Bookham Survey

A productive day was had at Bookham Common on Saturday for the on-going LNHS ecological survey- more information on which can be found here: http://www.lnhs.org.uk/surveys.htm

There was a fairly decent turn-out for the survey considering the weather, and it was nice to catch up with the Bookham regulars; Stuart Cole, Tristan Bantock and Sarah Barnes, as well as meeting fellow 1000for1ksq-er Rob Wallace for the first time. It's always a privilege to spend time in the field with experts, and with the guarantee of some decent invertebrates, and a good bit of banter in the LNHS hut over lunch, Bookham is the place to do it.

The sun attempted to shine though on a couple of occasions, but generally there was a steady drizzle that didn't make ideal conditions for searching out invertebrates. Bird action was pretty good though, with a Nightingale singing to the west of the LNHS hut, and a cuckooing Cuckoo remaining long enough on an exposed perch at Little Bookham Common for a grainy sound recording to be made...

A lot of time was spent surveying in Great Mornshill Wood, an under-recorded section of the Bookham recording area.

Diaperis boleti on it's host, Birch Polygore (Piptoporus betulinus). A previously rare and restricted species that has started to increase it's range in the last couple of years, and is now quite common on birch fungi throughout Bookham Common...

A bird-dropping mimic weevil, Cionus alauda, swept from Figwort (Scrophularia sp.) at Mornshill Wood...

Another weevil on Figwort, in the company of the above species, was Cionus hortulanus...

Whilst I could only provide the moral support when it came to identifying beetles, there was a few day-flying lepidoptera to keep the camera, including the first Adela reaumurella, Nematopogon swammerdamella and Esperia sulphurella (below) of the year...