I think I'm trapped here for a while

I hadn't really left the house much this week and being stuck inside was really starting to get to me. A look at the forecast was all the incentive I needed to make a quick plan for a temporary escape. So, I started today with an early morning walk down a stretch of the Great Ouse in the north of my Parish and coincidentally my 5MR area. It was the last bit of local river to walk where I thought there was a chance of finding Panageus cruxmajor. I have walked several miles of waterway since mid December looking at areas that have been grazed and have not turned up a single bloody one!

There just isn't the woody debris on the banks in comparison to where it is found along the Trent, further north. It's under this debris that others have found it regularly in Lincolnshire.

It didn't really matter, it was a stunning morning anyway and it was good to be out, improved by the fact that I didn't see a single other person for the whole time I was out. The surrounding fields were hooching with several hundred feeding Whooper Swans, with several parties flying over as I walked the embankment. I flushed three species of heron from the washes including a Great White Egret. I still get a kick out of seeing these despite them being regularly seen around the village. I am always reminded that these were still a mega when I started birding in the early 80s.

For the first part of my walk I was followed quite closely by an inquisitive herd of cattle. They eventually got bored and went off to find some decent grass along the washes.

I looked under every single bit of reasonably sized debris I found...

 ...but these bits were few and far between and my quarry failed to materialise. I think that's probably it now for this year. I could try other stretches further north but that would be a bit irresponsible during lock down so it will have to wait for next year. I did however manage to find a few other beetles to keep the year list ticking over. There was a single Paranchus albipes under a large mat of rotting vegetation, which is the first one I've caught in the parish.

On closer inspection of the vegetation there were also several staphs including this species of Sunius which I've still got to get to species.

There were also quite a lot of these small water beetles that I assumed would be Hydroporus but are actually Noterus clavicornis. Despite being an incredibly common species of water beetle it is the first time I've found this one. Mainly due to my lack of water beetling. So i did end the morning with a new species of beetle after all 😊

I've got an aleoch and Lathrobium still left to ID. I feel a need for a quick tussocking session coming on so will see if I can find a decent site within the 5MR. Here's hoping.

Wyclef and Mary J provide the post's title. I love this song, especially the bit where Mary J channels Marge Simpson. Enjoy.