Cramp-ball Fungus Weevil

We seem to have  gone from winter to summer within a week, at least in terms of temperature. Today was definitely hot, and I was glad of shady spots on a late morning walk round Wildboar's Coppice (not that there are any there now). Although the spring flowers were wonderful, great piles of primroses like bowls of clotted cream along the woodland rides, insects hadn't quite caught up, and apart from a few brimstone butterflies it was pretty quiet. 

As we got back to the car, Pete spotted two cramp-ball fungus weevils (Platyrhinus resinosus). They were remarkably well-behaved and I was even able to move away some annoying pieces of dried grass without disturbing them. This species is also known as the scarce fungus weevil, but it is fairly frequent around Peterborough, feeding on the fungus known as cramp-balls, King Arthur's cakes (Daldinia concentrica) which often occurs on ash.

In the evening I took Chris and Lizzy to King's Dyke Pit to hear the bittern booming, as neither of them had ever heard one before. It was wonderful sitting on the bench watching the sun set over the reed bed and hearing the bass 'whoomph' call of the bittern, generally repeated five times. It still seems remarkable to me that we now have two booming bitterns within fifteen minutes drive from our house, truly one of nature conservation's success stories.