The recent high winds have wrought more damage than I had at first thought, with a brick wall, barely 100 metres from our house, brought crashing to the ground.
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Whoops! Storm Ciara has brought down a brick wall in Christchurch Drive,
not far from our house. Stefen Hill, 22 February, 2020
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I visited Byfield Pocket Park earlier today and found that that a large limb had been torn from a huge poplar tree. It would appear that the tree itself will be left to stand even though an examination by tree surgeons revealed that there was a considerable degree of decay on the main trunk. In a few years this could be yielding an interesting suite of flies and beetles.
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The storm has also wrought considerable damage to this poplar tree
in Byfield Pocket Park. 12 February, 2020
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Even in the depths of winter a few calliphorids, a genus of blowflies, may be found on a sunny fence or tree trunk, but not today. Calliphorids such as Calliphora vicina are pretty hardy insects and one of its relatives, Boreellus atriceps is confined in Finland to high regions in mountains, often above the tree-line. (Quoted in Blowflies, by the late Zakaria Erzinclioglu - a book which should be read by every right-thinking adult) However, today blowflies were absent. They may be hardy but they are not foolhardy!
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I have included a picture so that you know what to order when visiting
your local bookshop!
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No, the truth is that today was very disappointing. Some consolation was found when I turned over a stone and discovered a true bug and a beetle. The bug, a decidedly drab insect, was Peritrechus geniculatus, whilst the beetle was Sitona lineatus, an insect known as the Pea Leaf Weevil. Both are common species but were new to Byfield Pocket Park, indicating how limited the coverage has been so far.
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