4th January 2020
Continuing the theme of Norwich-based excursions, Cathy, Rose and I went to Earlham Cemetery to take part in the Friends of Earlham Cemetery event for BSBI's New Year Plant Hunt. There seemed to be fewer plants in flower than recent times, but I think the final total didn't necessarily back up that observation. We got a brief glimpse of a Muntjac, which pleased Rose (although not as much as the cat that accompanied us around a section of the cemetery).
Highlights of the visit were probably non-floral - we saw some good specimens of Striated Earthstar, before being shown some Lacquered Bracket (Ganoderma lucidum) and the eggs of a Vapourer Moth, laid on the cocoon that the female would have originally emerged from (the females are wingless in this species).
Having left the cemetery and gone shopping, I had a call from Gary White to say that he had found a Waxwing showing well on Edinburgh Road. I took a rather winding way home to look for it, intitially with no success, before hearing it call nearby. A look down the next road along and hey presto, a Waxwing perched up on a TV aerial on College Road. It didn't stay long, flying back towards the original location, but always nice to see this species around the city.
