Tuesday 26 February 2013

Snail to the Rescue

Yesterday, despite the dull, chilly conditions, I decided to visit Byfield Pocket Park with a cunning plan. I should have known better.

There is a small stand of Norway Spruce in one corner of the area and I suspected that the leaf litter beneath them could be rather acid. My plan was to gather a handful to bring home for investigation because, in the past, I had taken some interesting spiders in a similar habitat. There were none! True there were a few specimens of the Fast Woodlouse, Philoscia muscorum, but that was it...almost.

I had been looking for small arthropods scurrying around and almost overlooked a tiny snail shell. It looked like a Two-toothed Door Snail, Clausilia bidentata, and examination with a good lens confirmed my suspicion. It wasn't a brilliant deduction because in fact this is the commonest of these door snails, often being abundant - but it was a new record for the Pocket Park.
Clausilia bidentata, Byfield pocket Park
25 February, 2013


So, not a completely wasted day but oh, for some warmth and sunshine!

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