Waxcaps #5 & #6

We're up to 6 on the waxcap front with the addition of Butter Waxcap (Hygrocybe ceracea) and Pink Waxcap (Porpolomopsis calyptriformis) (Photo above). Both were in the West Field. Meanwhile whole troops of Golden Waxcap are appearing in the South Field.

New fungus species - Blusher

Some fungi starting to fruit now including this new species for the site - Blusher (Amanita rubescens). They are apparently the most common Amanita species but I had not seen one until recently. It was fruiting underneath a Beech tree on the wooded footpath through the site. Also fruiting in grassy areas today are Pink Domecap ((Rugosomyces carneus) and both Golden and Butter Waxcaps.

New Fly species - Gonia sp - possibly G. vacua

At first I thought it was a Hoverfly but after determining there was nothing similar in my Hoverfly Guide I looked wider and spotted Gonia spp. To me it looks like G vacua but I don't really have the info to prove that and I can find nothing on the distribution of the species. I do know it's a fine looking fly though.

Waxcap #4 - Golden Waxcap

A lone Golden Waxcap (Hygrocybe chlorophana) takes the 2019 waxcap tally here up to four. I am expecting a rapid increase in September in that number.

New Hoverfly species -Syrphus ribesii

I found a lone Hogweed which was a Hoverfly party, particularly for five or six specimens that turned out to be Syrphus ribesii. I always start optimistically when trying to ID hoverflies because the field guide by Ball and Morris is so helpful. I try and make sure that my photos include face, legs and eyes as well as the thorax patterns and importantly the wing veination so I take quite a few in the hope I have all the info I need. This particular hoverfly is difficult to separate from S. torvus and S. vitripennis but I got lucky that my main photos were of a female (determined by the gap between the eyes) and that I had a good focus on the femur (which is black only at the top in the female S. ribesii). It turns out that this nails the specimen as being ribesii rather than one of the others.

Hog #20 released

Although they don't seem to hang around here the released hogs are being sighted in the village - sometimes with more than one in a garden. Hopefully there will be lots of hoglets around next year. The photo is of the twentieth hog, a smallish female who is got one more night in the soft release pen before freedom beckons.

Cinnabar moth back on site

I always let some Common Ragwort grow in front of the house hoping it will attract Cinnabar moths whose distinctive larvae generally live on the leaves and flowers. I don't remember seeing the larvae for a few years but there are eight of the strikingly coloured caterpillars on the ragwort today.