The Lyons Share

Thanks to yet another tip off, I have been able to add Bithynian Vetch to my list. Growing on the edge of Brighton, this nationally scarce plant took me a while to find. The books all state May to June for flowering but this season is unusual, it is more like July. On my second attempt I found the plants, they had all gone to seed and I searched for a long time before I found this lonely flower. It was not what I was expecting to be honest, it was completely out shone by the bright magenta pink of Common Vetch. I also saw loads of Yellow Vetchling which is also pretty uncommon.

However, the best occurred as I was walking back to the car. I decided to have a quick look on some Dogwood for any interesting inverts. Pretty much the first thing I saw was a large, brick-red bug. It only turned out to be Deraeocoris olivaceus a Nb species associated with large open-grown hawthorns that seems to have undergone a range expansion recently. A nice surprise and I end the day on 3407 species.