The Lyons Share

I've been poking around St. Mary's Lighthouse again this morning, even though I'm writing this from our sofa in Brighton! It was quite hard work, in fact I only saw three species of fish. I think it's easier to catch them when the water is cold! This is the eel-like Butterfish which is really hard to catch by hand (I netted this one).

I thought I would try and have a go at barnacles but I left my hand lens in the car so I will see if I can get anywhere with these from this photo. I'm not even sure if there are two species in this photo or just one. Too much driving to stimulate any creative thought tonight I'm afraid!

10). Pearl-bordered Fritillary dead on a sundew at Graffham Common. When Rachael said 'I've never seen anyone get so excited over a dead butterfly' was the moment she realised her new boyfriend was an obsessed maniac.

9). Six new birds in 2013 which were: Western Bonnelli's Warbler, American Golden Plover, Hermit Thrush, Radde's Warbler, Semipalmated Sandpiper and (see below). The twitching trip to Cornwall in search of the Hermit Thrush with Mark, Neil and Seth was a blast. Despite seeing the Hermit Thrush, I thought the smartest thing that day was this Blue-rayed Limpet. It just goes to show that twitching with a bunch of pan-species listers can go in all sorts of directions.

4). Micrommata virescens and Carabus arvensis, just two of the 584 species Chris Bentley and I recorded at the Old Lodge invertebrate survey.

3). 67 Heath Tiger Beetles at Iping Common using purpose made scrapes put in with a turf stripper. Great to see this reintroduced species not only present on site but thriving. The 1st August was a great day and so glad I was able to share it with Shaun Pryor.

If you can think of a better fish pun, let minnow. At last, some 30 years after I first ate one, I finally caught up with a wild Cod! I was rock-pooling today at St Mary's Lighthouse but it was slow going with only one each of Long-spined Sea Scorpion, Corkwing Wrasse (last time I recorded Ballan), Two-spot Goby and Shanny. I had my eyes on a fella (not in that way!) sea-fishing off the edge of the rocks and I looked up at a time he was reeling in a catch. I grabbed my binoculars and tentatively identified it as a Cod as he landed the fish. Little did he know he was being watched from behind a rock! I legged it around to get a better look. 'Excuse me, did you just catch a Cod?' I yelled as I came running over the rocks. I think he thought I was either very hungry or very strange (I was actually both but he didn't know that nor was it relevant) and after a while he let me take a photo and we were soon exchanging fish-based anecdotes. Not exactly the rarest creature in the world but not something I was expecting to see today. The fish in question went back in as it was too small to take. My 69th fish species and maybe my last new species (4718) of 2013. I hope I'll see a wild Chip soon and complete the set! A couple of Purple Sandpipers were working the shoreline too but they flew off when I asked them what they had caught.

Yesterday I added the Common Starfish Asterias rubens from the rocks at Tynemouth but little else. Ivory Gull Tourette Syndrome has set in this week. I am jumping at every gull, carrier bag, football, ship, even the odd white van that moves. Now that would be a fitting end to a year! I was thinking of going to twitch the bird in Yorkshire but I am some 160 miles and over three hours NORTH of it here. I'd rather have a surprise Cod any day.

This was the first fish I caught yesterday whilst rock pooling at St Mary's Lighthouse and I soon realised I was looking at a young Lumpsucker Cyclopterus lumpus!!! It was only the size of a pea but there is no other possibility with the shape and the suction cup underneath. I have wanted to see this fish ever since I bought a guide to the sea shore when I was on holiday in Wales as a kid. If you look at the UK distribution on the NBN Gateway, it is well known from this stretch of the English coast line. In cellebration of my little Lumpsucker, have a listen to this.

I wasn't completely sure so I wanted to rule out Montagu's Sea Snail so I googled a few images of this species before carrying on dipping. Guess what the next fish I pulled out was?!

I watched the Montagu's Sea Snail change colour from an almost yellow to a dark brown in a matter of seconds.

I caught one wrasse which in the field I thought was Rock Cook but in hindsight I think this one is likely to be a young Ballan Wrasse, Rock Cook is very much a west coast thing and it doesn't have the right amount of spines on the anal fin. Quite obviously not the Corkwing that we see down south but as with the other two fish, I only caught one of this species. There are records of Ballen from St Mary's too so I'm happy with that.

There are also records there for this attractive goby, the Two-spot Goby which is highly distinctive to do with the spot at the base of the tail.

And this little fellow which I believe to be either a young gurnard or a dragonet as some people have pointed out. Either way these are difficult groups of species as adults so I won't be getting it to species. It was very small, barely a cm long but as soon as I put it in the tray it went from looking like a typical fry to this amazing little fish. I wish I could confidently say what it was. Most of the fish I saw were very small, making some identification a challenge. The largest (and most abundant) fish I saw was a Shanny. The only other fish I saw more than one of was the Butterfish.

Here is the full list of fish.

Words cannot describe how awesome this was. Every time I put the net I was pulling out something new! Despite driving rain off the north sea, I was loving every minute. Interestingly I must have started on the best bits because at one stage all I was pulling out were Shannys, I think I must have gained altitude slightly without realising. I'll definitely be having a look there every visit up to Whitley Bay, with an ecosystem that resets itself EVERY twelve hours, you can't afford to miss an opportunity!