New Year Plant Hunt 2019 - Uckfield

This is my fifth year of doing the Botanical Society of the British and Ireland's New Year Plant Hunt so I thought I knew what to expect. However, the sheer number of wild or naturalised plants in bloom took me by surprise. We have had a mild run up to the new year and this has enabled more than 40 different species to keep flowering right up until the new year.  The scores for the last few years are:

• 2015 - 21 species of which 2 were naturalised garden plants that had 'jumped the fence'
• 2016 - 34 species of which 4 were naturalised
• 2017 - 23 species of which 2 were naturalised
• 2018 - 28 species of which 3 were naturalised
• 2019 - 45 species of which 4 were naturalised

Because odd nooks and crannies near retail outlets generally give good results, I started at the Browns Lane shops.

Shaggy Soldier (Galinsoga quadriradiata) - Browns Lane shops

The first plant that I found was Shaggy Soldier (Galinsoga quadriradiata), which just below the the window of hairdressers near Tesco Express.

Nicotiana garden escapee - Near the bus stop at the top of Browns Lane

I was really surprised to find a big, showy Nicotiana garden escapee thriving near the bus stop at the top of Browns Lane.

Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum), near the petrol station.

A surprisingly good site was the grassy area at the foot of an old mossy wall near the garage at the top of the town. I found Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum), Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) and others. I took a moment to appreciate the detail of the pretty little Herb Robert flowers.

Common Ramping Fumitory (Fumaria muralis) - scrambling up a hedge at the top of the town

Just before I got into the town itself, I raised a few eyebrows by scrambling up the grassy bank to investigate some pink flowers. I think these were Ramping Fumitory (Fumaria muralis), the mild weather has allowed them to keep growing so that they had reached the top of the hedge. When I got back down, I explained what I was up to and commented on how many flowers were still blooming. A gent walking his dog said that his cherry was blooming for the second time and that the plants are certainly behaving oddly. Several other people that I encountered along the way commented about summer flowers still flowering in their gardens or bulbs making an early start.

Yellow Corydalis (Corydalis lutea) on Holy Cross churchyard walls

By the time I had got as far as the church, I had used up about half of my allotted time but had already beaten last year's score.  My 34th plant this year was a Yellow Corydalis (Corydalis lutea), which was growing out of the churchyard wall.

Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) hedge between allotments and bypass

As I was going past the allotments on the by-pass I noticed a few tiny and very early Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) blossoms in the hedge.

Oxeye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare) at the Fire Station

Even more surprising were the Oxeye Daisies (Leucanthemum vulgare) I found near the fire station.

Taking stock at The Station pub.

I took a break in the Station Pub and spent a little time checking what I had found and what I still needed to look for. I was a little disappointed that I hadn't found Primroses (Primula vulgaris) or Violets but thought that I might find something In Lime Tree Avenue.

Herb Bennet in Lime Tree Avenue

In Lime Tree Avenue, the Violets and Primroses have yet to start blooming - other than the Hawthorn, there are very few spring flowers open - but there was a Herb Bennet (Geum Urbanum) left over from the summer. This seems to be the pattern this year - many summer flowers have been able to keep going due to the long, warm autumn and the mild weather since. The mild weather has also enabled the modest little weeds to prosper. Although my task was to note down species, I did notice that the number of any one species was larger than usual. I am looking forward to seeing the overall results once plant hunters from around the country have managed to upload their lists.

The Science Bit

Location: Uckfield, East Sussex.  Start point: TQ478219

41 Wild Plants Flowering on 30 December 2017

Scientific  name	common name
Achillea millefolium	Yarrow
Arabidopsis thaliana	Thale Cress
Arrhenatherum elatius	False Oat Grass
Bellis perennis	Daisy
Capsella bursa-pastoris	Shepherd's Purse
Cardamine hirsuta	Hairy Bittercress
Centranthus ruber	Red Valerian
Cerastium fontanum	Common Mouseear
Corylus avellana	Hazel
Crataegus monogyna	Hawthorn
Crepis capillaris	Smooth Hawk's-beard
Erigeron canadensis	Canadian Fleabane
Euphorbia peplus	Petty Spurge
Fumaria muralis	Common Ramping Fumitory
Galinsoga quadriradiata	Shaggy Soldier
Geranium robertianum	Herb Robert
Geum Urbanium	Herb Bennet
Hedera helix	Ivy
Hypochaeris radicata	Cat's ear
Lamium album	White Dead-nettle
Lamium purpureum	Red Dead-nettle
Leucanthemum vulgare	Oxeye Daisy
Matricaria discoidea	Pineapple Weed
Myosotis arvensis	Field Forget me not
Parietaria judaica	Pellitory-of-the-wall
Pentaglottis sempervirens	Green Alkanet
Picris echioides	Bristly Oxtongue
Poa annua	Annual Meadow Grass
Polygonum areanstrum	Equal-leaved knotweed
Polypogon viridis	Water Bent
Ranunculus acris	Meadow buttercup

4 Naturalised Plants flowering on 30 December 2018

Scientific name	common name
Bergenia cordifolia	Elephants ears
Campanula poscharskyana	Trailing Bellflower
Corydalis lutea	Yellow Corydalis
Nicotiana x sanderae

SBRS - Autumn Get Together

The Sussex Botanical Recording Society (SBRS) Autumn get together marks the end of my botonising efforts for the year.  There was a series of very interesting talks, a photo competition and much to interest and amuse.

Staplefield Village Hall, 27 October 2018

Bruce Middleton - Heaths of Sussex

Bruce talked about heathland and its species. One interesting section was about improving the habitat for invertebrates by scraping the heather turf off, forcing it to regrow.  This was actually done by golf clubs who were able to re-use the turf to create areas of heathland around their golf courses.

One thing that I had not realised is that healthland needs some disturbance to thrive. During World War II, Heathland was used for exercises, which provided some useful disturbance.

Churchyard Survey

Helen gave us an account of the Churchyard Survey including detail on a particularly good Burgess Hill churchyard.

Notable East Sussex Records 

Matt gave a very interesting talk about native and non-native plants that had been found in Sussex.  Fascinating though the natives are, it was the non-natives that got my attention. Everything from Gaura (Butterfly bush) to Datura (Angel's trumpets)

Field Bindweed

Field Bindweed, Uckfield Rugby Club, 1 July 2018

I'm sure that Mike talked about other things but it was the Field Bindweed that got my attention. Apparently there are 10 subvarieties with varying colours and patterns on the flower. For example some have a yellow middle and others additionally have a red zig-zag line round the centre.  When I surveyed the Uckfield Rugby Club field, I noticed that the Field Bindweeds had different patterns and colours but thought no more of it. .

Find of the year

One of the field trips turned up an unusual discovery. The group found Great Pignut (Bunium bulbocastanum), which has never previously been recorded in Sussex. It has been recorded in the Chilterns and Northern France but never in between.  In its normal habitat, it grows in disturbed places such as verges and as an arable week.

Distinguishing features:

• Bracts and Bracteoles
• Fruit has a swollen stylopolium

Arthur's questions

Arthur had made some observations in his own garden including

• Coral root - the roots actually look like coral
• Oxalis - leaves turn pink when ants are present (similarly bluebell flowers turn pink)

An unexpected pleasure

St Marks wall paintings.

After the meeting, while I was waiting for the car park to clear, I took a look at the church. St. Marks was built in 1847. The charming wall paintings are by the Victorian stained glass designer Charles Eamer Kempe. 

Useful links

• Species of the month
• SBRS web site

Plants of Uckfield's Playing Fields

The Sussex Botanical Recording Society's (SBRS) members hunt for plants throughout Sussex so it can build up a picture of the flora in our county. This information has been published in The Flora of Sussex.

SBRS suggested that it would be a good idea to record the plants growing on neighbourhood greens and pitches because the turf has often been in place for decades or even longer giving time for an interesting community of plants and wildlife to build up. I chose four Uckfield playing/recreation fields and paid each site three visits to catch spring, early summer and late summer flowers.

Uckfield Rugby Club and Field Bindweed - 8 July 2018

The sites I chose were:

• The Uckfield Rugby Club field - 80 species including trees and grasses
• Hempstead playing fields - 69 
• The Dene - 53 
• Luxford Field - 49 

The Uckfield Rugby Club Field

This is a splendid community facility that is sandwiched between the estate where I live and the River Uck. It also borders onto ancient woodland. Before the playing fields were created, just over 50 years ago, it was a hop field.

The boundary of the rugby field is a man-made woodland edge, which is a very useful habitat for birds and other wildlife. On my April visit, while surveying the un-mown strip at the edge by the ancient woodland, I found bluebells, wood anemones as well as a variety of plants round the other edges. During my 3 visits, I found a total of 80 species.

Annual Beard Grass - 1 July 2018.

One of the most surprising was Annual Beard Grass (Polypogon monspeliensis), which is a pretty little grass with a very fluffy head.  I looked it up in my lovely new Flora of Sussex … and … oh dear.  No sign of it near Uckfield. However, a more experienced member of the society confirmed that I had identified it correctly and so we have a new dot on the map.

Hempstead Playing Fields

This playing field slopes down from Hempstead Lane to some damp ground near the river. Looking at a 1947 aerial photo, I can see a checkerboard pattern that suggests allotments.

Common Fleabane - 25 August 2918.

I found a total of 69 plant species including quite a few damp-loving flowers and trees at the bottom of the field. These included the sweet-smelling Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) and Common Fleabane (Pulicaria dysenterica).

Bog Stitchwort - 13 July 2018.

While doing these surveys, I have been noticing plants that I must have walked by dozens of times.  One of these was Bog Stitchwort (Stellaria uliginosa). Unfortunately my photo doesn't do justice to its exquisite delicacy.

The Dene

A covenant that protects The Dene dates to the 1930s, which shows that its use for recreation long pre-dates the Manor Park estate that surrounds it.

Cuckoo flower - 5 May 2018.

In my three visits, I found 53 different species of plant. In my opinion, the prettiest botanical feature is the lovely sweep of Cuckoo flowers (Cardamine pratensis) just below the Plane tree on Browns Lane.

Hawthorn - 5 May 2018.

The clumps of shrubs on the Browns Lane edge include garden escapees such as Cotoneaster as well as natives like Hawthorn and Ivy.  These provide a wonderful food source for pollinators and birds. I still remember the flock of colourful Waxwings that fed on the Cotoneaster berries in February 2009.  When I did my 15 minute Big Butterfly Count on The Dene this year, it scored higher than any of the other recreation areas I surveyed with 11 butterflies. The medium-length grass supports Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns whose caterpillars depend on grass. Docks and Sorrels in the grass feed the caterpillars of the Small Copper butterflies that I sometimes see on The Dene.

Luxford Field

To be honest, I didn't expect to find much in Luxford field because, quite rightly, the grass is kept close trimmed to allow for games and events.  However, when I looked at it more closely, I found two stretches of hedge as well as an interesting selection of trees.  These features bumped my total up to 49 species.

Common Mallow - 21 July

The brightest bloom was Common Mallow (Malva sylvestris), which was defying the odds to blossom near a litter bin.

Hoverfly on Shepherd's purse - 21 July 2018.

Tiny flowers, such as the Shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) pictured, at the edge of the grass were providing nectar for even tinier insects.

#30DaysWild in Watercolour

During June, the Wildlife Trusts have been running the #30DaysWild Challenge. The aim is to have one wildlife encounter everyday. I usually take a photo and put it on Twitter but this time, I decided to try and do a mini-watercolour instead. So each day, I've carved out between 20 and 90 minutes to do a little painting.

1 June - Ox-eye daisy - Crowborough.

This little project nearly fell on the first day because I expected to get home in time to create something. Instead due to a timetable meltdown, I had to content myself with some Ox-eye daisies at Crowborough.

3rd June - Ashdown Forest.

At the weekend, things were a little more relaxed and I found myself in Ashdown Forest, surrounded by Orchids and birdsong, painting the view of the gently rolling downs.

7 June - Uckfield garden - Insects on Ceonothus

Sometimes it was the tiny things that caught my attention.  One morning, I found a Rose Chafer and a selction of bees on our Ceonothus.

5 June - The Vapourer Caterpillar who hitched a ride on my hat. 

One day, I went on a walk through Uckfield's West Park Local Nature Reserve with the Uckfield Local Nature Reserves Supporters Group. On the way back I noticed that the brim of my hat was moving! It turned out to be a little punk rocker of a caterpillar - one that would grow up to become a Vapourer moth. I put it on a suitable food plant in our garden and wished it well.

16 June - Sussex Flag and Swifts

Saturday, the 16th of June was Sussex Day, so I painted the Sussex Flag that flew above our Civic Centre along with some of the Swifts that frequent the area.

17 June - Meadow Thistle - Chailey Common

Last September, I visited Chailey Common with the Sussex Biological Recording Group. One of the aims of the visit was to check on the progress of Marsh Thistles. At the time, there were plenty of rosettes but, of course, the flowers were long gone. I decided to pay them a visit and was delighted to find some in flower and being visited by Large Skipper butterflies and bees.  I could hear the Longhorn Cattle used for conservation grazing mooing in the distance.

22 June - Moon peeping through Honeysuckle

When I got back on the evening of June the 22nd, the scent of honeysuckle was already heavy in the air and the moon was rising in the Cobalt blue sky.

23 June - Fallow doe and fawn at Ashdown Park Hotel

One of my favourite sightings happened by chance. On the Saturday we went to the Ashdown Park Hotel for a wedding tea. On the way in, we saw a doe step out of the bushes onto the Hotel's private road. She was followed by a tiny fawn.

30 June - Hempstead Meadow Nature Reserve

I felt a little sad when I reached the end of the challenge with this view of Hempstead Meadow Nature Reserve. Several passerbys were interested in what I was doing and a group of lads settled down in nearby trees to have a chat while they waited for the train. 

19 June - After all that walking I needed some pud!

I've really enjoyed and learnt from my self-imposed challenge. Most of my paintings were done outside and I have found that spending time in the presence of nature enables me to see so much more than if I were to take a quick photo and move on. I can hear what's happening and feel the atmosphere. Creatures come and go. While I was painting a pair of Swans in Leatherhead, a kingfisher whizzed by! Often people will pause and, seeing me painting a bird or flower, will tell me about good places for wildlife spotting or just simply want to see my little collection of paintings and pass the time of day.

There are several very talented local wildlife artists who exhibit at Uckfield events so keep a look out for local shows and, if you get a chance, pay a visit.

Butterflies in the garden

Now that I'm starting to do some serious gardening again, I am trying to think what plants and garden features are beneficial to resident and visiting wildlife. In this post, I am going to focus on butterflies. I like to observe wildlife including butterflies and often record what I see using either iRecord or during the Big Butterfly Count. Here, I will use the photos taken in the garden and elsewhere to identify which plants are attractive to butterflies.

Gatekeeper - making the most of July warmth.

Many of my photos show butterflies basking in the sun - on sunlit leaves, fences, grasses, rocks, bare earth etc. So places where they can find warmth are important.

The summer banquet

The Butterfly Conservation people have a page on Gardening with butterflies in mind.  They list the best plants for summer nectar and these are very much in line with my expectations. One of the more useful hints is to plant nectar rich plants in sunny parts of the garden.

Peacock on Verbena Bonariensis - July

One of the plants they recommend is Verbena Bonariensis, which also comes right at the top of my personal list of flowers attractive to butterflies. This is consistent with the results of a more general survey I did in 2014.

Holly Blue on Marjoram - July

Another summer favourite is wild Marjoram.  The browns seem to particularly attracted to this plant if it is growing close to long grass.

Snacking through the rest of the year

Small Copper on Aster - September

As the days shorten and the summer flowers fade away, Asters and Sedums are a good source of nectar.  Butterflies will also feed on fruit. The Natural History Museum page - How to attract butterflies to your garden - suggests putting fruit on the compost heap for them. Our compost heap is in a shaded corner, so I drop overripe or fallen fruit into a sunny patch. I've sometimes seen Red Admirals feeding on it.

Red Admiral on Mahonia - November

On the subject of Red Admirals, these can be seen flying during the winter months and are likely to need a winter snack. Mahonia is very popular with these butterflies and many other pollinators. Be sure to get the type with the long spikes of flowers that bloom during the winter months. Avoid the type that blooms in spring when there is plenty of other food around.

Brimstone on Sweet Violets - March

Butterflies will take nectar from early spring flowers such as Violets.  Many will visit Blackthorn blossom and Lesser celandine but these two are thugs that will swamp garden plants.

Speckled Wood on Bowles Mauve Perennial Wallflower - May

The Perennial Wallflower, Bowles Mauve, appears on the Butterfly Conservation summer nectar list andit starts flowering in April and so bridges the gap between the early spring flowers and the classic, summer butterfly flowers.

Caterpillars need to eat too

Peacock on Stinging Nettle - June

Sorry, I'm a bad nature lover and have no intention of having a nettle patch in our garden. Luckily our neighbour doesn't cut the nettles in his parking area and I think this is where our steady supply of Red Admirals and Peacocks comes from.  The Butterfly Conservation gardening page links to a list of food plants (pdf) and the Natural History Museum page advises allowing your garden to be wild around the edges. I suggest wild corners rather than edges. The difference between a wildlife-friendly garden and a mess is tidy edges, a prominently positioned log pile and a bird box.

Metamorphose in peace 

Green-Veined White on Garlic Mustard - I check old stems before composting

When a caterpillar is changing into a butterfly it protects and disguises itself in a pupa. They hide away in all sorts of places so be careful what you clear away. I cringe whenever I think about the way that I used to carefully leave Garlic Mustard (Jack-in-the-Hedge) as a food plant for Orange Tip and Green-veined White caterpillars and then cleared away the stems that probably had pupa attached.

Do butterflies dream of electric flowers?

I don't know if butterflies sleep but they do need somewhere hide away at night. If I brush against our hedge as I pass it first thing, a cloud of brown and orange butterflies - Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers - appears.  While taking evening walks along the A45, which runs alongside a hotel I regularly stayed in while at Birmingham, I saw Large Whites disappear into the canopies of trees alongside the road. So hedges, shrubs and trees provide butterflies with useful shelter.

Next steps

I think we are doing reasonably well with our butterflies but I need to focus more on caterpillar food plants. Of those mentioned in the Butterfly Conservation (pdf) list, we have all sorts of rough grasses, Bird's Foot Trefoil, Garlic Mustard, Violets, Blackthorn, Sorrel/Dock, Holly and Ivy. This means I have both butterflies and food plants. The next step is to find out if the butterflies are breeding in the garden - and that means getting down on my hands and knees to find caterpillars.

Blue Tits in Uckfield

This morning, Kevin of Potter's Books arrived with some treasures - nature and local history books. As it was a grey morning and snow was falling I decided to look at one of my books - The Blue Tit by Martyn Stenning.

The Blue Tit - Martyn Stenning

It is a specialist book with all sorts of fascinating information about Blue Tits including research on Blue Tits breeding in The Woodland Trust's Lake Wood, Uckfield along with detailed results and analysis.  I haven't had time to do more than graze through it so far but it sent me spinning off into my own records and photos.  My photos aren't great but I was pleased to be able to capture these lively little birds at all.

Blue Tit posing prettily on our birdtable - 13 January 2013

I find Blue Tits very endearing. They pose prettily on our bird table, nest obligingly in the box on the back of the house and surely butter wouldn't melt in their innocent little beaks?

Maybe they're not so cute if you are a rival or a threat. Just before Christmas I was shocked to see two Blue Tits having a brawl in the feet of a hedge in Hempstead Lane.  Maybe they were fighting over a nesting site? Martyn's book tells us that "securing a cavity will be the male Blue Tit's first move to attract a mate" or maybe, at a time when food was scarce, they were competing over some tasty morsel. A couple of the country names listed in Mark Cocker's and Richard Mabey's Birds Britannica, "Billy biter" and "Tom bitethumb" reflect their feisty nature.

At our nest box - 27 Mary 2007

I've got so used to seeing Blue Tits nesting in bird boxes that it was a surprise when David, chairman  of the Uckfield Nature Reserves Supporters Group, pointed out parent birds going in and out of a crack in the trunk of a big old tree in Uckfield Town Council's West Park Local Nature Reserve. I simply hadn't thought about what Blue Tits did before man invented bird boxes! Now I find myself wondering if they are descendants of any of the birds that featured in Martyn's Lake Wood studies.

Fledgling with yellow gape round its beak - 27 May 2011

When a Blue Tit family is resident in the box on our wall, we never have to worry about caterpillars eating our plants because the parent birds are constantly scouring the garden for nice, soft prey to feed their chicks.  Those little mouths are sign-posted with a bright yellow gape as shown in the photo above.

I was astounded when I read, in Martyn's book that they hatch " ... more often very early in the morning ... so the hatchling can feed sufficiently to double its weight from roughly one gram to two grams during the first 24 hours out of the egg shell." I find it remarkable that they can grow so quickly but also that everything is so well synchronised with the hatching matching the time that there are caterpillars to feed on.

The Blue Tits that nest in our box always seem to fledge when I am away but in 2007 they left the nest on a Sunday and I seemed to spend most of the day watching them and shooing off the neighbours' cats.  On the 27 of April, fledglings started coming out of the nest just before 9:30am. I still remember the parent bird calling them across the garden from a tree.

Fledgling hiding in bonsai - 27 Mary 2007

• The first three got off quickly. These little bundles of fluff tumbled rather than flew from the box. They fluttered and ran across the garden until they reached a conifer. From there, I think they more-or-less parachuted to the Oak.
• Unfortunately the fourth fell in the pond. Although I got it out and put it on the bird table, the parent bird would have nothing further to do with it.
• The last two came out about 5 pm. They both fluttered to the ground and ran across the garden until they encountered an obstacle, which they would then climb to use as a launch pad for the next part of their journey.  It was fascinating to see them climb our wall with their surprisingly large feet.

Now, at the end of a snowy March, I'm hoping to see Blue Tits inspecting our box so the whole cycle can start again.

West Park Local Nature Reserve - Species

Just before Christmas, I wrote about the species that I have observed in the Hempstead Meadow Nature Reserve. Now it's West Park's turn.

Amphibians and Reptiles

I've not observed any amphibians or reptiles in West Park but plenty of people have seen frog spawn near the pond.  iRecord shows two records for Common Lizard in 2015.

Birds

Goldfinch - 9 April 2017

We (The Uckfield Nature Reserves Supporter's group) have gone on a number of bird walks, led by David. I have recorded the following species but we saw and heard more.

Common name	Species
Sparrowhawk	Accipiter nisus
Swift	Apus apus
Grey Heron	Ardea cinerea
Buzzard	Buteo buteo
Goldfinch	Carduelis carduelis
Blue Tit	Cyanistes caeruleus
Great Spotted Woodpecker	Dendrocopos major
Robin	Erithacus rubecula
Pied Wagtail	Motacilla alba subsp. yarrellii
Great Tit	Parus major
House Sparrow	Passer domesticus
Chiffchaff	Phylloscopus collybita
Magpie	Pica pica
Dunnock	Prunella modularis
Bullfinch	Pyrrhula pyrrhula
Goldcrest	Regulus regulus
Nuthatch	Sitta europaea
Wren	Troglodytes troglodytes
Blackbird	Turdus merula
Song Thrush	Turdus philomelos

On one of our walks last year, David pointed out Bluetits going in and out a hole in a tree. I am so used to seeing them in nest boxes, it is strange to see them using a natural nesting place.

Flowering Plants

Bluebells and Oak - 14 May 2017

There are many flowering plants in the reserve including many blossom trees such Blackthorn, Hawthorn and Wild Roses.  I've only recorded a handful and have taken beauties such as the Oak and Bluebells, shown in the photo above, for granted. Looking at iRecord, it is clear that a much more detailed survey was done in 2015 by Ben Rainbow, which yielded over a hundred species including those two.

Mystery tree - a pear? - 9 April 2017

During the 9 April 2017 walk, we found an intriguing blossom tree.  The flowers were familiar but too big for one of the trees we expect to find flowering in April.  Scouring our books didn't really help and it was only when I found a very similar tree in Leatherhead that I began to suspect that it might be an ornamental pear. I didn't find any pears in the Autumn but I may have missed them.

Fungi

Velvet Shank - 22 October 2017

Many of the fungi that I have recorded in West Park were observed by a group that did a fungi hunt on the 22nd of October 2018

Common name	Species
Jelly Ear	Auricularia auricula-judae
Clouded Funnel	Clitocybe nebularis
Shaggy Inkcap	Coprinus comatus
Blushing Bracket	Daedaleopsis confragosa
Velvet Shank	Flammulina velutipes var. velutipes
Clustered Bonnet	Mycena inclinata
Birch Polypore	Piptoporus betulinus
Common Earthball	Scleroderma citrinum
Turkeytail	Trametes versicolor
Candlesnuff Fungus	Xylaria hypoxylon

Insects

Peacock butterfly - 25 March 2017

West Park is home to all sorts of insects, from tiny beetles to showy butterflies and dragonflies.  I found several different types of insect feeding on the glorious Blackthorn blossom in March last year.

Honeybee nest entrance - 28 Jan 2017

One of my favourite finds was a natural Honeybee nest in one of the old trees.  On one of the Autumn walks, David pointed out a Hornet's nest. Fortunately these large, wasp-like creatures are much more laid-back than their smaller, waspy, cousins.

Common name	Species	Taxon group
Cream-spot Ladybird	Calvia quattuordecimguttata	insect - beetle (Coleoptera)
Harlequin Ladybird	Harmonia axyridis	insect - beetle (Coleoptera)
Peacock	Aglais io	insect - butterfly
Small Tortoiseshell	Aglais urticae	insect - butterfly
Orange-tip	Anthocharis cardamines	insect - butterfly
Brimstone	Gonepteryx rhamni	insect - butterfly
Small Copper	Lycaena phlaeas	insect - butterfly
Comma	Polygonia c-album	insect - butterfly
Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	insect - butterfly
Emperor Dragonfly	Anax imperator	insect - dragonfly (Odonata)
Honey Bee	Apis mellifera	insect - hymenopteran
Large Red-tailed Bumblebee	Bombus (Melanobombus) lapidarius	insect - hymenopteran
Early Bumblebee	Bombus (Pyrobombus) pratorum	insect - hymenopteran
Common Carder Bee	Bombus (Thoracobombus) pascuorum	insect - hymenopteran
Plain Gold	Micropterix calthella	insect - moth
Cinnabar	Tyria jacobaeae	insect - moth
Meadow Grasshopper	Chorthippus parallelus	insect - orthopteran
	Panorpa communis	insect - scorpion fly (Mecoptera)
St Marks Fly	Bibionidae	insect - true fly (Diptera)
Dark-edged Bee-fly	Bombylius major	insect - true fly (Diptera)

Mammals

The only mammals that I have seen are rabbits but there is clear evidence of the presence of larger creatures.

Spiders

Crab spider - 14 May 2017

With all those insects around, we are bound to find a few spiders. I am not very good at identifying them but was able to record this colourful crab spider.

This is a very brief round up of my own observations. There are many more out there including those from formal surveys and all the people who walk through  the reserve.