Three #WildSideOfEssex walks on the Colne Estuary with Naturetrek  in the month from the very end of March were expected to span the transition from winter to summer. And so they did, albeit rather in reverse order…

The first post-lockdown walk on the last day of March coincided with the last day of the mini-heatwave, with temperatures rocketing to 22°C – unseasonably, almost unreasonably, hot, even for the Essex Riviera! That very afternoon, skies clouded over, bathing the landscape, by now devoid of birdsong, in cloying yellowish light. Sahara dust was on its way, and when the rain came that evening, the dust blanketed everything as the temperatures plummeted. Thereafter April was a month of no rain, but icy winds from the north-east. Plenty of sunshine, but no real heat, and more night-time frosts than the whole of the preceding winter.

And naturally, this had impacts on the wildlife. Blackthorn was still in tight bud during the first walk, and only just past its best by the third, a good three weeks later than is typical round here.

But nothing if not contrary, Nature had its mixed messages – the first Bluebells were in flower by the end of March, well ahead of schedule, but then spent April in suspended animation, still leading up to a May peak.

Other interesting botanical finds during the month included Greater Stitchwort and Spring Beauty on woodbanks, Stork’s-bill and Early Forget-me-not on the heaths and White Ramping Fumitory closer to the tide:

But not all exciting flowers are showy. Some of the most subtly beautiful are green: Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage, Butcher’s-broom, Red Currant and the simply unique Town-hall-clock in the woods and Mousetail clinging to just one of the thousands of Yellow Meadow-ant-hills on the marsh.

A surprising number of fungi were found (perhaps as it has been a very wet winter) with Maze-gill, a fruiting Reticularia slime mould, and best of all that beacon of winter wet woodland, Scarlet Elf Cups, in profusion by Sixpenny Brook.

In the heatwave, spring insects were out in force with Bee-flies and Hairy-footed Flower-bees investigating the Red Dead-nettle and Ground-ivy…

… while butterfly numbers faded during the month, numerous overwinterers (Peacocks, Commas and Brimstones) giving way to the first emerging Green-veined Whites and Orange- tips.

And that just leaves the birds. All change! On the estuary, the waterbird numbers dropped away rapidly, although the summer-plumaged, glowing copper, tiger-striped Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits were simply stunning. Overhead several Mediterranean Gulls yowled imperiously and drifted over on implausibly white wings on each walk, while Red Kite and Marsh Harrier were both on the move. And by months’ end, the piping of the waders had largely been replaced by the screech of Common Terns.

Other summer birds were slow to arrive. A few hirundines were around at the outset, but numbers barely changed during the month. Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps had made it back before the adverse winds set in, as did an early Sedge Warbler, and then by the second walk, Whitethroats, and the last one, Reed Warblers. Resident Cetti’s Warblers seem more numerous than ever, and it was especially exciting to see a territorial pair of Nuthatches in Grange Wood, as this bird is generally absent on the Tendring Peninsula.

All of the above and more, including good views of both Fox and Muntjac. And what better than on the final walk, to take lunch sitting by Sixpenny Brook, a Treecreeper creeping overhead and singing Nightingales – new in just three days previously – either side?

One of those February days when every little sign of spring brings joy unbridled. When everything feels so wrong it can never get right again, we have the turning of the seasons to reassure us that light and life and will return.

And where better to go to find the promise we though would never come in the depths of the pandemic: arriving before our very eyes, and into our hearts, Spring in the Cockaynes Reserve #NatureCure. A great day to be out, more like May than February, with a blue sky backdrop to Chiffchaffs singing, and Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell and Peacock a-flutter.

Deep in Villa Wood, by the tinkling, twinkling Sixpenny Brook, Golden-saxifrages have yet to cast their magic on the banksides, but Scarlet Elf Cups are out. This is the species to which survival of this site can be most attributed 35 years ago … it’s a long story but one we hope will be told in the fullness of time in our Field Guide To The Essex Coast.

And Hazel everywhere, tassellating serenely but profusely…

Still there is yesterday’s news, the hangovers from last year: Autumn hues, preparing our eyes for the woodland colours to come, and Autumn fruits – Ivy, helping Blackbirds to reach breeding condition, and Reedmace (please, NOT Bulrush!), maybe a thug in the ponds, but so very important, its cigar-heads stuffed full of tiny seeds, late-winter nuggets of nutrition starting to be dispersed.

At this time of year, the mosses, lichens and fungi which are all too easily overshadowed, literally and figuratively, by the verdancy of summer have a brief chance to take centre stage…

… but every  flower that was open was a joy, especially the Common Field Speedwells on farm fallow, a sea of tiny blue faces tracking the sun across the sky.

And each flower at this time of year is a bonus for insects: Gorse buzzing with Honeybees, the first Dandelions waiting for the first queen bumblebees. But insects know where their needs are best met, and for Tree Bumbles especially it was garden Crocuses, with many a flower containing its soporific pollinator, seemingly drunk on the contents.

Away from the flower action, the baskers were out: a Pine Ladybird among the more numerous Seven-spots, and the tiny, hairy springtail Entomobrya nivalis…

…  our first shield-bugs of the season, as iconic as the first Chiffchaff. A single Hairy, but lots of Gorse Shield-bugs – note how their antennal colour matches the red of the tips of fresh Gorse spines.

And in one patch, there were several ‘ghost bugs’ – pale, empty adult Gorse Shield-bug skins, the contents seemingly having been devoured by an entomopathogenic fungus. As we have described before (see here), the unfortunate victims were glued to the tips of shoots, the fungus having taken over their behaviour as an aid to the wind dispersal of the fungal spores…

It was good to be back! After a month of Lockdown v2.0, during which the wet weather of early autumn which plagued several of the September and October tours had faded into distant memory, a brighter prospect seemed in order for the first of the December walks.  Nature of course had the final say….

Our first walk, down the Colne started in a peasouper, visibility little more than 50 metres as we set out. Of course that did mean that any birds we did see were close to, like this Black-tailed Godwit, uncharacteristically probing a saltmarsh just 10m from us:

Moving up the Essex Alps to Cockaynes, fog became freezing fog, encrusting every surface in rime. Not a bird stirred; indeed the only sound was ice fall as the temperature lifted a touch at lunchtime.

Heading back down to the estuary, a welcome spurt of sun illuminated Butcher’s-broom (in bloom well in advance of its usual February-April flowering season), Cordgrass Ergot and its own parasite Gibberella gordonii (continuing the remarkable showing of these two fungi locally this year), and a host of birds – a thousand babbling Brents, two hundred Avocets, and numerous Knots and Wigeons in the glasslike waters of the rising tide …

… until all too soon, the mist rolled in from Mersea, a chill breeze sprang, the temperature plummeted, the views and birds were enveloped, and twilight stole the day, well before sundown.

Four days later, the temperature had risen by almost 10°, although it remained still and the estuary sat in a pool of grey, only a distant glimmer reminding us the sun was still out there. 

A showy pair of Stonechats graced the grazing marshes as we followed the ebb of the tide, and most of the expected estuarine birds appeared in very good numbers. Several hundred each of Golden Plover, Avocet, Teal and Lapwing were noteworthy, making quite a spectacle. Only Godwits seemed fewer than expected, but in Alresford Creek, midway between the inner estuarine muds and the outer estuarine sands, both Black-tails and Bar-tails were feeding together for instructive comparison between this sometimes tricky species pair.

Despite a couple of (relatively) hard frosts in the past two weeks,  there were still plenty of fungi to see, including Coral Fungus, Jelly Ear, Cramp Balls, Maze-gill and Orange Cup, and the last knockings of an exciting lockdown find, the only example we know of Coral Tooth in north Essex. Elsewhere in the county it is known only from Epping and Writtle Forests.

Dense Blackthorn thickets on the shore, the summer haunt of Nightingales, now devoid of leaves and sloes, revealed their value for an intricate array of lichens, filigree frosting the trunks and branches with seasonal grey and sunburst -yellow.

And finally, a sign of hope in these very dark times – literally, metaphorically, medically and politically – the glowing fruits of Stinking Iris, and the first bloomings of spring flowers including Butcher’s-broom and Cow-parsley.

Mid-month it was out to The Naze, the only one of three walks planned there this month that we were able to run.

Lovely winter sunlight turned lichens on the salt-blasted clifftop trees into radiant artworks, while new Gorse flowers attracted a few bumblebees and announced to start of ‘the kissing season’.

As the tide receded, the beach provided rich pickings for us, from Mermaid’s Purses and Piddocks, to mass strandings of Common Whelks…

..and for the sandy foreshore birds: Turnstones, Redshanks, Sanderlings and Bar-tailed Godwits.

And so to the cliffs: recent wet weather had mobilised them into active slumping, mass movement of visceral power, bringing new crops of Red Crag fossils into view for the first time in 2 million years. ‘The Wild Side’ of our coast at its best!

A last scan, as dusk fell, over what had been a very quiet seascape for wildlife throughout the day revealed two or three Harbour Seals, presumably on a fishing foray from the Backwaters. A fitting end to a fine day out!

With new Covid restrictions coming into force around Christmas, it may be some time before these walks can recommence. Keep an eye on the Naturetrek web pages for further news:

The Wild Side of Essex: The Colne Estuary (Day Trip) – Naturetrek

The Wild Side of Essex: Exploring The Naze and Walton Backwaters (Day Trip) – Naturetrek

A late October walk to the Cockaynes Reserve, damp underfoot and dull (but warm). Not a classic year for autumn colour – still no frost, and the leaves are falling already – but a typical, muted yellow and ochre UK autumn.

Fungi are sprouting everywhere: the season has started at last (October brought at least a whole season’s rain), and in the absence of cold weather may well continue through November…

Perhaps surprisingly, quite a few insects were still on show and active, albeit sluggishly: lots of Parent Bugs (in a range of colour forms reflecting their transition into autumn plumage), and a few Birch Shield-bugs, lacewings and Acorn Weevils:

But alone with ourselves in the woods, there was more, so much more.

The pitter-patter of falling spangles…

… the thump of acorns …

… the earthy, humic smell of renewal …

… and the visible promises of rebirth of the Earth. #BringingNatureToYOU

Five day-walks in October saw the change of the seasons, on the estuary itself, and the ancient woods, grazing marshes and parkland of the Wivenhoe area.

But, despite the Essex coast being one of the driest parts of the country, our walks were plagued by weather, often wet, sometimes windy, but usually (thankfully) mild. My descriptions on the days ranged from ‘gun-metal gloom‘ to ‘fifty shades of grey, and sixty grades of wet‘ to ‘rain, rain and .. er .. slightly lighter rain‘…

One one walk, the thunderstorm which enveloped us on an exposed sea wall, after what had been a lovely warm sunny autumnal day, was simply spectacular. Truly, the Wild Side of Essex!

Especially when the sun came out, though, the radiance of autumn was palpable, whether in the wonderful specimen trees of Wivenhoe Park or the ancient Grange Wood running to the estuary shore:

And of course not just trees – autumn also seeps into the leaves of Common Reed, and tints the array of Glassworts on the marshes, making it the best time of year to separate this very difficult group, each with a distinctive autumn hue.

Flowering was drawing to a close, but Cord-grass and Strawberry Clover were still going strong, and Blue Fleabane was a good find in the Cockaynes Reserve:

So too Lesser Calamint, Common Fleabane and Sea Wormwood, though these were notable as much for their scented leaves as for the flowers.

And especially on the greyest days, the rain-washed air was a pristine palette to savour the flavours, the fragrant foliage of Pineappleweed, Walnut and Lawson’s Cypress shining bright in the olfactory gloom, the perfect antidote to the lusty musk of Stinkhorn pervading Wivenhoe Park…!

Turning to the Wivenhoe waterfront and the Natural Art of Block Paving. Certainly not ‘weeds’ – think instead of filigree adornment, that which helps soften the mind-numbing, spirit-crushing straight lines we attempt to force upon the world. 

Leaving the most important pollen and nectar source to last: Ivy, flowering right to the end of the month, and still attracting diverse insect visitors, from social wasps to hoverflies, ladybirds to Ivy Bees, the latter especially numerous on the Ivy hedge of St Mary’s Churchyard.

Other insects were fewer, as would be expected: lingering Common Darters, with a few Migrant Hawkers; sluggish Hornets around their nests; and Speckled Woods occupying their favoured sun-flecks (when available!). Red Admirals included one making the most of the nectar from Strawberry-trees in the grounds of Wivenhoe House: such spectacular garden plants, bearing this year’s flowers alongside last year’s fruits, and memorably awash with the heady lemon scent of nearby Magnolia grandiflora flowers.

Otherwise, insect-wise, it was down to the ones one never actually sees  – the galls, leaf-mines and other feeding signs, which are so apparent at this time of year:

October is fungus season. Usually. But this year, perhaps a legacy of previous spring and summer droughts, it was slow to get going. By month’s end, they were starting to pop up – Beefsteaks to Birch Brackets, Sulphur Tufts to Honey Fungus – and the birchwood-gloom-piercing Fly Agarics lending the essence of autumn to even grey days.  For me though, best of all was the super-sized Cordgrass variety of Ergot, a fungus I have seen only once before.

And finally the birds. Migration time, so the occasional Wheatear and Stonechat were right on cue, and at times the visible migration along the ridge of the Essex Alps was quite impressive, with hirundines, Meadow Pipits, Goldfinches, thrushes, Reed Buntings and good numbers of both Siskins and Redpolls. Roving tit flocks, in Wivenhoe Park especially, often held Goldcrests and Chiffchaffs, and on one occasion a very obliging Treecreeper, while around the University lakes and the upper river, Kingfishers usually showed themselves, electric streaks of blue piercing the gloom.

Down on the estuary, wader numbers built through the month, with up to a thousand Black-tailed Black-tailed Godwits and hundreds of Redshanks. Shelducks arrived back from moult migration mid-month, and the feeding and flying flurries, snowstorms of up to 400 Avocets, never failed to impress.

And the best bird of the month, this Osprey which flew low over us for 20 minutes, evidently looking for food, while seeing off the unwanted attentions of Carrion Crows and Jackdaws. The most obliging I have ever seen around Wivenhoe!

All of the above, plus autumn’s bounty, both fecund and full. Hips and haws, chestnuts, conkers and acorns galore, and a supporting eclectic mix of other wildlife, from Muntjac to Eel, bagworms to Lesser Water-crickets. Each walk a cornucopia of biodiversity!

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So that’s it for Naturetrek on the Colne in Autumn. Despite unexpectedly wet weather for most of our five walks, it was fun. After a spell on the Naze, we will return for ‘Winter on the Colne Estuary’ towards the end of November – see here for details and booking. All vestiges of summer will have been swept away by then, but waders and wildfowl will be at their midwinter peak, including our iconic Dark-bellied Brent Geese. And if (as is so often the case) we have had no hard frosts, the fires of autumn may still be burning in the leaves and the fungi season still going strong….

Three tours this month, spanning the transition from summer to autumn, and the weather reflected that. The first was unremittingly grey, but warm and humid, increasingly breezy and ultimately very wet. The second was blessed with liquid autumnal sunlight, at times intensifying into summery fire, which bathed the landscape in welcome warmth. And the third, a misty, moisty, windless day, in stark contrast to two days’ previously when a gale swept through, leaves falling ahead of their time, and branches, whole trees and even power lines felled. The woodland birds seemed subdued by this, save for mournful Robin song, ululating Woodpigeons and the occasional half-hearted Chiffchaffing in the storm-tossed woods.

On the estuary, waterbird numbers were swelling towards their winter peak. Downstream, it was possible to see a thousand Black-tailed Godwits socially distanced on the water’s edge, with other waders for easy comparison, usually including a sprinkling of Avocets, sometimes a twinkling flurry of two hundred or more. Upstream, numbers are always fewer, but the views can be better, and included the first returning Teals and Dabchicks, along with a few Kingfishers, one one memorable occasion being aggressively chased by a male Yellowhammer. A Kingfisher was also seen well on the Wivenhoe Park lake.

Autumn time is migration time, and visible migration was a feature of every walk, whether hirundines of three species, Meadow Pipits, Lapwings or Greenshank. Other migrants to or through Essex included White Wagtails and a Stonechat, but the biggest surprise was a lone Guillemot in the heart of town. Almost as surprising was a Harbour Seal, right up the river, in shallow water, presumably hunting Mullet.

This autumn has been mild so far, and only by the end of the month were the leaves beginning to colour, Norway Maples and the first few Red Oaks heralding cooler days in Wivenhoe Park. But the fruits of the landscape have been simply magnificent, hips, haws, sloes, acorns and so many other fruits seemingly larger and more numerous than for many a year.

Likewise galls, especially those on Oak leaves, buds and acorns. Such abundance, such diversity, without ever even seeing the causal creatures!

The couple of downpours in the month have done little so far to offset the spring and summer droughts: fungi, other than microfungi and brackets, groups which have a lower reliance on moist soils, were few and far between. Until the end of the month at least, when blue-staining Rooting Boletes and Parasols to Shaggy Ink-caps, Beefsteak and Giant Polypore to Chicken-of-the-woods, earthballs to puffballs and Sycamore Tar-spot to Oak Mildew started to appear. And of course, frosts permitting, the season is far from over…

Insects declined as the month progressed, apart from social wasps nesting everywhere on the sea wall, and thronging the flowering Ivies, along with hoverflies and Ivy Bees. Lots of Common Darters and Migrant Hawkers were still active, and even at the month end, there were Willow Emerald damselflies active round the Wivenhoe Park lakes.

Heather Bees (rare in Essex) around Cockaynes and Sea Aster Bees on their eponymous plants completed the triumvirate of late season bees, while butterflies have faded away almost entirely, save for a straggler Meadow Brown, and Speckled Woods in their favoured dappled shade. By the end of the month, Vapourer moths became obvious in all wooded areas, foxy males flying around to try and locate the flightless females.

All groups enjoyed the ‘pavement plants’ (NOT weeds) of Wivenhoe waterfront, including Four-leaved Allseed, Jersey Cudweed, Spotted Spurge, and both Canadian and Guernsey Fleabanes. The saltmarshes were still flowering, with Sea Aster, Cord-grass and Golden Samphire, while Shrubby Sea-blite and the glassworts were just assuming autumn tints.

On the downstream itinerary, we found some lovely patches of our local specialities Strawberry Clover and  Lesser Calamint, and other spectacular nectar and pollen resources included included Common Toadflax, Bugloss on the margins of sandy arable fields, and on the sea wall, Sea Beet in full ‘glorious’ bloom…

In Cockaynes reserve, wafts of Epilobium brachycarpum above Creeping St. John’s Wort covered the former weighbridge area. A new alien plant here, Stace calls it ‘Panicled Willowherb’. We begged to differ, and coined the much more descriptive and euphonious ‘Wispy Willowherb’.

And finally, garden plants do have their uses, even ones apparently designed by committee – the Passion-flowers of Wivenhoe were being assiduously searched for nectar and pollen. And in the gardens of Wivenhoe House Hotel, Strawberry Trees, simultaneously in full fruit and flower, attracted bumblebees, while the incredible citrussy scent of Magnolia grandiflora proved a complete ‘nose-opener’ to me at least. We live and learn every day in the natural world!

Back to Cockaynes Reserve after a few weeks, and it wasn’t the wholly shrivelled and droughted sight we feared. There has been some sporadic, occasionally hard, rain, and that has been enough to keep even the bare gravel areas with a semblance of green. Long gone are the early season Blinks and Smooth Cat’s-ear have gone, but these have been replaced by Sand Spurrey, Small Cudweed, Trailing St. John’s-wort and Hoary Cinquefoil.

Other flowers now blooming include Fleabane, soon to become one of the most important pollen and nectar resources on the reserve, Cow-wheat on the heathy slopes, and in the wet areas, Reedmace and (unfortunately) choking mats of New Zealand Pigmyweed.

Butterflies everywhere! (including the always elusive Purple Hairstreak). The June gap has passed….

As always there were lots of bees and wasps, including Bee-wolf and Green-eyed & Four-banded Flower-bees, endearing little bundles of high-pitched buzz:

And many other insects as well: the Broad-headed Bug is especially interesting locally, as this reserve is the only place we have found it. And just look at that bruiser of a Sicus ferrugineus – that’s why we call the Gargoyle Fly!

Finally a few vignettes of nature from the always rewarding Cockaynes Reserve:

BirchLight

The understated beauty of Wood Sage in full bloom

Backlit Broom pods

And last but not least, is this a case of nymphal self-awareness? Does this tiny Squash Bug realise how its antennae and thighs meld into the necrotic margin of its chosen leaf?

One of the advantages of COVID-19 lockdown has been having the time and opportunity to study our own local surroundings in detail, regularly throughout a three month period from spring into summer.

Birds are all well and good, but there are relatively few of them (our flat lockdown list amounted to just 83 species, although that did include White-tailed Eagle, Goshawk and Osprey…). Plants also – more of them, but the species don’t change much from week to week – the same species just become more, or less, obvious. So it was the invertebrates which occupied most of our time – myriads of species, lots to learn, and many are around for only a short period, the sort of creatures that could easily be missed in a ‘normal’ spring of weeks away in other parts of Europe.

So we have had an unprecedented opportunity to study the local insects and other invertebrates from mid-March right through to the end of June, all within a 5 km radius of Wivenhoe, widening only during the final two weeks to 30 km. We have seen many wonderful creatures, a good number new to us, and a surprising number new to this part of the world, even new to Essex, a useful contribution to the distribution mapping which is now undertaken for most groups.

Of course, for the less obvious groups, our knowledge of distribution is at best rudimentary, and the maps reflect more the distribution of observers who are capable of and can be bothered to report them. But, data are data, information is a resource, however imperfect. What follows is an account of some of our highlights, starting with those species which seem genuinely to be rare in north-east Essex at least, then those which are less scarce, (but still good to find, record and report), interspersed with galleries of some of the commoner ‘little things that helped make our world go round’ in lockdown. To demonstrate how localised some species are, or are recorded as being, I have incorporated some distribution maps from the Essex Field Club essexfieldclub.org.uk, a hugely important resource which is one of the many reasons why any active naturalist in the county should be a member. Maps are available for almost all groups of terrestrial invertebrates, the main omissions being beetles (sadly).

Rarest of the rare, new(ish) to Essex

Rarest of all are also two of the showiest, big black-and-red bugs, both new to Essex, and both familiar to us from trips to the continent. In mid May, next to Wivenhoe Ferry Marsh, we found an Ornate Shield-bug (below, left). This has become established in the British Isles only recently, first in the Channel Isles, and then in some extreme southerly coastal areas of Dorset, Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Sussex. Beyond these areas, it has turned up sporadically elsewhere in southern England and Wales, whether by natural spread or accidental introduction, although it has never previously been recorded from Essex. It now seems to be showing signs of wider colonisation, with recent records from as far north as Norfolk.

It is of course not possible to ascertain when or how it arrived in Wivenhoe, although the southerly airflow around the time of its discovery would have been conducive to natural dispersal. And with climate change, it may well be expected to extend its permanent range: suitable typical foodplants (Brassicaceae) are widespread. But flying here is not an option for the second discovery, Fire-bug (above, right) as it is wingless. We have reported its discovery in a previous blog, although as an update, we have subsequently learned of another Essex colonisation event, at Shoeburyness, over the past three years.

Nature’s barcodes – picture-winged flies 

A distinctive group of flies that can generally be differentiated by a combination of the plant they are inhabiting, and the details of ant pattern on the wings The first, Urophora stylata, encapsulates the ‘map problem’ well. Dependent upon very common plants (thistles), it is probably one of the commonest Essex picture-wings. But the map is full of holes, particularly in the north-west, where the concentration of active entomologists is lowest. Abundant in mid-June on ex-arable land north of Wivenhoe, in reality it may well be everywhere, notwithstanding the map showing only half a dozen locations east of Colchester.

In contrast, Orellia falcata does seem genuinely to be scarce in the county, indeed in the Essex Red Data Book and Nationally Scarce, restricted as it is to grasslands rich in its foodplant, Goat’s-beard. Our record from Lower Lodge is the only one from the north :

White Bryony is a subtly beautiful plant, the only native cucumber relative, and it too has has its specialist picture-wing, Goniglossum wiedemanni (ERDB, and NS again), seemingly a specialist of the Colne Valley. Interestingly, searching through our images showed we had recorded this (on Ballast Quay Lane, in 2015) but forgotten about it until this year’s sighting by the KGV playing field…

Not all ‘picture-winged flies’ have pictured wings. One such is the Phoenix Fly Dorycera graminum, a species on the UK Red Data List. Although widespread and coastal and riverine habitats in Essex, it is believed to have disappeared from some, maybe even many, of its Thameside sites due to development. Hence its inclusion in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, the aims of which are to maintain and enhance all known populations. We have previously found this a couple of times round Wivenhoe since 2015, and this year from both the KGV and 41 Acres.

Other Flies

One of the larger and more impenetrable groups of insects, the true, two-winged flies (Diptera) are an identification challenge. For some groups, like the picture-wings above, and the hoverflies, however, there are comprehensive identification guides available, even if identification sometimes relies on microscopic detail visible only in dead specimens. Our ethical entomologist principles don’t permit us to kill them for study, so if it cannot be done in any other way, it remains unidentified.

No such problems with a hoverfly which we found to be abundant, especially on the Alexanders flowers around Wivenhoe, early on in lockdown. Look at those eyes! Only two (related) UK species have those spotty eyes: this one is Eristalinus aeneus, the more strictly coastal of the two.

Similar to hoverflies, the thick-headed flies are often wasp-mimics, whose larvae live as internal parasites of bees and wasps. However the adults feed on nectar from Scabious among other species, hence our finding Conops quadrifasciatus around Lower Lodge, where, after a slow start (presumably due to drought), the Field Scabious has produced a field of scabious.

Some flies however do need specialist help, and we are grateful to Del Smith, Diptera Recorder for the Essex Field Club for confirming the next two. First is a dung-dweller Dryomyza anilis, which as the map shows is well scattered, but not previously recorded from Wrabness (and not yet on the map): fresh dog turds are an all-too-frequent substrate, but the smell presumably restricts biological recording activity.

No such unsavoury habits and habitats for the final one, Neurigona quadrifasciata, one of the long-legged flies (Dolichopodidae). An evanescent little wood-nymph we found in Wivenhoe’s Old Cemetery, ours is one of just two records in the north of the county.

Bees and wasps

Always fraught with identification difficulties, an awful lot of unusual Hymenoptera are probably hiding out there in plain sight. But the rarest, another new arrival in these parts, Andrena florea is easily recognised by its red markings, its specific food requirements – once again White Bryony – and its distinctive near-vertical posture as it delves deeply into the flowers. Strongly south-eastern, this is is on the national Red Data list, and its stronghold has long been the East Thames Corridor. North Essex and south Suffolk records have started to appear in the past couple of years, but we had never previously spotted it here despite much time spent starting at White Bryony by the KGV: it is one of Jude’s favourite flowers!

Another relatively recent arrival in these parts, which we saw first in 2019, is the Wool Carder-bee, sometimes very obvious as it defends woolly-leaved plants (such as Lamb’s-ears Stachys byzantina in gardens), from which it scrapes hairs to line its nests. By the Henrietta Close Recreation Ground, we came upon a thriving colony based around a patch of Black Horehound (below, left).

Green-eyed Flower-bee (above, centre) has been much more widespread than in previous years for us. Although not uncommon in Essex, the national map (from www.bwars.com) (below, left) shows how lucky we are to see it, being right at the northern extremity of its core distribution. Lucky to see such a lovely little furry bee, the males with striking green eyes, and to hear its distinctive, shrill buzz, often alerting us to its presence before it is spotted. This spring, we have located strong populations at Cockaynes Reserve, 41-Acres and the tiny Walter Radcliffe Road recreation area, at the latter site visiting Knapweeds in the thankfully unmown marginal strip. Those same flowers also supported several Moss Carder-bees (above, right), a declining, largely coastal bumblebee. seemingly almost, inexplicably. absent from the tidal Colne (below, right).

The rest of the Hymenoptera are equally, if not more, difficult to identify, but we were able to find and photograph the Red-banded Sand-wasp at Cockaynes, a species in Essex confined to the cost and remnant heathlands.

The final one is a sawfly, a group notoriously difficult to identify, not least because they lack any popular identification literature. Such a shame that, as they often have distinctive caterpillars, and the Elm Zig-zag Sawfly demonstrates this admirably: it does what it says on its name!

First recorded in the UK in 2017, this species does not (in common with sawflies generally) benefit from an Essex map. The national map (from species.nbnatlas.org) shows its current distribution extending from London in a swathe north-east to the north Norfolk coast, perhaps not in Essex at all. That is surely set to change, given its unmistakable nature: our record came from the delightful surrounds of the Alresford Old Church.

‘An inordinate fondness for beetles…’

God may have had that, hence creating so many, but he didn’t help us by making them easy to identify. And similarly, the Essex Field Club doesn’t help  – Coleoptera is the one major insect order not mapped on their website. And it would seem that such records as there are are not getting onto the National Biodiversity Network, as maps of even common species show alarming amounts of white space where Essex is…

So below is a selection of those identifiable species we feel are most important locally, in that we haven’t seen them here before:

(L to R) Water Ladybird, Adonis Ladybird, Watercress Leaf-beetle

(L to R) A large rove-beetle Tasgius morsitans, and three weevils Rhinophyllus conicus, Liophloeus tessulatus and Orchestes signifer, the latter a tiny leaf-miner with a death mask we found in Lower Lodge.

Lower Lodge was also the location for what may be our most significant record, the Welsh Chafer Hoplia philanthus. It seems to be missing from the national map from Essex, and a swathe westward, but in reality, who knows? Whatever, the photo shows clearly (albeit inadvertently) its clinching identification feature (thanks to Claudia Watts for pointing this out) – just a single tarsal claw.

True bugs

An increasing, spreading insect in southern Britain, first found in Essex in 2008, we have noticed the Box-bug around Wivenhoe for the past three years or so, as its food-plant range has extended, perhaps a result of climate change. This year, early May witnessed an unprecedented emergence here, seen in many a place around town, including numerous individuals on Yew in the churchyard.

The Blue Shield-bug is generally considered widespread in Britain, but the one we found around the Wivenhoe Gravel Pits was actually our first. And it is NOT easily missed, a shining blue-green jewel of a creature. And actually, as so often, the map shows only a small handful of sites in the north-east of Essex.

Another increasing bug is Closterotomus trivialis, an arrival from southern Europe to London first in 2008. We initially found it in the Beth Chatto Gardens last year, and it was present there in force when the gardens reopened in June. Embarrassingly, we neglected to submit the record in 2019, and so the only locality shown on the map is around Harlow. We suspect in truth it is much more widespread – part of its incognito nature may be that it isn’t currently featured on the otherwise excellent British Bugs website gallery www.britishbugs.org.uk.

Another new arrival (or recolonist) in Britain is Stictopleurus punctatonervosus. In Essex it is primarily an insect of thistles in the East Thames Corridor, and we have not yet found it around Wivenhoe. However, we did come across it in rough grassland in Little Maplestead, a part of the county in which records are few and far between.

Finally, to the hompteran bugs (aphids, planthoppers, froghoppers and the like). One of the more readily identifiable is the Bracken Planthopper, restricted to that foodplant and very distinctive in appearance. As Bracken is the most widely-distributed plant in the world, the bug should perhaps be found everywhere. However, the map suggests otherwise. Three of the four sites we recorded it in lockdown (Wivenhoe Wood, 41 Acres and Cockaynes) are close to one of the spots on the map, but the other (Wrabness Nature Reserve) is a significant range extension.

Grasshoppers and their relatives

The early summer period neatly avoids the time when grasshoppers and bush-crickets are adult in the UK, but fortunately for our lockdown surveys, the nymphs are generally present from April and readily identifiable.

Once almost entirely restricted to the immediate coastal fringes, especially sea walls,  of Essex and Kent, Roesel’s Bush-cricket (above, left) has expanded its range over the past 30 years to occupy almost the whole of England. However, Great-green Bush-cricket (above, centre) has not followed in its footsteps. Inexplicably missing from the middle and upper reaches of the Colne, apart from one small area of East Donyland, we found this nymph at its ‘traditional’ site of Wrabness Nature Reserve.

But there is a small group of little-known, rather secretive grasshopper-relatives, the groundhoppers, which can be found as adults throughout the season. And we found both of the Essex species, Common Groundhopper (below, left) from Cockaynes and Slender Groundhopper (below, right) from 41 Acres.

Both species are widespread across Essex, the Slender being especially associated with valleys and damp grassland.

Odds and Ends

Just a few of the more exciting creatures we found were invertebrates, but not insects, while others were insects, but we didn’t see the insects themselves, just their galls, the distinctive growths they cause when they attack specific plants.

Spiders are now much easier to identify than before, given the new WILDGuides book on Britain’s Spiders. However, a small jumping-spider with distinctive, enlarged front legs in Villa Wood, Cockaynes Reserve, did require national expert Peter Harvey to confirm its identity as Ballus chalybeius. Nationally Scarce, this is strongly south-eastern in core distribution, and we are pretty much at the northern end of its main range.

Slugs and snails are not one of our main areas of interest, but three hours after a major thunderstorm in Stour Wood, Wrabness, we became aware of lots of small slugs crawling over the tree trunks. We identified them as Tree Slugs Lehmannia marginata, and much to our surprise, the map shows a rather sparse distribution in Essex, the eastern outlier of which is actually Stour Wood.

As far as galls are concerned, the two which we found for the first time (for us) are both relatively recent invaders to the UK, and probably scarce in the county, although maps are not available to confirm that. On the edge of Ferry Marsh, a small twisted, gall-ridden tree (at least half a dozen species of gall-causer on it) in March revealed the Barnacle Galls of Andricus sieboldii (below, left) (thanks to Jerry Bowdrey, Essex Field Club Gall Recorder for identification), and Turkey Oaks on the University campus in June were covered in the (hard) currant-like galls of Andricus grossulariae (below, right), one that was first found in Britain as recently as 2000.

Both gall-causers are minute gall-wasps, almost impossible to tell apart if one sees the wasps, but their distinctive galls are proof positive, beyond doubt.

And finally …. Moths & Butterflies

Moth-trapping has been largely out of the question, but we have been enjoying the early-season day-flying macromoth species, four of which are rather sparsely distributed in Essex, but have accompanied many a walk of ours.

(L to R) Speckled Yellow (Cockaynes), Mother Shipton (Lower Lodge), Small Yellow Underwing (Lower Lodge and Barrier Marsh) and Burnet Companion (Cockaynes and Barrier Marsh)

Many micromoths, despite their usually small size, are as attractive as the larger species, and often also of considerable interest by virtue of their localised distributions. Three we have noted specifically are shown below.

We have known the Brassy Longhorn Nemophora metallica around Lower Lodge for some three years, although this location has not yet made it onto the map which shows just two other Essex sites. It is dependent upon Scabious, itself rather infrequent in our grassland-impoversished county, and once the Scabious bloomed after the early season drought, the moth was more abundant than ever.

Also around Lower Lodge, Hogweed umbels proved a good spot to look for the beautiful tortrix moth Pammene aurana. Although regarded as common, the map probably reflects its true status as it is easy to spot and identify: ours, not yet on the map, is only the second recorded site in north-east Essex.

Another beautiful and distinctive micro is Dasycera olivella, which ‘regales’ under the uninspiring English name of Scarce Forest Tubic. Nationally Scarce, this is found sporadically across (mainly) south-east England, and we have found it in previous years around Wivenhoe. But this year, we did come across it only further inland, around Little Maplestead, actually away from its previously known range in the coastal half of the county.

And so to the butterflies. When I started working in Essex 30 years ago, charismatic woodland butterflies were almost a distant memory, apart from White Admirals just clinging on in Stour Wood. For some unknown reason, possibly linked to climate change, that all changed about 15 years ago, and White Admirals are now to be found throughout the wooded parts of the county. Then around 10 years ago, Silver-washed Fritillaries followed suit, and within the past five years, the most impressive of all, Purple Emperor, has continued the trend. Towards the end of June we marked the end of tight lockdown by visiting Stour Wood, where the Admirals and Fritillaries were, as expected, in full force, and  we were thrilled to see a female Emperor as well, apparently (we learned later) the first re-colonist of this wood. Just a pity we didn’t see the male reported and photographed the same day by a friend of ours!

Our last report on the reserve was nearly a month ago, when it was looking greener and flowery after some long-awaited rain. But that is the last time it rained in these parts – the semi-arid Essex coast living up to its meteorological reputation – so throughout May, a month of almost unbroken sun and 7% of average rainfall, the reserve has dried to a crisp, situated as it is on free-draining gravels and sands.

Consequently the flowering is now much less profuse, mostly comprising deep-rooted shrubs and plants protected by a degree of shade. Honeysuckle is in full flower, drenching the early morning air in  its heavy fragrance, and Cow-wheat has shown a surprising dash out of its usual woodland habitat onto the heathy slopes, where it may be extending its root-parasitic behaviour to include Heather as a host.

Even the ubiquitous Stinging Nettle , much maligned, is coming into its own, as the tiny green flowers on dangling whorls burst forth, a fluffy aura which catches backlight very fetchingly.

And perhaps the main beneficiary of the drought, renowned for favouring hot dry sandy areas, is Smooth Cat’s-ear. Although a great rarity in Essex, in the same general sandy area where we found a couple in April, about twenty plants were flowering, although the scattering of hairs on the leaves of some plants suggested they may be hybridising with the much more frequent Common Cat’s-ear.

Now is the time for munching, when newly-emerging leaves are at their most nutritious, and herbivorous insect larvae take advantage:

The identificaton of moth larvae has taken a great leap forward recently with the publication of a new field guide. Many of those we found on Birch proved to be Mottled Umbers, very variable, but a Blossom Underwing was distinctive and a good  find.

But one we could not track down, and it also baffled Richard Lewington, illustrator of the new guide. It took Phil Sterling, one author of the book, to point out it was actually the large caterpillar of a micromoth Phycita roborella (and so not covered in the book). The distinctive eye-pattern of this larva makes me wonder if more could be made of such details in the always tricky field of larval identification.

May is also the month for emergence of dragonflies and damselflies, and Cockaynes did not disappoint: its mosaic of wetland habitats and scrubby, flowery, sheltered edges area ideal. In fact, by the end of the month, these had become the most obvious insect group, the butterflies having already fallen into the traditional ‘June gap’ a week or two early.

As always though there were plenty of other invertebrates to be found:

But one or two merit special mention: the White Crab Spider, devouring a Green-veined White…

…the newly-emerged Bird’s-wing moth, still drying its wings out…

…the distinctive planthopper Ditropis pteridis, which is restricted to feeding on Bracken, but (perhaps surprisingly) known from only eight sites in Essex previously, and never before from Cockaynes….

…and best of all (just look at those rapacious front legs!), a male Ballus chalybeius, a small jumping spider, nationally scarce but with a strongly south-easterly distribution.

Even in challenging weather conditions, Cockaynes maintains its role in supporting the physical and mental well-being of Alresford and Wivenhoe #NaturaHealthService!

It was back to Cockaynes Reserve today, after a week of relatively poor weather, including some very long awaited rain. And the flowers have certainly perked up…

Insects and other invertebrates too were out in abundance (including many larvae and nymphs), especially where sheltered from the cool north-easterly.

The season is progressing inexorably on, despite the upheavals of the human world, and it was good to see several ‘firsts for the year’ for us, like Azure Damselfly, Red-and-Black Froghopper and Hairy Shield-bug, along with the Rhombic Leatherbug, a dry grassland specialist which we rarely find in these parts.

All the above, and more, in a an hour, and set to the soundscape of summers past (sadly) with a Yellowhammer singing, and the purring of two Turtle Doves!

As usual, not too many names here, but if anyone wants to know what anything is, please get in touch.

The speed of change in Spring never ceases to amaze, and a privilege of ‘lockdown’ is that is gives us the excuse, with little else crowding in on our existence, to see those changes in close up and on a  regular basis. So, a week since we last exercised our right to exercise there, back to Cockaynes, and a series of remarkable changes. Budburst is almost complete, Sweet Chestnut in particular providing a sculptural and subtly colourful backdrop in the again crystal clear light.

Likewise, spears of Bracken thrusting skyward and starting to unfurl eagle-winged fronds demonstrate the reasoning behind the second part of its scientific name Pteridium aquilinum.

In some respects, the pace of change may have been pushed hard this year by the ongoing lack of rain, and grass-shrivelling, lichen-crisping drought. Last week’s botanical highlights had gone in the ‘Blinks of an eye’, and the most sandy patches are now almost flowerless, apart from newly emerging, red-stemmed Early Hair-grass. The wildlife shouts mid-May rather than mid-April, as if lockdown has given Nature the time to start cranking the seasonal wheel a touch faster.

Gorse of course is pretty much immune to drought, and still flowering profusely. And attracting numerous newly emerged Green Hairstreaks, beautiful when seen at rest, but in flittery flight almost impossible to follow, despite the intense metallic green iridescence of their underwings.

And in similar places, Speckled Yellow moths, a rather sparsely distributed species in Essex, skipped numerously around the patches of Wood Sage, its larval food plant.

Lots of other new emergences apparent this week included dancing fairies, flocks of then around the birches – courtship swarms of Green Longhorn moths…

… and herds of St Mark’s flies everywhere, after their first tentative appearances yesterday. Great food for the Swallows overhead, they are two days early, coming out on St George’s Day rather than St Mark’s…though one cannot imagine St G would be too upset. Spreading his patronage over a diverse portfolio, from England to Ethiopia, Catalonia to Estonia and syphilitics to plague victims, he is clearly not too precious to allow St M’s flies to muscle into his action. And later in the day, above the flat, the wheeling, snapping groups of Black-headed Gulls were presumably cashing in on this bounty, they way they do when nests of flying ants emerge later in the season.

All this and much more as always. Until next week…

The Cockaynes Reserve was a vision in green, in fact in a myriad of greens, Spring springing, almost audibly, from every bud.

Of course we (and the pollinators) are attracted to the showy blooms, but there were also flowers contributing to the palette of greens, from bronzed catkins of Oak, to jade dangles of Redcurrant and acid carpets of Golden-saxifrage.

Another green, and truly insignificant, plant we found in the open sandy plains was a bit of a surprise: Blinks, in abundance. We have never noticed it here before, and it isn’t common in Essex. As its usual habitat is winter-wet depressions on sand, its abundance may reflect the wet weather we had for much of the winter (seems a world away!), until COVID-19 lockdown, after which virtually nothing.

On the pure sand, all the signs are of stress, plants curling up with drought, looking more as if it were mid-summer. Just a few were in flower, with scattered Stork’s-bill instead of carpets. and Lesser Dandelions, but very little else…

…apart from the find of the day, a couple of flowering rosettes (and a few non-flowering) of Smooth Cat’s-ear. With only four or so previous records this century from Essex, this a truly scarce plant, although its ‘tiny dandelion’ flowers are open only in full sunlight, so it may be overlooked. It is a plant we have searched Cockaynes for several times as there is a previous single record from the site a few years ago, albeit about 300m from our locality, but hitherto without success.

But in and around the shade of trees, the vernal rainbow (thus far lacking the red end of the spectrum – Red Campion is yet to come) was much more developed:

And especially deep in Villa Wood, down by the Brook, the visual drama was complemented by the rearing cobra-heads of unfurling Male-fern fronds.

Particular mention must go to the prominent Crab-apple on the ancient bank of Cockaynes Wood, in full, perfect flower, a dazzle of pink-shot ivory, and a magnet for foraging bumlebees:

Other insects out and about included Dark-edged Bee-flies everywhere, and each Gorse bush shone with the beacons of Gorse Shield-bugs, sunlight reflecting of the membranous part of their wings:

Quite apart from the bugs though, Gorse is a keystone species on sites like this, harbouring a vast array of other invertebrate life – herbivores, predators and pollinators alike:

On the spider front, we also discovered an egg-sac, like the inflated seed pod of Love-in-Mist, of a Wasp Spider, presumably (hopefully) with the eggs from last summer still inside it. One to look for later in the year!

With time to stand and stare, time being the one freedom we now have, it was wonderful to chance upon some of the more lowly denizens of the reserve, including caterpillars of Fox Moth and Dark Arches, and an incredibly camouflaged, tiny grasshopper, the Common Groundhopper, which while not rare in the county is so inconspicuous it is rarely noticed. Groundhoppers are the only members of the Orthoptera which can be found as adults at this time of year; unlike others in the group, grasshoppers and bush-crickets, which spend the winter months as eggs, groundhoppers overwinter in the adult or larger nymphal stages.

An hour of delights: a place to sooth, a place to wonder, a place to wander – #NaturalHealthService at its best, under the watchful guardian eye of the ‘Angel of Cockaynes Wood’…