Spent Tuesday wandering over the MOD land at Yoxter Ranges, on Somerset's Mendip Hills , doing a reconnaisance for a couple of Somerset Invertebrate Group Field Meetings there later in the year. A fabulous looking area for a brownfield site. Most of it was mined by the Romans for lead but the intervening years have softened the harsh edges and made it a great place for wildlife.

There were squadrons of Andrena and other bee species carrying on the mining traditions of the area and the highlight of the trip was a nice patch of Spring Sandwort, Minuartia verna. This plant can tolerate high levels of lead in the soil and in Somerset is only found in this ex-mining habitat.