Twelve people were tempted out by the unexpectedly nice weather, including one child, two Town Councillors and a number of people new to Natural History.
We set one of the purposes of the event to introduce people to Last Wood, as we are aware that despite being a haven for nature, it is not well known. We also aimed to help people develop their observational skills, get them to practice survey techniques and use identification Apps.
To achieve this Mike Kerry and Marion Trew gave an introduction to the area and its history before talking about survey techniques.
Then we divided the participants intothree groups and sent them to different areas of Last Wood to see what they could find and identify. The emphasis was for people to try and do the identification for themselves but Mike, Marion and Brian Livingstone were on hand to give help. There were also people from On The Verge, who had useful plant knowledge to share.
The good weather brought the insects out and we saw nine species of butterfly including a very pristine Red Admiral and Painted Lady, and the appearance of a Brown Argus was a good find for the area.
Ten species of birds were identified, but our ‘novice’ surveyors found it hard to manage looking for plants, insects and birds at the same time, so I suspect there were more birds present than we saw. For most of the morning our activities were supervised by a Green Woodpecker who called loudly, and repeatedly flew across the site. Whilst we know Wrens are fairly common, they are not often seen, but our participants saw several scuttling through the low branches of the scrub and surrounding hedges.
We had hoped to show participants the spectacular Wasp Spider but sadly failed to find one and we also wanted them to see the Ivy Bees which have recently been very prolific, and in this case we were more successful. For our youngest participant, a giant heap of grass cuttings proved a fruitful hunting ground for a wide range of creatures and he recorded Earth Worms, Millipedes and lots of Woodlice.
The wonderful weather, the camaraderie of working together to find and identify species, and the pleasure of having Mike and Brian as sources of information on insects and plants respectively, meant that the event proved highly successful.
Several of the participants who were not knowledgeable about Natural History remarked on how hard it was initially to spot anything, but by the end everyone was beginning to develop their observational skills and there was a general feeling of satisfaction. Equally pleasing was that as a result of the morning’s session there will be a number of additions to the Last Wood species list.
A full species list is included below
Marion Trew
Birds
Anthus pratensis – Meadow Pipit
Coloeus monedula – Jackdaw
Columba palumbus – Wood Pigeon
Corvus corone – Carrion Cow
Corvus frugilegus – Rook
Delichon urbica – House Martin
Erithacus rubecula – Robin
Phylloscopus collybita – Chiffchaff
Picus viridis – Green Woodpecker
Troglodytes troglodytes – Wren
Plants
Symphyotrichum – Michaelmas Daisy
Epilobium hirsutum – Greater Willowherb
Eupatorium cannabinum – Agrimony
Daucus carota – Wild Carrot
Leontodon autumnalis – Autumn Hawkbit
Dipsacus fullonum – Teasel
Oenothera biennis – Evening Primrose
Solidago – Goldenrod
Helminthotheca echioides – Bristly Oxtongue
Urtica dioica – Common nettle
Tanacetum parthenium – Feverfew
Centaurium erythraea – Common centaury
Lythraceae – Purple Loosestrife
Fragaria vesca – Wild Strawberry
Taraxacum – Dandelion
Scolymus maculatus – Spotted Golden
Thistle
? – Bryony
Astragalus – Milk-vetch
Blechoma hederacea – Ground Ivy
Senecio jacobaea – Common Ragwort
Agrimonia eupatoria – Agrimony
Centaurea nigra – Common Knapweed
Cirsium arvense – Creeping Thistle
Cirsium vulgare – Spear Thistle
Plantago lanceolata – Ribwort Plantain
Polygala vulgaris – Common Milkwort
Prunella vulgaris – Selfheal
Hypericum perforatum – St John’s Wort
Achillea millefolium – Yarrow
Pulicaria dysenterica – Common Fleabane
Origanum vulgare – Marjoram
Clematis vitalba – Wild clematis
Rubus fruticosus – Bramble
Crataegus monogyna – Hawthorn
Prunus spinosa – Blackthorn
Rosa Canina – Dog Rose
Rosa rugosa – Japanese Rose
Prunus cerasifera – Cherry plum
Mallus domestica – Apple
Vibernum opulus – Guelder Rose
Cornus sanguinea – Dogwood
Ligustrum vulgare – Privet
Potentilla reptans – Creeping cinquefoil
Viburnum lantana – Wayfaring Tree
Hedera helix – Ivy
Acer pseudoplantanus – Sycamore
Fraxinus excelsior – Ash
Alnus glutinosa – Alder
Betula pendula – Silver Birch
Evernia prunastri – Oakmoss
Lycoperdon perlatum – common Puffball
Flies
Platycheirus albimanus – Grey-spotted Sedgesitter
Tipula paludosa – European Cranefly
Morellia sp.
Calliphora vicina – Common Bluebottle
Sarcophaga sp.- Flesh Fly
Butterflies & Moths
Pararge aegeria – Speckled Wood
Vanessa cardui – Painted Lady
Aricia agestis – Brown Argus
Vanessa atalanta – Red Admiral
Pieris Rapae – Small White
Pieris Brassicae – Large White
Polygonia c-album – Comma
Aglais io – Peacock Butterfly
Polyommatus icarus – Common Blue
Autographa gamma – Silver Y
Zygaena filipendulae – 6 Spot Burnet Moth (pupal case)
Bees etc.
Colletes hederae – Ivy bee
Ichneumon sp. – Ichneumon wasp
Lasioglossum sp. – Furrow Bee
Pimpla rufipes = Ichneumon wasp
Vespula vulgaris – Common Wasp
Grasshoppers etc
Chorthippus brunneus – Field Grasshopper
Spiders
Araneus diadematus – European
Garden spider.
Araniella sp. – Cucumber Spider
Linyphiidae – Money Spider
Pisaura mirabilis – Nursery web spider
Phalangium opilio – Harvestman
Tetragnatha sp. – Long-jawed Orb-weaver
Other
Coreus marginatus – Dock bug
Pentatoma rufipes – Brown Shield bug (unsure)
Palomena prasina– Green Shield bug
Coccinella septempunctata – 7-spot Ladybird
Adalia bipunctata – Two
Spot Ladybird (unsure)
Phytocoris varipes – Mirid bug
Sympetrum striolatum – Common Darter Dragonfly
Lumbricina – Earth worm
Oniscidea – Woodlouse
Diplopoda – millipede
Oulemia sp. – Cereal leaf beetle
Himacerus mirmicoides – Damsel Ant Bug
