The 28th August saw the first record of another new arrival to our region. The Sea Aster Mining Bee, Colletes halophilus. While It’s close relative the Ivy Mining Bee, Colletes hederae, was first confirmed in Dorset in just 2001 and rapidly spread across the country C. halophilus has been present since prior to 1960 and...
There has been a recent surge in interest of gall forming wasps, particularly the Andricus genus with several new and ‘un-common’ species being identified in South Lancashire. Andricus are a particularly nice group as the species can be largely identified through the careful examination of their galls. This group is also generally poorly recorded so...
A parasitic disease is responsible for the severe declines seen in both UK Greenfinch and Chaffinch populations, say scientists in a new open-access paper in Scientific Reports, a Nature Publishing journal. The research was carried out by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL)’s Institute of Zoology (IoZ). Chaffinch...
For most of the year, my notes have reported drought conditions on the Seton Coast. These intensified in August, only three days registering measurable rainfall. Thunderstorms that provided welcome relief further south missed us (as usual!). There was also a heatwave from 11th to 14th with temperatures up to about 300C. As a result the...