Rushed over to Waltham Brooks to see the Night Heron but dipped. Went out looking for Adder's-tongue Fern at Ditchling Beacon but dipped (two species I have seen before I should add). However, the first thing I saw when I woke up this morning was this crab spider. I thought it looked like a Philodromus and considering I have only ever identified two before (histrio and dispar - both distinctive looking spiders) I thought it might be a tick. It was, being Philodromus aureolus. The literature states it's one of the commoner species and does sometimes enter houses. I was amazed at how metallic the abdomen was when I shone a light on it. That was my 3931st species.
You can probably tell from my expression that it wasn't a Slaty-backed Gull! We were a little late getting galvanised today and literally missed the bird by minutes after sauntering onto the scene at a leisurely 2.45 pm (I wasn't hung over, I was working earlier in the day). Serves us right for leaving it so late. It was such a miserable day that the bird probably went to roost early, it seemed as dark at 3.00 pm as it was at 5.00 pm. Everything was flushed ten minutes before we arrived apparently and the bird was seen to fly out of view. Twitching sucks! Thanks to Oli for driving all the way there and back. We did see some Avocets and a huge flock of Lapwings that was put up by a Peregrine.
All was not lost however. We poked around in some drift wood by the banks of the Thames for a few minutes and I looked under the sum total of three logs. Under the second one I found a new species for me and it seems like it was quite a good one! I recognised it as one of the squash bugs that I had not seen before and thought I could probably ID it from a photo alone.
It's
Ceraleptus lividus and is a local to scarce southern species that likes dry places according to '
A Photographic Guide to the Shieldbugs and Squashbugs of the British Isles' and was easy to identify. So, who needs a Slaty-backed Gull? Erm, well, me for one but I have learned two things today:
1) Don't leave the house at 1.30 pm to go twitching on a dark gloomy day in winter.
2) I prefer going out looking for invertebrates than I do birding these days.
So, will I go back for another shot at the bird? Almost certainly, I really wanna see the ugly brute and I do have a thing for gulls...
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