Blue

Another surprisingly warm October day. After a quick visit to Waitrose, I popped round to Ben and Sarah's house for a coffee and a chat. The decking in there garden was replaced last weekend by her Auntie and Uncle and has really made a difference  - it's now double the size which gives them space to have a table and chairs out there next summer. We chatted about weddings, cakes and the plans for her birthday, which is tomorrow.

Just time for a hasty lunch before I headed off to Woodwalton Fen to meet H, and give him some informal training on ditch plants. Sadly, the ditches are now rather species-poor, partly a result of use of the NNR to store nutrient-rich floodwater in winter. But we saw a number of interesting species including Greater Water-parsnip, Bladderwort, Delicate Stonewort and the decaying fronds of Frogbit. We also heard and saw signs of Water Vole in several places.

As part of the routine site monitoring, the Wildlife Trust and Natural England run regular moth traps. Last night had been exceptional, with a good haul of autumn species including the first Clifden Nonpareil recorded from the site. We made a species trip back to the NE compound to see it - it was new to Henry - I'd seen my first one last weekend at Etton-Maxey NR. 

This large and spectacular species is also known as Blue Underwing and was the Victorian collector's classic all-time favourite! In the British Isles it was formerly resident in certain parts of Kent and Norfolk during the middle part of the 20th century, but it became extinct as a breeding species and for many years was only recorded as an occasional immigrant. In recent years it has been increasing again and is now considered to be established as a breeding species in some southern counties. The large greyish caterpillar feeds mainly on Aspen  but on the Continent is known to eat other species of  poplar. There's certainly plenty of poplar at Woodwalton Fen!