Stiltskin

I went up to Seaford Head to do a bit of birding with my new binoculars this morning after a lovely evening there yesterday where we saw Whimbrel and a Whinchat (but that's another blog post - I did get some great views of the Whimbrel). This morning the birds were a little quiet, it was very windy. I was poking around by the satellite Moon Carrot population where I saw a large patch of Restharrow about  month ago. There are a few bugs on Restharrow that are usually pretty easy and would probably be new to the site. I have noticed some really large patches of Restharrow on a few sites this year, it seems to have done well out of the drought. With no sweep net, no beating tray, I didn't think I would stand much chance but then I remembered I had two hands and a head...

I used my left hand as make shift beating tray and the right as a stick. In the first tap I had the awesome little stilt bug Gampsocoris punctipes, there were dozens of them. A cracking little bug. You can see the shape of the pronotum in this image.

On the next tap, there was more of the same but several of the mirid Dicyphus annulatus. Another Restharrow specialist and another species new to the reserve.

I was looking for Macrotylus paykulli, the last of the three easy bugs on Restharrow but no joy. Then I beat a couple of stiltbugs in the genus Berytinus, I wasn't expecting these. I normally only pick them up in the suction sampler. It wasn't until I got home and keyed them out that I got excited. First up is Berytinus signoreti, not all that uncommon and one I recorded there on the big survey in 2016. The little black marks on the wings are diagnostic.

This one looked a little darker and it turns out it's Berytinus clavipes. Now this is a lifer for me (I've now seen the whole genus in), the first record in Sussex since 1990 (and only the 5th ever). It's also new to ALL Sussex Wildlife Trust reserves. That's three species new to Seaford Head that are all Restharrow specialists. Happy with that for a few square metres of plant and nothing but my own hands and my head. Wait, wasn't I meant to be going birdwatching?!