Monday 2nd October 2017

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A drier morning to meet the stalwart MENCAP volunteers for a litter pick along the beach.

 It was breezier than it felt once we arrived on the open beach, but undeterred we set off collecting another five bags of rubbish, mostly old fishing rope and netting.

 Some of the things we didn't pick up included the single dead Sheep, the Single juvenile Porpoise and the host of Barrel Jellyfish.

 Amongst the usual tide line debris were a couple of interesting finds, including a first sighting for me of  a Portuguese Man o'War, Physalia physalis, and several complete By-the-wind Sailor, Velella velella, previously I've only seen the "skeleton".
* please do not touch the
Portuguese Man o'War,
they sting even when dead*

Portuguese Man o'War 

Porpoise?
I suspect the recent run of horrendous weather out in the Atlantic has contributed to the arrival of such a mix of creatures.

On the land side of things it may interest followers to look for the very amiable Ivy Mining Bee, Colletes hederae, feeding on the late flowers of Ivy, the bee is not aggressive so allows for a close up look/photograph.

Ivy Mining Bee

If you are lucky enough to find this bee please  pass the information onto

http://www.bwars.com/content/colletes-hederae-mapping-project

I suspect they will need a photograph.

Also please let me know if you do find the bee especially if it's on one of our reserves or in the MCP.

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