At a new site along the Gatwick Stream, Land East of the Railway Line, under the friendly banners of the Sussex Wildlife Trust and Gatwick Greenspace, a merry band of water-proofed biological recorders were gathered.
Events like these are a great way to bring together people from all backgrounds, abilities and interests, introducing them to their local wildlife. The bonus part is that we get a big boost to our data, in the form of a massive species list for the site!
Events like these are a great way to bring together people from all backgrounds, abilities and interests, introducing them to their local wildlife. The bonus part is that we get a big boost to our data, in the form of a massive species list for the site!
The area underwent a massive change as part of a flood attenuation scheme in 2013; thousands of tons of soil were scooped out, creating a huge bowl with an area of around 18ha (44 acres). This was retained as meadow grassland and will function as a river floodplain during extreme flooding events.
Friday 17th - 8.30pm
After a slight downpour-delay, the action kicked off with surveys for small mammals...
A keen crew of mammal surveyors gathered to check the humane (longworth) traps in the misty evening...
(Photo by Helen Cradduck)
Our first find of the day... (Photo by Katherine Quinlan)
The longworth traps were mostly full... with slugs! They are very adept at getting stuck under the trigger bar, and the subsequent slug-release programme is a long and slimy business.
Wood Mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus)
Photo by Lucy Groves
Fortunately, we did find 3 very cute, non-slimy Wood Mice.
(Photo by Helen Cradduck)
Martyn Cooke kindly led the next walk, introducing us to the bats of Gatwick. The cool mist meant perhaps fewer insects were on the wing, but that didn't stop intrepid Common Pipistrelle and Noctule bats putting on an aerial show...
Noctule Bat (Nyctalus noctula) heard on a bat box duet detector
An abundance of these strange Ghost Moths were fluttering up and down in the long grass, adding to the atmosphere (and food for the bats).
Ghost Moth (Hepialus humuli)
The rain started up again just as the batwalk came to a close. We covered up the moth traps, keeping their precious contents dry for the grand reveal the next morning...
Saturday 18th - 7.30am
The next morning dawned rain-free, and we started off the day with a well-rounded breakfast of date and chocolate flapjacks made by Katherine and magnificent pancakes cooked by Kevin...
Base camp was incredibly soggy underfoot, but Kevin pulled a blinder by getting up early to spread barrow loads of bark chip, absorbing the worst of it. The two Toms collected in moth traps, placed out kit to dry and started up the generators for the all-important round of hot brews.
Basecamp (photo by Lucy Groves)
7.30am: Small mammals and birds...
Basecamp was alive with bird song, and in a very short time Tom Forward had us picking out several species in just one spot, such as the highly rythmic, yet variable notes of the Song Thrush...
Gatwick Stream flood attenuation area and grasslands
Reed Bunting is a new species to this area since the re-landscaping of the Gatwick Stream; it has a sweet, unobtrusive song...
Our mammal traps showed success this morning, with several Wood Mice and Yellow-necked Mice in residence...
We collect data such as weight, sex and breeding condition before releasing
Along with another haul of slugs...
Lucy's new pal (Arion sp.)
In fact, we then got quite into the slugological (?!) side of things, as no reptiles were to be found under the damp refugia...
Leopard Slug (Limax maximus)
Can anyone confirm if this is Deroceras reticulatum ?
Our trail camera (which we placed out the night before, baited with old biscuits and breakfast cereal), picked up another common type of mammal. Sadly, the infrared trigger seemed to startle it and it was off like a shot...
The shy and retiring Thomas simpsonii,
Back to basecamp for a caffeine stop, then it was time for the moth-showdown! Uncovering the traps, we had Bob Foreman (Sussex Biodiversity Records Centre) leading the species identification, while Josh Baum (Surrey Biodiversity Information Centre) entered the data into the iRecord app...
The following are just a small selection of what we caught...
Burnished Brass (Diachrysia chrysitis) (Photo by Helen Cradduck)
Elephant Hawkmoth (Deilephila elpenor), yup, that's a real moth! (Photo by Lucy Groves)
Pine Hawkmoth (Sphinx pinastri) - this massive moth is a new species for me!
(Photo by Helen Cradduck)
Buff Ermine (Spilarctia luteum) female (Photo by Lucy Groves)
...and considering the ridiculously un-June-like weather, we bagged ourselves a good haul of species.
Next, we targeted day-flying invertebrates such as butterflies and dragonflies, which were not so much out on the wing, but instead could be spotted and sweep-netted from the long grass.
Common Blue butterfly (Polyommatus icarus)
Broad-bodied Chaser dragonfly (Libellula depressa)
(Photo by Katherine Quinlan)
Josh impressed the masses by holding this male (therefore stingless)
White-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lucorum)
White-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lucorum)
Neoscona adianta is a beautiful and rather uncommon orb-weaving spider
I've just caught myself trying to identify different people's fingers from the pics... those are mine are above. Yuck - poor spidey!
We stumbled across the experienced fungi recorder, Nick Aplin scrabbling around in a small scrape. We thought he must have turned up an exciting new species... .
But it turns out he was just looking for a lost camera stand. A short time later, he had an impressive list of new fungi species for the site!
Our records for lichens at Gatwick have been a little on the sparse side, shall we say... So two other great additions to our day were lichenologist Simon Davey and bryophytologist (?!) Brad Scott, purveyors of the tiny world of micro-greenery.
Various recorders-of-the-future were in attendance, including recent ecology graduates, environmental and ecology students, local volunteers and a couple of the Gatwick Greenspace Youth Rangers.
It's always uplifting to have fresh eyes and ears along; future recorders, we salute you!
Rosie Daines, an Environmental placement student at Gatwick Airport,
with colleagues Troy and Tom Simpson
The afternoon finally unveiled the sun, and we headed over to the wildflower meadows, west of the Gatwick Stream. This site looks stunning now, full of nectar and pollen-rich plants for a fantastic diversity of invertebrates.
Oxeye Daisies were in abundance, along with a rich mix of trefoils, clovers, vetches, vetchlings and tares...
Meadow Vetchling (Lathyrus pratensis)
Grass Vetchling (Lathyrus nissolia)
Arthur Hoare is our botanical Yoda, opening our eyes about to the light-and-dark-sides of conservation grassland seeding. A gentle teacher, who's invaluable botanical knowledge provided us with a comprehensive plant species list - thank you again Arthur!
All great days must come to an end, and just before packing up we tallied the species count so far...
A huge thank you to all who helped us to set up and run these events, and thanks again to everyone for your bravado in the face of most unpredictable wet weather I've ever experienced. We are already looking forward to next year!
