Following the closure of the Cruck Barn until further notice, all planned indoor meetings were cancelled, including the AGM, which was scheduled for 17 March 2020. Since then, the Committee has taken the inevitable decision to suspend all outdoor meetings planned as part of the Summer Programme. As and when the lockdown is lifted and it is again possible to get together, the Summer Programme will be resumed.
The fantastic butterfly season during 2018 was always going to be a difficult act to follow and although some species were down in 2019 the year still held some great success stories. Among 2019’s achievements was a very welcome spike in Peacock numbers, a Painted Lady invasion, the continued colonisation by Dark Green Fritillaries and the incredible news of the first Chequered Skippers to emerge in the wild in the county for nearly half a century.
The Wildlife Trusts are disappointed that the new report from the Committee on Climate Change fails to recognise the full array of natural solutions available in the UK, and their immense value for achieving net zero emissions.
While climate change and habitat loss seem to keep making all the headlines when it comes to environmental damage, invasive species are still chugging along comfortably as the second biggest threat to our planet’s biodiversity. New cases are popping up all the time, with the Burmese python, Crucian carp and the emerald ash borer beetle recently reaching new levels of notoriety.
Making a beetle stack is a way of providing beetles and many other insects with shelter through the winter. This stack is simple to make and costs next to nothing, but will make a world of difference to garden wildlife.
Nine members of the Society met at Otmoor on a pleasant autumn afternoon which turned out to be a lot warmer than the last Society visit! We were even treated to some late afternoon sunshine which showed off the colours of the Teal and Shoveler that had come out of eclipse, along with at least a dozen snipe snoozing on an island in front of the first screen.
Four Stonechats posed nicely on reeds by the track to the second screen, along with a Reed Bunting. Brown Hares were clearly enjoying the sunshine too. Overhead, flocks of Lapwing and Wigeon sparkled, while Marsh Harriers, Red Kites and Kestrels were seen over the meadows of Greenaways and the reed beds.
Despite reports of sightings of Bearded Tit the previous day, we didn’t manage to see any and had to be satisfied with Marsh Tit. Migrant Hawkers “buzzed” us on the tracks and Cetti’s Warbler provide a soundtrack. Other sightings included Stock Dove and Whinchat along with a strange goose that turned out to be a mix of Canada and Greylag.
The evening started from the Medieval Thornborough Bridge (pictured above) constructed from the local Blisworth Limestone which we were to see in the quarry. The route took us under the busy A421 upstream along the bank of the Padbury Brook (a few members took advantage of much nearer car parking courtesy of the local farmer so missed the walk but had time to set out the demonstration table above the quarry).
The Padbury Brook was a green corridor of reeds and rushes through the parched meadows. Late flowering summer flowers on its banks were still showing well including Great Willow Herb, Marsh Woundwort, Water Forgetmenot, Water Figwort, Angelica and Teasel.
Two Brown Hares on an arable field opposite offered early excitement. Unfortunately there were few insects in evidence and birds were few and far between but did include Grey Wagtail, Reed Bunting, Swallows, and a large flock of Rooks feeding on stubble.
Joe gave a brief introduction to the rock exposure in the quarry as observed from the viewing platform above it. Mainly drawing on the excellent Bucks Geological Society website and Interpretation Boards he explained that deposition was about 170 million years ago in the Middle Jurassic Period. The area was then at a latitude of about 40 degrees North. He explained that the Blisworth Limestone was deposited in low energy shallow warm marine conditions (as currently found in the Florida Keys). The Blisworth Clay above the limestone was deposited in lagoonal, mud flat and brackish marsh environments. There are fewer fossils but a dinosaur(Theropod) footprint had been found near-by at Thornborough Mill.
Of particular interest was a fault line (subsequent to deposition) which had displaced the younger rubbly Cornbrash seen to the east of the quarry downwards relative to the Blisworth Limestone. This could be clearly seen despite slumping of much later material.
Jenny then demonstrated how this had happened with a specially baked ‘strata’ cake! (Subsequently the cake was rapidly eroded by participants!)
Most of the group then spent about an hour examining the structural features of the quarry and some Blisworth Limestone samples. We noted that the latter are made up of accumulated fossil shell fragments bound together with a carbonate cement. The fossils that can be found here are of Bivalves, Gastropods, Corals, Ecinoids and Brachiopods. Members identified with some confidence Bivalves and Gastropods including a small number with complete shells. A worm like trace fossil was also found. Others proved more challenging to identify. Calcite crystals (precipitated after deposition) were also in evidence especially with the aid of hand lens.
During the time in the quarry area several members explored the wooded area adjacent to it: a Jay and Tree Creeper were seen and a Green Woodpecker heard. Some also found the ruins of the two 19thcentury lime kilns which operated on the site until 1890 and are now marked by an information board.
This outing was rather different from our normal living wildlife focus but apart from its attractive setting the geology observed was a useful reminder of a past habitat and some of the animals that lived in it.
Sherington now has an active and growing Biodiversity Group who are doing all they can to make the village more attractive to wildlife. The churchyard of St.Laud’s Church is managed with a light touch – large areas of the churchyard are left unmown to allow grasses and wildflowers to flourish and some areas have been enhanced with sown and planted wildflowers. ‘Bug hotels’ have been installed on the walls and hedgehogs are encouraged throughout the village.
On the evening that we visited the omens were not good. After a wet day, the skies were leaden and it was drizzling at 6.45pm. Nevertheless, twenty members turned up. Parking at the village hall, we made the short walk along Church End towards the church. As luck would have it, we had just reached the church when there was an almighty downpour. Luckily, we had shelter in the church porch which was quite cosy with 20 people in it! A good place, this, for the Harvestman enthusiast. However, the rain soon passed and we had a very enjoyable hour.
Speckled Bush Cricket by Peter Hassett
Martin Kincaid led the group from the church into the adjacent fields. One of these former arable fields has now been turned over to nature by the owner who has planted a nectar rich garden which is full of butterflies, bees and hoverflies. On the previous day Martin and Carol Allen had counted 13 species of butterfly here for the Big Butterfly Count. In the damp conditions, we did not see any butterflies flying about but before long people started to find roosting butterflies on grass stems – at first just Meadow Browns and Ringlets, and later a wider range including Common Blue, Brown Argus and Small Copper. Everywhere, Meadow Grasshoppers were leaping about and we managed to identify six species of Orthoptera. Probably most impressive were a number of adult Speckled Bush-crickets who were settled on the leaves of a Buddleia. Julie Lane found these and before long several of us had them crawling over our hands.
This garden is privately owned but signs dotted around make it clear that anyone is welcome to wander through and enjoy it – provided they clean up after their dogs. In a second clearing there was a large compost heap and around here impressive stands of Purple Loosestrife and Water Figwort.
Returning to the churchyard, we concentrated on plants. Roy Maycock had listed plants here in the 1980s as part of his county-wide churchyard survey. Mary Sarre, assisted by others, amassed quite a list this evening and will be interesting to compare this with Roy’s 30+ year old list.
Among the birds heard and seen were Swifts, Swallows and House Martins – which were foraging over the village – Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Chiffchaff and Green Woodpecker.
A most enjoyable walk despite less than summery conditions and one worth repeating. We will provide Sherington Biodiversity Group with our records and observations.
Text by Martin Kincaid.
Photo at top of page is a Chiffchaff by Peter Hassett
Early return to breeding areas is widely acknowledged to be ‘a good thing’ but why? Some people suggest that early migrants can choose the best territories, others argue that early chicks have a disproportionately high chance of fledging but there are other explanations too. In their paper in Ecology & Evolution, Catriona Morrison and her colleagues ask how much of the advantage of being an early migrant could be associated with having an option to nest again, if the first attempt fails.
Since I last wrote moth notes over a month has passed and that time has taken us in to the busiest part of the mothing season. I have spent some of that time on the Suffolk Coast in search of moths that do not venture inland. There has been plenty of mothing going on here though with visits to Goosey Bank and Barn Field, both near Olney, a night out at Howe Park Wood helping with the Bioblitz there on 1-2 July, a late night/early morning at the Woodland Trust owned College Wood, near Nash as well as the usual traps left at Linford Lakes Nature Reserve and in my garden here at Newport Pagnell.
The wet and cooler weather of the past few days has provided a little respite and has permitted time to check records, enter them on the data base and to write some mothing notes.
One of the moths I enjoy seeing in Suffolk is the Rosy Footman. I have never seen it in North Bucks so you can imagine my surprise when it was found in a trap at Linford Lakes on 13th July. I returned from Suffolk on the 12th and the trap it was found in was one that I had taken away with me so I suspect that I may have brought it back with me. I will include it in my records for Linford with an explanatory note but who knows, the moth may have found its way there on its own accord.
One that took the eye at Howe Park Wood on 2nd July was a Green Arches. There are a number of moths with Arches in their names and all have markings with a curved or pointed arch above a pair of columns. The caterpillars feed on Dock, Bramble, Primrose and Honeysuckle at the wood and they overwinter as caterpillars and pupate underground.
At Barn Field, near Olney on 17th July a lovely specimen of Yellow Shell was recorded. These are disturbed during the day and are on the wing between June and August. The caterpillars feed on Cleavers, Bedstraws, Dandelions and Docks and they too overwinter as larvae and pupate underground.
Found outside one of the traps on the same day at Barn Field was this Leopard Moth. The caterpillars of this moth feed on wood and stem tissue of many trees and because there is not much nutrition in wood they remain in the caterpillar state for between 2-3 years. The adult moth, like the one in the photograph, is incapable of feeding.
On the 25th June, a welcome visitor to the garden trap in Newport Pagnell was the very colourful Scarlet Tiger. The Tiger moths are as colourful as butterflies and their caterpillars are the “woolly bears”. The Scarlet Tiger seems to have been extending its range in recent years from a base in the south west of England. The caterpillars feed on Common Comfrey and Hemp-agrimony and when larger disperse on to Common Nettle, Bramble and Sallow. The micro-moth beneath the Tiger is known as the Yellow-spot Tortrix.
Text and photos kindly supplied by Gordon Redford. Click here to read the previous edition of Moth Notes
Flitwick Moor is an SSSI managed by the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, and Northamptonshire Wildlife Trust. It is a former mire in the valley of the River Flit which rises in the Chiltern foothills (and a tributary of the River Ivel which in turn flows into the Great Ouse). It is an uncommon habitat for southern England with areas of peat fed by iron rich acid springs (chalybeate) from the Greensands. This was extracted up to 1960 (the peat was used in the purification of natural gas and the chalybeate was sold in the 19thcentury as a cure-all tonic!). Alders predominate in the lowest areas of peat extraction: birch and oak (Quercus rober) in the higher. Woodland clearings offer habitats of sphagnum mosses, bracken, sedges, reeds and cotton grass. The slightly higher ground consists of a rough meadow dotted with ant hills.
It rained heavily on the day of the visit and although the rain had stopped by 19.00 it was still damp and murky: not ideal conditions for a wildlife amble. Nevertheless 18 members turned up for the evening which produced a good showing of plants and several invertebrates of interest.
The routetook us first through the wet woodland area of peat extraction. The plant life off the path and in the managed clearings included Rough Chervil, Small Balsam, Foxglove, Honeysuckle, Bracken, Common Polypody (a fern), Broad Buckler-fern, Soft Rush, Remote Sedge, Pendulous Sedge, and Cotton Grass (the latter much less in evidence compared with the Society’s last visit in 2016) all acid tolerant or acid loving. A total of 17 bird species were noted, by far the highlight being an Oyster Catcher which was heard calling as it passed over shortly after the walk started. Most of the other birds were common woodland species including Nuthatch, Treecreeper and Songthrush, given away by their songs and calls from the dense canopy.
The meadow area is rough grazed with scattered bushes and the mounds of the Yellow Meadow Ant. Here the plant life included Pendulous Sedge, Wavy Bitter-cress, Yellow Iris, and Horsetail at the soggy edges, and Lesser Stitchwort, Tufted Vetch, Meadow Vetchling, Bird’s-foot Trefoil, Lady’s Bedstraw, Scented Mayweed, Common Mouse-ear and Yarrow in the drier areas. Invertebrates included Marbled White and Six-spot Burnet.
A short diversion along the side of one of the ditches off the meadow yielded dense Russian Comfrey, Marsh Thistle and Hemlock (one specimen at over 3 metres!). The Scarlet Tiger (photo at top of page) was the invertebrate highlight here.
Thanks to Roy Maycock and Harry Appleyard, who were kind enough to accompany me on exploratory visits and for putting together checklists of plants and birds/invertebrates for participants, and to Paul Lund for the photographs.
Looking back over the urban birding scene since edition 1, it is swifts that have dominated, more on them below. I have no more news about our urban peregrine falcons. I have seen from the numerous webcams and twitter feeds that the very numerous other sites nationwide have done extremely well. It is very disappointing that we in Bucks have been deprived of the webcam from County Hall that we had grown to know and love. I am not exactly sure of all the reasons but know a major difficulty is that the Aylesbury pigeon racing fraternity are doing their utmost to have the County Hall birds and their platform removed and are seeking to litigate to achieve this. In my opinion, it would help the peregrines if all who care about them could take the time to write to Bucks County Council to register their support of the project. Meanwhile, I am going to have to consider enduring another football match and making a visit to the MK Dons to see if I can what’s going on there!
Turning to the swifts, over the last 2 or 3 weeks they seem to have become very active – definitely in the north Bucks village where I live at least. Parties of what I take to be non-breeders have been zooming around in devil-may-care groups screaming their heads off. Younger non-breeding birds appear to be checking out potential breeding sites for next year by flying up to places and briefly clinging on – if this happens at wooden nesting boxes, it can make quite a bang, leading to some people calling such birds “bangers”. For the last few years, I have been attempting to supply BMERC with a list of exact nesting sites in Bucks. This is something that Bucks Bird Club reporting system does not lend itself to – nest sites can be difficult to see for sure and knowing how many are in a particular building is similarly tricky. Most difficult of all, I have been reporting exact addresses e.g. “43 Acacia Avenue” which is something that would be inappropriate on Bucks Bird Club’s systems, even if marked as confidential. My purpose in recording these details is not to make life difficult for householders but to try to help swifts. If a planning application came in at a property with known swift nests, it would help to make sure that work is carried out in the off season and also would give an opportunity to have a conversation with the property owner to see if they could do anything to mitigate any potential negative impact on swifts. If anyone is able to supply any data about breeding swifts, please email me on hetwend@dircon.co.uk
The last week of June also saw the second annual “Swift Awareness Week” with over 100 events taking place nationwide. They were an eclectic assortment – from walks and talks to garden parties and pop-up mini displays of information. Princes Risborough was fortunate to have a talk by Andrew Lack, son of the David Lack, the eminent ornithologist from Oxford.
As I write in mid July, it will not be long before our swifts depart, so if you are lucky enough to have any near where you live, don’t forget to appreciate them while you can.
Sue Hetherington
Good Urban Birding until next month, Sue Hetherington
If you fancy getting up close and personal with dragons and damsels there is no better place than the Business Park ornamental ponds at Caldecotte. Today there were a dozen emperors and four-spotteds mating and ovipositing. Also red-eyed, blue-tailed and common blue damsels. (And reed warblers).
Later there will be hawkers. Footpaths around half a dozen ponds, seating areas, odos buzzing around your head. Best to go at a weekend when you can park nearby in Monellan Grove or the small car park there at Caldecotte Lake (otherwise it is chockabloc with workers’ cars).
Text and pictures kindly supplied by Janice Robertson
I’m Sue Hetherington. I’ve been a member of Bucks Bird Club since 2009 when I decided that it was about time I joined given that I was then living next door to where the club was holding its indoor meetings at the time (we have both moved since then). I remember my first field trip with Bucks Bird Club (to Wendover Woods) with shame – I didn’t even have a pair of binoculars, let alone a telescope! Oh yes, I fitted into what Simon Barnes has termed “a bad birdwatcher”. I’ve always been “into” all natural history but birds seem to have particularly invited themselves in to my consciousness and have tried to take over. I like all sorts of birds in all sorts of habitats but I have a particular interest in urban birds. To see what I mean by the term “urban birds” take a look at David Lindo’s eponymous book. And yes, David is my friend and hero.
I love seeing birds in unexpected urban settings, I admire their enterprise in finding homes with us especially when we seem to be constantly shrinking their natural environment. It also makes it easy to birdwatch if it can be combined with a trip to town. I’ve loved seeing waxwings in Aylesbury in those special winters they grace us with their presence. I’ve also some seen some amazing starling murmerations there. Come the summer, what could be better than to see (and hear) those most urban of birds, swifts. My absolute favourites though are urban peregrines and particularly those from my home county.
I know many others share my Bucks and MK interest in our urban peregrines and would like to know the results from this year. But first to summarise past years’ outcomes
– peregrines first bred on County Hall Tower Block in Aylesbury in 2011 using a provided nesting platform
– peregrines first bred in the MK Dons Stadium MK in 2015. At first they used an old crows’ nest but a nesting platform was provided which they eventually used for the first time in 2018
There is no central news outlet for these peregrines so it was not until Mike Wallen, the County Bird Recorder, placed some notes on the Yahoo discussion board called bucksbirders that this years picture emerged. This is the news that Mike gave on bucksbirders on 7/6/19
Bucks Peregrines- update
Aylesbury County Hall Tower Block.
Bad news complete breeding failure, no eggs, no chicks and it looks like the female has been lost, either before any eggs, or at some stage after. Whatever was there has been predated. There is a male present. A webcam which has been available in past years was unfortunately unavailable this year.
StadiumMK
Much better news. The birds went straight to the platform this spring and laid 4 eggs, 3 of which hatched and have done extremely well.
The first one fledged on June 3rd, but something wasn’t quite right and it had to be rescued, fortunately a member of staff there has a partner who is a vet, it was found to be dehydrated. It spent a couple of days with the vet where she (it was sexed) recovered well. This fortunately coincided with Rod Stewart performing so we didn’t have any trouble with Peregrine chicks causing havoc in the crowd. [although several birders who attended the concert reported how much they had enjoyed seeing the peregrines as an added bonus – Sue]
Yesterday (6th) the other two chicks were still on the platform, but exercising vigorously, one nearly came off, but hung on, fledging imminent.
At lunchtime the rescued bird was released at a high point in the stadium and after sitting still for a few minutes it then took off extremely strongly and went straight out of the stadium ! It was expected to return as peregrine fledglings do. There has never been a webcam on this platform.
I for one have missed being able to follow the fortunes of the Aylesbury project on webcams, as have many others I am sure. If anyone feels similarly deprived, I recommend the Derby Peregrine Project which has the entry point to almost everything you could wish to know about urban peregrines here http://derbyperegrines.blogspot.com/ Ordinarily, they too would have a webcam but this too has been jinxed this year (building developments have got in the way of line of sight wireless transmission from the camera on the cathedral to a wireless base station – work is in progress to find a fix) The Derby website has a list of some of the other peregrine projects that exist around the county (there are lots)
That’s all the Bucks and MK Urban Peregrine news I have.
Turning to another iconic urban bird, swifts, they are back in our towns and villages but many people think they were very late and have arrived in lower numbers than normal. When they made their 6000 mile journey to us from their winter airspace in Africa, it is thought that they hit severe storms in Italy, France and Spain. It is believed they were badly hit, with many dying through starvation or hypothermia. We’ve just had a prolonged bad weather spell here which can’t have helped breeding swifts. We hope for the best for these fantastic little birds. Hopefully we won’t get a problem with grounded swifts (eg fledglings jumping before they are ready) but if you do, there is advice here https://www.swift-conservation.org/SwiftFirstAid.htm
I would add Tiggywinkes Wildlife Hospital, Haddenham to the list of carers, it’s where I would take a swift casualty. If anyone needs a swift “ambulance driver” I am happy to be contacted on 07972 833 408
I have no news yet on various swift projects around the county, but I can confirm that my swift box (in its second season) has no occupants. This would seem to bear out the “low numbers” theory as my village normally has a good population of swifts and interest was shown in my box last year.
The month of June began with the appearance of some old moth friends showing their faces for the first time this year. It is always reassuring to see them, to see that they have survived the rigours of the past year and are in good shape to continue. Things have rather slowed down over the past week with the heavy rain, winds and sometimes cool temperatures. My mothing has been confined to the garden in Newport Pagnell and Linford Lakes Nature Reserve using Robinson Moth Traps (See previous notes of for information about traps).
On the night of June 1st, 294 moths of 76 species visited the trap at Linford Lakes and amongst the catch was a lovely Oak-Hook-tip. It is one of seven Hook-tip moths to be found in Britain and as the name suggests its caterpillars feed on the foliage of oak trees and the Hook part refers to the wing shape. It is able to complete its life cycle twice in the year and will be on the wing again in late July to mid September.
Another on the 1st at Linford Lakes was one of the carpet moths, a Green Carpet. There are 54 species of Carpet moths and none of them eat carpets. They are named so because of the delicate patterns on their wings. It too has 2 generations in a year and the caterpillars feed on Bedstraws and Cleavers.
June 3rd was not quite as busy as the June 1st with some 221 moths of 50 species at Linford Lakes. One that took the eye though was the Cream-bordered Green Pea. A friend of mine observed that it sounded more like something that should be on a restaurant menu rather than the name fora moth. It is a nationally scarce moth whose caterpillars feed on Willows and Sallows and seems well established at Linford Lakes.
The China-mark moths are emerging and have been visiting the trap too. There are 4 species: Small China-mark, Brown China-mark, Beautiful China-mark and photographed here, the Ringed China-mark. They have aquatic or sub-aquatic caterpillars. The Ringed China-mark caterpillar feeds on Pondweeds, Canadian Waterweed and other plants and spins leaves together and lives in an open web.
In the garden this week it was good to see the return of the Orange Pine Tortrix. It is a micro-moth whose caterpillar feeds on Scots Pine where it makes a silk tube along a twig. The moth was first recorded in Britain in Surrey in 1945 so it has been here just 3 more years than me.
Text and photos kindly supplied by Gordon Redford. Click here to read the previous edition of Moth Notes
The birds went straight to the platform this spring and laid 4 eggs, 3 of which hatched and have done extremely well.
The first one fledged on June 3rd, but something wasn’t quite right and it had to be rescued, fortunately a member of staff there has a partner who is a VET, it was found to be dehydrated. It spent a couple of days with the VET where she (it was sexed) recovered well. This fortunately coincided with Rod Stewart performing so we didn’t have any trouble with Peregrine chicks causing havoc in the crowd.
Yesterday (6th) the other two chicks were still on the platform, but exercising vigorously, one nearly came off, but hung on, fledging imminent. At lunchtime the rescued bird was released at a high point in the stadium and after sitting still for a few minutes it then took off extremely strongly and went straight out of the stadium ! I expect it will return.
A grey damp afternoon and threatening dark clouds set the scene leading up to our visit to Stonepit Field (SP 84489 42160) on Tuesday 4th June 2019, but by the time we gathered the clouds had just begun to clear so the evening ended with bright sun and clear blue skies. Surprisingly, with such unappealing weather in the lead up, around 20 members had assembled to enjoy the visit.
Mike LeRoy gave a brief explanation of the site’s geology and its history since the 1960s. The woodland flanking the Railway Walk dates from the end of the 1970s, part of the New Town ‘advance tree planting’ by Milton Keynes Development Corporation (MKDC). In the early 1990s a MKDC project was implemented to convert a former barley field into flower-rich limestone grassland. A ‘scrape’ of exposed limestone was formed at the same time. More recently, around 2007, two flood-management ponds were inserted into the lower slopes for the nearby housing at Oakridge Park.
Our walkabout started by the ‘scrape’ with Gordon Redford demonstrating use of a pheromone lure to attract Six-belted Clearwing moths Bembecia ichneumoniformis; a demonstration because these day-fliers are known to be present at the site but don’t turn out readily on a cool evening. The next centre of attention was Bee Orchids, which had come into flower on the scrape over the previous couple of days.
We then formed several smaller groups. One led by Harry Appleyard circled the more wooded parts of the site and the ponds in search of birds, and found a surprisingly wide range as this is not known as a bird site. 30 species were seen or heard, including Grey Heron and Little Egret on the east pond, at least two Bullfinch and over 16 Wood Pigeon, as well as two Song Thrush, with one singing beautifully.
An invertebrate search group was led by Gordon Redford. The wide range of plants and dense grassland at the site attract many insects and other invertebrates, but far more of them on a sunny daytime than on a cool evening after rain. Over 20 butterfly species are seen in the grassland and on hedges and trees, but not on this evening. Day-flying moths are also seen here and the Burnet-companion moth Euclidia glyphicais seen widely at present. The search group found five other moth species including the micro-moth Agapeta hamana. Several other insects were found including a whole group of Bishop’s mitre shieldbugs Aelia acuminata. A Common malachite beetle Malachius bipustulatuswas found as well as a Swollen-thighed beetle Oedemera nobilis.Several of the common Bumblebees were still flying low in the vegetation.
A tree and shrubs group was led by Alan Birkett. 15 tree species were found and nine shrubs. These included Alder Buckthorn Frangula alnus, which is a foodplant of the Brimstone butterfly. A few exotic tree species were not identified, but these were not generally thriving.
Most opted to identify flora, led by Roy Maycock and by searches with Mary Sarre and Jenny Mercer. Although this is largely a created grassland from seeds sown over 25 years ago, other plants have found their way there. Only a few meadow grass species had been sown: these had been selected as ‘low competition’ species, together with a semi-parasitic plant, Yellow Rattle Rhinanthus minor. This has enabled other flowering plants to flourish. The group found another semi-parasitic plant in small numbers: Common Broomrape Orobanche minor. The remnants of plenteous Cowslip were widely across the grassland and the Buttercups were past their best, but the group found a wide range of meadow flowers including: vetches & trefoils, bedstraws, three plantain species, cranesbills, scabious, white and red campion, and numerous other plants. One of particular interest was the small bright crimson flower on a grass-like stem of the Grass Vetchling Linifolius nissolia. Other plants such as Yarrow Achillea millefoliumwere just emerging.
We had a surprisingly productive evening and found much more than might have been expected so soon after rain. The delight was a site full of flowering plants and alive with small creatures in a fine evening sunlight.
I was very interested to read all about the activities of MK Swifts in the Summer 2019 “Magpie”. Living at Gawcott, near Buckingham, I am a little too far outside MK Swifts’ catchment area to make a meaningful contribution so I operate as Buckingham Swifts. I find that the most productive study is that carried out on one’s home patch and thus I am getting to know Gawcott’s swifts really well. Gawcott has an unusual “problem” with swifts – we have a huge main colony and at least one secondary colony BUT the big colony is in a horribly dilapidated property. This property is occupied by an elderly couple who have lifetime rights of occupation but there is a messy legal tangle to come when they pass away. The property is falling down around their ears and the assumption is that when they do pass on, the property will be sold for millions to a developer and torn down and redeveloped (yes, it has been reported to BMERC but at best this could only mitigate, not stop, redevelopment). Gawcott swifts thus have plenty of nest sites, they don’t really need my nestbox and accordingly I have not yet succeeded in getting it occupied.
I network with other swift enthusiasts nationwide and use the website Swift Conservation a lot. This is a not for profit organisation run by Edward Meyer. The site is packed with useful information and has a section for “local experts and groups”. You will see that both Milton Keynes Swifts and Buckingham Swifts are listed here.
Back in summer 2018, I was surprised to be contacted by a lady who asked me “in your capacity as Secretary of Buckinghamshire Swifts” could I design her some swift boxes to install in her church tower. This came as rather a surprise, particularly since there is no such thing as “Buckinghamshire Swift Group” and I would not even be able to put a shelf up! However, through a Swift Conservation affiliate group called Action for Swifts (AfS), I knew of a genius designer called Dick Newell who I put the enquirer in touch with. I did very little else than “signpost” (and organise a crowdfunding appeal to fund the materials) but off they all went and produced a fantastic result at Dinton (near Aylesbury) church.
I have included the text of the report that was eventually posted on the AfS webpage.
Thursday, 28 March 2019
Dinton Church
This is a job particularly well done, so should be an inspiration to others. Back in August 2018 Sue Hetherington got in touch about swift boxes in the belfry of Saints Peter & Paul in Dinton, Bucks. The belfry has large louvres, more widely spaced than normal, meaning that 2 levels of entrances could fit between each pair of louvres. (We did something like this in St Mary’s, St Neots).
After batting photos and measurements back and forth we, AfS, suggested a configuration (see below) which has been very competently adapted and implemented by carpenter Nick Deschamps, resulting in 16 new nest boxes in the belfry. Rosemary Jackson takes up the story:
The Church of SS Peter & Paul, Dinton
“The idea for installing swift nest boxes in our village church was triggered by three incidents in 2017.
We went to the Rutland Bird fair in August 2017 and there we saw the Action for Swifts display. An enthusiastic carpenter had brought the front of a bank of nest boxes which he told us fitted in his church tower and had attracted a new colony of swifts to his village.
Also, in 2017 there was a study group amongst the churches in my area about the idea of the Eco Church and how we could make our churches more environmentally friendly.
The next summer I found out that the only nest site for swifts in my area had been blocked up and we were then very concerned that we would not get swifts back in the village. Happily, one pair nested somewhere because we had five swifts screaming around the village in August and giving us such great pleasure as they always do.
I decided that I would act to promote swifts somehow. I wrote a book about a family of swifts for young children and an artist friend illustrated it. By amazing serendipity her husband had just retired and was looking for a project to pursue and the challenge of making swift nest boxes and installing them in the church tower fired his imagination.
The Church of SS Peter & Paul, Dinton – 16 boxes installed
We realized very quickly that this was no straightforward project. After examining the Action for Swifts website and contacting a Bucks Bird Club friend we were put in touch with Dick Newell who developed a plan of 16 nest boxes to fit our very ancient church louvres inside the bell chamber. Nick set to work on the carpentry and all the winter of 2018/2019 worked on 4 banks of 4 nest boxes. Eventually when the weather got warmer, we were able to try a model in the bell chamber, and eventually mid-March fitted the real things, even putting chicken feathers in the nesting cups to get the swifts started on the soft furnishings.
At the beginning of May we plan to start playing the screaming swift family calls to alert swifts coming back from Africa that there are nest boxes here inviting occupancy.
We also plan that, should we be fortunate enough to attract out own family of swifts we will fit a camera into the nesting box and arrange a CCTV so that we can have a birdwatching day with the local school children, setting up telescopes and a laptop with live pictures and information on this amazing miracle bird.
British wildlife is truly wonderful!
Rosemary Jackson, Church warden
Funnily enough, this project did have an effect on MK Swifts. Martin Kincaid had been approached by Newport Pagnell church where they also wanted to put swift nestboxes in the tower. Martin came along and looked at the Dinton project and was suitably impressed (the carpenter had done an incredible job) He tried to contact Newport Pagnell again but the interest seemed to have withered on the vine. However, he knew that the school opposite The Cock at Stony Stratford wanted to put boxes up so he took up this project instead. He asked Andrew Hetherington to construct 4 boxes which he was pleased to do (and to kindly donate). These boxes, plus, I believe some purchased ones are now installed at the school, as reported in the MK Swifts report.
To date, I am not aware of any take up by swifts of any of the new boxes but this is to be expected. It would normally take a minimum of 2 years before swifts will take to new boxes – even with a calling system in operation.
Speaking of AfS, the group have organised the second annual Swift Awareness Week (SAW). This is taking place from 22nd to 30th June 2019. An eclectic series of events will be taking place nationwide and some national publicity will hopefully begin soon – maybe even Chris Packham will be kind enough to mention it again on “Springwatch”! Click here for the Swift Conservation events map
There will be a small pop up display at the Bucks County Museum in Aylesbury which some of you may care to have a look at if you find yourself in the town during the period.
I’ve not listed “The Crown” at Gawcott as a SAW event but I’d be pleased to meet anyone there during the swift season for a “swift half”. The big colony at the next door building can be observed from there. Late evening on a fine summer’s evening is a recommended time, leading up to around 9pm.
Text by Sue Hetherington 6 June 2019
Click here to read Sue’s article on Swift Awareness Week 2019
Linford Lakes NR BioBlitz by David Easton. 24 June 2016
Britain is very lucky to have a rich history in biological recording. Natural history was a popular pastime in Victorian Britain and our taxonomists were (and still are) responsible for the description and recording of species across the world. As a result of this history, the UK has a well developed network of organisations involved in biological recording. Getting your head around what these recording organisations do and how they can help you can be confusing, so we hope this will provide some clarity. This list is by no means exhaustive, but hopefully it will be useful to both those new to biological recording and those already involved.
A fieldfare sightings has been confirmed by an RSPB Birder whom I met at Pilch on Friday last. They were very late to arrive and then left late from North Bucks this year. There is a great proliferation of Green-winged orchids and many cowslips still in full flower. Great for all you photographers out there, as colour of both is great.
There are strong purple to pink in the variations on the orchids this year which showed so well in the dullish 4pm onwards light on showery evenings.
Marsh marigolds are much more extensive this year with several new clumps in both fields.
The impact of BBOWT WORK Parties on clearing bramble in both field is welcome with very extensive areas of Adders Tongue on ridge and furrow clearings just in front of the trees area at far end of larger Pilch Field, uphill on the side of old pond area.
Dr Erica McAlister, of London’s Natural History Museum, talks to Jim Al-Khalili about the beautiful world of flies and the 2.5 million specimens for which she is jointly responsible.
According to Erica, a world without flies would be full of faeces and dead bodies. Unlike, for example, butterflies and moths, whose caterpillars spend their time devouring our crops and plants, fly larvae tend to help rid the world of waste materials and then, as adults, perform essential work as pollinators. Yet they are rather unloved by humans who tend to regard them as pests at best and disease vectors at worst.
2019 is international Year of the Fly, and dipterists and entomologists around the world are working to raise the profile of the many thousands of species so far known to science.
Erica tells Jim about her work in the museum, cataloguing and identifying new species either sent in from other researchers or discovered by her and her colleagues on swashbuckling trips around the world. Modern gene sequencing techniques are revealing new chapters in the life histories of species, and her collection of 300 year old dead flies continues to expand our knowledge of how the world works.
Perhaps in the future, she argues, we will all be eating pasta and bread made from fly-larvae protein, or using small tea-bag like packets of maggots in our wounds to clean out gangrenous infection.
A glance at my notebook in which I record moths in my garden in Newport Pagnell shows very clearly that there have been some cold nights and not many moths recorded. Moths do not like cold, wind and rain and we have had some of all three since I last wrote. I was wondering what am I going to write about in these notes when a fellow mother came to my rescue. Andy Harding has permission from the owners (Bucks, Berks and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust) and the Warden of Little Linford Wood to trap and record moths there and he asked if I would like to join him at opening up time on April 17th.
I am not sure either of us was expecting much judging by our results at our homes but what a surprise was in store for us. The white sheet upon which the trap had been placed had one on there to make us gasp. It was a Lunar-marbled Brown (pictured above). It is nationally regarded as a common species but in my 24 years of mothing in this area I have recorded it just 7 times. It’s caterpillars feed on Oaks of which there are plenty at Little Linford Wood.
There was better to follow because on an oak tree adjacent to the trap was a Frosted Green whose caterpillars are also oak feeders. This was a new moth for me.
There were 2 other moths that had us salivating, neither rare, but both rather nice to see. The first was a Water Carpet which I first saw in Northumberland in the 1980’s. The caterpillars of this moth feed on bedstraws.
The second was a Purple Thorn, a beautiful moth that manages to get through the life cycle of egg-caterpillar-pupa-flying insect twice in the year so watch these notes in August for a re-appearance.
Nature Reserves and land owned and managed by the Wildlife Trusts are very important for moths because the plants and trees upon which they rely during their life cycles should have some measure of protection. Moths themselves are very important not least because all parts of their lives provide food for other wildlife.
I need not have worried really about having moths to show and talk about because today, Good Friday, at Linford Lakes Nature Reserve, a Chocolate-tip. Just right for Easter I thought.
Text and photos kindly supplied by Gordon Redford.
Photos:
Lunar Marbled Brown and Frosted Green
Frosted Green – side and top views
Water Carpet
Purple Thorn
Chocolate-tip
Click here to read the previous edition of Moth Notes
Tree Bumblebee by Harry Appleyard, Tattenhoe 24 February 2017
Welcome to Bucks Buzzing, and your chance to help the insect pollinators that help all of us.
Pollinators come in a range of shapes and sizes from bumblebees to butterflies, moths, hoverflies, and of course, honey bees.
We depend on pollinators for much of our food including apples, pears, strawberries, plums, peas, beans, and for other important plants like wildflowers.
But our pollinators are falling in numbers and are in severe decline across Buckinghamshire and nationally.
Great excitement today because my Emperor Moth pupae, which I have kept in the garden since late July, last year were waking up. Yesterday, mid-afternoon, a female chewed her way out of one of the cocoons and crawled her way up the net that I had placed her in. This morning I placed the net on a some fencing in the garden and, lo and behold, when I was in the shower, my wife called, “ there are males in the garden and I have netted one”. We have been married 47 years so I knew she meant moths.
If you are reading this with no knowledge of moths you may be thinking what is this man on about? Well, here’s the thing (Where has that come from? Everyone is now saying here’s the thing, me included). Moths and Butterflies, the Lepidoptera, have a life cycle of egg-caterpillar-pupa-adult. Some can achieve these 4 stages a couple of times a year, some it takes a year and some 3, 4 or more years. The Emperor Moth though, a native moth, is one of those that does it all in one year usually.
I was given Emperor eggs some ten years ago as a gift and have been rearing them each year since so the sequence of events is well practised. When moths emerge from the pupae ( usually in mid to late April , so note they are early this year) I separate the males from the females, which is simple with Emperor Moths not the least because they are visually different but also the male moths have feathery antennae while the females do not. The females are then placed in a net hanging from the washing line. The males are placed in a net too but locked up in the garage.
Where I am now with my female Emperor is that she is in the net on the washing line and, by emitting pheromones, has attracted a “wild” male which my wife has caught. This is part of the plan because I want the female mated with a “wild” male rather than with her brothers who are in the garage.
I, now dried and clothed I must say, have come down into the garden and have introduced the netted “wild” male to the net containing the female. He flaps around in a frenzy, it seems every where the female is not (oh! the passion of youth) but what is this? Another male is in the garden, attracted by the pheromones, who is caught and put in the net with the male and female and this boy knows what is what. He couples up with the female almost immediately. I leave them to it, not sure if insect porn is a crime. One hour later they are uncoupled. This troubles me a little because in the past those that have coupled stay that way for two to three hours. Has he done the business? I have done though as I usually do, which is once uncoupling is completed, placed the female in a box with egg laying material, and hope for the best. The males have been released. It is the best I can do for them.
I am writing this on the night of the 29thMarch so will not know till tomorrow whether eggs have been laid. I need not have worried though- the eggs are laid, I just hope they are fertilized. It usually takes three weeks for caterpillars to emerge from the eggs. Just watch this space.
Text and pictures kindly provided by Gordon Redford
Pictures from top to bottom: Emperors in cop Emperor Moth Eggs Female Emperor Moth Male Emperor Moth
Click here to read the previous edition of Moth Notes
Julie Lane asked for help in identifying this funds. It was seen in Salcey Forest on 31 March 2019.
Justin Long has identified the subject of Julie’s picture
“I’m pretty sure she has the immature form of the slime mould Enteridium lycoperdon. This will shortly coalesce and form a silvery coloured skin, before the spore mass inside turns into a brown powdery mass, with the skin eventually splitting to release the spores.”
I recently took my car for an MoT at Arden Park Garage Services in Old Wolverton Rd, Wolverton. I have used the garage for years for MoTs and the garage has the benefit that as well as providing a reasonable priced MoT, just happens to be directly opposite Floodplain Forest Nature Reserve.
So, instead of sitting in the waiting room reading an old magazine, I spent a very pleasant hour rising the reserve. I walked down to the Viaduct hide and then visited the Farm and Iron Trunk hides before returning using the path past the Manor Farm Court offices.
A Western Conifer Seed Bug Leptoglossus occidentalis (see photo) was found on Bradwell Common on 23rd March 2019, in almost exactly the same place it was recorded four years before on 28th March 2015.
Leptoglossus occidentalis is native to the USA west of the Rocky Mountains but has spread in America and was an accidental introduction to Europe through Italy in 1999, with first English records in 2007. It feeds on Pines, and sure enough, there are trees of both Scots Pine Pinus sylvestris and Corsican Pine Pinus nigra subsp. larico nearby in Bradwell Common. As both of these tree species were widely planted in and around housing areas and in the linear parks, by Milton Keynes Development Corporation, there is a good chance of you finding them this spring.
Look out for the squarish ‘shoulders’, the long splayed out antennae, the swollen femurs on the legs, the broken white lines at the outer edges of the wings and the rectangular white ‘box’ margins on the inner edges of its folded wings. It is one of the ‘true bugs’, the Hemiptera which means ‘half-winged’ and is in the family Coreidae. Hemiptera are plant-feeders that have sucking mouthparts tucked beneath them. Leptoglossus occidentalis sucks juices from pine-cones. Apparently this species make a buzzing sound when flying and can emit a smelly spray as a defence.
I set 2 x 40W Skinner traps last night at Goosey Bank ,Nr Olney for the first time as well as the Robinson at Linford Lakes Nature Reserve and the usual Robinson at home so had a busy early couple of hours at the beginning of the day.
I was intrigued to see what may turn up at Goosey Bank so woke at 0500hrs, still dark, so too early to set off. I kept myself busy with some ironing before setting off at about 0600hrs. It was too early to even pick up a newspaper on the way.
Arrived around 06:20hrs and went to the trap set on the Bank itself and recorded my first moth there, a March Moth on the veins around the bulb. That promising start did not continue though when the top was removed and the egg boxes inspected. One more March Moth was found and that was it. The moon was very bright and full last night so may be that explains the low number.
And so down to the second trap situated deliberately close to a large willow bursting with catkins on the lower ground-nothing on the outside of the trap to excite but I could see some moths inside. 18 moths later of 5 species, none of which were March Moths, saw me packing things up and wheezing somewhat carrying those 12V batteries up the steep slope. The 5 included the 3 regulars for this time of year, Hebrew Character, Common Quaker, Clouded Drab along with Small Quakers and a Shoulder Stripe.
Next stop was Linford Lakes Nature Reserve where a Cetti’s Warbler sang me a greeting as I arrived. Again though, it was rather quiet. 17 moths attracted to the 125W Mercury Vapour bulb and this time 6 species; as well as the regular triumvirate mentioned above there was a Small Quaker, a very fine Twin-spotted Quaker and a micro-moth with no common name, Agonopterix ocellana.
At home the max/min thermometer recorded a low of 6.6 degrees so wondered whether the trap here may be better than the others already checked but it was not to be. 10 moths of 5 species and only two thirds of the triumvirate, Common Quaker and Hebrew Character. To these were added Early Grey, Shoulder Stripe and a micro moth with a common name much longer than it, a Light Brown Apple Moth (abbreviated to LBAM in my notebook).
47 moths in total then and, by my reckoning, 10 species. That though is only the half of it. It was a lovely morning, I met no one, spoke to no one (except the Cetti’s Warbler) and enjoyed a splendid views across to the Country Park from Goosey Bank. It set me up nicely to deal with our weekly shop at Tesco’s.
Text and pictures kindly provided by Gordon Redford
Pictures from top to bottom: Shoulder Stripe Skinner trap Robinson trap March Moth Hebrew Character Agonopterix ocellana
It is a rare occasion when I find the opportunity to dedicate a really good period of quality time to photography. And when I do, there’s not much I like more than to take a bimble round the woods with camera in hand, finding some fungi to shoot.
And so it was, on a cold but bright January morning, that just such an opportunity presented itself.
My lovely wife was away on a girlie weekend, and nothing else had managed to creep, or even barge its way to the top of my to-do list, so I decided to head up to Linford Lakes Nature Reserve to see what was about.
I had in mind getting some shots of the very photogenic Flammulina velutipes– the Velvet Tough Shank, which grows on hardwoods at this time of year. I already have a photo of this species from a few years back, but it’s not tack sharp, and besides which, my photographic skills and equipment have developed somewhat since then, if you’ll pardon the pun.
Linford Lakes is a good location for another early vernal species too – the Scarlet Elf Cup, and I did indeed find this species, but more about that another time perhaps…
A little technique I have developed over the years is to walk through an area looking for likely specimens or habitats, taking note along the way of anything interesting, and returning to the best spot once I have had a good look around. I have learned through bitter experience not to spend too much time on the first half decent mushroom that I come across, only to then find a much more photogenic specimen, and no time to do it justice!
And it was on this pre-photo recce that I came across this rather striking bracket fungus that I immediately recognised as Fomitopsis pinicola– the Red Banded Polypore. I say that I immediately recognised it, but in fact I had only ever seen this on the Continent before – in France and in Germany, so I had my suspicions that it might just be something a bit more common masquerading as a rarity.
So I took a number of photos from differing angles, including (importantly) the spore-bearing surface, showing the pores or tubes, from which the spores are ejected. I didn’t take any samples, as if it was indeed the Fomitopsis, I was unsure as to whether it had protected status.
Anyway, with that I headed home to do some research, bumping into Jane Grisdale on the way, and also stopping to get some photos of the aforementioned Scarlet Elf Cup. I mentioned to Jane that we might just have something a bit special here, but didn’t get too over enthusiastic, as identifying species on site, without reference material is always risky – especially for a potential rarity.
It turns out that there are 50 records for Fomitopsis pinicolaon the Fungal Records Database of Britain and Ireland (FRDBI), so I figured that we might be in with a chance of a first for the County. So, with excitement mounting, I checked the locations of each of the records on the database, starting with the first record from 1938.
With each record from a location other than Bucks, the chances of finding a county first at Linford Lakes increased, and before long I had reached the end of the list – all 50 species! But, alas, and you can imagine my disappointment, there it was, on the very last listing in the database – the 50th – a record from 2016, from Burnham Beeches, Buckinghamshire…
There was still a chance of course that my identification was wrong, but after conferring with friends at the Bucks Fungus Group, and further confirmation from the National Herbarium at Kew, it is now listed as a good record – the 51st.
So a second for the county, and only the second time this has been recorded on alder, it is still a great find for the Reserve, and, I think, time well spent.
For Northamptonshire’s butterflies 2018 has been a memorable year for many reasons. Not only did we have two national projects in the county but it was also an exceptional season for many of our butterflies. When I first became interested in the serious study of butterflies I’d often hear stories of huge groundings of Purple Hairstreaks, explosive Black Hairstreak years and numerous rare aberrations and colour forms which at the time such spectacles seemed to be confined to the history books so to witness many of these events first hand in 2018 made the year an extraordinary one to say the least.
Click here to see the shortlisted and award winning photos for the 2019 Photo Competition.
A big thank you to tall the talented photographers who entered the competition and especially Justin Long for being awarded first and second place this year.
A small group of hardy souls set off for the Ouse Washes near Ely in Cambridgeshire this Saturday. We left the rain behind in Milton Keynes and after an hour and a half’s drive which culminated in negotiating the long and somewhat hilarious switch back of an access road we arrived on site.
The Ouse washes is a vast area of flooded fenland bordered by high banks and ditches which form part of the flood control system for this area of the fenland. In the winter the area is flooded and is home to large flocks of duck, geese, swans and waders whereas in the summer the water drains away and the resulting wet fen is great for breeding waders.
Our first port of call was the spacious visitor centre where we could have a coffee and watch the busy bird feeders which thronged with tits, greenfinches, goldfinches, reed buntings, house sparrows and most exciting of all handsome rusty coloured tree sparrows.
We then set off eastwards along the track stopping at five hides en route. The water was fairly busy with rafts of coot and ducks such as mallard, wigeon, shovelors, tufties, gadwall, pochard, teal and the occasional goldeneye. There were a few whoopers and mute swans out there and lapwing flocks and every so often a marsh harrier floated by spooking the ducks into the air, testing their fitness. Sadly we didn’t see the hoped for short eared owl on the fields behind the dam but there were kestrels, a sparrowhawk, buzzard and a pair of stonechats on the track just ahead of us.
After a packed lunch back at the visitors centre we set off in the opposite direction and visited three more hides. There were more lapwing and quite large flocks of golden plover in this direction which made a particularly impressive sight as they wheeled and shimmered in the light with a backdrop of Ely cathedral. There must have been a peregrine around at one point as the whole lot went up in an amazing spectacle but sadly none of us spotted it. We also saw a small group of pintails – such a smart duck!
One of the fields behind the dam had a large flock of whooper swans feeding which was good to see as when I was there two weeks earlier the wash was full of them (see photo).
As the skies darkened we made our way back to the centre a tired but happy bunch.
Many thanks to Julie Lane for leading the walk and writing the trip report.
The special edition Magpie for the 50th Anniversary of the MKNHS is now available. There is a printed copy available for every member. To collect your copy please see Lewis at the next few meetings.
If you can’t wait for your printed copy, you can download a pdf version from the publications section of our website.
Following the success of last year’s competition with a large turnout and many high quality prints submitted I hope we can do as well this year. To remind you of the rules:-
All entries must be handed to Martin or Lewis by the end of the January 15thmeeting.
Prints only can be entered.
Maximum size of prints A4 (210x297mm).
Each member may enter a maximum of 2 prints per category. (That’s 8 prints in total). Prints must be unmounted.
The four categories are:-
1) Birds
2) All other animals, including mammals, fish, insects, etc.
3) Plants and fungi.
4) Habitats, geological, astronomical.
Domestic animals and cultivated plants are not eligible.
People must not be a major subject of any photograph. May the best photograph win! It could be yours!
Entire stretches of the M1 motorway near Northampton will be completely shut between January 7 and January 15 overnight while trees on the verges are felled.
However, the trees can’t be allowed to fall and hit the ground or else they could disturb nearby dormice in the area – which means the trees must be slowly lowered onto lorry beds using specialist machines, then chipping them in separate vehicles.
The Woodland Trust has released an interactive map which shows the locations of the UK’s oldest trees. The Ancient Tree Inventory can help you find the UK’s oldest trees by location, by tree species and by status.
On the map each tree’s marker includes an ‘A’, ‘V’ or ‘N’ to indicate if the tree is of ancient, veteran or notable status. Ancient trees are those that are in the third and final stages of their life. The age of this final stage varies for different species of trees, as some species live longer than others. Oaks, yews and sweet chestnuts can live to over a 1,000 years old. Veteran trees are old trees which haven’t quite reached ancient status. Notable trees are usually mature large trees which for some reason stand out in their local environment.
Anyone can add ancient, veteran or notable trees to the Ancient Tree Inventory. The Woodland Trust has a recording guide which provides instructions on how to measure a tree and how to record different tree forms.
This link will take you to a copy of the map centered on Milton Keynes
If you have any natural history books you no longer need that can be sold to raise funds for the MK Natural History Society, please bring them to Tuesday’s meeting (30th) as soon as you can after 7.30pm. We aim to sell them that evening.
The results of a post mortem conducted on an otter found dead in Irthlingborough a year ago have just been released – and reveal, shockingly, that it was shot several times at close range
Floodplains occupy only 5% of the land area in the UK, yet deliver disproportionately for people in terms of flooding and nutrient retention. The lack of semi natural habitats and poor functionality in floodplains reduces our resilience to floods and drought, reduces the abundance of pollinating insects and natural pest control agents, and reduces the potential for carbon sequestration and water quality improvements.”
I rose in a bit of a rush as my son had arranged a tour of Chelsea’s football Ground, Stamford Bridge, for my 70thbirthday and was due at 0900hrs. I had set my Robinson moth trap in the garden as usual and was on my way to check it when I spied a large grey moth on the side of the garden shed. I hurried to the garage to collect a Johnson’s Cotton Bud container as I reckoned it would be large enough to house the moth and the back to the shed only to find that the moth was not there. Disappointed, I looked down to the ground and there it was. It had dropped off the shed and on the ground where it was showing not only the upper wings but also the under wings and there was the blue.
It was a Clifden Nonpareil. There have been sightings south and west of here recently and this is believed to be the first for the north of the County. The moth was first described in this country by Benjamin Wilkes as the Cleifden Nonpareil in his book “British Butterflies and Moths” (1749). It states that the moth was found on an Ash tree, near Cleifden in Buckinghamshire in the month of July. Sadly, the year is not given. Cleifden or Clifden is the modern Cliveden, an estate on the edge of the Thames near Maidenhead and now owned by the National Trust.
A great start to the day in which blue was certainly the colour as it is Chelsea’s colour too.
Père David’s deer (Elaphurus davidianus) by Bob Phillips, Woburn Abbey 28 August 2018
Sika deer (Cervus nippon) by Bob Phillips, Woburn Abbey 28 August 2018
We met at Woburn Church car park at 7 pm on a warm late summer evening, dry with some sunshine. 30 members on the 2.5 mile walk to see deer, trees and water fowl.
We carefully kept to nominated foot paths, passing the sign showing deer casualties from traffic going through the park (2017 12 deaths, 2018 12 deaths so far with 4 months to go). There were signs warning of ticks and consequent Lyme disease on entry to park (Colin wore long red socks to prevent this).
The first part of the walk was through an arboretum with Lime, Oak, Cedar, Hornbeam, Scots Pine and Redwoods. The height of tall Lime tree near the path was estimated at 87 foot, and Redwood at 134 foot using triangulation and measured paces method.
The second part of the walk was at the entrance to the grassland area of the grounds where we were able to see 10 Red Deer stags (antlers up to 15 points), 30 Pere David Deer, 100 Sika Deer, 30 Fallow Deer, 3 Chinese Water Deer and 1 Muntjac. The small long pond had a mallard and one Garganey female (also seen on 27thAug).
Other birds seen included Heron, Sparrowhawk and Buzzard. Returned to car park via circular walk to and through the village of Woburn.
The Buckinghamshire Bird Club have published a very interesting article on theSpotted Crake at Willen Lake
A few regular visits to Willen Lake (north) by Mike and Ted Wallen turned up trumps when they found a Spotted Crake early on the bank holiday Monday. Unfortunately it was rather distant at about 350 metres range! News was soon out and the bird was seen by many local birders as well as others from further afield. The bird remained all day and was again present on 28th August. Hopefully it will stay around for a while.
Thanks to Janice Robinson and Mike LeRoy for their input. The most likely option seems to be:
It could be a male. Males don’t have pollen baskets, have a seventh abdominal segment (females have six), they have a more blunt tip to the abdomen with no sting, their antennae have an extra segment and curve away from the face. Perhaps a closer look at the original photo might show some of these features? The possibilities then are:
1. The male of the Red-tailed bumblebee Bombus lapidarius, which has some yellow on the face, a band of yellow on the front of the thorax and a narrow one at the rear of the thorax, as well as the red tail. Males have visibly longer hair; the hair of the photographed bumble looks rather punky. Males of this species emerge from June.
2. The male of the Red-tailed cuckoo-bee Bombus rupestris, which has two faded yellow bands on front and back of the thorax, but also narrow pale straw-coloured bands on the abdomen, and the red tail. Males emerge July and August.
The Bilberry bumblebee Bombus monticola tends to be in mountains, uplands and moorlands. The only place I have seen it is amongst heather close to the Kerry Ridgeway in Shropshire, close to the Welsh border.
Original Post:Julie would like help to identify a Fuzzy Bumble (no it’s not something you do after a night at the pub).
In Julie words
Not a great photo but the only bee I can see that resembles it in any way is the bilberry bumblebee, bombus monticola which is not meant to be in this part of the country.
Lewis Dickinson led the walk. He explained that the site was important for whorled water-milfoil and bladderwort.
During the second World War gravel was extracted from Felmersham gravel pits to be used in the construction of local war-time air fields and other military needs. Over the decades the disused and flooded gravel pits have been managed as a nature reserve and they provide a protected area for many varieties of flora and fauna. It is also important as bird sanctuary, both as a breeding habitat and for birds on migration.
It is one of the best sites in Bedfordshire for dragonflies and damselflies. One problem managing the site is that areas have become overrun with Water Soldier. You can view an interesting video showing its removal using the Truxor Amphibious Vehicle
Lewis explained that there was some concerns raised with the removal of the Water Soldier as they were hoping it would attract the Norfolk Hawker dragonfly to the site. As a compromise, the Water Soldier is being removed from most of the lakes but is being left in one contained area.
To start the walk we crossed the road and headed North East where we had good views of damselflies, dragonflies and butterflies. There was lots of dragonfly activity, some ovipositing, a lot of aerial combat and one unfortunate dragonfly being eaten by another. After 1.5km we turned right as if we continued on our path we would have reached the fishing lakes which tend to be more shaded with less diversity.
We tried to spot Bladderwort in some of the lakes. There were no yellow flowers visible, but some people thought they could see the small hollow sacs that are used to capture and digest tiny animals such as insect larvae, aquatic worms, and water fleas.
We passed a couple of active badger sets and we saw a couple of Buzzards circling and calling overhead. Crossing the road, we continued in a circle back to the car park where we had excellent views of a Brown Hawker perched conveniently on a low branch.
We didn’t keep a species list, but some of the species we saw were:
Butterflies
Green-veined White
Holly Blue
Large White
Speckled Wood
Dragon/Damselflies
Brown Hawker
Common BlueDamselfly
Emerald Damselfly
Rudddy Darter
Small Red-eyed Damselfly
Insects
Dark bush-cricket
Dock bug (Coreus marginatus)
Forest shieldbug (Pentatoma rufipes)
Hoverfly Helophilus pendulus
Scorpion Fly
Moths
Straw Dot
Mother of Pearl
Click on any of the pictures for a larger image.
Unless captioned otherwise, photos are by Peter Hassett licensed under CC BY-NC-SA
I have been reading a fascinating book Dragonfly by David Chandler and Steve Cham where they describe a stage in the dragonfly life cycle that is new to me:
What comes out of the egg?
Often a Dragonfly’s life cycle is simplified as egg—larva—adult—egg. This misses out one vital if short—lived stage — the prolarva.
The prolarva is what comes out of the egg. It can leap and squirm, and its job is to get to water, which is often where it finds itself on hatching anyway. But that isn’t always the case. The Willow Emerald Lester Lestes viridis damselfly is unusual among its near relatives in that it lays its eggs in twigs and branches over water. When things go well, its prolarvae simply fall into the water. When things don’t go well, however, the prolarvae find themselves on the ground and have to make their way to water. Prolarvae are not able to walk or swim, but they can have remarkable jumping abilities — one leap from the prolarva of the Japanese Relict Dragonfly Epiophlebia superstes can take it about 100 times further than its own length.
When it gets to water, a prolarva’s job is done. It moults and a very small true larva takes to the water. The prolarva may have survived for just seconds or perhaps an hour or two. Those of Aeschnophlebia longistigma, an Asian species, can make it to 14 hours.
Julie Lane has recommended “For the Birds”, part of the Milton Keynes International Festival:
I thought I should draw peoples attention to a wonderful lighting and sound installation called ‘For the Birds’ taking place this week at Linford Manor Park as part of the MK International Festival. It is a truly magical experience and great fun and for anyone who is interested in birds it would be a pity to miss out on it. Quite what the local wildlife makes of it is a different matter but it is well worth a visit. Tickets are £15 available from the Box office 01908 280800 and it is on in the evenings Wed 25th – Sat 28th July.
We have been colour ringing black-tailed godwits at the Nene and Ouse Washes to help us understand more about the birds’ movements in the breeding and non-breeding season. Godwits are known to undertake long and often complex migratory journeys, and the marking of individual birds provides valuable information about the remarkable journeys these birds undertake.
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Over the past few years I’ve posted several pieces about how colleagues, students and myself have been monitoring one aspect of the environmental impact of the University of Northampton’…
The Society held its second weekend meet of the summer at the Forestry Commission’s Bucknell Wood near Silverstone on Saturday 30th June 2018. The heatwave of the past week showed no signs of abating and by the time we started at 10.30am it was already hot and humid. Leader Martin Kincaid welcomed everyone to the wood, hoping that it would live up to the success of the 2017 visit at least in terms of butterflies.
A walk along the first wide forest track from the car park was immediately rewarded with sightings of many butterflies including the common whites and browns as well as White Admiral and Silver-washed Fritillary. The woods around Silverstone are known for the rare silver-green colour form of the latter, known as Valezina. Last year we saw a number of these lovely insects but we were content to get good views of a single Valezinathis time as she visited bramble flowers. One of the target species was Wood White butterfly, which has been on the wing in Northants since the beginning of May. We could not be entirely sure if the butterflies we were seeing were the last of the spring brood or the first of the summer emergence although most of them looked rather fresh. Paul Lund’s outstanding photo of a wood white in flight last year has won him several photography awards – and he claims to have bettered it on this visit!
Butterflies and other insects were everywhere but with the intense heat they were very active and tended not to settle very often. Half way along the main track the cry of ‘Emperor’ went up. Eyes were raised to the oak canopy and indeed one – and then two – Purple Emperors were soaring. Our group of 17 stood stock still and before long a spectacular male Purple Emperor flew around us in tight circles. Martin tried the ancient art of emperor baiting – leaving some smelly anchovies at the edge of the track! Although these were not successful in tempting His Majesty down (at least while we were there) Joe Clinch was treated to an audience when the butterfly settled on his shirt and spent about a minute there. What an honour for Joe! Over the next two hours we must have seen at least 10 emperors, including one female, soaring overhead and landing on the tracks. However, although we caught glimpses of the purple sheen we didn’t get the classic view – much to the photographer’s frustration.
On the return leg to the car park, heat and thirst were beginning to affect us! However, most of us obtained good views of Purple Hairstreaks flying around oaks, more purple emperors and a wonderful display as six male fritillaries chased an unmated female. Julian found an immaculate White-letter Hairstreak on the ground and several more were seen flying around elm trees. Among the other insects seen were a Six-belted Clearwing moth (although they did not come to the pheromone lures as hoped), Scarlet Tigermoth, Brown Hawker, Southern Hawker and Emperor dragonflies and the long-horn beetle Rutpela maculata. We also saw the increasingly common Beautiful Demoiselle in shady areas of the wood. Birds seen or heard included Marsh Tit, Chiffchaff, Raven, Red Kite, Buzzard and a Spotted Flycatcher in an area of Spruce. Mary Sarre was listing the plants and among the highlights were Broad-leaved Helleborine and Zig-zag Clover. The jury is still out on False Fox Sedge.
We were all ready for a cold drink and a bit to eat by the time we finished at 1.40pm. But what a wood this is.
Meadow Farm reserve is part of the Upper Ray Meadows, a network of wet meadows south of Bicester, and is only open to groups booked in advance. It was acquired by BBOWT four years ago, as it had been recognised as a prime example of unimproved, flood-plain grassland which had not been ‘cultivated’ in living memory. The river Ray runs through the site, currently reduced to a small trickle, but source of regular winter flooding to the extent that a bird survey this spring had to be abandoned as the water was too deep to wade through. This was hard to imagine on such a gloriously dry, hot, sunny evening!
The diversity of key wet meadow species was immediately obvious when we started our walk around the meadows. At first glance, we were met with a sea of Great Burnet, but a few steps in and many other species were to be seen, such as Fine-leaved and Tubular Water-Dropwort, Pepper Saxifrage, Yellow Rattle, Meadow Vetchling, Knapweed and Tufted Vetch, plus grasses such as Crested Dogstail and Meadow Foxtail. A patch of the rare True Fox Sedge was the botanical highlight of the evening! As we walked through the meadows, the contrast between the diversity on the ridges and smaller range of plants in the furrows became more obvious. The ridge and furrow system here is thought to date back to the 1600s.
Our BBOWT guides for the evening, Marcus and Graham, pointed out the plants and explained how small an area of wet meadows now remain in the UK and the significance of the Upper Ray complex. They also explained the management of the Meadows to maintain this diversity of flora and highlighted the contrast with a couple of fields acquired from a neighbouring farmer more recently where the diversity was low and the dominant plants were thistle and docks. They explained how they were attempting to remove the thistles and increase the diversity, but this was likely to take more than 10 years. Four days of thistle pulling by up to 12 volunteers a day had removed 16 one ton sacks of thistle, but made such a small impression that they were going to have to resort to selective herbicide in future!
We couldn’t have anticipated the heatwave when the evening was planned, but it meant that there were far more butterflies and other insects flying than is often the case on our Tuesday evening walks, even after 9pm. The hedges around the meadows are being managed for Black and Brown Hairstreaks, both of which have been found here. We searched hard for any lingering Black Hairstreaks without success, but the numbers of Meadow Browns, Ringlets, Marbled Whites and Skippers was impressive. We rounded off a very enjoyable evening with refreshments at the farmhouse which now serves as a BBOWT base for the area watching the full moon rising in one direction and a beautiful sunset in the other!.
This month (June 2018), a stretch of grassland along Grafton Street (V6) between Bradville and New Bradwell is a riot of colour. In previous years, these grass verges have been mown in early June but following concerns raised by local residents, The Parks Trust has reviewed the management regime for this area and the grass is not cut until later in the summer.
The early results of this change in practice are spectacular. I visited the area last week and was amazed to see hundreds of bee orchids – many of which seem taller than is usual – on the grass banks between Wheelers Lane, Bradville and the New Bradwell aqueduct (on the east side of the V6). Carol Allen, Helen Wilson and myself paid a visit on 10thJune and as well as bee orchids, noted the following species:
Bird’s Foot Trefoil Lotus corniculatus
Common Vetch Vicia sativa
Black Medick Medicago lupulina
Self-heal Prunella vulgaris
Red Clover Trifolium pratense
White Clover Trifolium repens
Meadow Buttercup Ranunculus acris
Ox-eye Daisy Leucanthemum vulgare
Yarrow Achillea millefolium
Sorrel Rumex acetosa
These flowers we noted in a quick, 15 minute visit and there are sure to be many more species to be found by the discerning botanist! Also seen were meadow brown, common blue and brown argus butterflies and burnet companion moths. Plenty of bumblebees too.
To witness this lovely display I would suggest parking in either Wheelers Lane or Nightingale Crescent, Bradville and then walking along the redway parallel to the V6 for 200 yards or so. But don’t leave it too long – it will be past its best in early July.
About ten of us made the rather long trek down to Aston Clinton on a lovely sunny but cold evening. The Ragpits are a tiny reserve full of interesting butterflies and flowers but as it was a cold evening the butterflies were not in evidence. However the orchids were putting on a a lovely show especially the fragrant orchids which looked gorgeous in the evening sunlight. There were also common spotted, butterfly and pyramidal orchids and many twayblades in flower.
Amongst the other floral delights was squinancywort, fairy flax, yellowort and white milkweeds. The quacking grass also looked lovely in the low sunlight. A blackcap was singing and kites were flying overhead.
Just as we were leaving Jenny found an orchid which nobody could identify on site which looks a bit like a southern marsh orchid to me – any ideas? (It has now been identified at a cross between a Common Spotted and Southern Marsh orchids).
We all agreed this reserve was a star visit for botanists in the MKNHS calendar (but not for hay fever sufferers).
Joe and I compiled a list of outstanding flora, and others contributed observations on fauna.
We met at the ‘Live and Let Live’ pub in Pegsdon, just off the road to Hitchin, Bedfordshire, where we were treated to a rapid passing of a Merlin. We then set off with Matt who had arranged for us to walk up the private farm track along which we had sightings of several farmland birds, including skylarks, partridge, whitethroat, and yellow hammer.
Then we headed up into the chalk hills and immediately found displays of the chalk fragrant orchid (Gymnadenia conopsea) and impressive spreads of Dropwort (Filipendula vulgaris), and Hounds-tongue (Cynoglossum officinale), a member of the Borage family. The tight grassland sward showed the many characteristic plants of this habitat: fairy flax, milkwort, salad burnet, rock rose, Sainfoin, etc.
One of our target species, the Burnt tip orchid, (Orchis ustulata) was also abundant, as well as the Pyramidal orchid and a few Bee orchids.
The Pasqueflower was largely over (photo at top of page of the one last) but its presence was clear from the many fluffy seed-heads, mostly on the southern side of the hill. The Field fleawort and Moon-carrot were also spotted here.
The spires of Wild Mignonette, Reseda lutea and Weld, Reseda luteola were noticeable rising from the longer grasses as we walked along the ridge towards the Beech woodland on the top. Here we saw a few White Helleborines, and Sanicle, common in woodland on chalk and limestone.
Returning down by the field paths, we were intrigued by a field of red poppies, perhaps a crop for poppyseed, with fumitory, candytuft and Field madder on the edge. A Brown argus, brimstone and Common blue were seen here.
We were then ready for a very welcome sit-down and refreshment at the pub. Many thanks to Matt for his expert local knowledge and direction.
Last week (22 May 2018) on our walk around Stony Stratford Nature Reserve we saw lots of mayflies pulsating up and down above the river and settled in the foliage on the banks. On coming home I then read a very interesting article on mayflies by Nick baker in the BBC wildlife magazine and thought I would pass on some of the interesting facts here.
The mayfly we saw is I think the green drake or Ephemera danica which is the biggest of the British species, some of the other 51 species being absolutely tiny.
These mayflies, commonly copied by anglers for their lures, dance above the water in a mating frenzy with the females emitting an intoxicating perfume that attracts the males before she scatters her clutch of up to 8000 eggs into the waters to pass on her genes to the next generation. These eggs sink to the bottom and turn into nymphs which spend the next 1-3years developing in the sediment at the bottom of the river. Meanwhile their parents dancing above last but a day or two before they die (having no mouthparts they rely on the fat reserves laid down as a nymph to power them through this stage).
The nymphs carry on their lives in the river moulting up to 50 times before they are finally ready to return to the surface. At this stage they blow up like little air filled balloons and bob to the surface. Almost immediately on hitting the surface they unzip in a matter of seconds and emerge as adults with fully functioning wings. You might think this was their final moult but no they are unique in the insect world in having a second moult from one rather dull winged form to another, this time the sparkling beauty we saw last week. Why they do this no-one really knows.
Then the dancing begins and the whole lifecycle starts all over again.
One final fact – mayflies are the most primitive insects alive today and have been around since before the dinosaurs.
Two cranes arrived at Gallows Bridge BBOWT reserve on Wednesday 16 May 2018. They remain there to date (21 May 2018) so it is a possibility they will remain. They are unringed which gives some clues as to where they came from – or rather where they did not come from. Educated guesses say they may have come from Otmoor. Some display behaviour has been observed.
Text and photo by Sue and Andrew Hetherington
Buckinghamshire Bird Club have published a blog posting on the cranes which you can view here.
My daughter and her partner live in Cumbria and have starlings and swifts nesting in the eves of their house. Last year the starlings nested first and then the swifts moved in once the starlings had fledged. This year as normal the starlings are busy bringing up their babies in the usual place.
However last Saturday 12th May Susies partner heard a cacophony outside the house and saw a starling and swift tumbling together down onto the lawn followed by a tussle where the starling clearly had the upper hand and the swift’s life was at risk. He rescued the swift and after a rest launched it from an upstairs window. However after a while he saw the swift attempt to enter the nesting cavity and again the tussle ensued followed by another rescue and relaunch. Now a stalemate is in place where the swifts regularly fly by but the starlings are on high alert and drive them off.
This year they have erected two more swift boxes hoping to establish a small colony but it seems like this won’t be given a chance to happen until the starling family have fledged and moved out. But it leaves you with questions – does this competition happen regularly and do the swifts loose out. Or was it just because the weather was unseasonably hot that the swifts decided to try and get a move on early an start nesting?
Article by Julie Lane
And now an interesting response from Sue Hetherington:
Starling by Harry Appleyard, 20 April 2016
I was interested to read Julie’s article about the nesting territories under dispute by starlings and swifts. I can’t offer any advice about the eaves of the house. However, Andrew and I have had similar worries about the possibilities of uninvited guests grabbing boxes intended for swifts.
Before our box was used, we found evidence that it had been used for roosting by some bird over the winter and realised a problem could arise. What we then did as autumn turned to winter, we cleaned the box out (which we no longer do, it’s not necessary) and we blocked the entry hole with a bathroom (or car washing) sponge.
We reckoned our swifts came back like clockwork on 3rd – 5th May so about half way through April, we removed the sponge. We always meant to attach a bit of cord to the sponge so it could be pulled out with having to start going up ladders, but of course we always forgot. It always appeared to us that the starlings wanted an earlier slot than the swifts so our sponge method always seemed to work.
I have heard of swifts having savage territorial disputes amongst themselves but hadn’t realised that a swift/startling fight could be so vicious. This competition for nesting sites sounds like yet another problem swifts are struggling against.
Location: Stadium MK
Date: during first half of MK Dons v Scunthorpe Sat 28/4/18
Message: Just a record shot but it may be of interest to anyone unaware of the existence of a pair of breeding peregrine falcons at Stadium MK. They are using (for the first time) a platform provided for their use. As will be seen, it is high up, just before the transparent part of the roof, between aisles 10 and 11. Shortly after the photo taken, an adult peregrine flew from the platform and perched at the opposite end of the stadium. Andrew and I appeared to be the only people who noticed it. Having never been to stadium MK before, I had to ask many stewards for information before I discovered the platform location. One was particularly surprised and exclaimed “I’ve never been asked that before!!!”
Article and photograph kingly supplied by Sue Hetherington
StadiumMK
Great news here, the single egg has hatched today and there’s currently a little ball of white fluff in the middle of the platform with Mum looking proudly on.
14May 2018
An update from Mike Wallen of the Buckinghamshire Bird Club
Sad and tragic news that the single chick died yesterday, the female carried it away from the platform in the evening.
Sue has also provided details of the Derbyshire Peregrine website: For anyone who would like to watch peregrines online, the Derby site is a really good one. It can be found here http://derbyperegrines.blogspot.co.uk/ Apart from detailed news about happenings at Derby, there is a page that lists all the known peregrine projects.
About a dozen MKNHS members and others assembled at Linford Wood at 2.15pm on Sunday afternoon 15th April 2018 at Breckland, by the north-west entrance to the wood. The weather was warm but cloudy and rain arrived shortly before the walk finished. There had been a rush of plants coming into flower over the preceding week of warmer weather and the first migrant birds had arrived not many days before.
In 2017, the MKNHS visit to Linford Wood had been on a Tuesday evening more than three weeks later (5th May) so this daytime visit, earlier in the season, provided a very different view of the wood and its flora. Mike LeRoy gave a brief introduction which was set out more fully in three handouts: 1) a map of the whole wood and its compartments; 2) a background note about the history, ecology and management of the wood; and 3) a note of ‘What to look and listen for’.
Five leaved Herb Paris by Peter Hassett, Linford Wood 2 May 2017
The group walked together on an anti-clockwise route along the western and southern sides of the wood, past compartments 13 and 7a which have been extensively coppiced and thinned during the past winter. At the south-east corner, we headed back towards the centre of the wood and diverted briefly onto the western woodchip path to find Herb Paris Paris quadrifolia before heading back to Breckland along the main horse-riding path as a shower started.
The main questions the group focused on were:
1. What plant species are flowering?
2. Where do you see Dog-violets or other Violets?
3. What bird species can you hear calling?
4. What woodpecker sounds do you hear?
5. Which Bumblebee species do you see?
6. What Bee-fly species do you see hovering?
7. Which of the ponds can you see?
Wood Anemone
Wood Anemone Anemone nemorosa had been in flower for a couple of weeks and there must have been tens of thousands to see, scattered throughout most of the wood. Although it was the most dominant plant in flower, there were also considerable numbers of Dog’s Mercury Mercurialis nemorosa still in flower alongside the paths. There were also still plenty of clumps of Primrose Primula vulgaris in flower in and among the trees and along the edges of the ditches. The delicate leaves of Pignut
Conopodium majus were seen in a few locations on ditch and path edges. Only a few Bluebell Hyacinthoides non-scripta were beginning to show. Lesser Celandine Ranunculus ficaria were still in flower, but Greater Stitchwort Stellaria holostea had yet to emerge and no flowering Yellow Archangel Lamiastrum galeobdolon were seen. The first few Herb Paris Paris quadrifolia were just emerging into leaf, but had not quite flowered. The group found a few clumps of Strawberry which turned out to be Barren Strawberry Potentilla sterilis (identified by Mary Sarre).
With the undergrowth yet to burst into full growth, Dog-violets and other Violets Viola spp. were more evident and found in small numbers through much of the wood. Most of the trees were barely into leaf so there were clear views well into the wood.
Although tree species were not a main focus of what we looked for, Mary Sarre noted at the edge of the wood near Breckland some Norway Maple Acer platanoides which flower with bright yellow-green flowers before they leaf and have been widely planted in Milton Keynes. Mike LeRoy mentioned Ash Fraxinus excelsior trees close to Breckland with their brief display of purplish-brown male flowers.
Aside from the permanent ponds, there were many areas of the wood with water lying on the surface. At one pond on the western side Martin Kincaid found Pond-skaters Gerris spp.
Red-Tailed Bumblebee by Harry Appleyard, Tattenhoe 11 April 2016
As we walked, we noticed numerous Bumblebees hunting low down within the vegetation rather than searching for nectar. Species seen included: Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius and Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris. Another insect present in many places was the Dark-edged Bee-fly Bombylius major. Less common was the Hairy-footed Flower-bee Anthophora plumipes. In several places we found 7-spot Ladybird Coccinella septempunctata.
Male Blackcap by Harry Appleyard, Tattenhoe, 17 April 2016
Sue & Andrew Hetherington led the recording of birds, almost entirely by calls and songs. In all they noted 17 species: Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Wren, Robin, Chaffinch, Dunnock, Goldcrest, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Nuthatch, Blackbird, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Jay and Magpie. Other species known to be sometimes present, but not seen or heard on this occasion, are: Marsh Tit, Bullfinch, Treecreeper, Song Thrush, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Buzzard, Pied Wagtail and Stock Dove.
Postscript
Early-purple Orchid by Peter Hassett, Linford Wood 2 May 2017
A week after our visit the Bluebell Hyacinthoides non-scripta are out in profusion. The first Greater Stitchwort Stellaria holostea have emerged. A few stems of Yellow Archangel Lamiastrum galeobdolon have been found, but are not quite in flower. And the first of the Early-purple Orchid Orchis mascula are just emerging.
There are species of flower in Linford Wood worth looking for in mid-April and others that don’t tend to emerge until late April into May. The wood is worth visiting at both these times to see how the season is changing.
On Tuesday 27th March 2018 we held our 50th Anniversary event at the beautiful Chrysalis Theatre at Camphill in Milton Keynes.
It was a wonderful evening of celebrating our 50 years of existence. Our initial fears that the Theatre which seats 200 might feel rather empty were completely unfounded as there were very few available seats left and the foyer was full to bursting at the interval. There was a lovely atmosphere of people meeting old friends and catching up, a real buzz!
The evening started slightly tensely as our poor speaker Patrick Barkham was held up in traffic on the A14 and only arrived 10 minutes before the talk was due to start. In his words he was ‘a bit flustered’ at the beginning but he recovered quickly and gave an excellent talk which left many of us yearning to visit some of the many islands dotted around our large island.
Peter Hassett had prepared a presentation about the Society from its beginnings to the present day which was a lovely start to the evening (you can view the presentation here). Lewis our new Chairman said a few words to introduce himself and at the end of the evening the Mayor of Milton Keynes David Hopkins presented our esteemed President Roy Maycock with a painting of a badger to mark his 50 years as a founder member and pillar of the Society.
The evening was a wonderful team effort by all concerned which just goes to show what a special Society we have. Here’s to the next 50 years!
What follows is just a few of the many comments we have received starting with one from the Mayor:
“Susan and I found the evening enlightening and compelling with the guest speaker Patrick Barkham truly engaging as he took us on an animated tour of Britain’s finest islands. Please pass on my congratulations to your President Roy Maycock for fifty outstanding years of committed service to the Society. I felt privileged to present him with the splendid picture of the badger.”
“Last night was very special.”
“What an excellent evening! The speaker this evening was absolutely amazing. And what turn out. The evening was almost perfect.”
“Nice to catch up with many people that we don’t get to see very often.”
“Tuesday was a fantastic evening in every way and a fitting celebration of the Society’s 50 years.”
“Well done to everyone for putting on a fantastic evening, which seemed to go down with everyone. A good engaging speaker and great venue.”
“Thank you very much for such a wonderful evening we had a really good time and now want to go on a small island for a holiday too!”
Click on any of the pictures for a larger image or visit our photo gallery to see all the photos from this special evening.
Special thanks to Julie Lane and Lewis Dickinson for writing this article and to Paul Lund for providing the photos.
The Chrysalis Theatre
Julie Lane opens the event
The auditorium
Patrick Barkham giving his talk
Teo (Theatre Manager) and Carol (Head Barrister) plan for the interval
Refreshments are served in the interval
Martin Kincaid (vice-president) asks David Hopkins (Milton Keynes Mayor) to make a presentation to Roy Maycock (President)
Roy Maycock (President) accepts his painting from David Hopkins (Milton Keynes Mayor)
Peregrine by Harry Appleyard, Hazeley Wood, 29 May 2016
Mike Wallen of Buckinghamshire Bird Club has kindly agreed to let us publish this update on our local peregrines:
The birds have finally decided that the purpose built platform put up for them is desirable after all and the female is on it, sitting on at least 2 eggs. I was very happy to receive this news today. There is a camera ( plus other security) on this platform, no plans to stream the images to the public yet, but we’ll see how things develop in the coming weeks.
The UK’s longest running water vole recovery project, led by the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust, is reporting a significant and steady increase in water vole activity over the last 10 years.
Sadly, the area is under threat from development of adjoining land which will inevitably lead to increased disturbance to all of the wildlife that makes the site its home. Helping to create a successful breeding colony of sand martins will not only benefit the birds and the overall biodiversity of the site, but it will help to secure this important site’s position as the premier nature reserve in Milton Keynes and protect it from further damage from human activity.
There are about 70 parking spaces outside The Chrysalis Theatre so most people should be able to park here. Otherwise, please park at the Peace Pagoda car park, opposite Camp Hill off the V10. Note that parking charges will not apply on the evening. It is a short walk from this car park over a bridge to the venue, and parking marshalls will direct you. Can we also ask members to car share on the evening to reduce the number of cars on site
Patrick Barkham is a well-known natural history author and writer for The Guardian. His books include “The Butterfly Isles” and “Badgerlands”. Recently he has published “Islander: a journey around our archipelago”, an exploration of eleven of the smaller islands of Britain which will be the focus for his talk.
Our most recent winter walk took place at Floodplain Forest, Old Wolverton on 4th March 2018. With the chaos brought about by ‘The Beast from the East’ over the previous 2-3 days, leaders Joe Clinch and Martin Kincaid had considered calling off the walk. On Friday the conditions were treacherous and the access road into Manor Farm Court was impassible. However, by Sunday the thaw had set in and conditions were much improved. No fewer than 23 Society members and guests arrived for the 2pm start.
We divided into two groups with Joe taking a group clockwise around the nature reserve and Martin taking his anti-clockwise. The first sighting of note was a very large flock of Canada geese grazing in the fields below the farm buildings. Joe’s group soon had binoculars and cameras trained on one of the local little owls as it sat up in its usual ash tree roost. These tiny owls nest around Manor Farm each spring – look out for them through the spring in the dead trees behind the Farm Hide. The many water bodies were still largely frozen so wildfowl numbers were down but among the commoner duck were 10 goosander and about the same number of shoveler. A few snipe were also observed by both groups, usually as they flew away from us at speed.
There was very little in flower compared with the same time in 2017, but the bright yellow flowers of colt’s foot were seen on the muddy banks and wild plum was in blossom. At the eastern end of the reserve, Martin’s group spotted kestrel and, a rarity on this site, little grebe. Eagle eyed Sue also picked out a solitary female pochard among the wigeon and tufted ducks. Passerines were still few and far between but a few small charms of goldfinch were spotted and we enjoyed watching a wren work its way along flood debris in the river.
Fortunately, Alan Piggott had brought his scope and he set this up by the Iron Trunk hide. We had noticed one of the male goosanders displaying to the females. This courtship display is similar to that of the goldeneye, with the male bird stretching his neck straight up and giving a little flurry. As we watched, one of the females went into a submissive posture, with her head below the water. The drake swam around her several times, almost as if he didn’t know what to do, before quickly mounting and mating with her! None of us had every witnessed this behaviour before so we felt quite privileged to have seen it today. Goosander have been breeding in our area for at least 7 years now and regularly nest at Olney and Newport Pagnell. As we stopped to view the little owl in his tree, a large flock of wigeon came out of the water to graze on a patch of ground close to the Farm Hide. We had a fine view of these handsome ducks. Here too we had a grisly discovery – the half-eaten carcass of a lapwing, presumably the work of a fox.
The two groups merged again to walk back up the hill to the car park. We had all enjoyed getting outdoors after the big freeze and had amassed a fairly respectable list of birds. Thanks to everybody for braving the elements and making this meeting a success.
Birds: Great Crested Grebe; Little Grebe; Cormorant; Mute Swan: Canada Goose; Greylag Goose; Goosander; Mallard; Gadwall; Teal; Wigeon; Shoveler; Tufted Duck; Pochard; Grey Heron; Little Egret; Snipe; Coot; Moorhen; Black-headed Gull; Herring Gull; Lesser Black-backed Gull; Kestrel; Woodpigeon; Little Owl; Great Spotted Woodpecker; Carrion Crow; Rook; Jackdaw; Magpie; Wren; Blackbird; Redwing; Fieldfare; Robin; Great Tit; Long-tailed Tit; Goldfinch.
Please note that the minutes of the 2017 AGM were printed in the April 2017 Magpie. The meeting will also consider the options for income raising presented by the treasurer Joe Clinch in the December 2017 Magpie.
Greater Spotted Woodpecker by Peter Hassett, College Lakes 18 June 2017
Animals—including conservation biologists—use acoustic signals to recognise and track individuals. The majority of research on this phenomenon has focused on sounds generated by vocal organs (e.g., larynx or syrinx). However, animals also produce sounds using other parts of the body, such as the wings, tail, legs, or bill. In this study we focused on non-syrinx vocalisation of the great spotted woodpecker, called drumming. Drumming consists of strokes of a bill on a tree in short, repeated series, and is performed by both males and females to attract mates and deter rivals. Here, we considered whether the great spotted woodpecker’s drumming patterns are sex-specific and whether they enable individual identification. We recorded drumming of 41 great spotted woodpeckers (26 males, 9 females, 6 unsexed). An automatic method was used to measure the intervals between succeeding strokes and to count strokes within a drumming roll. The temporal parameters of drumming that were analysed here had lower within- than between-individual coefficients of variation. Discriminant function analyses correctly assigned 70–88% of rolls to the originating individual, but this depended on whether all individuals were analysed together or split into males and females. We found slight, but significant, differences between males and females in the length of intervals between strokes—males drummed faster than females—but no difference in the number of strokes within a roll. Our study revealed that temporal patterns of drumming in the great spotted woodpecker cannot be used for unambiguous sex determination. Instead, discrimination among individuals may be possible based on the intervals between strokes and the number of strokes within a roll. Therefore, it is possible that differences in the temporal parameters of drumming may be used by birds to identify each other, as well as by researchers to aid in census and monitoring tasks.
Weather wise 2017 proved to be a mixed bag and started with a nice spring which caused many butterflies to emerge early, in fact some of the spring butterfly species emerged two weeks earlier than they had the year before. Unfortunately despite the year being one of the warmest on record the weather took a serious turn for the worst during late June when high winds hit the county and then unsettled conditions dominated as the storms battering the USA made their way across the Atlantic to us.
The Society’s annual photos competition was held on Tuesday 23 January 2018.
Each member could enter a maximum of 2 prints in each of the following categories:-
1) Birds
2) All other animals, including mammals, fish, insects, etc.
3) Plants and fungi.
4) Habitats, geological, astronomical.
Sixty photos were entered. Each member present at the meeting was asked to select their first and second choice in each of the four categories giving us a shortlist of 8 photos.
In the second round of voting, members were asked to select their first second and third choice.
The winning photos were:
First place – Brimstone nectaring on Sanfoin by Peter Hassett
Second place – Laccaria amethystina by Peter Hassett
Third place – Wood White by Paul Lund
You can view the shortlisted photos in the photo gallery.
2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of Milton Keynes Natural History Society. It began with an article in a local newspaper on 8 February 1968 inviting those interested in forming a natural history group to meet. At this time development of the new city of Milton Keynes was just beginning and there was concern about the possible impact on local wildlife. From these beginnings, the Society has grown to around 100 members and developed interests and expertise in a very wide range of species, habitats and environmental concerns.
40th Birthday Celebration
Some of the original members are still very active in the Society today. You can find out more about the history of the Society by clicking here.
The Society meets every Tuesday. In the winter, talks are held in the City Discovery Centre at Bradwell Abbey. Between May and September, we explore local natural history sites. Have a look at our current programme for more information.
To celebrate this special occasion, the Society is delighted to welcome Patrick Barkham to talk on the subject of “Islanders”. Apart from being a natural history writer for The Guardian, Patrick Barkham is also the author of a number of excellent books including “The Butterfly Isles” and “Badgerlands”. Recently he has published “Islander: a journey around our archipelago”, which is an exploration of eleven of the smaller islands of Britain, in search of their special magic. This latest project will be the focus of his talk which is on the evening of Tuesday 27th March at the Chrysalis Theatre in Japonica Lane, Willen Park South, Milton Keynes, MK15 9JY.
16 Members of the Society joined our second Winter Walk at the RSPB Otmoor reserve in Oxfordshire. We were lucky to have a dry, calm afternoon, if rather overcast.
The reserve has just celebrated its 20th anniversary as the first land was purchased here by the RSPB in 1997 and the area of reserve has been consolidated and extended considerably since then.
One of the early tasks was the planting of an extensive reed bed, a back-breaking task as testified by members of the Society who helped to complete that planting! The aim was to encourage reed bed, specialists such as the Bittern, to move in and to increase availability of managed reed beds less vulnerable to rising sea-levels and coastal flooding.
It has certainly paid off as in 2013 the first booming bittern was heard and they have subsequently bred at the reserve. In 2015, Marsh Harriers bred successfully for the first time and in the same year a pair of cranes also attempted to breed in the reed bed. They have returned subsequently and it is hoped they will return again this year.
We began our walk by inspecting Brown Hairstreak eggs in the Blackthorn hedge near the car park, before checking out the feeders where a Marsh Tit showed well among the other tits and finches.
Moving on along the main track a Cetti’s Warbler was calling as we watched Marsh Harriers and flocks of Lapwing and Golden Plover overhead along with the occasional snipe.
During the afternoon, we saw at least 4 Marsh Harriers and some of the group were lucky enough to see a wintering Hen Harrier too. A visit to the hide rewarded some with sightings of a male Brambling and several Yellowhammers amid the mixed flock of Linnets, Reed Buntings and Chaffinches taking advantage of the seed scattered on the lane beside the hide.
Others made their way direct to the first screen, past big flocks of Wigeon, Golden Plover and Lapwing on the fields next to the track, to be in position for the arrival of the starlings at dusk and to spend some time watching the variety of ducks on the areas of open water.
The starlings didn’t disappoint! Soon after 4pm the flocks were gathering from all sides and gave us an excellent display before funnelling down into the reed bed in front of the screen. A great finale to the walk!
To see a short video of the brilliant murmuration (thank you Janice Robertson) click here.
Click on any of the pictures for a larger image.
Many thanks to Linda Murphy for leading the walk and providing the trip report.
The Daily Telegraph travel section has published an article “Inside Britain’s magnificent Tree Cathedral – and five more arboreal structures” featuring the Tree Cathedral at Willen
Sunday 26th November 2017 saw the first of our Society winter walks. 15 hardy souls braved the icy winds at North Willen Lake and were well rewarded.
We met at the Willen Pavilion car park on the west shore of the lake and began by looking at the veteran ash tree near the lake edge. Martin Kincaid explained how The Parks Trust has managed the decline of this tree and the recent discovery of bats roosting in it.
We then walked clockwise around the lake, stopping at times to look at the many species of duck among the huge group of coots (cootarium!) on the water. A single female Scaup, among a group of Tufted Ducks, was probably the pick, with good numbers of Teal, Mallard, Wigeon and Gadwall also spotted. We also found some nice specimens of the fungus Clitocybe geotropa on the grassy banks. When we reached the Flood Control structure, Mark Strutton shared his experiences of seeing otters here on several occasions in 2016. The animals are still active here and we were able to pick out a track from the lake edge, across the redway and down to the River Ouzel where we also found several piles of otter spraint and a slide down into the river!
At the bridge between the north and south lakes, we added 4 Little Grebes to the list and a Kingfisher was spotted shooting low across the water. We also admired a very tame Little Egret roosting in willow at this point. Ann Strutton managed to spot a group of 6 Goldeneye bobbing about on the South Lake at this point, and we did our best to see them between their frequent dives.
On the approach to the bird hide we spotted a Chiffchaff (there seem to be more than ever around this autumn) and hazel catkins. Form the hide itself we added Pochard and Shoveler to the wildfowl list bringing our duck total to nine species. However, waders were thin on the ground with just a single Lapwing observed. A single Greylag was the only goose we saw – obviously there were easier pickings on the South Lake.
The main target for today’s walk was the starling murmuration and we quickly marched around towards the Peace Pagoda to take position and wait. The first group of about 50 starlings appeared right on queue at 3.50pm and within five minutes they were swarming over the lake. Although there were probably no more than 2,000 birds (a pretty modest number) they put on a fine display as the sun set and for those who had not witnessed a starling murmuration before it was a memorable experience. A singing Cetti’s Warbler was a bonus at this point. The starlings finally settled in the reed beds at around 4.15pm at which point we said our goodbyes and retired for the evening, happy but in need of thawing out!
Starling Murmuration by Ann Strutton, Willen Lake 26 November 2017
The test results showed that the water quality around MK is generally pretty good, with low levels of both Nitrates and Phosphates. Phil researched the net to try and establish an ‘acceptable’ level for nitrates for ‘environmental Water’ and the International Consensus is less than 5ppm.
So how did our 5 sites compare?
Site
Nitrates
Phosphates
Little Linford Wood
less than 0.2 ppm
less than 0.02ppm
River Great Ouse
0.5 – 1ppm
less than 0.02 ppm
Calverton Brook
1-2ppm*
less than 0.02ppm
Pond, High Street:
less than 0.2ppm
Less than 0.02ppm
Floodplain Forest NR
less than 0.2ppm
0.02 – 0.05ppm
* indicates the higher level of Nitrates. This brook runs through farmland, which might account for it.
These figures need to be taken with a pinch of salt as the colour of the water in the test kit was assessed against the colour on the recording chart.
I wonder if there were there any other results to compare locally? Please send your results to info@mknhs.org.uk
There are some 30 different species of harvestmen (Opiliones) in the UK. This interactive guide is a resource for anyone who wants to identify a harvestman and/or learn about the features that can be used to separate the different taxa in the field.
Draft interactive ID guide for Silphidae Carrion Beetle
A new draft interactive ID guide for Silphidae (Silphidae is a family of beetles that are known commonly as large carrion beetles, carrion beetles or burying beetles) is available for download: goo.gl/FMVZ3i
A sound installation including wildlife sounds, called ‘City of Things’, has been installed in the arcades of The Shopping Building in Central Milton Keynes (thecentre:mk).
Local sound artist Caroline Devine has completed a commission to celebrate MK’s 50th year by recording sounds across Milton Keynes. These include recordings she made with a MK Natural History Society member: they listened and recorded the dawn chorus in Linford Wood from 4.15am on a May morning. She also recorded Swift calls at their Heelands colony and bat sounds at Woughton-on-the-Green. Caroline also took part in a course on bird song led by MKNHS member Martin Kincaid and Peter Garner who is chair of Bucks Bird Club.
The sound installation includes local choirs, Bletchley Park, poetry, grid-roads and other Milton Keynes sounds, as well as wildlife. All of these are part of ‘City of Things’ which you can hear until 5th November in Midsummer Arcade alongside John Lewis. You can find out more on Caroline’s website: www.cityofthings.co.uk .
Caroline Devine was Leverhulme Artist in Residence at the School of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Birmingham and completed another commission, ‘Resonant Spaces’ in Philadelphia earlier in 2017. Her works have been featured on BBC 4 and BBC 3 and at various galleries.
Article written by Mike LeRoy
MKNHS is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites.
On 26th September 2017 His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge paid a visit to the Milton Keynes Rose in Campbell Park, as part of a special visit to celebrate the city’s 50th birthday.He met a number of community leaders before joining a ceremony at the Milton Keynes Rose which for those of you who don’t know features a calendar of days important to local people represented by 105 pillars arranged in the geometric design of a flower.
The Duke made a short speech before unveiling a new pillar to celebrate the city’s founders. However before the ceremony the Duke attended a festival zone in the park showcasing the city’s innovations, diverse communities, cultural aspirations and green heritage. And MKNHS was one of the organisations that was invited to welcome him! Myself, Joe Clinch and Tony Wood arrived in the early morning mist to set up our display.
We were one of four organisations in the green zone alongside The Parks Trust, The Canal and River Trust and the new electric car system that is due to operate from the Train Station in the not too distant future. We had our new information boards on display showcasing the work of the society and whilst the Duke spent only about a minute with us talking about the the society, he commented in particular on the large amount of green space in the city and also the importance of involving and enthusing the younger generation, which I assured him was one of our priorities.
It was a privilege to be part of the occasion and is perhaps a reflection of the importance that the city places on its natural history and the reputation of MKNHS itself.
When Saffron Summerfield – Singer/Musician/Sound Artiste and lifetime Bird Watcher – was Artist in Residence at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve she was intrigued when a Robin sang close to her window when she played the guitar. She recorded the Robin and created a duet with his song and her guitar and so her journey of research and discovery on Bird Songs and Calls began.
Just why does a small bird (Marsh Warbler) ’collect’ up to 250 other bird songs and calls on its migratory path from Africa to Northern Europe thereby creating an astonishing ‘Songline’ of its journey each year?
How many composers have been inspired by listening to bird song?
Bird songs and calls are frequently referenced in Folk Songs from around the World.
Why does the Dawn Chorus have such an emotional and calming effect on some Humans?
The craze for keeping caged Goldfinches for their magical singing voice in the second half of the nineteenth century nearly did for the poor bird.
What is the connection between Pachelbel’s Canon in D and Bird Song…
This fascinating and revealing talk is digitally presented with many of her own field recordings and photos and all levels of interest is catered for.
Red-Tailed Bumblebee by Harry Appleyard, Tattenhoe 11 April 2016
Welcome to the BRITISH BEES ON FLICKR site. This collection covers nearly all 278 species of bee on the British and Irish list (including the Channel Islands) acting as a virtual field experience and virtual museum collection. Special thanks are due to the Natural History Museum, London and the Oxford University Museum for allowing me to photograph specimens that were lacking in my own collection and to other photographers for allowing me to host their images.
I’m delighted to announce that our resident tree expert, Alan Birkett has published a Field Guide to The Trees of Britain and Europe.
The ISBN is 9781921517839. The book is available on-line from Waterstones or Amazon UK or from any bookseller quoting the ISBN above.
The ever-popular subject of trees is covered in this fantastic field guide which includes more than 150 species that are likely to be encountered in Britain and elsewhere in northern and central Europe. This includes native species such as Hawthorn, Wild Cherry, English Elm and Sessile Oak together with trees which have been widely introduced from other parts of the world. The book’s USP is its ingenious set of identification keys at the start of the guide, which cover broadleaf and conifer leaves, buds, cones, catkins, flowers, fruit and bark and cross reference with the tree species and families in the main sections of the book.
The guide is suitable for beginners and more knowledgeable readers and the text has been written in an easy-to understand style while there is a detailed glossary at the end of the book to explain any technical terms. Each species account covers a spread and includes a photo of the whole tree together with close-up detail of other features such as leaves, bark and so on while the accompanying text describes key characteristics for identification, including a useful ‘Quick ID’ section.
In short this is a wonderful new field guide. The author, who has also taken all of the images himself, has been working on the idea and format for many years and is confident that the title offers something new in this market and that the book will be among the very best available in its category.
Alan has also produced an app for the iPad “Tree Guide UK” which is available from the Apple app store in Standard and Premium editions.
Red-necked Grebe by Peter Hassett, Draycote Water 1 March 2017
You may be interested in this free app, available for Apple and Android devices:
Smartphones are becoming an increasingly important part of birding. If you want to be the first person to hear about a rare bird, digiscope a rarity, or submitting your sightings, having a small portable computer at your fingertips is enabling all of this to happen. We also look to our smartphones as identification aids now that field guides are packaged into apps. But what if your app could instantly scan your photo and match it to a species based on an archive of millions of bird images? It can.
The Merlin Bird ID app was developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to do just this, taking a photo you snap in the field, and suggesting an identification. Photo ID identifies birds in photos using computer vision technology trained on nearly 3 million images uploaded to Macaulay Library through eBird checklists.
The high accuracy of the Photo ID tool is largely thanks to the extensive collection of images at Macaulay Library, showing birds from many different angles. Annotations on these images (a box drawn around each bird in the photo) also help teach the Photo ID tool to find the birds in the photo–-anyone can help improve Merlin’s accuracy by adding new annotations with Macaulay’s MerlinVision tool.
The Vegetative Key to the British Flora: A new approach to naming British vascular plants based on vegetative characters is today available free of charge for people who own a kIndle or use the Kindle app.
With only two weeks remaining until the Society returns to its traditional home at Bradwell Abbey, we made a premature visit for the start of our latest summer walk, meeting at the upper car park. There was a distinctly autumnal feel to this walk – both sun and rain flirted with us but most of the walk took place under heavy cloud. However, there was still plenty of flora and fauna to enjoy.
Walking south from the car park, we took our time at the edge of the Loughton Brook. The water here is very clear in places allowing good views of the gravel beds. For once we were able to concentrate on fish, with large shoals impressing us with their speed and coordination. We saw Minnows, 3-Spined Stickleback, Rudd, Perch and Common Dace – and probably several other species which we couldn’t identify! But it was a good indication of just how much life small watercourses like this can support.
Few birds were seen (the stretch is particularly good for kingfishers) but a Little Egret flew overhead and large parties of Long Tailed Tits delighted us as they moved along the hedgerows. We heard, but did not see, a small party of Bullfinches.
Among the plants growing along the brook were Knotgrass, Purple Loosestrife, Marsh Woundwort, Himalayan Balsam and Meadow Cranesbill. We crossed the brook and walked through an area of old ridge and furrow grassland where we added Agrimony and Lady’s Bedstraw to our list.
The return leg took us along the course of the railway, through some flower rich areas and scrubby woodland. Roy pointed out some attractive ferns on the railway bridge. As the skies darkened, we began to find Mother-of-Pearl moths in good numbers and then, as dusk closed in, the bats appeared. Both Common and Soprano Pipistrelles were flying around us on the edge of Bradwell Village and were easily identified with bat detectors.
The finale was a walk through the somewhat atmospheric railway tunnel over the brook. Here we saw lots of Spiders on the walls (which, illuminated by the tunnel lights, looked superb) and a good number of impressive Old Lady moths clustered on the brick work. We arrived back at the car park just as it began to rain but before we left there was one more highlight, as a pair of Brown Long-eared Bats started hunting along the fence line of the pony paddock.
It was nice to see some new faces among the 28 people who attended this meeting. Everyone agreed that it had been a different sort of evening and we had seen an interesting variety of habitats and wildlife.
Text by Martin Kincaid
Photographs by Peter Hassett
Bucknell Wood, just to the north of Silverstone, is a relic of the once extensive Whittlewood Forest. Owned and managed by the Forestry Commission, it is reputed to be one of the best butterfly sites in Northamptonshire and certainly lived up to this reputation when 16 MKNHS members and one other visited last Saturday. Following Martin’s request, members car shared as much as possible, but it was still something of a squeeze in the car park.
We were blessed with blue skies and warm conditions as we met at 11am. Even as we assembled in the car park, we were treated to views of White Admiral and Silver Washed Fritillary butterflies drifting around.
Butterflies were certainly the main focus of the walk and before long we had added the common browns, whites and skippers as well as a number of purple hairstreaks who would occasionally descend from the high oaks to tantalise us with brief views.
Martin had mentioned how long the wood white butterflies were lasting and sure enough, one appeared before long. These dainty little butterflies are currently the subject of a three year habitat restoration project in the Silverstone woods and as is so often the case, this individual led us a merry dance as it flitted along the main ride but refused to alight on any plants.
We eventually saw four or five wood whites and Paul Lund was lucky enough to see a female egg-laying on one of its food plants, meadow vetchling and get some fine shots. These late wood whites were the last of the brood which began way back in April and it will be interesting to see if the warm summer weather triggers a rare second brood this year.
The stars of the show though were the Silver Washed Fritillaries, of which we saw dozens in including several pairs in cop. Few of us had seen this many before.
Marsh Tit and Coal Tit were both heard calling and brief views were obtained with 2 Buzzards and a Red Kite soaring over the wood. A Common Lizard was glimpsed as it scuttled across a fallen branch.
A surprising sighting enjoyed by a few was a Bank vole which was climbing along a blackthorn branch. We all had fantastic views of Emperor dragonflies and Brown and Southern Hawkers were also on the wing.
Early July is usually the best time to see the elusive Purple Emperor butterfly, but they had emerged in the third week of June this year so the chances of seeing a male low down were slim. We had to settle for a brief view of one soaring regally over the oak canopy and of course more Purple Hairstreaks. A lucky view got a very close look at a White Letter Hairstreak on bramble flowers before a thuggish Ringlet chased it off.
We were joined by a local butterfly enthusiast Kevin Boodley, and he was a great help in spotting some of the more unusual species. The last target before we left was the rarer Valezina form of the Silver Washed Fritillary and Kevin said he has seen several earlier in the day moving between two large bramble patches in a large clearing.
We searched and searched but got no more than brief views of a single Valezina female. However, we did see her ovipositing low down on an oak. There were many more White Admirals in this area too.
We made our way back to the car park at about 2.15pm, a little weary but delighted with what we had seen. Those who had visited Bucknell Wood for the first time were keen to re-visit.
Click on any of the pictures for a larger image. You will find more pictures from the field trip on our Members’ Photos page.
The farm was a former dairy farm now maintained for local people. To find out more about this site, please visit our Wildlife Sites page.
Today members met in the town car park and, before reaching the farm fields, swifts were in the eaves of the local chapel.
Viola led the walk and was not hopeful of seeing lots to interest us. Wrong! Before long, in the second field visited, a Purple Hairstreak butterfly was seen, captured, viewed by all and then released. Several oak tree surrounded the field. After a few minutes a Short-tailed (=Field) Vole was seen taking a stroll through the short grass. This, too, was captured, viewed and released. How lucky was that!
Birds that took our interest were House Martins, Swallows and a Kestrel. Plants in flower were few – like Nipplewort, Birds’-foot Trefoil and Shepherd’s Purse. Immature Grasshoppers and Shield Bugs were plentiful but not able to be identified to species level.
Further into the site a wet area (erstwhile a pond) was encountered with Lesser Spearwort (evidence of the acid conditions). Leaving the fields we continued the walk along the adjacent footpath. Here a few brave souls were encouraged to take a quick nibble of a small bit of a leaf of Water-pepper. Within a short time the strong flavour was evident – not to be forgotten.
Time then to return to our cars by following the footpath and pavements between the houses. At one point along the path was a memorial seat behind which was the “flower of the evening” – Elecampane – a rare plant in Bucks. Thanks Viola for a good evening .
The fantastic butterfly season during 2018 was always going to be a difficult act to follow and although some species were down in 2019 the year still held some great success stories. Among 2019’s achievements was a very welcome spike in Peacock numbers, a Painted Lady invasion, the continued colonisation by Dark Green Fritillaries and the incredible news of the first Chequered Skippers to emerge in the wild in the county for nearly half a century.
The world’s rarest wader has been thrown a lifeline after two Spoon-billed Sandpiper chicks hatched at WWT Slimbridge in Gloucestershire.
Making a beetle stack is a way of providing beetles and many other insects with shelter through the winter. This stack is simple to make and costs next to nothing, but will make a world of difference to garden wildlife.
A new survey has revealed that the corncrake population has decreased by over 30% in the last 5 years.
Early return to breeding areas is widely acknowledged to be ‘a good thing’ but why? Some people suggest that early migrants can choose the best territories, others argue that early chicks have a disproportionately high chance of fledging but there are other explanations too. In their paper in Ecology & Evolution, Catriona Morrison and her colleagues ask how much of the advantage of being an early migrant could be associated with having an option to nest again, if the first attempt fails.
For Northamptonshire’s butterflies 2018 has been a memorable year for many reasons. Not only did we have two national projects in the county but it was also an exceptional season for many of our butterflies. When I first became interested in the serious study of butterflies I’d often hear stories of huge groundings of Purple Hairstreaks, explosive Black Hairstreak years and numerous rare aberrations and colour forms which at the time such spectacles seemed to be confined to the history books so to witness many of these events first hand in 2018 made the year an extraordinary one to say the least.
National Tree Week started on Saturday 24th November and finishes on Sunday 2ndDecember, so you still have time to get involved!On the map each tree’s marker includes an ‘A’, ‘V’ or ‘N’ to indicate if the tree is of ancient, veteran or notable status. Ancient trees are those that are in the third and final stages of their life. The age of this final stage varies for different species of trees, as some species live longer than others. Oaks, yews and sweet chestnuts can live to over a 1,000 years old. Veteran trees are old trees which haven’t quite reached ancient status. Notable trees are usually mature large trees which for some reason stand out in their local environment.
Floodplains occupy only 5% of the land area in the UK, yet deliver disproportionately for people in terms of flooding and nutrient retention. The lack of semi natural habitats and poor functionality in floodplains reduces our resilience to floods and drought, reduces the abundance of pollinating insects and natural pest control agents, and reduces the potential for carbon sequestration and water quality improvements.”
The Buckinghamshire Bird Club have published a very interesting article on theSpotted Crake at Willen Lake
We have been colour ringing black-tailed godwits at the Nene and Ouse Washes to help us understand more about the birds’ movements in the breeding and non-breeding season. Godwits are known to undertake long and often complex migratory journeys, and the marking of individual birds provides valuable information about the remarkable journeys these birds undertake.
Over the past few years I’ve posted several pieces about how colleagues, students and myself have been monitoring one aspect of the environmental impact of the University of Northampton’…
My daughter and her partner live in Cumbria and have starlings and swifts nesting in the eves of their house. Last year the starlings nested first and then the swifts moved in once the starlings had fledged. This year as normal the starlings are busy bringing up their babies in the usual place.
Sadly, the area is under threat from development of adjoining land which will inevitably lead to increased disturbance to all of the wildlife that makes the site its home. Helping to create a successful breeding colony of sand martins will not only benefit the birds and the overall biodiversity of the site, but it will help to secure this important site’s position as the premier nature reserve in Milton Keynes and protect it from further damage from human activity.
Weather wise 2017 proved to be a mixed bag and started with a nice spring which caused many butterflies to emerge early, in fact some of the spring butterfly species emerged two weeks earlier than they had the year before. Unfortunately despite the year being one of the warmest on record the weather took a serious turn for the worst during late June when high winds hit the county and then unsettled conditions dominated as the storms battering the USA made their way across the Atlantic to us.
The Daily Telegraph travel section has published an article “Inside Britain’s magnificent Tree Cathedral – and five more arboreal structures” featuring the Tree Cathedral at Willen
The Field Studies Council has compiled a catalogue of over 630 biological identification resources
A sound installation including wildlife sounds, called ‘City of Things’, has been installed in the arcades of The Shopping Building in Central Milton Keynes (thecentre:mk).
