The late spring, combined with lots of rain, has conspired to produce enormously tall nettles with huge leaves. I found this to my cost when I revisited the site of a Grey Wagtail nest, underneath the bridge where the M11 crosses the Cam, in the extreme SW of our project area. It was quite impossible (in open-toed sandals) to get to the place I had seen them before and a detour led to a paddle through ankle-deep muddy water. So, grubby, scratched, bitten and stung, I can confirm that the pair are still there, but I saw no sign of fledglings, so will have to go back again. I can further report that I heard a Cuckoo there, so not a wasted trip.

Several people have reported the arrival of Swifts in early May and the Newnham nesting boxes are again occupied, though not yet those in Eden St. On May 9^th, Pam says, ”Our first swift over Newnham at 6.20 pm : a magical moment for a swift addict”.  They are viewed in internal boxes with live video and one bird had to wait for three days before their mate appeared.

Swift box in Newnham

Jays seem to be perfectly happy in the city, one reported from Mitcham’s Corner (below) and another in the small gardens near the Mill Rd Cemetery .  

“Anyone in?”

A Green Woodpecker was seen enjoying the ants in a lawn – chased off by Magpies, but returned straight away. Alec noted a magpie harassing his small birds, before being chased off by the blackbirds, and asks, “So what are these magpies doing?” The answer lies in the scene I witnessed – a baby Blue Tit landed in my gutter and was immediately seized and carried off by a magpie, doubtless to feed its own chicks. I suppose this is why blue tits have such large clutches.

A Reeves Pheasant was spotted in Chesterton Hall Crescent, presumably escaped from captivity, as they are not native.

Ben reports two Stock Doves regularly in the garden in Harvey Goodwin Ave (captured here with a Feral Pigeon). They lack the white flashes of the wood pigeon. I have only recently become aware of these birds, mainly because of their “Uh Uhh” call. They are among the birds more often heard than seen, rather like greenfinches, cuckoos, chiffchaffs and bitterns!

Stock Doves (grey) with Feral Pigeon

Several people have reported Frogs and Newts. Pam’s Newnham pond had four mature frogs on 8^th May and there were others in Trumpington, Chesterton and Langham Rd.  In Gilbert Rd, several clumps of frog spawn seemed to disappear when the weather returned to winter. Later, however, small Tadpoles appeared and at 1cm length, were clustered at the edge of the pond, basking in the sun  Then one Newt after another surfaced, sucked up a whole tadpole from the tail to head in one move, then sank away into the depths. Fortunately, some have survived!

It is great to have reports of live Hedgehogs from Highsett, after several sightings of squashed ones. In Newnham, my adopted hog George is now roaming the gardens, but still sometimes returns for bed and breakfast. I am not sure if he will be joined by Georgette, but I hope so. In Langham Rd, Paul stumbled on a hedgehog and while he took its picture, another one scuttled off under the hedge – hopefully a breeding pair.  In Chesterton, hedgehogs are visiting the garden every night – but fewer than last year so far.

We should not forget the river and its tributaries as a source of wildlife. In the first week of May, Roger Horton noticed Hottonia palustris (Water Violet) flowering through duckweed in Hobson’s Conduit by the Botanic Garden. This has also been found growing in a flooded coprolite pit on Quy Fen, but is an unusual find in a city centre. Pike have been observed in the ditch around Jesus College and also in Hobson’s Conduit near Brooklands Avenue bridge. At about a pound in weight, this one could present a problem to the fish, especially the population of Stone Loach. It is a big carnivore for such a small stream! Finally, there have been some interesting dragonflies on Hobson’s Conduit: Duncan saw Emperor Dragonflies together with Broad Bodied Chaser, Common Blue Damselfly, Large Red Damselfly and Banded Demoiselle. Indeed, the Large Red Damselfly, so scarce when we tried to survey it last year, is turning up in all sorts of places including St. Andrews churchyard and in Trumpington, mating and ovipositing over a garden pond.

Other insects? Admire this tiny moth, Pyrausta aurata feeding on thyme flowers.

Pyrausta aurata     Paul Rule

May Block reports ‘Alas the Red Lily Beetle is active, much to the detriment of our lilies.’ Then, on May 18^th Paul took this picture of the Micromoth, Nematopogon swammerdamella at Laundry Farm. Its disproportionate antennae match the length of its name and rival the tail of the quetzal!

We asked for sightings of Maybugs, but have not had many yet. There is still time! Please let us know what you see in June. Cambridge is such an exciting place.

Olwen Williams                         olwenw@gmail.com

On the last day of March, Suki reported, “There was a sudden burst of song above my head as I returned from Stephen Hawking’s funeral procession – a Blackcap high on a tree at the corner of the market!”

Apart from a couple of crazy days of summer (T30C+) April is departing as it started – cold, wet and windy.  The brief hot spell was enough to kick-start spring and at last there are leaves on the trees. Early flora included Viola reichenbachiana (early dog violet) at Cherry Hinton chalk pit and a wonderful display of Primroses Cowslips and Blackthorn flowers. Now, at the end of the month, May blossom is just beginning to open. Jonathan Shanklin reports that Danish Scurvygrass is coming into flower. It is common on the main road verges around the city, but seems to be less so within the city itself. Generally a coastal plant, road salt has allowed it to move inland. Additional records welcome, please.

Danish scurvygrass

Toads, Frogs and Newts are all reported (sometimes together, even though newts are said to eat frogspawn and tadpoles). By Apr 1^st, female toads were moving away from the pond in Arbury, though hopeful males were still calling in Cherry Hinton on 16^th.  Frog tadpoles were established in Newnham, Trumpington and Chesterton, apparently surviving the heat, but it has been a difficult spring! Rob Mungovan reported sightings of Roach or Rudd, Perch, Dace and spawning Minnows in the Cherry Hinton Brook. Water Voles seem to be flourishing here, suggesting an absence of Mink.

Several folk have told me of their returning Hedgehogs, now out of hibernation and hungry. My excitement for the month has been the arrival of George… a plump 1kg hedgehog from the hedgehog hospital at Shepreth. Finding they had about 200 needing to be re-homed, I have adopted what I hope will be the first of several, in an attempt to re-colonise Newnham. However, this will depend critically on my neighbours’ willingness to establish corridors between our gardens at hedgehog level and to avoid the use of pesticides and slug pellets.

It is the first year I can remember hearing Fieldfares (not yet departed) and Chiffchaffs (early spring migrants) at the same time. Lots of people sent in records of blackcaps, nesting blackbirds, goldfinches and others. I have the impression Goldfinches have become more common as Greenfinches declined – however, I am glad to hear more of the latter recently again. Greater Spotted Woodpeckers are often heard and Green Woodpeckers have also been seen – Jenny says, “This is the first time I’ve been able to watch one walking along the garden path pulling worms out of the edge of the lawn. He stayed for quite some time until a pair of magpies frightened him off.”

Jenny Bastable                        Green Woodpecker

In Chesterton, a Sparrowhawk appeared from nowhere, while a Red-legged Partridge was photographed in Hamilton Rd.

Red-legged partridge

A Cetti’s Warbler was heard on Cherry Hinton Brook – possibly a first for the city? (No, Bob tells me there have been various records in East Cambridge since 2015.) In the yews at Newnham bathing club, we saw and heard Goldcrests – they were also recorded in Trumpington. In the Cherry Hinton chalk pit, Jackdaws are nesting in the cliff face, using the loose rock of the fault line to excavate their holes.

Nesting jackdaws Mary Wheater

Bees, ladybirds and butterflies have been emerging throughout the month. 7-spot and 24-spot Ladybirds, Brimstone, Holly Blue and Orange-tip Butterflies were all reported. Anthophora plumipes, the Hairy-Footed Flower Bee, seems to have been common this spring. Bombylius major, the Large Bee-fly, has also been mentioned several times. This large fly is a bee mimic and nest parasite which feeds on nectar, especially primroses. The eggs are flicked by the adult female toward the entrance of the underground nests of solitary bees and wasps. After hatching, the larvae find their way into the nests to feed on the grubs.

Bombylius major    Mary Wheater      

On April 18^th we found the flightless Bloody Nosed Beetle, Timarcha tenebricosa making its way slowly across the floor of Cherry Hinton chalk pit.

Bloody Nosed Beetle Mary Wheater   

Then, in East Cambridge, Paul Rule found Asiraca clavicornis, a bug 3-4mm in length, generally confined to the London area and south. There have only been 3 previous records from Cambridgeshire. Its long fat antennae with terminal bristles make recognition easy, so keep a look out for it!  You too could be famous.

Paul Rule          Asiraca clavicornis

Finally, Manuel reported, “We found Oyster Mushrooms this weekend behind the allotments – very good and edible. We also found Judas (or Jew’s) Ear Mushrooms. They are now called Jelly Ear Mushrooms due to their politically incorrect name, are essentially tasteless but very good in salads.” (Recipe supplied on request!)

Olwen Williams                          olwenw@gmail.com

In N. Cambridge, the Toads are waking up and on 19^th Feb were seen moving to the pond from gardens in Stanley Rd and Oyster Row, West Chesterton. I understand this to be a large pond, in the estate of what used to be a farm – does anyone know about this?

It is a wonderful time of year for mosses. However, on one outing in Paradise, we came across something which turned out to be not moss, but the Liverwort, Lophocholia heterophylla. This typically grows on damp logs and is one of 8 different different species of liverwort growing here.

     Lophocholia heterophylla

Paul Rule 

Meanwhile, in the Botanic Garden, with the help of a well-experienced ‘truffle dog’ called Lucy, researchers from Cambridge’s Department of Geography have begun to study the seasonal changes and productivity of the Burgundy Truffle. This fungus depends on tree roots and Lucy will help determine which trees support Burgundy truffles in the UK.

Black truffles

There have been a number of interesting bird sightings this month, in spite of the generally cold weather. On Jan 30^th, Guy Belcher noted  6 Grey Partridges calling, beginning to pair up in the fields south of Addenbrookes, along the Shelford DNA route. In  Hobsons Park, 2 Corn Buntings were  holding territory, there were 10 Snipe on Pond 1 and 10 Skylark in full song. On Feb 1^st, the Pitt Building Peregrines were seen mating on the clock tower over King’s College porters’ lodge, after which they flew to perch at the nest-site. All good news there!

                             Male bullfinch

A male Bullfinch was feeding on berries in Harvey Goodwin Avenue on 6th and 7th Feb. A Tawny Owl was heard calling in Newnham on 18^th and in Highsett, there were regular sightings of a dozen or so Goldfinches high in the oriental planes and a pair of Long tailed Tits looking for a nesting site. In S. Cambridge, a Sparrow Hawk appears to have learnt where the bird feeders are located and has been seen several times flying low in a straight line over these, not yet successfully! Here, Coal Tits are nervously joining the blue and great tits feeding on sunflower seeds. On 24^th, two Herons stood in the winter grass of the Trumpington estate, one attacking a meal, the other eyeing it from 100 yards off. A single Egret has often been seen this month by the brook on Sheep’s Green. The Red Kite seen at Duxford was out of our target area, but they seem to be getting ever nearer. Any sightings over the city yet?

The fields between the M11 and Grantchester Rd are full of Hares – up to 12 at a time, chasing and grazing the just-green crop. They may also be seen further afield, in the Fulbrook Rd and Pembroke allotments. Any in the NW of the city, or Fen Ditton fields?

Other mammal sightings include Muntjac in the Botanic Garden on 2 occasions and, on 21^st Feb, a Fox crossing the road by Addenbrooke’s hospital roundabout, with what looked like a rabbit in its mouth.

On 17^th, Girton College hosted the Cambridgeshire launch of Orchards East. (https://www.uea.ac.uk/orchards-east) This project aims to map, record and preserve all the old orchards that were once so common and which provided fruit and nuts for the local towns. I know of one at Laundry farm, but there must have been many more. Do you have old fruit trees in your garden? Were you and your neighbours once part of an orchard which has now disappeared? Please let us and them know. Old orchards host a huge variety of invertebrates and fungi, some unique to that habitat.

Finally, an update on the current Floating Pennywort removal project. The Cam Conservators together with the Environment Agency have launched a massive 5 year clearance operation, working from top downwards. They have already removed many tons of the stuff, but to keep it clear involves a lot of removal of overhanging vegetation, to eliminate residual pockets. In preparation for this, Cam Valley Forum and Cambridge Canoe Club have installed a chicane boom system, between the River Bank club and Grantchester Meadows, designed to catch any Floating Pennywort that is released during the treeworks, while still allowing river traffic to pass between them.

Grantchester Mill, before and after Floating Pennywort removal

Environment Agency

Olwen Williams

olwenw@gmail.com

I’ve just entered into my second year of moth trapping and recording, mostly in my garden in Chesterton. During 2017, I encountered an astounding 197 species of moth in my suburban garden! If I’d been told one cold morning last January, as I forlornly inspected my empty trap, that – over my first year of recording – I’d see so many subtle, beautiful, shiny and even downright cute and furry insects, I wouldn’t have believed it!

My moth trap definitely ranks as one of my best-ever Christmas presents and over the past year, it’s given me all sorts of unexpected insights into a fascinating and diverse group of animals, of which I had very little prior knowledge.

Moth trapping at Logan’s Meadow (John Ethan Walsh)  

Moth traps do not kill moths and neither do moth trappers! The traps are essentially bright light sources, usually with a quite high UV component, which for poorly understood reasons, attract many species of moth. The moths settle in or around the trap and usually stay until daybreak. This means that they can be carefully retrieved, identified and recorded, before being gently released to continue going about their mothy business. Regular trapping provides snapshots of the local moth population and over time, these records can help to highlight changes in populations which might indicate changes in the environment. Moths are an important indicator of habitat health because both the larvae (caterpillars) and adults are critical to the diet of many birds and mammals.

Even though we are still in the quietest part of the year for moths, there are a surprising number of super-adapted species which tough out the very coldest months of the year.

Male Winter  Moths showing variation (Matthew Casey)

Individuals of the rather unassuming and delicate-looking Winter Moth (Operophtera brumata) are still on the wing, as they have been since late November. Don’t underestimate them. They, along with the rather similar-looking Early Moth (Theria primaria), are among the tough guys of the Lepidoptera who brave the winter cold. Their body fluids contain a chemical antifreeze that enables them to fly even when the temperature plummets to freezing. Other moths you may see in traps or coming to lit windows are the Mottled Umber (Erannis defoliaria) and Dotted Border (Agriopis marginaria).

Female (left) and male                             Early Moths     

(Steve French)

Female (left) and male                 Dotted Border

(Matthew Casey)

One adaptation that many of the winter-flying species have in common is that only the male moths have functional wings. The females are flightless and rely on a chemical lure (pheromone) spreading from where they sit on their larval food plant, to attract potential mates to them. It’s a good time of year to explore broad-leaved trees and shrubs including oak, sycamore, silver birch, apple, willow and hawthorn with a torch to look for the tiny, beetle-like females (8 – 16mm in length) as they make their way up the trunk in the early evening darkness.

Mottled Umber female

(Matthew Casey) 

Mottled Umber males

(Matthew Casey)

We’re not really sure what the Cambridge populations are like for these species (along with many others which fly later in the year) as there are few people moth trapping in the city area, or at least who are submitting records!  If you have any moth records to share for 2017 or earlier, please get in touch with Bill Mansfield, the Cambridgeshire Moth Recorder, via VC29@elymoths.org.uk

If you’d like to find out more about moth recording or to get involved with moth surveys for this project, please let us know. We’re hoping to begin to extend our understanding of the moth populations of Cambridge over the coming year.

Annette Shelford  nettifernets@gmail.com

So many sightings this month!!  Many thanks to all contributors. We have had all sorts of weather, but on the whole, it has been warmer than usual and a lot of records relate to the early flowering of plants and the activities around bird feeders.

Invertebrates: On 22^nd December, Ben Greig saw this caterpillar on Cranesbill, thought to be a  caterpillar  of the Angle Shades Moth Phlogophora meticulosa, whose second brood overwinters as a larva.

Angle Shades Moth larva and adult

Outdoors, there have been a few sightings of a Buff-tailed Bumble Bee queen (on a sunny December day on Prunus autumnalis, Jan 12^th on Daphne flowers and Jan 22^nd on some cyclamen in a window box). Throughout January, a Peacock butterfly has been resting immobile on the carpet in my spare bedroom. One observer found little caches of dead Ladybirds in the corners of the windowsills, outside – perhaps caught out by the unpredictable weather.

Mammals: a few Muntjacs are around: off Millington Rd one evening, in the Hills Rd area in a back garden, two grazing happily in the Botanic Gardens and one in a garden off Barton Road in daylight. On the road out to Wimpole were two dead Badgers on the roadside and also a dead Fox. In Hills Rd area, a fox was seen in a front garden. Hares abound on the fields along the Grantchester Rd: five (possibly a sixth dead on the road). In central Cambridge, there was some Hedgehog movement – signs of  nibbles from the food left for them, but not seen yet.

Fish: On Jan 22^nd, I asked a young man fishing in Paradise what he just had caught and he very proudly showed me pictures of two Pike – a huge 17lb and a smaller 12lb he had just hauled in and then released. The larger one was longer than his arm – the biggest he had ever taken. It did make me wonder whether swimming in this river is wise!

Birds: Signs of spring include the Greater Spotted Woodpecker, seen on feeders and in the last week, drumming to establish territory and attract a mate. Tawny Owls are calling, both in Newnham and at Cherry Hinton hall. My Song Thrush began to sing around Jan 10^th. Green Woodpeckers are also about and in Newnham are heard calling insistently. A couple of Jays have been seen gathering coconut fibre from a hanging basket! A Kestrel appeared to be inspecting a nest site. Most of the winter thrushes seem to have disappeared, but seven Redwing were seen at Cherry Hinton early in the month. Wood Pigeons, Collared Doves and Stock Doves are all calling now.

The noisy Herons came back to the Newnham heronry on Jan 25^th, circling and visiting the nest sites. Today, 30^th, I counted 10, wheeling the sky as if to inspect their housing estate and choose the best spot. The Rooks appeared to have disappeared from their winter roost in Paradise until today, when they reappeared along with a large flock of jackdaws and have stayed the night instead of going off to Madingley as usual. Most odd! There were some very disapproving noises from the herons whose nests are in the same trees.

Birds are beginning to pair up over the last two weeks. Liza Steel has a beautiful pair of Song Thrushes, and also a Blackbird pair, a very distinctive female with a rufus, spotted breast like a juvenile and light patches above her eyes. The usual suspects have been active at feeders – Long Tailed, Blue, Coal and Great Tits, Blackcaps, Robins, Blackbirds (nine, mainly female, in a small, central Cambridge garden, along with fourteen Goldfinches).  Dunnock and Wren are also seen regularly, but a couple of people mentioned Starlings reappearing after an absence of some years. However, House Sparrows, Great Tits, Goldfinch and Chaffinch are rarer than before. Magpie, Collared Doves, Jackdaws, a Mistle Thrush singing in Chesterton and a Peregrine on tower of University Library all had a mention. Less usually, a Red Kite was seen over the new Bio energy building, a female Bullfinch in Oxford Rd on Jan 18^th and a Little Egret at Fen Ditton meadows Jan 21^st.

Plants

The traditional New Year’s Day hunt for plants in flower took place from Stourbridge Common, through Chesterton and up Moss Bank to Cambridge North Station.  A list of 88 species in flower were noted! This was one of the longest lists of over 600 from round the country. It included common things which flower all year round, such as Daisy and Dandelion; some small plants where, at the best of times, it is hard to see the flowers and a lot of ruderal species which seem to be enjoying the disturbed ground of the old railway siding near the station. Expert botanists recorded four different members of the Senecio genus: Common and Oxford Ragworts, Common and Sticky Groundsel. But no snowdrops or crocuses! Possibly the most unusual species was St. Martin’s Buttercup Ranunculus marginatus, a casual from the Scilly Islands which sometimes turns up in wildflower mixes – it’s also found on Magog Down. The full list is at https://nyph.bsbi.org/results.php . The most surprising find was Lavender, growing wild – and still in flower – near the David Lloyd Tennis Centre off Coldham’s Lane.

St. Martin’s Buttercup

Woodland plants which can be found in flower at this time of year include Butcher’s Broom Ruscus  aculeatus which is in the grounds of Cherry Hinton Hall (and elsewhere). It has tiny flowers apparently growing out of the leaves.

Butcher’s Broom

Stinking Hellebore Helleborus foetidus, a relation of the garden Christmas Rose, and Spurge Laurel, Daphne laureola, are flowering in some scrub across Cherry Hinton Brook and Marsh Marigold, Caltha palustris was also found in bloom.

Early flowering garden flowers include daffodils (about  6″ tall with the flowers visible as yellow inside the flower buds),  primroses, winter flowering iris, snowdrops, hellebores, sarcococca and viburnum.

Our Mistletoe Survey continues to be intriguing. Why so much in some parts of the city, but none in Fulbourn, Grantchester, Trumpington or Fen Ditton? Do you have Apple Trees in your garden? Do they have any mistletoe? We would love to hear from you either way.

Finally, a friend emailed me with the comment, “Worst news is Paradise Lost”.  Contractors had dredged the ditch with heavy machinery, depositing mud and silt over a large area of woodland and snowdrops in this lovely nature reserve. Fortunately, they avoided the majority of the Butterbur which has been there for generations. We will have to wait restoration, but I am sure Paradise will be Regained and the devastation abated within a few months.

Olwen Williams

Lots of bird reports this month!  Guy Belcher (City Biodiversity Officer) saw a Stonechat in the Trumpington Country Park on Dec 1^st and a female Peregrine on Kings College, sitting in the sun, on Dec 18^th.  A mixed flock of Blackbird, Redwing and Song Thrush were feeding on yew berries near the market place and several redwings were seen in a garden near the Grafton Centre, together with both male and female Blackcaps. A female blackcap was also seen in Alpha Road. In Petworth St, a Jay comes regularly to eat mealworms. In Romsey, blackbirds, tits and sparrows are regularly seen in a tiny garden. In Newnham, a neighbour reports a group of about 10 Long-tailed Tits at the feeders every day, with Blue and Great Tits, Chaffinches (no goldfinches yet), a Robin singing very loudly and visibly and a Wren singing unseen. Also up to four Blackbirds feasting on crab apples every day – she said it looked like a Christmas card. By the river, the daily routine of about 300-400 Rooks and Jackdaws continues, a noisy gathering at 7am and 4pm.  Val Neal’s early morning excitement was “A Kingfisher, flying along the river parallel to our boat as we both headed upstream.” Finally, I have a report of a Snow Petrel. (Don’t get excited, Bob!) Jonathan Shanklin mailed this from  the Halley Research Station, Antarctica, where he is meteorologist spending the summer – so slightly outside our study area.

Those of us who love cats are often upset by the wildlife they catch. Sometimes, it is possible to rescue the animal and return it to the wild unharmed, as a neighbour found with a Field Mouse this week. Over the years, my cats have presented me with an unharmed Pipistrelle Bat, a Moorhen, various mice and voles and even a Kingfisher, all of which I returned to the wild.

Hedgehog reports continue to come in, though sadly, many are of those killed on the road. Ann Laskey says, “I saw the skin of a dead hedgehog on the pavement in Hills Road. There was another dead one in our garden. Its remains were being fought over by a magpie and a crow.”

I asked for sightings of creatures which had sought shelter inside our houses. Someone replied, “Invertebrate-wise, I have any number of “dancing” Spiders in my house (the only ones that I can tolerate) – very small bodies and long cotton legs.  And a large Wasp managed to get into my front bedroom, despite the fact that the window hadn’t been open.”

These spiders would be the Daddy-Long-Legs Spider, Pholcus phalangioides, common indoors, but not found outdoors in Northern Europe.

Two reporters have asked to remain anonymous! One says, “ I came down to the kitchen at 2am and found a huge Slug on the floor. It must have been at least 10-12 cm long, yellowish with darker patches. It did explain the slime trails I had noticed occasionally!” This would be either the Yellow Cellar Slug, Limax flavus or the Green Cellar Slug, Limax maculatus and from the size, more likely the latter. As their names suggest, both are likely to be found indoors in damp places, breeding behind kitchen units or in cellars and feeding on pet food or other scraps. As they are nocturnal, they are rarely seen and difficult to eradicate. (But how do they know when it is time to get up and get going?)

Limax maculatus   Graham Callow

 Finally, a Worm! “I found my kitchen sink was not emptying well, so took the plunger to try and clear it. This worked fine, but then I noticed the front end of an Earthworm emerging from the overflow hole. I managed to get it into the compost bin and hope to goodness it was a loner and not part of a breeding colony.”

I do understand these requests for anonymity!

Many thanks to all contributors over the last year

Happy Christmas and New Year

Olwen Williams

Failing light and falling leaves…. As everything prepares for winter, where do all the beasts go? A group of us visited the Sanctuary Nature Reserve to see what we could find. This is a small privately owned reserve accessed from Adams Rd, with lake, footpaths and mature trees. (Membership queries to J.J.Hall, jjh10@cam.ac.uk.) At the entrance of the lane was a large double bracket fungus, Phellinus igniarius. The growth layers showed it had been there for 5-6 years, growing on the bark of dead elm.

Many invertebrates tuck themselves away under bark or leaves, in the soil or under stones. Several were found by beating the low vegetation. In a yew tree we found a female green crab spider, Diaea dorsata and a smaller male in the grass.

Diaea dorsata

In some brambles, there was a parent bug, Elasmucha grisea. These attractive shield bugs are so-called because the female broods the eggs and nymphs.

Elasmucha grisea

We also found a harvestman, Parolophus agrestis, in the nettles. We had been looking for harvestmen earlier in the month and found both this species and Nematostoma bimaculatum. Not all harvestmen are huge – Nematostoma is only 2.5mm body length, with quite short legs.

Parolophus agrestis

Nematostoma bimaculatum

Muntjac are known to be around but we have had very few actual reports. At least one pair are grazing the ivy ground cover in Adams Rd, they are a pest in Barton Close gardens and also in the Hills Rd area. Have you seen any? I used to think they could be excluded by a reasonable fence, but apparently not! This one was caught on camera at 3.15am, near Fulbrook Rd in W Cambridge.

Other late autumn insects reported included a red admiral butterfly feeding on flowers, a buff-tailed bumble bee queen and a common wasp Vespula vulgaris, found accidentally on my bedroom curtains! Doubtless a mated queen looking for a cosy over-wintering refuge, she stung my finger and it was very sore for 3 days. I escorted her outside again. I also came upon a median wasp Dolichovespula media in a forsythia bush. (There are about 7 native species of large social wasp, this one having a short yellow face and 4 yellow marks on the thorax. It was first recorded in UK in 1980.)

Median wasp

Fieldfares and redwings have arrived, though not in huge numbers. A heron is said to have been enjoying the goldfish in the pond by the flats in Highsett, until they were re-homed so the pond could be mended. Val Neal, who regularly rows on the river, reports a family of four little grebes (dabchicks) on the river by Fen Ditton. A green woodpecker was seen eating ants on the grass in Chesterton and I frequently hear them calling around Newnham. In the boggy part of Skaters Meadows in Newnham, we disturbed a snipe. Parties of 12-15 long-tailed tits work their way along the river, presumably finding insects in the vegetation. Then, on Nov 21^st in mild weather, a song thrush was singing at breakfast time.

Mark Powell has identified a lichen (Leptorhaphis maggiana) new for the county, growing on hazel in Arbury.  It is a small and inconspicuous smooth dot growing on the bark.  Previously thought to be very rare in the UK, this is the third county in which Mark has found it, so it may be spreading.

Roger Horton asks for information about black poplars Populus nigra betulifolia, now increasingly rare. The female trees have white downy seeds, while the commoner males produce dark red catkins. He would like to find any that he may have missed in our area. See http://www.essexbiodiversity.org.uk/species-and-habitats/trees-and-plants/black-poplar for more information.

Two old male black poplars in Fen Ditton (and three old men in a boat!)

Olwen Williams

Lots of volunteers this month!  Thank you to all contributors.

Birds! One observer reports an adult dark bellied Brent Goose with a Greylag flock on Pond 1 at Hobson’s Park, next to Addenbrooke’s. It was ringed, but its origin is not yet known. Locally, the first sight of a couple of fieldfares, feeding on hawthorn berries, indicates the onset of winter. Similarly, the early morning and teatime noisy flock of rooks and jackdaws are a winter treat. They are keen to see off any passing buzzards. An early morning rower describes two sightings of a kestrel along the river to Fen Ditton, a heron, a pheasant, ducks, swans, moorhens and also cormorants flying, diving, surfacing at different places along the river. In Newnham, our pair of swans still have 7 of their original 8 cygnets, so are doing well. On a more sombre note, a juvenile peregrine is in rehab, having been shot with ˑ22, recovery uncertain. This is likely to be a locally bred bird. I will not add Bob’s comments on the perpetrator.

One quite accidental finding was the pupa of the Orange Ladybird – we were identifying trees and found it on the leaf of a field maple. I have never seen the adult, which is orange with 12-16 white spots, but the pupa is unmistakable, black with yellow markings.

Adult

Pupa                                                                         Graham Callow

The UK Ladybird Survey states: “Considered an indicator of ancient woodland until 1987. Has become widespread since it became common on sycamore trees. Recently has also moved onto ash trees and appears to be increasing in abundance”.  The site was along the footpath to the Grantchester Meadows, an hedgerow possibly 500-600 years old, as are many of the hedges in W Cambridge.

At the beginning of the month, there were quite a few fungi – Stinking Parasol (Lepiota cristata), Wood blewit (Lepista nuda), and Slippery Jack (Boletus badeus) on the playing fields and in Paradise a beautiful patch of Honey Fungus (Armillaria mellea) and Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus sulphurous). Then the warm weather returned and most things have disappeared again.

Another sign of the unseasonal weather – Ivy Broomrape has appeared in Chesterton, most unusual in October, as they are said to flower in June/July. These plants are parasitic and totally dependent on the roots of ivy plants, having no chlorophyll of their own.

Ivy Broomrape

Another unusual plant was the Shaggy Soldier (Galinsoga quadriradiata) found on the allotments at Empty Common. Introduced in 1909, it appears to be spreading and apparently likes allotments. It has daisy-like flowers and leaves with coarse hairs. (Quatriradiata seems an odd name for something with five main petals!)

Roger Horton has been doing some detective work: “The first I noticed was a red bloom on the duckweed in the race at Newnham Mill. It didn’t take long after that to trace Water Fern (Azolla filiculoides) to Crusoe Bridge and Laundress Green. Taking advantage of a bright autumn morning, I followed the trail down river as far as Baits Bite Lock, encountering on the way a dense growth of Floating Pennywort at Fen Ditton, near the railway bridge. Next day, upstream the fern was evident at Byron’s Pool and further up at the crossing of the M11. This spans the entire length of river in the NatHistCam area!”      Another invasive alien in the Cam has to be bad news – the Pennywort is back with a vengeance, in spite of major efforts to remove it last year.

Azolla

Muntjac are often sighted in the city, with reports from Hills Rd and also from Grange Rd, where one was found dead after being hit by a car. A black squirrel was seen in Chesterton – we are interested in any more reports of this melanistic variant. Reports of hedgehogs continue to arrive – most recently in Glisson Rd, found dead (it should have stayed in Highsett Gardens!), in Arbury, where two lucky ones turn up for mealworms and sunflower hearts every evening and several in a garden in Chesterton following release from the sanctuary.

Olwen Williams

Lots of comments from observers this month. Even in the middle of the city, wildlife can be found – in this case a verbena plant in a tiny crack in the pavement by the John Lewis store.

           Verbena

Five common buzzards were seen together from the Huntingdon Rd area and a group of three sparrowhawks were observed circling above Owlstone Rd, Newnham. Late butterflies at this site included several large whites and two red admirals. At Addenbrooke’s Hospital, an area of grass has been damaged, the suspected culprits being badgers in search of chafer grubs, as at the Botanic Garden. Finally, several baby toads appeared in a Chesterton garden.

One of our current surveys is of tawny owls and on the night of 11^th, I heard a male calling in the middle of the night, near to the river. The male and female have a duet – she says “tuwhit” and he says “too-whoo”, so the two calls may be heard either together or separately. Please let us have details of any more!

At the allotments, it has been a good year for apples. However, gone are the days when many had damage from grubs, as we have eliminated most of our insects. I did see a 7-spot ladybird and also a rather sleepy noonfly, Mesembrina meridiana – one of the largest blowflies, with orange patches on the wings. It is one of the many flies which breed in and depend on cattle dung.

By Simon A. Eugster   https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12104063

On Sept 13^th, the City Council and Environmental Agency carried out electro-fishing of the newly regenerated brook – The Rush – which runs between the main river and the Newnham millpond across Sheep’s Green and under Fen Causeway. What had been a sluggish and overgrown stream is now running freely through a narrower channel and a fish gate has been installed at the top. I went to see what was happening and talked to a fisherman on the main river who had just caught (and then lost) a perch. He was using mealworms as bait and said he was hoping for dace or chub

At the brook, one man carried a loop attached to a battery, which delivered a weak electric shock in the water, followed by two with nets to scoop up the ‘catch’ for counting and measuring. By the time of counting, the fish were very frisky and were returned to the stream.

Counting and measuring fish at The Rush stream

The whole stream was fished twice from the millpond to the river.      I was surprised how many fish had been caught. I saw about 40-50, but the total for the two runs was 203, which meant there were about 20 fish per 10m stream. Most common were gudgeon (bottom feeders) and dace, with numerous perch, chub, roach and minnow, occasional pike, 3-spined stickleback and eel. They ranged in size from 4-15cm (2-7in). In the process, a larger eel had also been spotted, but not caught.

Earlier, the team had found and briefly captured a grass snake, before releasing it into the brook. Note the yellow collar, distinguishing it from an adder. Guy Belcher (in the picture) mentioned the offensive smell on his hands after handling it.

Grass snake

Nearby, a willow, in apparently poor condition, was secreting a sticky sap that was attracting both Harlequin ladybirds and also wasps, which were feeding on the trunk. Periodically, a hornet circled, hunting the wasps, catching them in the air and biting off their heads!

On September 17, at 11am, the air was alive with noise – the rooks and jackdaws were back in the trees by the river at Newnham. It sounded just like the first day back at school. Rooks – enormously social birds – form large flocks in the winter, with gathering sub-stations like the Paradise woods and a huge roost at Madingley. In the summer, they hardly appear here at all, but spend their time at their rookery where chicks are raised.

Olwen Williams