With lockdown and the iNaturalist City Challenge running this weekend, it made sense to put a bit of effort into putting more energy into documenting the biodiversity of Blue Hill Nature Reserve this week. Yesterday I made the most of some insomnia and warmish autumn weather to put on the outside light to attract nocturnal inverts, which worked a treat, with some beautiful moths coming in along with the usual drab no-namers. Late morning our small team (Jeb – a volunteer from the UK, Charlie (6) and myself) walked up ‘Section 2’, the northernmost section of Blue Hill Nature Reserve. The way started with a rocky slope dominated by Protea lorifolia and old veld. The south side had burnt, but was fairly sparse after several years of drought following the burn on that slope in 2017. A ‘stone’ grasshopper being the highlight of the walk, but with a remarkable number of plants in flower given the season.
Tuesday morning Jeb and I were up early for some ringing at the stream. It was a slow start, allowing time for plant and invert hunting, but a flurry of activity, mostly Cape Siskins, meant the day went on till lunch time. The tail end of a cold front pushed us indoors for the afternoon. But, not a bad start for the first few days.
