Today the Goat Willow (Salix caprea) catkins were attracting the attention of three different bees, Western Honey Bee (Apis mellifera), a few Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) queens and a single Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum) queen. Another Buff-tailed Bumblebee was seen searching in a grassy area for a nest site to establish a new colony, potentially in an old rodent nest.
The stump of a felled oak provided a rove beetle of the Stenus genus, possibly S. providus, and an adult Common Striped Woodlouse (Philoscia muscorum).
In the woodland I continued with my practice of looking under bark fragments in the leaf litter and was rewarded with two gastropods, a possible Tree Slug (Lehmannia marginata) and several Rounded Snail (Discus rotundatus). Like yesterday I also found several Common Pill Millipede (Glomeris marginata), though it was adult specimens today, and a pair of Common Flat-backed Millipede (Polydesmus angustus).
A new woodlouse species was added with Common Pygmy Woodlouse (Trichoniscus pusillus agg.), found in close proximity to a pair of the globular springtail (Dicyrtomina minuta). Three other previously recorded springtail species were also seen, Isotomurus unifasciatus, Dicyrtomina saundersi and Dicyrtoma fusca.
Two wildflowers have appeared for the first time, one of them regarded as one of the harbingers of spring, Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna). The other a violet (Viola sp.), probably Sweet Violet (Viola odorata) as it is usually the first violet to appear.
<<<< Previous page | Next Page >>>>