Black clock beetle

Today F and I went for a walk on Llynclys Common. I saw my first wood anemone of the year and primroses, celandines and sweet white violets. There were lots of birds around too.

There’s a small pond there that contains newts and we saw some of their tadpoles. There were also a number of mating frogs.

Near the pond I spotted this Black Clock Beetle in the leaf litter. This is the red legged variety, there’s also a black legged one. They eat small creatures and plant material and are also scavengers - real all rounders. Apparently there’s been a fall in the numbers of beetles due to house building, tidy gardens and habitat loss. Log piles and soil hills help give them a home.