200 UP (and a few more!)

 

I love moths. I have done for a long, long time, much to the annoyance of Maria who in no way, shape or form shares the affection 😀. It started shortly after I joined the Ringing Group just under 15 years ago. We were having a particularly uninspiring session at the nets when one of the local birders, Peter Hogg, asked me if I wanted to join him to check the moth trap at the lighthouse. I didn't even know what a moth trap was, let alone know there was one not even 2 minutes from where I was sat! So, partially to relieve my curiosity and partially to relieve my boredom I did indeed join him. And that, as they say, was that. Hooked! Within no time I had joined the moth team, bought all the books and even got big John to build me a home made trap to use in my back garden! Over the years, and as experience grew, I started to get more confidence and so began running public events at the lighthouse with the help of Nick, Chappers and more recently Neil. This is something I absolutely adore. I love nothing more than sharing the love and shattering the myths of moths just being boring little brown things. They come in all different shapes, sizes and colours and they are all magnificent. But then came the change in my role last year. As I was no longer based at the lighthouse I didn't have the day to day access to the moth trap. Obviously whenever I was in the area I did the morning check but I really missed the regular visits. So, at the start of this year I decided I'd try and make a new trap and put it up at the Ranger base at Whitelea Farm where I spend the bulk of my time. I didn't get around to building it until early April as I was busy doing other things but I wanted it to be ready for the start of Spring and thankfully it didn't take too long to put together. As luck (bad) would have it, the first 4 nights that the trap was on was spoiled by rain, so I had to wait for the morning of 17th April to get my first ever moth(s) in my brand new trap. I'm not going to lie it was a really good feeling seeing that first moth, a Hebrew Character, in the egg tray I was holding. And if Maria is reading this, no, I didn't cry! Since then the numbers have slowly risen to 29 species, thanks mainly to a poor start weather wise to Spring, but no doubt I'll see a big increase as the temperature rises. I can't wait to see what the year brings! 

The new moth trap, a work of art 

The first ever moth, a Hebrew Character 

Shoulder Stripe moth 

Puss moth 

Pale Pinion moth 

Chinese Character moth

Herald moth 

 

 

Nesting season has begun! This is always one of my favourite, and busiest, times of the year and it has already become clear that this year will be no different. So much so that I've decided this year I'm mainly only going to focus on the nestboxes. Obviously if I come across natural nests I'll be delighted to monitor them but the truth is I simply don't have the time to go searching for tonnes of natural nests as I've done in the past. I'm fine with it as I've got lots of other things on the go but next year I'll hopefully be back in the swing of things and enjoying the thrill of the search. On saying all that my first active nest of the season was very much a natural nest 😀. A Pied Wagtail at the farm was found in it's usual spot containing 4 eggs. It's the third year running it's nested in the same spot so it didn't take much searching. Other natural nests found so far include Magpie, Crow, Blackbird, Chaffinch and of course the ubiquitous Woodpigeon. I'm sure I'll stumble across a few others in the coming weeks. Nestbox checks have gotten off to a mixed start. As always Moorhouse Wood is the top performer, with all but 2 boxes being used. Unsurprisingly Blue Tit and Great Tit dominate but once again we have a single box with Nuthatches in. Hawthorn Dene on the other hand is very disappointing with only 4 out of 20 boxes being used. Souter and the Academy of Light seem to be having similar years to their usual records. Species wise, as expected the bulk are Blue Tit and Great Tit but we did have a lovely Wren nest in one box and a Robin successfully raising a brood in an open fronted box. Last but by no means least, we have our first Kestrel eggs of the season, always an absolute delight. 

Pied Wagtail 

Robin 

Kestrel 

Nuthatch 

WORKPLACE WILDLIFE CHALLENGE 

It's been a much better month for the wildlife challenge, seeing me add nearly 100 new species to the total, taking me well over the 200 mark. Summer birds are continuing to arrive, meaning numbers of Warblers are climbing and of course the first Swallows have appeared. A first visit of the year to Gibside saw me pick up a couple of good birds including Red Kite and Green Woodpecker. New mammals included Roe Deer, Weasel and a couple of small rodents. Our second Rockpool event of the year gave me a few more sea creatures. The biggest boost by far though have been the numbers of insects seen. Obviously the new moth trap has played a part in that but I've also been trying to actively get out searching for stuff whenever I've had any spare time. This has seen numbers of bees, butterflies, beetles and a whole load of other things start to rise. Hopefully another good couple of weeks might see me hit the next milestone in 300 species 🤞

SPECIES LIST 

144.  SWALLOW - Hirundo rustica 

145.  KITTIWAKE - Rissa tridactyla 

146.  GREY WAGTAIL - Motacilla cinerea 

147.  MANDARIN DUCK - Aix galericulata 

148.  TEAL - Anas crecca 

149.  STOCK DOVE - Columba oenas 

150.  RED KITE - Milvus milvus 

151.  COOT - Fulica atra 

152.  GREEN WOODPECKER - Picus viridis 

153.  LESSER BLACK BACKED GULL - Larus fuscus 

154.  LESSER WHITETHROAT - Sylvia curruca 

155.  COMMON WHITETHROAT - Sylvia communis 

156.  WILLOW WARBLER - Phylloscopus trochilus 

157.  SHORT TAILED FIELD VOLE - Microtus agrestis 

158.  WEASEL - Mustela nivalis 

159.  ROE DEER - Capreolus capreolus 

160.  COMMON SHREW - Sorex araneus 

161.  PONDSKATER sp - Gerris sp

162.  COMMON RAGWORM sp - Perinereis cultrifera 

163.  COMMON HERMIT CRAB - Pagurus bernhardus 

164.  AMPHIPOD sp - prob Gammarus locusta 

165.  COMMON WHELK - Buccinum undatum 

166.  BLOODY HENRY STARFISH - Henricia sp 

167.  SHANNY/BLENNY - Lipophrys pholis 

168.  MISSING SECTOR ORB WEAVER SPIDER - Zygiella x-notata 

169.  SPIDER sp - Larinioides cornutus 

170.  SAC SPIDER sp - Clubiona sp 

171.  RUNNING CRAB SPIDER sp - Philodromus sp

172.  ZEBRA SPIDER - Salticus sp 

173.  CRAB SPIDER sp - Xysticus cristatus/kochi 

174.  ORANGE TAILED MINING BEE - Andrena haemorrhoa 

175.  COMMON CARDER BEE - Bombus pascuorum 

176.  EARLY BUMBLEBEE - Bombus pratorum 

177.  HONEY BEE - Apis mellifera 

178.  HOVERFLY sp - Syrphus sp

179.  HOVERFLY sp - Eupeodes luniger 

180.  SAWFLY sp - Dolerus haemotodes 

181.  SAWFLY sp - Dolores ganager/puncticollis 

182.  COMMON WASP - Vespula vulgaris 

183.  ICHNEUMON WASP sp - Ophion sp

184.  SMALL TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLY - Aglais urticae 

185.  LARGE WHITE BUTTERFLY - Pieris brassicae 

186.  SPECKLED WOOD BUTTERFLY - Pararge aegeria 

187.  MICRO MOTH - Diurnea fagella 

188.  MICRO MOTH - Ancylis badiana 

189.  PALE PINION MOTH - Lithophane socia 

190.  PURPLE THORN MOTH - Selenia tetralunaria 

191.  POWDERED QUAKER MOTH - Orthosia gracilis 

192.  SHOULDER STRIPE MOTH - Earophila badiata 

193.  SHUTTLE SHAPED DART MOTH - Agrotis puta 

194.  LEAST BLACK ARCHES MOTH - Nola confusalis 

195.  PUSS MOTH - Cerura vinula 

196.  SILVER Y MOTH - Autographa gamma 

197.  WATER CARPET MOTH - Lampropteryx suffumata 

198.  WAVED UMBER MOTH - Menophra abruptaria 

199.  BRINDLED PUG MOTH - Eupithecia abbreviata 

200.  SMALL YELLOW UNDERWING MOTH - Panemeria tenebrata 

201.  GLASS SNAIL sp - Oxychilus sp

202.  PINE LADYBIRD - Exochomus quadripustulatus 

203.  POINTED KEELED LADYBIRD - Rhyzobius litura 

204.  COMMON GREEN LACEWING sp - Chrysoperla sp

205.  GROUND BEETLE sp - Paradromius linearis 

206.  PEA LEAF WEEVIL - Sitona lineatus 

207.  YELLOW DUNG FLY - Scathophaga stercoraria 

208.  BLOWFLY sp - Melinda viridicyanea 

209.  LESSER VARIABLE BIBIO FLY - Bibio lanigerus 

210.  FLY sp - Phaonia tuguriorum 

211.  FLY sp - Gymnocheta viridis/magna 

212.  ST MARKS FLY - Bibio marci 

213.  WOLF SPIDER sp - Trochosa ruricola/robusta 

214.  DAGGER FLY sp - Empis trigramma 

215.  CHINESE CHARACTER MOTH - Cilix glaucata 

216.  SCALLOPED HAZEL MOTH - Odontopera bidentata 

217.  GARDEN CARPET MOTH - Xanthorhoe fluctuata 

218.  GANNET - Morus bassanus 

219.  SISKIN - Carduelis spinus 

220.  TREE BUMBLEBEE - Bombus hypnorum 

221.  RED TAILED BUMBLEBEE - Bombus lapidarius 

222.  WATER MEASURER - Hydrometra stagnorum 

223.  DARK EDGED BEE FLY - Bombylius major 

224.  CINNAMON BUG - Corizus hyoscyami

225.  MICRO MOTH - Esperia sulphurella 

226.  COCKSFOOT MOTH - Glyphipterix simpliciella 

227.  HOVERFLY sp - Eupeodes carvallae 

228.  CHOCOLATE MINING BEE - Andrena scotica 

229.  CRANEFLY sp - Tipula vernalis 

230.  CRANEFLY sp - Nephrotoma appendiculata 

231.  BEE MOTH - Aphomia sociella 

232.  MUSLIN MOTH - Diaphora mendica 

233.  ANGLE SHADES MOTH - Phlogophora meticulosa 

234.  HERALD MOTH - Scoliopteryx libatrix 

235.  GARDEN CROSS SPIDER - Araneus diadematus 

236.  14 SPOT LADYBIRD - Propylea quatuordecimpunctata 

237.  CREAM SPOT LADYBIRD - Calvia quatuordecimguttata 

238.  ORANGE TIP BUTTERFLY - Anthocharis cardamines 

239.  WOLF SPIDER sp - Pardosa sp

240.  LONG JAWED ORB WEAVER SPIDER sp - Pachygnatha degeeri 

241.  MARSH KNOB HEAD SPIDER - Hypomma bituberculatum 

SHORT TAILED FIELD VOLE 

DAGGER FLY - EMPIS TRIGRAMMA 

HOVERFLY - EUPEODES CARVALLAE 

DARK EDGED BEE FLY 

CINNAMON BUG 

CREAM SPOT LADYBIRD 

LET THE NATURE EVENTS BEGIN!

 

So it's been a bit of a while since the last post, a full month in fact, but I have got a very good reason for that. I've been on my jollies 😀 In fact I've actually been away twice! First I had a lovely, peaceful, relaxing week away with Maria in Gran Canaria where we did absolutely nothing but chill for the whole time we were away. Then I had an exciting week in Tarifa with friends observing bird migration in action as thousands of individuals headed north from their wintering grounds in Africa to spend the summer months in Europe. Two completely and utterly different holidays but both excellent in their own way. If I get round to it I may do a separate post about the Tarifa week but time always has its own ideas........ 

So workwise, away from typical day to day Ranger duties, our 2023 Nature Events program has begun. As always we've got a long list of Events booked in for the year ahead covering a whole range of different wildlife from birds to moths and sealife to pondlife. 

This years program kicked off at Souter with a visit from a local scout group who wanted a general nature day followed by a tour of the lighthouse. When we arrived on the morning the weather conditions were awful, it was cold, wet and windy and truth be told it was not the best of days to be looking for wildlife, but when the kids arrived they were full of excitement and expectations which was not only infectious but exactly the right attitude to have! Thankfully the rain had passed through when we began the event at the moth trap, which Nick had kindly switched on while I was in Gran Canaria. As myself and Neil approached the trap we both doubted there would be much, if anything in due to the poor weather but it turned out we were both very pleasantly surprised. As we went through the egg cartons one by one the number of moths steadily grew until we ended up with 40 individuals. The bulk of them were Hebrew Characters, a pretty common species at this time of year, but they were joined by three other species, Clouded Drab, Early Grey and Common Quaker. So definitely a better start to the day than we were anticipating but alas that didn't continue for our next stop. While myself and Neil were at the moth trap, John and Michelle had put the nets out ready for a mini bird ringing demo. By the time we joined them at the ringing hut they had only caught one bird, again, the weather having a negative impact on proceedings. But we talked the kids through the process of catching and ringing birds and the reasons of surveying etc so they at least learned something despite not seeing any birds in the hand. It was a shame but there's very little we can do when the weather is so bad. The last part of the event was a general nature walk around the Coastal Park, but as expected wildlife was a bit thin on the ground. We managed to see a few species of bird but no bees or butterflies etc Thankfully we had a better time checking the ponds in the Nature Reserve as there were both frogs and toads out, meaning the kids had something fun to see close up. The day ended there for myself and Neil as Vicki then took the group for a tour of the lighthouse, but before we left the Scout Leader thanked us for a great session. Despite the miserable weather the kids had had a fantastic time and thoroughly enjoyed the day. And to be honest so had we 😀

Hebrew Character moth

Common Frog 

The second event was on Easter Sunday as we had our first Rockpool Ramble of the year, again at Souter. Rockpooling is by far the most popular event we do, and personally an absolute favourite of mine and I look forward to each and every one of them. Thankfully the weather wasn't at all an issue for this event and we enjoyed a very pleasant couple of hours. Myself, John and Neil were joined by a new member of the team Hayley, who, to our surprise, had never been rockpooling before!!! So it was a great learning experience for her and she seemed to really enjoy the session. Of course what helped was finding lots of wildlife! In previous years we've tended to get off to a relatively quiet start but on this occasion we actually had lots to see. Everyone loves to find crabs when rockpooling, and in this session we found five different types! We also had fish, Squat Lobsters and Starfish, but the highlight for us were the couple of Blue Rayed Limpets we found, a beautiful little mollusc that we really don't find that often. One of them was actually found by Hayley, so she can definitely come back! 

Blue Rayed Limpet 

Common Starfish 

WORKPLACE WILDLIFE CHALLENGE 

Well as Spring starts to really kick in so too does the list start to grow. As we see the last of the winter birds leaving we begin to welcome the arrival of the birds that are here for the summer. One of the first to arrive, as always, is the Wheatear and for birders it's always exciting to get your first of the year as it tends to indicate exciting times ahead. We've also seen the first Warblers arrive for the summer, including Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and an early singing Grasshopper Warbler. Away from birds, the rockpool event added a nice little amount to the list. A couple of unexpected Palmate Newts were a nice find at the farm and the switching on of the moth trap at the lighthouse should see the moth numbers shoot up in the coming weeks. This is when it gets exciting! 

SPECIES LIST 

102.  CHIFFCHAFF - Phylloscopus collybita

103.  WHOOPER SWAN - Cygnus cygnus 

104.  WHEATEAR - Oenanthe oenanthe 

105.  GRASSHOPPER WARBLER - Locustella naevia 

106.  BLACKCAP - Sylvia atricapilla 

107.  SAND MARTIN - Riparia riparia 

108.  COMMON FROG - Rana temporaria 

109.  COMMON TOAD - Bufo bufo 

110.  PALMATE NEWT - Lissotriton helveticus 

111.  BEADLET ANEMONE - Actinia equina 

112.  EDIBLE CRAB - Cancer pagurus 

113.  GREEN SHORE CRAB - Carcinus maenas 

114.  VELVET SWIMMING CRAB - Necora puber 

115.  BROAD CLAWED PORCELAIN CRAB - Porcellana platycheles 

116.  LONG CLAWED PORCELAIN CRAB - Pisidia longicornis 

117.  COMMON SQUAT LOBSTER - Galathea squamifera 

118.  COMMON LIMPET - Patella vulgata 

119.  BLUE RAYED LIMPET - Patella pellucida 

120.  GREY TOPSHELL - Steromphala cineraria 

121.  SPOTTED COWRIE - Trivia monacha 

122.  FLAT PERIWINKLE - Littorina obtusata 

123.  COMMON PERIWINKLE - Littorina littorea 

124.  DOG WHELK - Nucella lapillus 

125.  ACORN BARNACLE - Semibalanus balanoides 

126.  COMMON STARFISH - Asterias rubens 

127.  SHORE ROCKLING - Gaidropsarus mediterraneus 

128.  BUTTERFISH - Pholis gunnellus 

129.  SEA SCORPION - Myoxocephalus scorpius 

130.  RABBIT HUTCH SPIDER - Steatoda bipunctata 

131.  SNAKE BACK SPIDER - Segestria senoculata 

132.  CELLAR SPIDER - Pholcus phalangioides 

133.  BROWN HOUSE MOTH - Hofmannophila pseudospretella 

134.  HEBREW CHARACTER MOTH - Orthosia gothica 

135.  CLOUDED DRAB MOTH - Orthosia incerta 

136.  COMMON QUAKER MOTH - Orthosia cerasi 

137.  EARLY GREY MOTH - Xylocampa areola 

138.  RED SWORDGRASS MOTH - Xylena vetusta 

139.  TWIN SPOTTED QUAKER MOTH - Anorthoa munda 

140.  CHAMOMILE SHARK MOTH - Cucullia chamomillae 

141.  BLACK SNAIL BEETLE - Silpha atrata 

142.  CADDISFLY sp - Stenophylax sp

143.  WOODLOUSE sp - Philoscia sp

PALMATE NEWTS

NAUGHTY TOADS

BLACK SNAIL BEETLE 

CHAMOMILE SHARK MOTH 

SQUAT LOBSTER 

LONG and BROAD CLAWED PORCELAIN CRABS 

BEADLET ANEMONE 

100 UP!!! (Weeks 9 & 10)

 The weekend just gone saw us wrap up the first phase of the Willow Tit Project at WWT Washington. For the past nine weeks we've been ringing at a couple of different sites around the property at feeding stations set up by the lovely staff. The idea was to cover as much of the grounds as possible to maximise the chances of catching as many Willow Tits as possible. We knew we weren't looking at a big total as the staff estimate there are only around 3 breeding pairs on site, so by the end of yesterday it was no real surprise that we'd only caught 3 Willows. But, if the staffs estimates are right that's actually half of the population caught in the first phase, so it's been a really good start. The next stage is to try to monitor the birds in the breeding season. The guys have been busy knocking up a load of Willow Tit-friendly boxes and put them out in favourable habitats around the grounds, and if any show signs of being used they'll put up cameras to record the action. It's all very exciting. Aside from Willow Tits, there were obviously other birds caught and ringed. All were the usual suspects, although the Treecreeper was a particularly nice catch. The full list of birds ringed is as follows ;

142  Blue Tit 

100  Great Tit 

031  Bullfinch 

017  Long Tailed Tit 

016  Goldfinch 

015  Coal Tit 

013  Robin 

009  Chaffinch 

006  Dunnock 

003  WILLOW TIT

002  Greenfinch 

001  Blackbird 

001  Nuthatch 

001  Siskin 

001  Treecreeper 

358 birds, 15 species. Not too shabby at all!

Greenfinch and Siskin adding a bit of colour 

WORKPLACE WILDLIFE CHALLENGE 

So I hit another little milestone this past week as I reached 100 different species for my wildlife challenge. I really wish I could say the lucky individual was exciting, or beautiful to look at, but the truth is, well, it really really wasn't. It was, in fact, a slug! I mean, as slugs go it's probably quite pretty, but I can't imagine many people will have a poster of it on their wall. But hey, every single species counts and a slug is as good as anything else. Birds are still the main things I'm seeing as they are the most obvious things when you're out and about, but I've started to pick up a few more creepy crawlies which is great. I love insects but I am in no way whatsoever an expert and identifying them can be quite a challenge, as well as very time consuming, but it's a challenge I really enjoy. I'm still finding the challenge very slow going as more important Ranger duties take precedent, so finding time to go looking for stuff is really hard at the moment. Also, the fact that it's still winter means numbers aren't going to be huge anyway but just picking things up as I go along can be a bit frustrating. But it is what it is and with spring very much on the way I'm certain things will start to pick up and the total will quickly rise! 

SPECIES LIST

085  Yellowhammer - Emberiza citrinella

086  Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos

087  Dipper - Cinclus cinclus 

088  Goldcrest - Regulus regulus 

089  Tawny Owl - Strix aluco

090  Razorbill - Alca torda 

091  Grey Partridge - Perdix perdix 

092  Linnet - Carduelis cannabina 

093  Common Shiny Woodlouse - Oniscus asellus 

094  Pill Millipede - Glomeris marginata 

095  White Legged Snake Millipede - Tachypodoiulus niger

096  7 Spot Ladybird - Coccinella septempunctata 

097  Rove beetle sp - Ocypus aeneocephalus 

098  Spider sp - Scotophaeus blackwalli 

099  Tree Slug - Lehmannia marginata 

100  Great Grey Slug - Limax maximus 

101  Indian Meal moth - Plodia interpunctella

7 Spot Ladybird 

Great Grey Slug - species number 100

White Legged Snake Millipede 

Pill Millipede 

Rove Beetle 

NESTBOX WEEK - weeks 7 & 8

 

This past week has been one of our favourite weeks of the year, our annual Nestbox Week. We've been running this event for over ten years, always in the February half term, and over time it's grown to become by far one of the most popular events we run at the lighthouse. It's always really well attended, and this year was no exception, albeit with a slight variation to our usual routine! After successfully running the event at the lighthouse, this year we decided to give it a try and have a day at our newest property, Crook Hall. As we've never ran any events at Crook before we had absolutely no way of gauging whether there would be any interest at all, so we went in kind of blind. Fot this reason, we took 100 boxes with us just incase we had a huge turnout and didn't want to run the risk of running out. We needn't have worried 😀. As I arrived at Crook, the sun was shining and the temperature was mild so the decision was made to have the event outdoors. I began to set the tables up and lay the timber out (with the help of the lovely Vicki) and everything was looking good. And then the bombshell came. My sidekick, my partner in crime, my other 'other half', big John Brown was not going to make it in. Oh cack. There had been a genuine honest mix up with travel arrangements which meant John was stranded in Sunderland and not in Durham by my side. Did I panic though? I mean, a little bit, yeah. What was I going to do if the turnout was huge? I had a similar day at Souter last year and it wasn't a pleasurable experience to say the least. Thankfully though, the day went really well. We had a nice steady stream of visitors which meant the day was quite manageable. Numbers wise, we made 22 boxes, not a huge figure but a very nice start and a good introduction to a new audience. I have absolutely no doubt that things will quickly grow at Crook and visitor participation will continue to increase as word gets around about what we offer. I've got a few more wildlife events planned for the site this year which will see interest grow and one day, maybe we'll be as established there as we are at Souter. Speaking of which, our other two nestbox days were back at the lighthouse. And thankfully I had John back beside me as both days were absolutely heaving! In the two days we made just under 130 boxes, a massive difference to the event at Crook and a vastly more intense experience. It's no exaggeration to say the days are really exhausting, not just physically but most definitely mentally as well but it's still really really good fun. And the real bonus was, other than a huge blister on my thumb I actually got through the week relatively unscathed! For me that's a miracle.

How it began 

How we hope it ends! 

The other highlight of the week saw the Ranger team visit Hamsterley Forest to attend a course on Deer and Grey Squirrel monitoring and management techniques. It was a really interesting day, half in the class and half in the field, but obviously the latter bit was the best. It was interesting to learn what to look for to indicate if there are deer on your property, and which signs relate to the different species etc etc but to be honest, the real highlight was just being out and about wandering in the forest. It's a gorgeous place, and somewhere I don't go to nearly enough, so the whole day was just an absolute pleasure. 

The Willow Tit Project with our friends at WWT Washington is still going strong. After five weeks at the small feeding station we've now relocated to two new sites. We want to cover as much of the property as possible and don't want to stay in one place for too long, so changing sites is necessary to collect as much data as possible. And the great news is the change of location worked immediately! The third Willow Tit of the project was caught at the site next to the amphibian ponds within the first hour of the day, and given the colours red over blue. Even better is there is another unringed bird hanging around with this one so that means there's at least two pairs. Hopefully we'll catch the unringed bird in the coming weeks! 

Willow Tit number 3 

One more thing of note was I managed to grab a look around the Coastal Conservation Centre while I was at Souter. Its definitely moving along at pace now and has changed significantly since my last visit. The main structure is looking great, especially as the windows are now in place, and from inside the building there is a cracking view of the lighthouse. Despite the delays the contractors are pretty confident that they'll be finished closer to the original date than they feared a couple of weeks. Either way it'll look fab when it's all done. 

WORKPLACE WILDLIFE CHALLENGE 

As expected, the many indoor sessions I've had in the last fortnight has meant very little opportunity to boost my total up. Despite this though, I've had two more firsts of the year - the first Butterfly of the year and the first Moth of the year (in fact, the first three!)! And I haven't even had the moth trap on yet so this was a nice surprise. 

078.  Song Thrush - Turdus philomelos 

079.  Red Thorax Ground Beetle - Calathus melanocephalus

080.  Micro Moth - Agonopterix heracliana ag 

081.  Micro Moth - Agonopterix arenella 

082.  Light Brown Apple moth - Epiphyas postvittana 

083.  Peacock butterfly - Aglais io 

084.  Nursery Web spider - Pisaura mirabilis 

Nursery Web Spider 

Peacock Butterfly 

Agonopterix arenella 

Agonopterix heracliana ag

Light Brown Apple Moth