Michael O'Hara and I spent a wonderful day out in the Norfolk Broads yesterday in the company of Tony Davis from Butterfly Conservation and various bods from wildlife organisations in Norfolk. For me it was like returning home as I once lived in Acle and the place we met up at was our go to site for Grasshopper Warbler and Little Owl back in the day. We were all there to scrutinise the dead stems of Water Dock and we were looking for the larval cases of a rare micro moth, Coleophora hydrolapathella (Water Dock Case-bearer). Tony had visited this site on previous occasions, including once...

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...