Tuesday February 8th : At the fifth attempt this year I finally caught a moth in the garden trap; actually not one, but two, a March Moth and Dotted Border. Other signs of spring? On 4th quite large numbers of 7-Spot Ladybirds were emerging from hibernation at The Backwarden and a Common Lizard had also awoken from its slumbers. The 5th saw half a dozen Common Frogs doing what frogs normally do at this time of year in my garden pond and Smooth Newts doing what newts do, only more discreetly. The 8th also saw the first wild Primroses in bloom at Battlesbridge (as opposed to their wretched winter flowering counterparts in gardens) while the roadsides and hedgerows are now dancing with Hazel catkins (if I may be permitted a lapse towards the purple). This morning Blackbirds joined the few remaining Song Thrushes in the dawn chorus for the first time this year. Still feels cold to me though - or am I simply getting old?
Your Forum
This forum has now been more or less replaced by the Club's Facebook page at 
The weblog below is for naturalists to use to report interesting sightings, ask questions, report on field meetings and generally post pictures and any information or questions generally relevant in some way to the wildlife and geology of Essex. You will need to register and be logged-on to post to the forum, and you need to upload pictures first, for use in posts. Find out more
The weblog below is for naturalists to use to report interesting sightings, ask questions, report on field meetings and generally post pictures and any information or questions generally relevant in some way to the wildlife and geology of Essex. You will need to register and be logged-on to post to the forum, and you need to upload pictures first, for use in posts. Find out more