Price £1.50

28th Annual Newsletterof the

North LancashireNaturalists Group

Wildlifein North Lancashire 2009

2

Cover photograph Fungal Beginnings byJohn Holding

Contents page

Chairman’s Report 3

Editorial 3

Conservation and planning 4

Reserves Reports 5

Recorders l ist and Reports 10

Field Meetings 28

Miscellany 36

3

North Lancashire Naturalists Group

The Group is a local group of the Wildlife Trust forLancashire (WTL), primarily for WTL membersliving in the Lancaster City Council District andimmediately adjacent areas of Lancashire, SouthCumbria and North Yorkshire.

Meetings are open to all members of WTL. If youare not already a member, come along to a fewmeetings and, if you like what we do, join us.

The Committee coordinates all the work of theGroup and, in particular, arranges meetings, fieldoutings, recording sessions, working parties onlocal reserves and the production of the annualNewsletter. The Recorders receive and collaterecords to help conserve interesting sites, tomonitor changing numbers and distribution ofspecies and to contribute to national recordingschemes.

For further information contact the Chairman,Mike Moon, e-mail mikejmoon@aol.com or 27,The Row, Silverdale, LA5 0UG, tel. 01524 701163.

NLNG Committee 2009

Chairman Mike Moon

Secretary Stefan Hobbs

Programme Sec. Jennifer Newton

Treasurer Chris Workman

Minutes Secretary Cis Brook

Librarian Tony Ball

Newsletter editor Barbara Crooks

Members Linda Renshaw

Ruth Pollock

Martin Sherlock

Webmaster Nigel Hanford

Chairman’s Report

Well what do you remember about 2009? One ofthe most important events is the passing of theMarine Act. Very appropriate, considering therather wet summer we have just suffered. Lots ofuseful information on the Marine ConservationSociety website, so just Google it. Then there wasthe less than successful Climate Change Confer-ence in Copenhagen. Whether you believe in it ornot, it certainly is an ongoing topic for conversa-tion!Then of course, towards the end of the year, wehad the snow, but not everybody enjoyed it! Sowhat else? Well Barrack Obama became the 44th

President of USA. I wonder how that wil l affectus.The gamma ray burst GRB 090423 was observedfor 10 seconds (April 23rd) as the most distantobject of any kind and also the oldest knownobject in the universe. Didn’t know that one didyou!Coming back nearer home, we had a very success-ful Christmas quiz, organised with great enthusi-asm by our Librarian Tony Ball.The summer programme looks interesting and thecommittee is well on the way with next winter‘sprogramme.Unfortunately, Roy Copson has to step down asour fern recorder. Our thanks to Roy for his manyyears of hard work and enthusiasm.My usual pleas for committee volunteers, newmembers and for members to make use of theweb site still applies. Please think about it. Also,have a serious look at your friends, neighboursand family and just bring them along to ameeting……please.A motto for the year - spread the word.All the best for 2010.

Mike Moon

4

Editor ial

This is the first edition of the Newsletter which Ihave helped to produce in my new role as Editor. Itook the task on in the summer after the previouseditor, Marion Corkhil l, was unable to continuebecause of other commitments.As well as being printed in hard copy, the Newslet-ter is now being published on the NLNG websiteand part of my role was to liaise with NigelHanford, the Webmaster, and to plan to publishearly articles. Reports of some field trips andother articles of interest have, therefore, beenproviding the website with regular, new itemssince the summer. Hopefully, this will help togenerate more interest in the website and ‘open‘the Newsletter to a wider audience.This 2009 edition contains a rich variety of articles

and reports, so I hope that everyone will findsomething of interest. Many thanks must go to allthe Recorders for their full and detailed reports.Some of them have again requested that peoplecontinue to send in sightings, particularly ofunder-recorded species, in order to provide a fullpicture. Reports of lichens would be particularlywelcome as they have been very sparse this year.Heartfelt thanks go to the previous editors, RuthPollack and Marion Corkhill, for their detailed helpand advice, also to Jennifer Newton and JohnHolding for their help, guidance and photographs,to Laura Sivell for the typesetting and to PeteMarsh for his help with the photocopying.I hope you all enjoy reading this edition and I lookforward to receiving more of your articles in 2010.

Barbara Crooks.

Conser vation and Planning 2009

Reviewing last year’s article, as predicted,windfarms (and energy developments in general)have dominated much of my work this year andwill certainly dominate 2010.

Within the Lancaster district, Claughton Commu-nity Windfarm is a current planning application towhich we have objected, as there is insufficientecological data with which to determine theapplication. It is likely that the application willhave to be withdrawn whilst additional surveysare undertaken during the 2010 survey season.Near Heysham Moss SSSI, BT are sti ll progressingtheir turbine proposal and we await the latestmitigation proposals for comment. We are alsoworking on a Windfarm/Renewables Policy for ourTrust area as Lancashire seems to be the focus ofmany applications and we have significantbiodiversity issues to consider (peat, importantbird populations and carbon impacts). As you canimagine, this wil l be a difficult balancing act, tryingto reconcile the need to reduce carbon dioxideemissions through renewable energy develop-ment without compromising long-term natureconservation interests.

In neighbouring Wyre district, the Canatxx gasstorage proposals await determination, as does anew gas-fired power station at ThorntonCleveleys, both with new pipeline connectionsacross Over Wyre to the main National Grid gaspipeline at St. Michaels. The year 2010 may bring

an application for a third nuclear power station atHeysham. This will be determined under newplanning rules from March 2010, designed tospeed up decisions on major infrastructure devel-opments. We will respond to the current NationalPolicy Statement consultation, which is an oppor-tunity to influence decision-making criteria onsuch developments and we wil l obviously makedetailed comments on the biodiversity importanceof the Heysham site. Interestingly, we askedCommunity Windpower (Claughton Windfarmdeveloper) why they were not using the newInfrastructure Planning Commission system (for aquicker decision) and they deliberately chose thecurrent planning system & designed the windfarmcapacity (below 50MW) accordingly for a localdecision.

During 2009, we took on the management ofFreeman’s Pools (from the Environment Agency)and Middleton Wood (a 3 year agreement withLancaster City Council) and this has made possiblethe employment of a permanent reserves assist-ant, Stephen Ryder, for Reuben Nevil le. DrKathryn Turner is the new Irish Sea Marine Advo-cacy Officer, representing the North West WildlifeTrusts (Cheshire, Cumbria and Lancashire) – someof you may have met her at the Half Moon Bayevent in August. She has recently relocated to thearea and Kathryn will be raising the profi le ofmarine issues and participating in the implemen-tation of the new Marine Act. We have alsosecured 3 years funding for the Lancashire CoastalSand Dunes Project, meaning that Anne Heslop

Reserves Reports

5

(Sand Dunes Project Officer) wil l turn her atten-tion to the remaining dunes at Potts Corner atsome point.

More generally, 2010 looks to be an eventful yearwith a General Election due by June and economicconstraints on our traditional funders and partners

Aughton Woods

There has been a remarkable expansion of hollyover the last decade or so throughout the wood,but especially in Shire Oaks Wood. This is wherethe pied flycatcher breed, having been attractedinto the wood by nest boxes put up soon after thewood was acquired by the Wildlife Trust in the late1980s. Pied Flycatchers seem to like oak woodlandwith very little understorey and so we felt itdesirable to clear some of the holly. We havemade a considerable impact over our two workparties, in January and November, and it is nowlooking more like it did in the early years. Holly isvery difficult to stack and so we burnt as much aspossible in January. It was too wet for a fire inNovember and there are sti ll piles left to clear.

with only 3 of those successfully fledging young. InNovember, I was pleased to find a tiny micromoth,Ypsolopha ustella, hiding in one of the nest boxes,along with various slugs, mil lipedes and spiders. Itis an infrequently recorded moth of oak wood-lands which overwinters as an adult and musthave been hibernating in the nest box.In July we had our third, annual clearance ofHimalayan Balsam Impatiens glandulifera from thestrip of Lawson’s Wood, closest to the river. Sevenof us were able to clear most of the plant fromalong the bottom of Lawson’s Wood. It is no-where near as dense as in the first year and, witha good team, we were able to extend the areacleared.

A welcome event has been the final acquisition ofthe very marshy strip of land below Burton Wood,which has been the resting place for two or threelandslips from the wood above. It adds a newhabitat, swampy grassland and a few pools andmeans we do not have to worry if there arefurther landslips in this area. Reuben and Stevehave been fencing off the strip and replanting thehedge. A further bonus is not having to worryabout the fence at the bottom of the wood, whichis so difficult to work on across the very wetground. It was pleasing to see Broad-bodiedChasers Libellula depressa, of both sexes, flyingaround these pools and the stream they lead into,mating and egg-laying in the water. AzureCoenagrion puella and Blue-tailed Ishnura elegansDamselfl ies were also flying round and egg-layingalong here.

Emma Garston and Chris Beaton have producedan attractive new leaflet about the wood andnature reserve.

As usual we thank all the volunteers who havesupported us in this work. We are always pleasedto welcome new volunteers for both the manage-ment and survey work.

Jennifer Newton

Aughton Woods holly clearance Jennifer Newton

Tom Wieckowski and his team of university stu-dents rebuilt the bridge in Burton Wood usinglarch, felled and planked in situ by Reuben, TonyBall and Jim Haigh in January, in Cole Wood. Wewere very fortunate to have a team of students tocarry the planks through Cole Wood, Shire Oaksand the first part of Burton Wood; not an easyroute even without carrying anything.

Unfortunately, 2009 proved the worst year everfor the nest boxes. Alan Draper reported no PiedFlycatchers for the first time and only 8 of the 26nest boxes were occupied, by blue and great tits,

making project funding more of a challenge thanusual. We very much appreciate your support ofthe Trust’s work, which is fundamental to all wedo.

Kim WisdomConservation Officer for North Lancashire

6

Warton Crag

Our fears that 2009 might be disastrous for butter-flies, after two very poor years, proved un-founded. Total numbers were more than doublelast year’s total, the best since 2005. They weregreatly boosted by spectacular numbers ofPainted Ladies, with 98 of the second generationcounted on July 10th. There were also recordnumbers of Large Whites, probably many immi-grants like the Painted Ladies. High Brown andPearl-bordered Friti llaries both did much betterthan in the last two years but Small Pearl -bor-dered continued its decline, with none seen on thetransect for the first time ever, though a few wereseen by Reuben on West Field on other occasions.Surprisingly, this species showed increases onseveral of the nearby transects, including WartonCrag LNR and RSPB. Similarly, Northern BrownArgus and Small Heath continued with low num-bers on our area but showed pleasing increases onthe other two parts of the Warton Crag NR.Unusual species, seen for only the first or secondtime, were Ringlet, Gatekeeper, and Small Skipper.

A useful l ink this year was for each of us recordersto email the results of our weekly transects to theother transect walkers on Warton Crag. The visitsoften took place on the same day, the only daywith suitable weather conditions. This highlightedthe differences, with LWT tending to be one ortwo weeks behind the other parts, with generallysmaller numbers of butterflies. I was very pleasedto be joined by Barbara Crooks on most of thecounts and she was able to do some visits on herown, which was a great help.

species, what plants they were nectaring on andwhether any egg-laying was taking place. As usualthe weather was the biggest stumbling block. Aweek was decided in advance, in the hope that wecould choose the best day in the week. As always,some people could manage the Wednesday finallypicked, some could not and the weather was notideal. Fifteen people turned up and we were ableto cover the reserve reasonably well. Only HighBrowns were recorded on the LNR, while RSPBhad the largest number of Dark Greens and LWThad about 3 times as many High Browns as DarkGreens. Unfortunately these ratios seemed toalter from hour to hour and place to place. Weare sti ll not too sure what provides optimalconditions for High Brown Fritillaries, but theevent was useful and would be worth repeating.There have been two workshops for ferns, one forLancashire Wildlife Trust members and one forCumbria Wildlife Trust, both well attended.Warton Crag was well known amongst Victorianfern lovers for its wealth of ferns and it did not letus down. Seventeen species were seen, mostly onthe LWT parts but one only on LNR. The chiefproblem is that it does require a considerable hikeacross the Crag to see all the woodland andlimestone-loving ferns.

Our work parties continue to be mostly wellsupported, with a few students from TomWieckowski’s student team on two occasions. InFebruary, 20 people turned up and helped to cutand burn a good deal of scrub. There is now amuch more extensive, open grass and rocky areaat the southern end of West Field and it was herethat we found good numbers of Friti llaries andPainted Ladies, as well as a variety of ferns. Onour December work party, with 13 members, weextended the area to join up with another area ofopen grassland to the west.

High Bown Fritillaries Jennifer Newton

Cattle browsing Jennifer Newton

On July 8th we attempted a mass survey of LargeFriti llaries on the whole of Warton Crag NR. Ourhope was to assess the ratio of Dark Green to HighBrown Friti llaries, to find the best areas for each

7

supply drinking water for the cattle on differentparts of the reserve. Careful placement wil lencourage the cattle to wander through densebracken.

Much of the work done is dependant on ourregular NLN helpers and other local volunteers,and we are very grateful for all their help. Anyonewho would l ike to join us, in either managementwork or surveying of birds, butterflies or plantswill be most welcome.

Jennifer Newton.

Bracken bruising Jennifer Newton

In October, Lancaster University Volunteers, agroup which carries out voluntary work of allkinds, asked if they could have a day on WartonCrag. We agreed, and were staggered to learnthat 46 students had signed up for the day. In theend 16 joined an RSPB party and 30 joined us.Very few of the students, from all over the world,had any experience of conservation work, butthey were very keen and soon picked up skil ls ofbow sawing (including fell ing small trees), loppingbranches and shrubs and keeping the fires fed.The cattle were keen to join in, avidly eating thebuds on the cut ash, to the amusement of thestudents. Again, more grassland was cleared ofscrub and trees for the benefit of grassland plantsand insects.

Reuben continues his work to find the best way ofcontrolling bracken. He now has a tractor whichcan pull a heavy, cylindrical roller to bruise thebracken. Strips can be bruised through extensiveareas of bracken to encourage the cattle to wan-der through and continue the bruising/tramplingprocess. Already there are signs of violets spread-ing into some of the bracken areas. Bill Graysoncontinues to provide us with small numbers ofcattle to graze for limited periods in summer andwinter. We now have 3 huge tanks which will fil lwith water during periods like last November and

Over Kellet Pond

In February, Tom and a team of volunteers fromLancaster University came to lay the hedge roundtwo sides of the reserve. The hedge had beenplanted by Graham Standring soon after thereserve had been acquired by the Trust. Over theyears it had grown to about 12 feet in height. Theteam arrived at about 10am and were instructedabout what they had to do. None of them hadseen a laid hedge before and Tom asked me ifthere was one nearby which he could take themto see. I could not think of one. They started veryslowly and one or two hawthorns suffered verybadly, the stem being cut through completely. Ihad to leave them to it at lunchtime and expectedto find them stil l hard at work when I returned at4pm. To my surprise, they had finished and gonehome. I am sure that it was an excellent, educa-tional experience for them and they wil l nowknow what a hedge should look like. Needless tosay the hedge is growing as fast as ever.

Many vil lagers have taken to feeding the ducks onthe reserve. There used to be just one pair whichlaid each year but the ducklings all disappeared afew days after hatching. Now there are up to 40and several have reared young successfully. Itwould not be too bad if they remained on the partof the pond in the farmer’s field but they comeinto the reserve, muddying the water and tram-pling the vegetation. Although we have seen frogsand all three species of newt, other creatures,snails, insects and crustaceans have all declined innumbers very considerably. Although noticeshave been put up during the working party at theend of October, asking that the ducks should notbe fed, little notice has been taken of them. Wewould welcome any ideas you may have abouthow to resolve the problem.

Andrew Cadman

8

Heysham Nature Reserve and Heysham Moss

As seems to have become customary in theannual report on the happenings here atHeysham, we start with introductions of the newmembers who joined the North Lancashire teamin 2009. Emma Garston took over from Nicola thisyear as the North Lancashire Community Officer inthe early part of the spring, having assisted PhilDykes during the previous year in a voluntarycapacity. Nicola has stayed with the team and hasbeen exploring funding opportunities this year, toenable the excellent community work to continueup here in the north of the county in 2010 andbeyond. The beginning of September saw SteveRyder, a previous warden of Foulney for theCumbria Trust over the last two seasons, join theteam in a newly created post of North LancashireReserves Assistant. In addition to helping withmanagement work across all reserves in the area,he will be taking the lead on the two new Trustreserves of Freeman’s Pools in Lancaster andMiddleton Wetland, just down the road from thereserve at Heysham.

It has been an exciting year, particularly with theaddition of these two new reserves. Many of youwill already be familiar with the reserve atMiddleton, which for a number of years now hasbeen well known for its important dragonflyfauna, most notably as a breeding site for the Red-veined Darter. Owned by the City Council, thenew management contract with the Trust marksan important step in maintaining and enhancingthe wildlife interest of this special site in thefuture. Freeman’s Pools is sti ll in its infancy as areserve, having been created from a series ofborrow pits, left after the construction of the newflood bank along the banks of the River Lune thatadjoins the reserve. It has, however, alreadybecome an important site for wintering andbreeding waders and wildfowl. Little RingedPlover and Lapwing have nested on the shingleisland in the main pool, while wintering recordshave included regular Green Sandpiper and LittleEgret, along with Goldeneye and Gadwall. In theearly part of 2009, up to two Long Eared Owls, aShort Eared Owl and a Barn Owl were regularlyseen hunting around the pools at dusk, attractingat times quite a crowd of local birdwatchers. Newmanagement projects have already started at thesite, with reed planting undertaken during thesummer using reed rhizomes taken from ourWigan Flashes reserve, in the hope of creatingnew areas of reedbed and fen habitat.

With so many things happening on the reserve atHeysham each year it is often difficult to decidewhat to include and as usual I end up making it apersonal choice. Much of the monitoring work,particularly birds, dragonflies and moths, is in-cluded within the separate species accountselsewhere in the report. Although this year wedidn’t have any ‘headline hitters’ to compare withlast year’s White-throated Sparrow, one groupthat has done well this year has been butterfl iesand that is in spite of some very mixed ,summerweather. One of the highlights for me was defi-nitely the recording of Wall on the reservetransect for the first time in a number of years.While it may seem a long way from the threefigure counts that we had in years gone by, it is,hopefully, a sign that a small remnant populationis sti ll present. Good counts of a number ofspecies carried on late into the season and it wasthe high numbers of second brood individuals,particularly for species such as Common Blue, thatreally boosted figures.

This year also saw a late ‘hay cutting’ regimeintroduced on the reserves main grassland areafor the first time, using some specialist minihaymaking equipment. This traditional methodhas a number of potential benefits for maintainingbotanical diversity, with the added benefit ofproducing some good quality hay that was used byone of the Trust`s graziers. The main plateaugrassland has developed nicely in the last fewyears into a particularly species rich sward withabundant Oxeye Daisy, Yellow Rattle, Birds-footTrefoil, Knapweed and Orchids. Indeed, monitor-ing undertaken this year has shown it to have anumber of characteristics associated with ‘oldmeadow’ communities.

This year was the final season of the Lotteryfunded community project, which saw a verysuccessful programme of events throughout thespring and summer. Along with some firm favour-ites such as pond dipping and minibeast hunting,new events such as the ‘Wild about Bees’ daywere also well attended. In fact this year saw thehighest attendance since the project started witha total of 570 people attending 29 events through-out north Lancashire. It was also the start of anew initiative l inked to the Trusts volunteeringproject, known as ‘Wildlife Counts’. The projectaims to promote and provide training for volun-teers to assist with monitoring work on Trustreserves in the future. A number of training days

9

were held in the field centre at Heysham, includ-ing an introduction to grasses, rushes and sedgesand a dragonfly identif ication course, all of whichwere extremely popular.

Following last year’s excitement over the return ofbreeding Lapwing at Heysham Moss, we werehopeful of a return of a pair this year, particularlygiven favourable sward conditions. An early dryspell, however, meant that ground conditionswere unsuitable at the critical time and unfortu-nately neither Lapwing, nor Redshank was presentthis year. Given the lack of control of water levelswithin the meadow, works are planned through aStewardship capital project in 2010, to reduce theimpact of low levels by the creation of additionall inear scrapes to hold water longer into the sea-son. This spring, up to three, singing GrasshopperWarblers were heard early on and all indicationssuggested at least one breeding pair this year. Itwas hoped to confirm breeding during a one-offringing session and although this didn’t manage tocatch any juvenile birds, an adult male bird wascaught showing a well developed brood patch.

Grazing has continued to be an important man-agement tool for the wet grassland on themeadow, to the south of the raised bog, with lowlevels of year round grazing now in place followingthe successful installation of a water supply thisyear. Visitors to the reserve will no doubt befamiliar with the ‘woolly’, Galloway cattle thathave become a feature of the reserve in the lastcouple of years. This year the availabil ity ofadditional machinery enabled some areas of thecut rush to be removed from site, with benefits tothe sward, already clearly visible.

February of this year saw the final phase of treeclearing start. With funding from the CountyCouncil ’s ‘Our Moors Our Planet’ fund ,we wereable to employ specialist contractors , used toworking on sensitive habitats such as bogs, who, ina matter of days, cleared almost all of the remain-ing birch from the main dome. After carefulconsideration, it was decided to chip all the woodon site to limit the chance of cut materials beingused to start fires during the drier months. Fur-ther bunding work was also carried out duringMarch around the periphery of the moss, as afurther measure to prevent water leaving themain dome. The work focussed on the ‘cut-over’north east corner and the western edge, using anew technique trialled by the Trust on an area ofbog at Wigan and involving the installation of a

vertical plastic membrane to stop ground waterflow in the top two metres of peat. This wasfollowed in places by the re-profiling of the edgeof the dome. The results have already been verypromising with a number of key areas showingmuch higher water levels throughout the summer,even taking into account the very wet July andAugust.

Each year continues to see new developments,and as ever, a number of unexpected surpriseswith a number of new and exciting projectsalready planned for next year. However, beforewe start looking ahead to 2010, I must firstlythank the dedicated team of both the long stand-ing volunteers and some new recruits who havehelped with recording and management work onthe North Lancashire sites over the last year.While it is always diff icult to single out particularcontributions, it was very gratifying to see bothJennifer Newton and Alan Draper receive WildlifeTrust’s volunteer awards, presented at the annualvolunteer conference. Both extremely welldeserved and a particular thank you for all yourefforts.

Further details about the wildlife of Heysham thisyear can be found in the Heysham ObservatoryAnnual Report, available from the reserve hut orfrom the Leighton Moss shop.

Reuben NevilleNorth Lancashire Reserves Officer

Heysham Office Number: 01524 855030Mobile: 07979 652138Email: rneville@lancswt.org.uk

Look at our website!www.nlng.co.uk

10

Recorders 2010

Herbaceous plants, Martin Sherlock 22 Cumberland View, Lancaster, LA1 4ABShrubs, Trees 01524 66131 martin@phytophile.me.uk

Ferns, Clubmosses Trevor Piearce 44 Green Lane, Lancaster LA1 2EZHorsetai ls 01524 67500 t.piearce@lancaster.ac.uk

Seaweeds, Algae, Roy Merritt 20 St Johns Grove, Heysham, LA3 1ET01524 411193 roymerritt2@aol.com

Mammals (inc. Bats) Steve Bradley 6 Exeter Avenue, Lancaster, LA1 4AL01524 33056 bradfamily@btinternet.com

Fish, Repti les Linda Renshaw 22Grange View, Millhead, Carnforth, LA5 9HLAmphibians, 01524 733036

Birds Pete Crooks 15 Leighton Drive, Lancaster, LA1 5UQ 01524 381100 peter@crooks6211.freeserve.co.uk

Butter flies Laura Sivell 1 Burrow Heights Farm Cottages, Scotforth, Lancaster, LA2 0PQ01524 752247 laura.sivell@ mypostoffice.co.uk

Hoverflies Brian Hugo 18 Burford Drive, Heysham LA3 2EY01524 854300 bribar@live.co.uk

Moths, Dragonflies Peter Marsh Leck View Cottage, Ashley’s Farm, Higher Tatham, LA2 8PH01524 264944 pbmrsh123@

Spiders, Woodlice, Jennifer Newton 94 Main Street, Hornby, LA2 8JYSnai ls, Grasshoppers 01524 221569 jennifer@hollyh.demon.co.uk

Fungi John&Sheila Weir 13 Parkside Drive, Arnside, LA5 0BU01524 762210 sheila@arnside.eclipse.co.uk

Beetles, Bugs, Jim Thomas Bridge House, Borwick, LA6 1JULadybirds 01524 730480 jim.thomas70@yahoo.co.uk

L ichens Brian Carlyle 175 West End Road, Morecambe, LA4 4EH01524 415906 carwb@talktalk.net

Please send in your observations and help build up a detailed knowledge of what lives where in this areaso that we can:-

1. Conserve particularly interesting sites.2. Monitor changes in numbers and distribution of species.3. Add to National recording schemes (your flower/earwig may provide a new dot on a national

map).Please try to include these details:Recorder’s name, species, grid reference (ideally 2 letters and 6 figures e.g. SD486605) with placename (e.g. Lancaster), date. The A4 NLNG recording sheet is specially designed for this purpose. Copiesfrom Jennifer Newton or Mike Moon. Remember that any obser vation may be valuable, not just therare and unusual.

11

Recorders’ Reports

Fish

I have had one report from a member who sawtwo large, dead Carp at the waters-edge, on thecanal banks near Yealand, in early August this year.Partly eaten, I suspect these fish were otter kills,as large, slow moving carp are firm favourites onthe otter’s menu.

In May, whilst walking across to Heald Brow, I wasvery pleased to see a shoal of juvenile Rudddimpling the surface of Red Barn Brook, near therailway bridge. This main drain off Leighton Mossused to be packed with Rudd 35 years ago and it isgood to see them making a comeback here.

There were a few more spring Salmon on the RiverLune this year, but the gri lse run was poor and themain run was late. Although the salmon run hasachieved its spawning target (the estimatednumber of f ish needed to spawn to sustain therun), many of the eggs deposited in redds mayhave been washed out and lost in the recent, hugeNovember floods. Sea Trout redds wi ll probablyhave been affected too, which is a pity, becausetheir numbers had shown a small improvement onthose of last year.

The scale of the damage this, “once in a thousandyears”, deluge has wreaked on the river systems

and fish stocks remains to be seen, when thewaters eventually subside

Several years on, the parasite Anasakis simplex issti ll in evidence in the River Lune’s salmon popula-tion. Last year, out of a total of 110 Salmontrapped, 33 were displaying red vent syndrome,which is the tell tale sign that they are infectedwith this nematode worm. Anasakis simplex is aparasite of large mammals, namely whales anddolphins, with shellfish forming part of its complexlife cycle. Anglers returning from Scotland tell methat infected Salmon have also been turning up insome of the Scottish Border Rivers.

Closer to home, the recently completed floodalleviation work at Warton has not stopped thefields from flooding, but it does clear the wateraway a lot quicker via the River Keer, once thewater level drops off.

A few Sea Trout were seen in the River Keer and Icounted a few redds at the end of October, butcounting was impossible after that with the riverin flood for weeks on end.

Linda Renshaw

Mammals

I have received fewer records of Hedgehog thisyear and hardly any small mammal records,although finding a family of Bank Voles in myallotment compost heap brightened up a weedingsession.

Several good sightings of Otters were reported thisyear, often at places where spraint is regularlyseen. Two separate groups of people watched anotter f ishing at the confluence of Artlebeck andthe Lune – once in August and once in November.On Aril 3rd, three otters were seen playing to-gether in the Lune near this spot at dusk. JenniferNewton was lucky enough to watch three cubsand at least one adult feeding and whistl ing underHornby Bridge in November, six months afterLinda Renshaw had found fresh spraint at exactlythe same place. Otters were also seen at twoplaces on the canal, in the middle of Lancaster, in

January and February and the Leighton Mossresidents seem to have produced at least oneyoung again.

Mammals living near people can be a mixedblessing. One resident of Silverdale, who lostseventeen hens to a Fox, was magnanimousenough to admire the same animal (presumably),as it basked in the sunshine on Lambert’s Meadowsoon afterwards. Another fox was reportedattacking a pet rabbit in a Heysham garden.Perhaps these individuals were getting desperateafter many wild Rabbit populations were clob-bered by myxomatosis this year

Two reports of ermine (white Stoats) this yearcame from Gaitbarrows and Lancaster Golf Club.Most other Stoat records were the usual glimpses,crossing a road or in a hedge bottom, but AlanDraper saw one in a stone pile on HeyshamHarbour North Wall – it must have crossed some

12

fairly unpromising habitat to get there – and onewas seen climbing a willow at Leighton Moss. Imanaged to attract a Stoat by squeaking at it onHeald Brow, Silverdale, in October, at the sameplace where John Webb saw one in August. Justhalf a dozen Polecat/Ferret records this year,mostly in the usual Yealand/ Kellet area, but ayoung animal seen running along the road nearWennington suggests they may sti ll be spreadingout.

The usual, regular sightings of Roe Deer werereported from the Arnside/Silverdale area, plusone record each from Hindburndale, Conderdaleand Abbeystead. A maximum count of forty RedDeer at Leighton Moss included ten stags with tenor more points and six of this year’s calves. Thesingle record of Muntjac, from north of Silverdalein March, was followed by rumours of one beingshot not far from there, so perhaps that was alone individual which has now been dispatched.

An immature Fin Whale was initially washed up onthe mud flats at Priest Skear, off Hest Bank, on 4th

December. The high tides then gradually moved itto Arnside, where it was eventually buried on theMeathop side of the estuary, with due ceremony:two diggers with their buckets at half-mast, atroop of workmen in dress uniform of yellowjackets and hard hats and (I’d l ike to believe) thestrains of Vera Fin’s hit song, “Whale meat again,don’t know where, don’t know when…” floatingacross the incoming tide.

On the bat front, Gail Armstrong conducted asurvey of lime kilns and found Whiskered/Brandt’s, Daubenton’s and Natterer’s Bats in acouple of ki lns at various times of the year. Shealso reported a good number of Noctule passespicked up on a bat detector near the Heyshambypass in September. Linda Renshaw also pickedup Noctules by using a bat detector near Borwickand near Warton, in April.

Thanks to all who contributed mammal recordsthis year.

Steve Bradley

Birds

This was a rather disappointing year, more memo-rable for its negative features than anything reallypositive, especially with respect to the wellbeingof rare and scarce breeding birds. Kevin Briggs hasa talk entitled ‘Going, going, gone’. This refers tothe Yellow Wagtail, formerly a widespread denizenof lowland farmland before the advent of multiplesilage cutting. For the first time, 2009 saw noconfirmed breeding records in our area, and thisincluded a blank in the former Lune sites and justa single territorial male in the favoured Foulshawfields.

The first two thirds of the title could, however,also refer to a few other species, notably Cuckooand Bittern. The former is very much restricted tothe edge of the fells, with very few records in2009, but which did at least include a displayingpair on a wall at Crossgill, upper Hindburn. Thedemise of Bitterns is well known and the breedingpopulation hangs on the thread of one ageing,booming male, two elderly ringed females (ringedas nestlings in 2000), with perhaps the savinggrace being an ‘ imported’ male found wanderingthe streets in Bamber Bridge in the early Springand sti ll present at Leighton at the time of writing!Hen Harriers did not have a good year in Bowland,

but there was just a slight upturn with respect toWood Warbler, especially if two ‘new’ singingmales in upper Hindburndale ( to add to the twoin Outhwaite Wood), did in fact represent success-ful breeding.

The year also produced an interesting mystery.Migration has been recorded pretty consistently atHeysham Bird Observatory and 2009 was noexception. A similar situation also exists over theBay at Walney. The great Goldcrest populationcrash has received a lot of publicity, as coastal siteafter coastal site reported a near absence on theautumn passage. The blame was put on to the‘hard winter weather’ of early 2009, however, ifthat was the case, why did Heysham and Walneyreceive an above average spring passage in lateMarch! Something must have happened. The sexratios of the ringed birds at Heysham werechecked and it was seemingly not due to e.g. highfemale mortality. It appeared to be a combinationof a poor Scottish breeding season and the winter‘clobbering’ a significant proportion of theScandinavian breeding population, leading tovirtually no migrants traversing the North Seaduring late September/October. These usuallyfi lter through to ‘our’ coast in significant numbers.Provisional observations suggest that this lastwinter has had the predictable effect on the

13

remaining birds, but previous downturns are soonturned round if a good summer allows multiplebroods. Other features of 2009 were a widelyperceived reduction in breeding Swallows, a veryserious reduction in breeding Tree Pipits (on datareceived so far) and reduced numbers of HouseMartin.

What positives were there amongst our localbreeding birds? A new Yellowhammer site waslocated near Burns Beck Moss: Bearded Tits didvery well at Leighton Moss (see posting on NorthLancashire Ringing Group site for details). Lap-wings and other wader species benefited fromHigh Level Stewardship schemes put together bythe RSPB Bowland Wader Project and delivered bya number of unsung farming heroes. In contrastto Yellowhammer and other farmland passerinesin our area, Tree Sparrows are doing well, courtesyof nest box provision and the abil ity to home in ongarden feeders.

What characterised the year as regards interesting‘events’? Big, white birds were the order of theday with a record three Great White Egrets roam-ing around the Leighton area for much of theautumn, record numbers of Little Egrets roostingboth there and at Ashton Hall Lake (but notbreeding as yet – surely in the next year or two), aCattle Egret in the north Fylde and up to threeSpoonbill at Leighton. The early year also saw thesecond half of the winter’s Waxwing invasion, witha record long-stayer on Abraham Heights andmore temporary flocks e.g. Meldon Road atHeysham. In contrast, there was hardly a Wax-wing in the whole country in 2009/10, despite thehard weather – there were a lot in Norway at theturn of the year but also, apparently, a lot ofberries! The Spring saw an excellent Skua passageday during south-westerly winds, with squalls, on16th May – the highlight was a swirling flock of 23Pomarine Skua, which eventually appeared tohead ‘round Black Combe’ and back out into theIrish Sea. Others headed for the inner bay, spi-ralled up and flew overland on a short cut to theNorth Sea; this included a flock of seven ArcticSkua over Jenny Brown’s Point.

The 3rd October provided an ‘event’ which hasbeen increasingly scarce in recent years, an au-tumnal ‘Leach’s Petrel day’. Weather over the

previous few days had drifted the birds across theAtlantic and into the North Channel and thencethe Irish Sea. The gale force WSW wind, plus afew squalls on that day, sent them into the Bayand a procession of 40 flew out past Heyshamnorth harbour wall on the dropping tide.

A flock of six Glossy Ibis was on the Kent Estuaryfor a few minutes on 25th August. What must havebeen these were seen briefly at Martin Mere on24th August. They were part of an unprecedented,national influx of Spanish-born juveniles (severalwith colour rings). The population in Spain isburgeoning and could this influx become a regularautumnal event, with more sightings in this area?

Going back to the opening theme, it was bycommon consent a poor year, especially autumn,for people who like to find scarce and rare, smallmigrants. It all depends on the weather and thiswas unhelpful in the autumn unless you were onCorvo in the Azores or Shetland in early October.Visit the Punkbirders website and read theiraccount of ‘ Inishmore 2009’. The RSPB BowlandWader Officer endured 10 days of being trapped inthe old Brathay croft of Ristie, on Foula, duringhorizontal rain and gales, with the “11th day”-rather biblically- delivering a Veery and Buffbellied Pipit. In this area it was less dramatic, butequally birdless, apart from some south-eastwinds in late October/November producing asprinkling of Black Redstarts. These unhelpfulweather conditions also affected the timing of thearrival of the commoner migrants and this wasnoticeable with Redwing, which just “could not getacross” the North Sea until about 11th-12th Octo-ber, and Brambling just did not seem to bother atall in any numbers and have been really hard tofind this last winter

Please do contribute to the final year of the BTObreeding and wintering Atlas. Roving (= ‘casual’ )records are really valuable and if you dislike therigmarole of registering on national websites (i. e.the BTO), the Lancaster and District BirdwatchingSociety website offers a quick and easy alternativefor posting your sightings. Thanks in anticipation.

Pete Marsh.

14

Beetles in the North West

Leighton Moss.Highlight of the year was undoubtedly the realisa-tion that a dead beetle I had picked up in Septem-ber 2005 and put to one side, because I hadimagined that it was a deformed specimen of aDytiscus species (and in addition, was rathersmelly! ), was actually a specimen of the PearDrop Beetle Cybister lateralimarginalis. Thoughrelatively widespread in Europe, in the UK it wasonly previously known from the south east of thecountry and only recorded there on three or fouroccasions between 1826 and 1831. As it had notbeen seen since that time it was about to bedeclared extinct in the UK, though there was a

Pear Drop Beetle Jim Thomas

suggestion that it was a species that should belooked out for in the light of current climatechange. It is so large (30 – 35 mm in length) thatit is unlikely to have been overlooked in theintervening years, is capable of flight and seems tobe associated on the continent with artificialfishponds. How it came to be at Leighton Mossremains a mystery. I have carried out a smalltrapping exercise each month throughout thesummer, but without f inding any more examples.The Great Diving Beetle Dytiscus marginalisoccurred regularly between March and November,often quite commonly, whilst Colymbetes fuscuswas also found on several occasions. Noterusclavicornis was sieved from the marsh vegetation.On the wil lows, alongside the paths, there wereseveral specimens of the two common leaf bee-tles Galerucella lineola and Phratora (=Phyllodecta) vitell inae during May, whilst I alsonoted single examples of another, less common,leaf beetle Hydrothassa glabra (= aucta ) on lowgrowing vegetation. The ground beetle Agonumthoreyi was seen amongst the l itter alongside thepath and the rather scarce Water Ladybird

Anisosticta novemdecimpunctata was seen severaltimes during the summer on vegetation in thereed beds.

Heysham Moss.Jennifer Newton sent me a small collection ofinsects collected in pitfall traps on Heysham Moss.Not surprisingly, many of the beetles were smallcarabids or ground beetles of the type normallyassociated with damp situations and none of themwas particularly rare. They included four speciesof the genus Pterostichus, P. diligens, P. strenuus,P. nigrita and P. minor. All these are shining blackin colour and no more than 12 mm in length.Another much smaller, but equally black andshining beetle ,was Dyschirius globosus. Twoweevil species were the small black Limnobarisdolorosa, normally found on sedges, and theslightly larger Notaris acridulus that is associatedwith grasses. Rather unusually, there werespecimens of the Apple Fruit RhynchitesNeocoenorrhinus aequatus, a weevil usually foundon hawthorn, other Rosaceae and the VariedCarpet Beetle Anthrenus verbasci, more fre-quently found on flower heads and commonlyrecorded from inside houses. Two smallstaphylinid or rove beetles were Olophrum piceumand Acidota crenata. The smallest beetle col-lected was the Hydrophilid or Scavenger WaterBeetle Megasternum concinnum, a species that isvery common in all kinds of damp situationsamongst decaying material and less than 2 mm inlength.

Gait Bar rows.I have continued to visit the reserve and againrecorded most of the usual large and colourfulspecies of beetle that are to be found there.These include Rhagium bifasciatum, the mostwidely distributed British longhorn, whose larvaeare usually found in conifer stumps, R. mordax,

Rutpela maculata Jim Thomas

15

which prefers deciduous trees ,especially oak, andthe yellow and black Rutpela ( = Strangalia)maculata, that is often found on umbels. Otherlarge species included the Rose Chafer Cetoniaaurata and the Cockchafer Melolonthamelolontha. Pterostichus cristatus, a large, blackground beetle, was found under the bark of afallen log on the woodland margin. Clytraquadripunctata is associated with wood ants andalthough it appears to be declining in many of itsknown localities, it is frequently seen on thelimestone of the Arnside and Silverdale AONB.One was spotted in f light on Gait Barrows in June.Under bark in October were several specimens ofRhizophagus bipustulatus, an elongate and rathersmall fungus feeder.

Claughton and Caton Moors.Jennifer Newton and Brian Hugo sent me somebeetles collected on Claughton and Caton Moors.These included the carabid beetles Pterostichusdil igens, P. strenuus and P. nigrita as well as Leistusterminatus, Bembidion lampros and Bradycellusruficollis, all common species that one couldexpect to find in this moorland situation. Thestaphylinid Quedius balticus and the elaterid orclick beetle Hypnoidus riparius are also commonand widespread species. One of the smallestBritish beetles is Ptenidium nitidum, a Feather-winged Beetle that is less than one mm in lengthand was found in Caton in October.

Miscellaneous Records.Woodworm Beetles Anthobium punctatum regu-larly occur inside houses but also breed in deadtimber out of doors and several emerged duringthe summer from an ash log that I picked up in thehedge near New England. A superficially similarbeetle that I came across on our windowsil l inBorwick, was the scolytid beetle Hylesinus varius(=Leperisinus fraxini), the Common Ash BarkBeetle, a species that also breeds in ash as itsspecific name suggests. This beetle is rather greyin colour when compared with the overall browncolour of Anthobium.The Cardinal Beetle Pyrochroa coccinea turned upon a garden wall in Millhead in May, Oedemeralurida was picked up in Lower House Meadow inJune and the brightly coloured weevilCeutorhynchus erysimi, a species that is quitewidespread, feeds on Shepherd’s Purse and alsooccurs at Gait Barrows, was spotted inRoeburndale in October.Pill Beetles are often overlooked on account oftheir habit of tucking their legs close into their

rather rounded body and lying sti l l when dis-turbed, a practice that has led to their commonname. A specimen of Cytilus sericeus was pickedup on Yealand Hall Al lotments in May.The snail feeding silphid beetle Silpha atrata canoften be found under bark and in rotten stumpsthroughout our area. It occurs regularly at GaitBarrows and I have records this year fromMiddlebarrow Quarry, Heysham Moss andLeighton Moss. A national recording scheme forthe Silphidae is due to be set up in 2010, so anyrecords of this group, which includes species ofNicrophorus, the black or black and orange bury-ing beetles that are often attracted to light or metwith under dead birds and small mammals, wouldbe most welcome.Cryptocephalus bipunctatus is a scarce species ofleaf beetle (Notable B) that is quite widespread onthe limestone of our area: this year I have recordsfrom Gait Barrows, Yealand Hall Allotments andArnside.An example of just how easily immigrant speciesmay be spread around the country occurred inOctober when a bunch of li l ies, bought in theMidlands in a motorway shop, was found to havea pupa of the Lily Beetle Lil ioceris li lii adhering toone of the buds.

Perhaps because of its size and its habit of enter-ing house porches in the autumn, sightings of theDevil’s Coach Horse Ocypus olens are frequentlyreported. I have records for the current year fromPriest Hutton, Borwick and Warton.Orange ladybirds Halyzia sedecimguttata may stillbe found clustering in their over-wintering sites onthe more sheltered parts of tree trunks. Thereare several again on the sycamores on BorwickGreen, as I complete this report.

Devi l’s Coach Horse Jim Thomas

16

Thanks are due to Brian Hugo, Jennifer Newtonand Linda Renshaw for their records, to DonStenhouse, Recorder for Coleoptera for Lancashireand Cheshire, for his advice and also to NaturalEngland and the RSPB for permission to collect ontheir reserves.

Jim Thomas (December 2009).

Orange ladybirds Jim Thomas

Butterflies

The most notable butterfly event in 2009 was themass migration of Painted Lady Vanessa cardui inlate March that reached parts of the Fylde. Themain wave came in late May, invading many partsof Lancashire and beyond, following massiveemergences in North Africa. When the mainmigration was in full swing, Painted Ladies couldbe found clustering on hill tops or stopping to feedin gardens before surging on northwards, leavingsome regions empty behind them. Apparently,some continued on to the Faroes (normally devoidof any butterfl ies) and even to Iceland (not theone mums go to).Some stopped to breed, but for those of us whoremember the last huge Painted Lady year of1996, with its fields of stripped thistles, the 2009event proved to be quite a disappointment.Larvae were quite hard to find, and researchersfound high levels of parasitism. The wet weatherin July and August will not have helped, as thisspecies does not l ike dull, cool and damp condi-tions. Consequently, any hoped for home-growngeneration failed to appear in anything like thenumbers expected from the size of the Maymigration. There were some reasonable counts inJuly and August, but most records were forsightings in single figures. The last Lancashirerecord was October 28th at Winmarleigh. A totalof 278 tetrads throughout Lancashire, Manchesterand Merseyside recorded the Painted Lady, morethan any other species.

Red admiral Vanessa atalanta was comparativelyscarce through the early months of 2009, but asusual was sti ll the last butterfly to be seen on thewing. Few records of Clouded Yellow Coliascroceus were received from north Lancs.

After the series of poor springs in recent years,Pearl-bordered Friti llary Boloria euphrosyne wasalready at a low ebb. Despite a promising start tothe year, the picture stayed poor with very lownumbers at many of the remaining sites.

Duke of Burgundy Hamearis lucina also did quitebadly at Gait Barrows, its last remaining good-sized colony in Lancashire. Over recent years ithad been recorded over much of the reserve, butin 2009 no sign was found except in the traditional‘core’ areas on the eastern side of the reserve,despite extensive searches for adults and conse-quently for eggs, larvae and signs of larval dam-age. One of the factors being investigated is a lackof genetic diversity in the population. There is aproject, already initiated, to collect larvae, rearthem in captivity to prevent predation losses, thento ‘ fortify’ them with stock taken from theWhitbarrow population. Some stock would alsobe returned to Whitbarrow, which should containsome genetic stock from Gait Barrows, hopefullyassisting both declining colonies. The Whitbarrowsite was also damaged due to trampling by over-zealous butterfly photographers and othershoping desperately to get a look at a Duke ofBurgundy, little realising (or perhaps not caring),that they are hastening its slide towards extinc-tion.

On a lighter note, High Brown Friti llary Argynnisadippe had quite a reasonable year, and therewere noticeable resurgences for Wall Lasiommatamegera and Grayling Hipparchia semele. For theother species, it was pretty much business asusual.

Laura Sivell

17

Macro-moths

2009 was an interesting year, although againbedevilled by unsuitable conditions for uplandtrapping or other exposed sites such assaltmarshes. Therefore the scope for investigatingsome extra sites/species e.g. saltmarshes duringthe Northern Drab time did not happen. Theother major problem at some sites was wasps,which went on and on in the mild autumn, withthe Millhouses trap being put into storage fromJuly to September after 200+ per night and epito-mised by a single, dreadful night at Wennington,which saw 250+ wasps and 6 moths at the end ofOctober!

The good practice of investigating every nook andcranny, “ just in case”, was exemplified by thelocation of Netted Carpet moth in the county forthe first time. To avoid unnecessary trampling ofthe habitat, it is important this site is left aloneand to a small experienced team (which does notinclude me!) to investigate. In this respect, regulat-ing/minimising trampling is the key issue. Most ofthe novelties this year have been in themicrolepidoptera field as that group plays ‘catch-up’ to the greater overall knowledge we have ofthe macros. Nevertheless, there were someinteresting and valuable observations during theyear. The major exception was migration withpractically nothing worth mentioning other than aVestal at Millhouses on 28/10 and exemplified byjust 10 Humming-bird Hawk-moth records – allJune/July. In this respect, it was a little surprisingthat the early June Red-veined Darter/PaintedLady influx did not include some decent moths. Tosave space, scientif ic names have been excluded,sorry if this offends anyone.

A visit to the Ward’s Stone fell road on 12/6 wasblessed with less than ideal conditions but areasonable selection included 33 Fox moth at-tracted to four sheet and lights. An Oak Eggar (orcould it have been Northern? ) was a good recordat Heysham Moss on 24/6 and the late summerproduced the usual Pale Eggar records on LeckFell. The curious distribution of Drinker mothagain saw no records at Leighton Moss and rela-tively few indeed anywhere near l imestone (e. g.also Leck Fell, whilst it is abundant on all the acidicfells). A Figure of 80 at Wray west on 1/6 was anew record for the well-recorded SD66.

‘Under-recorded’ sums up the day-flying OrangeUnderwing, which needs to be looked for flying

around the tops of birches in late March/earlyApril. The birches do not need to be top-notchwoodland, for example they have been recordedbetween football pitches and brick factories alongthe A683 at Claughton! This year saw a SD66‘blitz’ on 12/4, producing records at three sites butthere were just two others from Gaitbarrows andTrowbarrow.

Clay Triple-Lines at Burton Plain Quarry on 25/6was a good record of a spreading species; con-versely Mullein Wave (just seen in suburbanMorecambe and Heysham) and Lesser CreamWave (Gaitbarrows and White Moss) remainscarce and local. The very tricky Plain Wave wasat Plain Quarry on 25/6 (2) but the only otherrecord was from Gaitbarrows. Red Carpetsearches suffered in the poor weather for uplandmothing and the only record was in the BottonMill trap on 30/6. The highly localised July Bellespread its wings slightly away from Old Moor Lane(near Wennington) and entered traps at nearbyMillhouses and Wray.

The scarce and perhaps declining Beautiful Carpetwas just recorded singly at Gaitbarrows, but themost unexpected record from the inland sheetand lighting was a Devon Carpet in “nothingspecial” habitat by the upper Roeburndale ford on5/8. After plugging this species as being a product(along with Beautiful Snout) of superb relict birchwoodland on a par with Roudsea, when we firstlocated it at Lord’s Lot in 2008, this was a bit of ahabitat let-down! Four were also trapped on asingle spring-brood visit to Lord’s Lot.

Whilst Northern Spinach seems to be occurringwith increasing regularity away from its moorlandstrongholds, the Spinach is very much on thedecline, at the mercy of what is or isn’t beingsprayed in gardens, with the only records fromYealand Redmayne on 1/7 and Warton on 10/7.

Red-green and Autumn-green Carpet are a trickypairing (with some Spruce Carpet forms also beinga pitfall) and the former was notably abundantduring the autumn with up to 24 per night atMillhouses. The latter was only recorded, how-ever, at Mil lhouses, High Tatham and Bay Horse.The specialised Pretty Chalk Carpet (12), alongwith its sidekick, Haworth’s Pug (25), were re-corded on the Jack Scout Traveller’s Joy at dusk on6/7. Bat workers and cavers account for a signifi-cant number of Tissue records and 25 were in bathibernacula at Warton Crag on 8/2.

18

game narrowly won by Millhouses with 91 on 8/7.White Satin was a good inland record at HighTatham on 15/7 but Clouded Buff at HeyshamMoss could be very significant and may be aproduct of a (very small) colony therein? Theonly other Clouded Buff was in the Botton Milltrap on 30/6 and the only Wood Tiger was fromnearby Whit Moor on 13/7.

A major surprise was the appearance of therapidly declining Double Dart at Wray with threeon each of 28/6 and 1/7. Apart from one in southMorecambe, all 60+ records were from HeyshamNature reserve. If you want high numbers of thesame old stuff, go on to the moors on a decentnight. The 1/7 has already been mentioned andthis session at Cross of Greet produced an abso-lute minimum of 250 True Lover’s Knot and 60Ingrailed Clay. Conversely, Square Spot Rustic, theusual late summer plague species for ‘ fixed’ mothtraps, was incredibly scarce this year, followingtwo previously poor years - the maximum per trapon any one night was just 14! A species on the‘please search for’ list is Beautiful YellowUnderwing. This obviously occurs very sparinglyover our local heather moorland (unlike therelatively plentiful status on some nearby lowlandmosses such as Winmarleigh and Meathop) andone was recorded during a Manchester Treble Barsearch on Loftshaw on 8/8.

Recorded as Pod Lover on some visits and TawnyShears on others, 14 of this complex graced a trapat Sunderland with other records comprising just asingle at Heysham and two at Leighton Moss. TwoHedge Rustic at Docker Moor on 18/8 were nota-ble for this declining species

Millhouses was the orthosia capital during thespring, yet sti ll, incredibly, failed to register Blos-som Underwing at a site which surely ticks all thetheoretical (oak woodland) boxes. Notable were201 Small Quaker on 17/3 and 28 Twin-spottedQuaker on 30/3. Sharks are struggling with onlyone The Shark – Heysham on 23/6 – but thediscovery of five Chamomile Shark larvae onSilverdale shore on 25/6 is a bit more encouragingfor a species which used to be much more regular.In contrast, larval infestations of the Mulleinincluded 50 at Kay’s nursery – are these indicatingthat the recent status of Mullein is an artificiallytransported fence hopper?

That epitome of antisocial suburbia, Blair’s Shoul-der-knot, is predictably scarce away from the

Scarce pugs were recorded as follows: Valerian atWhite Moss (Yealand version) on 20/6, Marsh Pugat Heysham Nature reserve and Gaitbarrows on24/5, Bleached Pug at Kay’s Nursery on 9/8 andSloe Pug at Gaitbarrows and White Moss on 23-25/6.

It fell to Barry Dyson to sort out some habitatsimilar to Loftshaw Moss and search it for Man-chester Treble Bar. Blaze Moss fitted the bill andsmall numbers were recorded in three separateareas of this large site.

My ‘bogie moth’, Dusky Thorn, one of the fastest-declining species, failed to materialise in the areaduring 2009 (will I ever get one in a trap/to sheetand light! ). Notable records of associated speciesincluded Barred Umber at Mil lhouses on 23/5,Scorched Wing at Heysham Road on 29/6 (myfavourite candidate for possible accidental trans-port!), Li lac Beauty at Millhouses on 1/7 andGaitbarrows on 26/6 and Lunar Thorn atMillhouses and Eaves Wood.

Some half-decent, early, spring weather assisted inrange-extending Small Brindled Beauty, with newtetrads at Cold Park Wood and Middlewood, albeitadjoining the known distribution, which includedtwo at High Tatham on 13/3 and 7 throughout atMillhouses. A by-product of this search was 105Pale-brindled Beauty at Cold Park Wood on 14/2 –how many 100+ catches of moths have there beenin the first half of February?

Belted Beauty did very well this year with a maxi-mum of 217 males and 232 females at the sandy,saltmarsh habitat at Middleton-Sunderland. Theremainder of the geometrids saw consolidation ofthe recent spread of White Pinion-spotted e. g.four at Millhouses, four of the strangely localisedAnnulet on Warton Crag on 30/7 and a goodshowing by the localised and perhaps under-recorded Grey Scalloped Bar. New sites were theTrough Road and Cross of Greet, whilst sevenwere recorded in four light traps near the knownsite at Grizedale Head on 12/6.

Hawk-moths were unremarkable this year, withsome possible evidence of a contraction in LimeHawk-moth with the only record from urbanMorecambe on 13/6. Footman moths comprisedthe usual, unpredictable annual ones and twos ofRed-necked (Bay Horse and Eaves Wood), a similarDingy Footman distribution to 2008 – coastal andMillhouses – and the Muslin Footman numbers

19

leylandii and two at High Tatham were veryuncharacteristic in all respects! The relatedPinions seem to be going in opposite directions,with Pale now ubiquitous in e.g. the Millhousesand many other areas, whilst Tawny remainsscarce, local and misidentified with genuineindividuals from only Bay Horse, Leighton Mossand Si lverdale. The moorland numbers gameraised its head in late autumn with a fantasticnight on 14/10 in ‘Hound of the Baskervilles’ thickmist, producing 13 Red Sword-grass at sheet andlight at Lythe fell and 133 Angle Shades in a nearbyovernight trap at Botton Head. Alas, none of thetargeted Brindled Ochre, recorded just “over thehill” on eastern Burn Moor by the VC64 people,but we may have been just too late in the season.Other late autumnal species are not faring so welland there was just a single Brown-spot Pinion(Haweswater on 18/9) and no upturn in the LunarUnderwing status with 4-5 shared betweenSilverdale, Leighton Moss and Sunderland.

Another ‘ look out for’ species is Small YellowUnderwing which was recorded near Foley Farm,Torrisholme on 22/5 – an easily-missed day-flyeramongst the buttercups and other meadowflowers. Other significant records from the ‘backend’ of the systematic list included Golden Plusiaat Morecambe on 3/7, Si lver Hook in relativeprofusion at White Moss (Yealand) during June,Small Rufous at Leighton Moss on 2/8 (do theyreally exist! ), Crescent at Wray on 6/8, CrescentStriped at Sunderland on 10/7 and Saltern Ear wasregularly recorded at Sunderland with a furtherindividual at Morecambe.

A notable milestone was reached in SD66, wherethe only previous record of Nut Tree Tussock wascasually noticed whilst the observer was stagger-ing out of the New Inn at Wray, in its pre-restau-rant drinking-den days. Given its widespreadstatus in nearby SD56, it is extraordinary that ithas taken until this year to finally record one in amoth trap – Mil lhouses on 28/5. Such are thevagaries of mothing, where subtle differences inhabitat/altitude and availabil ity of highly localisedfoodplants mean that there is probably quite a lotout there to be discovered, even in well-recordedtetrads.

Thanks to all the various moth trappers who haveput their records on MapMate – if anythingsignificant has been missed out – a thousandapologies but it ‘s been quite hard to be selectivegiven the amount of activity at the moment.

Good job I stick to VC60! Thanks also to: ValMay, Kate and Mick Lewis, Alec and LindaGreening, Thelma & Alan Holland, Alan Middleton,Catherine & Andrew Taylor, Geoff Banks, MalcolmWright, Nicola & Bambi, Steve and NickyOpenshaw, the Morbey-Ganley family andMalcolm Woodhouse for allowing us to run trapsfrom one of their sockets.

The following species are to be found in thedaytime and all are under-recorded. Details ofappearance, habitat & flight time can easily befound on numerous internet sites – here to helpfurther is the current distribution in this area. Forexample, the lack of Orange Underwing records inSD57 is something which can surely be easilyrectified!

Pete Marsh

Beautiful Yellow Underwing (Anarta myrti lli)

Orange Underwing (Archiearis pathenias)

20

Micro Moths of Northern VC60

Interest in the smaller “micro” moths of theregion continues to grow with over 30,000 mothsof 432 species recorded in VC60 as a whole in2009, (Up from 317 species in 2007 and 379 in2008). Whilst some micros come to l ight, many ofthe following records were the result of deter-mined daytime searches in likely habitat.

This increased interest has probably been fuelledby better online identification aids like “UKMoths”and “British Leafminers” and books like ChrisManley’s photographic guide to British Moths,which for the first time features the commonermicro moths, thus encouraging more people to“have a go”. Additionally, ID support, via the newLancs Moths Yahoo Group, notably from StevePalmer, has helped enormously.

The dubiously, “commonest” species reported thisyear was Coleophora alticolella with approx. 9000larval cases being seen on a small area of WhitMoor (SD56) (10/9 SP). Coming in second, butsomewhat less esoterically, the Light Brown AppleMoth Epiphyas postvittana, with 2700+ individualsrecorded, was by far the most widespread. Of therest, 88 of these species were seen just once bythe dedicated few.

Tortricodes alternella, a normally under-recordedwinter tortricoid micro-moth, was one of the firstspecies of the year to be seen; 29 at theMiddlewood Trust (SD56) (28/2 JG) was a record

VC60 countAcleris literana (5th VC60 Record, newfor SD66) appeared at Millhouses (21/3 JG). Bothof these were a by-product of a determined SmallBrindled Beauty search taking place in the Wrayarea at the time.

Acleris umbrana was added to the Lancashire listwhen it came to light at Gait Barrows (SD47) (22/4BH, RPJ). Remarkably one was found again by thesame team and in the same place on 1/12.

A daytime visit to Warton Crag (SD47) producedten Grapholita internana (28/5 GJ, SP) f lyingaround gorse, only the second county record, theother being in 1987.

Several people joined in searches for UK BAPspecies Anania funebris, at the regular limestonesites in SD47. Moths were seen from mid May butthe peak number was nine on Warton Crag (12/6RM)Anania funebris sti ll needs to be found on thenearby Kellet & Dalton limestones (SD57), ifsomeone wants to make a name for themselves in2010!

As the weather improved in June, a fine array ofmoths appeared. Ancylis obtusana was new toboth Gait Barrows and Lancashire (9/6 SP).Pleurota bicostella was found at a new site nearGrizedale Head (SD55) (12/6 TW, JG). Argyresthiacupressella is continuing to push northward in thecounty and was located at Leighton Moss (new toVC60 – 13/6 SP).

Wood Tiger (Parasemia plantaginis) Small Yellow Underwing (Panemeria tenebrata)

21

Late June proved to be very productive for uncom-mon moths with Nemapogon clematella beinglocated in Torrisholme (SD46) (23/6 CAD). Eanaincanana, usually more at home in bluebellwoods, unexpectedly appeared in Heysham(SD46) (1/7 AE & DJH). Acompsia cinerella, thefirst in Lancs since 1997, was found at LWTHeysham Nature Reserve, (9/7 AJD).

Daytime visits to moorland in midsummer oftenturn up worthwhile and interesting sightings. On astormy and windy day on Whit Moor (13/7),several Biselachista serricornis were discovered inamongst the moorland rushes (SP), only thesecond site in Lancs in the last 150 years. On asimilar vein, Philedone gerningana turned up atLoftshaw Moss (new for SD66) (8/8 JG) during aManchester Treble-bar search.

Determined trapping in SD45 during the summerproduced numerous new for 10K square records.Some were of predictable but very under recordedsaltmarsh species, for example the Sea Asterfeeder, Eucosma tripoliana (15/7), the Suaedamaritima feeder Scrobipalpa nitentella (19/7),Phycitodes maritima (7/8 JG, 3rd record for VC60)all at Sunderland Point. Heysham Nature Reserverecorded some 21 new species of “micro” and firsttime trapping at the adjacent new LWT reserve atMiddleton Industrial Estate found Pammenepopulana (6/8 JG, 2nd record for VC60) and thevery local Apotomis semifasciana (8/8).

Oidaematophorus lithodactyla was found during adaytime visit to Warton Crag (30/7 BH). Thisspecies was also seen at HNR at about the sametime. (5/8) These represented just one of thethirteen different species of the oddly shapedPlume Moths to be seen in VC60 during the year.Another significant “Plume record” was 50 of thehemp agrimony feeding Adaina microdactyla atWhite Moss (SD47) (28/6 PJM, BH, JG) – thesmallest of all the plumes.

Roeslerstammia erxlebella was a surprising addi-tion to the VC60 list when it was found in theLeighton Moss moth trap (22/8 SMP, BH, JG),although it had slowly been working its waynorthwards through VC59 since 2003. On thesame date Tinea pallescentella (large pale clothesmoth) was found in Morecambe (JG), only thesecond record for VC60.

Leaf mines remain the preserve of the dedicatedfew; however there were significant additions to

the VC60 l ist. Three mines of Bucculatrix cidarellawere located on Alder at Gait Barrows NNR (SP),the first record for many years. A few days later, avisit to nearby Cringlebarrow Wood produced inexcess of 20 mines of Stigmella ti liae on a matureSmall-leaved Lime (BH, SMP). Some leaf minersare encountered as adults in l ight traps; Caloptiliaazaleella (the azalea leaf-miner) came to light inHeysham (29/10 AE & DJH, 2nd record for VC60.)

Migrant micro moths were dominated by twospecies, Diamond-back moth Plutella xylostellawith about 150 records of 546 moths, peaking on1st July with 50 at Yealand Conyers (SD47, BH) and35 at Wray (SD66, GJ & AS) and Rush VeneerNomophila noctuella with about 47 records of 59moths. Coastal sites in the Morecambe Bay areadominated the records for Rush Veneer. Recordsof both species were probably increased by thesubsequent breeding of early year arrivals andnumbers were at their highest levels since 2006.

It was hard to imagine, as I “whizzed” a single, tinyDiamond-back Moth out of the air on a windy dayon Warton Crag in early May, that this interna-tional “pest species” had probably just flown allthe way from North Africa. The only other mi-grant of any note was a single Rusty-dot PearlUdea ferrugalis at Wray (29/10 TW).

Recorders l isted:Chris Darbyshire (CAD), Alan Draper (AJD), JohnGirdley (JG), Brian Hancock (BH), Betty & JohnHolding (AE & DJH), Garry Jones & Ann Shaw (GJ &AS), Graham Jones (GJ), Pete Marsh (PJM), RichardMiller (RM), Steve Palmer (SP), Terry Whitaker(TW).

Bibliography:Newsletter and website of the Lancashire MothGroup, Steve Palmer:http: //www.lancashiremoths.co.uk/visitor/Newsletters.aspxUKMoths:http: //ukmoths.org.uk/British Leafminers:http: //www.leafmines.co.uk/index.htmLancashire Moths Yahoo Group:http: //tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/lancashiremoths/

John Girdley (December 2009)

22

Spiders

Much effort this year has gone into surveyingspiders and other invertebrates of ClaughtonMoor in order to see what the impact of theproposed 20 wind turbines might be. In February Iwas pleased to find the nationally scarce (Na)foliage spider, Clubiona norvegica. As might besupposed from the name, this is a spider ofnorthern and upland habitats, especially blanketbog. I have found it on two other sites in theForest of Bowland. It appeared in pitfall traps onIngleborough but there are only 4 or 5 other sitesin England, though it is more widespread in Wales.

A little more searching produced two more nation-ally scarce spiders, both new to Lancashire,Diplocentria bidentata is a money spider found inquantity around Malham Tarn and other places inthe Pennines, mostly quite high altitudes.Walckenaeria kochi is rather rare at altitude butmore common in the Vale of York and on coastalwetlands elsewhere, including Sefton. As far as Ican tell, Claughton Moor is the only site in Englandwith all three species, though there are a coupleof sites in Wales with all three.

Further work here throughout the year has pro-duced another new money spider for Lancashire,Agyneta decora ,plus four more locally rare spe-cies, Robertus arundineti, Agyneta conigera,Pelecopsis mengei and Walckenaeria vigilax,recorded from five or fewer tetrads in Lancashire,which puts them on the Lancashire BAP long l ist.In addition, there are several species which areuncommon in Lancashire, found only in wetlands,some at low, some at higher altitudes. In all, 62spider species have now been recorded from thesite; rather more has been found with pitfalltrapping on bogs on Ingleborough NNR,

A similar picture has emerged with beetles andmoths and it is clear that the site supports manyspecies restricted to a limited range of habitats.Blanket bog is probably under-recorded for inver-tebrates in particular, but until we have furtherknowledge it seems very short-sighted to damagesuch an important habitat.

Brian Hugo found a small money spider Erigonearctica under stones near the Ocean Edge camp-site ,south of Heysham. It is a local spider whichseems to be confined to damp coastal habitats,There are scattered records down the coast.

Dolomedes fimbriatus is an impressively large anddistinctively marked nursery web spider, wellknown at Roudsea Mosses NNR and in smallernumbers at Rusland Moss NNR, just to the north.Linda Renshaw found one on the southern edge ofRusland NNR, adjoining Hey Bridge nature reserve.Wendy Nelson found some large, immaturespecimens in valley mire at 100m altitude just tothe east, at Seatle. This is an important, new findbecause the spider is nationally scarce with veryfew, very scattered records from the south coast,especially Dorset and Surrey heathlands, intonorthern Scotland, around 60 hectads in all. Thenearest site to the south Cumbria ones is theShropshire mosses.

An interesting centipede was found by Cis Brookinside her house. This is a member of theGeophilidae, centipedes with 30 to 100 pairs oflegs, a long, slim species most commonly found insoil or leaf litter, Geophilus carpophagus is unu-sual in that it climbs trees and cliffs and can befound in houses. It has 51 – 57 pairs of legs andhas very recently been split from the much com-moner Geophilus easoni, with only 47-51 pairs oflegs, generally found in grasslands and heathlandsaway from houses. As can be imagined, it is noteasy to separate the 2 species and this specimenwas identified by the national expert, Tony Barber.Geophilus carpophagus is mainly found in southand south-east England and he was interested in aspecimen this far north.

Jennifer Newton

Dolomedes fimbriatus Jennifer Newton

23

Orthoptera

The exciting find of the year has been LindaRenshaw’s discovery in south Cumbria of the DarkBush Cricket Pholidoptera griseoaptera, f irst atFoulshaw, later at Meathop Moss and HalecatQuarry on the edge of Nichols Moss; all within theCumbria WT Witherslack Mosses NR. It is a large,wingless insect which is easy to pick up on a batdetector by its call, but remarkably diff icult to see.It is one of the commonest bush crickets in thesouth of England, but very scarce this far north.There are no records for Lancashire but a colonyat Heathwaite, below Arnside Knott, has beenknown for many years. Linda was able to catch aspecimen from here and confirm that the soundwas the same as that she had been hearing atFoulshaw. Several people have now heard it onthe bat detector at Foulshaw, but no one has yetseen it, to my knowledge. There are very few,scattered colonies north to Galloway and it isdifficult to know whether these are relict coloniesor whether it is spreading north. Undoubtedlymore colonies are being found all over the countrywith the help of a bat detector.

site, with the Bog Bush Cricket largely on themossland and the Dark Bush Cricket more in rankvegetation and scrub. She heard the Bog bushCricket for the last time on October 5th, but theDark Bush Cricket continued stridulating untilNovember 28 after the first of the heavy frosts.Interestingly, David Baldock, in the Grasshoppersand Crickets of Surrey, gives November 13th as thelast record for Bog Bush Cricket and November10th, after ground frosts, as the last record for DarkBush Cricket. However, the Atlas of Grasshoppers,Crickets and allied Insects suggests early Novem-ber for Bog Bush Cricket and late November toearly December for Dark Bush Cricket as the latestdates for these species. It is interesting that sucha southern species as the Dark Bush Cricket is ableto survive so late into the autumn. It must be ourcool summers that l imit its existence this farnorth.

My compost heap provided a new Lancashirerecord for the Lesser Earwig Labia minor. This is atiny species of fresh, manure heaps and active,warm compost heaps, which was probably muchcommoner when horses were widely used onfarms and for transport. I found it when I wassearching a warm mass of recently cut grass forthe money spider, Ostearius melanopygius, an-other typical inhabitant of active compost heaps.The earwig is most frequently found in l ight trapsfor moths as it readily f lies at night, presumably insearch of suitable compost/dung heaps. Thisseems to be the first record for VC60, but thereare scattered records even up into north-eastScotland.

My thanks to everyone who has sent in records forthese groups, Please continue the good work in2010.

Jennifer Newton

Bog Bush Cricket Jennifer Newton

Linda was following the progress of the Bog BushCricket Metrioptera brachyptera, another large,wingless insect and the Dark Bush Cricket atFoulshaw, She found both well scattered over the

24

Red-ve ined Da rte r Middleton mod el bo at p ond 2009Date 1/6 2/6 3/6 4/6 12/6 14/6 15/6 16/6 21/6 22/6 23/6 28/6 29/6 1/7 2/7 4/7 5/7 6/7 10/7 11/7 15/7 19/7Males 4 2 3 1 1 2 3 3 2 3 4 4 2 9 4 10 8 8 1 6 1 1Pai rs 1 1Fem ales 1 1 ?1

Dragonflies

This season was a game of two halves, as opposedto 2008, which did not really seem to have anyhalves at all. A very promising, early summer wasfollowed by some dreadful, late summer weather.There was quite a flurry of late records during the‘ Indian summer’ of late October but a wet andwindy November soon put the lid on the year

The main feature of the early summer was a Red-veined Darter influx, (see table below) whichaccompanied the much publicised and obviousinflux of Painted Lady butterfl ies. This led to aconundrum. Why were all the Red-veined Dartersin this area at the known breeding site atMiddleton? Were they in fact all local emergentsor were they all migrants, following last year’sdreadful showing and extinction at the site. Theanswer almost certainly lies somewhere betweenthe two, with all early records being part of themigratory influx, but some of the early July onesshowing signs of immaturity, which would seem toindicate local provenance. Ovipositing femaleswere observed and hopefully we wil l receive amigrant-free year next year to see exactly howmany and what happens to any prospective 2011emergents. All pairs and female records belowrefer to ovipositing, seemingly the only timefemales are visible at the pond itself.

The second, main feature of the summer wasexceedingly negative. There was just the onerecord of a single, male Ruddy Darter in the wholeof this area – this was at Bankwell on at least 9-10/9. Since its first appearance in the greatdragonfly year of 1995, this species has oscillatedin numbers at the three main sites of Bankwell,Middleton and Heysham Nature reserve, but thelast three years has seen a serious downturn withno records at all, despite careful searching atHeysham or Middleton. The latter scenario wasnot helped by Great-crested Newt politics prevent-ing the clearance of the favoured dyke, and therewas perhaps not enough open water for anyemergents to remain at this location. Therefore, athread to hang on re-next year, now the manage-ment is in place? The status of this species is alsonot helped by obviously, mistaken claims, notablyfrom Leighton Moss, over the last few years (as

seen from published photos). So please cansearches for this species be a priority in 2010 –PLEASE do not feel embarrassed if you are notsure – it is not an inconvenience at all to check outany sightings and obviously this can be done mostquickly and easily by photos. Fairly well-vegetatedditches, but sti ll retaining open water, seem to bethe best habitat in this area – Heysham/Middletonrecords have never involved any far away from thewetlands and therefore any red darter basking onfootpaths is most l ikely to be a mature maleCommon. Thanks in anticipation.

Ruddy Darter David Kitching

The third key feature of the year, just about withinour recording area (or at least the bird one! ! ),was two male and one female BeautifulDemoiselle at Helton Tarn, Winster valley on 18/8.It’s more regular congenor, Banded Demoiselle,was reported from several canal and riparian sites,with perhaps the most interesting being at leasteight at Abbeystead House Garden, on the Wyreon 2/6. Black-tailed Skimmer also achieved

Common Darter John Holding

25

almost ubiquitous status on open, lowland pondswith stony/bare ground edges. Broad-bodiedChaser continued to be seen regularly in theSilverdale area and continued to be virtuallyabsent from Heysham/Middleton! Sightings ofinterest included one at Freeman’s Pool on 1/6and in a Beetham garden on 25/5. Another, ‘out ofusual range’ surprise in 2009 was the third everSouthern Hawker for Heysham Nature reserve.

Thanks to Sue and Finn Bugge, Linda Renshaw,Eddy Bayton, Mike Robinson, Peter Guy, ColinWhittle, Colin Adams, Graham Jones and manyothers who posted records in to websites etc.during the year.

Pete Marsh.

Flowering Plants

Although the weather was rather better in 2009than 2008, no great new discoveries of plantswere made round here. Jennifer Newton and Ispent some time trying to re-find rare plantsrecorded during the twentieth century. The onlyone we succeeded with is the scarce Spring SedgeCarex ericetorum, which is plentiful on Jack Scout,Silverdale (various places) and Silverdale GolfCourse (SD479753) but not found anywhere elsein that area, which suggests a fairly steep decline.

Eric Greenwood made hundreds of records asusual: I would pick out Grey Club–rushSchoenoplectus tabernaemontani, which hasn’tbeen recorded for a few years in north Lancashireand not since 2002 at this site (Mell ing oxbows, SD57V). Is this plant really becoming harder to find,or just ignored as too unglamorous and toodifficult? Curiously, Livermore & Livermore (1987)have it entirely near the coast, at several sites.

By way of contrast, consider Trifid Bur-marigoldBidens tripartita. This is a plant I don’t see everyday, or even every year. I came across it onHeysham Moss (SD42446102) while looking forsomething else. It’s been seen at Heysham be-fore, but years ago. I suspect in this case though,its sporadic appearances are real and it spendsmost of its time as seed, only coming up whenconditions are just right.

Eric also found New Zealand Pigmyweed (alsoother names) Crassula helmsii at the same site as

the Club-rush – as far as I know, the first record forour area of this invasive alien. Keep an eye out forthis one on any ponds you may pass and alsoperhaps the canal. Other invasions I have beenwaiting for, like Narrow-leaved Ragwort Senecioinaequidens , have so far not happened.

Brian Hugo sent in 25 records, all welcome, butthe interesting one, for me at least, is for MaidenPink Dianthus deltoides on Dalton Crags(SD555767). Of course, this is likely to be a gardenescape, but it could be native and in any case it’s anew dot on the map for this enigmatic species, along way from any other recent ones. As this isgrowing by a car park used by numerous botanistsover the years, it must be a genuine new appear-ance and not simply overlooked, but it could belurking unnoticed in the nearby grasslands some-where.

Steve Bradley found Cloudberry Rubuschamaemorus on White Hil l in the Tatham Fells(SD676598), another seldom-recorded plant whichI suspect isn’t that uncommon. It seldom flowersand hardly ever fruits around here, but it is never-theless quite easy to recognise – the problem liesin spotting its dark green leaf in the acres of wetmoorland that it favours.

Elizabeth Holding found Field Madder Sherardiaarvensis in her garden (SD416620), quite a longway from its usual sites. Which of us wouldn’thave it in their lawn?

Martin Sherlock.

Fungi

It had to happen. I read this morning that aninternational team of scientists from Norway andthe UK has been studying the emergence ofspring-fruiting fungi for almost fifty years and hasconcluded that these are now appearing aboutthree weeks earlier, just like plants. Fewer late

frosts, due to global warming of course. But isn’tthis rather self-evident, and was it really worth aplace in the Proceedings of the Royal Society?

I fear that anyone who sets out to study theeffects of global warming, or indeed anything else,on autumn-fruiting fungi is doomed to failure.Fungi are not plants; they have their own king-

26

dom. They spend almost all of their life under-ground or hidden in rotting wood as fungal myc-elium. The mushrooms we see above ground arethere for the sole purpose of producing spores,many millions (or bill ions) of them, to ensure thesurvival of the species. A mushroom is just aglorified plumbing system, which unlike thedomestic variety, seems to work every time. Itmust have moisture to pump up the fungal struc-ture and to pass nutrients to the developingspores. But anyone who has spent the last threesummers hereabouts will not be surprised to learnthat something other than moisture is required.Just what, is sti ll a mystery. This year was thethird, rather cool, wet summer on the run andproduced even fewer fungi, especially in our primesites (Gait Barrows and Roudsea Wood), than in2007 and 2008. Perhaps they need a warm spellat some time or maybe a drought for a few weeks,but not too close to the autumn fruiting season.But why then are fungi in Highland Perthshireoften so prolific? It is not an area noted forheatwaves. Heavy thunderstorms are not sounusual though, and it is just possible that somefungi at least, prefer some of their moisturerequirements in this way. Perhaps it is no coinci-dence then, that locally, 2004 was one of the bestof recent years; a year when thunderstorms wereless scarce than usual in the west of our region.

The local grasslands fared better than the wood-lands. Jack Scout gave us a good patch of theHygrocybe colemanniana (Toasted Waxcap), newto the site, and which brings the waxcap total to23, more than sufficient for a Site of NationalImportance. As you can guess, it is a nice warm,brown colour, with strongly decurrent gills. Who-ever gave it its name should be shot! Just as wellthat it isn’t poisonous. Clavarioid fungi (spindles,corals and clubs) are surprisingly lacking on JackScout as are the black Earth Tongues (Geoglossumumbratile grows on our lawn) and Entolomaspecies (Pink Gills) are not too common yet. Thepresence of all these fungi on a grassland site isused as an indicator of its importance.

In last year’s report, I think I mentioned aPsathyrella (Brittlestem) species growing in largenumbers under a large Beech tree ,which is tuckedaway in the far south east corner of RedhillsPasture – that is the north side of Arnside Knott. Ifyou mount a small piece of a gill edge in 10%Ammonia (from ASDA), it turns bright green underthe microscope. This and other features identify itas the rather evil smelling Psathyrella narcotica.

We failed to identify it last year because weroutinely mount most specimens in Congo Red. Itis very rare with just ten records in England andWales. It doesn’t have an English name but I couldthink of several. Unusually, it likes to grow in soilshigh in nitrogen. This place certainly is, since it isliberally covered in (highland) cow pats, depositedwhen even they cannot bear our local weather.This grassland site is becoming renowned for fungiwhich are mychorrhizal with Rock Rose. TwoCortinarius of the subgenus Dermocybe (the onesused in the past for dyeing), C. croceus and C.croceoconus, appeared for the first time here thisyear. A third Cortinarius, brown, no violaceoustones, white veil, of the Telamonia subgenus,proved rather more difficult. A new Key to Basidi-omycetes of Northern Europe (Scandinavia actu-ally) has been published recently - and it is turningout to be very useful indeed. The Key toCortinarius species (about 600 known in northernEurope) looked good, so I gave it a try. Withouttoo much difficulty I arrived at C. leiocastaneus(not British) which seemed a reasonable match,though not in every feature. I sent all the informa-tion to Geoffrey Kibby the UK expert, who felt itwas closer to C. rheubarbarinus (yes it smells ofRhubarb! ) with which he is familiar. This speciesis synonimised in Funga Nordica with C.phaeosmus, but G. K ibby thinks they are different.I had just gone past this in the key. It may besome time before a reliable name can be assignedto this collection, but Kew will have the materialand notes for future reference. It seems that C.phaeosmus is poorly known and the above is anexample of how diff icult it can sometimes be toassign a name to a fungus, even when all theinformation is available.

We took Arnside NHS to Gait Barrows to find littleof note, with one excellent exception. A large,orange-brown Cortinarius from subgenusPhlegmacium, many of which have an abruptlyexpanding bulbous base, was quickly identif ied asC. saporatus (“Orange” Bigfoot Webcap). This isanother rare species, with no collections north ofGloucester on the database and new to GaitBarrows of course. It will need confirming.

Roudsea Wood made a promising start in Augustbut by late September when NLNG arrived therewere fewer fungi than at Gait Barrows. We didhowever see a group of weather-beaten, slug-eaten specimens of Cortinarius praestans (GoliathWebcap) which is always welcome. We now havesix records, in at least four locations at Roudsea,

27

L ichens

In last year’s report I mentioned the lichens on theintroduced trees near to the old MorecambeGrammar School and my intention to watch theirprogress. I was pleased to find Usnea subfloridanaon one of the trees. This genus is one of the mostsensitive to pollution, both sulphur dioxide andnitrogen.

I have also started a project to observe the coloni-sation of the limestone rock sea defences onMorecambe Promenade. These rocks have beenintroduced at different times and provide goodsites for lichen growth.

I think that the Cladonia genus is one whichattracts people towards lichens. Certainly Cladoniafloerkeana, Devil ’s matches, was the first strangevegetation I later identified as a lichen. They seemeasy to identify at f irst but the variability within aspecies soon makes things difficult. I was pleasedto find a good site in the Bowland Fells with anumber of species.

Health problems and some lack of motivationhave restricted my recording this year. I did enjoyleading the lichen trip at Coldwell Parrock andthanks to all who attended. I must go back andidentify that l ichen low down on the volcanicerratic, now that I can bend again.

since it was first re-discovered in 2000 on one ofthe late Dennis Nelson’s forays. I suspect it isthere most years but it needs some luck to find it.There is just one record from North Somerset in1992 and two more from the early 1900s inBuckinghamshire and Derbyshire. On the recentlyrevised Red Data List it is now classed as Endan-gered /B.

On the walk led by Linda Renshaw through LevensDeer Park we noted Psathyrella piluliformis(Common Stump Brittlestem) on a large, fallenOak log, a rather rotten Grifola frondosa (Hen ofthe Woods) and the very large Inonotus dryadeus

(Oak Bracket), both at the foot of living Oaks. Thelast is not rare in the UK, but this is only thesecond time we have seen it. A much smallerrelative Inonotus radiatus (Alder Bracket) wasseen at Roudsea on the NLNG foray. All Inonotusproduce droplets on their upper surfaces and theEnglish names should preferably indicate this byprefacing “weeping”.

So while it may have been another poor yearoverall, we did find some interesting and uncom-mon species.

John and Sheila Weir

A recent British Lichen Society f ield trip to theDerbyshire White Peak was very useful as regardslimestone lichens and will help with my localrecording. I was interested to discover that thecorticulous l ichens in the area were sti l l moreaffected by the earlier sulphur dioxide pollutionthan those in our area.

OPAL (Open Air Laboratories) have included alichen survey in their current programme with theaim of monitoring current air quality. The empha-sis is on nitrogen pollution, nitrogen dioxide andammonia, as distinct from sulphur dioxide. Somelichens benefit from high nitrogen levels and someof these can be seen on ‘bird perching sites‘. Theorange Xanthoria parietina is often visible on roofsand acid rocks can support basic l ichen growths.

Opal can be contacted onwww.OPALexplorenature.org and the lichen packcontains some good information.

I am stil l disappointed at the lack of recordinginformation from the group. Lichen identificationis difficult but information on sites which haveworthwhile lichens, including fallen trees, wouldbe appreciated.

Brian Carlyle

28

Field Meetings

Coldwell Par rock for l ichens, led by Br ianCarlyle, April 25th

The first outing of the season provided anotherNLN first, an excellent introduction to l ichens byBrian Carlyle. Fourteen members turned up toColdwell Parrock Landscape Trust nature reserveto be shown something of the immense variety oflichens. Brian had picked out f ive differentsubstrates to show how closely linked lichens areto their substrate.

We started with an enormous boulder of l ime-stone. There were clearly a few small patches ofbright yellow lichen, but it was only on closerexamination that we realised the whole boulderwas covered by an enormous range of crustoselichens of different shades of grey and white.There was no bare rock exposed! Crustose lichensare so closely attached to the rock that they canbe removed only with a hammer and chisel.

method of lichen reproduction, this time by isidia,tiny, rod l ike structures on the leafy surface whichcontain both the alga and the fungus. Largepatches of the attractive yellow-green Parmeliacaperata pleased Brian as it indicates good airquality. There were also fruticose lichens, l ike tinybranches, attached to the bark only at the verybase. Ramalina farinacea was the main exampleof this.

Our next stop was at another boulder, but thistime a glacial erratic of Borrowdale volcanic, anacidic rock. There were a completely different setof lichens from those on the l imestone boulder.Brian encouraged us to try to identify some usingthe FSC charts. Not easy, but we did manageMelanelia(Parmelia) glabratula.

Small twigs of hawthorn support another set oflichens, especially the foliose grey-green Physciaspp. and the bright orange Xanthoria. Finally, welooked at the smooth-barked trunks l ike ash andholly, on the latter of which we saw the scribblingsof Graphis scripta, tiny black lines spread over acream-coloured surface.

Brian explained about the structure of lichens, anintimate association of fungus and alga. Thefungus reproduces in structures called apothecia,which release the fungal spores into the air to becarried vast distances, to produce new lichensonly if they descend on the correct substrate,close to the appropriate alga. Lots of apotheciawere to be seen on the boulder and also small pitswhere apothecia had released their spores anddisintegrated. The lichen types were largelymembers of Caloplaca and Verrucaria, but weappreciated how lichenologists might spend awhole day looking at one rock.

Brian next directed us to a large oak tree near theentrance. The trunk was covered by foliose (leafy)lichens, attached to the bark rather loosely byroot-like structures or rhizinae. There was muchgrey Parmelia saxatil is, demonstrating another

Although we covered only a few hundred yards,our eyes were opened to the world of lichens .There were plenty of other things to be seen too,including fine displays of cowslips, violets, andbluebells, as well as hundreds of wood ants, a fewspiders, woodlice and other invertebrates.Thanks, Brian, perhaps a look at the lichens ofWarton Crag next year?

Jennifer NewtonPhotographs by John Holding.

Graphis scripta

29

Brockholes, May 17th

Unfortunately a very adverse weather forecastprobably accounted for the small numbers. onlysix of us on this outing. with a seventh. JeremySteeden. joining us after lunch. In fact. there wasonly a brief spell of heavy rain. sending us to ourcars for lunch. Our first find of the day was a woolly bear cater-pil lar crossing the road. the larva of the GardenTiger moth. This moth is causing some concernbecause of its decline and it was pleasing to hearthat the caterpil lars are not uncommon in thearea.

In the morning. the warden. Sophie Leadsom.showed us how a nature reserve is emerging outof the extensive gravel diggings by the RiverRibble. below the M6 crossing. At the moment itis not open to the general public. except along thepublic right of way. but a large visitor centre isproposed and there will be hides overlooking thevarious lakes. Sophie led us past the first large.well-developed lake with numerous water birds.across developing wet meadows and driergrasslands and along the banks of the River Ribble.with sand martins nesting in the banks and swanson the water.

Aphelia paleana Jennifer Newton

spider Larinioides cornutus. some a well markedcaterpillar. black with numerous white warts.When I showed the photograph to the mothgroup. I received an immediate reply that it wasTimothy Tortrix Aphelia paleana. a small. uni-formly coloured moth. much drabber than thewell marked caterpil lar.

After lunch. sheltering from the only rain of theday in the cars by the Ribble. Jeremy Steedenjoined us for a walk north along the right of way.The lush vegetation. by a small stream here.supported a bigger variety of invertebrates. In aculvert. there were several specimens of thewater measurer Hygrometra stagnorum. a re-markably long and slender predatory bug. Therewere some attractive craneflies. which weweren’t able to identify definitely and variousspiders. including several large nursery webspiders Pisaura mirabil is. The hedgerow supportedseveral specimens of the long-horn beetleGrammoptera ruficornis and the money spiderHylyphantes gramincola. hiding under small websinside rolled leaves. This spider has not beenfound in our part of N. Lancashire. but is notuncommon in the Preston/Fylde area. It appearsto be moving north.

There is certainly plenty to be seen here. and welook forward to a return visit to see future devel-opments.

Jennifer Newton.

Aphelia paleana larva Jennifer Newton

We returned along the right of way. with its wellestablished hedgerow shrubs and trees. to thecars parked by the old quarry buildings. Many ofthe broad leaves of hogweed were folded overand stitched together with silk. Some enclosed the

30

Fairf ield Outing – Hidden Corners of Lancaster,May 28th

On a warm, sunny evening in May, a group of ninegathered in Sunnyside Lane in Lancaster to enjoy awalk led by Chris Workman. He began by introduc-ing us to the history of the area, pointing out thelanes, that in medieval times were the main roadsleading from the centre of Lancaster to Aldciffe andthe Marsh. These are now quiet and peaceful, awayfrom the city crowds and traffic and used only bywalkers and their dogs.

Leaving Sunnyside Lane we entered the FairfieldMillenium Orchard, which was created in 2000 bythe local community with the help of various organi-sations and several benefactors. The site consistsof a l inear strip of land planted with a wide varietyof fruit trees and bushes. Some of the older treeshave been retained, including a large Sycamore Acerpseudoplatanus, to which bat boxes have been at-tached

As we explored the orchard. Song Thrush, Black-bird, Robin, Wren, Sparrow, Dunnock and Chaffinchwere sighted or heard singing. On damaged Dockleaves. we found the black larvae and groups ofyellow eggs thought to be those of the Dock BeetleGastrophysa viridula, but there were no sightings ofthe adult beetles. There were young Medlar treesMespilus germanica with attractive flowers, but withleaves suffering from leaf curl, probably due to a vi-rus brought by aphids. We also discovered WhiteBanded Snails Cepaea hortensis, Garden Snails He-

lix aspersa and an impressive Dusky Slug Ariumsubfuscus, which produces orange mucus. In a damparea of the orchard. Yellow Flag Ir is pseudocorus.Meadow Sweet Fil ipendula ulmaria and GreaterWillowherb Epilobium hirsutum were growing andJenni fer found a Redheaded Cardinal BeetlePyrochroa serraticornis.

Leaving the orchard and rejoining the medieval way,heading towards Aldcliffe between ancient hedge-rows. We noted a black Jelly Ear Fungus Auriculariaauricula-judae on a dead Elder Sambucus nigra inthe hedge. In the field to the east we could seelinchets, which indicated the medieval ploughingsystem used to create terraces and the fact that nomore recent arable farming or building had beendone there. Crossing a stream, we continued alongthe narrow footpath between hedge banks full offlowers - Red Campion Silene dioica, Garlic MustardAlliaria petiolata, Cow Parsley Anthriscus sylvestris,Herb Bennet Geum urbanum and Herb Robert Ge-ranium robertianum.

Finally, the group completed a circular route via ashort, tranquil stretch of the Lancaster Canal and apathway alongside school playing fields, back to theFairfield Allotments and Sunnyside Lane.

Our thanks go to Chris for introducing us to this in-teresting, little known area of Lancaster and for lead-ing us on a very enjoyable, evening walk.

Ruth Pollock

Nottage Crag, June 7th

Eleven members enjoyed the peace and fine viewsfrom this low, rocky summit below the ClaughtonBrickworks. The area is not open access and thereare no public rights of way, but the farmer, MikeThomas, kindly permitted us to park at the foot ofthe original brickworks bucket l ine and follow histrack across the fields and on to Nottage Crag.

The foot of the Crag is a steep and surprisingly wet,north facing slope, with typical bog plants, such asCotton Sedge Eriophorum angustifol ium, BogAsphodel Narthecium ossifragum, Bog Violet, Violapalustris and a small patch of lousewort, Pedicularissylvatica. It was good for invertebrates too and sev-eral of the party spent time examining spiders, bee-

Tipula mazima Jennifer Newton

31

tles and an impressively large and distinctively pat-terned cranefly, Tipula maxima.

The summit of the Crag is much drier and rockier,with plenty of bilberry and heather. Painted Ladybutterflies were flying across, as they were doingover much of the country at this time. It was a goodplace to sit and admire the views north over the LuneValley, towards the Lake District hills and HowgillFells. We returned by a slightly different route,where, sheltered by some large rocks, I was pleasedto find an uncommon bumblebee, Bombus jonellus,with a particular affinity for heather.

Jennifer Newton.

Nottage Crag Jennifer Newton

Clear Beck, June 13th

On a pleasant June afternoon, we gathered atWray, the nearest place with ample parking, andproceeded to Mil l Houses to see a meadow nextto Clear Beck (SD618677). It’s called a meadowbut it seems that due to difficulties of access, it’snot actually used for any agricultural purpose atall. Nevertheless, it is cut once a year, at thebehest of Natural England, to maintain themeadow flora. This includes a variety of plants,too numerous to name every one, but dominatedby rough meadow-grass Poa trivialis, with colourprovided on the day by Spotted OrchidsDactylorhiza fuchsii and maculata, Ragged-robinLychnis flos-cuculi and Yellow-rattle Rhinanthusminor.

Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps were singing in thesurrounding trees. The weather brought out a

number of Lepidoptera, including some of thespring’s great Painted Lady Cynthia cardui influx,Large Whites Pieris brassicae and Chimney-sweepers Odezia atrata – a day-flying moth.Some Bird Cherry Prunus padus was being defoli-ated by caterpil lars of the Bird-cherry Erminemoth Yponomeuta evonymella. We were obligedto stick to the path to avoid disturbance but foundone spider anyway, Clubiona reclusa and a miridbug identif ied as Leptoterna dolabrata.

Those of us, who didn’t have to go back to MillHouses to pick up a car, made a walk of it byreturning via Meal Bank to Wray, where tea andice-cream were generally appreciated.

Martin Sherlock.

Conder Green Saltmarsh, July 16th

On an evening of heavy cloud and spots of rain, onThursday 16 July, six of us met at Conder Green,near Glasson Dock, for a walk along the saltmarshwhich lies between the old railway (now cycle)track and the Lune estuary. Cis Brook led us pastconflicting notices concerning our right to walkthere; in fact we met nobody and had a veryinteresting evening in warm and calm weather.

The first botanical debate concerned aWoundwort, was it Marsh Stachys palustris or

Hedge Stachys sylvatica? The experts decided itwas basically marsh but with a bit of hedge to giveit the typical hedge woundwort smell, i.e. thehybrid Stachys x ambigua. The second concerneda Couch grass with very blue-green leaves; was itCommon Couch Elytrigia repens (formerly Agropy-ron repens), Sea Couch Elytrigia atherica (formerlyAgropyron pungens), or even a hybrid? Theexperts decided (on checking at home) on thehybrid Elytrigia x oliveri, because of the thin,narrow anthers without pollen. It seems that thenormal plant round our Lancashire and Cumbriancoasts is now this sterile hybrid, presumably

32

spread round by the sea. For those unable tocontribute, there were spectacular f locks ofLapwing to watch as they wheeled over the seaedge far across the salt marsh. There were alsolarge patches of Sea Lavender Limonium spp.flowering beautifully on the saltmarsh.

A spectacular plant here was Spear-leaved OracheAtriplex prostrata (formerly hastata), in theGoosefoot family and a close relative of spinach,with fleshy, spear-head shaped leaves. A sweep ofthe saltmarsh vegetation produced a tiny 16-spotladybird. There was a patch of Parsley Water-dropwort Oenanthe lachenalii and then severalpatches of Sow Thistle, which sparked the thirddebate, as there seemed to be two different sorts.Most had the abundant, yellow glands of theperennial Field Sow Thistle Sonchus arvensis, butthere was a small patch of plants with no glandu-lar hairs. The experts decided it was an unusualand confusing hairless form of Field Sow Thistle.Scrambling over the vegetation was bindweedwith attractive pink flowers with white stripes.Apparently this is an unusual, west coast form, ssproseata of the Hedge Bindweed Calystegia sepium

Over the barbed wire fence, separating oursaltmarsh from the old railway track, was a beauti-ful tall feathery grass, identif ied as Wood Small-reed Calamagrostis epigejos. There were alsoseveral,vertical grass stems completely coveredfor an inch or two of their length in a blue sub-stance, looking at f irst glance like a flower. Closerinspection showed hundreds of aphids. Lessexciting, but very beautiful, were great patches ofTufted Vetch Vicia cracca, and of Red Campion

Silene dioica.

We ventured out a little way onto the saltmarsh,taking great care not to slip into the numerous,narrow but deep channels. We were able toexamine closely two sorts of Sea-lavender,Limonium vulgaris and L humile, some memberseven lying on the damp ground to try the scent(non-existent). There was Sea Aster Astertripolium, Long-bracted Sedge Carex extensa, SeaMilkwort Glaux maritima and three more mem-bers of the Goosefoot family with their knobbly,green flowers- Sea-purslane Atriplex portulacoides,Grass-leaved Orache Atriplex littoralis and AnnualSeablite Suaeda martima. All over the banks wereplants of Sea Radish Raphanus maritimus withlemon yellow flowers and strings of sphericalfruits. A moth caught and examined in a pot wasPale Straw. There was also Mugwort Artemisiavulgaris.

At the end of the barbed wire fence we were ableto get up to the old railway track, f inding at thebottom, on the way, Sea Rush Juncus maritimus,with prickly pointed leaves, Sea Beet Beta vulgarisssp maritimus, and Rest Harrow Ononis repens.

The walk back to the cars along the railway trackwas notable chiefly for the refreshing, wild goose-berries. Many thanks to Cis for leading a walk onthis splendid saltmarsh with its rich variety ofcoastal plants.

David Newton.

Middlebarrow Quarry, August 1st

On Saturday morning it was raining as predictedby the Met Office; the forecasters had got it right,for by 1. 30pm the sun was showing a weak face.About eighteen members gathered with leaderLinda Renshaw for a 2.00pm start and as theafternoon progressed we were enjoying warmsunshine and the quarry became a very goodsuntrap, and consequently good for butterflies.We were soon admiring Common BluePolyomattus icarus on its foodplant Bird’s-foot-trefoil Lotus corniculatus and Grayling Hipparchiasemele, which is so well camouflaged that once itcomes to rest on its favoured perch, rocks, stonesor bare ground, it is very diff icult to see, thecolouring of the hindwings blending almost Common blue pair John Holding

33

perfectly with the quarry stone - the forewings arerarely shown at rest. Meadow Browns Maniolajurtina were flying busily around grass tussocksand clumps of the l ime-loving ,hairy ,yellow-flowered Rough Hawkbit Leontodon hispidus. Aswe moved towards the centre of the quarry floorwe soon encountered Large and Small SkippersOchlodes venatus and Thymelicus sylvestris, thelatter a recent immigrant to this area of NorthLancashire. The difference in size is very little andthey are distinguished more by markings andhabits.

With Raven croaking overhead,we were nowwalking amongst, and trying to avoid, bright pinkpatches of Common Centaury Centauriumerythraea, lavender coloured Small ScabiousScabiosa columbaria and purple Selfheal Prunellavulgaris, all quite content in the rough ground ofthe quarry floor.

Well into the quarry is a shallow man-made lakewhich we thought might have been formed whenthe quarry company tried to work downwards,when a planning application to extend the visiblearea of the quarry in the hillside was refused. Theapplication to extend downwards was also refusedbut the depression, already created, f illed withrain/ground water on a permanent basis. The lakeis home to palmate newt Triturus helveticus, frogsand toadlets; Linda noted one of the distinguish-ing features of palmate newts, that the hind legsof breeding males are dark and have webbed feet.Also in the central area, the attractive larva of the

Vapourer moth Orgyia antiqua was found on thescrub willow, along with the less noticeable adult(male) on the underside of a leaf - the larval andadult stages overlap, suggesting a prolonged flightperiod - the female is wingless. Also found wasthe larva of another moth, Knot Grass Acronictarumicis, one of a number of white, grey and blackmottle patterned noctuids.

Jennifer was frequently busy finding spiders, forexample ,the jumping spider Evarcha falcata (evena mating pair) and, in a juniper bush, Theridionsisyphium, guarding its egg sac under a silken tent;several beetles were found including the snail-eating Cychrus caraboides.

The very high quarry wall was impressive; toanyone looking down from the highest reaches ofEaves Wood we would have looked like smallmulti-coloured invertebrates hunting for prey; inone place the wall was sparkling with crystal andthere were fossils of primitive plants to be foundin the loose stones at the base of the wall.We thanked Linda for introducing us to such a richand varied site; the species mentioned here areonly a small fraction of the total found. Then,finally, two large birds flying over the SilverdaleMoss extension to Leighton attracted the atten-tion; one no doubt was a Buzzard but the jury issti ll out over whether the other was a MarshHarrier - it didn’t stay around for long enough.

Betty & John Holding

Half Moon Bay, August 16th

This was an event organised by the LancashireWildlife Trust for Marine Week. It was led by DaveDunlop, Marine Conservation Officer of the Trustand Kathryn Turner, Irish Sea Advocacy Officer,who began with a short talk about the beach. Sheexplained that beaches with sand and rocks arerich in species and that Half Moon Bay had notbeen regularly surveyed. The sea was warmed bythe outflow of hot water from Heysham PowerStation, encouraging the growth of small organ-isms which had a knock-on effect up the foodchain. Buckets and nets were provided and weonly needed to cross the road to begin our search. There was a lot of seaweed washed up on thebeach and still attached to rocks including Spiral

wrack Fucus spiralis, Knotted wrack Ascophyllumnodosum, Sea lettuce Ulva lactuca, Enteromorphaintestinalis, Bladder wrack Fucus vesiculosus,Purple laver Porphyra umbilicalis, Bootlace weedChorda fi lum, Irish moss or Carragheen Chondruscrispus, and also Samphire Salicornia sp. probablywashed down from the estuary. Among the shellf ish found were Common limpetPatella vulgata, Barnacle species, Common winkleLittorina littorea, Flat winkle Littorinaobtusata, Dog whelk Nucella lapillus, Ediblemussel Mytilus edulis, and Common cockleCerastoderma edule. In the pools were colonies of Sand mason Laniceconchilega, Green shore crab Carcinus maenas,Sand goby Pomatoschistus minutus, Beadlet

34

anemone Actinia equina, Brown shrimp Crangonvulgaris, Prawn Leander serratus and Gammaruslocustra. Buried in the sand were Cat worm Nephtys caecaand a smaller 2.5 cm unidentified worm. In spite of the lack of sun and the strong gustywind, thirty people attended, including seven fromNorth Lancs. and two from Arnside Naturalists,the rest were parents and children. Apart fromthe Natural History interest, it was a strong re-minder of how important the beach was as a foodsource for our distant ancestors, with many ediblespecies found - both “meat” and “veg”. Anne Smith

Levens Park, September 17th

There can’t be many people reading this whodon’t know Levens Park, but they may exist. So,for their benefit, Levens Park is just over the roadfrom Levens Hall, between Milnthorpe andKendal. The River Kent flows through the middleand a public footpath runs through each half.There are no bridges in the park but you can ofcourse use Levens Bridge to cross the river. Start-ing at the next bridge upstream, Sedgwick Bridge,a pleasant, circular ramble is possible, using quietlanes for the approach and return. This is in factwhat we did with Linda Renshaw as our leader onThursday afternoon, on the 17th September.

Levens Park has the aspect of a traditional, aristo-cratic park with extensive grazing land inter-spersed with trees. The trees are mainly Britishnatives, predominantly Hybrid Oak Quercus xrosacea, with a sprinkling of exotics like ChestnutLiriodendron tulipifera. It was interesting to notethat there were both Common and Small-leavedlimes (Tilia x vulgaris and T. cordata). The grazingis performed by three kinds of beast: goats (of thelocal Bagot breed), sheep and fallow deer (of adark kind). Although they can wander throughoutthe park at wil l, they stay, in practice, in threecompact and well-separated flocks.

Nobody appears to clear away the branches fallenfrom the trees and we spent some time turningthese over to see what was underneath. Unfortu-nately, our resident spider expert was elsewhere,so I cannot name any of the spiders. One log had

a Toad Bufo bufo underneath; otherwise there wasa range of invertebrates, many familiar from thegarden. These included the slugs Derocerasreticulatum and Limax flavus and the woodliceOniscus asellus, Porcell io scaber and Philosciamuscorum. A mil lipede was tentatively identifiedas Cylindroiulus and there was a colony ofmealworms (these might be the Darkling BeetleTenebrio molitor but there are many similarspecies).

As you might expect, with all this dead woodcomes wood-rotting fungi including, Sulphur TuftHypholoma fasciculare, Common StumpBrittlestem Psathyrella piluliformis and Inonotusdryadeus, a large, bracket fungus at the base of anoak tree. We also found Hen of the Woods Grifolafrondosa, a brown, rather “ leafy” looking fungus,not to be confused with the yellow, better knownChicken of the Woods. There was also someCommon Ink-cap Coprinus atramentarius in the

Toad John Holding

Half Moon Bay trip Barbara Crooks

grass.John Holding showed us the eggs of the PurpleHairstreak butterfly Quercusia quercus amongstthe oak-tree buds – easier to find than the adults,despite being much smaller. Also to be found, byexamining the oaks, were Spangle Galls, due tothe Cynipid Wasp Neuroterus quercusbaccarum.Amongst the birds seen were Goosander and GreyWagtail on the river and a Jay in the trees.

The return journey passed through some fields,

where Linda was able to point out holes made bybadgers digging for worms and later, in a muddygateway, the footprints of a badger and a stoat.

Thanks to Linda for what turned out to be aninteresting excursion, despite fears that it might betoo late in the year, and also to Sheila Weir forsupplying fungus names.

Martin Sherlock

Roudsea Woods, September 27th

Sunday promised to be a lovely, pearly sort of dayas nine members of the group set off fromRoudsea Woods’s car park for a fungal foray led byJohn and Sheila Weir.

John and Sheila commented that following a wetsummer, fewer fungi might be seen. As NaturalEngland boasts that over 280 species grow in theirwood, then even if only a small proportion of thatnumber were to be seen, it would prove to be aninteresting day.

Roudsea Wood is especially varied, lying as it doeson two ridges of contrasting rock, limestone andslate. These support very different communities ofplants and animals as well as fungi. On thelimestone, the woodland is dominated by oak,l ime, ash and hazel, whilst on the slate, oak, birchand rowan predominate. Consequently a largevariety of fungal species associated with specifictree species flourish.

As we set off up the track into the woods, a skeinof about a hundred geese could be seen in the sky,a sure sign that autumn is well and truly here.

The first of over 30 species spotted over thecourse of the walk was Scleroderma citrinum, theCommon Earthball, found atop a mossy acidicstump. We came across this species throughoutthe walk. Many of the species encountered wereassociated with specific tree species, for instance,Inonotus radiatus is an Alder Bracket with avelvety, upper surface that ‘weeps’ as it matures.The pores are angled to provide a greater surfacearea for spore dispersal. Then there wasDaedaleopsis confragosa, Blushing Bracket, foundon Willow and the versatile Piptoporus betulinus,a Birch polypore with the common name RazorStrop Fungus. As its common name implies, thisfungus is excellent for sharpening blades due to itsextremely hard texture when mature. I have it onvery good authority from ‘bushwhackers’, that italso makes wonderful tinder and can be used todress wounds (I think I’l l stick to the Elastoplast!).In addition, the smoke from burning Razor Stropkeeps insects at bay, so all in all, a very usefulfungus to have around when stuck out in theCommon Earth Ball Barbara Crooks

Sheathed woodtuft Barbara Crooks

36

wilds, with no sign of Ray Mears to give you ahelping hand!

One of the many highlights of the walk was thediscovery of a very rare fungus – Cortinariuspraestans, the Goliath Webcap which, other thanRoudsea, can only be found at two other sites, inWorcester and North Somerset. As its namesuggests, it is a very large fungus indeed with acap measuring up to 30cm in diameter. Thespecimens found were very large and quiteragged-looking.Other rare species included Lactarius li lacina, amember of the Milk Cap fungi.

John and Sheila’s extensive knowledge on thesubject made for a very interesting day, and I thinkI speak for all present when I say that we cameaway from Roudsea Woods knowing quite a gooddeal more about the world of Fungi than when wearrived. On behalf of the group I would like tothank John and Sheila for organising and leadingthe event.

Sue Roberts

List of Species found in Roudsea Woods -27th

September, 2009. Identified and forwarded byJohn and Sheila Weir.

1.Scleroderma citrinum Common Earthball

2.Keuhneromyces mutabilis Sheathed Woodtuft

3.Cortinarius anomalus Variable Webcap

4.Trametes versicolor Turkey tail

5.Tricholoma stypariphyllum White Knight

6.Lycoperdon pyriforme Puffball

7.Lacterius torminosus Woolly Milkcap

8.Hydrum repandum Hedgehog Fungus

9.Hebaloma leucosarx Poison Pie

10.Inonotus radiatus Alder Bracket

11.Amanita muscaria Fly Agaric

12.Daedaleopsis confragosa Blushing Bracket

13.Tricholoma fulvum Birch Knight Cap

14.Pleurotus ostreatus Oyster Fungus

15.Piptoporus betulinus Razor Strop Fungus

16.Hypholoma fasciculare Sulphur Tuft

17.Cortinarius praestans Goliath Webcap

18.Leccinum scabrum Brown Birch Bolete

19.Armillaria mellea Honey Fungus

20.Amanita olivaceogrisea

21.Naucoria subconspersa Aldercap

22.Russula ochroleuca Common Yellow

23.Clitocybe clavipes Club-footed Funnel Cap

24.Stereum hirsutum Hairy Curtain Crust

25.Amanita spissa False Panther Cap

26.Daedalea quercina Oak Maze-gill

27.Russula betularum Birch Brittlegill

28.Collybia butyraceaButter Cap

29.Russula nigricans Blackening Brittlegill

30.Paxillus involutus Brown Roll-rim

31.Lactarius li lacina Lilac Milkcap

Goliath Webcap Barbara Crooks

Miscellany

The Irish Sea

The Irish Sea is unique in the UK in being formedin a warm, shallow, sandy basin. It containsroughly 6000 known species and may potentiallyyield many more. In 2002, in the waters of RathlinIsland, Bernard Picton and Claire Goodwin discov-ered 21 species of sponge new to science. Thishighlighted the possibil ity that further and moredetailed studies of our seabed communities mayyet yield new species.

The muddy, sandy habitats of the Irish Sea arehome to a specific set of marine species that havea stronghold in its sediments. The sea mouse,sand mason and lug worms are key elements ofthis community, as are the millions of trap doorhydrobid snails, the burrowing corophium andragworms beloved of bait diggers. Although veryfew population studies have been undertaken onthe invertebrates of Morecambe Bay, the abun-dance of our waders and over-wintering wildfowlindicate that these habitats are highly productive,and indeed ,vital, global feeding grounds. Thehighly productive sands and muds off shore and

our rich plankton support communities of colonialhydroids such as hornwrack, soft corals such asdead mans fingers and sea weeds that frequentlywash up onto our beaches. They also support agood diversity of fish and invertebrates that havehistorically led to the growth of fisheries forshrimp, bass, plaice, flounder and shell fish such ascockles, mussels, oysters and whelks.

Traditionally, the public perception of high quality,marine areas has been the turquoise waters of oursouth coast rocky shores, cold water coral reefsand the colourful wrasse that inhabit them. By

contrast, the Irish Sea has been perceived as apoor, brown water cousin to all but us hardylocals. Lugworms and sea mice are just not asphotogenic as dahlia anemones and pink sea fans!It is essential that the protection and importancegiven to marine habitats is not proportionate tobeauty, as perceived through a diver‘s eye. Thediverse species and productive habitats of the IrishSea need the protection they warrant, as keyexamples of importance in the UK .

A very signif icant event in the conservation of theIrish Sea was the passing into law of the Marineand Coastal Access Act in mid November 2009.This new act makes it a statutory duty to desig-nate an ecologically coherent network of marineprotected sites in UK waters and wil l protectrepresentatives of all UK marine habitats for thefirst time. The act, however, has the caveat thatsocio-economic factors may be taken into accountin the designation and management of these newareas.

These new sites, known as Marine ConservationZones, will be added to the existing SSSIs, SPAsand SACs, to make up the Marine Protected Areas.

DEFRA lays out its stall in the following paragraph,taken from “Protecting our marine environmentthrough the Marine Bill” 2009 –

“ An’ ecologically coherent network’ means anetwork of sites big enough to protect rare,threatened and valued habitats throughout ourseas; with sites close enough together for speciesto move between them; and enough sites toconserve a range of habitats that are vital for thehealth of marine ecosystems. Research by theUniversity of Bangor for Defra suggests a networkof sites covering 14-20% of our seas may besufficient to protect internationally importantspecies and habitats”.

Dog whelk Paul Naylor

Starfish on mussel bed Paul Naylor

37

In a nutshell the process will be -Bringing together regional stakeholder groups.This process began with a series of meetings thisOctober in Runcorn, Liverpool, Blackpool andPenrith.Publication of the ecological guidance for siteselectionAssessment of potential Irish Sea sites under theecological guidance by JNCC and NE.Consultation with stakeholders.Designation of Marine Conservation Zones- 2012.

Ideally this process will yield highly protected sitesto protect vulnerable and important mud, sandand boulder habitats in the Irish Sea. These aretermed Highly Protected Marine ConservationZones (HPMCZ) and are areas where activities thatare damaging to habitats and species will beprohibited. These represent the best hope for therecovery of our marine species and habitats backto the vibrant diverse places they once were.

The Wildlife Trusts have campaigned for 8 yearsfor a law that protects and allows the recovery ofmarine communities and we will be working hardto ensure that we get the maximum protection forlocal marine life.

Join us in working towards highly protected sitesAs the process of finding and agreeing MarineConservation Zones proceeds ,there will be keymoments where pressure and support from localpeople who support local marine l ife will be vital.If you might be will ing to write one letter, a blogand represent wildlife at key stakeholder meet-ings, please contact me. I send out monthly emailsummaries of the progress so far, including localmarine news and information about Irish Seaspecies. Please email me atKathrynt@cumbr iawildlifetrust. org. uk

At homeMaking changes to your everyday lifestyle canreduce your personal impact on our marineenvironment. Use reusable bags to stop seals andturtles eating stray plastic ones, thinking that theyare jellyfish. Avoid putting toxic chemicals into thedrains and reduce, reuse and recycle your rubbishWatch what you flush! Every year hundreds ofthousands of used cotton buds and wet wipes endup on our beaches after being flushed down thetoilet. Did you know that wet wipes, unlike looroll, aren’t biodegradable?

Dinner Try, where possible, to avoid eating fish that havebeen caught in trawling or dredging activities .Plump instead for things that are line-caught,organically farmed and sustainably fished. Do notbe afraid to ask when you are choosing what tobuy. For more information check out WWF’s toptips.

Species records If you have a local beach then consider letting meknow what species you find and when interestingevents happen; for instance when the sea urchinwrecks occur, when sea birds get washed in orwhen the ray egg cases appear. A good beginner’sguide to washed up marine life can be found onthe Fylde coast Marine Life Project website underdocuments and can be located at Fylde and Wyrelibraries.

It’s an exciting time for the protection of our localwaters. Watch this space!

Kathryn.

Dr. Kathryn Turner,Irish Sea Advocacy OfficerFor the Wildlife Trusts of Cumbria, Lancashire,Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Wirral andCheshire.

Masked Crab Paul Naylor

38

La Palma Holiday

Monday, May 18th, saw us departing for theCanary Isle of La Palma, recommended to us by anold friend who has the same natural historyinterests as myself.

Los Cancajos in Brena Baya is situated on the rockywest coast, 5 kilometres from the airport.

The first wildlife encountered were four smallwhites, the orange-coloured Canary SpeckledWood, three blue–throated, brown and beigestriped lizards and striking, green and red largecrabs, grazing on seaweed attached to surf-pounding rocks.

I renamed the island “Blackcap Island”, as theywere to be found singing everywhere – by far thecommonest bird around. Chiff Chaff were alsocalling, but sounding similar to our House Sparrow– very strange!

Birds on the wing were Pallid Swift, Lesser Kestreland Peregrine.

As the week progressed, our daily saunter alongthe coastal maquis produced many plants: Ca-nary Island Spurge Bushes, Oleander in profusion,three species of Sea Lavender and the rare CanarySamphire.

As the daily temperature was a pleasant 24C, weregularly stopped to photograph the many en-demic flowers. They were in full bloom in thecooler areas of the higher Laurel and Coniferforests, bathed daily by rising sea mist. This sweptup over 1000metres to engulf the lichen-fi lledbranches of every tree and shrub. Here, the rareBols Pigeon was occasionally seen, together withthe pastel blue Canary Chaffinch and Berthelot’sPipit, which readily came to the picnic tablesdotted amongst the pines.

As we drove higher, through amazing rock forma-tions of differing hues, we emerged above theclouds into clear blue sky to see the tops of thenearby islands of La Gomera, and Tenerife, with itsmighty Teide towering above all. We soonreached the famous astronomical observatory ofLa Palma, glistening white in the sun‘s rays.

Unfortunately, it was closed on that day, so wewere unable to view its workings.

An exciting experience, however, was about to beseen! An incredible sight of around 400 AlpineChough flew directly over the car and across themoon-like terrain of black, volcanic rock, totallydevoid of any sign of l ife. A new species for meand in such numbers – amazing!

On the long descent to the warmer slopes, morebutterflies were to be seen: Brimstone, Cleopatra,Meadow Brown and a single Canary Brown Argus.

I spent some time trying to identify the half- dozenhoverfly I caught, but without success. Happily, Iwas able to rescue one that had just been grabbedby a yellow crab-spider, which had craftily mergedwithin the florets of a local Taraxacum Dandelion.

On the final day, we visited the nearby capital ofSanta Cruz, which is about the size of Lancaster.Its narrow streets are bedecked with ancientwooden balconies and slatted windows, taking usback through the ages. A novel present wasbought for my arty daughter. The kit included aplain silk scarf and the dried larvae of cactus lice.The latter could be soaked in hot water to producecochineal which she could use to dye the scarfherself. She loved the gift!

Adjacent to the port stood a full-size replica of theSanta Maria in all its glory, with a plaque declaringthat it’s Captain, Columbus, had lived in the cityfor a short while – a proud heritage!

We witnessed an annual pageant of bare-backhorse riding, by some young daredevils, down thecentral, cobbled street. They rode at full pelt,trying to snare with a small stick, as many tas-selled, coloured nooses as possible ,which werestrung across the street. Achievement of thisdiff icult task was rewarded with colourful sashes,much hollering and applause. A real carnival endto our holiday!

Brian Hugo.

39

An Unforgettable Experience

We were walking home on a November eveningfrom a talk in Hornby Institute. As we crossed thebridge over the River Wenning, there were short,loud squeaks and whistles, almost electronic intheir unwavering, high pitch, coming from theshrubs below the bridge. The sounds were mov-ing round in the shrubs, but it was too dark to seeanything, even in the light of a faint torch.

Then the sounds seemed to come from the otherside of the bridge. We crossed the road and there,in the light of the street lamp, on a small patch ofshingle stretching down from one of the bridgepillars, were three otter cubs squabbling over afish. A bit later, a larger otter appeared and came

briefly on to the shingle. We were able to watchthe otter family for 30 minutes or more, as theytook brief swims in the river and then returned tothe shingle for more squabbles over the fish (nowmuch reduced in size). Even with 8 or morepeople peering down at them from the bridge,they showed no signs of disturbance and wefinally left them still on their shingle.

The sounds are very distinctive and continuedfrom different places most of the time we werewatching. I suppose it is their way of keepingfamily contacts and is certainly worth listening foron evening walks along riversides.

Jennifer Newton

The Lovely Common Garden Spider

Would you imagine that Araneus Diadematuscould be aggressive towards humans?

Well I can – now!

Being a warm afternoon in September this year, Istripped to my waist to carry out some deadheading in my garden. On finishing my tasks andheading indoors, I felt an itch on my stomach andwithout looking, I scratched the spot. Suddenly, Ifelt a sharp pain, similar to a wasp sting. When Ilooked, however, there was an adult gardenspider, so easily recognisable by its white” dia-dem” across its back. Imagine my surprise! Iknocked it away before studying the pinprick of amark left by its jaws. I immediately squeezed thearea whilst imagining wildly how the venomwould spread to the rest of my body and wonder-ing how ill I might become. I had never heard ofanyone having been bitten before by any type ofspider.

The pain continued so my next action was to applyan insect bite antidote. My good friend, BarryBrigden, of Hoverfly fame, had tipped me offabout a tick repellent that he had obtained onprescription. It is called “ Fucidin”. Its main ingre-dient is sodium fusidate. I had obtained some formyself and I proceeded to apply this clear gel tothe offending area. The reaction was instant – thepain was gone- amazing!

Aranius diadematus Barbara Crooks

My next thought was,” Who would be interestedto know about this incident”? Well, JenniferNewton, of course!

When I telephoned her with the tale she wassimilarly amazed. In all her years of handlingspiders she had never been bitten. Also, howstrange that Araneus Diadematus was the culprit!This is a spider which normally just wraps up itsprey before devouring it when ready.

We thought that it would make an interestingarticle – so here it is – and I am well enough towrite it for you all!

Brian Hugo.

40