The Whitlingham Bird Report for 2023 is now available to download from the Bird Reports page or from here

NORWICH: Snakefly and an unusual lichen

First half of May 2021

Various sightings on my walks to and from the city, culminated with the finding of my second ever Snakefly. Identification relies on the pattern of veins in the fore and hind wings - fortunately I managed to get a photo of the hindwing of this one to confirm that it was Xanthostigma xanthostigma.


 

Other sightings included Regal Piercer, a micro moth associated with Sycamore, the beetle Bruchus rufimanus and some Tawny Mining Bees. The first Swifts returned to our housing estate on 9th May, and on the same day I found an out of place Reed Warbler singing from scrub along a pathway at Waterloo Park, well away from any suitable habitat.




Finally, having seen it mentioned online I searched for and found Phylloblastia inexpectata. This is a foliicolous lichen (i.e. one that grows on leaves) and is almost certainly hugely overlooked, with this being the first VC27 (east Norfolk) record.



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