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.
Last weekend was City Nature Challenge. It's hosted in iNaturalist. I am not a fan of this platform for many reasons that I won't go into here (I wish it was in iRecord) but I do like the challenge. So I have took part by sending my records in as casual observations (without photos that is - it's ludicrous to think I could take photos of even a fraction of what I record without completely wrecking the methodology). This way, they don't actually find their way back to the Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre, they get there directly from me in the same way as all my other data. Here is the current leader board for 2023, at the time of writing my records are not on there but they will be soon and I will update this blog when they are and the challenge is over for the year.
Some 23 'cities' in England are taking part. For the last two years Brighton has come top for the total number of species, and I have been pleased to play a big part in this. This year, I had more time free to do some recording for fun (not just using records from work). I recorded constantly for about 3.5 of the 4 days. You do get a bit of time to do the dets too, which are just finished. So my stats come out at 2801 records of 1014 species. This includes 570 invertebrates, 303 plants and 77 birds.
Day 1. A quick walk around BHASVIC Field with Karen first thing and then I headed to Woods Mill but it was sodden, so I just wandered around doing plants, bryophytes, molluscs and birds. I managed to refind Pepper-saxifrage in the valley field and saw a Cuckoo. Then I headed to Wiggonholt Common RSPB and things got really interesting. I targeted this site as one of the only significant areas of heathland within the project boundary. I recorded something like 150 invertebrates in the field over about four hours but it was the specimens that provided the most significant find of the weekend, probably my year. I had noticed lots (maybe around 15 or more) of paired up Nephrotoma craneflies flying up out of the Heather. I took a couple of males and when keying them out, I couldn't believe that it was coming out as Nephrotoma sullingtoniensis, the Sussex Tiger.
This cranefly has only ever been recorded three times and from one site - Sullington Warren. This small heathland is just the other side of Storrington to Wiggonholt, so it was certainly not out of the question. The book lists it as flying in June though, not late April. And lots of people have looked for it then and not found it. Could it have a much earlier flight period than people thought? I quickly got on to Alice Parfitt and told her all about it and she went and checked out Sullington (no joy) but did find it a third site - Hurston Warren. How amazing is this?! Especially as I just wrote a blog the night before about the importance of going out in April. Here are the rest of the microscope shots of this Endangered species.
Other highlights included my first heathland Enoplognatha mordax (still it marches on inland into all habitats, I had one in woodland the other day - first photo), Cercidia prominens, Xerolycosa nemoralis, Sibianor aurocinctus and Hypsosinga albovittata. I had another lifer int he form of a scarce dung beetle, Euorodalus coenosus and I refound Spathocera dalmanii there (photo). I found a few Dieckmaniellus gracilis too, despite the lack of foodplant.
Day 2 I spent on the chalk with Kim Greaves. We did the morning at Malling Down and the afternoon at Seaford Head. We mopped up! Malling Down provided some really exciting records, but mainly things I had seen there before. The first sample generated an almost adult Phaeocedus braccatus (1st photo) in Bridgewick Pit. And a whole host of cool harvestmen, including Trogulus tricarinatus again and this awesome Megabunus diadema (2nd photo). I got a lifer on the way into Green Pits. This is a rather messed up looking specimen of Thimble Morel (3rd photo) which people tell me is having a good year.
Onto the Coombe and I found an adult Pancaliaschwarzella at one of its few Sussex sites and Kim spotted this carabid, Lebia chlorocephala. This is only the third time I have seen this beetle in 13 years, the other two records being from Malling Down in 2010 and Southerham in 2017. The Horsehoe Vetch feeding pollen beetle, Meligethes erichsonii, was also a lifer.
To Seaford and a very casual twitch of the White-crowned Sparrow before mopping up on some Hope Gap specialities. Heath Snail, Moon Carrot, Lasaeola prona, Pyrausta ostrinalis (photo) and (possibly new to site) Astrapaeus ulmi. Oh and of course, loads of freshly emerged Anthophora retusa males. Amazingly we saw one male sitting on an Adder but I just couldn't get anywhere near it to get a photo. Picked up Whimbrel on call, when you do this you need to have one ear listening out all the time.
And I think these are my first Sussex Thick Top Shells (Phorcus lineatus) from the rockpools off Seaford Head. This seems about as far east as they come in the UK.
Day 3 and I spent it at work and made over 830 records to add to the set. Libby Morris accompanied me for about half of the day. Highlights included Bombus humilis and another Enoplognatha mordax. Oh and Aulacobaris lepidii which I see quite a lot on farms. But the best record was actually on what I believe to be Sussex University Campus land when I was trying to get back to my car. I saw that Martin Harvey had picked this up a few weeks earlier and I was gripped, can't believe I then went on to see this very odd yet charismatic sawfly, Sciapteryx soror. Yet another lifer.
And what must be the most Syntomus obscuroguttatus I have ever seen in one sample, this is just a fraction what was in the tray.
Day 4. I am broken after walking 27 miles in four days with 15 kg of gear. I spend most of the day entering records and identifying specimens. The weather is bad with some storms but Karen and I head out to Woods Mill to do some wetland invertebrate sampling in the afternoon and we do quite well. We find the ladybird Nephus quadrimaculatus, loads of new spiders in the meadow and finally Nightingale! Which was also Karen's first.
Here is my distribution over the four days, including some roadside botany. I am exhausted, 30% of the way through my field work for the year already and I have entered 8734 records in April alone. This challenge was immensely fun but talk about burning the candle at both ends.
Will it be enough to get us into top place for species again? I hope so. Here is the breakdown of the species recorded.
Yesterday was the ten year year anniversary of my first ever blog post. A thousand posts and over a half a million hits later and here we are. It's been a hoot, so much has changed for me in the last decade. Pan-species listing being a big feature of my natural history adventures which in turn led to becoming an entomologist and eventually going fully freelance and leaving Sussex Wildlife Trust. Working on those reserves though was an incredible experience and three of top ten were on Trust reserves.
When I first put my list together I had only seen 2748 species, as of today I am on 7648 species, that's almost tripled. I must admit I do love blogging, it's a nice way to inspire other naturalists as well as acting like a journal and a photo library. Oh and gripping friends off of course. I am at present however limiting my time on social media as it feels healthy to do so in this crisis. That said I put the 24th April in my diary at the start of the year so I wouldn't miss this date.
Before I get to the top ten of of top tens, I must say a huge thank you to Jo Knell for encouraging me to start the blog. Jo is sadly no longer with us and without her encouragement I doubt I would have started it. Here is the link to my first post which was about an encounter with a Snow Bunting we had at the top of Snowdon during a holiday. I've been blogging for so long now I can't remember not blogging.
Now for the top ten in reverse order. ALL of these encounters were in Sussex. If you didn't read these the first time round or need refreshing, I have included the links to the original posts, please do follow these as there are plenty of anecdotes for each encounter.
10). Pardosa paludicola
In April 2017 I found a healthy colony of this incredibly rare and impressive wolf spider at Butcherlands, Sussex Wildlife Trust's rewilding project, this being only the 8th site in the UK for this species. I have since found it another site. Read more here.
9). Columbus Crabs
In February 2016, after watching reports online, I had a hunch that I might find these crabs on Brighton beach after a storm and low and behold, there they were. This species lives in goose barnacles and floats across the oceans. These were the first records for the county.
8). Portuguese Man o' War
As above, there were reports about these washing up along the south west coast after storms in October 2017 and I really wanted to find the first Sussex one. I wasn't quite quick enough but did find my own one on Portslade beach.
7). Melodious Warbler
Last June, when I was finishing up a bird survey at Butcherlands that I had been doing for nearly a decade, I had a WTF moment when I heard a warbler singing I didn't recognise. After nearly losing it, I got a good view and a sound recording. So exciting. The fastest bird song I have ever heard. I loved that site and that survey. Butcherlands features twice in this list!
6). Philodromus fallax
The spider year listing challenge of 2019 was extremely fun and by October I had almost given up. Right at the end of a day of recording in Camber Dunes, a spider I had long given up hope of finding popped out! What a beautiful spider.
5). Polycera quadrilineata
2019 was probably my best overall year for natural history, so it's not surprising that four of the top ten are from this year. In March at the spring tide, I usually try and get down to the Pound at Holywell. This time Evan Jones and I had an amazing evening with four sea slug lifers, Evan found most of them but this one I found by netting sea weed, the tropical looking Polycera quadrilineata. See the rest of the blog for the other species.
4). Crimson Speckled
The oldest post here from October 2011. Michael Blencowe and I trapping at Beachy Head. We very nearly never even saw this moth that was resting in a bush, not the trap. I will never forget shouting CRIMSON SPECKLED!!!
3). Large Tortoiseshell
A lunch time walk at Woods Mill in March 2018 produced a Large Tortoiseshell. It's a terrible photo but just enough to clinch the ID. Another one that almost didn't happen as it flew off so quickly.
2). Coptosoma scutellata
My first first for Britain and an entirely new family of shieldbug at that. This was from Marline in July 2019, Where DO the wings go?!
1). Calosoma sycophanta
Stumbling across this beauty in an arable field at Bishopstone in June 2016 is going to take some beating. It really was mind-blowingly lucky. Big, beautiful, rare. It ticks all the boxes.
So that's it. Ten years reduced into one post. What a decade. So now what for the Lyons Share? Is it time to call it a day?
It is with great sadness that I must announce that I will be leaving Sussex Wildlife Trust by the middle of the month. I am going to become a full-time freelancer which will hopefully also free up more time for other natural history activities, such as becoming more involved with the BAS in Sussex. It's been a fantastic 12 years, I will still be very much involved with the 32 reserves, continuing to do a great deal of recording. Such as yesterday's spontaneous survey...
Shaun Pryor and I headed to Woods Mill, our target; to look for two common linys that I have frequently recorded at Woods Mill but I have not seen this year. Centromerita bicolor and Bathyphantes nigrinus. We saw neither. We did however see a whole load of really good stuff. Here is the full list with those in bold being new to Woods Mill. Some of these species are well known from the site (Such as Drassyllus lutetianus and Ero apahana) so I am making an informed ID on a few immatures here.
Agalenatea
redii
Ballus chalybeius (NS)
Bathyphantes gracilis
Clubiona phragmitis
Clubiona stagnatilis
Clubiona subtilis
Drassyllus lutetianus (NS)
Episinus angulatus
Ero aphana (NS)
Ero furcata
Gnathonarium dentatum
Gongylidium rufipes
Hypomma bituberculatum
Hypsosinga pygmaea
Kaestneria pullata
Larinioides cornutus
Lepthyphantes tenuis
Lepthyphantes zimmermanni
Mangora acalypha
Meioneta mollis (NR)
Micaria pulicaria
Microneta viaria
Monocephalus castaneipes (NS)
Neriene clathrata
Neriene montana
Ozyptila brevipes
Pachygnatha clercki
Palliduphantes pallidus
Panamomops sulcifrons (NS)
Pardosa amentata
Pholcus phalangioides
Pisaura mirabilis
Porrhomma pygmaeum
Tallusia experta
Thanatus striatus (NS)
Theridiosoma gemmosum (NS)
Walckenaeria acuminata
Walckenaeria cuspidata
Walckenaeria unicornis
Zora spinimana
We recorded at least 10 new site records and almost as many new 10 km square records. Four of these new species had conservation status, a really significant result to add to our understanding of the site. One of the last things I will do next week is write the biological information for the next Woods Mill plan and these findings will get a mention. So even after I have gone, expect me to keep adding to the understanding of these fantastic reserves in such a way.
The highlight was totally unexpected. A female Monocephalus castaneipes from Hoe Woods. This is the first time I have seen this species, my 50th new spider in 2019 and my 347th spider of 2019.
Almost as unexpected was the species at the top of the page. Panamomops sulcifrons. I have picked this up twice before, both times from chalk quarries. This time it was sieved from litter along the river at Woods Mill. The male is less than 1.5 mm long (smaller than 97% of our spiders) and it's really funny looking.
In the Box hedge right outside my office window, Ballus chalybeius new to the site.
Also there is a colony of Ero aphana which I already knew about.
In the same hedge, some tiny Theridiosoma gemmsosum. Who knew?!
And the first Walckenaeria cuspidata in West Sussex since 1964. That's the one in the middle with unicornis on the left and a female acuminata on the right.
In the valley field, lots of Thanatus striatus.
And a female Palliduphantes pallidus.
And perhaps most surprising, an adult male Pardosa amentata. I haven't seen an adult Pardosa for months so this was quite a surprise.
So Friday the 13th is my last day at the Trust, and hopefully we will wake up to a fantastic red sunrise that day too. We have one month left on the spider challenge. I've closed the gap a little, Matt's now 15 species ahead. Next weekend I am off to the south west for a long weekend of spidering so it's all to play for.
I decided to purge my cold and spent the whole day spidering yesterday and feel much better for it. I got THREE county firsts for my efforts (all under 2mm, all with the suction sampler) too so was pretty pleased, and five new spiders for the year ending the day on 315 species.
First, quick recap on the spider year listing. It all got a bit much for me from July onward with work. Too busy surveying spiders to actually find spiders. I know this sounds crazy but it's true. Now I have some more free time I can get out and go where I like. Also, from July onward, I find spidering really dull until about now. The game is back on. So where are we? I make no apologies if you haven't seen any Marvel movies and that some of what I am about to say will appear as gibberish...
Captain Devon. Matt's reached the 340s. People think that's a shield, it's actually a tray for sieving spiders. A prototype for the more successful Captain America, he lost interest in fighting and started hanging around cobwebs. They had to let him go.
Thive. I'm like Thor but one better. Attracts rain instead of lightning. If I put my hand out, my suction sampler flies into it no matter where it is (keeps smashing my car boot window though so easier just to open my boot now and not use my powers). Can't distinguish between 'th' and 'f'. On 315.
Theridiron Man. Tylan's on 178. Catchphrase: "Has anyone seen my Potts?" Actually has Cryptachea blablabla living inside his suit.
Fanos. Not actually playing along but some bloke Captain Devon knows was somehow beating us all even by early summer, despite not actually year listing spiders. Currently on somewhere between more than me and a 1000. It definitely has something to do with infinity stones.
As a group, we have seen at least 60% of the UK's fauna, probably two thirds by now.
Anyway, the whole point of this tenuous analogy? It's the last three months of the year and we are moving into a different chapter, the endgame. Time is running out for lots of big spiders, new opportunities opening up for linys. Can I comeback from this far behind now?!
So yesterday, I headed for West Sussex. Called in at Burton Pond where I hadn't seen yet Larinioides sclopetarius for the year! Not actually a hugely common spider in Sussex.
I had a dig around in New Piece and picked up Scotina celans new to the site and Mermessus trilobatus (new to West Sussex from the suction sampler). Both these were on my year list though. I did remember that the edge of the pond is good for Tetragnatha striata. One sweep of the pond edge produced about half a dozen of the distinctive immatures. Really different to the other members of the genus, none of which I would feel comfortable identifying from immatures. In ten years I have only seen this spider here and on one site in the Pevensey Levels.
I suction sampled a couple of old Tussock-sedges and got a funny looking bug. This is a county first for both counties, Ceratocombus coleoptratus. Really odd hairy antennae and a long hairy 'Roman nose'.
Then to Stedham Common. Where I picked up some nice things that I had already seen this year such as loads of adult male Alopecosa barbipes. Note the Marsh Clubmoss in the background!
Then I found Fanos had dropped the Reality Stone! On closer inspection it was actually Cercidia prominens. This was one of the first spiders I recorded in 2019.
I spent the rest of the afternoon suction sampling. I managed to get FOUR new spiders for Iping and Stedham, making the site list 220 with exactly 25% of these having conservation status. Firmly cementing the site as the best spider site in Sussex in terms of species and rarity, that's 55 species with cons status! Amazingly, Mermessus trilobatus was one. The rarest was Meioneta mollis from Stedham (a Nationally Rare species). Also new for me and both counties was the tiny Araeoncus humilis below. I'm quite surprised that this hasn't been picked up before. I like that this has been given the English name 'Modest Forehead'. Also new for the year was Centromerita concinna, the first site record since 1968.
I found a huge patch of Sphagnum magellenicum or Sphagnum medium as Brad tells me its now called. Actually quite gutted about that name 'change'. It's a strikingly beautiful moss. Here it is with an adult female Trochosa terricola.
And my fith and final new spider of the day was Segestria florentina at the only site I have ever seen it, the middle of Chichester! It's still really uncommon down here with only three 10 km squares. I have had more records for Zoropsis in iRecord than this. I didn't however manage a photo, as I was racing against time to see one against the parking ticket.
So, I am definitely back in the game. Next up, I need to find Araneus marmoreus, another scarce species in Sussex.
UPDATE: I found Araneus marmoreus before finishing writing this blog! I was about to give up but found this adult female at Woods Mill after the fungi workshop! That's 316. I have worked at Woods Mill for 12 years and this is the first I have seen in Sussex outside of the Ashdown Forest, well done to Ryan for finding a pair there a couple of years ago.
I did the lookering yesterday at Butcherlands and had a quick look for spiders as I went. I was keen to check up on the Pardosa paludicola that we found there back in 2017. It took about 30 seconds to spot one. They are HUGE compared to the wealth of commoner Pardosa that are everywhere. I saw two females and a male (all adult). They are very leggy and spiny compared to other members of the genus and have another skill up their eight sleeves; they're surprisingly good jumpers and unlike the other species, can jump clean out of the tray!
And a male.
Other species new for the year included a few young female Sibianor aurocinctus (I took this photo of a female last year).
Pardosa pullata
Walckenaeria antica
Pelecopsis parallela
Dictyna arundinacea
I found the cows. All good.
Then I had to service some of the dataloggers in Ebernoe and thought about what Matt said about searching Amaurobius webs for Oonops. On one very dark and shady oak in deep Holly shade there was a huge web (which in hindsight was probably a Tegenaria's). I shook this into the tray and found an amazing five specimens of the nationally scarce BAP Dipoena inornata (Silky Gallows-spider). Now this is only the second time I have encountered this spider (the other was as new to East Sussex from Eridge Rocks in a very different habitat - shaken from fern litter growing on sandrock) and was really surprised to see it in this habitat. New to Ebernoe and the 10 km square. They are meant to eat ants, I would imagine that this would just about be suitable for Brown Tree AntLasius brunneus but why were they in this web and in such numbers?!
And the male under the microscope showing the novelty front end. So funny.
Then today the weather wasn't any good for a lunch time jaunt until I saw Matt Prince was on 132 species too. So as I was leaving work I beat the soggy Box bush outside the office window and got THREE species new for the year in ten minutes, putting me on 135 species for 2019.
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