Two walks, same place, two days, very different weather conditions resulted in a diverse range of wildlife discovered on our WildEssex walks this month, and this little write-up contains some of  the ‘best bits’ of both.

Wivenhoe Wood is always a joy to spend time in – and Bluebell time is especially wonderful. That amazing blue, with an occasional heady whiff of intoxicating scent – a feast for the senses! And accompanied by a banquet for the ears with birdsong from a myriad of our feathered friends  – on the sunnier day these included Firecrest and Treecreeper, whilst on the following duller, rainy day a Song Thrush sang its heart out to us. On both days the woodland chorus of Blackbirds, Chiffchaffs, Great Tits, Robins, Wrens and Blue Tits followed us on our wanderings.

The weather conditions meant virtually no sightings of insects, apart from the occasional queen bumblebee, but as the weather warms we hope on future outings to focus more on these incredibly interesting and important creatures. Although whatever the weather, there are always the signs of insects to find in the form of leaf-mines, here the mines of the Holly Leaf-miner fly and the Bramble Leaf-miner moth.

So plants were the main focus, and Chris excitedly discovered two plants which he had not previously found in our woodland – Wild Redcurrant and Heath Woodrush. As expected we saw lots of our old favourites, including  Greater Stitchwort, Dog Violet,  Lords & Ladies, Ground Ivy and Butcher’s-broom.

In places the white swathes of Wood Anemones rivalled the Bluebell show, and one particular patch had especially beautiful pink-tinged undersides to its flowers.

In grassy clearings and the open meadows of Lower Lodge, pink flowers were especially noticeable; Red Dead-nettle, Dove’s-foot Crane’s-bill, Common Stork’s-bill, with Cuckooflower in the damper spots, all  crucial sources of nectar and pollen for early insects.

At this time the trees are springing into life. Sycamore and Oak buds were bursting, while the showy flowers of Wild Cherry were at their peak….

… while other trees with more subtle flowers, each a vision of understated beauty, included Ash, Field Maple and Norway Maple.

Otherwise, an occasional Grey Squirrel could be seen scurrying through the branches, and on the second day we were treated to a pair of Muntjac deer trotting along only a few metres away, the female flirting shamelessly with the clearly very interested male. And on just a few tree trunks the orange terrestrial alga Trentepohlia provided a remarkable splash of colour.

Finishing as we began, just a mention about Bluebells. A real threat to our native species is its hybridization with the Spanish Bluebell, with both the Spanish (left) and hybrid (right) we found in a couple of places. Does this matter?  Well we think so: here is a link from the Wildlife Trusts which explains all …Spanish or native bluebell | The Wildlife Trusts.

A beautiful January day saw an interested group of tree fans on King George V field in Wivenhoe, looking at How to ID Trees in Winter from Bark and Buds. This area is now a well-used and loved playing field/recreation area and wild flower meadow, but was originally the grounds of the former Wivenhoe Hall. This explains the rather formal planting and ‘exotic’ trees in amongst the natives. The clear blue sky was a perfect back drop to clearly see the silhouettes of trees, the shapes of branches and outlines of buds. Together with these pointers, bark patterns and fallen leaves and fruits are useful diagnostic tools when deciding identification of trees at a time of year when leaves and fruits are not visible on the tree itself.

This blog uses photos from last year’s walk, together with some taken today.

ASH – in addition to its unmistakeable black buds, mostly in opposite pairs, with flattened twig tips, Ash also has smooth, pale bark, often covered in lichens, and usually (though not in the specimen we examined) some of the bunches of keys from last summer perched in its boughs.

OAK – the plump, chestnut-coloured buds are clustered at the tips of the twigs that arise from the branches that come from the trunk, which is covered in deeply ridged bark, the fissures more or less continuous, running down the trunk. Sometimes, in older specimens, the trunk is divided, by coppicing or pollarding, especially on old ownership boundaries where distinctive trees were used to define those boundaries legally, by way of a ‘perambulation’; some older specimens are characterized by ‘epicormic growth’ sprouting out of the bark (below, right).

BEECH (below, left) and HORNBEAM (below, middle and right) – the elongate, pointed shape of the buds of these two species is similar, but those of Beech are set at an angle to the twig, while those of Hornbeam are curved into (appressed to) the twig.  Beech often has dead leaves still attached in midwinter (Marcescence – Wikipedia), and smooth, silvery bark, with raised lines, rounded in profile, running down it. Hornbeam bark is similarly smooth, but the trunk is usually fluted, like a rippling muscle (indeed it is known as Musclewood in the USA).

And then to three fast-growing, often small species, good at colonising suitable habitats:

WILD CHERRY has clusters of buds borne on short, woody pedestals, and peeling, copper-coloured bark formed into distinct hoops around the trunk…

… while SILVER BIRCH has lovely white bark, delicately drooping branch tips, and often has remnants of last year’s seeding catkins at the same time as the coming summer’s catkins are starting to emerge…

… and ELDER has deeply ridged grey bark, often covered with mosses. It is also the first of our trees to burst into leaf, a true harbinger of Spring.

ELM is often distinguished as much by its dead stems, the victims of Dutch Elm Disease, as by its living features. But on a living trunk, the herringbone branching pattern of the twigs is usually apparent, as often are the main branches clothed in corky wings of bark.

Another tree bedevilled by disease is HORSE CHESTNUT, especially worrying in view of its rarity in its native Caucasus. The big, swollen buds with sticky scales are well known, but the horseshoe-shaped leaf-scars and smooth bark breaking into a patchwork of plates are equally distinctive.

Similar in name, but very different (and completely unrelated), the SWEET CHESTNUT is often noticeable by its halo of dead leaves lying on the ground, as they take several months to decay away. Its plump buds sit on ‘shelves’ on the ridged twigs, and the bark of a small tree is smooth and silvery, in marked contrast to an older tree  where the bark is strongly fissured, twisting around the trunk.

One of most distinctive winter trees is SYCAMORE with its smooth, grey bark, large, turgid buds, almost fit to burst, and beautiful bud-scales,  edged in maroon and fringed in white

Finally, mention must be made of the evergreens, historic adornments to the grounds of the former Wivenhoe Hall. The red-boughed SCOTS’ PINE (below, left) is one of only three native conifers in Britain, CEDAR-OF-LEBANON (below, right) is another species threatened in its native Middle Eastern home, and HOLM OAK (bottom), native to the Mediterranean basin. The latter is especially noticeable this winter from the crunching underfoot of its acorns, the result of one of its periodic ‘mast years’, perhaps likely to become more frequent in the era of climate collapse.

But the presence of leaves or needles doesn’t necessarily make identification easier: it is always worth getting to know their distinctive fruits, tree shapes and bark. No rest for the botanist, even in midwinter, but help will soon be at hand with the forthcoming ‘British & Irish Wild Flowers and Plants Pocket Guide’, hopefully to be published late Spring/Summer.

And what of wildlife other than the trees? Insects were not the focus today (precious few about in the cold wind!), but were couldn’t help notice rather impressive clutches of shiny black eggs on a twig…we think these are probably eggs of the Black Bean Aphid.

Otherwise, the Mistletoe on a Buckeye tree looked magnificent against its blue backdrop, and the now-ripened berries of Ivy were a reassuring sight for our birds, should this winter still have a sting in its tail…!

Each year, the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland organises a New Year plant hunt, encouraging botanists and other interested folk out of their midwinter slumber to see what plants are flowering. As has become tradition, we contributed to the national database by arranging a walk around Wivenhoe Waterfront on that day. And we would like to thank the keen, sharp-eyed group who helped us spot things! All data collected in this citizen science project have been fed into the national record of what is flowering on 1^st January: for more information see New Year Plant Hunt 2023 – Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland (bsbi.org). It is good to be part of a bigger project to aid learning about how British and Irish wildflowers are responding to climate change. 

On our recce a few days ago it soon became apparent that numbers would not match the 35 species recorded last year. The main reason for this, we assume, is the severe frost we experienced for a number of nights in mid-December – this will no doubt have killed off many flowering specimens. However, in the hour on the day with 20 pairs of eyes searching the same route as last year we managed to find 23 species in flower – see here for the full list: NYPH2023

Most of the ‘missing’ species were stragglers from the sea walls and salt-marshes of summer (such as Sea Aster, Cord-grass, Bristly Ox-tongue and Ox-eye Daisy), a few flowers of which had persisted through the frost-free early winter of last year. But interestingly, to counter some of these omissions, a few different flowering plants were noted this year: these included the highlight of the day, White Ramping Fumitory (above), a local speciality and a so-called ‘weed’ spreading its charms in several pots and planters.

Another species not found last year, indeed one we have rarely seen in Wivenhoe before, is Water Bent: this grass is an increasing colonist of the UK, and joins a number of other new arrivals to the Wivenhoe waterfront. That lover of block-paving, Jersey Cudweed, was found in profusion, and indeed in parts of our area where it has not been seen before, though only one had a surviving flower, the rest shrivelled from frost-bite. And Early Meadow-grass was just starting to produce its diminutive flowers: all the above were unknown here up to a few years ago.

Other new flowers for this survey probably relate to their near-invisibility unless you search hard under the leaves. The tiny greenish flowers of both Pellitory-of-the-wall (above)and Annual Nettle fall into this category.

Aside from these, the ‘usual suspects’ included Gorse, Hazel, Red Dead-nettle, Groundsel, Annual Mercury, Shepherd’s-purse and Common Chickweed, but for all, the flowers were much less profuse than last year. This was especially the case with the Mexican Fleabane (below) that has colonized the riverside brickwork: last year like pink and white confetti, this year just a few daisy-like stars to brighten a dull day.

What can we read into the results of our survey? Well probably not much – the real value will come when all the results from all the walks around our islands are completed, collated and analysed. But last winter was exceptionally mild (indeed 1^st Jan 2022 was the warmest New Year’s Day on record), whilst this year the pre-Christmas deep freeze cut short many plants’ productivity. It highlights the oft-forgotten (by the all-too-numerous denialists) difference between weather and climate. ‘Average weather’ is indeed warming/weirding but actual weather this winter for us bucked that trend. All interesting stuff though!

Naturally, although a botanical trip, we didn’t overlook other wildlife. Birdsong from the estuary (Curlews), and treetops (Robins) was a feast for the ears, and we were pleased to find a 7-spot Ladybird plus a number of Rosemary Beetles, those mobile jewels, on a Rosemary bush, mostly paired and in the process of making more beetles. All a very hopeful sign for a wildlife-filled 2023!

When the day dawned for our annual Fungi walk at the Uni, we were slightly less than optimistic….the rain was beating down on our velux windows, and we knew from a recce a couple of days previously that the fungi were not going to be at their best this year, no doubt due to the long, hot, dry summer and subsequent lack of rain.

However, we need not have worried!  Our fantastic group of friends old and new cared not about the weather (no such thing as wrong weather, only wrong clothes) and still enjoyed a couple of hours in Wivenhoe Park, happy to learn about the trees/galls/leaves and history of the park as well as searching for fungi.

The trees never fail to delight at this wonderful place – specimen trees from all continents of the world, selected for the parkland when Wivenhoe House was first built in the 1750s and added to ever since then – plus many natives including Pedunculate Oaks, Beech and Silver Birch, including a few specimen oaks which probably predate the Park and Hall by half a millennium.

The vast quantity of acorns on the ground was noticeable, this year having been a ‘mast’ year, when the trees put lots of energy into producing fruit, a mechanism to ensure survival of the species by periodically swamping all the seed eaters such as Jays. (Rather overkill as it only takes one acorn to replace a tree!). However, it is an interesting phenomenon, and one that is happening more frequently (three times in the past four years when just a short few years ago, once a decade was more expected), due to the climate chaos encircling us all: the venerable trees are crying out for help, sensing perhaps a premature end as droughts and other stresses make them vulnerable to disease.

A Tree Trail has been put together to take in some of the best examples in the Park, well worth a look…University of Essex Tree Trail – Walking Route in Colchester, Colchester – Visit Colchester. Here are just a couple of the trees – Cork Oaks brought back from the Peninsular Wars by the Park’s owner Major General Rebow, and a couple of Swamp Cypresses growing in the lake, and using snorkel roots to breathe.

But once again, weather conspired against us: the lack of any frost in October means that the sometimes vibrant autumn colours have simply not developed. Compare these two pictures of the leaves of North American Red Oaks in Wivenhoe Park – first in 2019, and then this year, on almost the same date: from autumnal fire to subdued embers…

As expected the fungi were not great (no Fly Agarics this year for example), but other favourites were discovered including Parasols, Beefsteak, Chicken of the Woods and Birch Bracket, as well as lots of ‘LBJs’  (Little Brown Jobs!). Here are a few photos of what we did find:

Galls are a particular interest of ours, and we were pleased to have discovered a couple of days ago Neuroterus saliens,  a rarely seen gall on Turkey Oak. Discovered in UK only in 2006 it has spread in the south east, although we think our record is the first for this part of Essex (probably just that nobody has looked for it, as all Turkey Oaks we saw were covered in it).

Oak trees are particularly blessed/cursed with galls, over 50 different types can be found on these species, though galls, caused by a variety of minute wasps/mites/flies etc do not generally damage their hosts. But again it was noticeable just how few spangle-galls there were: these are normally very obvious at this time of year – once again the suspicion has to be that the freakish weather of 2022 is to blame. Weather that may be responsible for other anomalous sites on a dreary day at the very end of October, Chicory in flower and a welcome beacon of colour.

For those interested in finding out more about which fungi are edible (some are, and delicious, whilst others are deadly poisonous), we would recommend a book coming out early in the New Year Edible Fungi of Britain and Northern Europe | Princeton University Press.  We have had a minor role copy-editing it, and so we know just how beautiful – and useful – it is. We are also hosting a free zoom session ‘The Magic of Mushrooms’ on Sunday 6^th November at 7pm.  If you would like the link contact jmgibson1959@btinternet.com.

Thanks to all who braved the weather today, and hope you all enjoyed as much as we did.