The Lyons Share

Just a quick one today, whilst on route to Friston Forest I noticed a large strip of what can only be Common Sea-lavender growing on the central reservation on the A27 between the universities and the Ditchling turn off. I have seen Danish Scurvy-grass and Reflex Salt-marsh Grass doing this for many years but never the sea-lavender. I love how these halophytes have found a way to grow in the most inhospitable of places. I guess all the salt that is put down on the roads builds up accumulatively, so soon we'll be able to pick marsh samphire by the motorway, not that you'd want to eat it though.

Crawling around the bend at Exceat I noticed what looked like Red Star-thistle growing right by the roadside and it was! Another new species for me.

I did not have so much luck trying to relocate yesterday's clearwing with pheromones although I did get another nationally scarce (Nb) beetle landing on me, Variimorda villosa. Whilst quadratting I had a Humming-bird Hawk-moth fly into my quadrat and nectar on Viper's Bugloss. I think this is the first one I have seen for two years.