I finally made it back to South Lincolnshire for some gentle botanising in Twyford Wood. It was great to see thriving populations of Wood Vetch and Dyer's Greenweed, and to find a couple of plants new for the site including an attractive Hybrid Marsh-orchid, several Pyramidal Orchids and a small population of Vervain.

Pete accompanied me and discovered a number of scarce invertebrates, including several which appear to be new for the vice-county. I was particularly impressed by a male Green Huntsman spider Micrommata virescens, which is vivid green spider with a red and yellow abdomen. M. virescens is the only native member of the Huntsman, or Sparassidae, family to be found in Britain. The species is widespread but scattered in the South of Britain, where it is thought to be declining. Despite its colour it is not considered an easy species to find. It likes to live in damp sheltered woodland, especially on the lower branches of saplings and tall grasses or sedges.

Mind you an unusually dark form of Spotted Longhorn Rutpela maculata was almost as impressive though not as rare, and I was really pleased to find a Green Hairstreak caterpillar feeding on Bird's-foot-trefoil.