Spanish researchers have discovered that the wax worm, a caterpillar known for munching on the wax within beehives, is able to devour and biodegrade polyethylene plastic, converting it into a form…

Source: Plastic-eating caterpillar could revolutionize waste treatment | Inhabitat – Green Design, Innovation, Architecture, Green Building

This pic by @acorncarver @RSPBNorfolkLinc #TitchwellMarsh shows size difference between turtle dove & woodpigeon!

Turtle doves (Streptopelia turtur) are in trouble; they are vulnerable to global extinction (IUCN Red List of Endangered Species). They have suffered a 91% UK population decline since 1995 and a 78% decline across Europe since 1980. At this current rate of change if we don’t help this species scientists calculate that complete UK extinction as a breeding species will be a real possibility.

Click on the link for more information: Home – Operation Turtle Dove

A wedge-tailed eagle has attacked and badly damaged a drone as it flew over farm machinery in Western Australia.

Source: Wedge-tailed eagle takes down drone flying over West Australian wheat farm – ABC Rural – ABC News

Open Sunday at Linford Lakes NR 18 June 2017 10:00-16:00hrs.

Come along and spend Fathers-Day out and about the reserve,
Bring friends and family.
See if you can spot birds with young.
Also butterflies and dragonflies aplenty.
Refreshments, home-made cakes and facilities available
Crafts, second-hand books and bird seed for sale.

The RSPB North Bucks Local Group are leading a field trip to College Lake Nature Reserve  on18 June 2017:

A return visit to this flooded former chalk pit, maintained by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. A popular and easy walk around the lake, usually with an excellent bird list, and returning for optional refreshments at the Visitor Centre cafe. Leader Brian Lloyd

Recent sightings include Spotted Flycatcher, Oystercatcher (with 3 chicks), several broods of Lapwing chicks, Wood Sandpiper, Redshank & chicks, Yellow Wagtail & Little Ringed Plover.

Lots of Butterflies, Dragonflies and Damselflies too and at this time of year we should also see some orchids (white helleborine, common spotted, twayblade – maybe even some bee orchids) and the cornfield wildflowers will be in full bloom.

See the RSPB North Bucks Local Group website for more information

MKNHS is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites. You should check details of any events listed on external sites with the organisers.

Certain insects, and perhaps some vertebrates, lack permanent microbial residents in their intestines.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: The Curious Case of the Caterpillar’s Missing Microbes – Scientific American

Ladybugs’ wings are 4 times the size of their bodies. Scientists figured out how they fold them away.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: Ladybugs Pack Wings and Engineering Secrets in Tidy Origami Packages – The New York Times

The largest pond at Elfield Park by Andrew Coupe. 14 July 2007

Elfield Nature Park, situated close to The National Bowl and Furzton, is a hidden gem. This site was adopted by The Parks Trust in 2006 and is used exclusively for environmental education sessions – for both children and adults – and wildlife conservation. Because the site has a history of motorcycle use, it is closed to the general public.

In recent years Martin Kincaid and other Parks Trust staff have opened up the site for summer visits by MKNHS and a number of members will have visited. Although small (4 hectares), Elfield Nature Park boasts a good variety of habitats with oak woodland, mature scrub, open grassland and a series of ponds connected by a drainage ditch. Since the site is quiet and usually undisturbed, it abounds with wildlife.

The Parks Trust is now offering exclusive visitor access to this site for MKNHS members who would like to record flora and fauna here.  Relatively few ecological surveys have been undertaken so far, although we do have records of dragonflies, bees, butterflies, nesting birds and bats. The site is particularly rich in invertebrate life. Among the many species recorded thus far are Willow Emerald Damselfly, Purple Hairstreak, Water Stick Insect and the nationally scarce bee Lasioglossum pauxillum. However, as some of you know, the site also produces interesting plants, fungi, birds and mammals as well as being arguably the best amphibian site in Milton Keynes! It should be possible to leave kit on site here (e.g. trail cameras, pit fall traps) without fear of human disturbance. We would simply ask that all species records you make at Elfield Park are shared with The Parks Trust and Bucks and Milton Keynes Environmental Records Centre (BMERC).

As this is a secure nature reserve, anyone wishing to visit to watch and record wildlife will need two keys – one for the gates and another to open the security barrier off Watling Street. These keys, together with an info pack about the site, will be provided to Society members on receipt of a refundable £10 deposit. This sum will be refunded on return of the keys.

If you would like to apply for a set of keys, please contact Martin by email: m.kincaid@theparkstrust.com  Alternatively, speak to Martin at one of our outdoor meetings over the summer.

A total of 885 British leaf, stem, twig, bark and samara miners are included in this account. A total of 1, 100 insects are discussed, although not all are miners as all agromyzids recorded in Britain and Ireland whether miner or not are included.

Click on the link to view the website: The leaf and stem mines of British flies and other insects – includes illustrated keys by host genus

Errors in botanical surveying are a common problem. The presence of a species is easily overlooked, leading to false-absences; while misidentifications and other mistakes lead to false-positive observations. While it is common knowledge that these errors occur, there are few data that can be used to quantify and describe these errors.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: Characterisation of false-positive observations in botanical surveys [PeerJ]

The marsh fritillary is one of our most bright and beautiful butterflies, and was once widespread across Britain. However like many pollinators, the species suffered from years of habitat loss and degradation, and locally went extinct two decades ago.

Source: Marsh fritillary reintroduction | Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust

Bucks Bird Club will be hosting a field Trip to Chobham Common on 10 Jun 2017

Click here for more details.

MKNHS is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites. You should check details of any events listed on external sites with the organisers.

Plantlife has launched the Great British Wildflower Hunt to:

• Introduce you (and your family) to your local wildflowers (and their families)
• Help you discover how vibrant your neighbourhood wildlife is
• Help wildflowers by putting what you tell us to good use in our conservation work
• Help to grow the next generation of flower lovers

Click on the link to find out more: Great British Wildflower Hunt

Male Orange Tip Butterfly by Harry Appleyard, Howe Park Wood 3 April 2017

…Here we use citizen-collected observation data to show that winter cold duration, in addition to spring temperature, can affect the spring emergence of butterflies.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article

Work Sunday at Linford Lakes NR 4 June 2017 10:00-13:00hrs.

Odd jobs this month tidying and cleaning.

All helpers welcomed.

Refreshments available.

The WIldlife Trusts are running their popular 30 Days Wild challenge again this year.

Find out more by clicking here.

Red-tailed Bumblebee by Harry Appleyard, Howe Park Wood 14 March 2017

WIld About Gardens have produced a Bee Identification chart for some of the more common bees that you may encounter.

Click on this link to download the guide.

Hare Tattenhoe Park in January 2016 by Harry Appleyard

Non-native biomass crops, when planted on a small scale, provide a refuge for Britain’s declining brown hare population, which has lost much of its habitat to large scale farming.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: Why brown hares could benefit from exotic crops | Discover Wildlife

Bucks Bird Club will be hosting a field Trip to Lakenheath RSPB on 4 June 2017 – 09:30 to 16:00

Click here for more details.

MKNHS is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites. You should check details of any events listed on external sites with the organisers.

Whitethroat by Peter Hassett, Rainham Marsh, 14 May 2017

New research shows climate change is altering the delicate seasonal clock that North American migratory songbirds rely on to successfully mate and raise healthy offspring, setting in motion a domino effect that could threaten the survival of many familiar backyard bird species.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: Migratory birds arriving late to breeding grounds

Herald moth by Martin Kincaid, Manor Farm cellar

Among drivers of environmental change, artificial light at night is relatively poorly understood, yet is increasing on a global scale.

The community-level effects of existing street lights on moths and their biotic interactions have not previously been studied.

Using a combination of sampling methods at matched-pairs of lit and unlit sites, we found significant effects of street lighting: moth abundance at ground level was halved at lit sites, species richness was >25% lower, and flight activity at the level of the light was 70% greater.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: The dark side of street lighting: impacts on moths and evidence for the disruption of nocturnal pollen transport – Macgregor – 2016 – Global Change Biology – Wiley Online Library

Beginner’s guide to identifying British ichneumonids

What are ichneumonids?

Ichneumonids are wasps (order Hymenoptera, superfamily Ichneumonoidea) with a very narrow wasp waist between the middle (mesosoma, roughly equivalent to the thorax on other insects) and hind (metasoma, roughly equivalent to the abdomen on other insects) body parts. They have powerful chewing mandibles, two pairs of usually transparent membranous wings with complex venation and long antennae with 18 or more segments. They are invertebrates, so don’t have a backbone.

You can download the guide here.

It was designed as an impregnable deep-freeze to protect the world’s most precious seeds from any global disaster and ensure humanity’s food supply forever. But the Global Seed Vault, buried in a mountain deep inside the Arctic circle, has been breached after global warming produced extraordinary temperatures over the winter, sending meltwater gushing into the entrance tunnel.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: Arctic stronghold of world’s seeds flooded after permafrost melts | Environment | The Guardian

Entomologists have been assessing diversity and abundance across western Germany and have found that between 1989 and 2013 the biomass of invertebrates caught had fallen by nearly 80%

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: Where have all the insects gone? | Hugh Warwick | Opinion | The Guardian

Imagine that the way flies and butterflies drink nectar and other fluids can be imitated for use in medicine, potentially to deliver life-saving drugs to the body—and also how this method can save their own lives in times of drought.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: Unraveling mysteries of mouthparts of butterflies

Taking photos of the bees you see is a really useful thing to do – in particular, it is a great way to confirm your sightings, especially with scarcer species that you are less familiar with.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: Using photographs | Bumblebee Conservation Trust

The Large Blue Maculinea arion is the UKs rarest butterfly and is globally endangered.

The Polden Hills supports nearly 80% of the Large Blue populations in Britain. The aim of this landscape-scale project is to help secure the Large Blue butterfly in the Polden Hills network by increasing its population and distribution following a programme of habitat management.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: Butterfly Conservation – Securing the Large Blue Landscape in the Polden Hills

Tree Bumblebee by Harry Appleyard, Tattenhoe 24 February 2017

Our bees are in trouble – can you help? Join Friends of the Earth’s Great British Bee Count from 19 May to 30 June 2017, and our free app will get you off to a flying start in identifying and recording different species.

Click on this link for more information.

Kimberley’s Bardi Jawi rangers record Australia’s first sightings of the extinct dodo’s closest living relative.

Click on the link for more information: Aboriginal rangers discover dodo relative in Kimberley

2016 Photo Competition 2nd Golden-ringed Dragonfly by Julie Lane

Female dragonflies use an extreme tactic to get rid of unwanted suitors: they drop out the sky and then pretend to be dead.

Source: Female dragonflies fake sudden death to avoid male advances | New Scientist

Bluebells by Alan Piggott taken in Kings Wood across the road from Stockgrove Park car park.

The United Nations has proclaimed May 22 The International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues.

Click on the link for more information: International Day for Biological Diversity – 22 May

Wood Warbler by Peter Garner, Linford Lakes NR, 2 May 2016

Early Morning Warbler Walk.
07:30am start from Centre.
Friends and family welcome, £2:00 per adult.
Leader Andy Harding.
Followed by Open Sunday.

Nature-lovers are being urged to go to Loch Leven in Fife to see an unusually large swarm of midges that have emerged from the ground.
Experts said it was an “amazing” natural spectacle that would only last for a few days.
The non-biting midges or chironomids do not feed as adults and so are only mating while in the swarm.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: Experts rush to huge midge swarm at Loch Leven – BBC News

A Mexican wolf born this month at a wildlife centre in suburban St. Louis is offering new hope for repopulating the endangered species through artificial insemination using frozen sperm.

Click on the link for more information: Mexican wolf born using frozen sperm offers new hope for endangered species

Study finds pigeons share this supposedly uniquely human trait

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: Think only humans can build on the knowledge of previous generations? Meet these pigeons | Science | AAAS

Roadsides are often littered with rubbish and weeds but they are havens for rare flowers.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: Road verges ‘last refuge’ for plants – conservation charity – BBC News

The Briefing

Members assembled at Linford Wood on Tuesday 2nd May 2017 at 7.00pm off Breckland, by the north-west entrance to the wood. Mike LeRoy gave a brief description of the history and ecology of the Wood, which was set out more fully in a handout that also had a map of the whole wood. They then walked together to near the centre of the wood. From here, five groups dispersed to note sightings of different species which they could submit for environmental records. Areas covered were largely in the north, east and centre of the wood.

Jay

The birds group, led by Harry Appleyard, saw or heard 18 species: Great-spotted Woodpecker, Chiffchaff, Robin, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Jackdaw, Blackbird, Jay, Green Woodpecker, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Kestrel, Chaffinch, Song Thrush, Pied Wagtail, Wren and Stock Dove. These were submitted as sightings to the Buckinghamshire Bird Club website. They also heard Noctule bats in an Ash tree Fraxinus excelsior.

The mosses group, led by Frances Higgs, found nine bryophyte species, which she is submitting to the Buckinghamshire County Recorder for Bryophytes:

Liverworts
• Metzgeria furcata Forked Veilwort
• Radula complanata Even Scalewort.

Mosses
• Atrichum undulatum Common Smoothcap/Catherine’s Moss
• Thamnobryum alopecurum Fox-tail Feather Moss
• Hypnum cupressiforme Cypress-leaved Plait-moss
• Kindbergia praelonga Common Feather-moss
• Brachythecium rutabulum Rough-stalked Feather-moss
• Orthotrichum affine Wood Bristle-moss
• Orthotrichum diaphanum White-tipped Bristle-moss.

Another group, led by Martin Kincaid, counted the number of stems of Orchis mascula Early Purple Orchid, which they found in four sites across the north of the wood, with a total of 143 stems. A further site with an additional 25 stems was located later, giving a total of 168 stems observed within the wood. Their report with locations and numbers of stems will be submitted to the Buckinghamshire Vice-County Botanical Recorder as potential records to be held by the County Environmental Records Centre BMERC and will also be held by The Parks Trust, the owner of Linford Wood.

Five leaved Herb Paris

The ferns group, led by Mary Sarre, found: Dryopteris filix-mas Male Fern at five sites and Dryopteris carthusiana Narrow Buckler Fern at a single site. They also found Carex sylvatica Wood-sedge and areas of Paris quadrifolia Herb Paris which is in several clusters across the wood.

Other flora noted included:

• Lysimachia nummularia Creeping-Jenny
• Ranunculus ficaria Lesser Celandine
• Filipendula ulmaria Meadowsweet
• Dactylorhiza fuchsii Common Spotted-orchid
• Epilobium hirsutum Great Willowherb
• Cardamine pratensis Cuckooflower(Lady’s Smock)
• Circaea lutetiana Enchanter’s-nightshade
• Ajuga reptans Bugle
• Crataegus laevigata Midland Hawthorn
• Anthriscus sylvestris Cow Parsley
• Urtica dioica Common Nettle
• Heracleum sphondylium Hogweed
• Mercurialis perennis Dog’s Mercury
• Galium aparine Cleavers (Goosegrass)
• Fragaria vesca Wild Strawberry
• Orchis mascula Early-purple Orchid
• Ranunculus repens Creeping Buttercup
• Cirsium arvense Creeping Thistle
• Potentilla sp. Cinquefoil
• Hypericum tetrapterum Square-stalked St John’s Wort
• Vicia sepum Bush Vetch
• Deschampsia caespitosa Tufted Hair-grass
• Brachipodium sylvaticum False Brome
• Alopecurus pratensis Meadow Foxtail.

Early-purple Orchid

There were also many swathes of Hyacinthoides non-scripta Bluebell and Anemone nemorosa Wood Anemone, the latter nearing the end of flowering.

Mike LeRoy
8th May 2017

Photos by Peter Hassett

Bucks Bird Club will be hosting a field Trip to Ashridge 14 May 2017

Click here for more details.

MKNHS is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites. You should check details of any events listed on external sites with the organisers.

We’ve been sifting through around half a million people’s Big Garden Birdwatch sightings – a total of over 8 million birds. And finally, the results are in.

Source: The RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch: 2017 results

The WILDside project covers Northamptonshire and runs until the end of 2018. The project will encourage new biological recorders, and support and train existing ones. This will take place through workshops and follow up sessions with the opportunity to survey local wildlife sites.

Click on this link to find out more about this project.

Grass-Carrying Wasp, Isodontia mexicana (de Saussure), is recorded as new to Britain. Morphological characters are given, and illustrated, to establish its identity and a key is provided to distinguish it from other British Sphecidae. Notes are provided on bionomics, the circumstances of its arrival and its status in Britain.

Source: Grass-carrying wasp, Isodontia mexicana (de Saussure), genus and species new to Britain (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) (PDF Download Available)

The black bee-fly, known scientifically as Anthrax anthrax, has been found and photographed for the first time in the UK near Cambridge by Buglife member Rob Mills.

This species of bee-fly is found in many parts of Europe, including France and Germany, and was thought to have been in the UK for some time. The photograph of the black bee-fly, on a bee hotel, is the first positive proof of its presence here.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: Fly species found in UK for first time | Discover Wildlife

Male Orange Tip Butterfly by Harry Appleyard, Howe Park Wood 3 April 2017

Do you have difficulty telling the difference between those white butterflies? This handy guide by Butterfly Conservation will help.

Wood Warbler by Peter Garner, Linford Lakes NR, 2 May 2016

Evening Warbler Walk at Linford Lakes NR on Wednesday 10^th May 2017.

Start 7pm from Centre.
Friends and family welcome, £2:00 per adult.
Leader Chris Coppock.

Soldier Beetle by Peter Hassett at Grangelands NR. 23May15

Martin Harvey has worked in biological recording for over 15 years, with the Open University’s iSpot project, the national Biological Records Centre, Wildlife Trusts, and local records centres.

He carries out entomological surveys, and as a volunteer runs two insect recording schemes. He is a qualified tutor, and has led many workshops on wildlife identification and recording for FSC and other organisations.

Click here to view courses that Martin will be leading.

There have been a number of scientific papers published in recent years discussing the possibility of building miniature flying robots to replace bees and pollinate crops. Clumsy prototypes have been tested, and seem to crudely work. If crops could be pollinated this way, farmers wouldn’t have to worry about harming bees with their insecticides. With wild bee populations in decline, perhaps these tiny robots are the answer?

Source: The blog of David Goulson : University of Sussex – SPLASH

Work Sunday at Linford Lakes NR7 May 2017 10:00-13:00hrs.

Refreshments available.

Scientists find live specimens of the giant shipworm, described as “rare and enigmatic”.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: Live, long and black giant shipworm found in Philippines – BBC News

New research led by the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology has revealed for the first time that flower-rich habitats are key to enhancing the survival of bumblebee families between years.The results, which come from the largest ever study of its kind on wild bumblebee populations, will help farmers and policy makers manage the countryside more effectively to provide for these vital but declining pollinators.

Source: Flower-rich habitats increase survival of bumblebee families | Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

Blackbird by Harry Appleyard, Tattenhoe 10 April 2016

Blackbirds, Song Thrushes and Mistle Thrushes were all recorded in good numbers during BTO’s Garden BirdWatch in 2016, but some species fared poorly.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: BTO: Thrushes prosper in British gardens

Researchers at the San Diego Natural History Museum, along with experts from Mexico and Brazil, have described a new species of large cave-dwelling spider, the Sierra Cacachilas wandering spider (Califorctenus cacachilensis). Related to the notoriously venomous Brazilian wandering spider (Phoneutria fera), the Sierra Cacachilas wandering spider was first discovered on a collaborative research expedition in 2013 into a small mountain range outside of La Paz in Baja California Sur, Mexico. Four years later, after careful documentation and peer-review, the species and genus was deemed new to science and the discovery was published in Zootaxa on March 2, 2017.

Source: International Team Discovers Large Cave-Dwelling Spider

UK butterflies suffered their fourth worst year on record in 2016 with the majority of species experiencing a decline in numbers, a study has revealed.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: Butterfly Conservation – Butterflies crash in fourth worst year on record

Hello everyone, I hope you wont mind me contacting you but the National Trust, who survey for the Duke on their land at Ivinghoe, would like us to do the same on Pitstone Hill in the coming late spring and early summer.

As you are probably aware the Duke is now extinct in Oxfordshire. Reduced to perhaps a single site in Berkshire (it wasn’t reported at all in 2016) and is hanging on in three sites in Bucks.. By far the largest of the three extant colonies is at Ivinghoe and the National Trust have not only been caring for it there but also managing Pitstone Hill so that it’s condition becomes suitable for the species to spread. This is essential if we are to make a successful job of saving the Duke. It must expand from its relatively small breeding areas into new patches of suitable habitat. The Natioanl Trust’s own volunteers will be surveying the large expanse of the Ivinghoe complex for the species but they feel that they cant adequately survey Pitstone Hill as well.

I plan to hold an initial meeting at Pitstone Hill at 11.00 on Thursday 25th May. (OS ref. SP955148 , Nearest postcode: LU7 9EN

http://www.ukcarparks.info/pitstone-hill-car-park-pitstone#sthash.iJTu5vqr.dpbs  )

We will take a walk to see the areas where the Duke is most likely to set up a new colony and with luck see the butterfly, its eggs and maybe even a larvae. Even if we don’t have any luck I shall show you images of the butterfly, egg, larvae and the type of feeding damage the larvae causes on leaves, which are readily spotted and make surveying for the Duke fairly straightforward. This meeting will last about 2 hours and after that you will be able to go back and survey at times to suit yourself, and we can also agree on two further search dates, to resurvey as a group if you would prefer to search with others.
…
This  is a chance to take part in a very worthwhile exercise. It would be brilliant to discover a new colony of the Duke, the first for decades. Even if we don’t succeed this year, we will establish a group to return each year, because eventually the Duke will make it the 500 m or so from the edge of the Ivinghoe colony to the slopes of Pitstone Hill.

There is also a previous event at NT Bradenham estate (meeting point to be decided, probably the cricket ground), this initial visit will be 17th May.

If you think you might be able to help with this work, even only making a single visit; please email me (Nick Bowles <nick.bowles@ntlworld.com> ) so that I can add your name to my list of those receiving updates. Thank you.

best wishes Nick Bowles
Chair, Upper Thames branch / BC
Butterfly Conservation will never swap, sell or rent your details to anyone. We will always follow the strict code of conduct set out by the Fundraising Standards Board.  You can change how you hear from us or unsubscribe from our mailing lists at any time, just let us know.

Save Our Magnificent Meadows is the UK’s largest partnership project transforming the fortunes of vanishing wildflower meadows, grasslands and wildlife.

They have produced some useful guides:

• Surveying and monitoring grassland habitats
• Surveying and monitoring grassland species

Click on the link to view the guides: Magnificent Meadows

There have been only a handful of occasions in my professional life when I’ve been sent a manuscript to review that has caused my jaw to hit the floor with amazement.  The last time it occurred was July 2016 when I received a request to review a study that claimed to have found a fossil flower in amber, with an associated pollinator.  Not only that, but the flower appeared to belong to a species of asclepiad (Apocynaceae subfamily Asclepiadoideae) – the plant group on which I have focused a good deal of my attention over the years.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: A fossilised flower in amber – with its pollinator! | Jeff Ollerton’s Biodiversity Blog

Red-tailed Bumblebee by Harry Appleyard, Howe Park Wood 14 March 2017

This handy tool helps you identify bumblebees by filtering photos based on the colour of the bumblebee.

Source: UK bumblebee species guide | Blooms for Bees

Welcome to New Nature- a magazine created to help promote, showcase and aid young people passionate about nature, conservation and ecology.

Click here to read the magazine.

Chaffinch by Tony Wood. Linford Lakes NR. 8 June 2016

Estimates suggest that perhaps a quarter of a billion birds are killed by traffic annually across the world. This is surprising because birds have been shown to learn speed limits.

Birds have also been shown to adapt to the direction of traffic and lane use, and this apparently results in reduced risks of fatal traffic accidents. Such behavioural differences suggest that individual birds that are not killed in traffic should have larger brains for their body size.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: Brain size in birds is related to traffic accidents | Open Science

The yellow or greenish-yellow feet of the little egret are characteristic of this small heron, the coloration developing while the young are still in the nest.

Little egrets usually feed in fairly shallow water, moving forward with slow and deliberate steps, interspersed with frequent halts.

Source: Why do little egrets have yellow feet? | Discover Wildlife

One of the Society’s initiatives this year is to encourage more people to report their sightings to create biological records.

To help people we have produced a list of recommended Identification Guides covering:
Birds
Fungi and Lichen
Insects
Mammals
Millipedes and Centipedes
Plants
Reptiles and Amphibians
Slugs and Snails
Spiders and Harvestmen
Woodlice
Miscellaneous

There is also a new page on Recording and our indoor meeting on 25^th April 2017 is entitles “How to Record”

You can find the new pages under the  menu.

We will put our new found knowledge into practice by recording our sightings in our outdoor meetings which you can view here.

The new discoveries suggest Cape York Peninsula could be a hotspot for spider diversity in Australia.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: More than 50 new spider species discovered in northern Queensland – Australian Geographic

It might look like a frozen wasteland, but beneath the inhospitable surface of Saturn’s moon Enceladus, life could be thriving in warm underground seas, scientists believe.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: Nasa announces alien life could be thriving on Saturn’s moon Enceladus

Male Willow Emerald Damselfly by Harry Appleyard, Tattenhoe Valley Park 14 October 2016

Ian Saunders has produced another of his excellent guides for the Wildlife SItes section of the website.

This time he describes Tattenhoe. Click here to visit the page in the Wildlife Sites section of this website.

But that’s not all. Ian’s guide is based on an extensive description of the site with wonderful photos produced by local naturalist Harry Appleyard. Harry has also produced a self-guided walk for this must see park.

View Harry’s extensive description of the site here.

View Harry’s self-guided walk here.

The amount of new woodland created in England last year amounts to under 700 hectares, an area little bigger than London’s Olympic Park.

This falls far short of yearly targets needed to plant 11 million trees by 2020 and raise woodland cover from 10 to 12% by 2060, say MPs.

Source: ‘Step change’ needed to create more woodland – BBC News

A conservation charity wants to reintroduce beavers to the northwest Highlands.
Findhorn-based Trees for Life said it has been working for more than 25 years on a plan to bring back the once native species to parts of Scotland.

Source: Bid to bring beavers to northwest Highlands – BBC News

Download our spotting sheets and take them with you when you go wildlife spotting.

Source: Wildlife Watch – Spotting sheets

Curlew by Peter Hassett, Draycote Water 1 March 2017

Europe’s largest wader is a high conservation priority.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: Curlew at risk of global extinction | Discover Wildlife

The RSPB North Bucks Local Group are leading a field trip to Paxton Pits Nature Reserve on 23 April 2017:

Location: Map ref TL 195 629, at W edge of Little Paxton, just off the A1 N of St.Neots
Postcode: PE19 6ET (Google map)

75 hectares of lakes, meadow, grassland, scrub and woodland next to the river Great Ouse, near St.Neots. A visit at this time of year to this particular location is all about Nightingales – hence the early start! Leader TBD. The café and toilets open after 10am.

Time: 08.30 am

Price: Free

See the RSPB North Bucks Local Group website for more information

MKNHS is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites. You should check details of any events listed on external sites with the organisers.

Robin by Peter Hassett, College Lake 29 December 2016

Most of 2016 was warmer than average, but this didn’t mean that life was always easy for birds. Mild temperatures over the 2015/16 winter probably resulted in good over-winter survival of small garden birds, and numbers of Wrens, Coal Tits and Goldcrests were all high in gardens during the early part of the year. However, although birds escaped severe freezes, they were battered by storms and wet weather.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: GBW Annual Results 2016 | BTO – British Trust for Ornithology

Natural England and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) have launched a new online database and analytical tool called Pantheon, which helps us better understand conservation status and habitat-related traits of invertebrates.

Click on the link for more information: Online analytical tool launched to aid invertebrate conservation – GOV.UK

Red Admiral by Harry Appleyard, Tattenhoe Park 22nd September 2016

Have you seen a Red Admiral? Please record it!

The Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) is a migratory butterfly colonising Central and Northern Europe every year from the South. In autumn, the offspring of these spring arrivals migrate southwards.

We investigate the migration of the Red Admiral by the help of citizen science. Thanks to the more than 40 citizen science portals across Europe that share their data with us, we are now able to study Red Admiral occurrence in an unprecedented spatio-temporal resolution.

Now we need you to help our project! Please report any records of Red Admirals

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: Red Admiral migration | Insect Migration & Ecology Lab

Garden bird enthusiasts might be surprised – shocked even – to discover the goings on in their own back gardens. Between the well-kept flowerbeds and over neatly-trimmed lawns, nesting garden birds flit to and fro, their endeavours to rear their young a shining example of what hard-working, faithful couples can achieve. Or so, until relatively recently, it was presumed.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: Who’s the daddy? | BTO – British Trust for Ornithology

Robin by Peter Hassett, College Lake 29 December 2016

Learn the most familiar of our birdsong from the comfort of your garden and enrich your experience of that morning cuppa. Encourage more birds by planting trees and expand your knowledge of the soundscape.

Source: Bird song identifier: common garden bird songs – Woodland Trust

A list of tree species around the world has been compiled by the Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) in conjunction with 500 member organisations.

The assessment has created Global Tree Search, the first complete database of tree species and country distributions, published in the Journal of Sustainable Forestry.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: We share the planet with 60,000 tree species | Discover Wildlife

The main theme of The State of the UK’s Birds report (SUKB) 2016 is the latest Birds of Conservation Concern 4 list – BoCC4 published in 2015 – and the species whose status has changed. The increase in the Red list by 15 species is due to problems in all habitats including farmland, woodland and coasts but most notably in uplands with five new upland species moving onto the red list. One of these is Curlew.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: State of UK Birds 2016 | BTO – British Trust for Ornithology

Green-winged Orchid in Pilch Fields by Peter Hassett

Ann Biggins ( the Reserve Warden) and Jenny Mercer will be leading a walk at  Pilch Field Nature Reserve  on  Easter Monday 17 April 2017 at 2:30 pm

Buckinghamshire Fungus Group (BFG) are hosting a Fungi walk in Rushbeds Wood 17 April 2017.

Details of the event can be found here.

Please note that, if you are not a member of BFG, you are asked to contact Penny Cullington if you would like to attend any meetings.

MKNHS is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites. You should check details of any events listed on external sites with the organisers.

Open Sunday at Linford Lakes NR 16 April 2017 10:00-16:00hrs.

Bring friends and family and explore the reserve.
There will be a nature hunt for families to take part in,
With rewards on completion for the younger family members.
Come along and see the herons on their nests.
Refreshments, home-made cakes and facilities available
Crafts, second-hand books and bird seed for sale.
.

Red Kite by Peter Hassett

A Red Kite has been shot dead near Toddington.

Source: Appeal after Red Kite found shot in Bedfordshire wood – Bedford Today

The world’s spiders eat 400-800m tonnes of insects every year – as much meat and fish as humans consume over the same period, a study said Tuesday.

In the first analysis of its kind, researchers used data from 65 previous studies to estimate that a total of 25m metric tonnes of spiders exist on Earth.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: World’s spiders devour 400-800m metric tons of insects yearly – experts | Environment | The Guardian

Butterfly Conservation has today strongly welcomed the sentencing of a collector found guilty of illegally catching and killing the UK’s rarest butterfly.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: Butterfly Conservation – Legal history made as butterfly collector sentenced

Red-Tailed Bumblebee by Harry Appleyard, Tattenhoe 11 April 2016

38 Degrees are running a petition to the ban on bee-killing pesticides.

Britain’s bees are in danger. Powerful lobbyists want to spray toxic pesticides that kill bees all over our fields this summer. These pesticides are so deadly that there’s a ban on using them – so the lobbyists must convince the Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom to lift the ban.

Andrea Leadsom is fairly new to the job – and this is the first time she’s had the fate of our bees in her hands. But so far, the only people she’s heard from are lobbyists. Together, we can change that. A huge petition, delivered straight to her, would prove that the public expect her to protect our bees – and keep the ban in place

Please can you sign the petition right now and demand that the ban on bee-killing pesticides stays in place? It takes less than a minute to add your name:
http://bit.ly/2n18De6

The RSPB North Bucks Local Group are hosting a talk:

Location: Cruck Barn, City Discovery Centre, Bradwell Abbey, Milton Keynes
Postcode: MK13 9AP (Google map)
Andy, the Bucks Bird Recorder for the last 28 years, also leads overseas natural history tours. He’ll draw on all of his experience to take us on a virtual tour of this spectacular landscape where traditional farming and herding practices allow biodiversity to thrive. Birds, flowers, butterflies and moths … and maybe a bear!

Time: Doors open 7.15 pm for a prompt 7.45 pm start
Price: Group members £2.50, Non-Group members £3.50, Children £1

See the RSPB North Bucks Local Group website for more information

MKNHS is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites. You should check details of any events listed on external sites with the organisers.

Why aren’t there more green butterflies?

Click here for the answer: Why aren’t there more green butterflies? | Discover Wildlife

On a moonless night, light levels can by more than 100m times dimmer than in bright daylight. Yet while we are nearly blind and quite helpless in the dark, cats are out stalking prey, and moths are flying agilely between flowers on our balconies.

While we sleep, millions of other animals rely on their visual systems to survive. The same is true of animals who inhabit the eternal darkness of the deep sea. In fact, the overwhelming majority of the world’s animals are primarily active in dim light. How is their formidable visual performance possible, especially in insects, with tiny eyes and brains less than the size of a grain of rice? What optical and neural strategies have they evolved to allow them to see so well in dim light?

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: How do animals see in the dark?

Butterfly Conservation’s Upper Thames Branch, which covers Berks, Bucks and Oxon, is holding its annual Members’ Day on

Saturday 28^th October 2017, 10.00 – 17.00,  

Amersham Community Centre, Chiltern Avenue, Amersham, Bucks.

We are opening the event to members of other wildlife and conservation organisations. It is an all-day event with illustrated talks, displays, a members’ photo competition and a stall selling butterfly books. An excellent buffet lunch is served. We have some good speakers coming this year. It is a great opportunity for you to find out about the butterflies and moths in our area and to chat to people who are involved in their conservation. The programme, directions and map will be on the events page of our web-site

www.upperthames-butterflies.org.uk

The event is free, although a donation of £5 to cover the cost of the lunch would be appreciated. Numbers are limited so, if you would like to join us for all or part of the day, please book with

Brenda Mobbs at bc.upperthames@gmail.com or 01494 712486 before 11^th October.

If you are already a Butterfly Conservation member you do not need to book.

The Buckinghamshire Recorders Seminar will be on

Saturday 29^th April at The Coach House, at Green Park, Aston Clinton, HP22 5NE.

In attachment you will find the programme. If you would like to attend (and also if you’d like to have a display on the day) and you haven’t already informed us, please send a completed booking form (also in attachment) or an email to:

Environmental Records Centre erc@buckscc.gov.uk or

Bernardini, Claudia cbernardini@buckscc.gov.uk

Any problems or queries please do not hesitate to contact us

Kind regards

Claudia

Dr Claudia Bernardini
Environmental Records Officer
Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes Environmental Records Centre
Transport Economy Environment
Tel: 01296 382431
Email: cbernardini@buckscc.gov.uk;
Buckinghamshire County Council, County Hall, Walton Street, Aylesbury. Bucks. HP20 1UY

Stephen Falk has produced a Flickr collection of British Snail-killing Flies. Hope you find it useful

A family of small to medium-sized acalypterate flies (British species 2-11 mm long) with 72 British species (2016). Many species have patterned wings and the antennae are often elongate, porrect and arising from a projecting frons (notably members of the tribe Tetanocerini) which creates a distinctive ‘alert’ appearance. Sciomyzids often walk in a slow and deliberate fashion which can make them stand out from other acalypterate flies when checking the contents of a net. They are particularly numerous and diverse in lush wetlands.

Click on the link to for more information

Observatree are looking for your help with a citizen science project to combat tree disease.

Nineteen tree pests and diseases are now officially in the UK with more on the horizon. The good news is that there is plenty that you can do to help, since our Observatree team is keen to enlist a new tier of public support to track three high-priority problems: ash dieback, oriental chestnut gall wasp and cedar shoot blight.

Bee-flies are probably the most familiar of all the species covered by the recording scheme. One species in particular, the Dark-edged Bee-fly Bombylius major, is a familar sign of spring as it hovers over flowers and uses its long proboscis (‘tongue’) to feed from them.

But there are a number of other bee-fly species to look out for as well, and this page collects together some information about the group. If you see a bee-fly, please send in the record!

Source: Bee-flies | Soldierflies and Allies Recording Scheme

Some of the UK’s most threatened species will be brought back from the brink of extinction, as part of an ambitious £4.6 million project funded by the National Lottery.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: Butterfly Conservation – Partnership helps species come back from the brink

MKNHS members mothing at Linford Lakes NR by Julie Lane 9 July2016

Moths (Lepidoptera) are the major nocturnal pollinators of flowers. However, their importance and contribution to the provision of pollination ecosystem services may have been under-appreciated. Evidence was identified that moths are important pollinators of a diverse range of plant species in diverse ecosystems across the world.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: Pollination by nocturnal Lepidoptera, and the effects of light pollution: a review – MACGREGOR – 2014 – Ecological Entomology – Wiley Online Library

Work Sunday at Linford Lakes NR on 2 April 2017 10:00-13:00hrs.

Helpers needed for some possible work on the bund.
Clearing sluices and putting up nest boxes.
Refreshments available.

I’ve been collecting Lacewing specimens for the past year or so, after hearing a rumour that they were a reasonably easy group (aka my colleague Dave Slade told me so). After my struggles with Craneflies, a group with no definitive key and over 300 species, it was a relief to try a group with an excellent key in the form of a Field Studies Council AIDGAP guide (A key to the adults of British lacewings and their allies by Colin Plant) and a mere 40 or so British species.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: Lacewing Love In

Youtube videos of flying animals, turned into colorful flight patterns.

Source: Flight videos deconstructed