great stuff! I think I have reached a plateau.

Iris Flea Beetles Aphthona nonstriata hard at work.

Orange-tip on Aubretia. Been a good year for them in the garden.

After the excitement of the hoverfly at Aqualate, another Staffordshire first, and a first for me too, the ichneumon Echthrus reluctator, also at Aqualate - great place !

The 2024 report is dropping through letterboxes. Sorry for the delay, hope you enjoy it.

Two nice hoverflies from Aqualate today; the "massive" Sericomyia silentis and Epistrophe eligans.

This time last year the field by the car-park at Aqualate was pink; turned out to be Common Storksbill. Today the Storksbill is still there but not so obvious as crops are starting to grow.

Bluebells were at their best at Aqualate today.

thanks Ruth; made my day

Even if you are not into flies you have to admit that this is a stunner! It is the hoverfly Cheilosia chrysocoma at Aqualate and it is a first for Staffordshire! I've only seen it once before - in Aberdaron. It has a western distribution.

Moira would you say this is straight Wild Strawberry or some garden cultivar? @naturelark.bsky.social

Early Grey, one of my favourite spring moths and one of the few species I have ever found on a tree trunk. #teammoth

A lot of Nursery-web Spiders Pisaura mirabilis out at Crown Meadow, Stone. Also a nice patch of Lady's Smock aka Cuckoo Flower - foodplant of the Orange-tip Butterfly.

Chiffchaff at Crown Meadows, Stone. Not bad shot with just a macro lens :)

Two moths from last night; firsts for the year for me : Brindled Pug and Lunar Marbled Brown. #teammoth

I use the web version. Often have issues but find it easier than using a tablet or phone.

21 of 11 in SJ93. Best being Waved Umber. Very fresh Brindled Beauty, 2 Silver Y and 2 Swallow Proms. As you say a few tatty quakers. #teammoth

Anybody having problems with iRecord? I know they had some down time recently but it is gridingly slow. So slow in fact that it times out when trying to select Add Record or List of records and when you do get an input screen it won't save what you've input. Using a fast PC and network so not that.

There’s a small patch of green alkanet on our estate on which I have found the odd Scarlet Tiger larva over the last few years. Just counted 20+; think it’s going to be a good year. It’s quite amazing how quickly they have spread across Staffs. #TeamMoth

No trap required; Streamer on a fence post on our walk today. #TeamMoth

Found this tiny mirid bug Liocoris tripustulatus today and the nomad bee Nomada goodeniana.

Large hatch of this small bibionid fly Bibio johannis, much to the delight of scavenging dung flies!

I think this is the Hawthorn Mining Bee Andrena chrysosceles. Almost a "swarm" of these flying low over vegetation.

Watched this male Hairy-footed Flower Bee courting a female. They mated and I think she had had enough and sat on my finger!

Several Dark-edged Bee Flies in the garden. They love Aubretia.

I have one I use for squirrels. Doesn’t deter them but it’s good fun 😀

I don’t think a visit to Westport Lake 40 years ago today quite compares even though we had a Kittiwake :)

What affect is the proposed ban of feeding garden birds between May and October going to have on long-term monitoring. Does BTO want us to comply with the stoppage. I guess the birds’ health comes first.

A few nomad bees about ; this is Gooden's Nomad Bee.

While having lunch by the River Manifold near Wettonmill we noticed quite a bit of Mochatel aka Town Hall Clock - nice to see.