The Lyons Share

The little moths from Mill Hill have been confirmed by Tony Davis as the rare Pancalia schwarzella, the first records in Sussex since 1931, a great find. Seriously, there is no April fooling here. Although I did nearly scupper myself when I thought someone else was fooling me back in 2005. I was living in Stafford and I got a text saying there was a Belted Kingfisher within four miles of my house at Milford near Stafford. I was moving house so I couldn't check on the Internet. I waited four hours before I finally got on line and on the off chance that he wasn't joking, I checked BirdGuides. It was of course, true and fortunatly I did manage to see the bird. It was nearly the biggest dip of all time. 

Anyway, here is the break down of my pan-species list. It currently stands at 3190, up 118 from 3072 at the end of January, edging ever closer to 3200. I have not updated like this for two months so some lists have gone up quite a bit in that time (I have added 50 beetles!). 

I've been at a conference all day in Hampshire looking at how to conserve Juniper populations which was organised by Plantlife. It was a very interesting day and we had about an hour to look around Stockbridge Down at the end and I was surprised to see that most of the Juniper bushes have this unusual fungus on them (I have never seen this at Levin). It's Gymnosporangium clavariiforme and apparently it has dual hosts. Firstly infecting Juniper where it then releases spores which go on to infect a member of the Rosacea, particularly Hawthorn. This second incarnation is supposed to look totally different. Amazing stuff, I've never heard of this before, great to come across surprises like this and a tick for me too.

We also saw the work of the tiny mite that occurs in Juniper berries and can have a strong negative effect on their fertility. It's called Trisetacus quadrisetus and you can tell they are in the berry by the openings. I picked one to see if I could see them inside under the microscope but they are very small apparently and I may well struggle to see them at x 40. I'll perhaps wait till I'm less tired...

Here is a short video of some Common Whirligigs Gyrinus substriatus I took in the leat at Woods Mill a few days ago. I think they look like bumper cars, it seems like such an inefficient way to catch food spinning around like that. There is a key in British Wildlife but they are tricky and you will most likely have to dissect a specimen to get to species. It states that you are far more likely to see this species than any of the others. I wonder why one has the English name the Artist? Interesting how you can hear so much aviation noise in the video, wasn't even aware of it at the time and the Chiffchaff sounds pretty loud too.

I went back to Mill Hill after work to look for a specimen of what I think is Scarce Violet Cosmet Pancalia schwarzella (with permission from SDJC of course!). I thought I would count what proportion of the Pancalia were schwarzella types (i.e. c 7 mm long with no white patch on antennae - top photo). Interestingly I found 17 schwarzella types and only two that were definitely Violet Cosmet Pancalia leuwenhoekella (bottom photo - c 5.5 mm long with white patches). All the moths I saw fell easily and distinctively into one camp or the other. I will hopefully get some help with a dissection to confirm the ID. The alternative is that this is one species that is sexually dimorphic. There is only one very old record of schwarzella in Sussex.

However, I also found a nationally scarce carabid which was a new one to me and was a nice surprise. I recognised it in the field as being one of the species with unusual jaws (like pinball flippers). A couplet in the key I have never answered yes to, I have always wondered what these flat-faced beetles would look like. It had a very punctured pronotum and was 10 mm long. This is not the best photo but at least you can see what it is (the hole on the side of the pronotum is damage). It's Licinus depressus and is a Nb species adapted for eating snails and is found on chalk-grassland according to Luff.

So, worst case scenario I have got the ID on the moth wrong but I have still added two Nb species to my list. If I have it right, it's two Nbs and a pRDB2! Mill Hill is looking like a good place to stop on the way home from work.

1st April (no fooling) UPDATE: Tony Davis confirmed that the top moth is indeed the pRDB2 Pancalia schwarzella, the first records in Sussex since 1931. Penny Green and I are both really pleased to have rediscovered this species in Sussex!

There are more Hairy Violets in flower at Mill Hill than I think I have ever seen.  As well as the violets, there were a few invertebrates there that are associated with them. I spotted a couple of tiny Violet Weevils Orobitis cyaneus which can roll themselves up to look just like a violet seed.

There was also a beautiful little orange and black micro moth that after some effort I finally managed to photograph. There were lots of them actually. I think it's Pancalia schwarzella and one of the food plants is Hairy Violet. It wasn't until later that we realised there were probably two species present, the other being Pancalia leuwenhoekella, with obvious white sections to the antennae, which also feeds on Hairy Violet. Both would be new ones for me. However, considering schwarzella is pRDB2 (both photos) and leuwenhoekella is Nb I will get a second opinion. Watch this space! The greatest lesson I learned today though was not to try to attempt Mill Hill without my walking boots, I very nearly ended up at the bottom several times.

Yesterday on the way back from a farm survey in Hampshire and before I discovered the Light Orange Underwings at The Mens, I went on a slight detour to West Heath to look for Lesser Chickweed. I found it easy enough but boy is that plant dull! Like a small chickweed without petals. It was however a tick for me and is a species I have often wondered whether or not I have overlooked it in the past. Also present on the sandy soils where it was growing were the tiny Little Mouse-ear (top photo) and lots of Common Whitlow-grass (actually a crucifer). These 'little white jobs' are the botanical equivalent of birding's LBJs. They do have their own charm though, even if I have to gamble with my bad back to see them. I have taken to crawling around on my hands and knees rather than bending over to prevent a flare up! So far, no problems with my disk since the end of 2010.

Then try one of these Light Orange Underwings instead! Following on from Dave Monk's record of the first Light Orange Underwings in East Sussex for 26 years at Brede High Wood on the 24th March, I decided to go and look at the only big patch of Aspen that I know of, in Badlands at the Mens. At the south west end of the meadows is a large Aspen and as I walked up to it there were three orange moths in the air,  and one was in reach of the net. From entering the meadow to catching the moth, no more than 30 seconds had passed! I cooled it down for half an hour in my shadow before attempting a photo. I saw another three elsewhere making a minimum of six. The Aspens in this area are quite mature, full of catkins and one big tree has catkins pretty much down to eye level. The feathered antennae of the male are easy to see in this shot. Here it is from below so you can see the underside of the underwing. I have similar photos of Orange Underwing but they are on my computer at work, I'll update next week. Great to see this nationally scarce moth on Sussex Wildlife Trust managed land!This is only the second known modern site for this moth in West Sussex.

It was incredible how quickly the moth flew up to the canopy after I released it. I was really glad I took the time to call in (and it pays to always have your net in the car!) as I was driving along the A272. I also saw my first Orange-tip of the year that seems very early but is not at all surprising considering this amazing weather!

I finished the winter farmland bird surveys that I am doing for Natural England today too. I had my first Wheatears (3). I've walked around 330 miles in all and I am in need of night out before I start the summer surveys on the 1st April!

A quick visit to Woodvale after work to look for Bulbous Meadow-grass was successful. Couldn't find any in flower but it was distinctive enough. As I was photographing it I heard a Firecrest singing too which was nice. Woodvale is where I saw my first Firecrest perhaps 15 years ago. Considering how much time Jo spends in the field with me I was surprised to hear her say 'Is that a normal seagull, it looks pretty different'. My reply was 'No Jo, that's a Wood Pigeon'.

Earlier in the day I started the Woods Mill CBC and picked up a Green Sandpiper on the new stretch of river and a Little Egret as well as the male House Sparrow that has moved in recently. I spent the afternoon finishing off a map at Ditchling Beacon. I was checking out a water butt for any unlucky inverts that had landed in it when this beetle bounced off my face. It's a species of Helophorus and is actually an aquatic but it doesn't really look that well adapted to life in the water. There are quite a few species though so I will have to key it out later when I am not tired.

This absolute beauty is a heathland specialist spider called Philodromus histrio. I found it at Iping Common during an afternoon off. My afternoon off not the spider's. It's quite a large spider that I thought had the look of a heathland specialist (the legs look a bit like heather and the strongly contrasting colours allow it to blend in amongst the foliage). It is apparently uncommon although the texts say it does not have a conservation status. Either way it's a real stunner and is a welcome addition to my list. 

There were hundreds of these little bugs everywhere today and I thought perhaps that they would be a heathland specialist too. However, I think that this is the Birch Catkin Bug Kleidocerys resedae. I could well have overlooked the heathland specialist Kleidocerys ericae there. There were so many of them that one landed on my screen of my camera as I was taking this photo.

I also saw a female Orange Underwing feeding on sallow but it was too high to photograph and my first Bee-flies of the year. I ended the day on 3177.

Here is a pan-species lister conundrum. Can you tick a species just from seeing an egg? It's good enough for a biological record, it's alive (but can you prove that?). I'm not sure. Several years ago, whilst surveying breeding birds in Scotland, we went on a field trip to look for the adult Kentish Glory but the moth's flight season had come early that year and all we found were eggs. We were shown them by the event leaders and we soon found our own Kentish Glory eggs too. I know it's a silly and pedantic question and it might only happen rarely but the only living genetic material I have seen of a Kentish Glory is from its eggs. I guess you could argue that you cannot prove that the eggs are alive as such. I wouldn't hesitate to say I had seen one if I had seen the larvae. So, have I seen Kentish Glory or not? I would be interested to hear what other furious listers think.