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.
Never before have I agonised over the order of my top ten natural history highlights but I do not exaggerate when I say 2019 was the best natural history year of my life. Anyway, spiders are here lumped as one and will get their own top ten at a later date. So here they are in reverse order.
10. Carabus intricatus (Blue Ground Beetle) with John Walters in Devon.
It was hard keeping John in eye sight on the side of the hill so I was glad that he was able to find us one of these astonishingly smart beetles. December was an exceptional month for me in nature.
9. Purple Emperor (Apatura iris) larva beaten from willow at Holmwood Common.
Not a really rare species but my first encounter with the larva in September produced some unforgettable photos.
8. Snow Fleas (Boreus hyemalis).
Both on purpose in the Wyre Forest, Shropshire in February and by accident on the Roaches in December.
7. Mega rare moths found in the field, who needs a moth trap?
I found a LOT of rare moths, probably the rarest was this Purple Marbled that I managed to capture even without a net at Seaford Head during a bioblitz. Others this year including sweeping a Dewick's Plusia in a park in London and netting a Hornet Moth in flight on a freelance job in Kent.
6. East Head sand dunes invertebrate survey.
A summer surveying these sand dunes with Lee Walther for the National Trust was a blast. Still I think the site with highest proportion of species with conservation status I have ever surveyed. Here I have picked the sea-lavender feeding weevil Pseudaplemonuslimonii as it's metallic purple!
5. Sea slugs at the Pound
My annual trip to the Pound at Eastbourne with Evan Jones was mid blowing last year and it's testament to how amazing a year this has been that this is way down at number five. Here is the one that blew me away the most and pretty much the only one I found myself, Polycera quadrilineata.
4. The baseline survey of Ken Hill Estate
My trips up to Norfolk this year were so enjoyable, so many great things to find but the day I recorded Breckland Leatherbug Arenocoris waltliimight be the most memorable.
3. A year of spiders
OK, here's the big shock. I have loved year listing spiders (and I will be giving them their own top ten very soon) but it doesn't make it to 1st or even 2nd place. Who will win the spider top ten? I suspect it might have to go toPhilodromus fallaxfor being the most unexpected find in early November that I had almost given up on and one of my most sought after species of all time.
2. Melodious Warbler and breeding Dartford Warblers at Butcherlands
The Butcherlands bird survey has delighted me for nearly a decade. So the breeding Dartford Warblers in bramble scrub were amazing but then picking up an odd warbler in the distance on the last visit, chasing it, realising it was a bird I didn't know was possibly the most exciting thing ever. Especially as at one point it was getting away from me. Then a great big yellow warbler jumped right out in front of me, a Melodious Warbler!. Definitely the fastest song of any bird and a great way to end a very enjoyable survey. When I first picked it up it was in the big willow on the left.
1. My first first for Britain!
Not only a new species but a new family for the UK. Finding this at Marline Valley was such an exciting experience. What a strange looking thing. It was closely followed by a second specimen swept by young Ted on his work experience! I tentatively identified it as Coptosoma scutellatum and Tristan Bantock soon confirmed the ID and I gave it the English name Trapezium Shieldbug. A really exciting way to end 12 years at Sussex Wildlife Trust but I have to end this on a downer. It probably turned up in the hot summer of 2018 and this in turn is almost certainly down to man made climate change.
We now have a government woefully inadequate in terms of its approach to climate change and emissions, so you have to do every little bit you can to prevent things from getting any worse. I don't think people realise just how important five years is in the crisis we are in now, I know I am preaching to the converted here but we just missed a huge chance to make serious change to our environment at this crucial tipping point in the climate crisis and influence others on the world stage.
But I know what you're thinking. "Where ARE its wings?!". Now lets see what 2020 has to offer...
I have just got back from a slightly abbreviated visit to Ken Hill where I started the NVC map and finished the invertebrate field visits. I have so far this year recorded 747 species of invertebrates there. Definitely the biggest list for any site I have carried out a six-visit survey on, with 662 species recorded alone so far from the six standardised visits. There are dozens of tubes of specimens yet to process too. Will we get to a 1000 species? I was pleased to find Pogonocherus hispidulus by beating twigs and this proved a hit under the microscope. So I took some time today to get a good sequence of photos and I'm pretty pleased with them. This little longhorn beetle is a thing of exquisite complexity and beauty up close. Yet looks like a stinky old bird turd from a few feet away. A great tactic to avoid being eaten. Only works if you're really small though.
Not had enough Pogonocherus? OK, here's the other common one. Pogonocherus hispidus. Possibly the two most confusingly named species I know of. It's literally just missing the 'lu' at the end. A smaller less-contrasting beetle that didn't want to pose.
And the two together. Pogonocherus hispidus is a smaller beetle and has a smaller name than hispidulus. That's how I remember these two.
And Cassida vittata is always a pleasure to see.
Elsewhere on the site, a late flush of Corn Marigold (with Corn Spurrey it makes up the NVC community OV4) was growing after the Spring Barley had been harvested. Really didn't feel like late September at this point!
And Night-flowering Catchfly (on the left) identifiable long after flowering from the similar White Campion (right).
Birds were very quiet. Hardly any passerines about. Hobby and a Tree Pipit over were the highlights. One more visit to go though so maybe October will produce some rarities? Can't wait!
I've just got back from another trip to Ken Hill. Along with the structured surveys I am doing there, building a site list is also a key task. That means that casual records of species made when you are doing different jobs, or moving between plots, are extremely important. Such as this emerging Humming-bird Hawk-moth recorded on a large area of acid-grassland with some heath known as the Plain. Now these are not all that scarce as a migrant but I have never seen this before, an adult that had clearly still not taken its maiden flight. Last summer I saw an adult ovipositing on Lady's Bedstraw at Heyshott Down but this was a first for me. Annoyingly, my memory card broke so I only had my phone camera for much of this trip. However I took this shot and posted it on Twitter not thinking that much of it, three days later it reached 1000 likes and over 150 retweets. I think even the Calosoma sycophanta event only got about 300. Anyway, not bad for a phone shot!
I've now recorded over 700 invertebrates there this year and the list is rising all the time. Highlights included a new location on the site for Breckland and Fallen's Leatherbugs, the impressive wasp Podalonia affinis (also on the Plain), the Scarab Shieldbug, the unpronounceableSphragisticus nebulosus(a new species for me). Also on the Plain (and cathartic as I caught one last month but it flew off before I could pot it) were my first stiltflies. They turned out to be the notable Micropeza lateralis. Also on the Plain, quite a few Hedychrum nobile. A not very impressive camera photo of a very impressive jewel wasp.
To the north of the site this very late Agapanthia villosoviridescens. It's usually a late May to June species.
We ran a moth trap on the Plain which would have been more successful if the generator hadn't kept cutting out. We did add a few species to the list such as this Vestal.
Always a pleasure to see Antler Moths (below) and True Lover's Knots too.
However it was the by-catch that proved most interesting. There were lots of aquatic bugs and beetles that were all new to the site, hundreds of Water Veneer moths too. Quite a few carabids came to light but the best was Harpalus froelichii which I have only seen in the Brecks so far. Talking to Steve Gale I was expecting to see this at Ken Hill but as yet I had not knowingly picked it up. It's Nationally Rare, Near Threatened and S41 and adds to the Breck-like nature of the site's flora and fauna.
The vegetation structure and composition plots are now complete. I added a couple more arable plants to the list including another good one which was also a lifer and a 7 point scorer. This is my new favourite grass, Rye Brome which was confirmed by vice county recorder Richard Carter when we met up in the field. It's Vulnerable and nationally scarce. Along with Corn Mint (scores 1) that gets the site index for arable plants up to a whopping 113!!!
A couple of veteran trees were really impressive. This 6.5 m+ (that doesn't even include the 2.3 m branch on the right) girth Pedunculate Oak is one of the biggest I have ever seen.
And this Common Lime Tilia x europea was 4.31 m girth!
And a few fungi were about too, such as this Dyer's Mazegill on pine. I've started the NVC map now, so I will be doing some series footfall (this last trip was 42 miles) for the last two visits. Whatever will we find next month?! A huge thanks to the Padwick's, Richard Carter and everyone else at the Estate for their support and time and making it such a fun project.
I was just looking for a blog title when I saw that the actor who played my favourite character in my favourite film has just passed away. So the title is a quote that many of you will get but still kinda works for this post. I think some Vangelis is needed at this point and it has to be this one from the soundtrack.
I just got back from Ken Hill again and it was another amazing week. I'll start with the vegetation structure and composition plots. The good news is I only have 28 left to complete. The woods are much harder going than the arable and grassland plots but have some interesting surprises. The biggest tree I have found so far is the Horse Chestnut shown above with a Girth at Breast Height (GBH) of 4.37 metres! Them conkers are bonkers! It was however the arable plants that were the most interesting again. Here is a quick recap on last month, we got to an index of 79 (which is already of international significance according to Plantlife's index). Here is a quick recap on the species recorded so far. Those in bold have conservation status.
This time, I found a few more goodies. First up only a single plant of Gold-of-pleasure, a plant I had never actually heard of before. Thanks to Richard Carter (vice county recorder) for his help with the identification of this one. I only found one plant of this. This is listed as nationally scarce and scores 5. That's 84.
The big surprise though was finding a lens of sand in a field I thought was dominated by Yorkshire-fog. It was dominated by Smooth Cat's-ear! I have only ever seen it as small plants before, never dominated the sward. This is listed as Vulnerable and scores 7, that's 91.
But in among this mass of pappus, there were scattered plants of Annual Knawel. Listed as Endangered (the highest scoring so far), this scores 8 bring the site up to 99. It's not much to look at.
Green Field Speedwell - scores 1, that's 100.
Grey Field Speedwell - scores 2, 102.
Common Broomrape - scores 2, 104.
Slender Parsley-piert - scores 1, so that's an incredible 105. I did have a look for Red-tipped Cudweed but didn't find it on site. I may have found it nearby though but the jury's still out on this one.
And with it, some Small-flowered Catchfly! My first on the mainland. Anyway back on to the Estate. A large patch of Harbells were present on the Plain.
And this veteran Holly, with a GBH of 2.37 m! It's definitely the biggest I have ever seen.
Birds were pretty quiet but the highlight was an Osprey flying overhead out to sea! If you've had enough of Vangelis, have a listen to this Woodlark (and Yellowhammer) singing at the south of the site.
Now for the invertebrates. After four visits I am up to 583 species and this is really just field dets, exciting species and the spiders, there are lots of specimens yet to identify over the winter and two more field sessions to add to this. On the last morning I spotted this female Pantaloon BeeDasypoda hirtipes. Couldn't get a good shot though so the second one is a stock photo.
Lots of males about too.
As I watched this female fly into her burrow, immediately two of these flies appeared and jostled for position. As far as I can tell they are Miltogramma germeri (rare). Thanks to Stephen Plummer for his help with these.
This Megalonotus antennatus was a new one for me and also means I have now seen the whole genus. I swept this from St John's-wort.
I swept this Chamomile Shark from some mayweed.
But the other larva I swept in the same net stumped me. A quick post on the UK caterpillars page and some suggested Heliothis. Which realistically for Norfolk means it could be Marbled Clover! I would be interested to see if this can be verified. Alas Tony Davis has just suggested it could also be Scarce Bordered Straw so it looks like I am stuck with Heliothis sp.. I have only ever seen Marbled Clover once when Mark Telfer showed me an amazing triangle of arable plants in the Brecks some 15 years ago. Whilst looking at Sand Catchfly, an adult came in to feed! Never seen one since.
Next month I will try again for Red-tipped Cudweed! I bet there are more arable plants yet to be discovered out there.
"All these moments will be lost in time like tears in rain."
Technically they'll live on in my notebooks, reference collection, blog and in the relevant records centres but it was the line in Bladerunner that got me hooked as a nihilistic teenager. It's still my favourite movie after all these years but here's a sobering thought. Bladerunner was released exactly halfway between now and the end of the 2nd World War.
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