Here be dragons...

So a few people have asked me now where I am downloading my wildlife photos from... the cheek of it!

Close-up of a Downy Emerald dragonfly (Cordulia aenea), Horleyland Wood Pond

It is mostly down to this brilliantly simple digital camera, which my friend gave me after he upgraded to a fancy SLR one. It is awesome for close up stuff but for distance shots it is not so great, hence why my bird and mammal photos are lacking.

My simple Canon point 'n' shoot camera with good macro setting

This year we have really focused our efforts on recording those beautiful winged hunters: the dragonflies and damselflies. We are lucky to have such a variety of wetland habitats about the airport due to its operations and infrastructure; some are quite odd such as water treatment ponds and consistently marshy grasslands.

A few of Gatwick's wetland habitats:

Dog Kennel Pond (water run-off holding area), populated with sedges, Reed, Typha, and Watercress

Compost Field Scrape (caused by tractors churning up the field) with Typha, rushes, Stonewort, Floating Sweet-grass and Brooklime 

A backwater along the River Mole (artificially sculpted in the millennium)

 with Water-plantain, Arrowhead, Starwort and Bur-reeds

I'm pretty keen to set up more intensive aquatic invertebrate surveying next year of these wetland areas as they seem to contain quite an abundance of wildlife. Dragonflies and damselflies are voracious predators of other insects, so can act as good indicators of life and quality of these habitats.

A male Azure Blue damselfly (Coenagrion puella) munching on a chironomid midge, so intent on its breakfast that it didn't mind being picked up

In order to get a good scope of all the different species it pays to do several surveys spread throughout the season. Dragonfly expert David Chelmick was the man for the job, armed with his many-pocketed hunting jacket, keen eyes and a trusty dictaphone (avoiding the age-old problem of scattered pens and pencils in the field). David's avid descriptions of the secret lives of these creatures are of more violent and intriguing stuff than any TV drama (excepting maybe Game of Thrones, but those dragons were not half so colourful).

No need to journey all the way to Westeros; our section of the River Mole is full of dragons

Dragonflies:

An adult male Brown Hawker dragonfly (Aeshna grandis), Goat Meadow.

 I was shown how to carefully handle them by their wings

A recently emerged Four-spotted Chaser dragonfly (Libellula quadrimaculata), Compost Field. 

Their bodies and wings are delicate and easily damaged at this stage so best to avoid netting them

Four-spotted Chaser dragonfly (Libellula quadrimaculata), Compost Field

Male Broad-bodied Chaser (Libellula depressa), Dog Kennel Pond

Female Broad-bodied Chaser (Libellula depressa), River Mole

Downy Emerald dragonfly (Cordulia aenea), Horleyland Wood Pond

The exuvia (the outer skin) of a Common Darter dragonfly (Sympetrum striolatum), River Mole

Brown Hawker dragonfly exuvia (the purple bit is just a flower from Purple Loosestrife), River Mole

All dragonflies and damselflies begin their lives in the water as larvae; hunting and shedding their outer skins as they grow. Eventually they crawl out of the water and shed their skins one final time. Once a dragonfly has emerged and dried out, it opens out its wings and does not close them again over its back. The damselflies however tend to sit with their wings folded back...

Damselflies:

Male Azure Blue damselfly (Coenagrion puella), River Mole

Male White-legged damselfly (Platycnemis pennipes), River Mole

Female White-legged damselfly (Platycnemis pennipes), River Mole

A mating pair of Azure Blue damselflies (Coenagrion puella). The blue male grasps the female behind the head, she then bends her abdomen up to his genital opening to complete fertilisation. Impressive!

Male Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens), the dark wings patches are a deep iridescent blue. These guys have a lovely courting display for the green females. 

Finally, a list of all the Odonata species which we have recorded around the airport so far:

1. Azure Blue damselfly (Coenagrion puella)

2. Common Blue damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)

3. Large Red damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula)

4. Blue-tailed damselfly (Ischnura elegans)
5. White-legged damselfly (Platycnemis pennipes)
6. Red-eyed damselfly (Erythromma najas)

7. Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens)
8. Beautiful Demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo)

9. Common Darter dragonfly (Sympetrum striolatum)

10. Broad-bodied Chaser dragonfly (Libellula depressa)

11. Four-spotted Chaser dragonfly (Libellula quadrimaculata)

12. Southern Hawker dragonfly (Aeshna cyanea)

13. Brown Hawker dragonfly  (Aeshna grandis)

14. Emperor dragonfly (Anax imperator)

15. Downy Emerald dragonfly  (Cordulia aenea)

16. Brilliant Emerald dragonfly (Somatochlora metallica)

Arachnophilia

On Wednesday July 10th I accompanied entomologist Scotty from Surrey Wildlife Trust (and dog Ro), on an invertebrate survey at Gatwick's woodlands in the Land East of the Railway Line. Our window of good weather held out and the conditions seemed ripe.

Scotty and Ro, Upper Picketts Wood

A type of Mirid bug (Grypocoris/Calocoris stysi)

Yellow Shell moth (Camptogramma bilineata)

Two weevils (Cionus tuberculosus) copulating on Figwort flowers

Canis lupus familiaris

We began at Upper Pickett's wood, with Scotty sweeping the different stands of vegetation and making lists of any beasties lacking in backbone. I was probably less useful than Ro, getting distracted by the big and showy, then obsessively playing with camera settings. 

Searching for amphibious invertebrates in the 'drawdown zone' of a pond

Scotty however worked hard; examining with the hand-lense, identifying things down to the species level and potting any 'uncertains' for further microscope identification. The guy is ridiculously knowledgeable and able to combine a penchant for a glass of red in the evening with sorting through a plethora of bug samples. He also happens to be one of the (now infamous) pan-species listers and is currently 10^th seed in Mark Telfer's Rankings

A common type of ground beetle (Abax parallelepipedus)

Pootering up tiny specimens after sweeping the vegetation

(Cordylepherus/Malachius viridis) - this little Malachite beetle 

puffs out red cheeks when feeling defensive

An impressively large Longhorn beetle (Rutpela maculata)

 

A nymph of the Ant Damsel Bug (Himacerus mirmicoides).
This little guy mimics an ant, and why not?

A lot of the things we were finding were rather 'samey', and over half way our collective enthusiasm was starting to flag. It turns out that despite the good weather, this was not actually a very diverse day for invertebrates!

Mirid bug again, navigating my abundant arm hair

Most dull catch of the day: Speckled Bush-cricket nymph (Leptophyes punctatissima)

We continued on into Lower Picketts Wood and the Woodland Strip, encountering many, many more of the same species before finally entering Horleyland Wood. Then in the distance, half-way along the ride adjacent to the power line, I spotted a very large web which then turned up our find of the day...

Warning: True arachnophobes may want to reconsider reading past this point!

............
...........
.........

.......

.....

...

..
!

Araneus angulatus - A pretty awesome find in terms of UK spiders. 

This brilliant beast was balled up on the flower stem of a Foxglove, doing an amazing job of resembling an old seed pod. She sat obligingly still and I got all up in her face for the close-ups. Scotty recognised this type of Orb-weaver spider as a notable species... and another 'tick' for his list!

A spidery trick - only it failed slightly due to the seed pods having all fallen off the stem

Araneus angulatus - this species belongs to the group of Orb-weaving spiders

The large 'tubercles' and patterning on the abdomen makes it very distinctive

Invertebrates form the base of many foodchains and ecosystem functions, such as the pollination of plants and the consumption of animal waste. We definitely take these little guys for granted, so it is worth aiming some of our habitat management techniques to suit a diversity of invertebrates. Some of this is as simple as leaving fallen deadwood where it lies, or letting a dead tree remain standing where it is safe. 

At the end of this massively enjoyable day I quite literally felt I had 'caught the bug'. Here are some other snaps I took on the day of spiders, probably my favourite group of invertebrates...

The sputnik-like egg case of a type of Comb-footed spider (Paidiscura pallens)

A tiny little Comb-footed spider (Paidiscura pallens), ferociously guarding her egg case

Nursery Web spider (Pisaura mirabilis)

Another species of Comb-footed spider (Enoplognatha ovata)

A beautifully patterned Stretch Spider (Tetragnatha spp.)

All of these idents are courtesy of Scotty (except for where they are wrong because I have botched them.)

Gatwick's Alien Invaders

A battle is being fought all around Gatwick Airport... Aliens landed here quite some time ago, but together JS Agriculture and Gatwick Greenspace Partnership have plans for defeating these invasive species!

American Signal Crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus)

Signal Crayfish burrows in the bank and Himalayan Balsam growing along

 a section of the River Mole at Povey Cross

An important part of our Biodiversity Action Plan is to monitor the presence of non-native species occurring on Gatwick's land and to come up with plans to tackle them. As they have been established in our countryside for quite some time they are virtually impossible to eliminate, so instead we aim to control them as best as possible, reducing their impact on our native flora and fauna.

Bucket 'o' crays:  They have reached plague proportions in our part of the River Mole.
We humanely euthanise them under instruction from the Environment Agency

Tiny wee Signal Crayfish from the River Mole

The American Signal Crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) was introduced to Britain in the 1970's and escaped from fish farms into our waterways. Having witnessed the size and quantity of their tiny larvae I'm not surprised they did! They are tough little pioneers and easily colonised our waterways; unfortunately they carry a disease which our native White-Clawed Crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes) is vulnerable to. As a result White-Clawed Crayfish are now pretty rare and highly protected in areas where they still remain.

Our licensed crayfish traps with fish bait. 

Signal Crayfish have a voracious appetite and eat whatever they can get their claws on, be it aquatic plants, fish fry or invertebrates. They also burrow deep into river banks which causes destabilisation, erosion and eventually bank collapse. By trapping them on a section of the river and reducing the number of large, voracious adults I hope to see a positive effect on the aquatic biodiversity.

Gatwick Greenspace volunteers Adrian and James removing Himalayan Balsam; 

waders are not such a bad job on a hot summers day

Another problem alien here is Himalayan Balsam, which was introduced to Britain in 1839 as an attractive ornamental garden plant. It is a rapid coloniser, spreading along our waterways, growing very tall and quickly out competing our native flora. It has impressive pink flowers which are a good nectar source for bees and other pollinators, but perhaps at some cost to our own native wildflowers.

Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) in flower

The root of the problem: the fleshy roots die back each winter, meaning the soil is left loose and exposed. This however does mean it is easy to pull up. 

The seed pods are pressurized, popping open at the lightest touch, scattering seeds into waterways which are then carried far and wide. The roots of this plant are weak and die back each winter, resulting in exposed mud which then erodes easily away .

Gatwick Greenspace volunteers are all-weather people with the correct gear, precautions and an ample supply of refreshments (I can testify to their high-standard biscuit selection!) On one of the hottest days of the year, they tackled a good length of the River Mole around Povey Cross, pulling up every individual balsam plant they could find.

Balsam is heaped into piles to rot down before it has flowered and seeded

Volunteer Georgina with a near full-grown Signal Crayfish

Gatwick Greenspace Partnership conservation volunteers at Povey Cross, North West Zone

The JS Agriculture team, balsam-bashing in the southern part of Horleyland Wood,

 Land East of the Railway Line

We are continuing the fight against Gatwick's invaders for the next few weeks. If you interested in volunteering and conservation around Gatwick then check out the website for Gatwick Greenspace Partnership, part of the Sussex Wildlife Trust.