The Lyons Share

Now Game of Thrones has all finished, you might need a new hobby. I suggest natural history as it's just as brutal, even more complicated and never ends with a disappointing conclusion. The chalk this year is feeling the spring drought, late and shy flowering. After a hard winter graze, the area we affectionately call the 'Bastard-toadflax area' has sprung to life. There is more Bastard-toadflax there than I have ever seen and masses of Chalk Milkwort too. It just goes to show that there are always winners and losers. I have for example, never had the fortune to photograph them both together like this.

But it doesn't have it easy. There were more Bastard-toadflax Shieldbugs Canthophorus impressus there than I have ever seen before, I saw five adults crawling around on the plants. You are lucky to see one! 

Bugs have been doing reusable straws forever. Look at this video of one cleaning its rostrum after feasting on some Bastard-toadflax juice. They also drop very quickly once they have seen you and disappear, burrowing unto lose chalky-soil very quickly. 

You shouldn't feel too sorry for the Bastard-toadflax, it's also hemiparisitic on other plants in the sward, It's a dog eat dog world out there! Or it's a Bastard-toadflax Bug eat Bastard-toadflax eat Chalk Milkwort world out there.

And like busses. On Saturday night I sucked up the first Small Plume in Sussex from a site in Eastbourne (I was looking for a spider with the suction sampler - you would be surprised how many moths you get in them). Yesterday I walked right up to one on a bank full of the foodplant, Mouse-ear Hawkweed. This a Nb species that until this week I had only ever seen in the Burren in Ireland. I wonder if it is having a good year? Has anyone else seen this moth this year?

We found this gorgeous little micro moth  at Hope Gap at Seaford Head yesterday. Out of the trio of 'mint moths', this one is the scarcest being Pyrausta ostrinalis (Nb). I have only ever seen it in the Burren  on the west coast or Ireland before, so it's great to find a new site for it in Sussex, although it's not quite a new 10km square record. There are only around half a dozen records for this in the SxBRC and we recorded about four of them yesterday. A narrow, slightly concave wing with creamy (not yellow/orange), dark-edged connected dots separates this from the commoner species of Pyrausta. We only saw this species in tightly grazed (you can see you are never far from a rabbit dropping in the above photo) CG2 chalk grassland yesterday.

We also spotted my third record of the scarce dor beetle Trypocopris vernalis (Na), which I have ONLY ever seen in late summer and autumn in this same 10 km square (TV59) but this is a new record for Seaford Head.

Firstly, a huge thank you to Niall (above right), Sean and Mary Basquille for their kindness and hospitality that made my first trip to Ireland so much fun (having the loan of a Mercedes for a week was pretty rad, I can tell you). I saw so much in Ireland that I will split it into three posts, this first concentrating on the Burren (thanks to Liam Jones for the above photo).

My first experience of the Burren was nothing other than magical. We pulled over in a completely random place as soon as we hit the edge of the limestone pavement and immediately spotted Bloody Cransebill everywhere. It really is one of the commonest plants there. This was immediately followed by numerous Transparent Burnets. I was photographing this Rustyback Fern when a Microdon mutabilis landed in front of me (a nationally scarce hoverfly). 

My head was starting to spin when I spotted Fly Orchids, Mountain Everlasting, Helicella itala (one of the commonest snails there) and what had to be Spring Gentian that had gone over. As I was trying to get a photo of this last, a tiny reddish moth flew past me and landed. Least Minor!

Back to the gentian and I walked right up to a very active Anania funebris (no photos) and then found several Small Plume-moths (again no photos). This was a really amazing hour and was perhaps the only real sun we caught all week. It was the only real chance we had to see any day flying insects.

Perhaps the most beautiful flower I have ever seen is the Spring Gentian. Common enough in the Burren but we were way too late for the vast majority of flowers and we really only found a few right at the end of our stay that were still in flower.

Also mostly gone over is the fantastic Mountain Avens (with Blue Hair-grass in the lower picture).

Other ticks included Shrubby Cinquefoil below and Lesser Meadow-rue (no photo).

And it was great to see species like Northern Bedstraw again after so many years. I must go north more.

During the second day in the Burren, we climbed two peaks and got some amazing views. It's not hard to take dramatic shots of wildflowers with amazing scenery in the background in Ireland. Here we have Hoary Rock-rose.

This Brittle Bladder-fern was also a tick for me.

I added a few new bryophytes, including a small amount of this stunning bright purple-red liverwort, Pleurozia purpurea.

Coming down a series of staggering terraces, each one more dramatic than the last, was a really memorable experience. Out of all the shots I took In Ireland, including all of the wildlife, it's these two that I like the most! I have never seen such a bizarre and strange landscape.

The next exciting instalment sees us head north to Connemara.

I am back from Ireland. I am pretty blown away and in need of rest but normal service will return shortly. To cut a long story short, I had an amazing time, added about 35 species and will be going back, maybe even later this year to look for more cetaceans...

I couldn't resist putting this photo in. It doesn't get much more Burren than a Transparent Burnet sitting on a Bloody Cranesbill now does it? Watch. This. Space.