The Lyons Share

Necessity is a great motivator. That's why I have been looking at terrestrial lichens and associated NVC communities at Frensham (I'm Surrey) and I have made some progress. Please note that I am very very green at lichens so please take these identifications as preliminary. I am only showing the ones that I was most confident with though. The area I was looking at today is dominated by the lichen Cladonia portentosa which I have photographed before. I wanted to see exactly what NVC communities are there so I threw a number of quadrats. I didn't manage to ID all the lichens, but I think I did get most of the shrubby ones right. All of these species are new to me. Commonest after Cladonia portentosa was this darker, greyer, more sorry looking species, Cladonia furcata (above and below next to the brighter and neater looking Cladonia portentosa).

Just when I thought I had separated these two, I noticed some small patches of what I originally thought were Cladonia furcata had dropping tips to the branches. A closer inspection showed they were quite different and I am pretty sure this one is Cladonia ciliata, all the branches tend to bend over in the same direction. Very beautiful at high magnification.

I saw a few more lichens that I was not able to identify and then came across this greenish black one, it looked a bit slimy and unpleasant and I was pretty sure it was not a Cladonia. I think this is Cetraria aculeata, one of the NVC community constants for SD11. This was very pale compared to most of the other material I saw that was blacker.

And finally, I noticed that not all of what I thought was Cladonia portentosa was portentosa! A fairly similar looking species has droopy branches that droop in all directions radially (rather than all in one direction). This one I am pretty sure is Cladonia arbuscula.

And here is Cladonia arbuscula (top left only) with Cladonia portentosa. Please remember I am still very green on these and if anyone has experience of this group I would appreciate any comments on my ID. Either way, Cladonias do not feel quite so impenetrable now and I might have just found something to do in the winters...

I have been working from home today so I have some natural history from a month ago for you. As we returned to the car park after seeing the Wartbiters back on the 8th August, a big insect landed on the windscreen and Jo alerted me to it. I could see that it was a backswimmer (an aquatic true bug), one of the Notonecta sp. but it was not one I had seen before. I took a photo and retained the specimen and have just got around to keying it out. There are four species in the genus. Most Notonecta species are larger than the water boatmen (Corixidae) but more strikingly, their back legs are much longer than their middle legs (with water boatmen the legs are roughly the same length) and they have a bigger rostrum. There are four species of Notonecta and this one keyed out to be Notonecta maculata. This species has mottled hemielytra and an orange metanotum with two black spots (this is just visible in the photo under the hemielytron that is raised).

Interestingly, it was a really hot day and we were parked in a fairly isolated car park. I have had two other incidents this year when water beetles have appeared on or near dark cars parked in very isolated spots (heathland and chalk-grassland). I imagine that on hot days these guys fly around looking for another pond and a dark car just about fits the bill if you have poor eyesight. This is species 2834, 166 to go to 3000!

Just a quick one today as I have conservation committee tonight. I went to Flatropers with Alice today to discuss management. At the end of the pylon ride at Flatropers there is a nice area facing north full of Devil's-bit Scabious and Goldenrod. Great late summer nectar sources, with lots of hoverflies, tachinids, Hornets and a Woodland Grasshopper. There is also a lot of young Grey Poplar and Alice noticed two adults of the Red Poplar Leaf Beetle Chrysomela populi. I have seen this before on Dwarf Willow in dunes on Anglesey. There is another similar species, Chrysomela tremula, that has probably become extinct according to the 'Atlas of the Seed and Leaf Beetles of Britain and Ireland'. This beetle however, lacks the tiny black marks on the rear edge of the elytra which can just be seen in this picture. They eat willows and poplars as adults and larvae and this one was 10 mm long.

There are many plants associated with nutrient enrichment such as Nettle and Goosegrass. This grass however, goes one further. It's Wall Barley, an annual archaeophyte species. I have always noticed its association with rough ground but I have only recently realised  how strong a link it has with dog fouling. In nearly every car park, it grows around the edges in small patches next to posts, dog-bins and pretty much any isolated vertical structure a dog could pee against. It almost seems to be a dog-mess obligate! Basically, if you see this grass, there is probably something unpleasant nearby and you should avoid it. Interestingly, it only has an Ellenberg value for N (Nitrogen - in effect an indicator of soil fertility) of 6 compared to 8+ for Nettle. and Goosegrass. So it does not appear to be the nutrients that are the limiting factor. It is most likely the fairly unusual combination of high nutrients and high levels of disturbance that are provided by well walked amenity grassland with heavy dog fowling. Either way, if you stop in a park in a town near you and see this grass, I would have my picnic somewhere else!

This time I actually mean the gents at work, not the nature reserve. I have been observing this creepy Cobweb Spider Pholcus phalangioides that hangs motionless upside down, for hours if not weeks, in the corner of the toilet above the door. I thought it was about time I got a photo. This is a spider and not a harvestman and can be identified by the long ghostly legs, small cephalothorax (that is meant to look like a human skull!) and long thin abdomen. If you get too close, they vibrate a bit but that is about it (they are usually in corners - there is no where for them to run to!). They are very sedate spiders but I think they're creepy though. I see them in nearly every building in Sussex but they must be a southern species as I never saw a single one until I left Staffordshire.

This synanthropic species is a successful hunter despite its slow demeanor. It snares prey with silk and then pulls it in with it's long legs before administering the venom.

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Today has been weird, so this post is going to reflect that I'm afraid. Lying in bed this morning I was awoken by a sound somewhere between R2D2 and Predator. I thought it was Jo's new alarm clock but when I then heard a sound like something from Jurassic Park, I flung the curtains open and saw a massive green parrot! It flew off before a photo could be taken but I saw it through my bins. It had a very short tail, a pale eye-ring and small but bright red patches in its wings. Bright green with perhaps some blue-green in there too. It was not a macaw. Last seen heading south towards Fiveways.

I had the afternoon off to finally get my back X-rayed and went a walk around Shoreham to psych myself up beforehand. I only saw two Ringed Plovers and a Whimbrel and was getting bored. I found some disturbed chalky ground in the middle of a playing field with Small Toadflax and Sharp-leaved Fluellen. Suddenly I noticed right at my feet a big mottled green lizard basking on a rock. The ridiculous concept of Sand Lizard sprung to mind that rapidly gave way to the more realistic alternative, I was looking at a naturalised Wall Lizard! Still, it's a new species for me! Sadly, it legged it before my fat hands could get my camera out of my bag.

Whilst receiving a dose of radiation to my spine 65 times greater than that of a typical chest X-ray, I suddenly thought that the internal workings of my own body are technically natural history and took a quick photo of the plate. So, for the first time ever (and hopefully the last), here is my lower spine and pelvis. Categorical proof that I am not an invertebrate. Maybe after only 12 weeks I'll get a diagnosis on Friday now!

I had a great day out on reserves with the reserve team today, discussing grazing and management. We looked at the three central chalk-grassland sites, Ditchling Beacon, Malling Down and Southerham. The highlight of the day was an Osprey flying east along the north face of the downs. It was quite close and we were looking down on it, so it was not silhouetted against the sky. Bloody awesome! I did get a little over excited.

We went on to Malling Down and had a look at the grazing exclosures I set up in May 2009. The one where rabbits can graze but sheep cannot (top photo) now looks quite different to the one where sheep and rabbits can graze (middle photo). Almost all of the biomass has been removed (as in the sheep and rabbit grazed plot and quite unlike the rank, totally ungrazed plot - bottom photo). However, there are many many more flower heads of Devil's-bit Scabious showing how the sheep favour the flower heads while the rabbits ignore them. In mid summer, these plots looked almost identical.

Finally, we went on to Bible Bottom at Southerham where the chalk-grassland is looking fantastic. With many plants still in full bloom and dozens of Adonis Blues (the commonest butterfly there today), it felt like mid summer still. The highlight here was the discovery of some White Horehound in a big rabbit warren. I am pretty sure this is a new location for this plant.

A plastic heron and a Small Dusty Wave in a car park stair well was about as interesting as it got. Yawn. So, I escaped the car boot at the marina and went sea watching. I immediately saw a mixed flock of migrating terns. There were eight Comics and a single Little Tern. After that the bird life was pretty dull with a Med. Gull, a Wheatear, 9 Sandwich Terns  and 5 Sand Martins being of the most interesting.

Just by the western arm of the marina, there is a tiny patch of vegetated shingle. Dominated by the rather local Sea Kale here, this community is best described by SD1a - the typical Curled Dock - Yellow-horned Poppy shingle community. There is also Sea Fern-grass here as well as Sea Sandwort, Sticky Groundsel and a few specimens of the alien grass Cockspur (below). Further up the slope this community grades into SM24 - Sea Couch salt-marsh community.

I searched for some invertebrate interest but all I could find was this green carabid under a stone. I struggled even to get this shot, it was very camera shy and just kept trying to bury itself. It keyed out rather neatly to be the common Harpalus affinis, one of the ones I have already seen. It appears I have failed to see a single new species all weekend! Bugger.

I went looking for migrants today at Beachy Head with Jo and Oli and saw a few bits. There are lots of Bloody-nosed Beetles around still. This is the biggest leaf beetle in the UK and is a really slow thing that can't fly. As a result there are a lot of squashed ones on the paths. So called because they extrude a drop of red liquid from their mouth when threatened, that is meant to scare off birds. I don't get how this works really. It seems a bit like extruding peanuts from your mouth to scare of tits. Just realised how wrong that sounds. Anyway, you get the idea. Red for danger and all that. I'm sure it tastes bad too. It didn't work on me though!

Bird of the day was a distant golden-headed female Marsh Harrier. Corvids were mobbing every raptor so they were easy to see. Also saw a Peregrine and a pair of Sparrowhawks. Passerines included, 4 Whinchats, 20+ Whitethroats, Lesser Whitethroat and Yellow Wagtail. I also saw my first Clouded Yellow of the year but couldn't get anywhere near it to take a photo and two Painted Ladies. Several Adonis Blues were also showing off. I hung around the toilets for a bit and found a White-point and a Mullein Wave. It was good to relax today but I did not manage to find anything new, must try harder!

OK, back to all taxa-listing I'm afraid. I have been furiously identifying things and ticking off new species recently. Since my last update on the 25th August I have added 42 species bringing the total number of species I have seen and can identify to 2820. I am 180 away from 3000 so I am setting myself a goal. To get to 3000 species by Christmas. I reckon if I can get 42 species in 9 days then that should not be a problem. However, the season is drawing to a close so seeing new things is going to start getting harder  from now on. In the last 9 days I have seen my first new bird in Britain in 18 months, 21 new beetles, 3 new moths (amazingly including two macros), 4 new spiders and various others. I also remembered that I saw Ant-lion years ago at Minsmere. The above photo is Ferdinandea cuprea, a common deadwood hoverfly (associated with sap-runs) I saw at Ebernoe this week and another new species for me. I don't know if it is possible for me to do anymore natural history than I already do. There's only one way to find out!...