Had a look at an urban green space in Liverpool today for @scouseflowerhouse.bsky.social Really wasn't expecting a new species! The picture-winged fly Trupanea stellata. Something like the 5th record for South Lancashire.
Peter Brash
@peterbrash.bsky.social
Ecologist, birder, entomologist, botanist and bat botherer. Born in Liverpool and returned via circuitous route. I block dickheads on sight. Compost the rich.
Bruchidius imbricornis at Chirk Castle National Trust today. One Goat's Rue plant in a herbaceous border and bingo! Possibly the first for Wales.
I know spiders aren't everybody's thing, but this Larinioides cornutus in pink is an absolute beauty.
A bit unexpected. This Passiflora appeared to be naturalised in a supermarket car park in Kidlington. #wildflowerhour
Round-leaved Fluellen managing to flower amongst the sand and gravel car park of an Oxfordshire quarry this week. #wildflowerhour
Our usual method of cooling the house by opening allow the windows in the evening is unavailable tonight. Smoke from North Wales fires has enveloped us.
Possibly the most interesting thing about this red card corruption incident is the reaction of one of Balogun's teammates when he heard the news. 'I thought it was AI'. So this great new innovation is now a byword for lies and fakery. That's the first thing that many people think of.
Two of my favourite wetland plants, the gothic Marsh Cinquefoil and the glaucous Sneezewort. #wildflowerhour
My first fully fledged juvenile Black-headed Gull of the year yesterday. Welcome to autumn.
Ivy Broomrape for #wildflowerhour This chlorophyll-free parasite grows in a few locations in Liverpool.
My second 'county first' beetle of the week. This time in South Lancs. The seed beetle Bruchidius imbricornis. Feeds on Goat's Rue.
I was hoping the early morning rain might have cooled the temperatures today. It just added to the humidity. Made me think of Cape May, New Jersey, where I spent most of the summers of my 20's. Our high humidity today is equal to their lowest humidity. No wonder it was so energy sapping.
Spent a bit of time trying to match this to something in the Micromoth book. Waste of time as it's a tiny Caddid Fly Agraylea multipunctata
After weeks that included a variety of invertebrate surveys, I've celebrated #nationalinsectweek by doing...no invertebrate surveys. On the way back from finishing a bird survey in Cheshire today I noticed weevils on Common Toadflax. Turns out that Rhinusa antirrhini is new for the county.
A pair of Paracorymbia livida getting pollinator pally on an Oxeye Daisy. #pollinatorpals #wildflowerhour
A gang of Marmalade Hoverflies enjoying Field Rose in a Northamptonshire hedgerow. #pollinatorpals #wildflowerhour
An albino version of Dark Mullein. A Mullein Moth is a pollinator in the making but isn't doing a great deal for the reproductive capacity of this plant at the moment. #wildflowerhour
Straw Foxglove Digitalis lutea, another new neophyte at an Oxfordshire quarry this week. #wildflowerhour
Some lepidopteran highlights from the margins of a Northamptonshire windfarm. The caterpillar of Dusky Sallow moth, Yarrow Plume, the fabulously fuzzy confection that is a Small Copper butterfly caterpillar and my first Six-belted Clearwing moth of the year. #Teammoth
Two new scarcities for me at an Oxfordshire quarry this week. The tiny Common Centaury associated weevil Smicronyx reichi and the rather monstrous Common Stork's-bill associated Fallen's Leatherbug.
Two St John's-wort specialist beetles. Cryptocephalus moraei and Chrysolina hypericae.
Three new moths from the trap on Wednesday morning. Dotted Fan-foot, Ox-tongue Conch and Obscure Wainscot. #teammoth
Out on a botanical survey today. Couldn't resist these incredible cones on a Korean Fir.
Managed to complete two invertebrate surveys with a broken net this week. Reinforcements called for.
