Wednesday 20th. April 2011

Two days volunteering up on the Greensand Ridge , in mid Summer temperatures , had it's highs and lows . But before that , on my way this morning , the single Swallow seen a few days ago , has now become four , all out warming up in the sun before starting the day . Today was the day for the Dormice and Reptile survey , the first of the year , which usually becomes a maintenance job on the 70 boxes following the Winter . As my Warden was otherwise engaged , I was helped by a young student from Hadlow College named Sam . Also as usual , many were found to have non mammal residents , like the Blue Tits who's nest already contained 11 eggs , with probably more to come , and this Great Tit nest with 8 eggs already laid . Also found was this 'bearded tit' , collecting feathers for her nest , also known as a Marsh Tit , which was one of two nests found of this species . The down was that even though we have had a long spell of unusually warm weather , just one old Dormouse nest , probably made after the last survey last year , and one Wood Mouse nest , neither containing animals were found . In the dampest area of the survey , apart from a carpet of Bluebells , Ransoms or Wild Garlic /Allium ursinum , a member of the Lily family , was just coming into flower , and along with lots of Yellow Archangel , Red Campion/Silene dioica , a member of the Pink family ,was doing the same , this particular one sporting a pair of Sloe Bugs ( managed to avoid the senior moment this time Dean ) . On one path , Sam spotted two Slow Worms , but by the time I got there , the larger had disappeared into the vegetation , but this male was still around . This species made up the largest number of reptiles found , but we did manage two adult and two juvenile Grass Snakes , a species Sam had never seen before , and the back end of a single male Adder , once again very noticeable by their absence in the high temperature . Only other interest found today was this moth found amongst last year's Bracken . Many thanks to Dean/DDD , now identified as a Brown Silver-line .
Yesterday , 2 other moths made it to the viewfinder ,

Once again thanks to Dean/DDD , now identified as a Lunar Marbled Brown .

both were found on a wall of a house that was just about to be painted , the nightlight still on .