2019 - Adding New Species to my List

As we reach the end of another year, it is time to have a look at all the wildlife and botanical recording that I did during the year and find out which new species I added to my lists. Most of my observations were done in and around Uckfield (Sussex) and Leatherhead (Surrey).

Goosander - 26 February 2019, Leatherhead

In 2019, I recorded 342 different species compared to 315 the year before. Like last year, about 80 of the species were new to my lists.

February's heat wave tempted me to walk along the River Mole to work. Amongst the usual Swans, Ducks and Egrets, I spotted my first "new" bird in many years - a pair of Goosanders.

Common Tamarisk-moss - 17 March 2019, Hempstead Woods

Enthused by a moss hunt conducted by Brad Scott, I started looking out for mosses while exploring local woodlands. I added 10 new ones to my list including the pretty Common Tamarisk (Thuidium tamariscinum) moss shown.

Common Pottia - 1 Sept 2019 - Buxted

One of the "best" finds, by which I mean that I found a species that had not been previously recorded in the "tetrad" square on the map,  was a Common Pottia (Tortula truncata). I had simply scooped up a little sample while I was out on a run.

Cochlicopa lubrica - 14 April, Garden

My one new mollusc came from our own garden. It was just a few mm long but had an attractive shape.

Tall Ramping Fumitory - 21 April 2019

This year, I did some plant hunts in Victoria Pleasure Ground for the Sussex Botanical Recording Society Survey of Village Greens and Recreation Grounds. I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of plants I found and the way that Uckfield Town Council balances the needs of sport and recreation with respect for nature.  I found a total of 111 species of which 16 were new to my lists. Two were new records for the area. The first of these was Tall Ramping Fumitory (Fumaria bastardii).

Small Flowered Geranium - 8 July 2019, Victoria Pleasure Ground

The other new record for the area was Small Flowered Cranesbill (Geranium pusillum) that I found during my July visit.

Nail Galls - 26 May 2019, Victoria Pleasure Ground

When doing my plant surveys, I look out for other species. I found my first "Acarine", which is a mite that causes the Nail Galls shown.

Malachite Beetle - 26 May 2019, Victoria Pleasure Ground

Another Victoria Pleasure Ground find was a Malachite Beetle, which was one of five new beetles for my lists.

Red-backed Furrow Bee - 2 May 2019, Garden

I found a total of 9 new "hymenopteran" - bees and wasps. One of the prettiest was a Red-backed Furrow Bee with bold yellow stripes and a ginger back.

Gasteruption jaculator - 11 Aug 2019, Hempstead Meadows Nature Reserve.

I found one of the strangest while taking a shortcut through the Hempstead Meadows Nature Reserve. Two Gasteruption jaculators were feeding on the Hogweed flowers near "stickleback bridge". Fortunately the long projection at the back isn't a sting, it is an ovipositor for laying eggs in the burrows of solitary bees and wasps.

Woundwort Sheildbugs - 19 May 2019, Garden

I found one new type of bug this year, the incredibly shiny Woundwort Sheidbug (Eysarcoris venustissimus), which was on the Hedge Woundwort in our garden.

Golden-ringed dragonfly - 25 Aug 2019

On what, sadly, turned out to be one of my last visits to the Horse Rescue in Hempstead Lane, I saw one of 3 new types of damsel/dragonflies to my list. It may also be a first for the area as the map in my "Dragonflies of Sussex" book does not show any dots for Uckfield although there is an old record over to the East, somewhere near Shortbridge.

Toadflax brocade caterpillar - 31 Aug 2019, Garden

When gardening, I am careful not to harm any creatures or uproot the plants on which they depend. However on one hot August day I must have been careless when cutting back some Purple Toadflax because the first I saw of the Toadflax Brocade (Calophasia lunula) caterpillars was when I saw one creeping up the inside of the green waste bin! According to the UK Moths website, "It is a relatively recent colonist, arriving around 1950 and quickly gaining a foothold, but appears to be now in decline again."  I was mortified and spent quite some time rescuing them from the bin and rehoming them on our remaining Toadflax.  This is one of the 6 new species of moth I added to my list.

Wasp Spider - 4 Aug 2019, Rugby Club

I also added six new species of spiders to my lists. My favourite is the Wasp Spider (Argiope bruennichi) - just because it is so colourful.

Chrysotoxum festivum - 17 Aug 2019, Garden

This year, I found three new types of fly, including the hoverfly shown.

Clouded Yellow - 21 Sept 2019, Garden

The Clouded Yellow is the first new species of butterfly that I have recorded for some years - and it led me a merry dance round the garden before settling high in our Magnolia tree.

Common Bird's Nest Fungi - 24 Nov 2019, West Park Nature Reserve

This has been one of the wettest autumns that I have known. The upside is fungi have been popping up everywhere as described in my post, A Wonderful Autumn for Fungi. I have added 13 new species to my lists including the lovely little Common Bird's Nest fungi, which we found one of the regular Uckfield Local Nature Reserve Supporters Group nature walks. If you are interested, join the Facebook Group.

A wonderful Autumn for fungi

This wet autumn has seen a bumper crop of fungi, with many appearing in places where I had never seen them before. When I say fungi, I really mean the fruiting bodies. They grow from the mycellium, which is a network of fungal threads from which the fruiting bodies grows, is present all year round.

BEWARE: The following have not been formally verified yet.

This year, it started to rain in September and seemed to keep going through October and November. Flushes of fungi soon followed.

Earth ball, Manor Park, 10 Aug 2019

The first to appear include the Boletales such as Earthballs (Scleroderma citrinum).

Sulphur Tuft, West Park Nature Reserve, 05 Oct 2019

These are followed by "toadstool" shaped fungi. On one of the Uckfield Nature Reserve Supporters walks, we saw several different types such as the Sulphur Tufts (Hypholoma fasciculare) shown above.

Magpie Inkcap, West Park, 06 Oct 2019

We also found inkcaps such as the Magpie Inkcap (Coprinopsis picacea).

Fly Agaric, Manor Park, 13 Oct 2019

Closer to home, near a birch, I was amazed to see Fly Agarics (Amanita muscaria). I had never seen them in that particular place before.

Parasol, Buxted Park, 26 Oct 2019

Towards the end of the month, a Parkrun took me into grassy habitats where I saw large Parasols (Macrolepiota procera) including the three above.

Club, Manor Park, 06 Nov 2019

The weather had been too wet for our gardener to mow the lawn and some fungi such as this Apricot Club (Clavulinopsis luteoalba) had time to grow.

Oysterling, West Park, 24 Nov 2019

As the colder weather rolled in and the fallen leaves began to rot down, the bigger "toadstools" mostly disappeared but, during a Uckfield Nature Reserves Supporters walk, we noticed that a variety of small fungi and large brackets were taking their place. We found the tiny Oysterling (Crepidotus epibryus) above on a leaf.

Common Birds Nest, West Park, 24 Nov 2019

We also found my first ever Common Birds Nest fungi (Crucibulum laeve). The spores are contained in the tiny eggs, which are splashed out of the nest by raindrops.

Clouded Funnel, West Park, 24 Nov 2019

One of the few bigger fungi still present was the frost resistant Clouded Funnel (Clitocybe nebularis).

Southern Bracket, Buxted Park, 09 Nov 2019

Brackets such as the Southern Bracket (Ganoderma australe) also persist in the increasingly cold weather.

Crystal Brain Fungus, Manor Park, 01 Dec 2019

The recent winds have blown quite a few branches down. When I picked this one up, I got a rather unpleasant surprise as I found myself clutching something very squishy!  It is Crystal Brain Fungus (Exidia nucleata), whose translucent blobs have solid white dots in - much like frogspawn on a stick!

I've put away my books and camera for a while, but I can confidently say that I have never seen such a wonderful variety of fungi.

Big Butterfly Count -2019

This post outlines my Big Butterfly count results for 2018. It was obvious, even before doing the counts that we were getting more butterflies than usual, particularly grassland species.  People are asked count butterflies and a couple of the more distinctive moths for 15 minutes. The count is over for this year but more information including results can be found at https://www.bigbutterflycount.org/

It is obvious that quite a few Uckfield people have done counts giving good coverage of the town and surroundings. For example, I can see that someone has done a count in the field alongside Snatts Road and found 19 butterflies including a Painted Lady and 8 Common Blues.

This year and last I did counts in several places, focussing on those such as local playing fields and Holy Cross Church, where I have done plant surveys. For these notes, I've picked out 6 sites that I did in both 2019 and 2018. I got:

• a total 77 butterflies in 2019 compared to 52 in 2018
• 10 species in 2019 compared to 9 in 2018

The difference would have been even more dramatic but the last few counts for this year were reduced by windy weather.

Gatekeeper in Holy Cross Churchyard

Nearly all of the difference is accounted for in a real boom in Gatekeepers.  These are a medium-sized brown and orange butterfly.  They are very easy to confuse with the other common grassland butterfly, the Meadow Brown, but they tend to have more vivid markings and if you can get close enough to see the black eyespot - it contains two white dots instead of one.

The Gatekeeper is one of the grassland butterflies - it gets its name from it's habit of fluttering around in the gaps (gateways) in hedges etc.  Both of my best sites (with 25 butterflies and moths each) this year had significant areas of long grass:

• our own garden, where cultivated blooms, wild flowers - 7 species
• the Dene, which has a variety of long grasses (which had just been cut) - 5 species

6-spot Burnet Moth on long grass

Both the Dene and our garden attracted 6-Spot Burnet moths. The caterpillars of these colourful moths live on birds-foot trefoil, which is present on both our garden and The Dene.

Burnet moth Chrysalis

When they are ready to metamorphose (change) into a moth they climb up a grass stem and make a chrysalis.

Painted Lady sunbathing on a tombstone in Holy Cross churchyard

One of the real surprises this year was a Painted Lady attracted by the buddlia in the Holy Cross churchyard. Reports this year suggest that we are having the biggest migration of these butterflies since 2009.  I've compared the Uckfield counts in the 2019 and 2018 Big Butterfly Counts and found:

• 2019 - approx 17 Painted Ladies
• 2018 - approx 6 Painted Ladies

My own records (other than Butterfly Count) in iRecord give me:

• 2019 - 6 records for Uckfield, often more than 1 individual and 2 for Reading
• 2018 - 1 record for Duddleswell, 1 individual
• 2015 to 2017 - none
• 2014 - 2 records - both Uckfield, 1 individual each

Plants of Victoria Pleasure Grounds

Last year I did surveys of four of Uckfield's recreational areas. This year I have decided to investigate Victoria Pleasure Grounds.  I haven't explored these before but they appear large and well managed - balancing the provision of sports pitches with more natural areas. So far I have paid two visits, one at the end of April and the other at the end of May.

Daisies alongside the sports pitch - 26 April 2019

The photo above shows daisies next to a sports pitch in the original Victoria Pleasure Ground. The beacon is used when celebrating or commemorating important events such as the end of the first World War.

Hedge and bank with wild flowers at the bottom of the park - 26  April.

From a nature point of view, one of the most interesting features is the hedge that wraps round the bottom of both the Victoria Pleasure ground and the newer part, with the skateboarding area.  The purple you can see on the photo is Ground Ivy, which was providing a handy meal for all sorts of pollinators.  A month later and the slope is covered with Ox-eye daisies, Birds-foot-trefoil, Greater Stitchwort and many other wild flowers.  Birds were flitting in and out of the hedge, presumably catching insects for their young.

Dog Rose in hedge, 26 May 2019

Moving into May and the Hawthorn and Blackthorn blossoms have faded but the hedge is now decorated with other flowers such as Spindle and Dog Rose.  I was thrilled to find such a variety of plants as this is usually the sign of a really old hedge.

Red Campion, 26 May 2019

Following the hedge round the corner, I found a little wooded area next to the skateboard track. At the end of April, this contained bluebells and primroses. Now it has Cow Parsley and Red Campion.
The park also contains an area of Alders and runs alongside Boothland Wood, which meas that it contains a fair amount of woodland flora.

Buttercups and Yorkshire Fog grass - 26 May 2019.

The grass between the sports and recreation areas has been allowed to grow and there is an interesting variety of grasses and grassland flowers. The photo above shows buttercups growing amongst pinkish Yorkshire Fog grass.

Malachite Beetle on a buttercup - 26 May 2019.

Although I was doing a plant survey, it wasn't just about the flowers. While I was searching for flowers, I would hear a Chiff Chaff and when I was looking at the buttercups I found some beetles.  Unfortunately my photo doesn't quite capture the almost metallic "British Racing Green" of the Malachite beetle.

Tall Ramping Fumitory.

During my April visit I even managed to find a rare (for Sussex) plant. The Tall Ramping Fumitory is a rather weedy-looking thing but it has been recorded in only a few parts of Sussex. Uckfield has now been added to that list.

Wheat field - 26 May 2019.

I managed to get a photo of the crop on the other side of the hedge that I mentioned earlier. There is going to be a great deal of development nearby. However, this field doesn't appear to be included in the plans. I found myself wondering what would happen to it.

Mosses at Henfield

The Henfield Field Meeting is way out of the Uckfield area but most of what I learnt will apply closer to home.  Brad and others generously shared their knowledge with the rest of the group and these notes cover just a few of the species of moss that we found. Identification is quite tricky but there is much to enjoy in the different shapes and textures of these tiny plants.

After gathering in the car park we crossed the London Road and headed down Cagefoot Lane.

Didymodon Insulanus (Cylindric Beard Moss)

The first stop was by a seat by a mossy area of asphalt. Surprisingly many mosses colonise this type of surface.  The Didymodon Insulanus has:

• quite long leaves
• an almost swirling appearance 

Homalothecium sericeum (Silky Wall Feather-moss)

Next stop was an old wall. On the opposite site of the lane was a hedge with light-coloured violets at its feet. I was fascinated by the patterns made by the shapes and patterns made by the Homalothecium sericeum on the richly textured old wall.

Bryum capillare (Capillary Thread-moss)

In complete contrast to the sprawling feather moss was the neat little cushion of Bryum capillare shown above.

Blue Plaque commemorating William Borrer

According to the Sussex Botanical Recorders Society's newletter notes:

William Borrer is one of the most important Sussex botanists, and his vascular plant records and introductions in the Henfield area are well known. Though we have some of his bryophyte records in the county, there are none for Henfield.

Hopefully today's meeting will have fixed that!

The mossy grass by the pond with Borrer's house in the background

In the mossy grass by the pond we found two common lawn mosses:

• Calliergonella cuspidata (Pointed Spear-moss) - a feathery moss with red "stems" and spear-like ends to its branches
• Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus (Springy Turf Moss) - it too had red stems, but its leaves were bent back, which to me, made it looked like so many pipe cleaners

Polytrichum juniperinum (Juniper Haircap)

In the grounds of a care home, there were some wonderful old trees with mossy trunks. In the grass, we found patches of Polytrichum juniperinum, whose brown-tipped leaves helped us identify it.

Then we made our way down Blackgate Lane and found a patch of asphalt that was covered in brownish Didymodon nicholsonii (Nicholson’s Beard-moss). The Nicholson of the name was a botanist from Lewes. The leaves are quite stiff and translucent and the ends are shaped like the prow of a ship.

As we made our way down lanes and paths, the buildings of the village gave way to farmland. Surprisingly, we even found mosses in fields that had been used to grow corn on the cob.

Atrichum undulatum (Catherine's Moss)

I was very pleased when I found a moss myself, even if I did totally misidentify it!. The Atrichum undulatum has wavy leaves and, as can be seen from the photo, a distinctive upright fruiting body.

Hazel catkins dancing in the wind.

We lunched in a sheltered corner and I enjoyed chatting to the others and watching the hazel catkins dancing in the wind.  After this, I and one or two others decided to go back while the rest continued with the field meeting.

Lime Tree Avenue work on a rainy day

After some exceptionally sunny February days, Storm Freya was already making her presence felt when we (the combined forces of the old Lime Aid group and Brighter Uckfield) started work on the 200-year old Lime Trees in Lime Tree Avenue.

Lime Tree surrounded by epicormic growths before trim

Over the year since the last trim, these hybrid Lime Trees grow a forest of stems (epicormic growth) round their feet. Left unchecked, these would create an impenetrable forest that would sap the strength from the top of the tree.

Lime Tree - After Trim

I find it extremely satisfying to strip away these growths.  I just did one and a bit trees but the group as a whole, which had started on the previous day, managed nearly all of the hundred plus trees in the Avenue.

Wild Arum and Cow Parsley leaves

While I was working, I noticed the leaves of wild plants growing in the shad of these marvellous trees. The photo shows the young leaves of Wild Arum and Cow Parsley.

Sweet Violets - photographed in sunnier weather

Other plants that grow in the Avenue include Primroses and Sweet Violets.

White Lipped Snail

While I was working I found a couple of spiders, which I rehomed in the sticks piled up by the hedge, and some White Lipped Snails. I enjoyed music while I worked too. A Robin was singing nearby and a Great Tit was giving its "Teacher, Teacher" call.

Clustered Feather Moss

Lime Trees Avenue provide a habitat for all sorts of plants and creatures. Lately, I have been taking more of an interest in mosses. Identifying them is tricky but it is interesting to look at them under a magnifying glass - the one photographed was on the bottom of one of the tree trunks and looks like a group of minature cobras!