With an evening walk organised last night for Nottingham RSPB Local Members Group, I was a little worried having seen the weather forecast that morning.  However, we couldn't have wished for a nicer evening and witnessed a beatiful sunset over Phase 2 at around 9.30 pm.

Prior to the sunset, we also observed quite a nice variety of birds including little egret, common tern, kingfisher and grasshopper warbler.

Pitfall trapping it a great way of exploring the Coleopteran fauna (beetles), of a site. Consisting of a smooth plastic cup or tub, (in this case the bottom of a cola bottle!), the trap is dug into the ground, with the lip at ground level and anything walking in the path of the trap falls in and cannot climb up the smooth sides. The traps are checked in the morning and all contents recorded and released unharmed. This…

A few weeks ago I photographed a soon-to-be yellow flower on the Phase 1 grassland. Well, it is now out in flower and was indeed....lady's bedstraw, or Galium verum.

There were more new insect species for the year this afternoon around the silt lagoons - albeit in lower numbers than usual!

The first was this lovely marmalade fly, or Episyrphus balteatus to give it it's scientific name. Like many hoverflies they are mimics, with markings and colouration that resembles other insects that may be distasteful or have a sting. Hoverflies are indeed members of the Order Diptera, the…

Does anyone know what this is and what it belonged to? It was found by our volunteers last Thursday, down by the water's edge on Phase 1. Answer to follow next week....

Well done once again to our excellent Sunday volunteers, who arrived yesterday morning for a spot of reed development work on the newly landscaped Phase 1. We are using a range of techniques to help reed establish on Phase 1 and the old silt lagoon 7, which compliments the rhizome spreading that our contractors did for us back in December last year.

Our young reed seedlings, grown in the polytunnel are being planted…

We had a successful night's moth trapping last night with our brand new moth trap - a portable Skinner trap, with a 15W actinic tube. This is a good upgrade from our previous 6W portable Heath trap and should produce much larger catches for us in the coming months. Here are some of the trap inhabitants from this morning....

A beautiful garden tiger, or Arctia caja. A species which has declined badly since the 1980…

Which tree species produces this strange bark growth on the small branches and twigs? The tree is found along the public footpath and one of it's traditional uses was to mark field boundaries. Look out for the answer next week....

The nice weather this morning seems to have brought out some new insects for the year and increased the numbers of some elusive species, which have proved difficult to spot so far this season….

Ringlet, or Aphantopus hyperantus and meadow brown, Maniola jurtina, butterflies haven’t put in an appearance at all in 2012 until this morning. As I made my way around the silt lagoons completing the monthly WeBS count…

I was on site bright and early this morning for the monthly Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) and what a lovely morning it was, with bright sunshine and a light breeze. June is still a quiet month for WeBS, but it’s a good time to get to grips with any wildfowl that are breeding on site..

Here are the results of this mornings count –

71 coot

1 moorhen

11 mute swan

8 canada goose

33 mallard

3 grey heron

2…

What has nibbled it's way through these leaves of broad-leaved dock, or Rumex obtusifolius? A quick clue....this species has featured in a blog from a few weeks ago. Answer next week....

Hiding in the grass this afternoon was....

This lovely silver-ground carpet, Xanthorhoe montanata. They can be readily disturbed during the day, but primarily fly at night. The larval foodplant is a variety of low growing herbaceous plants including the bedstraws, Galium spp.

The cinnabar moth, Tyria jacobaeae. Their larvae are the yellow and black striped caterpillars that you see feeding on ragwort, Senecio jac…

A walk around the silt lagoons this afternoon revealed a wide variety of insects feeding or resting on oxeye daisy, or Leucanthemum vulgare....

I came across Bombus hypnorum first, or the tree bumblebee. This species nests in holes in trees and is a relatively recent addition to the British fauna, being first discovered in 2001.

Oedemera lurida is a common member of the beetle Family Oedemeridae, or the flower be…

Everyone will be familiar with this substance found on creeping thistle, Cirsium arvense, yesterday on Phase 2. But do you know what causes it? Look out for the answer next week....

Following on from the 'yellow' blog yesterday, I found this pretty little yellow fungus near silt lagoon 6 this morning. Unfortunately I'm no mycologist (hopefully one day!), so if anyone can shed some light on it's identification, then please do post in the comments box below. I will have to take a good look through my fungus book tonight!

No, not quite! I came across this beautiful chimney sweeper moth, Odezia atrata, today as I walked through the Phase 1 grassland. It is a day flying species, inhabiting dry grasslands and is quite local in distribution throughout the UK. The larval foodplant is the flowers of pignut, Conopodium majus.

It's all yellow today at Langford, as I made my way around the Phase 1 grassland, which seems to be a sea of colour!

Birds-foot trefoil, or Lotus corniculatus to be scientific, is now in full flower. The flower buds when in development are red in colour, but when in full flower, it is a bright canary yellow colour. It is the foodplant of the common blue butterfly, Polyommatus icarus - which is in flight now (on warm…

After the holiday last week, it’s straight back into it this week, with an early morning breeding bird survey today. I arrived bright and early this morning in what can only be described as sub-optimal weather (!) – a continuing feature of this spring. However, once again this didn’t seem to affect the birds too much, with plenty singing away to keep me entertained.

One of the main features of the southern…

It’s been a great few days for bird sightings at Langford, even if the weather has taken a turn for the worse again! On Friday last week a trip down to Phase 2 to survey for waders produced more than we bargained for, as a rather large looking egret caught our attention, hiding behind some reeds. The bird didn’t show itself for a further 5 minutes after we spotted it, but much to everyone’s delight, it did eventually…

The extravaganza has continued today with plenty more insects on site in the warm weather. My first brown argus, or Aricia agestis, of the year made an appearance this morning as I surveyed for grizzled skippers – no grizzled skippers, but the brown argus along with several common blues, brimstones, holly blues and hundreds of garden chafer beetles made up for that.

The butterfly transect this afternoon produced…

I’m loving this warm weather in the last week and so are the insects – although it is forecast to get cooler again by Thursday, so the entomological extravaganza may be short lived!

It’s been a day of ‘firsts’ for me today, with several species making an appearance for the first time in 2012. It began this morning with common blue butterfly, or Polyommatus icarus, as one drifted past me…

I know that the above is the title of a Christmas song, but personally, I prefer May.  Santa and all of his helpers can't compete with 10 species of warbler, cuckoo, turtle dove, yellow wagtail and hobby, particularly on a day like today.

Other highlights on site today included a freshly emerged banded demoiselle damselfly and grass vetchling which is now flowering along the footpath along the eastern boundary.  First…

What has caused this damage to the leaves of crack willow, Salix fragilis, found on the public footpath last week? The patches of damage are currently quite small (1-2mm in diameter), but will increase in size as the summer progresses. You will also see this on other species of willow around the site. Answer next week....

After numerous moth trapping sessions in bad weather over the last few weeks with no success at all, I was delighted to open the trap this morning and find a catch – only four individuals of two species, but it’s a start!

The first out of the trap were three common swifts, Hepialus lupulinus to be scientific, two males and one female. A common species throughout much of the UK, the larvae feed on the roots…

With a day off yesterday, I couldn't think of a better way to spend my spare time, than to visit a RSPB nature reserve!

The wonderful RSPB Frampton Marsh is just down the road and has been visited by some nice birds recently, so the choice of venue was easy.  I recorded 43 species there including little gull, black-necked grebe, curlew sandpiper and garganey.  If you get the chance, it really is worth a visit at any…