An afternoon out...

After being giving a friendly `row` yesterday evening by the BSBI County Recorder as my botanical recording has slumped (again) this year, I thought that I`d better make amends and do a little urban botanising around Llanelli. Needless to say, I was simultaneously looking for moths or, rather, leaf-mines when I ventured out early this afternoon - I`ve not done much leaf mining this year either! I made a few useful records, including this believed Phyllocnistis unipunctella on a planted (circa early 1990s) poplar at Old Castle Pond, Llanelli. Sam`s 2016 gives a solitary record for this species from 1990.

Earlier in the day, and after my daily chores (or, rather, `hard labour`)  I rested in `my other garden` and watched hornets attack ivy bees Colletes hederae and other insects on a profusely flowering ivy bush. Both are new colonists to that particular garden this year, and the hornets are well and truly established in the adjacent Stradey Woods. The pleasant sunny days means clear and cold nights so I`ve not moth trapped for about a couple of weeks.