A quick trip to the heath

Yesterday, I was on child care duties and so I proposed a trip out to Cavenham Heath in Suffolk. Previous trips here with the kids had been a success as they enjoyed trying to catch grasshoppers in pots.

Yesterday's trip was much less of a success with #1 son being a fun sponge and #2 suffering from a cricked neck, so our trip was cut short to avoid excess arguments!

We did come across a couple of the beetle Trycocopris vernalis which is the second time I've seen it here.

More exciting were my first Beewolfs (or is it beewolves!) Philanthus triangulum. They were provisioning burrows with bees.

I also pootered what I assumed was going to be a Bembidion beetle but when I looked at it under the hand lens I could see it was a very small hemipteran. Turns out it's Plinthisus brevipennis a relatively common ground bug.

Just need a return trip either on my own or with more amenable children.

White spot on Elm street

Have recently returned from an amazing 2 weeks in the Picos de Europa in Northern Spain. Butterflies galore and dung with concentrations of beetles like you wouldn't believe!

Anyway, a trip out last night with fellow moth-er Bill to an isolated stand of old elms near Ely. Generally a quiet night but we did get three of our target moth to the light. 

White-spotted Pinion, a species that was massively impacted by Dutch Elm disease in the 1970s. A new one for me and a rather smart moth. Thanks to Bill for the pic.