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

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 1^st, 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 1^st 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 3^rd was not quite as busy as the June 1^st 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

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 22^nd to 30^th 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

Photo at top of page  – Swift at Willen Lake ©Chris Ward

All other photos ©Action for Swifts

Oxford Natural History Museum Swift webcam

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.

Click here for more information.: Who’s who in the world of biological recording? | Biodiversity Projects

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 17^th.

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

Red Banded Polypore fungus (Fomitopsis pinicola) ©Justin Long, Linford Lakes NR 26 January 2019

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.

Liverpool, Gloucestershire, Scotland, Durham… Kershope Forest, Kielder Forest, Wark Forest, Greenham Common…

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.

Photos and text kindly supplied by Justin Long

Howe Park Wood Nature Day by Julie Lane 1 July 2016

The Parks Trust has published a series of self-guided walks.

Click here for more information.

National Tree Week started on Saturday 24^th November and finishes on Sunday 2^ndDecember, so you still have time to get involved!

The Parks Trust has produced a factsheet about the notable tress in Milton Keynes. Click here to download the factsheet.

The Publications section of our own website has details of Top Trees and Top Orchards in Milton Keynes.

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

Otter on bridge ©Martin Kincaid, Linford Lakes NR 29 July 2017

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

Click here to read the rest of the article.: Otter shot in Northamptonshire | Wildlife Trust for Beds, Cambs & Northants

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.”

Click here for more information.: Natural Capital Synthesis Report Project – Clare Lawson | Valuing Nature Network

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.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

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.

Click here for more information.: Report a sighting – Project Godwit

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’…

Click here to read the rest of the article.: The impact of building a new university campus on urban bird diversity and abundance: a seven-year study | Jeff Ollerton’s Biodiversity Blog

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.

Sue Hetherington

The baby otter was rescued from a garden after getting lost in bad weather.

Click on the link for more information: RSPCA officer otter-ly surprised | Discover Wildlife

Silver-washed Fritillary by Harry Appleyard, North Bucks Way 21 July 2016

Local blogger, Ashley Beolens describes what he considers to be the top 5 butterfly sites in Milton Keynes – Source: 5 Best Butterfly Sites in Milton Keynes – Views From An Urban Lake

Water Vole ©Peter Hassett, WWT Arundel 19 July 2011

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.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article: Water voles thriving in Oxfordshire and Berkshire and given a helping hand in Buckinghamshire | Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust

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.

Source: Vocal individuality in drumming in great spotted woodpecker—A biological perspective and implications for conservation

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.

Click here to read the rest of the article: David James Wildlife Diary: The Butterflies of Northamptonshire in 2017

A rare lacewing, Sympherobius klapaleki Zeleny (Neuroptera: Hemerobiidae) has been found in Milton Keynes by the well known entomologist Mark G. Telfer who has kindly provided this article.

Sympherobius klapaleki is a brown lacewing in which the basal two segments of the antenna are yellow-brown, strongly contrasting with the remaining segments which are all blackish. The first British specimen was reared from a pupa found on dead oak twigs at Silwood Park, Berkshire, in April 1994 (Whittington, 1998). Three further British records are known to the author, from South Essex, Nottinghamshire and Hertfordshire (Colin Plant and David Gibbs, pers. comms) (Table 1). David Gibbs’ Nottinghamshire record was of a female swept from tree foliage in an area of coniferised woodland.

Table 1: Previous British records of Sympherobius klapaleki in chronological order.

Figure 1: Aerial bottle trap outside a branch socket on the veteran oak at Kingsmead Spinney.

Two females of S. klapaleki were captured by an aerial bottle trap during 11 May to 2 June 2017 in Kingsmead Spinney, Milton Keynes (SP82433381; VC 24). The trap was suspended outside a decaying branch socket on the trunk of a hollow veteran oak Quercus on the southern boundary of the spinney (Figures 1, 2). Flight interception trapping in such a position is intended to capture saproxylic insects (especially beetles) which are either emerging from within the trunk, or are attracted towards access holes into tree trunks. This record of S. klapaleki is suggestive evidence for breeding in oaks but not conclusive; though the two females may have been flying out of or heading into the hollow trunk, it is also possible that they were captured incidentally.

Figure 2: The veteran oak on the southern boundary of Kingsmead Spinney.

The Kingsmead Spinney record appears to be the fifth British record and the first record for Buckinghamshire (VC 24), though the records to date are suggestive of a widespread and rather under-recorded species.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Martin Kincaid of The Parks Trust, Milton Keynes, for arranging the survey, and David Gibbs and Colin Plant for sharing records and information.

Reference

Whittington, A.E. (1998). Sympherobius klapaleki Zeleny (Neur.: Hemerobiidae) new to Britain. Entomologist’s record and journal of variation, 110, 288 – 289.

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

Click here to read the article: Inside Britain’s magnificent Tree Cathedral – and five more arboreal structures

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 50^th 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 5^th 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.

Scarce Chaser Dragonfly by Martin Kincaid, Linford Lakes NR 27 July 2017

On Thursday 27^th July, Martin Kincaid spotted a dragonfly at Linford Lakes Nature Reserve which turned out to be a Scarce Chaser Libellula fulva. This species, once restricted to East Anglia, has undergone a period of range expansion in recent years and has been found across Northants. This however is the first record for this species in Milton Keynes. Similar to the more common Black Tailed Skimmer, this species can be told apart by the blue tinted eyes and slightly thicker abdomen.

Picture and text by Martin Kincaid

Long Tailed Tit by Peter Hassett, College Lake 18 June 2017

Julie Lane has provided details of a local Long-tailed tit retrap record.

I have just had news from my friend Del Gruar that a female long-tailed tit that he ringed at Potton, Cambridgeshire last April was retrapped by Kenny Cramer at the Wildlife Day at Howe Park Wood on 1st July this year. A real coincidence as Del was the ringer at our first Howe Park Day in 2016. What goes around comes around!!

These are the details supplied by the British Trust for Ornithology:

Here are the details of a recovery of one of your birds.
Species: Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) Scheme: GBT Ring no: HRX352

Ringing details
Age: 4 Sex: F Sex meth: B P.ringed: 0 P.alive: 0 Condition: U
Colour marks added: – Metal marks added: N Act1: U Act2: U
Ringing date: 16-Apr-2016 14:20:00
Reg code: – Place code: POTTON Site name: Potton, near Sandy, Bedfordshire, UK
County code: GBBED Grid ref: TL2248 Accuracy 0 Co-ords: 52deg 6min N 0deg -13min W Accuracy 0
Hab1: F2 Hab2: —
Biometrics: Wing: 60.0 mm. Weight: 9.5 g. Time: 14:20:00hrs
Remarks: –
Ringer: D J Gruar, 4538
________________________________________
Finding details
Ring not Verified Age: 4 Sex: F Sex meth: B
Colour marks added: – Metal marks added: – Act1: U Act2: U
Finding date: 01-Jul-2017 (0) 15:10:00
Reg code: – Place code: HWPKWD Site name: Howe Park Wood, Milton Keynes, UK
County code: GBMKE Grid ref: SP8334 Accuracy 0 Co-ords: 51deg 59min N 0deg -47min W Accuracy 0
Hab1: A1 Hab2: —
Biometrics: Wing: 61.0 mm. Weight: 8.3 g. Time: 15:10:00hrs
Finding condition: 8:20 Movement: 9
Subsequent Capture by Ringer Intentionally Taken
Remarks: –
Duration: 441 days Distance: 41 km Direction: 252deg (WSW)
Finder: Northants Ringing Group, 9187

Female Peregrine in the MK Stadium

The Buckinghamshire Bird Club have published a very interesting article on the Peregrine Falcons at Stadium MK.

Click here to read the article.

False Click Beetle Eucnemis capucina by Udo Schmidt (CC BY-SA 2.0)

This year, Mark Telfer, one of the UK’s leading coleopterists, has been surveying Howe Park, Kingsmead and Shenley Woods on behalf of The Parks Trust. Mark has been looking for invertebrates associated with dead and decaying wood. A similar survey, focusing on beetles, was carried out by Colin Plant in 1996 so this is the first survey of its kind in MK for twenty years.

Although the survey is ongoing, Mark says that he is “staggered” by the diversity of saproxylic beetles he has found, and in particular a number of Red Data Book and nationally rare species. One of the most impressive of these if the false click beetle Eucnemis capucina (pictured) which he found in Kingsmead Wood. This incredibly rare beetle is considered a flagship species of ancient woodland. It is known only from the New Forest, Windsor Great Park and Bredon Hill in Worcestershire, so its discovery in Milton Keynes is little short of miraculous.

Atomaria pulchra by Mark Teller

In Shenley Wood, Mark has discovered several beetles new to him – itself very unusual. One of these is a tiny beetle called Atomaria pulchra . Mark shared this information with fellow coleopterist Tony Allen who has the largest beetle list in the UK. Tony has since made two visits to Shenley Wood from Dorset, as he had never before recorded this species. Tony Allen not only saw A.pulchra but also found another Atomaria beetle which may be new to the UK! This specimen has been taken to the Natural History Museum in London to be identified later this summer.

Parks Trust Biodiversity Officer Martin Kincaid said, “The early findings of this survey far exceed our expectations and it’s exciting that Mark has already found so many rare and scarce species. This really highlights the importance of standing dead wood as a habitat and shows that even where there is relatively little dead wood, important populations of invertebrates can survive. The creation of more standing dead wood in our woodlands will help these and other species to expand”.

The full results of this survey will be available in late 2017 and we will provide a further update then.

Author: Martin Kincaid