An Alternative Natural History of Sussex.
This blog shows the highlights of my day to day findings as a naturalist and ecologist living and working in Sussex. Delivered with a pinch of nihilism, a dash of sarcasm and absolutely no tweeness, here is my attempt to show natural history as it really is: Brutal, beautiful, uncompromising and fascinating...and occasionally ridiculous.
I have been studying natural history for some thirty years, nineteen in a professional capacity. I currently work in Sussex as a freelance entomologist, ecologist and botanist and specialise in nature reserve and rewilding management advice based on the interpretation of the surveys I carry out. I also run a number of identification courses. An advocate of the pan-species listing approach. My main areas of interest are birds, plants and invertebrates and a lot of my spare time is spent in the field. I am the county recorder for spiders and bugs.
I've just got back from a very exciting and spontaneous two-day stay on Anglesey. It involved what it best described as an avalanche of nudibranchs! It's all down to my friend Mark Colvin (and his daughter Charlotte). I had a weekend free for the first time in years and was planning to go to Cornwall. I was feeling rather discombobulated after having my first full blown migraine in 30 years on Friday morning, when Mark sent me a text saying he had just seen 23 nudibranchs of some eight to ten species! I got up the next morning, booked a B&B and was there by 4.00 pm for the next low tide.
Directly under the Anglesey side of the Menai Bridge is somewhat of a nudibranch hotspot. Indeed, I saw at least seven species when I was there. So, put on your breathing apparatus, set phasers to stun and prepare to be beamed down to the Planet of the Nudibranchs!
First up (and this is perhaps the commonest species there - albeit I have only seen this once before on Jersey) is the widespread Facelina auriculata! The iridescent blue/purple and long, gracile nature help to distinguish it from Facelina bostoniensis.
I am pretty sure this one was Facelina bostoniensis which was also present there in numbers. I have only seen this once before at the Pound.
I think this is also bostoniensis with eggs.
After the Facelina, Edmundsella pedatawas the commonest, with more than 10 found under one rock grazing on hydroids (I will come back to this rock later). These are incredibly wonderful animals. Common on Jersey, I first saw this on the Isle of Wight but I have never seen it in Sussex.
Polycera quadrilineata (it's likely this and not norvegica based on the rhinophores and other factors but it's not easy to be 100% sure on this).
I found a mature Sea Lemon Doris pseudoargus. The others put it in a container with some of the other species, so you can see here how much bigger they are!
I found one Palio nothus under a rock too, I have only seen this on the Isle of Wight before but it seems a common and widespread nudibranch.
Yet amazing as this was, I was lacking a sea slug new to me! Dopamine deficiency was kicking in. So I went back for the low tide on Monday morning before I left Wales. The tide was coming in when I stumbled on the rock with all those grazing Edmundsella under. I thought I would count them using my close-focus binoculars when I spotted a totally different colour. There, poking out of the darkness of the hydroid forest, were a dozen bright orange-red, brilliantly white-tipped flares! There were also white highlights on the tentacles and rhinophores and not a suggestion of pink on the body. The rhinophores were also lealy not annulated like Facelina. This was a lifer! BUT it was under 4 mm and hard to get to.
I did eventually get it in a tray for a closer look and I soon came to the conclusion this was Microchlamylla gracilis (thanks to the amazing field guide). My 15th species of nudibranch in the British Isles! Nearly half of all the species I have ever seen I saw at this site in one weekend. Bonkers!
Sublime! We saw over 50 individual sea slugs on Saturday night, and they had at least two species on Friday night that I did not see (one of which I have never seen). I will therefore be back.
There was some other nice things there too. Like Lightbulb Sea Squirts (still scarce in Sussex).
Some Boring Sponge. It really is boring.
And lots of these hydroids, Entopleura larynx. . There are sea slugs that eat just this and it seems that the other saw one of these on Friday night! How exciting, I love to come away seeing lots of stuff but not everything as it leaves me wanting more! A massive thanks to Mark, Charlotte and all the others who came out!
Now I did a lot of other rock-pooling, snorkelling and entomology around the island in 48 hours but I will leave this for another time as it has been 15 years since I last visited the island and some 22 since I lived there, so I would like to do it justice. Now I'm off looking for rare mirids...
I am trying to finish my annual monitoring of the arable margins of the Norfolk Estate this weekend but the weather has been challenging. I shot up to Lee Farm for an hour yesterday afternoon at 3.30 pm after the storms dried out (to make this afternoon a more realistic possibility). This is year six of me monitoring the Peppering side (and year three of the Lee Farm side). This year has so far been exceptional and it is amazing just how any new species are still turning up.
So, here is what happened in just one hour of monitoring two arable margins of two fields yesterday. I recorded 103 field dets in that hour, not in itself exceptional. At about 26 minutes into the survey I looked in the net and saw this!!! Carpocoris purpureiepennis. A recent colonist and a lifer, with very few UK records so far. It was the first to be noted on the new pan-species listing website. I was pretty stoked with this, as there are very few shieldbugs in the UK I have not seen now. I carried on looking through the same sweep net sample, and saw this! The same species but showing how variable they are.
Here they are side by side.
They are pretty big bugs, and strikingly different to anything else. They also look pretty odd underneath.
I walked back and swept a third one, which was very soft and clearly teneral, showing confirmed breeding. Apart from a nymph of this genus recorded in Kent earlier this month, this seems to be the first confirmed breeding of this species in the UK according to Tristan Bantock. Now there are lots of other species in the genus on the Continent, so you really do need to check any Carpocoris carefully.
On the same margin, I turned one big flint and found Eratigena picta, a Nationally Rare house spider with very few records nationally. I had in this field last year and last month.
Other species seen in that hour included a nymph of a Vernal Shieldbug, Dark Green Fritillary, Sitochroa palealis and Cerceris quinquefasciata. It was an eventful hour. I particularly enjoyed this five-spotted ladybird, which is clear an aberrant Seven-spot Ladybird, but shows the importance of correctly writing common names.
But the other day at Peppering was also really exciting. The first margin had a Hornet Robberfly! The first one I have recorded up there in six years.
Small Blues have colonised the margins this year with the new seed mix providing plenty of Kidney-vetch.
I found this scarce migrant moth, Loxostege sticicalis. A lifer and with less than 30 Sussex records. Sitochroa palealis and Evergestis extimalis were also new to the site. There were plenty of Clouded Yellows too.
Then I nearly tripped over this huge Large Conehead, another recent colonist! This is my first for the site and my first West Sussex record. This is an impressive cricket.
I also heard a Whimbrel flying over and found Knapweed Broomrape.
Last month was exciting too! I stumbled on my first ever Small Marbled there.
As well as a couple of Bordered Straws! Who needs a moth trap when you can just stumble upon moths in fields like this?! It also shows just how much insect migration is happening this year (although I have recorded many more migrant insects here than anywhere else on the Downs this year).
These arable margins are all in place to help the Grey Partridge project up there, which is a fantastic initiative and is really working to help biodiversity across the board. The farmers and keepers are working together with ecologists to produce something really exceptional. I have recorded over 1,000 species on just 16 fields over the years (and have hardly mentioned here the host of native rare species, with over a 100 noted so far). This year, the margins have been incredibly exciting and diverse though. Now hopefully I can get up there this avo and finish the survey for the year...
You can pre-order the book direct from Pelagic here. It's looking like the publication date will be October 21st. It's been quite the ride, can't wait to see it in print. Global Birdfair is coming up and we will have more of a presence there this year and i'll be talking about PSL and the book on the Friday morning at 10.00 am.
Last year, with very little prep, we used the fantastic new pan-species listing website to collate all the sightings of all species recorded over the weekend at Global Birdfair into one big list, a pan-species list. We recorded collectively some 641 species, with an impressive 437 of these being invertebrates. You can read more about the 2024 event here.
This year, with a little more planning, we hope to get to over 1,000 species.
Here's how you can contribute:
You can attend one of the six one-hour biolblitzes/workshops that we'll be doing over the weekend (two each day at 10.00 am and 2.00 pm mustering at our marquee at R78 ROBIN). These were generating hundreds of records, in fact most bioblitzes generated around 200 species across all taxa per hour! Bring a net if you have one.
Here's a one-hour bioblitz in full swing in 2024, much of the action occurs around my oversize tray. Warning; they are intense and very fast but a huge amount of fun.
If you are running recording events yourselves or are just doing some casual recording in the area, then come along to our stand and let us know what you have seen.
If anyone is running a moth trap, please let us have your species lists too.
Remember, EVERYTHING counts in PSL, not just moths, plants and birds, but every beetle, spider, lichen, fungi and sea slug. Well, I doubt very much we will have any sea slugs but I can but dream!
Please note, PSL is not a recording platform, so do still submit your records the usual way (we recommend iRecord).
Here is a map of the recording area.
I look forward to seeing lots of pan-species listers, biological recorders and birders over the weekend!
Last weekend was another really good set of low tides. Which meant I spent four sessions out in the rock pools; once at Ovingdean with a gang, once at Felpham with a slightly smaller gang, once at The Pound at first light solo, and finally again at The Pound that same evening with a different gang. It was knackering and involved the first and only time I have ever got cut off and had to wade through waist deep water (I'll come to that).
First off, an afternoon session at Ovingdean. I promised nudibranchs, and found eggs under the third rock I turned. Soon after Mark Colvin found some more eggs and a neat little Goniodoris nodosa. They breed on one very specific location down there. This is the first of three nudibranchs I saw that weekend. Between myself and the brothers Greaves, we've now recorded four nudibranchs from Ovingdean, I wonder how many more species there are within the confines of Brighton & Hove?
Susy Dixon-Jones found a Toothed CrabPirimela denticulata.
Simon Van Toller netted this Conger Eel larva. I was at first convinced it was something completely different like an oarfish! But the head shape gave it away. It was so strange and completely flat, like sellotape!
And Kim Greaves found this Black-headed Shrimp Philocheras fasciatus (I have only seen these on The Scillies and Isle of Wight before). I did get one lifer, the tiny Needle Whelk Bittium reticulatum swept from weed.
The following evening we headed to Felpham where James Chisnall and son were our tour guides on some rocks I have never visited before. The strange colonial tunicate Molgula socialis was a new one for me. The bizarre sand-encrusted shapes cover much of the sand there. I stupidly didn't get a photo but a verbal description was enough for Gerald Legg to help we with an ID.
The rocks were very good for crabs but fish were restricted to the usual suspects; Worm Pipefish, Rock Goby, Five-bearded Rockling and Tompot Blenny. We found three or four young Congers too (all much more opaque than the one above) and no nudis (although Solar-powered Sea Slugs were present in one area). Under one rock I spotted a purple patch of colour. I hoped for a nudi but soon realised it was a flatworm.
Pretty sure this is Cycloporis papillosus. What an awesome looking beast, it was quite fast! And a lifer too.
By this point I was feeling really weary. So I set my alarm for 4.00 am and got to The Pound at Eastbourne for first light (5.20 am and one hour before low tide). The sun came up just as I got there on a wonderfully warm and still morning. It was like an alien landscape, utterly sublime.
Instead of going to the south of the lagoon and working north up the edge of the reef to the gap where the water drains out like I usually do, I went north and across the lagoon and worked it all the way south. Once I got to the reef, under the first rock I turned was this leviathan of a Shore Rockling! I have only ever seen this once before on the Scillies, it was one of the biggest fish I have seen in a rock pool!
A couple of rocks later, a young Lobster!
Then nothing much for an hour or or more. The rocks were increasingly covered in mud, making it harder to see things so I looped back to where I started towards the north of the lagoon where the water and rocks are much clearer than the south end. I found this nice Snapping Prawn Alpheus macrocheles.
And the first time I have seen Golf Ball Sponge Tethya citrina there.
But what I really wanted were nudibranchs. On the Isle of Wight and also historically at The Pound, I have found quite a few goodies by sweeping the sea weed, especially the invasive Wireweed. In fact, four of the fourteen species of nudibranch I have seen, I have only seen doing this and one of them, Trapania maculata (read this blog here to get the full story on why I wanted to get some better shots of this seemingly quite scarce nudi), is a target for mee to refind. But after about 30 or more good sweeps and the associated cleaning and sorting of weed in the tray, I had not seen a single thing of note. Then further north along the lagoon I spotted two people who were also clearly doing natural history, I thought it might be Gerald Legg so went to so say hi. It was in fact the algal specialists, Ian Tittley and Claire Lathbury.
We became engrossed in conversation about sea weeds, sea slugs and more. Now it's nearly two hours after low tide at this point and they were wearing wetsuits. I had thigh waders on. I tried a few more sweeps and found a Trapania maculata!!! As Claire was taking a few quick snaps of it I looked up at the river of water streaming along between us and the beach and just said "Oh bugger!". I hastily grabbed the sea slug, and legged it but it overtopped the waders and I was wet up to my waist. There was quite the current! It was quite scary and I am convinced it happened because we were all distracted, I am much more careful on my own! I made it back to the beach with about 10 pints of sea water in each wader and then attempted to get a shot of the nudi but lost it immediately. Fortunately Claire took these but I am gutted that I have twice now failed to get a decent shot of this amazing looking species...
I will bee investing in a wet suit after that. I am so glad my phone was in water proof case.
So, was I put off? Was I heck. I was down there again 10 hours later for the next low tide. Despite about 60 or so sweeps, not a single nudibranch. Evan found this large Sea Lemon though. This one looks more like a lemon than had fallen down the back of the cupboard for six months. There were loads of goodies I didn't photograph though, like Sea Gooseberry, Sea Gherkin, Lightbulb Sea Squirts, Boot-lace Worm, Strawberry Worm and Keyhole Limpet.
This adult male Corkwing Wrasse pretty much caught itself, it's by far the brightest one we had ever seen.
Finally, these strange little sponges were everywhere, as yet unidentified. Evan found a stalked pink one too.
That was a mad few days, it was physically quite demanding but I can't wait for the next lows. Will I ever write another terrestrial post again?
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