Weekend at the Old Vic

Spent this weekend at the Old Vic working on the bioblitz and carrying on with the wildflower meadow development. After preparing the area a couple of weeks ago today I prepared the seed bed and sowed two mixes of seed- a traditional hay meadow mix and also a pictorial mix. Now waiting to see what pops up. 

Now 550 species on the bioblitz garden list- added a few moths and also Banded Demoiselle this weekend. 

Popped into Otmoor to do the butterfly survey- not that many butterflies but good numbers of Broad-bodied Chasers and a few Black-tailed Skimmers on the Oddington track. Also displaying Curlew, Redshanks, singing Willow, Garden and Sedge Warblers, Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs and male Marsh Harrier, Buzzards and Red Kites. 

 Spotted Flycatcher in the garden. Lots of Spot fly migrants being recorded at southern observatories at the moment but presumably this is one of the local birds. 

 Cock fighting garden Robins

 Yellow-barred Longhorn Nemophora degeerella

 Small Purple and Gold

Gold-fringed Mason Bee (re-identified by irecord)  on Perennial Corn Flower

 Black and Red Froghopper Cercopsis vulnerata

 Dwarf Pug? Waiting for verification on irecord 

 Middle-barred Minor 

 Common Swift 

 Silver-ground Carpet

 Ringed China Mark

 Common Marble

 Marbled Orchard Tortrix

 Diamond-backed Moth

Cork Moth 

 Not got my books on me- the closest I could get to this on the internet is Psychoides filicivora

 One for the books when I get back to the obs. UK Micromoth FB group suggest Epermenia falciformis...
Manage

The rarest sighting this weekend was me grafting- had to rake over this whole area and then seed. One of my current goals is to have more time to do physical work.