Another search today for overwintering insects and yet more Birch Catkin Bugs (Kleidocerys resedae) found. It would seem that a favourite place for them to congregate is on the terminal leaf buds of Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) trees as this is where I found them on at least a dozen different sycamores, having first discovered them on sycamore buds just 5 days ago.

On one hawthorn tree heavily overgrown by Ivy (Hedera helix), but not on any of the similarly overgrown trees nearby, I found literally hundreds of globular springtails. These were on the undersides of the ivy leaves, singly, in pairs, even the occasional 3 or 4 together, but probably on a good 50% of all the leaves that I checked. Very variable in colour and patterning these tiny springtails (just under 2 mm length) would seem to be of the species Dicyrtomina saundersi.

One Gorse (Ulex europaeus) is already starting to flower (or late flowering due to the recent warmer than usual weather).

Several different fungi were found associated with dead wood and leaf litter on the woodland floor, although there is only one of them that I would care to take a guess at identifying, and then only to the genus level, Collybia, known as Blewits.

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