BLUE+DECKER

After 22 months my trusty BLACK+DECKER GWC3600L20-GB eVac died. In the field on Friday, flicked the switch - nothing. Lots of fiddling, nothing. Completely dead. A completely dead lump of orange and black plastic electrical waste. I estimate I used it somewhere between 50-100 times, was careful always to dry it as fully as I could before putting it away. Is 22 months a reasonable lifespan? To be fair, B+D do have a 24 month warranty, but since I don't have all the original bits I don't think that would apply. Either way, it has turned up close to a dozen VC55 firsts, beasties I would never have found otherwise. After the woe, I ordered another one. At least I have some spares now, I just wish it was repairable.

Mocydiopsis attenuata - persistence pays off

 

The Spiders of Leicestershire - Local Online Talk

Thanks to Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust Charnwood Local Group for hosting.

 

2020 - A Twist in the Tale

Gongylidium rufipes

2020 - well that was unexpected. The neverending Leicester lockdown would be expected to put a big dent in my biological recording. In fact, it's a little more complex than that. Garden moth trapping was a big bust - frankly, I didn't put the hours in, which is odd considering how much time I spent at home, but the County Recorder, who traps nearly every night, also reported his worse year since 2012, so something else was going on - the weather, which frankly, did a lot more damage to recording than lockdown. Although I made fewer trips and drove less miles than in previous years, I recorded 116 species of spider (all in VC55) in 2020, compared with 103 species in 2019. The explanation for that is my noisy orange friend, which I bought in January 2020 before Covid hove into view. Fewer trips, less miles, more species. Hurrah!