So, why carry out a 24 hour intensive wildlife recording event (sometimes called a Bioblitz) on our sites at Gatwick?
Base camp at Rolls Field. Photo by Lucy Groves
The main goal is to boost the biological records of under-surveyed areas, by inviting groups of naturalists of varying specialisms to focus on their chosen wildlife groups, such as birds, plants, flies, bats or fungi. This way, under-recorded common species, as well as rare species, can be confirmed utilising the site. For example, we hadn't known that Marbled White Butterflies can be found along the river banks here, and that a rare type of Yellow-faced Bee is nesting in the bare clay. We then pass on the information to the local Biological Records Centres, who store and catalogue data from all resources, both historical and present.
Site map produced by the Sussex Biodiversity Records Centre. Habitats here include remnant hedgerows, wildflower-seeded low lying meadow and a re-aligned river
Rolls Field. Photo by Lucy Groves
And the final reason? It's blooming good fun!
July 7th: 6PM
In contrast to the previous year, it was a warm and balmy evening as we set up (which is why we were repeating the event at this site again!) and the conditions meant lots of butterflies, bees and beetles were already being collected for proper identification the following day.
Martyn Cooke's static bat detectors set up on site
Baiting mammal tunnels (Photo by Lucy Groves)
After setting the Longworth mammal traps and footprint tunnels, we set off for a bat walk led by bat surveyor Martyn Cooke. It was a fairly quiet evening, but we still did better than the previous year, and we notched up our first few records of vertebrate species...
Photo by Helen Cradduck
Bats (2 species):
Serotine
Common Pipistrelle
Amphibians:
Common Frog
Birds:
Tawny OwlWith mammal traps set, static bat detectors running, trail cameras switched to record and moth light traps on, it was time to turn in for the night.
Base camp in the evening (Photo by Helen Cradduck)
Next day (July 8th):
It was an early start to the morning in order to tot up some bird records before the site got too busy with people. A few of us covered different areas, making observations with binoculars or simply listening out for calls, then met back at base camp to compile the list while enjoying some freshly brewed coffee.
The trail cameras picked up some useful records for us too...
Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis); blink and you'll miss it but the call is unmistakable. Kingfishers are on the amber list for conservation as per the Birds of Conservation Concern 4 report
This is the completed bird list from the end of the day:
Birds (34 species):
Chaffinch
Carrion Crow
Great Tit
Grey Wagtail
Starling
Stock Dove
Swallow
Mallard
Bullfinch
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Swift
Buzzard
Goldcrest
Goldfinch
Grey Heron
Hobby
Jackdaw
Long-tailed Tit
Magpie
Song Thrush
Tawny Owl
Whitethroat
Woodpigeon
Wren
Marsh Tit
Robin
Blackcap
Green Woodpecker
Kestrel
Reed Warbler
Nuthatch
Pied Wagtail
Kingfisher
Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) - a red listed species of conservation concern
Once the morning guests had arrived, the next job was to liberate any overnight guests from the Longworth mammal traps. Mammal ecologist Lucy Groves led this busy session, discovering Wood Mouse, Yellow Necked Mouse, Bank Vole and Common Shrew occupants.
Wood Mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus)
Sightings of some larger mammals were also coming in...
Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus) - ignore the date stamp on video
Martyn's checked his static bat detectors which had picked up two species; he was able to show us the call of a Common Pipistrelle on his bat sonogram software...
Roe Deer
Rabbit
Wood Mouse
Bank Vole
Yellow-necked Mouse
Common Shrew
Common Pipistrelle Bat
Serotine Bat
Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre desk, run by Lois and Nick
Invertebrates:
Our recording table already had specimens from the previous day, such as hoppers, butterflies and beetles, which were identified and then released. Brad Scott identified and tweeted our tiniest new records. In fact, this is our very first springtail record for Gatwick...
We were visited by Dr Ian Beavis who was able to record some of our tiny solitary bees and wasps, including this Red Data Book species of Hylaeus bee...
Spined Hyleaus bee (Hylaeus cornutus), the female with central depression in the face
which is used for carrying pollen loads
which is used for carrying pollen loads
Rosels Bush Cricket. Photo by Helen Cradduck
Moths (88):
Lepidopterists Jake Everitt and Laurie Jackson collated the list of the moths from all three of our 3 traps, which is no mean feat! Species highlights for Jake were Antler Moth (declining all across Sussex), Least Carpet (Uncommon resident) and Lunar-spotted Pinion (Uncommon), all of which are lovely catches.
Poplar Hawkmoth
Photo by Lucy Groves
Elephant Hawkmoth (Photo by Lucy Groves)
Thanks to local butterfly expert Harry Clarke and others for compiling our comprehensive butterfly species list. I think the abundance of Purple Hairstreaks and Marbled Whites were the clear favourites!
Butterflies (19):
| Small Heath |
| Gatekeeper or Hedge Brown |
| Meadow Brown |
| Common Blue |
| Marbled White |
| Green-veined White |
| Speckled Wood |
| Small Copper |
| Purple Hairstreak |
| Ringlet |
| Small Skipper |
| Comma |
| Peacock |
| Large Skipper |
| Painted Lady |
| Essex Skipper |
| Large White |
| Small White |
| Red Admiral |
Marbled White (photo by Lucy Groves)
Purple Hairstreak (Photo by Lucy Groves)
Nick Aplin has once again shown us a window into the bizarre world of fungi, and gave our species list a boost despite it not being an ideal time of year.
Epichloë baconii (on Bent Grass)
The above is a new species record for Vice County Surrey! Nick tells me that Epichloë species of fungus are also often called 'Choke', and you can see why in the photo! But far from being parasitic, they're actually symbionts of grasses and actually produce various novel compounds which protect the grass from herbivores, including mammals and insects. The fungus also positively affects the plant's growth and protects it from drought, even though it looks like it's strangling it.
Photo by Helen Cradduck, who first spotted this gorgeous Wasp Spider hanging out in the meadow
Riverfly surveying with Kevin Lerwill (Photo by Martyn Cooke)
Towards the end of the day, I managed to record a few spiders, carabids (ground beetles) and had some Twitter help with the identification of a staphylinid (rove beetle).
Selection box of spiders, box anyone? Clockwise from top left: Neoscona adianta, Larinioides cornutus, Argiope bruennichi (the Wasp Spider)
Black Clock Beetle (Pterostichus niger)
Staphylinus dimidiaticornis which accidentally hitched a ride home with me in my handbag
With valuable help from Nick and Lois at the record centre, this was our final total and the species breakdown:
Taxon group
|
New Species
|
Total Species
|
Amphibians
|
1
|
|
Beetles
|
8
|
14
|
Birds
|
1
|
34
|
Butterflies
|
1
|
19
|
Crustacean
|
1
|
|
Dragonflies
|
1
|
2
|
Earwigs
|
1
|
1
|
Ferns
|
1
|
|
Fungi
|
9
|
9
|
Grasshoppers and Crickets
|
3
|
5
|
Harvestman
|
1
|
1
|
Hymenoptera
|
3
|
15
|
Mammals
|
1
|
8
|
Molluscs
|
1
|
2
|
Moths
|
69
|
88
|
Pseudoscorpiones
|
1
|
1
|
Slime Moulds
|
1
|
1
|
Spiders
|
11
|
11
|
Springtails
|
3
|
3
|
True Bugs
|
5
|
6
|
True Flies
|
18
|
20
|
Vascular Plants
|
20
|
63
|
Totals
|
158
|
306
|
Total Records
|
469
|
These events just wouldn't happen without the incredible work of the Gatwick Greenspace Partnership, our local ecologists and volunteer naturalists, thank you all so much. It gets better every year!
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