chunk taken out of its wing, possibly by the Spotted Flycatcher I saw chasing butterflies a couple of weeks ago, but suprisingly it seemed to have no trouble flying. Normally I would say the Red Admiral was a handsome butterfly but perhaps not in this case.

New species - Weasel

No photo I'm afraid - even if I had had my camera in hand I doubt I would have got the picture. A weasel stuck its head out of an entrance to the bank vole palace that is our garden wall and then disappeared again. We were wondering why we hadn't seen any sign of the bank voles for a couple of weeks and now we know why. There must be stoats around as well, given our rabbit population but no sightings yet.

First waxcap of the season - Spangle Waxcap

I'm determined to get a full list of waxcap species this year for our site. Having just found the first one I have identified it as Spangle Waxcap (Hygrocybe insipida). I find some waxcaps difficult to id but given the slimy cap and stem and the decurrent gills I am happy with this one.

New species - Wasp Spider

This startling spider has built an extraordinary web using a metal cage that was protecting an orchid from the rabbits as the main supports and featuring a vertical spiral pipe. The large spider (it's a female) sits in full view at the centre displaying its bright black and yellow colouring for all to see. These female Wasp spiders are apparently known to eat the males on ocassion starting during mating - I wasn't sure whether this was just an apochryphal story.

NEW SPECIES - CLOUDED YELLOW

Having just decided that all the butterflies around were Tortoiseshells this stunning Clouded Yellow rested briefly in front of me. A new and perhaps surprising species for our meadows here in the Wye Valley. That makes 20 species for the site since we moved in.

Plague of Tortoiseshells

Perhaps plague is the wrong word but they are certainly dominating the butterfly scene at the moment. The large quantities of Tortoiseshell caterpillars on our nettles has turned into a large quantiy of adults. The buddleia bush outside the lounge is currently hosting about 20 adults.

Industrious swallows

Swallows have been flying in and out of the barn all summer - I am wondering whether this is a third brood they are raising or a second. There seem to be two youngsters only this time. They have reused the nest used in 2012 rather than the nest they used last year. They have of course ignored all three ceramic swallows' nests I have installed.

Southern Hawker - confirmed

As per my post last week I was right that the dragonfly claiming ownership of the new pond was a Southern Hawker. It even tried to scare me off today but I managed to get a photo - not good quality but it was in flight. The pond is nearly complete and is already teemimng with insect larvae and their predators.

A good year for.......

...Common Blues (as per photo above), Gatekeepers, Burnet Companions (hundreds and hundreds earlier in the year), Eyebright ( four patches and at least two species now as opposed to one patch last year), Common Spotted Orchids (a 50% increase over last year), Lousewort (increased about fourfold), rabbits unfortunately (we have been overrun with them), yellow rattle (spreading fast and dominant in some patches this year), new plant species (notably Spring Sedge and Quaking Grass as well as a handful of new arable weeds), moths (I seem to be recording new species regularly) and Fritillaries (the first ever record for me of a fritillary was the single Dark Green Fritillary last month but it's a start).

New moth species - Cinnabar

I have a mixed view on Ragwort. On the one hand I appreciate its attractiveness to insects but I am also wary particularly if I am going to have contractors in to make hay or haylage, something I am considering just at the moment. I tend to pull it before it seeds, particularly in the fields themselves. Anyway I had a couple of plants on the parking area in front of the house and I decided to pull them as they are about to seed. I pulled one and then as I discarded it on the compost heap I noticed there were a couple of caterpillars which of course turned out to be larvae of the Cinnabar moth which relies on Ragwort. I quickly chnaged plans and translocated the caterpillars to the other Ragwort where they are happily feeding away. Anyway that is a new moth species - whcih seems to be the motif at the moment.

New species - Southern Hawker

No picture I'm afraid but I am fairly certain that the dragonfly who seems to come round regularly to check on the slowly developing pond that I created this year is a Southern Hawker (Aeshna cycnea). I am working to rectify the basic design flaw of the pond in that it has not been cut into the slope enough so it is threatening to overflow before it covers the full allocated surface area or gets deep enough at the deep part. Having laid the liner and it being fairly full of water I am having to make adjustments by gradually digging out the uphill bank and building up the downhill bank. The alternative was to drain it but once I saw the amazing variety of life it has attracted already I was not willing to go that route. The hawker appears, does one or two slow circuits of the pond as if considering carefully whether it will be a suitable place to bring up a family and then clears off.

Fleabane - interesting new species

I came across the delightful flower Fleabane yesterday growing in the least diverse of our four fields. It is interesting in a couple of ways. Firstly it is yet another example of new plant species which are still coming up three years after we bought the site and altered the management of it to a wildlife-friendly regime. I suspect that this particular plant may have germinated because of some minor disturbance of the soil as I have been removing some Alchemilla mollis that had strayed into this particular field as a result of its former use as a quad bike track. Secondly it is a plant of, and indeed an indicator species for, marshy meadows. I have seen an old map and that clearly indicates that this part of this field was boggy at one time. It is the lowest part of the site and since it has been managed for wildlife and not had quad bikes compacting it the rushes in this area are spreading slowly but surely. In terms of meadows indicator species that makes it 35 for the site (including species of neutral, calcareous, acid and marshy meadows). Some of those species are not actually in the meadows, particularly the few calcareous indicators which of course are actually found on the drive or parking area. Nonetheless it is building up to an impressive total.

New moth species - Ruby Tiger

These moths are coming thick and fast now and mainly they are coming to me rather than me having to find them. The Ruby Tiger (Phragmatobia fuliginosa fuliginosa) flew in to the bedroom last night and displayed an stunning electric bright red body and co-ordinating lighter red underwings with beautiful reddy/orange wings. Unfortunately the picture doesn't show the bragadoccio colouring of this moth as by then it had settled down on the lampshade but it was gorgeous.

Puzzling Eyebrights

A single small patch of Eyebright appeared last year which I guess was the meadows management kicking in and providing suitable germination conditions for some existing seeds. The trouble is that Eyebrights are a very difficult area when it comes to identification. There are about 20 UK species and telling one from another is not easy - and that's before you consider their habit of hybridising. To cut a long struggle short I ended up thinking they were likely to be Euphrasia nemorosa but just might be E. confusa. This year I have four patches of Eyebright, three in the field that the original patch appeared in and one in a separate field. Here comes the puzzling part - there seem to be at least two species and maybe three. Certainly the Eyebrights in the second field are different - they have long glandular hairs on their leaves which are only found on certain species. I have measured, photographed, researched and puzzled and still have no firm conclusion on which species we have. The standard method of confiming an Eyebright ID is to send six specimens to a qualified referee but three of my four patches have less than six plants so that's a non-starter. My amateur conclusion is that I have E. confusa and E. officinalis ssp monticola. I realise that this is unlikely but I can only follow the evidence as I see it for my conclusions. At the point when I realise that I have measured some aspect of the plant in the wrong way, or not interpreted some results correctly, or whatever error it is, then I will happily defer to the experts. Pictured is part of the original patch of Eyebright that I have tentaively decided are E. confusa. How appropriate!

New moth species - Riband Wave

Another moth I found in the house and was able to identify - this is a Riband Wave (Idaea aversata) - brilliantly named as a number of moth species seem to be. I have been promised the loan of a moth trap and at that point this gentle moth identification process will become insane I am sure. Like a few of my recent photos this is not the best quality but thankfully good enough for identification.

New moth species - Snout

I didn't have any trouble identifying this latest in the series of moths I managed to find during the day and photograph. This one was in the house and clearly had a very long....well... snout. There are in fact a whole family of snouts but this is the common or garden one Hypena proboscidalis or just plain Snout.

New flower species - arable weeds

I had cause to dig over some ground in the garden (which is mainly just an extension of the meadows) for the first time this year - firstly to plant a few blackcurrant bushes and secondly to lay an electricity cable underground. Three months later I have a new set of flowers presumably from seeds that have been lying dormant since the last time some ground was dug over - probably a decade or more ago. Fat Hen, Bifid Hemp Nettle, Many-seeded Goosefoot and Lesser Swine Cress have all appeared on the disturbed ground and are all new species to me. If I am right then this is another strategy (certainly for the Fat Hen and the Goosefoot at least) - produce thousands of long-lived seeds and then wait for the ground to be disturbed again. That is why those type of flowers are regarded as pesky arable weeds because arable farming produces exactly the right conditions for them - but every year. Pictured is the Many-seeded Goosefoot (Chenopodium polyspermum).

NEW SPECIES - Dark Green Fritillary

It's a red-letter day when a new butterfly species makes its presence known here at The Beeches and particularly when that species is the magnificent Dark-green Fritillary. The picture is awful as I grabbed the nearest jar to capture the butterfly temporarily and make its ID and the glass was not conducive to a clear picture. Nonetheless it is great to post the picture of the first fritillary seen on site. I note that it was today that the idiot who used to be Environment Secretary claims that environmentalists don't know a fritillary when they see one. Well I do Paterson you complete muppet. The Dark-green Fritillary lays its eggs on violets. Hopefully our Common Dog Violets will satisfy them and I look forward to more fritillaries next year.

New species - Labrynth Spider

I usually don't even bother attempting the difficult task of trying to identify spiders but there was an extraordinary web in the grass of the meadows so I thought I would see if it belonged to any particular species. The web was a thick spiral funnel at pretty much ground level with a looser superstructure above it. A large spider sat in the mouth of the funnel and retreated into it when I made my presence felt. On checking with my spider book it seems there is only one species that builds this sort of structure in Britain and the description of the spider matches as well so I am confident this is the Labrynth Spider (Agelena labrynthica). The funnel structure is built after mating and the egg sac is suspended deep in the labrynth where the female stays until she dies. The phot doesn't do justice to the structure but it wasn't possible to get a clearer shot without disturbing the whole edifice.

New Species - Beautiful Golden Y moth

I am gradually building up the moth species for the site. I started with the day-flying ones and now I am photographing those night-flying moths that I disturb accidentally. I clocked this as a Golden Y but it was only when I got the book out that I realised there was a Beautiful Golden Y and a Plain Golden Y. Luckily the photo gave enough info to postively ID this as Autographa pulchrina. I particularly admire the green colour on the wing. I have another couple of photos of moths to ID so hopefully there will be some more new species to add to the list.

New Species - Pygmy Shrew

I often require a dead small mammal to confirm ID and a dead Pygmy Shrew turned up in the garden today. It is identified by size, tail length relative to body, hairs on tail and colour of fur and teeth so I am able to be confident of the ID. I took photos but they turned out fuzzy so I won't include one.

New Species - Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet

I have had a lot of Six-spot Burnets on site, particularly last year and this year so far. When I get a chance I count the spots but up to yesterday there has always been six of them. For the first time yesterday I counted and only got to five....... What we get here in Monmouthshire is the Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet (Zygaena lonicerae) rather than the Five-spot Burnet (Zygaena trifolii)which is thought to be extinct in the county. I am concluding therefore that this is Z. lonicerae (although it is difficult to tell them apart), For comparison I show above the Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet photographed yesterday (top) and a Six-spot Burnet photographed last Saturday.

New species - Quaking Grass

Another delightful grassland indicator species has appeared in the field in front of the house - Quaking Grass ( Briza media). I have only found a few spikes in one place so far but hopefully my eye/brain is now set to pick out this delicate little plant and I can find it elsewhere on site.

Butterfly orchids at Pentwyn

A highlight of the 'orchid season' down here in rural Monmouthshire are the butterfly orchids at Pentwyn. This year's display was particularly gorgeous and I chose a sunny day last week to check them out.

New Species - Large Red Damselfly

The damselfly was considerate enough to come into the house to allow itself to be identified and photographed. That's the second Odnanatid that has appeared since I had the pond dug and lined. There's only a very very small puddle in the pond itself and that is likely to disappear with a couple more hot days but nonetheless the damselflies seem to appreciate the new facility and are flocking to the site to stake a claim for later in the year. So overall I have identified three Odonatids on site - a Common Darter last year and Azure and Large Red Damselflies this year.

Orchid totals

In the end it has proved an excellent year for our Common Spotted Orchid population. My blog of 5 June had us at 27 orchids. Now we have reached a total of 43 (as of today 17 June - make that 49), a 33% (make that 53%) improvement on last year and that despite a plague of rabbits which I am sure have removed a few that would otherwise have come through. Most encouragingly there are two individual orchids well outside the previous area where I have found them. One is at the opposite end of one of the fields that has an orchid population and one is in a field where I haven't found orchids before. I am now hoping that we can get to 50 (make that 60) next year but that hope is I guess dependent on factors out of my control such as the weather. The photo is of the intrepid orchid establishing a bridgehead in the field that had none in the previous three summers we have been here.

New Moth Species - Mother Shipton

My hesitation in buying a moth trap is I think justified. It's not just the endless hours I would have to put into identification but also a new barrier I just found out about which is that unless you get up before dawn to collect the moths that are on the ground close to the trap then all you are doing is providing breakfast for the local bird population. However there is no excuse for missing out on identifying any day-flying moths on site and I can add one species to that list today. The photo above is a Mother Shipton (Callistege mi) whose larval foodplants include clover and Bird's Foot Trefoil (which is appropriately also in the picture).

New Species - Heath Speedwell

I found this growing amongst the Tormentil on the edge of the field right in front of the house. That makes eight different speedwells that are on site - for the record they are Slender, Germander, Common Field, Wood, Thyme-leaved, Ivy-leaved, Wall and Heath.

Big Year for Burnet Companions

One of the things I find interesting is to see what the big wildlife winners are in any year. This is based I guess on the interactions of weather, management systems and the species' particular strategies, and unravelling those complex interactions is beyond me. I can though report on those species that do exceptionally well here in any season. A very noticeable winner this year is the Burnet Companion moth (Euclidia glyphica). Most days I see dozens of them even when conditions are overcast rather than sunny. The population here is much bigger than in previous years. My moth book says that larval foodplants include "......Common Bird's Foot Trefoil......and probably other trefoils and vetches". That could be a partial explantion of the quantities on site this year. Lst year was a very big year for Greater Bird's Foot Trefoil and with the already large population of Common Bird's Foot Trefoil there was a vast amount of trefoil last year for the larvae.