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: Interesting garden wildlife

12th May 2018

After the lichen walk I gave Jeremy and Vanna a lift home, and whilst at theirs had a look at some more wildlife. The highlight was a new hoverfly, Eumerus funeralis. This species has a lookalike that can only be separated by a close look at the inner surface of the hind femur - fortunately Vanna caught it and we could check that it was E. funeralis before it was released back into the garden. Other new species included the bug Harpocera thoracica and the sawfly Aglaostigma fulvipes, although as often happens I saw both of those species again elsewhere on the following day!

Another highlight was the sighting of two picture winged flies, Tephritis neesii, doing a dance. This consisted of the pair facing each other and doing elaborate wing-flicking, which was very interesting to watch. A bit of research suggests it was probably a courtship dance, but I can't rule out that it was two males having a dispute.

As I was leaving a small moth flew past, resembling a Diamond-back Moth. Jeremy and Vanna both recognised it as a related species, Plutella porrectella. They were used to seeing it on their Dame's Violet, but it is fairly scarce in Norwich and was a fourth new species for me during my brief visit. It was five by the time I reached the car as on my way past the house I noticed the a gall on Red Valerian. This is caused by Trioza centranthi, and seems to be spreading through the UK. It is quite distinctive (have a look at the photo and keep an eye out for it) and Vanna was sure that it hadn't been there in previous years.

NORWICH: Catton Park invert additions

26th April 2018

Having been on a course during the day, I was able to call in at Catton Park on my way home. There was  still a bit of sunshine so I was hoping there would be lots of insects about, but it was still too early for the wildflower meadow so I kept to the edge of the woodland, focusing on the band of Dandelions growing in the rough grassland and the sporadic Alexanders and Cow Parsley. There was a lot of hoverflies, but almost all that I inspected were Melanostoma scalare, with the exception of a single Baccha elongata and some Eristalis sp.

 Melanostoma scalare

Baccha elongata

Pleasingly I did actually find two new species for me, a plant bug, Stendodema laevigata and a small carabid, Demetrias atricapillus. A tiny Dark Bush-cricket nymph was my earliest ever, and a Dock Bug was my first of the year to complete a productive hour.

BRECKLAND: Weeting speedwells and invertebrates

5th April 2018

Breckland has a range of rare plants, but many of them are restricted to a handful of sites, and even when you are in the right place they can be hard to find. I was therefore delighted when the Norfolk Wildlife Trust held a spring flora walk at Weeting Heath, which as far as I know is the only place in Norfolk where Spring Speedwell grows. The area where this plant, along with other scarce speedwells (Fingered Speedwell and Breckland Speedwell) is on arable land just off the reserve boundary but managed by the reserve staff. This area, like most of the reserve, has no general public access. The only slight problem was the recent weather - the late spring meant that only one of the three species was in flower.

Having picked up Ian, Jeremy and Vanna we arrived at Weeting to a sunny but cool morning. James the warden took us across the road and we spent two hours looking at the speedwells, seeing several flowering Fingered Speedwells and leaves of the other two.

 Fingered Speedwell, Veronica triphyllos

 Breckland Speedwell, Veronica praecox

 Spring Speedwell, Veronica verna

I had been hoping for one of the scarcer shieldbugs or Coreid bugs, but did manage a Stiltbug, Neides tipularius, and a sawfly, Dolerus gonager. I also noticed some small spiky weevils that I think must be Otiorhynchus ovatus.

Back in the car park a Brimstone flew past, my first butterfly of the year. James showed us some bark mines that he had found in a young Oak tree. They are the sort of thing that must be going overlooked in the county, looking like faint veins in the bark. There are two possible causers, Ectoedemia atrifrontella and Ectoedemia longicaudella. Both would be new to Norfolk, although the undetermined mines have also been seen at Santon Downham. As we went to get in the car Ian looked down and noticed a Sooty Cup fungus (Helvella leucomelaena) growing beside the car! Thanks to James for running the walk.

WHITLINGHAM: A range of beetles and bugs

5th July 2017

On Wednesday evening I headed down to Whitlingham for a quick look round. I had hoped for a flyover Curlew after reports of some moving about the valley earlier in the week, but it was always going to be a long shot. The only bird of interest was a neck-collared Greylag, which turned out to be the same bird seen last summer (originally ringed in Thetford).

In contrast to the birdlife there was a lot of interesting invertebrates, in particular beetles. With this in mind, consider this post a photo special.

 Heterotoma planicornis

 Solitary wasp sp.

Liocoris tripustulatus

 Cantharis flavilabris (sometimes known as C. nigra - this one has a black scutellum)

 A leaf beetle sp - there are several green ones but I think this is Green Dock Beetle (it was on a related plant sp)

 Four-barred Major (a soldierfly)

Cicadella viridis

Plagiognathus arbustorum

 Tachinus rufipes - I think!

 Unidentified beetle sp.

 Figwort Weevil

Chrysolina polita

Unidentified (unidentifiable?) on creeping thistle

NORWICH: Queens Hills CP

27th August 2016

For the past few years there has been some Clouded Yellow butterflies reported from Queen's Hills Country Park at the edge of Norwich, along with several other interesting day-flying moths. I had never been, but the sighting of two 'helice' form Clouded Yellows, a form I haven't seen, tempted me to go and have a look. I had been told that they were the main Queen's Hills side (there is a smaller reserve the Ringland side) near to a car park, but I could see a proper car park so I found a place nearby to park and walked back.

The area was covered in plants, so I could see why it would be good for insects. Quite a few of them were going over, but there was still lots of Ragwort, Knapweed etc. I walked around near two ponds, one dry and one full, seeing a flyover Grey Wagtail and hearing a Bullfinch. There was no sign of any Clouded Yellows in the areas I checked, but there were lots of other butterflies including Painted Lady and Common Blue.

Having a look around at the flowers I saw the hoverfly Chrysotoxum bisinctum, which I don't see very often, and also a new capsid bug, Oncotylus viridiflavus. I photographed a Cinnamon Bug (Corizus hyoscyami) and after putting the photo on Twitter Brian Eversham pointed out that the Ragwort plant it was on had been galled by a fly. There are two possible culprits, so I may ask around and see if I can find out which one it is. This conversation also highlighted a guide produced by Buglife to the insects that use Ragwort, which looks handy.

 Chrysotoxum bisinctum

 Oncotylus viridiflavus

Corizus hyoscyami

On my way back to the car I noticed a few orange, four-petalled poppies. I managed to identify them as Californian Poppy, a garden plant that has presumably either been thrown out here or grown from seed. Before going home I called in at Whitlingham, but there was a lot of disturbance on the broad from boating, so after a quick look round I headed home.

Californian Poppy - oranger in real life