Otter footprint

 

An Otter footprint at Cricklepit Mill.


And the Otter's spraints in the same place.
 

Ancistoceros antilope

 

This may be the potter or mason wasp Ancistoceros antilope but there are a few very similar species so I cannot be certain. It was photographed by the River Exe.
 

Water Speedwell

 

So far as I can recall without having my list to hand Water Speedwell - found by the River Exe - was a new species for me.


I have yet to identify this plant - a clover species?
 

Yellow-barred Brindle

 
 

As Friend-who-loves-Otters was driving away from the house to take Daughter-who-takes-Photos on holiday my mind was only half on waving them goodbye. The other half was focussing the camera on a moth which was sat upon the wall of Frog End.

For me, a moth-lover, there is nothing more infuriating than a moth I cannot identify. I don't mind having to look it up if it's a new species for me but I really get worked up if I cannot find it. I think that's a sign of a happy retirement when it's just things like this that get to you.

Unfortunately I only managed to take it from the one angle before it flew off and its wing scales were so new and shiny that the pattern was not as clear as it could be in a duller light or from a different angle. Not having my moth books with me I turned to the UK moths site. This is a brilliant site from which to identify species so long as you have a basic knowledge of the subject.

My immediate reaction was to hope it was some form of Small Seraphim - if only because I love its scientific name of Pterapherapteryx sexalata.

It turned out to be the Yellow-barred Brindle (Acasis viretata).

This is a new species for me and brings my total number of macro-moths to 263.

The name refers to the colour form normally found in the wild but when freshly emerged - as this so obviously was - it usually has a greenish colour that fades rapidly. The adult moth is found in May and June and, in the southern part of its range, again in August and September.

The Yellow-barred Brindle is widely distributed but rarely common in woodland, suburban habitats and scrubland, and in northern England and southern Scotland it is scarce. The caterpillars feed on the flowers and leaves of a variety of foodplants, including holly and Ivy.

Annual Knawel

 
 


It is fairly rare nowadays for me to add a new flower to my species list. With a few exceptions anything new I see is likely to be one of a group of difficult to distinguish species (which I am too lazy to identify). There are, however, a number of species of which I do not have decent photos. Some of these are very common and have simply been ignored because I've assumed I have already taken them. This was the case with Annual Knawel (Scleranthus annuus) until Daughter-who-takes-photos asked me to identify it in her garden. Reaching up to 10cm high, it is common on dry, bare places throughout Britain and Ireland and can be an abundant garden weed. The narrow, pointed leaves are borne in opposite pairs along the stems. The flowers comprise close-knit heads of greenish white sepals with no petals and appear from May to August.


It is also known as German Moss or German Knotgrass and few of the photos on the web look like mine but I reckon I’ve identified it correctly. One that does look like mine is at Wild Plants in Netherlands and Belgium.