Mid-month check in from the North

Mid-month check in from NZ2549

Yesterday, despite the strong winds, the temperature got to 15.4C and for the very first time it felt like Spring. I thought it was never going to get here as it snowed only 7 days previous.Things have started to wake up so there has been a rush of new species in the limited time I have had in the field, not surprisingly the majority being invertebrates. The 250 mark was hit on Sunday with my first hoverfly of the year. My latest records all in the garden -


250. Eristalis tenax (Drone Fly)
251. Steatoda bipunctata (Common False-widow Spider)
252. Lithobius forficatus (Garden Centipede)
253. Vicia sativa (Common Vetch)
254. Bombus terrestris (Buff-tailed Bumble Bee)
255. Limax flavus (Yellow Slug)
256. Cepaea hortensis (White-lipped Snail)
257. Orthosia munda (Twin-spotted Quaker)

Still awaiting my first butterfly here and still no Clouded Drab

Scores on the doors

Actual   Anticipated
Birds     59   70 Vascular Plants   104 400 Mosses & Liverworts    38   50 Lichens     12   12 Fungi & Slime Moulds      8   20 Terrestrial Mammals      6     8 Butterflies      0   20 Moths    10 350 Dragonflies     0     9 Hoverflies     1   25 Other inverts   18   50 Amphibians & Reptiles     1    5   TOTAL 257 1019
Aggregates & hybrids (not included) - 8
NZ2549 Waldridge, Co. Durham