The Lyons Share

Well the NVC community M16 (Cross-leaved Heath - Sphagnum compactum wet heath) rather than the firearm. I've been at Graffham today where a very small patch of M16 wet heath is home to the BAP species, Marsh Club-moss. I counted 29 plants today (18 last year). The bright green of the Marsh Club-moss contrasts starkly with the deep-red of the carnivorous Round-leaved Sundew. These species are early successional species of this community and will be lost if all the bare ground is covered by Purple Moor-grass and heathers. Scraping in another year or two will be required to maintain this habitat. Club-mosses are vascular plants by the way and not bryophytes.

Lots of other good stuff there today too. A Firecrest down to 5 metres whilst I was having my lunch. Bog Bush-crickets and Woodland Grasshoppers everywhere. Another 'quadrat tick' was a small Adder that I very nearly put my hand on. There was lots of this very smart hoverfly, the rather large and noisy social wasp-mimic, Sericomyia silentis. Again in a quadrat, hence the tape measure in the background. I saw them there last year too.