Blog Archives: WildWivenhoe

#WildWivenhoe Botany & Bug Walks: July – Lower Lodge

Phew!  What a scorcher!  Thank you to the participants of today’s Botany and Bug walk at Lower Lodge, and hope that you enjoyed seeing what is surviving this almost unprecedented dry spell: our last walk six weeks ago followed the last rain recorded in these parts, with no more than a hint of it in the next two weeks’ forecast….

Amazingly a lot is hanging on, and in fact doing rather well considering.  The uncut swathes are full of plants and alive with insects.  A vast contrast to the desert-like parched areas of mown grass.  A lesson to us all in what we can do to help the continued survival of our natural world: natural habitats have natural resistance against environmental stresses.

Insects were out in number and love was certainly in the air!  We rather voyeuristically watched the ‘goings on’ of  various pairs – the stunning Black-and- Yellow Longhorn-beetle; Common Red Soldier (aka Hogweed Bonking) Beetle; and the totally differently positioned Forest ( or Red-legged) Shield-bug.  Following on from this theme, a rather beautiful cache of ladybird eggs was seen glinting in the sun.

Other creatures of interest included several species of butterfly; two sorts of skipper; a long-horned moth;  plus both 5- and 6-spotted Burnet Moths. The egg cases of these beautiful day-fliers are curious affairs, and we were lucky enough to see one clinging to a grass stem.    Caterpillar fans were delighted to see the yellow-and-black Cinnabar Moth larvae out in force, chomping their way through poisonous Ragwort.  In addition a selection of ladybirds, spiders, bees and grasshoppers  made for a varied couple of hours.

We were aware of the presence of microscopically small creatures too – in the form of galls (abnormal growths caused by something living in or on the host plant and causing its cells to enlarge and provide shelter and food for the gall-causer). Oaks are particularly interesting where galls are concerned – in fact in the UK various kinds of Oak support over 50 different kinds of them, on leaves, buds, stems, acorns and sometimes on the trunk. We saw a few of these today – the artichoke;  ram’s-horn; marble; knopper and spangle-galls.  Others were no doubt there had we had longer to search.  And it wasn’t just the Oak, Willows too supported a variety of gall-causing insects and mites.

On the plant front, a favourite was Wild Carrot – an umbellifer loved by many kinds of insect.  The variety we encountered has a tiny red flower in the middle of each umbel which acts as an attractant to other insects to ‘Come on Down and check out my pollen’.  The Jack-Go-to-Bed-At-Noon flower had indeed gone to bed very early, and most were now in rather beautiful seed-head form. Bird’s Foot Trefoil and Scabious provided some colour and we were all interested to listen  to the popping seed heads of the Tufted Vetch.  These were exploding in the heat and dryness, popping their seeds into the air to propagate for next year. Who said plants are silent?

 

King George V Playing Field : the new wildflower meadows #wildwivenhoe

After several years of persuasion, cajoling and  guilt-tripping, Wivenhoe finally has its new hay meadows. I may return to this in future posts, how and why it took so long, and why the need for serious positive action from Wivenhoe Town Council became so imperative: the reasons are not altogether positive. But for now, let us celebrate what looks like becoming a great success…

This afternoon, we took a wander along to the KGV wildflower meadows, and were delighted to see how it is coming along after the first couple of months of no mowing. The patchwork of grasses is developing well, with perhaps 10 or 12 species in flower, each with a different variation of the green theme.

The Buttercups and Dandelions, so noticeable a month ago, have now largely gone over. But their role in nectar and pollen supply for insects (and in the colour palette for us) has been taken over by other species, including some good patches of Bird’s-foot-trefoil and Lesser Stitchwort, neither of which we had noticed in the close-mown sward previously. Equally exciting, albeit not yet in flower, was a clump of Lady’s Bedstraw, always a sign of high-quality grassland, and not at all common around Wivenhoe.

In just ten minutes, we recorded both Small Heath and Common Blue butterflies; Silver Y and various grass moths; and a variety of other insects, including Thick-thighed Beetle. All in all, a very promising start….

#WildWivenhoe Botany & Bug Walks: June – 41 Acres

’41 Acres’, ‘The bit behind the Allotments’, ‘the southern end of Wivenhoe Heath’, whatever you like to call it, was certainly an interesting venue for our June’s Botany and Bug walk. Thank you to everyone who joined us, especially the hay-fever sufferers who found it challenging but nevertheless enjoyable…

The main reason for hay-fever stress was pollen from the many and varied grasses which inhabit this area – land formerly gravel pits but which is now filled in and in recent times been allowed to do its own thing. On an early summer morning, slightly damp and very humid it was certainly lush and fertile, but slightly worryingly, unless this land is managed, it is in danger of becoming too overgrown and losing its wildlife interest.

So, what did we see? The aforementioned grasses, with their wonderful English names – the peppery-tasting False Oat-grass, Cock’s-foot and Yorkshire Fog – were all looking splendid.

 

Pretty pea-flowers of various types were easily spotted, including tares, vetches, medicks and the beautiful Grass Vetchling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A botanical highlight had to be the Southern Marsh-orchids, maybe thirty of their purple spikes visible among the dense undergrowth. This is one of the species that will eventually be pushed out if nothing is done to control its neighbours, as has probably already happened to some of the other orchids found here until three years ago.

 

 

 

 

Insects were out in force. The brightly-coloured Cardinal beetle was easy to see, but other more camouflaged beasties were equally interesting: the rather peculiar European Cinchbug family clinging to a grass leaf, the bagworm moth encased in its suit of dead grass stems, and the unidentifiable but undeniably cute saw-fly caterpillar.

A couple of species of ladybird were noticed – a tiny vegetarian 24-spot, one of the smaller types, and in contrast the much larger Harlequin, a voracious eater of aphids, but unfortunately also other ladybirds. Watch out Mr 24 spot!

Thick-thighed Beetles were looking polished and sparkling in the sunshine, but the piece de resistance had to be the fabulous Fox Moth, spotted  by Glyn.

Our next walk will be on Sunday 15th July – a different date to that advertised, (we wouldn’t want to compete with The Tendring Show), at Lower Lodge.  Meeting place will be the Outdoor Gym, easily accessible from Dixon Way, or the railway crossing from the trail, or the Rosabelle woodland car park. If you would like to book a place, please contact Jude (jmgibson1959@btinternet.com 07503240387).  Looking forward to seeing some of you there.

Wildlife Galore in Cockaynes Reserve

On a sunny, not too hot, day like today, it is a great time to go out and wander around Cockaynes Reserve with a camera. Even when there is quite a breeze, it is always possible to find sheltered nooks, where insects often congregate and can be snapped without wind-blur.

No time today to provide a full written commentary, so I will let the flowers and critters speak for themselves…


Mouse-eared Hawkweed

Ground-ivy – a magnet for bee-flies and other insects

Wild Strawberry

Changing Forget-me-not – its flowers start out yellow in bud, then fade to cream before ending up blue

Sweetly-scented Holly flowers – the males (left), with functional stamens, and females (right) with non-pollen-producing stamens, perhaps the Holly-equivalent of the male nipple?


Marsh Horsetail fertile, spore-bearing ‘cone’

Bonfire Moss, as its name suggests often found on recently-burnt ground

Anther Smut on Red Campion; the smut fungus infects and infests the plant, takes over the plant’s pollen-dispersal structures and appropriates them to disperse its own sooty spores.

On now to the insects, starting with a selection of True Bugs:

Gorse-Shield-bug

A plant-bug Harpocera thoracica: male (L) and the very different looking female (R)

The nymph of another plant-bug Miris striata, looking and acting for all purposes like an ant

and not actually a bug, but the shed skin of an early-stage nymph of the Forest Bug

Our first soldier-beetle of the season, Cantharis nigricans

A couple of hoverflies, both from difficult groups – (L) Pipiza  and (R) Syrphus

The Stripe-legged Robberfly Dioctria baumhaueri

A dance-fly Empis tessellate

The wasp-like Nomad Bee Nomada flava

Small Gorse Mining-bee Andrena ovatula



A buttercup-full of tiny moths Micropterix calthella – this family is the only group of moths and butterflies which have jaws, to feed on pollen

Azure Damselfly male

Mating pair of Large Red Damselflies

A pristine Four-spotted Chaser dragonfly

Last of all we reach the spiders (arachnophobe warning!)

A stretch-spider Tetragnatha species

Larinioides cornutus

and finally, a Metellina species.

Unravelling the mysteries of our Bluebells

As the Bluebell extravaganza in Wivenhoe Wood starts to fade, I have been reflecting on the wonder that is our Bluebell. An almost universally-loved feature of our spring countryside, but one that is if anything underappreciated. It is a feature of the here and now: here, as it is restricted to the Atlantic fringes of northern Europe; now, as in the past when we still had Wild Boar, their rootlings would have prevented the massed displays we now take for granted.


Native Bluebell


Spanish Bluebell

But as is well known, our native Bluebells are under threat, particularly from the Spanish Bluebell, not by displacement but by dilution – insidious genetic pollution. The Spanish species, grown in gardens here for a couple of centuries at least, is less vibrantly coloured, more feebly scented, with splayed rather than recurved petals, altogether a less droopingly delicate plant, with flowers all around its stems, rather than one-sided. Unfortunately, as plants so often do, the two species readily hybridise. And the hybrids breed freely with other hybrids or either parental species. The result? A continuous suite of intermediates between the two parental species. 

Sometimes those hybrid intermediates are quite clearly so…


Hybrid Bluebell

…but sometimes less clearly, in which case you need to look more closely at the flower structure, as I have been doing this week. 

To be a true native Bluebell, the ‘petals’ (actually technically termed tepals, as the six segments representing the sepals and the petals are the same shape and colour as each other) should be strongly recurved; the pollen-producing anthers should be cream in colour; and the stamen adjacent to each outer tepal should be fused to the surface of the tepal for at least 75% of its length. Incidentally, all this came as a surprise to me as a lifelong botanist: I had simply never delved into bluebell flower structure before. Never knew about the stamens fused to the tepals, nor the fact that the stamens associated with the inner whorl of tepals are shorter, attached only at the bottom of the tepal, and the inner anthers burst open to release pollen later than the outer anthers. Such a revelation!


Above: close-ups of a native Bluebell flower

In contrast, ‘good’ Spanish Bluebells should have splayed tepals; blue anthers; and the stamen adjacent to each outer tepal should be fused to the surface of the tepal for less than 75% of its length.


Above: Close-ups of Spanish Bluebell flower

And then there are the hybrids, intermediate in detailed flower features as well as gross morphology.


Above: close-ups of Hybrid Bluebell

Trouble is that whereas plants may look either of the true parental species, detailed examination of anther colour and stamen insertion etc often reveals a degree of hybrid ancestry, anomalous features which indicate genetic pollution through the pollen dispersal activities of bees. The closer one looks, the less clear-cut the story becomes!

#WildWivenhoe Botany & Bug Walks: May, to Barrier Marsh and Grange Wood

Another very enjoyable Botany and Bug walk this morning, and our thanks to all of you who were able to join us.  The perfect sunlight enhanced the landscape, with a multitude of green hues on the foliage as well as the splendid sparkling water and shining mud banks.

 Much of the flora on show is very relevant to our part of the coast, including the Scurvy Grass and Thanet Weed, salt-tolerator and invasive plant which arrived through the ports of the south-east respectively.

 

The Rose Rust fungus, not seriously damaging to the host plant, was a very colourful addition to the morning. Once we entered the shady wooded part of the walk, the flora changed to include Yellow Archangel, Herb Robert and of course Bluebells.  The native Bluebell was in abundance at Grange Wood, and close examination revealed cream pollen on the stamens. The larger Spanish Bluebell, so common in gardens and a risk to our native species through genetic pollution, has blue pollen, which is one way of telling the difference!  Another is the difference in distribution of flowers around the stem: natives have flowers on one plane, whereas the Spanish are placed all around the stem.

 

 We were of course also on the lookout for bugs and beasties, and search was rewarded with the splendid Squash Bug.  St Mark’s Flies -all dangling legs and fearsome-looking, but entirely harmless – were on the wing in fine number, many feeding on umbellifers, and others, less fortunate, entangled in spider’s webs awaiting their certain fate.  A field day for local spider population!

 

Several nests of the highly-irritant Brown Tail moth caterpillars were seen.  Although interesting to observe, it isn’t recommended to touch the insect as a nasty rash may result.  As with all wildlife, respect is the key. And remember, they are a good food source for one of out most loved birds, the Cuckoo. 

On the way back some of us were fortunate to espy a Large Red Damselfly basking and soaking up the sun. The first damselfly of the summer, and hopefully a sign of a good one for weather and wildlife alike.

 

Spring in WildWivenhoe, Part 4 – an ever-changing tapestry of colour

Not so long ago, we were in the grip of cold, damp weather which had set back the onset of Spring by two weeks or more. But now, in response to recent unseasonable warmth, it feels like it is racing to catch up and make up for lost time. Swifts have been scything the airwaves over the town for three days already, three weeks ahead of schedule…

In Wivenhoe Wood, the Wood Anemones, just opening a fortnight ago and which often retain the power of their display for a month, are already past their best. The snowflake blanket  of Anemones and Blackthorn is beginning to look ragged, and other white delights are starting to fill the gaps – witness the creeping patches of Greater Stitchwort and, more sparingly, Barren Strawberry, its petals so well-separated that the green sepals show through. ‘Barren’ because it fruits are hard, not the succulent red flavour bombs of Wild Strawberry, whose flowers are yet to show.

Lifting the colour into the canopy, the large white clusters of Wild Cherry flowers provide a counterpoint to the dangly, insignificant catkins of English Oak.

And other hues are being added to the woodland palette, especially the intense, fragrant blue of Bluebells, now approaching their peak, on time if not a shade early: spring has been telescoped into a few frantic days. Catch them if you can, especially on a still, sunny morning when the fugitive, heady scent is almost intoxicating. Then waiting in the wings are the reds (Campion) and yellows (Archangel), buds straining to sprinkle their pointillistic colour on the pastel background, before the ferny foliage of Cow Parsley masks it with emerald-green, and the leaves of the tree canopy expand fully, marking the arrival of summer.

On the edge of the wood, and out into Lower Lodge meadows, the yellow is already here. Broom buds have burst, and the grass is studded with the nectar- and pollen-filled sunbursts of Dandelions in flower. A beacon for all manner of insects, they offer their bounty to all, unlike the Red and White Dead-nettles whose two-lipped flowers restrict their bounty to insects of a certain size, which are heavy enough to open the mouth of the flower when they land on the lower lip. The importance of Dandelions in particular is such that it justifies leaving the lawnmower alone for a few weeks yet.

Where springs merge at the foot of the slope, Cuckoo-flower is now blooming, pale pink, sometimes almost homeopathically-so. And just in time: the first Cuckoos are now calling, and the first Orange-tips are on the wing. Whereas the link between Cuckoo and Cuckoo-flower is merely one of temporal coincidence. the butterfly has a more pressing biological link, often laying is eggs on the stalks of the flower. Such are the complexities of Nature’s calendar: beautiful, the fruits of eons of evolution, but sadly all too likely to be thrown out of kilter by climate change.

 

 

 

Spring in WildWivenhoe, Part 3 – the ‘little white jobs’

My previous post took a look at some of the showier flowers appearing around Wivenhoe right now. But there are others, less showy and more of an acquired taste perhaps: the ‘little white jobs’, of which there are many in our gardens and waysides.

Several of these are in one family – the Brassicaceae, or cabbage family – and easily recognised as such by their flower structure, usually having four petals and sepals, six stamens (male naughty bits), and a single female part (style) in the centre. After that, the separation into species is best done by looking at the distinctive fruits and seed pods, which in the annuals below are produced only a very short time after the first flowers.

Shepherd’s-purse (above) is so-called because of the lobed, almost heart-shaped seed pods.

 

In contrast, Hairy Bittercress has long, thin, upright seed pods, the tips of the pods projecting above the flowers and so distinguishing from other Bittercresses.

 And smallest of all, Common Whitlow-grass, barely 6cm tall usually, and found especially where the soil is on the sandy side. Definitely worth adopting the Botanist’s Pose for, nose to the ground and bum in the air, check out its petals, each deeply divided into two lobes, its pointed oval pods, and then its leaves covered in whitish, branched hairs – just click on the right-hand photo above to get a closer look.

Finally for now, one further species which may look similar, but is soon revealed to be in a different family altogether. The Caryophyllaceae (campion family) generally have five sepals and petals; five to ten stamens, and three to five styles. Common Chickweed (below) shows this well, especially the five petals, again divided to the base, and so looking like ten; and three female styles, each bearing a pollen-receptive stigma.

 

 

Spring in WildWivenhoe, Part 2 – Return of the Bee-fly

Yes, Spring is here. Nothing can stop it now, surely…. Each day, new flowers are blooming, new insects are stirring, new birds are singing, including Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps, mostly just arrived from their wintering grounds, and merging seamlessly with the swelling voices of our resident songsters.

True Blackthorn in the hedges, leaves only just showing, if at all,  as the flowers open, Green Alkanet and Lesser Celandines have large open flowers, available to all insects.

In contrast, tubular flowers such as Red and White Dead-nettles restrict access to their precious nectar resources to the largest, heaviest, long-tongued insects – be more selective, and you maximise the chance of pollination with the right sort of pollen. And then there are the gems, tiny flowers such as Ivy-leaved Speedwell, which are such a morsel as to be of interest only to the smallest flies and wasps.

Many of the newly-emerged flowers are rather showy, and have to be if they want to attract appropriate pollinators. All it takes is for the sun to go in, or an easterly breeze to kick in, and temperatures stall, such that insect activity grinds to a halt: they are ‘cold-blooded’, needing warmth from their environment to allow them to stir. But patchy-cloud days are useful for the photographer, imposing periods of inactivity on insects and other invertebrates which are otherwise difficult to pin down (in the pictorial sense!). Basking Drone-flies and Nursery-web Spiders can sometimes seem to be everywhere, and this week, on 6 April (some two weeks later than typical) Dark-edged Bee-flies emerged in Wivenhoe. Always a delight to see, it was a treat to be able to see these ‘flying-noses’ as anything other than a fast-moving blur.

#WildWivenhoe Botany & Bug Walks: April in Cockaynes Reserve

Thank you to all who came along to our inaugural ‘Botany and Bug’ walk this morning – we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.  Despite a rainy start, the weather improved and we were able to sample some of the wonderfully diverse wildlife on our doorstep, in Cockaynes Nature Reserve. 

We do not intend these short reports to be a list of all that we saw,  but some highlights include the Scarlet Elf Cap fungus, extremely noticeable amongst the understorey in Villa Wood; other fungi included the Maze-gill, King Alfred’s Cakes and Turkey-tail – such wonderful names! 

Woodland flowers included Opposite-leaved Golden-saxifrage; Town-hall-clock in all its unique glory; and Primrose and Wood Anemones bursting forth. 

The woodland edges had good examples of male and female Sallow flowers, attracting passing bees, and the Gorse looked particularly bright, giving off its characteristic coconut fragrance in the sunshine; even the ground-hugging mosses are starting to look their best, covered in flower-like reproductive rosettes.

 Amongst the bug life, we started off with a Green Shield-bug, but one that belies its name as it was in its drab winter colours, just having emerged from hibernation. Likewise, a Hornet was seen emerging from a decaying wood stump; the rare and local mining bee Colletes cunicularis was seen in large numbers (more it seems every year) in the sand banks; and a Zebra Jumping-spider with its fly lunch posed on a gatepost.

An ex-Minotaur beetle (in two halves) was nevertheless an interesting find as this fairly local beetle is able to make its home in this much needed invertebrate-friendly reserve. Sadly, Green Tiger-Beetles were not showing for us (the photo is from last year) – all the more reason to return in the next couple of months!

 

The next walk will take place on May 5th when we shall be looking to discover some of our local flora and fauna at Barrier Marsh/Grange Wood.  We hope that some of you will be able to join us.  If you are interested please email jmgibson1959@btinternet.com to book your place.  A fee of £8 will be payable on the day please.

Spring in WildWivenhoe, Part 1: The saga of Ferry Marsh

In calendar terms, Spring is here at last…not that the dismal rain of recent days encourages much in the way of exploration. But in gaps between the showers, every day is moving Nature’s calendar on a notch or two. The first Sand Martins and Swallows have been seen flying through, while Chiffchaffs are coaxed into song at every hint of sunshine and warmth. Buds are bursting before our eyes, vibrant new greens brightening up the greyscape, as violets reveal their welcome intensity underfoot. And not just colour, but also scent, at least with some species. Best of all is the Sweet Violet, bearing a fragrance so intense it can anaesthetise our scent receptors: time then to revert to other identification characters. The picture below may not be a classic portrait, but it does show clearly the bluntly rounded sepals and stems with copious deflexed hairs, features that confirm the species’ identity.

However it is water which defines WildWivenhoe at the moment. Rain, snowmelt, and high tides have conspired to turn most walks into a mudbath. Around Ferry Marsh water levels are especially high, and indeed have been for most of the winter, because of a blocked sluice. Concerns have been raised about this, particularly as a result of footpaths being impassable and also potential effects on our best local population of Water Voles; as a result the Environment Agency is due to deploy pumps in the next few days to try and shed the surplus water.

But, at least from the wildlife perspective, does the flooding really matter? I tend to think not. The clue is in the site’s name: Ferry Marsh…not Ferry Meadows-with-a-few-wet-ditches. Marshes are meant to be at least periodically wet: this encourages wetland wildlife and helps to maintain wetland habitats. Water Voles are quite happy living away from water, at least temporarily, so the only real risk to them is if they are concentrated in particular parts of the site, and then become vulnerable to predation. Water birds are certainly making most of the water, with feeding Little Egret (surprisingly scarce in these parts since the February freeze) and displaying groups of Teal, both on the marsh and the river, taking advantage not only of the expanded habitat but also the lack of disturbance from humans and dogs.

A serious inundation will also do great things for the marshland habitat. One of the greatest problems marshes suffer from is the invasion by trees and other weeds (a weed being any plant which is growing in the wrong place) when the ‘marsh’ is dry: once they get a roothold, they can then dry the marsh out further and exacerbate the problem. A good drowning will help to kill them, and return the marsh to its wetland state. Hopefully, once the reserve becomes accessible once again, the flood will have set the ecological clock back to a time when our valued marshland wildlife is even more at home.

Signs of Spring in WildWivenhoe, Part 8

Down at the river, Black-tailed Godwits are now as numerous as they have been all winter, and occasional flurries of chickering calls signify the progress of the season towards breeding: the short nesting window for Icelandic birds especially means that the business of pair-formation and bonding is best done on their way north. Although still in the minority, a few birds have already assumed breeding dress, a glorious russet which positively glows in the Spring sun. Over Wivenhoe Wood, a Buzzard circles, calling, and begins to flap deeply but languidly, a sure sign that it has territorial intent below. Such a welcome sound and sight, especially for those of us (and that’s everyone over 20) brought up during the nadir of buzzard-dom in the Eastern Counties that was the 20th Century, effectively eradicated by so-called ‘sporting’ interests and their pathological inability to tolerate any competition.

At our feet, the first flowers are now springing up. Always ready to brighten even a dull day, Red Dead-nettles are awaiting the attentions of early-emerging insects: look out now in any sunny spell for Bee-flies and Hairy-footed Flower-bees. And the hedges are starting to turn: although Cherry-plum has been flowering for a few weeks, its native, close relative Blackthorn has quietly been swelling its buds, tantalising with a hint of white petal, until today when the first flowers are fully open.


March is also the month to search out one of our most familiar plants. Not common around Wivenhoe, although there are a few in gardens and on a couple of trees in the King George field, Mistletoe is surely known by everybody, but how many have seen the flowers? Female flowers in particular are very small; the slightly larger males, borne on different plants, produce pollen directly on the surface of the ‘petals’ rather than as most plants do on stamens. Either way, the open flowers en-masse give the plants a golden glow, as characteristic of March as the white berries are of December.

Talking of which, the berries are now gone, devoured by thrushes and other birds. But Mistletoe has a trick up its sleeve: the berries are extremely sticky (hence its scientific name Viscum). In wiping their beaks on tree branches to remove the stickiness, birds may inadvertently adhere a seed to the tree bark…just where it needs to be to germinate and start a new plant. Look around any Mistletoe you find now, and you may see the branches of the host tree, and indeed its own stems and leaves, with sown seeds, and even some producing their first root. Life as parasite can be tenuous, but Evolution has produced the answers!