Another low turnout, but those that joined in had a good time, nothing like poking about in a pond or mashing up cow pats in your hands to get the proverbial naturalists juices flowing.
In blustery conditions, (the sun did make a brief appearance) we delved into the pond in F3, there have been no cattle in the field for a few months, so it seemed the right choice.
I am no expert on aquatic life so the identifications will be to a Genus, only, still very interesting.
The most surprising find was a Coot, which happens to be a new bird for the site and species 110 of the year. No one else saw it as it dived into some vegetation, swam underwater to the far end of the pond then sneeked out into a pile of logs.
More expected life included , Newt efts spp, (immature newts), Water Baotmen, Diving Beetle spp, Blood Worm, Pea Mussel spp, Great Pond Snail, along with Damselfly and Dragonfly nymphs.
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| Dragonfly nymph, either a "Chaser" or "Darter" |
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| Damselfly nymph |
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| Immature Newt, (Eft) |
We then went and looked at a damp area which had both Lesser and Greater Spearwort in flower as well as Yellow Flag, a bit of vegetation beating with the butterfly net yielded what appears to be a Black Snipefly.
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| Black Snipefly?, very distinctive wing pattern |
A quick look at some cowpats saw us looking at some fungi, (awaiting ID), beetle larvae as well as worms.
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| Yes that's Cow poo with a nice little fungus! |
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