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 did actually do some terrestrial stuff on Jersey, although not that much compared to last time. With 10 minutes to go before leaving for the ferry, Karen spotted this Geranium Bronze, thanks to some help from Tim Ransom. A new butterfly for me. They have been turning up in this area of Gorey recently, but I thought I had missed my chance.
A few minutes earlier I thought I had found one when I saw the vertical streak on the underwing of this butterfly. But it was just a box-fresh Long-tailed Blue! I have only seen them once before back in 2014. Really pleased with these shots.
Nearby we saw a couple of Swallow-tails too, including this very scruffy individual.
Whilst searching window boxes and planters around Gorey for a Geranium Bronze, I spotted this Tebenna micalis. A smart little migrant that I have seen three times now, never at light.
The rather large Halictus scabiosae was fairly common in the few flower-rich areas I could find. A new species for me.
Down at Ouaisne, I spotted a few of these Antigastra catalaunalis in the coastal grassland. Only seen this once before at Portland.
And they let me run my MV out the back of the Undercliff Guesthouse again, the first night had two of these ladybirds in, Calvia decemguttata.
Also in the trap there, I finally caught up with Portland Ribbon Wave.
And a couple of Spanish Carpets, a Channel Islands speciality.
No trip to Jersey is complete without an encounter with the ground bug, Horvathiolus superbus.
I didn't do as much spidering this time but it seems that this Zodarion fuscum was new to the Channel Islands from Ouaisne.
And a quick look around Portelet Common produced the awesome hairball, Heriaeus mellotteei.
I didn't so much beetling, but we did see Cassida hemsiphaerica at Groznez.
A quick search for this parasite of Ivy Bees came up trumps, Stenoria analis.
We did alright for herptiles too, with Agile Frog and this Spiny Toad spotted.
A massive thanks to Tim Ransom for his help. It was another great trip. There's so much to see on Jersey! Why not give it a go?
Yesterday started off very frustrating but ended up being pretty awesome. I started work late as the Sun was meant to appear about midday. On the Cuckmere I did find an area with Divided Sedge, Marsh/Golden Dock (I've never seen either in Sussex and will go back to confirm which species) and a Spotted Redshank flew overhead calling in the sea fog. But by midday, the forecast said about 4.00 pm. Without sun, the farm vegetation I was working on was going to remain sodden. So I went recording to Seaford Head. My target was linys on the saltmarsh and Lasaeola prona at its only known Sussex site.
The little saltmarsh at Seaford was hard work. It started raining as I got there and the sea fog was frustratingly stubborn. But then I saw a beetle flying over head, it looked like a longhorn in flight so I netted it. I looked in the bottom of the net and was about to dismiss it as Rhagonycha fulva when I realised it was a Wharf-borer (Nacerdes melanura). I have only seen one of these before at Rye Harbour. That's the 1st species I had new to the reserve. I tried the suction sampler on the black litter that builds up at the base of Yellow Horned-poppies and got a spider new to the site and new for the year for me, Argenna patula! A nationally scarce saltmarsh species. It made up for the lack of linys. I did find Sitticus inexpectus immatures though but I already have that this this year, from Rye Harbour.
I walked along the cliff top and kicked up a surprise, Palpita vitrealis. It flew off into some bushes but I got a good look at it although couldn't get a photo. That's three new to the reserve! I tried some suction sampling along here and got this nationally scarce tortoise beetle. Cassida prasina is amazingly new to the reserve network! Also around here was Formica cunicularia, again new to the site. It's amazing how you can work a site really hard for years and still find things, in numbers, that are new. There are lots of reasons for this.
Many inverts occur at low densities, so luck is a huge factor. Especially for the things you only ever find one of.
Sites are changing all the time, through succession or better/worse management. This can have a big impact in a short pace of time.
Climate is changing things too, from migrant moths to colonising insects from the continent. Plus we have an ever increasing proportion of non-natives. A wet year like this with a lot of growth is going to be very different to a summer drought year like last year.
I've changed. We all have. I am definitely better at finding things than I was five years ago and probably will be again in another five years time. I'm also faster and more efficient but I think this has plateaued.
So, the idea you can do one invert survey over one year (even with lots of visits) and expect to find everything is bobbins. That's why I created the Species on Reserves list in the first place for the Sussex Wildlife Trust reserves. Long-term effort is a great way to accumulate all these records together, so I am very glad that Glenn is keeping it going! I also like to accumulate survey data from repeat surveys I am carrying out as a way of edging closer (but never ever getting there) to a site's true fauna. Anyway, I'm currently five up for the reserve.
Then I got to Hope Gap and in one suction sample I got two new to the site, including another new to the reserve network. One was the myrmecophile ladybird Platynaspis luteorubra (a Na species that is spreading) and the other was a new shieldbug. The Sand-runnerSciocoris cursitans. This really is a small shieldbug (5 mm) but until now, the only site I have seen it in Sussex is the Crumbles. Another nationally scarce species but you would be lucky to find this without suction.
And then after about ten fruitless suction samples, I found FOUR Lasaeola prona in one sample! Here's a sub-adult male.
I also added new for the year Ozpytila claveata (known from the site). Which leaves me on 290 for the year! I am going for the 400 this year by the way, but that's another story. So, in a three hour period wandering around I added all these new to the site:
Nacerdes melanura
Drassodes lapidosus
Meioneta simplicitarsis (Nationally Scarce)
Argenna patula (Nationally Scarce)
Drassyllus pusillus
Palpita vitrealis
Cassida prasina (Nationally Scarce and new to network)
Sciocoris cursitans (Nationally Scarce and new to network)
Teniuphantes flavipes
Formica cunicularia
So ten species! Four with status and two never recorded on a Sussex Wildlife Trust reserve before. I had forgot how much I enjoy that spreadsheet. Pleased to have made a contribution with a few hours to kill. The sun came out about 3.00 pm so I dashed back to the farm I was working on and gotAndrena hattorfiana and Atylotus rusticus before the thunder started. It was very strange to see cloud come in from the north at the same time as a sea fog slid in rapidly up the valley from the south.
By working like mad through the heatwave, I've bought myself a tiny amount of free time at the end of June. So that's why I have been hitting the SWT reserves when I could. Also new to the reserve network this week is the smart woodlouse Armadillidium pulchellum from Graffham Common, appears to be a county first.
And the Dark Giant Horsefly (Tabanus sudeticus) from Black Hole, Burton Pond!
So, if you think spider year-listing is just about ticking things off a list you couldn't be further from the truth. As well as getting better at spiders, it has a direct benefit to spider recording that in turn, spills out into a wide range of other taxa! So what are you waiting for!? I still want to try year-listing Heteroptera one year but I am yet to find anyone to play with :(
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.
OK so I am trying not to work at weekends anymore but if I don't get this done now it will drift. I spent a good few hours processing the specimens from the bioblitz yesterday so can now publish the full list that I produced yesterday. I recorded solidly for six hours from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm and was helped in the afternoon session by Sam and Glenn. In all we recorded 362 species and 37 of these were new to the site. One of these was new to the reserve network. The proportion of invertebrates with conservation status rose slightly from 12.3 to 12.4%, firmly cemented the site as a great site for invertebrates. Now, I'm going to start with the highlight and then go through the list.
With about an hour left, Glenn and I were in Hope Gap. I was poking around near the cliff edge (keeping a safe distance I would add) looking for Henbane. Glenn was sweeping Viper's Bugloss on the other side of the valley looking for a scarce weevil - with my net. So when I spotted what had to be a species of Marbled I was feeling a little lost without it. Fortunately it only flew about 30 cm after each bungled attempt to get it in a pot. This did at least mean I had a good chance to get a photo. I finally got it in custody where I initially identified it as Small Marbled until I got home. I think it's too big for this with a wing length of over 9 mm, I am now convinced this is Purple Marbled f. catharmi. In this form the purple colour is replaced by an almost entirely white moth. It was hanging around a big patch of thistles, which also adds up. Colin Pratt just confirmed this ID. My purple patch continues! Kind of.
Colin Pratt just told me that less than a dozen have ever been recorded in Sussex and I think it could well be the first one that has ever been caught in Sussex that wasn't in a moth trap or at sugar. So significantly scarcer than the Small Marbled. Awesome!!!
I might as well do the moths while I am here. We recorded 20 species and three were new to the reserve. Crescent Plume was also recorded by suction sampling a single patch of Rest-harrow which produced a mass of Rest-harrow feeding specialists. See the bug section. We also recorded two of the S41 Forester moths. Pleased with the shots of this male, you can see the antennae detail that splits it from Cistus Forester here. That and there is no Common Rock-rose on this area (Forester feeds on Common Sorrel).
Now for the remaining orders in no particular order. Two ants, nothing new there. Only six bees on this very well recorded bee site. Amazingly I did manage a new species in the form of a Wool Carder Bee in Hope Gap!
As for the beetles, 38 species in all with five new species. Podagrica fuscicornis and Orthochaetes setiger were new site records. well Glenn did get a couple of the impressive weevil Mogulones geographicus off the Viper's Bugloss but it took some work!
I picked up Cassida nobilis (known from the site) using the suction sampler on the tiny saltmarsh,
Birds. A mere 20 species. Highlights were a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Reed Warbler in sub-song in Hope Bottom!
Bugs. The most species-rich invert taxa this time with 44 species, a whopping nine of these were new to the site and one of these was new to the reserve network, that is never before seen on an Sussex Wildlife Trust reserve. This is the Nb Drymus latus. Suction-sampling that big patch of Restharrow that I found Berytinus clavipes on last year produced five species in the final five minutes that all feed on Restharrow that we hadn't seen all day.
Butterflies, 15 species. Three crustaceans, one earwig, one harvestman and one lacewing. Nothing exciting there.
Fifteen flies including the nationally scarce Machimus rusticus new to the site. I did find several of the massive Saltmarsh Horsefly Atylotus laistriatus on the saltmarsh again.
Mammals. Human, Rabbit and Fox. All recorded by their droppings. Oops, I meant just the latter two!
Mites. Three species in the genus Aceria. Aceria sanguisorba galling Salad Burnet was a new site record.
Six species of molluscs but nothing new. Two springtails with one new (bt very common) species.
Orthoptera were well represented with seven of the nine species ever recorded on the sote being recorded yesterday. Including this huge Great Green Bush-cricket that Glenn found.
And the plants. A total of 151 species were recorded and amazingly I picked up quite a few species new to the site. Highlights were Lesser Centaury.
But the huge patch of Hard-grass that has appeared on the saltmarsh was a real surprise. I can't believe that this has been overlooked. The whole of the saltmarsh looks completely different now but is looking good now that the EA are not dumping shingle on it anymore. It's recovering well with Yellow Horned-poppy and Sticky Groundsell (new to site) growing on the shingle. The saltmarsh itself has more Rock Sea-lavender than ever before (just sad that the amount of marsh is hugely reduced).
Last but not least the spiders. We recorded 25 species and eight of these were new to the site. The highlights was Sitticus inexpectus, a nationally scarce shingle specialist that is present on the eastern side of the river here but I have never managed to find on out bit of shingle before. It's also my 296th spider this year. Anyway, this is a great sign that this habitat is recovering after the abuse it suffered and is more evidence that absolutely no more shingle should ever be dumped here. This is an old photo from Rye Harbour by the way.
Another Diopena prona in the suction sampler made for a very happy Glenn. The third male I have recorded from this bank now.
And a nice male Xysticus erraticus new to the site.
So a really useful exercise. I do love a good bioblitz. Even on well recorded sites it typically produces about 10% of species new to the site. Yesterday we recorded 21% of everything that has ever been recorded at Seaford Head in a six hour period. Here is the full list with order in which it was seen and year of last record. Clearly grasses have been a bit under-recorded at the site. M=microscope ID, N=New to site and NN=new to network. I also recorded the time at each multiple of 50. Species with conservation in bold. Apologies for any typos, I did write this up very quickly last night. Enjoy!
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