The Lyons Share

Last weekend I headed up to Ken Hill for the last visit of 2019, this time to complete the woodland part of the NVC map with plenty of casual recording too. The birds were really good, with the highlight being a trilling Waxwing over the Plain and this really confiding Black Redstart on the barn, guarding the harvest (could this be John Barleycorn? You'll have to read right to the end to know what I'm going on about here). I don't often take many bird photos (this is just shoving my camera against my 30 year old scope). It's great when you get that close to a bird you see new features. Never noticed the pale base to the lower mandible before.

There were also loads of winter thrushes, Bramblings, Golden Plovers, Woodcock and Pink-footed Geese about. But the highlight of the trip was meeting up with my childhood mentor who I had not seen for 15 years! Was really good to see Ewart Gardner again, last time we saw each other we went for the 'Slender-billed Curlew' in Suffolk in 2004. We will definitely not be leaving it for another 15 years, it was so good showing Ewart my bird diaries from 30 years ago which he had never seen before. We spent the day birding around Norfolk at Titchwell and Cley. I picked up four Velvet Scoters at Titchwell and we heard a Bearded Tit at Cley but I think bird of the day was the Black Redstart! It was really important to me to say thank you, for without him I really don't believe I would be doing what I am doing now.

Fungi were really good, with plenty of nice common charismatic species about, such as this Fly Agaric.

Some of the brightest Scarlet Waxcaps I've ever seen! Growing only on one area of the Plain that had been scraped. In time, when this area is well grazed, these sort of fungi should increase in range. They can't compete with the ungrazed tussocks of Wavy Hair-grass though.

Very few inverts around but new for the site was a lovely little Winter Semi-slug. I recorded a little video of it too, showing the mantle coming out and moving around on top of the shell. Such a strange little creature.

I had a quick look in the sand dunes before I cam home and picked up two lifers! The coastal tenebrionid Phaleria cadaverina and the very cool money spider Walckenaeria monoceros (both nationally scarce species). Here is a shot of the money spider under the microscope, it has a quiff!!! Spiders with haircuts, whatever next? 

Had a great day out spidering with me old mate Adrian Holloway today. We started in torrential rain at the Cuckmere looking for Pseudeuophrys obseleta. We didn't find it but did find an adult male Sitticus inexpectus but that was already on my list from the other side of the river this year. I did however get a couple of really nice linys that I had never seen before. Typhochrestus digitatus at its only Sussex site and loads of the very cool Pelecopsis nemoralioides. Both nationally scarce and both species new to me. The latter was the first East Sussex record since 1961. Also new for the year was a long overdue Dysdera erythrina. Here is the male Sitticus inexpectus.

And the Pelecopsis nemoralioides.

A quick dash over to the Pevesney Levels to look for one of my favourite wolf spiders. The impressive and scarce Pirata piscatorius, this being the only known East Sussex site. So big and bad ass they often get mistaken for Dolomedes! Much darker and bigger than any of the others in the genus, they usually have a strong white stripe down the side of the cephalothorax but this one didn't.

And then a quick dash over to my favourite bit of abused and abandoned shingle, the Crumbles. There we picked up Typhocrestus digitatus again, at which is now its second Sussex site. The weevil Ethelcus verrucatus and this new assassin bug, Empicoris rubromaculatus. New to East Sussex after it was spotted near Henfield only last month.

And no trip to the Crumbles is complete without a Myrmarachne formicaria. Here is a little video to show how ant-like they really are. So FOUR new ones for the year leaves me on 326 species of spider for 2019.

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.

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!

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 finished an invertebrate survey at Holmwood Common today for the National Trust in Surrey. I was pleasantly surprised by how much stuff I found today but the lep. larvae were the highlights. This is the first time I have see a Purple Emperor larva, so you won't be surprised to see I took a LOT of photos of it. Enjoy!

What a cute little dude! Hard to believe next year this could become our biggest butterfly. If it's lucky!

Nearby I beat some gorse and got this remarkable looking lichen mimic moth larva. At first I thought Brussel's Lace, then a Light Emerald and thanks to Jeroen Voogd on the Caterpillars UK & EUROPE Facebook group he pointed me in the right direction. It's not a geometrid at all. It's Beautiful Hook-tip. A moth I have seen hundreds of times but another larva tick!

And then, a massive Pale Tussock! I couldn't get it to unfurl.

The black stuff on Pale Tussocks is like that Vantablack paint, it reflects no light at all. I was staring into that blackness when I was reminded of the Fast Show...

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!