Garden Biodiversity - 365 Challenge - Part 3

Those of you who have been visiting my blog for some time may recall that I've set myself a little challenge this year to try and see 365 species that visit or self-seed in the garden. So any native species planted over the years won't be counted. Finally, I've managed to get my list up to date and in some sort of order. Apologies that the post will be rather repetitive following on from the Garden Bioblitz post. I've tried to pick a few different photos but some may have been posted before.

So here's the list of species added since the end of March.



Birds

Chaffinch - Fringilla coelebs
Swift - Apus apus


Plants

Daisy - Bellis perennis
Green Alkanet - Pentaglottis sempervirens

Sycamore - Acer pseudoplatarius
Red Dead Nettle - Lamium purpureum
Clover - Trifolium pratense
Rowan - Sorbus aucuparia
Oak - Quercus sp.
Common Whitebeam - Sorbus aria
Spring Beauty - Claytonia virginica

Upright Yellow Sorrel - Oxalis stricta

Lesser Trefoil - Trifolium dubium

Dock - Ramex sp.
Wood Avens - Geum urbanum
Wall Speedwell - Veronica arvensis
Yellow Corydalis - Pseudoformaria lutea

Cat's Ear - Hypochaeris rudicata

Ribwort Plantain - Plantago lanceolata

Common Mouse-ear - Cerastium fontarum


Bryophytes

Rough-stalked Feather-moss Brachtyecium rutabulum

Fungi

Brown Mottle Gill - Panaeolina foenisecii

Flies

Caddis Fly - Stenophylax permistus - must admit I am not 100% sure on id of this one - there are a lot of species that look identical :(

I caught this next species in my moth trap and was convinced it was a micro moth - I even found one that looked identical!! I put a photo on Twitter for verification only to be told it was a caddis fly!!! I didn't realise they came this small as most I trap are a similar size to the one above which is several centimetres long whereas this one is tiny. Checking out id I think it may be Cyrnus flavidus. But please feel free to leave a comment and correct me as I really am not positive on these ids.

Large Rose Sawfly - Arge panana

Another sawfly - not 100% sure on id of this one but could be Macrophya alboannulata

Sicus ferrugineus - a parastitic canopid fly

Bee Fly - Bombylius major
House Fly - Musca domestica

Lunar Hoverfly - Eupeodes luniger

Bees, Wasps and Ants

Tawny Mining Bee - Andrena fulva

White-tailed bumble bee - Bombus lucurum
Garden Bumble Bee - Bombus hortorum

Solitary Bumble Bee - Lasioglossum sp
Red Mason Bee - Osmia bicornis
Red-tailed Bumble Bee Bombus lapidarius
Common Carder Bee - Bombus pascuorum

Leaf Cutter Bee - Megachile sp (again its difficult to get these down to species level)

Black Garden Ant - Lasius niger
Red Ant - Myrmica rubica

Other Invertebrates

Silverfish - Lepisma saccharina

Common Green Grasshopper - Omocestus viridulus

Common Earthworm - Lubricus terrestris

Millipede - Cylindroilus caeruleocinctus

Centipede - Cryptid sp.

Common Froghopper - Philaenus spumarius


Bugs

Hawthorn Shield Bug - Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale
Black Bean Aphid - Aphais fabae


Beetles

Lily Beetle - Lilioceris lilii

Weevils

Clay-coloured Weevil - Otiorhynchus singularis

Molluscs

White-lipped Banded Snail - Cepaea hortensis

Garden Snail - Cornu aspersum


Arachnids

Stretch Spider - Tetragnatha extensa
Large House Spider - Tegenaria gigantea


Butterflies

Orange Tip - Anthocharis cardamines

Holly Blue - Celastrina argiolus

Brimstone - Gonepteryx rhammi

Speckled Wood - Parage aegeria

Red admiral - Vanessa atalanta


Caterpillars

Lesser Yellow Underwing - Noctua comes

Moths

Diurnea fagella
Early Thorn - Gelenia dentaria
Shuttle-shaped Dart - Agrotis puta
Knot Grass - Acronicta rumicis
Lime Hawkmoth - Mimasa tiliae
Muslin Moth - Diaphora mendica
Light Brown Apple Moth - Epiphyas postvittana
Tachystola acroxantha
Small Rivulet - Perizoma alchemillata

Angle Shades - Phlogophora meticulosa

Waved Umber = Menophra abruptaria

Straw Dot - Rivula sericealis
Small Dusty Wave - Idaea seriata
Brimstone Moth - Opisthograotis luteolata
Heart and Dart - Agrotis exclamationis
Common Pug - Eupithecia vulgate
Middle-barred Minor - Oligia fasciuncula

Leaf mine on lilac of Common Slender - Gracillaria syringella

Scalloped Hazel - Odontopera bidentata
Bee Moth - Aphoma sociella
Buff Ermine Spilosoma luteum
Small Magpie - Eurrhypara hortulata
Uncertain - Hoplodrina alsines
Mottled Pug - Eupithecia exiguata
Garden Carpet - Xanthorhoe fluctuata
Bright-line Brown-eye Lacanobia oleracea
Flame - Axylia putris
Turnip Moth - Agrotis segetum
Crambus pascuella
Timothy Tortrix - Aphelia paleana - what a superb name !! :)
Juniper Webber - Dichomeris marginella
Large Yellow Underwing - Noctua pronuba
Riband Wave - Idaea aversata
Willow Beauty - Peribatodes rhomboidaria
Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing - Noctua fimbriata
Dagger Agg - Acronicta sp
Dark Arches - Apamea monoglypha
Eudonia lacustrata



Oh dear its been a bit of a lengthy post - I'll try and do a monthly update from now on which will be more manageable and less like an endless list of species!! It must be as boring to read as it was to type!!!

Coming up to the end of June I am now on 166 species when really I would have preferred to have been on far nearer 200. I've dozens of species still to identify - mainly flies, beetles, lichens, mosses and slugs. Hopefully, the next few months will bring a lot more moths to the trap to boost the total.

Garden Biodiversity - 365 Challenge - Part 2

As mentioned in a February post I have set myself a little challenge this year to try and spot 365 different species in the garden this year. As I suspected, February and March have been fairly quiet months as I'd added most of the birds I can expect to see in January and its still too early for many insects to be out and about. During the last two months I've managed to bring my total up to 68 species so I'm about 23 species behind schedule!!

New Additions to the List

Amphibians

Common Frog (Rana temporaria)

Common Smooth Newt (Lissotriton vulgaris


Hoverflies

Drone Fly (Eristalis tenax)

Flies

Blue Bottle (Calliphora vomitoria)


Birds

Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)
Goldcrest (Regulus regulus)
Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris)



Beetles

Black Sexton Beetle (Nicrophorus humator) caught in the moth trap

Other Invertebrates

Pond Skater (Gerris lacustris)

Earwing (Forficula auricularia)

Molluscs

Yellow Slug (Limax flavus)

Bees, Wasps and Ants

Tree Bumble Bee (Bombus hypnorum)
Hairy-footed Flower Bee (Anthophora plumines)
Buff-tailed Bumble Bee (Bombus terrestrial)

Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris) - not the best of photos but I had no wish to faff around too much with the camera in such close proximity!!!!

Plants

I'm still resisting the temptation to count species planted such as primrose and cowslip!!

Dandelion (Tarraxacum officinale)
Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum)
Hairy Bitter Cress (Cardamine hirsute)


Butterflies

Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)
Peacock (Inachis io)
Small White (Pieres rapae)


Moths

I think my only chance of reaching 365 species this year is going to rely heavily on moths and this year has got off to a much better starter than last :)

Pale Brindled Beauty (Phigalia pilosaria)

Chestnut (Conistra vaccinii)

Common Quaker (Orthosia cerasi)

Emmelina monodactyla (I won't post photos of all the moths as most of the pictures you've seen before!)

Oak Beauty (Biston strataria)

Dotted Border (Agriopis marginaria)

Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica)

White-shouldered House Moth (Endrosis sarcitrella)

Twin-spotted Quaker(Orthosia munda)

Clouded Drab (Orthosia incerta)

Small Quaker (Orthosia cruda)

Early Grey (Amblyptilia acanthadactyla)

Pine Beauty (Panolis flammea)

Double Striped Pug (Gymnoscelis rufifasciata

Many-plumed Moth (Alucita hexadactyla)



I did see a black millipede which I haven't counted partly because I should have examined it more closely - did you know there are over 60 species of millipede in the UK? !!! and also I've managed to "lose" the photo!

April has got off to a good start and so far I'm back to seeing a species a day. I need to start identifying mosses and lichens this month too.

Apologies for the lack of italics for scientific names - I still can't get Blogger to insert italics and the species are in rather a strange order due to problems with uploading photos in the order I wanted!! Hopefully, identifications are correct but if you spot any errors please let me know!

Garden Biodiversity - 365 Challenge - Part 1

Last year on Twitter there was a fun garden challenge to try and see 365 species in a year. Unfortunately I didn't find out about it until early summer and decided I didn't want to join in half way through the year but that I'd take part this year. I haven't been able to find much information about it though for 2014 and have only managed to track down two people who are participating (one trying to beat last year's record and one trying to add to last year's total). I decided I'd have a go anyway mainly to encourage myself to take more notice of groups that I currently only try and identify half-heartedly such as hoverflies, flies, beetles, woodlice etc.

I've set myself a few "rules". For example, I will only count species that occur within the actual garden and not count those just flying over or seen over the garden fence in a neighbour's garden! I've also followed in Owen Paterson's footsteps and moved the goalposts a little as I will be counting non-native species such as Grey Squirrel and Harlequin Ladybird.

However, I won't be counting species that we've planted ourselves so all those lovely wildflowers such as Primroses

and species in the wildflower meadow and native trees and shrubs in the mini wood and hedgerows are out of the equation. I will, however, count species such as Bramble and Coral Spot fungus

that have colonised naturally.


I got off to quite a good start in January - without really trying I managed 31 species.



Birds


Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus)

Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus)

Blackbird (Turdus merula)

Great Tit (Parus major)

House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)

Robin (Erithacus rubecula)

Dunnock (Prunella modularis)

Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)

Magpie (Pica pica)

Carrion Crown (Corvus corone)

Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus)

Coal Tit (Periparus ater)

Redwing (Turdus iliacus)

Great Spotted
Woodpecker (Dendrocopus major)

Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris)

Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla)

Long-Tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus)

Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)

Stock Dove (Columba oenas)

Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula)

Lesser Redpoll (Carduelis cabaret)


Mammals

Human (Homo sapiens) A bit cheeky this one but I noticed someone else counted it last year!!! :)

Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)


Plants

Bramble (Rubus fruticosa)

Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris)

Smooth Sow Thistle (Sonchus oleraceus)

Flies

Holly Leaf Gall Fly - leafmine (Phytomyza ilicis)

Winter Gnat (Family Trichoceridae)



Beetles

Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis)


Moths

Stigmella aurella - leaf mine on bramble

Fungi

Coral Spot Fungus (Nectria cinnabarina)

I suspect only a few species will be added in February and March as there won't be many insects to add. If I'm honest I think I will be very fortunate to reach 365 as last year, despite moth trapping, I only identified 100 moths. I'll need to try harder on the worn noctuids this year and also start identifying micros in earnest. On a good year we get about 30/35 bird species in the garden and about 12/15 butterfly species. Mammals are few and far between - I'll be lucky to reach 5 plus about 3 amphibians. So I am going to have to concentrate a lot more on insects in general. Still it'll be fun and give me the excuse I've been waiting for to buy some more id guides :)

I'll do an update on progress about once a month.