The Lyons Share

It's 6.30 am and I've just slept for 10 hours after an exhausting and damp start to my first trip to Jersey! I'm here with Chris Bentley and due to getting the dates wrong, I was completely unprepared for my trip being somewhere in Hampshire when he arrived to pick me up! It's all worked out in the end though. We got here yesterday about 2.00 pm and met Simon Robson on the west coast of the island where he took us to look for a bug he found new to the British Isles last year year (Simon says it makes me and Chris the third and fourth people to see it!).  It was very wet though so we struggled to find many inverts although we could feel the potential everywhere. Here is Micrelytra fossarum on Purple Viper's Bugloss, both new ones for me. The plants here are gonna be amazing.

And what I think is Small-flowered Catchfly.

Then we hit the orchid meadow and I was pleased to see that the Lax-flowered Orchid was still well in flower and what a looker that is!

Whilst I was photographing the orchid, Chris said "What's that yellow stuff?". I was completely surrounded by yet another plant I've not see, Yellow Bartsia.

And only my second Cassida nebulosa. So, it's nearly time to eat my own weight in complimentary breakfast before we go and spend the whole DRY day in the most amazing dune system I have ever seen. A big thanks to Simon for meeting us at such short notice. Get ready for part 2!