WHITLINGHAM: Delayed June WeBS count

Late June 2023

I had to delay June's WeBS count as there had been triathlons using the Great Broad. The wasn't anything particularly notable in terms of birds - 113 Greylag Geese, 57 Mute Swans (plus some cygnets in the conservation area bay) and 47 Egyptian Geese. A couple of Common Terns were also still present. In terms of invertebrates I saw my first patch Umbellifer Longhorn Beetle (Phytoecia cylindrica) and nice crab spider (Misumena vatia) and the smut on Greater Pond Sedge that has been very prevalent this year, Farysia thuemeni.

BROADS: A trip to Trinity Broads looking for fungi

Mid June 2023

In June the Norfolk Fungus Study Group visited Trinity Broads, specifically an area of woodland near Rollesby. The dry weather meant that there wasn't much in the way of 'cap and stem' fungi, but we did find quite a few interesting things in a relatively small patch of wet woodland, as well as enjoying some nice views over the broad. Some of the new species for me included Podosphaera mors-uvae (American Gooseberry Mildew), Hymenoscyphus salicellus, Vibrissea filisporia and Pandora dipterigena (the latter a fungus on mosquitoes).

Afterwards we had a quick walk around the boat club woods, where we also had permission to record. Here I saw the bug Cyllecoris histrionus for the first time. The visit was also quite good for psyllids - the total of seven species is the most I've recorded in a single day. All were fairly common species - Baeopelma foersteri and Cacopsylla fulguralis were the most notable ones.