Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Contents / Diary of events
DECEMBER 2015 - JANUARY 2016
Bristol Naturalist News
Photo © Roger Symes
Discover Your Natural World
Bristol Naturalists’ Society
BULLETIN NO. 546 DEC 2015 – JAN 2016
2
CONTENTS
3 Diary of Events
New Membership Rates
4 Society Talks
5 Society Walks Phenology
New Treasurer needed
6 Chairman’s Notes
Book Club
7 Society Walk Report
8 BOTANY SECTION Botanical notes
11 GEOLOGY SECTION
12 LIBRARY Proceedings online
New magazines & books
‘Climate in the Quaternary’ – RLB writes
14 INVERTEBRATE SECTION
Notes for Dec/Jan. Items of Interest
15 MAMMAL SECTION
Mammal Records; New Facebook group
16 ORNITHOLOGY SECTION Meeting Report; Crowdfunding appeal
Recent News ; Bewick’s Swans
19 MISCELLANY
Avon Gorge & Downs Wildlife Project Botanic Gdn; Badock’s Wood
20 Adolescent Robin; Garden Spider;
Nature in Avon: Call for articles
Cover picture: Portishead sunset, kindly
contributed by Roger Symes.
HON. PRESIDENT: David Hill,
BSc (Sheff), DPhil (Oxon).
HON. CHAIRMAN: Roger Steer, Winpenny
Cottage, Bagstone, Wotton-u-Edge, GL12 8BD
[email protected] 01454 294371
HON. PROCEEDINGS RECEIVING EDITOR:
Dee Holladay, 15 Lower Linden Rd., Clevedon,
BS21 7SU [email protected]
HON. SEC.: Lesley Cox 07786 437 528
HON. MEM'SHIP SEC.: Mrs. Margaret Fay
81 Cumberland Rd., BS1 6UG. 0117 921 4280
HON. TREASURER: Mr Stephen Fay,
81 Cumberland Rd., BS1 6UG. 0117 921 4280
BULLETIN DISTRIBUTION Hand deliveries save about £800 a year, so help
is much appreciated. Offers please to:
HON. CIRCULATION SEC.: Brian Frost, 60 Purdy
Court, New Station Rd, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16
3RT. 0117 9651242. [email protected] He will
be pleased to supply further details. Also
contact him about problems with (non-)delivery.
BULLETIN COPY DEADLINE: 7th of month before
publication to the editor: David B Davies, The Summer House, 51a Dial Hill Rd., Clevedon, BS21
7EW. 01275 873167 [email protected]
Grants: The society makes grants of around
£500 for projects that meet the Society’s
charitable aims of promoting research &
education in natural history & its conservation in
the Bristol region. Information and an application
form can be downloaded from:
http://bristolnats.org.uk/bns-grant-system/ Email
completed applications to
Health & Safety on walks: Members
participate at their own risk. They are
responsible for being properly clothed and shod.
Dogs may only be brought on a walk with prior
agreement of the leader.
BULLETIN NO. 546 DEC 2015 – JAN 2016
Bristol Naturalists’ Society Discover Your Natural World
Registered Charity No: 235494
www.bristolnats.org.uk
Bristol Naturalists’ Society Discover Your Natural World
Registered Charity No: 235494
www.bristolnats.org.uk
3
Diary of events Back to contents
Council usually meets on the first Wednesday of each month (but in Sept. 2015 on 9th –
the 2nd
Weds). Any member can attend, but must give advance notice if wishing to speak.
Visitors & guests are very welcome at any of our meetings. If contact details are given,
please contact the leader beforehand, and make yourself known on arrival. We hope that
you will enjoy the meeting, and consider joining the Society. To find out how to join, visit
http://bns.myspecies.info and click on membership.
DECEMBER 2015 Thu 3 Society Walk - Hinton Blewett Society 10:00 page 5
Thu 3 Society Talk – Butterfly Conservation Society 19:30 page 4
Wed 9 Talk Farmland Birds Ornithology 19:30 page 16
Sat 12 Walk – Ham Wall Ornithology 13:30 page 16
Mon 28 Members’ evening & Christmas Cheer Botany 19:30 page 8
JANUARY 2016 Thu 7 Society Walk - Bleadon Society 10:00 page 5
Wed 13 AGM + Birdwatching in Scandinavia Ornithology 19:30 page 16
Sat 16 Severnside Ornithology 10:00 page 17
Thu 21 Society Talk – The Bear Facts (NB Venue!) Society 19:30 page 4
Mon 25 AGM + Fungi + Digitising Taunton Herbarium Botany 19:30 page 8
Tue 26 AGM + Talk - Cetaceans Mammal 19:30 page 15
Wed 27 AGM + Members’ evening Geology 19:30 page 9
FEBRUARY 2016 Wed 10 Talk: Swifts Ornithology 19:30 page 17
Sat 18(TBC) Walk - Blagdon Ornithology page 17
Wed 24 Thos Hawkins – ‘mad, bad fossil collector?’ Geology 19:30 page 9
MARCH 2016 Wed 10 Talk - Steart Ornithology 19:30 page 17
Sat 19 Walk - Blaise Ornithology page 17
FOR OTHER EVENTS OF INTEREST Please refer to
Page 14 – Museum Winter Lecture 3/12; Wildlife Photographer of the Year; ‘Erdkunde’; ‘Death’ ;’Cuna’
Page 14 – Wildlife Project, Botanic Garden, Badock’s Wood
NEW MEMBERSHIP RATES FOR 2016 All membership subscriptions are due for renewal on the 1
st January. Members who
joined in 2015 after June will be charged half; those who joined after September have
their membership automatically carried forward to the next year without further payment.
The new rates are:
£25 FOR A SINGLE MEMBERSHIP, and
£35 FOR A ‘HOUSEHOLD’
Other membership rates remain unchanged.
If you have set up a standing order PLEASE ask your bank to make the necessary
alterations – this will minimise the amount of chasing up needed in the New Year.
4
SOCIETY ITEMS Back to contents / Back to Diary
SOCIETY TALKS
Thursday, 3rd December at 7.30pm
BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION: Who Are We and What Do We Do?
Speaker: Hilary Raeburn Guide Association Hall, Westmoreland Road, BS6 6YW
The talk will begin with a brief review of the work of Butterfly Conservation, the importance it attaches to the work of volunteers and the current state of butterflies in Britain.
This talk takes its title from a small book published earlier this year called: ‘Butterfly Walks in Somerset and Bristol’. Many beautiful walks in Avon including several walks in Bristol itself are included in the book. However our own butterfly season is short in comparison with other regions of the world and so in addition to some discussion of what is to be seen in our own area I will be talking about a recent visit to Northern Spain where plenty of butterflies and moths are on the wing well into the Autumn. I will then move onto Nepal which is more notable for its wonderful mountainous landscapes, a country I visited several years ago to see its butterflies during the winter. Finally I will talk of the oyamel forests of the Sierra Madre of Mexico when millions of Monarch butterflies roost during the winter.
Thursday, 21st January, 7:30pm
THE BEAR FACTS: Speaker: Charles Kinsey NB Venue: Frenchay Village Hall, Beckspool Road, Bristol BS16 1NU.
For information: There is a car park attached and plenty of parking opposite the hall on
Beckspool Road. Buses (46, 319 and 18) go to Frenchay Hospital (RIP) but there is a walk from
the bus stop to the hall.
The persona of bears walks with us in our culture whether as Pooh or Paddington and
watches over us through constellations and comforters. This is a far cry from the
plantigrade gait and solitary existence of living bears.
Brief reference to these sociological themes will be made before focusing on the reality
of the lives of the eight extant species of Bears across the world today and the global
conservation situations surrounding them; all species are endangered, threatened, or face
localised extinction.
Ursidae are widespread across four continents in surprisingly varied habitats. Charles
has had encounters in the wild with four species as well as with Spirit bears (a sub-species
of American black bear) typically found in British Columbia but his major focus will be on
Polar bears, which face a particularly perilous future if global warming continues. Our
speaker has watched Ursus maritimus in both Svalbard and Canada (Baffin Island and
Hudson Bay).
The talk will include personal anecdotes of some exciting encounters. It will be fully
illustrated and will, naturally enough include some of the other birds and animals that live
alongside bears across the world, typically, in wild landscapes that will also feature.
5
Back to contents / Back to Diary
SOCIETY MID-WEEK WALKS
Thursday, 3rd December
from The Ring-O-Bells,Hinton Blewett; about 3.5 miles. Meet at 10 am opposite the Ring-O-Bells, Upper Road, ST594569. This is mainly a field
walk but the return involves a minor road, a section of the footpath known as the Limestone
Link and the Cam Brook. The ground may be uneven so good footwear is advised as is
suitable clothing for the weather conditions. We expect to be welcomed at the pub for
refreshments before 1 pm.
As usual we may have to postpone for seven days if the weather is too inclement, but
please keep in touch.
Tony Smith. Tel: 0117 965 6566
Thursday, 7th January
from The Queen’s Arms, Bleadon; about 2.5 miles. Meet at 10am. This pub is on Celtic Way leading north from the centre of the village,
ST340570. Car parking has to be nearby as there is little space at the pub itself.
The route takes us upon Hellenge Hill with its wonderful calcareous floral grassland. There
are good views across the levels and to Shiplait Slate. The usual remarks about suitable
clothing and footwear apply as does the way the weather affects plans. Do keep in touch.
Tony Smith: telephone 0117 9656566
PHENOLOGY ctober was dominated by high pressure over the Baltic, bringing cool light winds,
and on some days brilliant sunshine. It was the coldest since 2003, though there
were no frosts, and had only a third of normal rainfall. The result was the finest
autumn colour for many years, as the leaves were able to change steadily without
being blown off. The major leaf fall only came at the very end of the month. The peak in the
number of tree or shrub species with ripe fruit came in mid-month, which is normal, though
the absence of any beech mast may mean that it will become a hard winter for birds and
mammals.
Richard Bland
NEW TREASURER NEEDED tephen Fay has done an extraordinary job of tidying up and simplifying our accounts
over several years, but is now planning to stand down. If you think you might be
interested in taking over from him, please contact him as soon as possible for details:
81 Cumberland Rd., BS1 6UG. 0117 921 4280. [email protected]
O
S
6
READING GROUP / BOOK CLUB The Reading Group welcomes new members
Contact: Tony Smith 0117 965 6566 [email protected]
The reading group normally meets evenings at four to six week intervals so please
contact the above to find out dates, places and times. Our next book is,
“Feral: the Re-wilding of Britain” by George Monbiot. The Library Service issues sets
of books to book clubs and we usually avail ourselves of this free facility.
Back to contents / Back to Diary
CHAIRMAN’S NOTES hen you read this, the perennial run-up to Christmas will be in full swing. After
Christmas, the harsh reality of Society section AGMs begin, with all officers
elected or re-elected. Some will be the same stalwarts, ever full of vigour, some
long-standing officers will be sorry that, yet again, no one could be found to take over the
reins, or even share the burden. The Society depends on its officers, and so do the
Sections. Some Sections are virtual one-man/woman-bands. At this time, and over the
Christmas break, consider lending a hand. If you could help to book speakers, or organise
the summer walks, I’m sure that it would be of great help, and it would certainly be
appreciated. Even less formal offers might be welcome – not just to help make the tea, but
take all of that task off the hands of the committee – it all helps. Contact your Section
committee to offer.
Council is an ‘odd’ body. Nearly all its members are there because of their posts within
the Society – Section representatives, ex-office holders, publication-editors, representatives
of relevant outside bodies, etc. Alongside those, are the officers elected to do specific
jobs. One such officer is the Treasurer. Steve Fay has done sterling service for the
Society. I am pleased to say that he is standing again at the next election. The period
around the Society AGM is busy for the Treasurer, and I’m glad that Steve will be in post
during this time. When next summer comes, he has indicated that he will retire and has
asked us to look for a successor. He has offered to give help the new incumbent, and I am
sure that the handover will be as painless as possible. Please consider if you could be the
person that we are looking for, You don’t have to be an accountant, just methodical and
careful. As I said; full training and support will be given. Another officer, not elected as
such at the Society AGM, is the Chairman of Council. This officer is elected by Council,
from within its ranks. As I said a little while ago, I will not be looking for election at the April
Council meeting, so I urge Council to concentrate their minds on finding a suitable new
Chairman. Looking at the current members, they are spoilt for choice.
I wish you a very happy Christmas and peaceful New Year.
Roger Steer
W
7
How the 21st Century is assisting wildlife recording: Report of the
Mid-week Walk at Oldbury-on-Severn. Back to contents / Back to Diary
he walk was described in the Bulletin as “designed to take advantage of the abundance of hedgerow fruits and to see Autumn colours” and it did not disappoint. The one slight problem with taking bags to carry stuff home was that the major
contribution to one’s comestible pleasures were situated in the first quarter or third of the route and then, pointing out the wildlife, reading the map and negotiating stiles encumbered by bags weighing several kilograms, had to be coped with, with no small degree of difficulty! So I was effectively in the previous century, especially in the company of Bird Recorders! Up to the present I have been able to answer a call to my mobile by my wife only twice. Other times I have managed to turn it off before hearing the message. That is it. So imagine my wonderment that as birds were seen they were immediately tapped into the mobile phone by these ornithologists.
Very kindly, the persistent heavy drizzle that almost convinced me not to do the walk stopped just after 10 am so we walked. Pigeons flew over and starlings, the latter, numbering up to one thousand, circling round us at a half mile radius at a low level. Starlings in this area have previously been noted to move round as though being a bus, dropping off passengers at different feeding stops, before continuing to the “bus station” by the Aust Bridge and crossing the river to a roost on the Welsh side. Long-tailed Tits followed our hedgerow and ahead we saw Goldfinches pouring out of the hedgerow to feed on thistle-heads and moving ahead of us as we walked forward. Mixed flocks of Fieldfares, Jackdaws, Crows and Rooks filled oaks, the trees leaf-covered but golded with Autumn colour. Many species were recorded then a flock of seven or eight Lapwings flew over. This is the 21st Century: the mobile phone sent the news to the Avon bird spotting website and a minute later it was up on the website for the information of other local birders. They were pleased. I was dumbfounded! With the diminishing numbers of lapwing in this area, it was a delight to see this small flock.
But that was as nothing. On the estuary, quite close to the shore there were Curlew, Mallard, Redshank, Heron, Little Egret and Cormorant and Wigeon, waiting for the tide to fall to expose their feeding areas around the lagoon. Coming away from the estuary towards the hostelry, there were suddenly many birds ‘arguing’ but hidden by the thickness of the hedgerow. We questioned ourselves as to what species they were. Mounted within the machinery which is the mobile phone was the RSPB app with bird sounds. So each suggestion was compared with the reality inside the machine and a name was agreed upon and entered “through caverns measureless to man”(Kubla Khan, you know, but no longer measureless.). As we walked on, the birds flew off and confirmed our thoughts that these were Redwings.
I could take no more and we hurried to the stability of the very friendly, welcome and excellent refreshments at the Anchor Inn, congratulating ourselves on making the most of a very grey day.
Tony Smith
T
8
BOTANY SECTION PRESIDENT:- Vacant
HON. SEC:- Clive Lovatt 07 851 433 920 ([email protected]) Back to contents / Back to Diary
INDOOR MEETINGS Indoor meetings are held from October to March, normally on the 4th Monday in the month at 7.30pm
at the Guide Association Hall, Westmoreland Road, Westbury Park, Bristol BS6 6YW. On 22 February
2016 Bob Buck will be talking on 25 years of managing the St George’s Flower Bank, Portbury. The 4th
Monday in March is Easter Monday so we may replace that meeting with an early season field
meeting. Send me an email with BNS Botany in the subject line if you would like to be on a mailing list
about BNS Botany meetings (advance notices, reports etc).
MEMBERS’ EVENING AND CHRISTMAS CHEER Mon. 28 December
BNS Botany Section Committee and Others 7.30 pm As well as the usual seasonal good cheer the committee kindly organise, the evening will
include presentations for North Somerset (Helena Crouch) and West Gloucestershire (Clive
Lovatt) on the botanical highlights for the year from their respective areas. There should be
a light botanical quiz and members are invited to bring along anything of botanical interest
for display and discussion.
If anyone has surplus botanical books please bring them along for redistribution. Unwanted
Christmas presents as well?
AGM followed by Talks on SOME BRISTOL FUNGI
and DIGITISING THE TAUNTON HERBARIUM
Jean Oliver and Liz McDonnell (respectively) Mon. 25 Jan, 7.30 pm At present the Section is still without President in succession to Peter Hilton. We have two
members of the committee retiring at the AGM after long and sterling service. Let the Hon
Sec or any one of the committee know if you would like to join us.
Jean Oliver is an active member of the North Somerset and Bristol Fungus Group (see
http://www.nsbfg6.webspace.virginmedia.com/) as well as regularly attending our meetings
(often wearing a scarf with mushrooms and toadstools). She will talk about some of the
local fungi she has seen. In the old days Fungi were a more prominent part of botanical
study by the BNS (I'm often told fungi aren’t really plants, as if that is an excuse) and
indeed can be seen growing on the Society’s original logo. Time to catch up!
Liz McDonnell has recently been appointed as joint (supporting) Vice-County Recorder for
N Somerset VC6 (congratulations Liz!) and is Co-ordinator of the Somerset Rare Plants
Group. In recent months she has been assisting members of the group in their ongoing
project photographing the herbarium of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History
Society and recently spoke to their members. Our talk will be illustrated, as far as possible,
with Bristol specimens. High resolution images will ultimately be indexed and placed on the
Herbaria at Home website http://herbariaunited.org/atHome/ for checking the provisional
identity and transcribing or correcting the location and other specimen details. BNS passed
over its own collections to the Bristol Museum many years ago, including the herbarium (c
1875) of Alfred Hudd, perhaps better known as an entomologist. It is a good local collection
of perhaps 400 specimens and worth digitising too.
9
Back to contents / Back to Diary
BOTANICAL NOTES Field Meeting Report
Leigh Woods Whitebeams, 27th September 2015, Libby Houston Thirteen of us met at the North Road gates on a sunny Sunday morning for a tour of the Leigh Woods whitebeams. There are 21 Sorbus taxa in the Avon Gorge (excluding the Service-tree S. domestica at Shirehampton). Four are known only on the Clifton (v-c 34) side – but their sites can be pointed out across the river. Otherwise, it’s possible to visit ten by proper footpaths; then it becomes a choice between distance and difficulty…
But the start is always easy, if a bit artificial, along the six planted taxa on the Plain and the almost-certainly planted so-called Grey-leaved Whitebeam S. porrigentiformis round the lip of Stokeleigh Camp, to look at differences in leaf-shape with genetic origins in mind, in leaf-density
(in open situations the polyploid rare species have thicker leaves) and in growth habits. Bristol Whitebeam S. bristoliensis crops up usefully now and again to test the memory, or be compared with its naturalised close cousins, Broad-leaved and Orange-berried Whitebeams (S. latifolia and S. croceocarpa).
We had lunch by the north-east end of Stokeleigh Camp’s main banks. From then on, people
began to drop away to other commitments, but not before Fred Rumsey had pointed out to Clive Lovatt Narrow Buckler-fern, Dryopteris carthusiana, growing with Polytrichum moss beside the southernmost Paddock footpath - last recorded in Leigh Woods by Ida Roper in 1930!
I went for difficulty (but very mild) over distance, and after a trial trip off-piste to the largest White’s Whitebeam S. whiteana in Somerset, we headed down to the towpath via the side of Quarry 4. Quarry 4 – the one with a sewer ventilation shaft – is thick with Sorbus, with the most
flourishing populations of Avon Gorge endemics Leigh Woods and Wilmott’s Whitebeams (S. leighensis, including the oddly insignificant type, and S. wilmottiana), also of English Whitebeam S. anglica, not very prolific here otherwise. Other features included a worryingly hefty cantilevered S. bristoliensis at the top, Fingered Sedge Carex digitata and Pampas-grass Cortaderia selloana on the slopes. Sorbus leighensis has relatively early timing: it was just the right moment to catch the pale pastel autumn colours of its typically upright shoots.
Weirdest, though, was the evidence of a neat, half-hearted act of vandalism earlier in the year, whereby a person unknown had cut down 25 whitebeams, 16 of them rare – some even clearly labelled. They were left where they had fallen, labels intact. I had discovered this in August; by then all the stumps were hidden in regrowth. Nothing had been destroyed – or trashed. They were neatly sawn – at diameters of c.3.5cm. None of us could think of a reason, no one has been able to, save a grudge against whitebeams that petered out after 25.
Along the towpath to Nightingale Valley Helena Crouch found a young Swedish Whitebeam S. intermedia not far from the old historic tree by the saltmarsh. We passed several Avon Whitebeams S. avonensis newly recorded this year, which has already been unofficially elevated from hybrid to species level, its population centred around the railway there.
By now there were six of us, our final goal the stubborn hybrid Houston’s Whitebeam, S. x
houstoniae, the rarest tree of the day, since one of its parents is the not very prolific S.
bristoliensis, and the route to see it pretty obscure. One of us had manfully carried a rope all afternoon, but we didn’t need it. The tree still looks healthy, growing beneath a young S. whiteana and S. bristoliensis, with a Round-leaved Whitebeam S. eminens alongside. At least the University of Bristol Botanic Garden now has a successful graft or two. On the surrounding ledges is Yet Another Sorbus, a proven clone, which looked to me like a shade version of S.
avonensis. I’m waiting for further news of that…
I hoped that everyone enjoyed the meeting as much as I had! And later, the blood moon…
L. Houston, 8 November 2015
10
Back to contents / Back to Diary
Indoor Meeting Report What Plant is That? Monday 28
th October
The plant ID meeting was attended by a dozen or so members and although experimental,
was widely agreed to have been a success and worth repeating at the close of the field
season. There were a lot of ID books on display and available for use and plenty of un-
named plant material to talk about or try to name, with two dissecting microscopes to help
get a closer look than by eye or lens.
Libby Houston brought some mystery leaves, picked up in the course of whitebeam
surveys and otherwise and including a bedstraw from St Vincent’s Rocks which we thought
might be Heath Bedstraw which I can no longer find on the Downs. Later recourse to The
Vegetative Key to the British Flora (‘Poland’) shows it has the more numerous leaf-edge
spines of Hedge Bedstraw. Helena Crouch brought A Cautionary Tale. Duckweeds have
become more difficult to name by the recent recognition of Red Duckweed, Lemna
turionifera. The latter should be distinguished from Common Duckweed Lemna minor by
having raised bumps on the midrib line but as Helena showed us, it doesn’t always seem to
work.
Clare and Mark Kitchen brought some Gloucestershire plants that had been sent to
them and some fresh plants collected from near Twickenham during the Rugby World Cup.
Many of us had never seen the arable weed Gold-of Plenty, Camelina sativa.
Unfortunately it wasn’t clear if the plant was from a sown or a managed Gloucestershire
headland. There was also a photo of a magnificent Eryngium sp from beside a dual
carriageway in VC33 which if I recall correctly, was thought to be Tall Eryngo, E.
giganteum. The ‘London Soldier’ was the Shaggy Soldier, Galinsoga quadriradiata, now far
more common than the Gallant Soldier in London and with us. A Dock from beside the
Thames had leaves matching the common Broad-leaved Dock Rumex obtusifolius (except
no bristles on the midrib) but the inflorescence looked wrong and the sepals all had
tubercles and almost lacked teeth. This was then identified ‘from the book’ as the central
European ssp. transiens, something for us to look out for in our area.
Clive Lovatt brought a bagful of nearly 100 species from the banks of imported soil at
the Lawrence Hill Roundabout. Mark Kitchen identified a mystery leaf (thought to be
Cardoon) as Henbane, Hyoscyamus niger. White and Pink flowered Pale Persicaria,
Persicaria lapathifolia, are considered by some as different species. On the other hand
white and purple flowered garden tobacco plants from this site seem to be the garden
hybrid Nicotiana x sanderae and not the white and purple flowered parents. The Small (-
flowered) Melilot Melilotus indicus is rarely seen and turned up whilst I was collecting for
the meeting.
Plant records
If you've found some interesting plants in the Bristol area this year, let me know. Thanks to
John Martin, Dave Gibbs and Rupert Higgins even more uncommon plants have been
recorded on the disturbed roadside near the Lawrence Hill roundabout illustrated in last
month’s Bulletin. I've had Bristol lists from Richard Bland (including from his Bristol
alleyway survey) and he has pointed out just how common Tutsan and its hybrid relative
Tall Tutsan now are as established escapes around Bristol.
Clive Lovatt, Shirehampton, 9 November 2015
11
GEOLOGY SECTION
Back to contents / Back to Diary
PRESIDENT: Roger Steer [email protected] 01454 294371
HON. SEC.: Richard Ashley [email protected] 01934 838850
LECTURE MEETINGS Lecture meetings take place in the S H Reynolds lecture Theatre, Wills Memorial Building, University
of Bristol, BS8 1RJ. For those unfamiliar with this venue: Enter the Wills Building via main entrance
and walk ahead between the two staircases. Turn right when you reach some display cases. The
lecture room is on your left.
AGM & Members’ Evening 27 January 2016 7:30pm, S H Reynolds Lecture Theatre This will follow our traditional pattern of a short AGM – Election of President, Secretary,
Field Secretary and other committee members. After many years of service to the section
both as President and Secretary Roger Steer has announced his intention to step down
from the Presidency. Anyone interested in taking on these positions is asked to contact the
Section Secretary who will not be in any way upset if another person wishes to take on the
Secretary and Field Secretary roles. Please consider if you might be able to help organize
our programme of talks and walks by suggesting Speakers or Leaders.
The meeting will also be asked to give consideration to the question of whether a
Geoconservation Trust should be formed for the Avon area.
The formal business will be followed by a ‘Members’ Evening’ of short talks, etc. If you have
anything to contribute to the ‘Members’ Evening’ – Short talks, anecdotes, specimens, etc.,
your contribution will be greatly appreciated.
THOMAS HAWKINS AND HIS SEA DRAGONS –
a mad, bad fossil collector?
Stephen Locke 7:30pm, Wednesday 24 February Stephen Locke, who has previously spoken to the Section on ‘The Geology Town of Lyme
Regis’ will give a talk on the controversial 19th century fossil collector Thomas Hawkins.
12
LIBRARY
Back to contents / Back to Diary
HON. LIBRARIAN: Jim Webster [email protected].
BNS Library at Bristol City Museum & Art Gallery, BS8 1RL.
Open: Wed. 1.15pm-2.15pm, Sat. 10.15am-12.15pm.
Committee member on duty: 0117 922 3651 (library opening hours).
Access to the Society’s Proceedings and Nature in Avon online We are very grateful to the Biodiversity Heritage Library and its participating institutions (Harvard and the Natural History Museum in particular) for digitising our Proceedings and Nature in Avon without
charge and making them publicly available. To access them you can google “Biodiversity Heritage Library” and use the search facilities, or you can go direct to our own index pages at: http://biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/98898#/summary (for the Proceedings, i.e. up to 1993); and
http://biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/99328#/summary (for Nature in Avon, from 1994 to date)
IT’S NOT JUST BOOKS he library houses a selection of magazines and journals, the latest copies being displayed
on special stands. The magazines are obtained either by subscription, by exchange or as
gifts. We subscribe to:
“British Wildlife” – that excellent all-round magazine which is published six times a
year.
Ornithology has the monthly “British Birds” and the bi-monthly “BTO News” with the “Wetland
Bird Survey WEBS News” coming as an exchange.
For the Botanists there are the “Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland” publications, “New
Journal of Botany” (3 per annum), “BSBI News” (3 times per annum) and “BSBI Year Book”.
Also the “Edinburgh Journal of Botany.”
The “Entomologists Gazette” (3 times per annum) and the “Entomologists Monthly Magazine”
– published quarterly in groups of 3 months – are supplemented by “Atropos” (Spring, Summer,
Autumn) and an “Annual Migration Review.”
From the Mammal Society we receive “Mammal News” (3
copies per annum) and “Mammal Review.”
There are a few others which come to us as Gifts.
There is also an exchange system whereby copies of
“Bristol Naturalists Proceedings” (Nature in Avon) are
exchanged for similar publications from other city or county
naturalists organisations, namely:
Bath Natural History Society – also all newsletters.
Gloucestershire Naturalists Society plus their quarterly
GNS News.
Cotteswold Naturalists Field Club.
London Natural History Society
Bedfordshire NHS.
Somerset Archaeological & Natural History Society.
Wiltshire Archaeological & Natural History Society.
Dorset Natural History & Archaeological Society.
University of Bristol Speleological Society.
And last but by no means least, the “Avon Bird Report” is exchanged for “Somerset Birds”
plus Gloucestershire, Gwent, London & Bedfordshire Bird Reports.
These publications are all available for loan in the usual way. Pam Gooding
T
13
Back to contents / Back to Diary
Two important new botanical books
Both of these recently published books are available for loan from the BNS Library. The
Library Committee wishes to thank the Treasurer and Council of the BNS for making funds
available for purchase of books such as these for members of the Society to use and
share.
Newly published in the New Naturalist series is Alien Plants by Clive Stace and Mick
Crawley. It is a thorough and original review of non-native plants in the British flora. There
is a mention of the planting of Honey Garlic on St Vincent’s Rocks near the Observatory
where it still occurs after more than a century. The phrase ‘false wilding’ is used in Alien
Plants for species intrusively and often secretly planted in wild places after White’s false
wildling, though he corrected the spelling in manuscript later. In the historical section there
is a photograph (the same as in our Proceedings) of the late Adrian Grenfell, my own
botanical mentor who had achieved a national reputation as an alien plant hunter before his
untimely death.
The Hybrid Flora of Britain and Ireland by Clive Stace, Chris Preston and David
Pearman (published by BSBI at my home address) is another tour de force, weighing in at
over 3 kilos. It was published in a limited edition of 750 and stocks are already down to
about 80. Each hybrid plant recorded in the wild is described and an account of its
distribution and ecology is given. The coverage includes plants which spread as hybrids
(often garden plants) as well as plants hybridising in the wild. Where relevant there are
innovative distribution maps showing where the hybrid has been recorded (at 10km square
resolution, but based on BSBI’s more detailed Distribution Database) against a backdrop of
the occurrence of both, or just one of the parents. Of special interest are the identification
tips (and often photos) explaining how to distinguish the hybrid from the parents, which is
important as not all hybrids are totally sterile (‘Nature’s Dross’ as one author has called
them) or even ‘exactly intermediate’.
Clive Lovatt
Climate in the quaternary Richard Bland writes:
he quaternary is the last two million years, when humanoids have been about. I have
been reading a brilliant book by David Anderson et al which summarises the huge
range of data from around the world about the conditions they faced. There have
been 17 ice ages, each about 100,000 years long, interrupted by brief warm periods
such as we now enjoy that are usually around 10,000 years long. The switch from an ice-
age to an inter-glacial is rapid, as there are a number of feed-back processes at work, of
which the most significant, the book concludes, is the deep ocean water circulation. There
are a series of astronomical cycles connected with our orbit around the sun, which interact
with terrestrial changes in the atmosphere, land area, the earth’s albedo, and vulcanism.
The peak of the last ice-age was just 18,000 years ago, and neither the English Channel
nor the North Sea existed. Sea levels have risen locally by over 35m and elsewhere by
100. It seems clear that the climate sits on a knife edge and can readily tip over - but
exactly what controls this process, and how likely a new ice age is remains mysterious.
T
14
INVERTEBRATE SECTION PRESIDENT: Mark Pajak [email protected]
SECRETARY: Tony Smith 0117 965 6566 [email protected] Back to contents / Back to Diary
Invertebrate Notes for December 2015/January 2016 s reported last month, the Field Guide to the Bees of Gt. Britain & Ireland has now been published. It does not disappoint. This is an excellent addition to the entomologist’s library, allowing accurate identification to species level of 275 species which until now has only been possible by a few with access to particular keys. As the introduction mentions,
the previous volumes in this series covering moths, dragonflies and butterflies can be used to name an insect by matching it against an illustration or photograph. With the bees this can only take you so far and you do need to use the dichotomising keys but having said that the illustrations are excellent and abundant. This publication will no doubt result in many more records than currently of this group of the Hymenoptera, and it should help improve our knowledge locally of our fauna. Get out there and find some new species for the Bristol Region! A great Christmas gift.
Otherwise October and November have been remarkably mild, even warm. I don’t ever recall before seeing a Brimstone butterfly in flight in my garden in November (7
th), they should be
hibernating. Migrant moths continued to arrive in the region during autumn, for example Convolvulus Hawk and Scarce Bordered Straw both reported by Bob Fleetwood in Clevedon on 16 September and a Ni Moth with Paul Bowyer in Weston-s-Mare on 31 October. Halloween also saw a Humming-bird Hawk Moth in flight in Mandy Leivers’ Horfield garden. Of resident
species, a Flounced Chestnut from Richard Pooley trapped on 12 October at Browns Folly, Bath is a first for the east of the region. In the micro moths Cochylis molliculana recorded by Alan Bone (confirmed by dissection by Mike Bailey) on 4 September (following one earlier in the year from Elm Farm Burnet by Philippa Paget, 5 June (dissection Paul Wilkins) is a recent colonist to the UK which appears to be still spreading. Metalampra italica 4 September, Elisabeth Allen, High Bannerdown, Batheaston (dissection Paul Wilkins) similarly only arrived in the country in 2003 and previously was only known from Italy.
It all seems to have been happening on 31 October. On that day Des Bowring saw his first Devil’s Coach Horse in many decades at Narroways in Bristol. It encourages me to ask, have any of you seen one recently? The rove beetles or Staphylinidae are a large family with a distinctive shape but Ocypus olens is the biggest of them all. I suspect it is nowhere near as common as it once was. Do you agree?
As well as telling me about the Devil’s Coach Horse, please do send me any invertebrate sightings from 2015 asap. We wish to produce the 2015 ‘Nature in Avon’ earlier than normal in 2016 so as to keep it more topical, so get those records in now.
Ray Barnett 11/11/15
ITEMS OF INTEREST: Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2015 exhibition Until 10 April 2016. The exhibition is at M Shed, not Bristol Museum & Art Gallery (adults £5, concessions £4, under 16s free). Death: the human experience exhibition until 13 March 2016 Bristol Museum & Art Gallery.
Exhibition includes references to wildlife such as the Death’s Head Hawk-moth.
Erdkunde: the study of the Earth exhibition until 3 January Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, in the 200
th year since publication of William Smith’s geological map, two contemporary
artists respond to his work and to specimens in the collections of Bristol Museum. Museum Winter Lectures (book via Bristol Museum website)
William Smith’s search for a money making career: talk by Prof. Hugh Torrens 3 December
New Dinosaur Discoveries talk by Ben Garrod 7 January
A
15
MAMMAL SECTION Back to contents / Back to Diary
PRESIDENT: Gill Brown [email protected] 01275 810420
SECRETARY: Hannah Broughton [email protected]
MAMMAL RECORDER: Roger Symes [email protected]
AGM & Talk: CETACEANS 7.30pm, Tuesday 26th January
Speaker: Tom Walmsley The Mammal Section AGM will be held at 7.30pm on Tuesday 26th January in Conference
Room 7, BAWA, 589 Southmead Road, Filton, BS34 7RG
After a short AGM there will be a talk about Cetaceans by Tom Walmsley, a Bristol based
photographer and marine biologist.
Tom spent fifteen years running expeditions to film threatened wildlife underwater from
the tropics to the poles, often beyond the edge of civilisation.
The material he brought back was used by BBC TV and Magazines,
Discovery Channel, international NGOs and the educational publishing sector.
It promises to be a fascinating evening.
MAMMAL RECORDS
Roger Symes (Mammal Recorder) writes:- “I have to apologise that this year’s Nature in
Avon will unfortunately not have a Mammal Report (for 2014). A combination of
circumstances, including poor health, led to me being totally overwhelmed by mammal
records and other responsibilities, and I knew I could not complete a report in time. I am
working on getting all 2013 – 2015 records in fine form (checking map references etc) so
that they can be forwarded to NMAP, the Mammal Society’s National Distribution Mapping
Scheme which closes after 2015. An atlas should be published late in 2016. Our
distribution records will also be sent to BRERC. Please send me any mammal records
for 2015. I can send you an Excel spreadsheet to list them all, which makes it much easier
for me to process. Getting these on NMAP will be the first priority, and then secondly to
produce a report for Nature in Avon 2015. My contact details are Roger Symes, 2 Seaview
Road, Portishead, BS20 8HL, Tel 01275 399190, E mail [email protected]. “
NEW FACEBOOK GROUP The Mammal Section has created a Facebook Group where members can post useful
information, or anything relevant they would like to share. We hope BNS members
interested in mammals will join the group and suggest ideas for field
meetings, talks and other initiatives. To join the group you will need a
Facebook account. Once you are logged in, type 'Mammal Section,
Bristol Naturalists' Society' into the search bar and you should find it.
This replaces the Google Group. Many people now have Facebook
accounts, and we hope it will be easier to use and manage.
Image ©Philippa Foster
16
ORNITHOLOGY SECTION PRESIDENT:- Giles Morris, 01275 373917 [email protected]
HON SEC.:- Lesley Cox 07786 437528 [email protected] Back to contents / Back to Diary
INDOOR MEETINGS FARMLAND BIRDS: What, Where and How Are They Faring
Speaker: Eve Tigwell Wednesday, 9th December. 7:30pm Westbury-on-Trym Methodist Church, 46, Westbury Hill, BS9 3AA
There is large car park immediately next to the Church and several buses stop a few yards away.
This remains a ‘hot topic’ as once common species are found to be in major decline for a variety
of reasons. Some of these are well understood whilst others are more complex and yet to be
explained. Eve will be examining how and why populations of farmland birds are changing,
where they are to be found, particularly within her home county of Somerset and, although many
farmland birds are considered to be iconic, Eve will also be asking, which species should we be
considering to be our ‘farmland birds’?
Eve Tigwell holds many key roles within the field of Ornithology and Conservation. She is
Chairman of Trustees for the Somerset Wildlife Trust and is the Regional Rep. for the British
Trust for Ornithology.
AGM + BIRDWATCHING in SCANDINAVIA Wednesday, 13th January
Speaker: Terry Bond 7:30pm Westbury-on-Trym Methodist Church, 46, Westbury Hill, BS9 3AA
Following our Annual General Meeting, Terry Bond, whom many will remember from his popular
presentation last year, will be joining us again to give some insight into the avian population of
Scandinavia, a region less commonly given attention in presentations such as this.
Terry was a group field leader with the RSPB for many years and has been a Birdwatching
photographer for 45 years. His wide-ranging approach, easy delivery and injections of humour
are sure to please.
FIELD MEETINGS Field meetings take place at regular intervals throughout the year. Typically, one or two are
held every month and our Winter Lecture Programme continues until the end of March.
N.B. Please take note of the venue for each event.
HAM WALL NNR Saturday, 12th December
Leader: Mike Johnson. Tel: 0117 9532545 1:30pm As a follow up to the recent visit from the Warden, we shall take a fresh look at this fascinating
Reserve.
Meet at 13:30 hours at the Natural England Reserve car park at Ashcott Corner, Meare: ST
449397 (BA6 9SX). From the middle of Meare village take the minor road south – signposted,
Ashcott. After approximately one mile, the car park can be found situated on the right just after
The Railway Inn and immediately after the bridge over the South Drain. We will walk through
parts of the RSPB Ham Wall Reserve and into the NE Meare Heath Reserve looking for
wintering duck, waders, other wetland species and woodland passerines and reflecting on the
management techniques outlined in the October meeting. Towards dusk, we will seek out the
famous Starling roost. The walk will be mainly over the hard surfaced paths of the reserve but
some areas may be muddy and observing the roost will involve a period of standing, so wear
appropriate clothing.
17
Back to contents / Back to Diary
SEVERNSIDE Saturday, 16th January
Leader: Giles Morris. Tel: 01275 373917 10:00 am Meet at 10:00 - at Beach Road, Severn Beach below the Sea Wall, (ST539852). We will
walk north along the sea wall towards New Passage, Pilning Wetlands and Aust. As usual,
how far we travel will depend on the richness of the sightings along the route. The date
and time have been selected with the tide times in mind in order to maximize sightings of
waders, geese, buntings, pipits and others species on the saltings. We shall also check out
the Pilning Wetlands and be watching out for Short eared Owls. This location always
produces great sightings of species one would expect to see and those that surprise;
anyone with a telescope will find them a very useful adjunct. The path is flat but could well
be muddy especially beyond New Passage and is also exposed if the weather is inclement;
appropriate footwear and clothing is advised. The meeting will end around 13:00.
FUTURE DATES:
Talks: February 10th – Swifts. March 9
th – Steart
Walks: February – Blagdon. March 19th – Blaise Walk.
FIELD MEETING REPORT Migration Watch at the Severn Bridge service station on 18 Oct. Richard Bland writes:
onditions were cool, with a light NE breeze, and low cloud. The Baltic area was
already cold, but the viewing conditions meant that the small groups appeared out of
the murk briefly when almost above us, and vanished almost as fast. Identification
was largely based on shape and size, as very few identifiable flight calls were heard,
though this in part was influenced by the age of the leader.
Between 7.45 and 9.00 we observed 47 parties with an average of 12 birds, of which
almost all were finches, almost certainly Chaffinches, and almost all were flying North into
the wind. The overall rate was 450/hour, with a maximum of 744/hr between 8.30 and 9.00.
This is much the largest passage that we have observed in the last five years.
The only other birds observed were a small group of Starlings and another that were
thought to be Redwings. There were also two Peregrines on the bridge buttress - one of
which brought in and ate a kill.
Appeal for cash for a new hide
at Shapwick Heath https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/tower-
hide?tk=5d2de81f531c1eb29f960f8786e4e500e
5b72c82
Artist’s impression, from the appeal website.
c
18
Back to contents / Back to Diary
RECENT BIRD NEWS ctober often produces the rarest birds of the year and is all change as the last of the
summer migrants depart and winter visitors arrive en masse. In short an exciting
month for the bird watcher. This year was the year of the Yellow-browed Warbler.
These tiny Siberian Phylloscopus warblers were once so rare in Britain that every
record was scrutinised by the British Birds Rarities Committee. Those days are long gone
but it remains a scarce migrant with most in the Northern Isles and down the East coast.
Shetland as usual had more than its fair share with the new record day count on Fair Isle
this year exceeding the previous best total for the entire autumn there. So far in our area
we have heard of birds at Yate on 13th, Emerson's Green on 15th, Aust Services on 17th,
Sand Point on at least 4th and 28th and Chew Magna on 23rd. This surely must be a
record for us as well, and there might be more to come as they have wintered here on a
several occasions.
The best bird of a month packed with quality was probably the splendid adult Red-throated
Pipit at Northwick Warth on 3rd and 4th, which drew many admirers. Other good scarce
migrants included reports of Richard's Pipit at Cl-Y on 14th, a Glossy Ibis at CVL on 20th
before presumably returning to the Somerset Levels and a late Temminck's Stint that was
typically furtive at BL from 18th until at least 24th. Great White Egrets have begun to
appear more regularly of late, not surprisingly given the small breeding colony established
on the levels. Despite this it has remained generally scarce with us, with few long stayers.
This autumn a major breakthrough seems to have happened with up to four at CVL and two
at BL then even more at those sites in November. Other oddities included a couple of
Dartford Warblers, Woodlark over Cl-Y, several late Ring Ouzels at the end of the month, a
Spoonbill at Northwick from 27th-31st, a Gannet at CVL on 13th and, perhaps strangest of
all, another circling over the Wiltshire border up in the Cotswolds! John Martin
Bewick’s Swans – a Safe Haven arlier this Spring, Alex Rhodes set to on a project in conjunction with his friend and
former producer at BBC Nat. History Unit, Sarah Pitt, and the Wildfowl & Wetlands
Trust (WWT). You can now see the 5-minute film at: https://vimeo.com/142061226
The film aims to create interest so that people can find out
more about the important work that WWT are doing to protect
the swans and ensure they are with us for future generations to
enjoy. The swans make a hazardous migration to the UK each
year from Arctic Russia where they breed on the tundra, a
journey of 2,500 miles each way. You can see these birds when
they fly in to Slimbridge, between October and early March.
There’s more about the Swans and WWT’s monitoring efforts, at: wwt.org.uk/swans
O
E
19
MISCELLANY Back to contents / Back to Diary
Avon Gorge & Downs Wildlife Project For further information contact Mandy Leivers on 0117 903 0609 or e-mail
[email protected]. Pre-booking essential for all events. Details of
meeting points are given on booking.
Wed. 16/Thu. 17 Dec. STAR PARTY ON THE DOWNS. * (*You must be free both evenings
in case the weather is unsuitable on the 16th). Wrap up warm for a night of stargazing with Bristol Astronomical Society and Shaaron Leverment from Explorer Dome. See the moon’s surface, planets Venus and Jupiter and the Andromeda galaxy through a telescope. Learn the main winter constellations. Hear stories written in the stars with a unique festive twist. 7– 9pm. £6. Includes a hot drink and a star-shaped cookie! For all ages, great for complete novices and experts alike. Run in conjunction with the Friends of the Downs & Avon Gorge.
Back to contents / Back to Diary
UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL BOTANIC GARDEN
The Holmes, Stoke Park Rd, Stoke Bishop, BS9 1JG.
Booking: 0117 331 4906. www.bristol.ac.uk/botanic-garden
Email: [email protected] Sun. 6 Dec. 2.30pm. Christmas wreath workshop: additional course by popular request. Sue
Amesbury of Greengarland will demonstrate and then help you in making a wreath for your front door to your own design. Use natural, compostable materials, all provided and trimmed to size, such as holly, pine, juniper and ivy flowers; hand tie with jute. Decorate with dried orange slices, cinnamon sticks or bring other preferred embellishments. £40.
Thur. 21 January 7.30pm. SYON HOUSE. Topher Martyn. Friends Lecture. Topher Martyn, a former Botanic Garden trainee, is now Head Gardener at Syon House, London home of the
Duke of Northumberland. Topher came into horticulture by accident:, researching at Bristol University and looking for a paid job requiring no skill, experience or training; gardening was a perfect match(!). A spell at Vine House, Henbury, followed by a couple of years at Bracken Hill, and then three years at Kew led to a move over the river to Syon House, where he has worked for 18 years. Venue: Frank Theatre, Wills Physics Lab., Tyndall Avenue, BS8 1TL. Free to
Friends (show membership card). Visitors will be asked for a donation (suggested £5.)
Friends of Badock's Wood forthcoming events & activities To join in, visit the website: www.fobw.org.uk or email as below. Join bird monitoring, litter and / or work party groups of the Friends of Badock’s Wood – email: [email protected] / [email protected] / [email protected]. Badock’s Wood Events
Sat 28 Nov. 10–12 – Work Party - Thinning saplings. Meet at Lakewood Rd Entrance.
Tue. 1 Dec. 7.30pm. Friends Quarterly Meeting – Greenway Centre – all welcome Fri. 11 Dec. – 2.15pm. Litter Pick – All Welcome. Meet at Doncaster Rd. entrance. We can
provide protective gloves and litter picker tools, but if you have your own, do bring them along. Sun. 13 Dec. – 2–3.30pm FREE. Midwinter Tree Dressing in Badock’s Wood – a family friendly
event for all ages. Make decorations for the winter trees and hang your promises in the trees. Maybe make some woodland decorations to take home too.
20
Back to contents / Back to Diary
Three ages of Robin Ray Gooding took these photos in his garden.
He’s confident that the first two are of the same
bird; the third might be the same, unless it’s an
aggressor who chased the original ‘baby’ off the
territory. He’d be interested to hear views of other
members – [email protected]
Araneus diadematus
A fine example of our common garden spider – for which
we thank Roger Symes (again!)
9 August 2015
28 August 2015
15 October 2015
Write for Nature in Avon ! Contributions are invited for the next Nature in Avon (Annual Proceedings of the BNS) which is planned for May next year. Do consider writing up any interesting finds, projects or events either as a short report or a longer article. We would also be glad to receive photos to illustrate your contribution. The deadline is 31 March. Please send to Dee Holladay, [email protected].
