Build it...

 Before I get on to the end of the title, this weekend we were out on Saturday morning rather than Sunday for a change due to circumstances.

We began by looking for Ring Ouzels at a spot near Alnwick where we sometimes see them on spring passage. Not this year though. Still, the moor was full of singing Willow Warblers which in todays climate, are always nice to hear. A Golden Plover flew over in display voice but reamined unseen while alone Curlew bubbled away over a field.

Next stop, a small burn nearby where our target was found immediately. A singing male Redstart. Only the one mind you, but there is time for more arrivals yet. While here an addition to the pan species list might seem small fry for all the botanists out there but they all count as one in this game, so Field Wood-Rush was duly added. It is quite common on these moorland grasslands, its just I've never particularly looked for it before.

Field Wood-Rush

Moving on, this time to a failed recce of a bit of remnant old woodland near Edlingham, unfortunately the place was decked with Private signs so that was that. 

We did manage a few interesting bits near Edlingham Church including my second lifer of the day - Goldilocks Buttercup. A nice little clump growing near the church. This is a plant of limestone areas, and before we found it we had discussed how the Church was built in the 12th century by using a lime pit to make mortar on site. The alkalinity must still have an effect.

Goldilocks Buttercup, Edlingham

I also thought Hedge Bedstraw here might be new for me but it isn't, its already on my list from Hauxley. In the church yard were a nice female Tawny Mining Bee and a few Heather Beetles.

Edlingham Church with Heather Beetles and a Tawny Mining Bee.

I digress, getting back to the title. Build it...and they will come was never more evident than yesterday in our garden.

After watching My Garden of a Thousand Bees on BBC recently we were inspired to create some nest sites for solitary bees in the garden. There were a few old willow logs stacked from previous years that seemed just the job, about a metre tall and about 6 or 7 inches in diameter. Having bought a variety of drill bits I set about making various sized holes 3mm, 6mm and 8mm in the wood and stood them in the sunniest spot on the garden. All capped by a rain canopy to deflect the worst of the weather . That was done around noon yesterday.

By 5pm our first bee had investigated, picked a hole and gone to roost! It was an Red Mason Bee, Osmia bicornis. One of many I hope.

Also in the sun were my first Speckled Wood and Orange Tip of the year in the village, plus a few Hairy Footed Flower Bees and some Andrena Bees I am struggling to id.

Drilled Bee Logs in place.

Red Mason Bee Osmia bicornis

Bee hole, looks like a nest box, except the hole is 6mm in diameter. 

A Nomada Bee, poss marshamella? Difficult.

Its trying.

 Spring that is. Spring keeps trying, but ultimately failing. The other day the news hollered on about 25 degrees somewhere or other while on the North Northumberland coast we achieved the sweltering heights of 12.5 ⁰ . Still between cooler cloudy times there have been bright pleasant sunny windows of opportunity too.  I forgot to add that I have my annual heavy cold this week, but Peggy needs walked so I have been around the village too in the sunny spells.

Some spring migrants are back now with Swallows, Sand Martins, Willow Warblers in village wood. On 10th  Blackcaps arrived in numbers. We were pleased to see 4 or 5 of them eating the few remaining Ivy berries opposite our kitchen window .

The kitchen window Ivy over the stone wall.

Various Blackcaps, with a minimum of 3 females and a male on Saturday, poss 2 males on Sunday.

On 8th April, the moth trap had a migrant influx. Unfortunately no Small Mottled Willows that have inundated the country this week but a big count ( for here) of 92 Diamond backed Moths. Pine Beauty and Muslin Moth also added to the interest that night too while a Hedgehog has been around the garden for a few nights too.

On one sunny interlude, a few butterflies were out, Peacocks, Small Tortoiseshells, Commas and a Green veined White. Still awaiting Orange Tip and wondering how Holly Blue will fare this season?

Comma.

Being a Super Naturalist

 I reckon all birders keep lists of some sort. Some might deny this but from my experience it is an inherent activity for birders of all shapes, sizes and levels of expertise. Some people keep a list of garden birds, a local patch list, a British List, a Life List or all of them but birders don't hold a monopoly on list keeping.

There is another level entirely. The Pan Species Lister. I wont go into to much detail here other than to say it is the collection, in list form and of records of everything from Killer Whales to Lichen. For a fuller dive into it see here where Graeme Lyons explains it like a boss.  

Graeme has written a book all about it - 

 

I have recently finished reading this tome and can say it is an excellent read. It is jam packed with tips, info, anecdotes on how to tackle the mind boggling 72,000 species that live or visit our islands.

If you aspire to become a 'super naturalist' of even a mediocre one, there is no better place to start. The link I added above is to the PSL website where you can get involved. It is a partnership with BUBO listing that a lot of birders are familiar with. These two learning channels have inspired me to add my own tally to the mix. I have had a spreadsheet with most of my own records on for quite a few years now but as with all spreadsheets they become cumbersome and full of typos. The website helps iron these flaws out.

But whats the point of species accumulation you might wonder? Well, its not just for the list per se its more about the collation of records as a way of monitoring groups of species that might otherwise be overlooked. We cant help conserve species unless we know where they are and how many etc. Things like Birds, Moths, Butterflies etc have details records going back hundreds of years but what about Slugs for example? Garden weeds? Cat fleas! they are all a part of our biodiversity that should be monitored just like breeding Ospreys or Otters. 

So my species are now up on the site for anyone to see. One good feature of the site I found was the targets button. Once you have added all of your species, you can then see what you have missed or are missing. This shows what all other listers have seen that you haven't in order of abundance, ie the commonest or most widespread first. Using this I realised that Holly was missing off my Vascular Plants list, amongst other common species.

It is also interesting to compare with other PSLers, though competing with the top tier is not possible for me, its still makes good reading. For example the top of the list by some margin is ruled by Jonty Denton with over 13,000 species. Yet I have seen 9 out of his top 10 missing species. That is scarcely credible.

This is my take on the Flora and Fauna of the UK so far - 

A modest 2,413 species placing me at 110 in the rankings table. 

My top 5 targets that everyone else has seen most of are - Roesel's Bush Cricket, seen by 250 other listers, Grizzled Skipper seen by 236, Chalkhill Blue seen by 235, Hairy Shieldbug by 218 and Black Arches by 217. Definitely a geographical bias going on here.

My precious few Blockers ( rarest species on my list)  are Steatoda paykulliana a confession straight up, this False Widow Spider was found in some supermarket grapes that some people deem untickable, but I'm having it! and a moth Xenolechia aethiops both not seen by any of the other listers. 

Xenolechia aethiops from my garden.

Steatoda paykulliana in grapes. Well it is wild, people tick worse ( Pheasant for example)

Going forward this should add a lot of interest to days out ( or even in the house for that matter). Targets? I would like to get to 800 moths!

Postscript - Another book I have also just read goes well with PSL -