NORWICH: Garden lockdown list days 98 to 101 (the last day by day summaries)

DAY 98 - 27th June 2020

A Sphaerophoria hoverfly was present in the back garden, but it was a female, which cannot be assigned to species.

DAY 99 - 28th June 2020

Nothing new added

DAY 100 - 29th June 2020

205. Red Admiral - one flew through the garden

DAY 101 - 30th June 2020

A handful of new additions, plus a fly that looks like it should be fairly distinctive. There were beginnings of a rust on Creeping Buttercup, but with several rusts on that host I've not added that. An Ophiomya sp mine also hasn't made it onto the list.

206. Nemorimyza posticata (leaf mine in Canadian Goldenrod)

207. Dicyphus epilobii (a small bug associated with Great Willowherb)

208. Common Earwig

209. Nephrotoma flavescens (cranefly)

210. Steatoda nobilis (spider)

Given the various milestones - the country no longer being in full lockdown, over 100 days passes and over 200 species seen, I shall continue into July noting the new gardn species seen, but no longer note the day number or post for days when nothing new is added from here onwards.

NORWICH: Garden lockdown list 200 species breakdown

So, 97 days on from the start of my lockdown list I have passed the 200 species mark. How impressive that sounds will largely depend on your own listing experience - if you don't have a garden list then 200 sounds quite a lot, but if you have a big rural garden you might trap that amount of species in a night! I should point out that this hasn't been a full-on bioblitz, and many of the species have been seen simply by wandering around the garden, often with my daughter.

If you want to look back at the species I've recorded then you can go to the 'labels' section of the blog (on the right hand side and scroll down) and click on the 'lockdown list' label.

Anyway, I have produced a breakdown of the first 200 species by category and percentage below.

Also of interest, I check how many of the species were new to the garden, and it was 62/200 (31%), which is quite pleasing. I also looked at how many were new to me, and that was 25 (12.5%), which is also quite a good ratio.

NORWICH: Garden lockdown list day 97 - some more moths

DAY 97 - 26th June 2020

Another go with the moth trap, and numbers had increased a bit, with 15 species of moths. Also in the trap was a Spongefly, a small lacewing-relative that feeds on freshwater sponges, and a Lesser Water-boatman sp. I'm not sure if the water boatman can be identified (it a female, which are harder to key), so it's not included on the list. Ten of the moths were new for the lockdown list, which took me past the 200 mark - I'll post a breakdown of the 200 separately.

 Lesser Water-boatman sp

 Summer Chafer

Sisyra nigra, a Spongefly

Sycamore moth

Buff Arches

Cinnabar moth

Riband Wave

Ancylis achatana

Little Grey

Common Pug

Groundling sp?

Large Fruit-tree Tortrix

Elephant Hawk-moth

Treble Brown-spot

Bee Moth

192. Summer Chafer
193. Sisyra nigra (a spongefly)
194. Sycamore (moth)
195. Buff Ermine
196. Cinnabar Moth
197. Riband Wave
198. Ancylis achatana
199. Little Grey moth
200. Common Pug
201. Large Fruit-tree Tortrix
202. Elephant Hawk-moth
203. Treble Brown-spot
204. Bee Moth

NORWICH: Garden lockdown list days 92 to 96 including a new species for Norfolk

DAY 92 - 21st June 2020

Nothing new added

DAY 93 - 22nd June 2020

Nothing new added

DAY 94 - 23rd June 2020

Earlier in the week I had noticed a small bug on one of our Snapdragons, but it had flown off before I got a picture. Checking them again I noticed quite a few small green nymphs, and then eventually two adult bugs. I recognised it was being similar to some Dicyphus that we sometimes get on willowherbs, and having caught one I was able to confirm that it was Dicyphus escalerae, a species that specialises in Snapdragons and is spreading around the UK. Having checked with Tristan Bantock and Rob Coleman it turns out this is new to Norfolk! It is almost certainly being overlooked eleswhere, so worth looking out for.

187. Dicyphus escalerae (a plant bug)

DAY 95 - 24th June 2020

Whilst in the living room Cathy noticed a bug flying past the window. It appeared to land nearby, and for once it stayed there long enough for me to run out and confirm the ID. It was a Dock Bug, a very common species at Whitlingham and other green spaces around the city, but a new one for the garden.

188. Dock Bug

DAY 96 - 25th June 2020

A couple of new species found in the garden during a quick morning look around, and I added Woody Nightshade as its now in flower:

189. Broad Centurion (a soldierfly) 

190. Woody Nightshade

191. Golden-brown Tubic (Crassa unitella)

NORWICH: Garden lockdown list day 91 - some moths

DAY 91 - 20th June 2020

I've not done much moth-trapping this year for a variety of reasons, not least that when I have done I've barely caught anything. This time I caught seven different species, so again a rather paltry return for the time of year, but they were all new for the year.

 Varied Coronet

 Heart & Club

 Heart & Dart

 Garden Grass Veneer

 Dark Arches

 Spectacle

Mottled Beauty

180. Varied Coronet

181. Heart and Club

182. Heart and Dart

183. Garden Grass Veneer

184. Dark Arches

185. Spectacle

186. Mottled Beauty

NORWICH: Garden lockdown list days 88-90

DAY 88 - 17th June 2020

I got round to having a look at some small willowherbs growing in the garden and they appear to be Short-fruited Willowherb. Of more interest was a female Eupeodes luniger hoverfly, seen egg laying on the same Rocket plants that we had earlier watched the Large White butterfly egg laying on.

179. Short-fruited Willowherb

DAY 89 -18th June 2020

A very nice little micro moth found in the garden, but not destined for the list as it was a Cnephasia sp, a group of very similar moths with overlap between the patterns, only separable via dissection.

DAY 90 - 19th June 2020

Nothing new added

NORWICH: Garden lockdown list day 87 - bug & barklouse

DAY 87 - 16th June 2020

A day worthy of a separate entry as I found two new species, both tiny things on the bark of our large cypress tree. These were a plant bug, Dichrooscytus gustavi, a small, bright green and red (think Hawthorn Shieldbug-type colouration) bug found amongst some conifer litter, and a bark louse - Peripsocus milleri, of which there were loads all over the bark.

Other species seen were rather more flashy, including the hoverfly Scaeva pyrastri, Broad-barred White moth (found resting in the lawn), a caterpillar of a Peppered Moth (I've never caught the adult here so that was new for the garden) and Red-tailed Bumblebee - I probably saw this earlier in the month but didn't record it .

173. Dichrooscytus gustavi (a bug)
174. Peripsocus milleri (a barklouse)
175. Scaeva pyrastri (a hoverfly)
176. Broad-barred White (moth)
177. Peppered Moth
178. Red-tailed Bumblebee

NORWICH: Garden lockdown list days 85 & 86

DAY 85 - 14th June 2020

After getting brief glimpses of what initially looked like a small leafcutter bee, I was finally able to confirm that we had at least one Orange-vented Mason Bee visiting the garden. My pride and joy, some Viper's Bugloss purchased last year at Natural Surroundings, had also come into flower which was nice.

170. Osmia leiana (bee)

DAY 86 - 15th June 2020

Whilst out in the garden with Rose we watched a Buzzard soar over - it seems strange to think I'd not seen any up until this year, but it clearly is just related to the amount of time we have spent out in the garden this spring. I heard a family party of Long-tailed Tits nearby, which after checking was confirmed as a new lockdown garden bird, whilst I also found a Diamond-back Moth on the wall outside. I also noticed that the first of the Large White butterfly eggs that we had watched being laid had hatched.

171. Long-tailed Tit (heard only)
172. Diamond-back Moth

NORWICH: Garden lockdown list days 81-84 - an aphid on lupins

DAY 81 - 10th June 2020

Nothing new added.

DAY 82 - 11th June 2020

Nothing new added

DAY 83 - 12th June 2020

In between the council mowing the bit of grass out of the front (they shouldn't, but do the whole row of house on the assumption it all needs doing) I keep checking to see if any new flowers have popped up, and indeed on this occasion I could add White Clover and Ribwort Plantain. A Swollen-thighed Beetle was also new for the lockdown list, although it flew off before I could photograph it.

165. White Clover

166. Ribwort Plantain

167. Swollen-thighed Beetle

DAY 84 - 13th June 2020

Cathy's prized Lupins in the back garden had begun to die off, and the flowering spikes were all covered by waxy aphids. I checked the influential points aphids website and was pleased to find that they could be identified, as Macrosiphum albifrons. I also found a beetle under a flowerpot, Calathus melaocephalus, so another two new species for me, something of a purple patch. 

168. Macrosiphum albifrons (aphid)

169. Calathus melaocephalus (beetle)