Narrow-lipped Whorl-snail

It was a really raw, unpleasant January day. Nevertheless, I went out to look at Maxey Churchyard and Maxey Field, to come up with proposals for enhancing their floral diversity as part of the John Clare Countryside Nature recovery programme. Two hours was quite enough - by that time my feet were frozen! I didn't bother to take a camera with me, as I suspected there would be little to photograph - and I was right.

The only photography I did today was studio work for Pete. These tiny snails were quite a challenge - each one being less than 1 mm in length. It was also important to get their orientation correct, so that the teeth on the lip were visible. Pete and Chris found these during a survey of part of Saltflettby-Theddlethorpe NNR for Natural England. The Narrow-lipped Whorl-snail is very rare, and prior to this discovery, was only known from eight sites in the UK. It is found primarily in marshy ground of high, even humidity, with flowing groundwater, but subject neither to deep or prolonged flooding nor to periodic desiccation. It requires unshaded conditions and lives amongst short vegetation, composed of grasses, mosses or low herbs, that is quickly warmed by the sun. The vegetation may be grazed. In the British Isles it has been found in wet base-rich meadows, in coastal marshes, dune slacks and maritime turf, and in depressions within limestone pavement. At Saltfleetby they were found in a cattle-grazed area of dune slack, which fits well with previous finds, but further work will be required to see how widespread they are and to assess the population size.

Sarah and Ben got the results of their Covid-19 tests late this afternoon - thankfully both negative. We had a celebratory Chinese take-away - during the current crisis we're taking every opportunity to try and keep cheerful.