Biological Recorders' Seminar 2020 - Sussex Biodiversity

As Storm Dennis started lashing the country with rain, I was heading towards Sussex Biodiversity's 2020 Biological Recorder's Seminar.

Fixing and Linking Our Wetlands

Last weekend, I had been exploring an old Uckfield Tithe map and noticed just how many ponds there were in the area back in the 1840s.  Coincidentally, my first conversation was with a representative of the Fixing and Linking Our Wetlands (FLOW) initiative. She had also been looking at old tithe maps to find out where ponds had been so they could restore them.  She has been receiving communications from landowners whose ponds have been restored saying that they are not experiencing flooding even though it has been an exceptionally wet year.

Highlights of wildlife recording in 2019

Many of the highlights are explained in Adastra 2019.

Tall Ramping Fumitory - Victoria Pleasure Grounds

A couple of items relevant to Uckfield and the local area are:

• In the Freshwater Fish report (page 29) a report about Dace in the Uck (not far from the bypass). They spawn in March/April and you might be lucky enough to see a silver flash as they jump over obstacles or try to catch a fly.
• In Amphibians and Reptiles (page 32) they thanked the Uckfield toad patrol "for their continued effort to protect toads crossing roads, to and from their breeding ponds.
• Vascular Plants (page 12) mentioned the new site for Tall Ramping Fumitory that I found during my survey of Victoria Pleasure Grounds, undertaken for the SBRS Village Green and Recreation Grounds project.

A couple that really struck a chord were:

• The comment this this year was Fungi Heaven - back in December I wrote about this in A wonderful year for fungi..
• The cuckoo split insect survey - I had a go at this when "cuckoo split" was visible on plants in the summer but want to do more this year.

Soil Biodiversity

This is a truly fascinating area,  I was aware of microrhizal fungi but there is so much more going on down there. Natural England had set up microscopes so we could see live millipedes, springtails and even a Tardigrade.

Ouse and Uck

At the first break, I stumbled on the stand for the Ouse and Adur Rivers Trust and bought some copies of their new book, "Ouse and Uck, sketch of a Sussex Catchment."

There was also a stand about the River Ouse Project comprising a poster (available from their reports page) with a wealth of information about Meadows.

Potters on the Heath

I very much enjoyed John Walters talk, illustrated with his wonderful photographs and drawings about potter wasps.

Notable Sussex Bees

James Power of Sussex Bees and Wasps Recording Group gave brief descriptions of 10 notable Sussex bees and wasps.

1. Macropis europaea - Yellow Loose-strife Bee
2. Ammophila pubescens - Heath sand wasp
3. Anthophora retusa - Potter Flower Bee - Seaford Head
4. Halictus eurygnathus - Downland Furrow bee - Lewes, Slindon
5. Andrena vaga - Gray-backed Mining Bee - Dungeoness, Rye Harbour
6. Cerceris quinquefasciata - The Five Banded Tailed Digger Wasp - High and Over
7. Nomada zonata - Variable Nomad Bee - becoming WIDESPREAD
8. Colletes cunicularius - Early Colletes - attracted to Willow
9. Bombus muscorum - Moss Carder Bee - flower rich grassland
10. Osmia bicolor - Red Tailed Mason Bee - downs, nests in abandoned snail shells

I haven't met any of these bees yet but I live in hope.

Botanical Recording in Sussex Churchyards

Girdled Mining Bee - Holy Cross - 27 April 2017

Helen gave a lovely talk on this, which featured one of my bee photos, taken in Uckfield's Holy Cross Churchyard. I wrote posts on my Early April, Late April, June and August 2018 surveys

One unexpected point was that, for finding unimproved grassland plants, Victorian churches were the best. Medieval ones were not so good.

National Bat Monitoring Programme

Philip Briggs outlined bat recording schemes and some of the results.

The Spiders of Sussex

Graham Lyons outlined highlights of 2019 intensive spider recording.

Back home

After all the talk of ponds and rivers, I decided to check our own pond. As I approached, there was a splash and a glimpse of a webbed foot. Our frogs have arrived and are spawning.

30 Days Wild - Days 7 to 12 - Travelling

I'm continuing with 30 days wild. My first post was about me squeezing time out of a very busy week to see wildlife that had squeezed itself into our lives.  I'm juggling my time between Uckfield and Birmingham but my journey is nothing compared to that of some creatures, which travel enormous distances.



Sunday, June 7th

A week into 30 days wild, I finally some quality time in our garden. As I was trimming back the foliage threatening to overwhelm our windows I loved hearing the bees buzzing and the church bells ringing.

Tree bumblebee on ceanothus.

Many of the bees were tree bumblebees. BWARS tells us that these bees were first recorded in Britain in 2001. Since them they have travelled throughout Britain.

Monday, June 8th

I found a nest and attentive woodpigeon well camouflaged by the shadows of our robinia tree.

A homely woodpigeon with its nest hidden amongst exotic robinia flowers.

Tuesday, June 9th

The river Uck runs alongside our little station. Just before I got on the train, I enjoyed a serene moment watching the ducks.  I had a chat with a fellow commuter who had just been watching a pair of grey wagtails working their way along a ledge near the edge of the platform. We discussed the lack of insects this year and how some exotic ducks have joined forces with our local mallards.

Ducks on the Uck.

Most of the time, I was busy reading documents on my laptop but I was able to glance out of the window and enjoy nature as I travelled. As we pulled into Buxted, I spotted a herd of fallow deer. A carpet of wild flowers was an unexpected treat at Milton Keynes.

Carpet of wild flowers seen from train window at Milton Keynes.

Later, when I looked out of the window of my Birmingham hotel room, I was astounded to see house martins darting around almost at eye level. These little birds will have travelled from Africa and are nesting under the eves of the hotel.

Wednesday, June 10th

On Wednesday morning I got up early and dropped my laptop off in the office and settled down by a nearby pond to watch this little slice of nature wake up.

Just a few steps but a world away from the office.

The first birds I saw were a moorhen and two chicks. Then a coot, dabbling under the surface for its waterweed breakfast.

Rushes provide perfect cover for coots and other birds.

As a female tufted duck ventured across the pond a furious coot appeared out of nowhere. Maybe it was defending a nest?  As I returned to the office, a rabbit lolloped into the bushes.

Thursday, June 11th

On the way out of the Arden, I spotted one of the house martins zoom into a nest made from a thousand beakfulls of mud. I stacked my baggage by the kerb and watched them for a while. As passenger jets roared into the air behind them, about half a dozen of these African visitors seemed to dance in the air by the hotel.

Arrivals.



Departures.

 

Friday, June 12th

Today's wildlife moment was sad but gave me a chance to get close to something lovely. A blackbird had hit one of our windows and died. I was able to examine his subtly coloured plumage and vivid yellow beak. There was a perfect graduation from the tiny soft feathers on his back to the long flight feathers on the tips of his wings.


Blackbird wing.

Of course, my drawing doesn't do the blackbird justice but spending time trying to copy the shapes of the feathers gave me time to appreciate just how lovely this fallen angel was and how perfectly birds have evolved for flying.

So the last few days have been about appreciating how good wild creatures are at travelling. They may be tiny compared to our trains and jets but they are never stopped by a signal failure or lost baggage.