The Reading Naturalist

No. 38

Published by the Reading and District
Natural History Society
1986

Price to Non-Members £1.00

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THE READING NATURALIST /

No. 38 for the year 1984-85

The Journal of
The Reading and District Natural History

Society

President:

DrevAceVBEL@CKS tock

Hon. General Secretary: Hon. Editor:
Ashdown 74 Beech Lane
Basingstoke Road Earley
Spencers Wood, Reading Reading

Editorial Sub-Committee:
The Editor, B.R. Baker, H.H. Carter

Miss S.Y. Townend, Mrs. B.R. Newman
Dre "Ac (Briekstock, _DrevH..) Bowen

Honorary Recorders:

Botany: Mrs. B.M. Newman, Earley Cottage, 25 Beech Lane, Earley,
Reading

Entomology: Mr. B.R. Baker, 25 Matlock Road, Caversham, Reading

Vertebrates: Mr. E.H. Carter, 82 Kennylands Road, Sonning Common, Reading

Fungi: Dr. A. Brickstock, 25 Cockney Hill, Tilehurst, Reading

CONTENTS

Page
Editorial
Meetings and Excursions, 1984-85 ]
Presidential Address 1984 M.R.W. Sell Z
Presidential Address 1985 Dr. A. Brickstock Ss
Lavell's Lake Conservation Area, 21
Dinton Pastures P. Andrew
Caddis Flies (Trichoptera) Mite. Crichton vas)
Red Data Book Plants in Berks, 26
Bucks and Oxon Dr. H.J.M. Bowen
Honorary Recorders' Reports:
Botany Report B.M. Newman 30
Entomology Report B.R. Baker 39
Fungi Report Dr. A. Brickstock 51
Vertebrates Report Hau. Carter 54
Weather Records R. Thompson 57
Membership Changes 61

Editorial

This number of The Reading Naturalist shows a slight departure from the
usual pattern. It has not been the custom in the past to publish the
presidential address in the current number with the result that it was
delivered at an Annual General Meeting in one year and not published until
two years later. Therefore the Editorial Sub-Committee decided that this
edition should have two presidential addresses in order to bring their
publication up-to-date.

The annual weather report has for the past nine years been contributed by
Mr. M. Parry who has now retired and is leaving the district. Dr. Russell
Thompson has kindly offered to supply the information in future. We wish
to thank Mr. Parry for his work on our behalf and wish him a long and
happy retirement. Welcome to our new contributor - we hope our associa-
tion will continue for many years.

Thanks to all who have contributed to the production of this edition.

Meetings and Excursions

The Annual General Meeting on 4th October 1984 (attendance 62) was
followed by Mr. M.R.W. Sell's Presidential Address entitled "The Scilly
Season and Other Unnatural Events". Other lectures during the winter
were: Gilbert White and the Natural History of Selborne by Dr. E.
Chatfield (62); Reminiscences of a Mis-spent Youth Among the Lepidoptera
by Mr. E.P. Wiltshire (46); Nature Conservation in Upper Deeside by
M.P. Marran (34); Spring in the Everglades by Mr. G. Langsbury (56);
Wildlife of the Seychelles by Mr. G. Bathe (47); Freshwater Crayfish by
Mr. J.B. Hogger (47); Agriculture and Conservation - Which Way Now? by
Dr. W.M. Adams (56); The Natural History of a Royal Forest - Shotover by
Dr. D. Steel (64); The Naturalised Animals of the British Isles by Sir C.
Lever (45); Two Members’ Evenings of slides, talks and exhibits were held
- on December 13th 1984 and March 2lst 1985 (54 and 55).

Winter Excursions

There were two Fungus Forays during October —- the first to Cold Ash (29)
and the second to Ashampstead and Mortimer (24 in the morning and 20 in
the afternoon). Walks were: to Caversham Court and the Warren for Trees
in Autumn (29); for lichens and general interest at Swallowfield (19);
for birds at Dinton Pastures (22); a day-long visit by 10 stalwarts to
Slimbridge (in freezing weather!) for wildfowl; for Herons at Sonning as
the listed walk for mosses and liverworts was cancelled due to heavy snow
= {again 9 stalwarts).

Summer Excursions

The first on 6th April was to Pamber Forest in very inclement weather
for Adders and spring flowers (24); then on April 20th to Nuffield for
Green Hellebore (15); on May 4th to Bucklebury for Meadow Saxifrage and
Yellow Figwort (25); on May 9th to Bearwood (14) and on May 22nd to
Burghfield - River Kennet Gravel Pits (16) both for bird song; to Moor
Copse Reserve on June lst for general interest (23); to Dinton Pastures
on the evening of June 5th for Bats (36); on June 18th to Langham Pond,
Runnymede for ancient meadow flora and Butterflies (18); a day-long visit
to Selborne and Noar Hill Reserve to visit the Gilbert White Museum and
the ancient chalk quarries to see Musk and other Orchids and Butterflies
(30); to Basingstoke Canal for Skullcap, many water plants and
Damselflies (26); to Warren Heath on August 17th for Dragonflies (28);
on September 7th to Cookham for general interest (18); and on October
2lst to Fawley near Henley for hedgerow fruits and general interest -
notably acute- and roundleaved Fluellen (23).

A photographic meeting was held at Aston Rowant on August 3rd (24); Two
mothing evenings were held: at Owlsmoor on June 21st and at Snelsmoor
Common on July 6th - this being preceded by a study of acid heathland and
bog and then a very enjoyable barbecue organised by Dr. Humphry Bowen
(36). The Annual Coach Excursion was to Wye National Nature Reserve,
Ashford in Kent. On a very sunny day, many orchids and birds were seen
and a nightingale was heard (40).

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS GIVEN BY M.R.W. SELL ON OCTOBER 4th. 1984
“THE SCILLY SEASON AND CTHER UNNATURAL EVENTS"

My talk this evening will be about some of the stranger habits of
Homo Sapiens, as we conceitedly entitle ourselves; I prefer the term

Homo stultus', or possibly ‘ferox', but these two are not generally
recognised by scientists, although more descriptive of the species.
‘Ferox' in particular, describes man quite effectively and generally,
as man is basically a hunting species, although this urge is often
suppressed, and pops up in the guise of collecting or photography, which,
after all is said and done, is a similar form of hunting.

I class myself in the latter category, as a collector of records in
fact, nothing more sinister than that: Unfortunately for me, a two-year
sojourn in an old damp cottage in the late sixties caused my old diaries
to gather such an amount of mould, that they were beyond retrieval, and
had to be disposed of; I therefore have no comprehensive records older than
1968, but I have vivid recollections of an idyllic setting near Bath,
where the film the "Titfield Thunderbolt" was made in 1950, with Turtle
Doves, Dippers and even Red-backed Shrikes, which in those days were
far more common than they are now, along the railway line and the
adjacent stream, where the film was being shot.

And talking of shooting, Britain, as I said, was originally a nation of
hunters, an instinct which still carries on, in the form of game shooting,
fishing and egg-collecting, now illegal, of course, although it still
has a hard core of 200 collectors, probably more. Countering this is the
large conservation lobby, including well over 300,000 members of the
noyal Society for the Protection of Birds, the County Naturalists Trusts,
and many other organisations, who are becoming a powerful voice in the
land, and who are beginning to make their presence felt in terms of
votes in larliament. Gradually, the conservation ethic is spreading
throughout Europe, although it is very much in its infancy in the South,
where wholesale massacre of migrant birds still takes place in Spring
and -.utumn, and never a binocular or camera is to be seen in the country.
Although laws protecting migrants and resident species alike have been
passed in the E.u.C., these are blatantly flouted in Italy and France,
for instance, where characters resembling bandits, with large cartridge
belts, go creeping through the undergrowth, shooting at anything that
moves, sometimes scoring a direct hit on another example of Homo Sapiens.
Bird-liming and trapping, often in mist-nets, is rife, and in Malta and
Cyprus is so extensive, that it is estimated that in the latter island,
about 2/3 to 3/4 of the migrants flying in are slaughtered, a figure
involving several million birds in Spring and Autumn each year. One
hears similar horror tales from Greece, where after work each day in the
season, workers set out on their motor scooters with guns, and blaze
away at any bird they set eyes on, leaving many to die a lingering death.
This is all totally inexcusable, as it has no economic value whatsoever,
and is presumably done just to boost the ‘macho’ image of the perpetrators.
However, I do not wish to continue in this vein, as there are much more
interesting aspects of natural history to discuss, albeit related to man's
urge to hunt, but which are probably far less well known .eoe.

I mentioned the collecting mania earlier - well, mania is perhaps too
strong a word, although it may not be, as you will see. That august
body, the Wild Flower Society, is a club of collectors, although not in
the original sense where specimens were taken. It was originally set up
for children in the last century, to observe the countryside, recording
plants and the date they were seen. Branches were set up, and you could
"win a Branch" by seeing the greatest number of plants in the particular
part of the country. If you saw 700 plants two years running, you were
then accepted into "Valhalla''. You could then carry on “accumulating”
plants; if you saw 2,000 plants, as listed in Dandy, you could then count
Aliens, and get into the non-competitive Branch of the W.F.S. (There

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are about 3,000 plants in Britain.) This is of course quite harmless,
and probably very good fun:

Another aspect of collecting, which I had no idea existed until I had
lived in Reading for about three or four years, was a strange phenomenon
known as "Twitching'"'. The origins of this pastime are rather obscure,
but they are said to derive from the competitive nature of the said species,
Homo Sapiens, to see more rare species of birds than his fellow men, with
particular reference to the United kingdom. In this connection, the term
"Listers" or "Tickers'' is fairly readily comprehensible, but the term
"Twitchers" needs some explaining:

It was apparently derived from the early activities of a certain pair of
rarity hunters, who, in the very early days, before the ‘grapevine’ was
as well developed as it is today (about which more anon), would learn of
a rare bird some distance away from where they lived, and set off before
dawn, often in bitterly cold weather, on a motorbike. They took a large
dog, which came for the exercise, but was also useful in that it could be
jammed between them on the motorbike to pravide a little warmth on the
journeys The first action of the pillion passenger, on arrival at the
site, was to light up a cigarette, with which he often had extreme
difficulty as he, and his hands in particular, were so cold. The resultant
shivering, or twitching, apparently became automatically associated with
a trip to see a rarity, and the name stuck to this day:

So from the guns to the binoculars and cameras - I was about to have
a new world opened to me. When I first visited Cley marshes in 1971, I
thought: what on earth can there be of interest here on this bleak and
windswept barren-looking area? I soon found out. A weather-beaten
figure, clad in a black leather jerkin, approached, and as he had a
kindly face, I asked him hesitantly, not knowing who he was, or what his
knowledge of birds was, whether there was anything interesting to be seen.
I could not have picked a better person to ask, for as I soon discovered,
it was none other that the late Richard Richardson, the well-known bird
artist, who at the time was the expert on Cley and surrounding area, and was
most helpful to me, as he was to anyone, whatever their knowledge, or lack
of it, when approached for information. It so happened that there was
a Baird's Sandpiper, a rare vagrant from America, there at the time, and he
told me exactly how to get to it, and other birds of interest in the erea.
This wetted my appetite, and I soon became “hooked" on Cley, making three
or four visits a year to this bird-watching liecca.

I then discovered the "Grapevine", the fantastic network of information
operated by birdwatchers, '‘Iwitchers" or "birders" as they are so often
called nowadays. Information about rarities could be obtained almost
instantaneously anywhere in the country, or so it seemed, if you knew
the right people, and could persuade them to tell you "what was about" when
you wanted to knows Armed with current knowledge about unusual birds in
the country, a completely new world was opened up to me, and when groups
of birdwatchers descended upon some unsuspecting corner of the country at
dawn, the locals would look on in amazement, finding it quite incredible
that news about one small bird could bring so many people from all parts
of the country together so quickly: On Friday nights, in particular,
telephone lines all over the country would be buzzing about news of
Yarities, particularly during the Spring and Autumn migratiion, when
weather conditions were right. At first, birds whose names I had scarcely
heard of before were being found, and exact geographical directions were
given, with useful topographical tips thrown in for good measure eee.
certain locations were renowned for rarities, I discovered, and certain
people always had the very latest news. A "nerve centre" existed at
Cley, where there was always someone to answer the telephone with details
of anything from Lands End (or the Scillies) to John O'Groats and
beyond = some telephone bills must have been astronomical, too:

Speaking of the migration season, the North Coast of Norfolk, with its
Nature Reserves and heritage coast from Sheringham right through to

Hunstanton is always an exciting place particularly in Autumn, when weather
conditions are right, and at the end of August 1974, I was fortunate enough
to experience that phenomenon, - a "fall" of migrants, and how apt that
descriptive word is. The previous day, on a 4 to 5 mile walk along the
coest near Cley, the number of passerines and other small birds could almost
be counted on the fingers of two hands. The wind was South-West, entirely
from the wrong quarter, but the following day it had veered round to the
North-East, force 2 to 3, with a sea mist onshore. -I walked in the same
area, but the difference between the two days had to be seen to be believed.
It was evident that something had happened overnight, and there were fair
numbers of passerines on the shingle bank, the foreshore, and the salt-
marsh behind. I had walked about two miles along the shore towards
Blakeney Point, a well-known bird sanctuary, when I stopped for a bite of
lunch, and I suddenly realised that it was literally raining birds out of
the sky around me as I ate my sandwiches. Pied Flycatchers, Whinchats,
Redstarts, Wheatears and other small birds were everywhere I looked. In the
space of 3 to 4 miles along the shingle, sometimes completely bereft of
any wildlife, I counted 150 to 200 Pied Flycatchers, 400 or more Wheatears,
15 Wrynecks, and many other species, “wind-drifted'' across the North Sea
from Scandinavia, quite an experience in itself, but more was to come.
News filtered through of a Bonelli's Warbler in Great Yarmouth, only about
5 miles from where I was staying at the time, so a number of people
piled into cars and spec back the 45 miles or so to the spot. The Promenade
at Yarmouth was quite a sight, with every small ornamental shrub on the
sea front being host to a dozen or so assorted migrants, and we found
ourselves on a playing field, looking over a hotel wall into a large
garden with a huge [lm tree, full of Chiff-Chaffs, Willow Warblers and
other migrants, where the rarity in question had secreted itself. In
the meantime, the diversion continued, as we found ourselves the subject of
an artist's sketch from the rear, a number of heads being depicted looking
over the wall at the large Elm tree: People came and went, but no-one
had seen the bird for a while. A bird-wetcher, just arrived breathless from
a wedding, complete with white carnation in his buttonhole, but with the
indispensable pair of binoculars round his neck, joined the crowd, and a
loud cheer went up as the Bonelli's Warbler appeared, chased a Chiff-
Chaff into the tree, hovered to show its characteristic yellow cap, and then
vanished into the tree itself.
Weather conditions, as I have said, if correct, can give rise to great
xcitement and interest. St. Ives in Cornwall, one of the best sea-
watching sites in the British Isles, if the winds are right, produced an
amazing day in September 1983, when storm-force South-Westerly winds
veered North-Westerly, and blew 1500 Storm Petrels, 8&8 Sabine's Gulls,
Leach's Petrels, Great and Cory's Shearwaters, numerous lianx Shearwaters,
all four species of Skua seen normally in British waters, and many other
seabirds in enormous numbers right past a large group of watchers on
St. Ives island. This weather pattern had been foreseen, and those with
sufficient foresight to make the long trip were amply rewarded for their
pains. With bird-watching at this intensity, speed is of the essence;
if you don't get up and go at once, the bird you are after may be gone. It
only needs one clear night, and you may regret your slothfulnesseeee.
However, birds are very conservative in their habits, and if a bird finds
a spot to its liking, it is sometimes almost possible to set yours watch
by what it does. Even if you know what you are going to see, there is
always the element of surprise. I was once at Eyebrook Reservoir in
Leicestershire an excellent spot for waterfowl, looking for a Killdeer,
which I didn't see, incidentally,but as I scanned a long line of ducks
resting on a shingle bank, I mentally identified them all, but passed
over a tall white one which didn't register in my mind. When the penny
dropped, and I came back to it it was a Spoonbill a very unusual visitor,
and even more so at the time of year I saw it; I also had no idea that it
was there, anyways The. same thing happened when passing Tring Reservoirs

shy re

on a warm Spring afternoon. I stopped for a few moments and scanned

the water, noticing a small duck with some Tufted Ducks and Coot. It
turned out to be a drake Garganey in immaculate Summer plumage. Such
are the excitements of birdwatching, but even if you don't see the bird you
have set your mind on, the disappointment can be tempered if you have
visited a good area. The worst trips are those where you have travelled a
great distance specifically to see one bird, and there is nothing else in
the immediate vicinity, the bird in question has flown, it is raining
steadily, cold, and you are on an industrial estate in the North-East or
the Midlands, it is Sunday, and you have run out of hot coffee... these
are the bad moments, but you then have to try hard to remember the
good ones!

With rarities, many birds are "reportable", in other words, the Rarities
Committee, or the "ten rare men'', as they are sometimes known, need to
consider a full field description of the bird in question, which should be
submitted by the observer or observers for scrutiny. I remember my first
experience in this field, finding a drake Ring-Necked Duck at Theale in
1978, and telephoning several people to inform them of my discovery, and
then thinking “horrors, I won't get this record accepted unless I
submit it. Oh well, never mind, there are far more experienced birders
than I who will do it". But they were very generous - they said "It's
your bird = you submit it:'' So I did, and I got it accepted, and in
spite of a most unscientific description, I saw my record in print in the
following November's issue of "British Birds" a real thrill indeed!

By now you will be getting into the swing of things, but there are more
strange things to come - 'Twitchers'' have a language all of their own,
which can sound like a foreign tongue to outsiders. Phrases like "Gripped
off"' means that someone else has seen the rarity that you haven't; "dip out"
means that you haven't seen it anyway, and "unblocked" means that you have
mow seen @ rarity which was a "megatick" before -sorry I mean that very
few people had seen it. And "ticks'' in this instance are not to be found
on sheep, although that is what I first thought; they are the number of
species, i.e. birds that one has seen. The list is much longer, but these
are just a few examples to go on with.

Knowledge of rare birds is constantly being extended, and recently I
made three trips in a week to Norfolk to see a particular Term with an
orange bill, but otherwise very similar to a Sandwich Tern, actually seeing
it on the third attempt, but still not knowing exactly which species it
wass You may question the sanity of driving or being driven 1,000 miles,
and walking along 24 miles of shingle, for what? ... For me, the experience
is worth it, and the days in the open, along the shore with plenty of other
birds to look at as well. For others, the angle may be slightly different.
A Cream-Coloured Courser from the Sahara caused a plane to be chartered
from the Isles of Scilly about which more anon, and someone was overheard to
say, after a plane flight to the Shetlands: "Have a good look at this one -
it's costing you £100 a minute." Some bird - but there are those who feel
it is all worthwhile.

So now to the main event of most "Twitchers' "' calendar - the annual
Migration to the Scillies, as they are irreverently called, or the Isles
of Scilly, as they should be correctly entitled. These superb islands, only
2& miles South West from Lands End, are not only famous for their rare birds,
but have a wealth of unusual plants and other natural history specialities
as well. The islands are almost invariably the warmest place in the
United Kingdom in Winter, and that includes the Channel Isles. There is
rarely frost, and snow is almost unknown, The islands have subsided since
Roman times, and at low tides it is still possible to see the ancient
roads between the islands, which at that stage were joined together. At
very low tides it is still possible also to walk between all the islands
except St. Agnes, if you know exactly where to put your feet. Tresco is
famous for its tropical plants, many of which could not grow anywhere else
in the British Isles. To give you some idea of the climatic peculiarities,

=

Daffodil bulbs are well advanced in October, some of the early daffodils
can be picked in November, and many more in January. lhuch of the early
flower market has, however, been lost to the hothouses in the Channel
Isles, and the economy of the Islands is precariously balanced, with
tourism forming the mainstay from hay to September, and early flowers
and vegetables propping up the livelihood of the islanders for the
remainder of the year.

There are many rare wild flowers in the Islands, some found nowhere else
in Britain, such as Viola kiteibeliana and Ornithopus pisaaeue and a
couple of buttercups found in bulbfields on St. Nartin’s. Large Cuckoo
Pint abounds, as does Four-Leaved Allseed and Bermuda Buttercup, to name
just a few. These are very rare or unknown on the mainland, and many
are of hediterranean origin. Spring flowers, such as Three-Cornered
Leek, often bloom again in October; strange hedges protect the early
Spring bulbs, with plants from New Zealand and Japan, such as Euonymus,
Escallonia, and the ubiquitous TFittasporum, which provides a splendid
windbreak, anc can tolerate salt spray, which in the Winter storms blows
right over the islands.

When the last of the holidaymakers depart in September, another invasion
takes place; this time the invaders are dressed not in shorts, T-shirts
and plimsolls, but in camouflage gear and boots, and are armed with
binoculars and telescopes. The season of the 'TIwitchers" has arrived:
After the initial resentment by the islanders, the realisation dawned
that here was an extension to the tourist season, and nowadays in October
there are about 700 birdwatchers, birders or Twitchers to boost the islands'
economy for an extra month. Traders and boatmen both benefit; in the
1960s, the maximum number of birdwatchers on the Islands was about 35 to
40 in Autumn, but after an incredible late September and October in
1975, the idea really caught on, and numbers rapidly climbed. I first went
in 1977, anc at that time the social activity in October was restricted to
once-weekly slide shows in the Town Hall, of wildlife on the Islands,

and the daily bird "log" was called in the "Atlantic" or the "Nermaid".

ily

rerhaps I should explain what I mean - the "Log'' is meant to be a record
of all birds seen on the islands that particular day, and the "Atlantic"
and the 'l.ermaid" are two of the hostelries on the main island, St. Nery's,
the former tending to be haunted by the more sedate birdwatchers, the
latter by the younger generation and the hardened “Twitchers", often being
one and the same. This however has all changed, and the "nerve centre"
for birdwatchers and "Twitchers" alike is the Porthcressa Restaurant,
which serves meals, snacks and continuous bird information on anywhere

in the U.K. all day, and the Bar downstairs, where there are events on
any number of ornithological topics, from slide shows to talks, to a
"Birders' Ball" and a quiz to prove who is the best at identifying unusual
birds; this is of course preceded by the "Log", read out by no less a
personage than the Secretary of the Rarities Committee. Although the place
gets extremely crowded and smoky, it is possible to meet here, or
anywhere else outside during daylight hours, for that matter, people you
don't see from one year to the next: In October, the Islands are now

truly geared up for the birdwatching invasion, and as I say, it adds a very
valuable four to six weeks to the holiday season for the islanders and
their economy.

Apart from birds and flowers, there are also a number of unusual moths

and butterflies to be seen, even as late as October, and these include
Convolvulus Hawk and Humming Bird Hawk moths, Painted Lady, Red Admiral and
Clouded Yellow butterflies, and sometimes, if conditions are right,
lLonarch butterflies are to be seen. These are enormous, half as big

again as our Purple Emperor, and have a floppy but powerful flight.

They should have, as they come from North America, as do many of the
migrant birds at this time of the year in Scilly: They have a glossy

black abdomen, and look for all the world like an orange and black

stained-glass window when roosting, which they do before dusk, or on
overcast days.

ae.

Mammals consist of rats and rabbits, far too many of the former, and
the Scilly Shrew, which is unique to the Islands. There are also a
large number of cats and dogs, some of the former appearing to specialise
in catching rare birds: Of the birds, of course, I have heard it said that,
apart from the resident Sparrow, Starlings, Robins, Wrens and Blackbirds,
all birds are only there by accident; this is of course an exaggeration,
but most birds that are to be seen in late Autumn are on regular migration,
or blown wildly off course. Sanderlings, which run up and down a beach
with the advancing and receding waves like so many clockwork toys, are
on regular migration from their breeding grounds in the Arctic to their
Wintering grounds on the West Coast of Africa. The breeding English
Warblers and Flycatchers are also regular each Autumn, but most other birds
are vagrants or accidentals, hence the large number of people going to
see them each year. The beauty of the islands for me at any rate, is
that you never know what is going to turn up - each year is different.
Granted, there are some similarities, but I would like to illustrate to
you how, by quoting a number of interesting and amusing episodes, how
each year is different from any other.

As I said my first year was 1977, and I particularly wanted to sample
the boat crossing from Penzance, as it was said to be good for seabird
watching. I did board the "Scillonian" with some trepidation, as I had
spent a previous holiday in the peninsula West of Penzance, and had
been asked when buying fish and chips one evening in Penzance whether we
had come off the "Scillonian". On asking why I was told: "Oh, well, a
couple of people had broken ribs and one had a broken leg," in the most off-
hand way, as though it were a daily occurrence. After a rather lively but
otherwise uneventful crossing to St. hary's, I was told, on arrival, that
there was a Black-and-white Warbler at Lower hoors. I had no idea
where this was, so I went to the flat where we were staying, dumped the
luggage, and followed the crowd: After a short wait at the site, a superb
small bird appeared, looking just like a mint humbug, and eventually got
within less than ten feet of the watchers. I thought to myself that if
all American passerines were as easy to see as this bird, I was in for
a very good time ideed: But what a fantastic start to the holiday, the
very first bird I had seen on the Islands being an American Warbler. Was
it going to go on like this?

One of my early discoveries on the islands was that it did not appear to
matter which way the winds blew - there were always birds of interest to
be found, and it was a far commoner occurrence to have an American and
Asiatic passerine in the same bush than it was to get the Americans and
Russians together to discuss matters like arms limitations:

One American bird that obviously liked the area was a female Black Duck,
which arrived in the Autumn of 1976 and stayed for at least seven years,
pairing with a British hallard, and producing a large number of small
"half-Black Ducks" in the process: On the same stretch of water, the
Abbey Pool on Tresco, I watched two different American waders, a Baird's
Sandpiper and a Wilson's Phalarope, from a distance of about ten feet.
Where else in Britain could one see this sort of phenomenon?

A particularly good area for watching is the Golf Course on St. hary's,
with panoramic views over the other islands. The only problem, particularly
at weekends, is a surfeit of golfers, who cause the larks, pipits and any
rarities that might be there,to take flight: Nevertheless, access is
available to everyone on any part of the course, and this is of course
a great benefit to birdwatchers.

The following year, 1978, I was beginning to get accustomed to the
geography of the islands, and some of the more unlikely events, or so
I thought, but there were more surprises in store; the day after most of
us had been watching a Scarlet Rosefinch in a weedy field (iosefinches
in Britain are never scarlet, I should perhaps add), a large notice appecred
at the edge of the field, stating that birdwatchers were a nuisance in
large numbers, and that the low wall we had been looking over the previous
day was now piled high with a topping of two feet of manure, so that

ae yes

we couldn't lean on it, as we had done till then: The farmer obviously
thought that flocks of birdwatchers, rather than birds, could be kept

at bay by this rather drastic measure ... it was at this stage that I
began to realise that there was a developing role for those I would call
the “elder statesmen", the senior and most responsible birdwatchers, who
would be able to keep the young hotheaded twitchers in check, and prevent
them dashing all over private land to see rarities, and trampling vegetation.
Over subsequent years, I have noticed a gradual change in the islanders’
attitudes, from outright antagonism to tolerance and even positive
encouragement and a welcome when the swarms of watchers arrive in October -
after all, there are benefits to the economy of the community, but it is
essential to understand other peoples’ attitudes as well. One major

fear that the islenders have is the potential spread of eelworm from one
bulbfield to another on people's feet, and this is why there is often
rigid insistence for walkers to stick to recognised paths. Nevertheless,
such is the change in attitude that special trails are opended by

farmers for birdwatchers to see rarities, often in parts of their domain
where no access has previously been possible. However, this attitude can
only be maintained by constant good behaviour on the part of those who
enjoy the hospitality of the islanders every year as their guests, and I
must confess, the general standard of behaviour is usually very good;this
is helped by a certain amount of self-policing, and general respect for
the wishes of the local people.

Another feature of 1978 was a brilliant piece of detective work in bird
identification. Amongst the waders on the islands’ shores, a call very
similar to a Spotted Redshank was heard, but no Spotted Redshank was ever
seen. The question was - what bird was producing this call? Various z
theories were put forward anc then discounted, until one suggestion made
aroused the excitement of a few of the cognoscenti, but nothing was said
until more investigations had been carried out «ee. could one of the
small flocks of Ringed Plovers contain a bird remarkably similar to a
Ringed Plover, but with a totally different call, but the only difference
in visual identification being partially webbed feet: Eventually, the
individual bird was isolated by its call, and did indeed prove to be a -
Semi-ralmated Dlover, an American wader, and the first for Europe. The
great difficulty remained - seeing the partial webbing of the feet, but
this could in fact be accomplished at a distance of up to fifty feet with
a telescope and in good light: Froblem solved, and a feather in the cap
of the discoverer:

An amusing incident, apart from the discomfiture of those involved,
concerned the transport arrangements to the islands. I was looking for
a Barred warbler one morning, when suddenly a thick fog descended
without warning. JI heard the helicopter arrive at the airport, but
apparently not land. I later found out that it had been unable to land
because the fog arrived just that little bit too quickly, and so made its
way back to Penzance. When it got there, the fog was too dense for it to
land, so it had to put down at St. Just, near Lands Ind, where there was
a special bus waiting to take the luckless passengers back to Penzance,
which they had left about 3 hours previously, hoping to make their way to
the islands: This particular year, 1 made the homeward journey on the
Scillonian, and about three miles form St. Lary's, a shout went up:
"Albatross" and everyone rushed to the stern, where a large black and white
bird was sitting high in the water. It was useless to expect the ship to
be turned round, so a message was put out on the ship-to-shore radio, and
a boat was chartered to try and find the bird, but in vain.

By the next year's trip, I had got accustomed to the possibility of
having the day's planned itinerary wildly disrupted by some rarity or
other turning up, and references to the "Bunting field', or the ‘maize field’
meant something; what 1 did not expect was that a largish American bird
could give several hundred birdwatchers the slip for five days on St. l.ary's
and when it did reappear, it was so easy to see; it was a Rose-Breasted

a: ae

Grosbeak, and although the adults, with black backs and scarlet breasts have
not been seen in Britain, the immatures have brilliant vermillion under the
wings, which makes a pillar box look positively pale, and causes gasps from
watchers as the bird takes off or lands:

Two other examples of the 'good tourist’ image came to notice, when two
rarities appeared on St. Agnes, an island where the birdwatchers staying
there usually have the run of the area, but where others from St. Mary's
have to stick to the public paths. A ticketing system was introduced
whereby the birds concerned could be viewed by those holding'tickets'
(numbered pieces of paper) for a limited period of time, then giving way
to others. At the end of the day, most people had seen the bird concerned
and extra time was given to those who had not yet been lucky. The technique
was used for access to private land, or where there was limited access for
viewing and was "Policed' by the more experienced watchers.

The boatmen, who ferried those wanting to visit the other main islands
over at mid-morning and early afternoon, were splendid characters. Sixty
or so people could be conveyed in each vessel, open to the elements, unless
you sat right at the front, where you could avoid most of the spray on a
rough crossing. Only on the very roughest days would there be no boats, and
sometimes even in mountainous seas the intrepid would set out if there was
mews of a rarity on one of the other islands. On one eventful occasion,
there were so many rarities on the "off islands" that boat passengers were
actually exchanged in mid-channel, which provided everyone with the
opportunity of seeing more birds more quickly than they otherwise would
have done:

There are occasions however, when the boats, even with their shallow
draft, cannot visit all the "off islands" at very low tides, and when a
Elackpoll Warbler turned up.on Bryher, the boats could not get in, so
birdwatchers were advised to walk between the islands, going from Tresco
to Bryher. This most of them did, wading up to waist-deep across the
maxrow channel. Those who got the timing exactly right, only got wet feet,
but others crossing half-an-hour later, got much wetter. The amusing sight
of a crocodile of enthusiasts, wading across, trousers rolled up, binoculars
and telescopes held aloft, must have been well worth watching.

Crossing from Tresco back to St. lary's one day a message came over the
boat's radio ‘Red-Rumped Swallow at Porthcressa Beach," whereupon the
boatman was interrogated. That worthy exclaimed vigorously that he had
nothing to gain financially or otherwise, as he was only taking his
passengers back to their normal destination: All on the boat disembarked
in record time when it docked at St. Mary's, ran up the main street,
telescopes at the ready, and there, sure enough, was this odd-looking Swallow
flying around the beach, just as he had said - it was a fair cop:

For the second week of my fortnight in 1979, my family rather rashly
decided to join me on St. liary's, on my insistence that if they never came
to see what we lunatics got up to on the islands, they would never be able
to pass judgement with any degree of accuracy, their evidence only being
based on hearsay of what actually happened: Walking back to our bungalow
one afternoon, we passed two people peering into a small field near the
Golf Course, and when I asked what they were watching, I got the answer:
"Olive-backed Thrush". Somehow this didn't register, and we walked back
at a leisurely pace. When we reached the house, a sort of panic seized
me; what did they mean - was it an odd Song Thrush or something? I rushed
back to the spot, where I had realised they meant that it was a Swainson's
Thrush = a small thrush from North America - which they had called by its
older name. I managed to get reasonable views in the gathering gloom of
this extreme rarity (there had only been about three other occurrences in
Britain up to that time), when the experts came rushing up, and I was
quizzed about the details I had seen on the bird. What a surprise - I
was almost speechless - I had unwittingly been almost the first on the
scene, and had not fully realised what I was looking at.

The arrival of this small Thrush really brought home to me the magnitude

= 10 =

of the journeys some of these small birds make - the American warblers, in
strong Westerly winds, can cross the Atlantic in 36 hours, a journey of

some 3,000 miles non-stop, a prodigious feat by any stretch of the imaginat-
ion, with of course no intermediate landfall between American and the
islands West of Cornwall, if they miss Ireland, that is: Conversely, if the
winds blow more from the Last or South-East in mid-October, you are likely
to go out one morning and find Black Redstarts everywhere on the islands -
overnight migration is the rule, rather than the exception, for small
passerines.

Ly holiday in 1980 started rather dramatically; we had just experienced a
force eight North-Westerly gale crossing on the "Scillonian" and after the
three-hour crossing were very thankful when we entered St. Mary's Roads;
just then the Captain came over the Tannoy to say that there was a French
trawler aground in the harbour, and couldn't berth until high tide, when it
would be re-floated and hopefully set sail once more, as it was occupying
our space. liost people on board groaned, and it was little consolation to
them that the bar end buffet remained open for another three hours, as no-one
wes very hungry: It was also little consolation to them that the Scillonian
had not been able to berth at all in St. l.ary's the previous day, as it was
so stormy, and had to return to Penzance, the total time at sea being nine
hours in a Force 9 gale:

While we were waiting to berth, a number of birdwatchers already on shore
were seen hurrying to a spot mear the harbour, then watching a spot
intently; naturally, this engendered considerable anxiety among those
marooned on the ship, but we later discovered that it had been a hoax,
cleverly organised by those who had realised our predicament, and knew that
we would have no idea what they were watching, if anything:

One feature of this particular year which struck me was how some birds, with
cryptic colouring anc superb camouflage, apparently gave their presence
away with what I considered unnecessary movement. This was evident with both
a Jacl. Gnipe and a Woodcock; as they were feeding, they bounced gently up
and down as though they were internally sprung, and it was this movement
which drew my attention to the Woodcock, as it fed at the bottom of a small
bulb field, against the background of a dark hedge. If it had not moved in
this way, I am convincec that I would not have seen it. Jack Snipe also
tend to feed in the same way, whereas Snipes do not, and to my mind are
much more difficult to detect against a background of dead bracken or
Phragmites, for example.

Immature birds - most of the vagrants to the islands are immatures -
are sometimes exceedingly difficult to differentiate from other closely
related species, and a Sylvia warbler found on one of the more open parts
of St. hary's proved impossible to identify readily in the field - after
due consideration, Lesser Whitethroat was ruled out by most people, but the
experts were equally divided as to whether it was a Subalpine Warbler or the
much rarer Spectacled Warbler. lost people no doubt hoped that it was the
latter; eventually, permission was obtained to trap the bird in a mist net
- something not normally done on the islands, and for which permission has
to be obtained from the Duchy of Cornwall. After examination in the hand,
certain diagnostic features proved it to be an immature Subalpine Warbler;
this just shows how difficult positive identification can be, even to the
most experienced birdwatchers in the country.

1981 I shall remember as the year of the honarch - not a bird, of course,
but that most magnificent of butterflies which sometimes does a Trans-
atlantic migration. It was estimated that there were about nine different
individuals, but as one or two had been seen in Devon and Cornwall in
september there may well have been more. I pursued two or three, but never
had a close view of one at rest - they were always on the move when I came
across them, and flew deceptively fast, doing the disappearing act very
effectively just when you thought you had caught up with them.

Searching for these butterflies provided an interesting diversion, as
Suropean birds were rather thin on the ground this year. However, when
the excitement came, it was intense. An American Nighthawk, a bird

- ll -

very similar to our Nightjar, but with different wing markings, was
discovered one evening flying around, but no-one got very good views,

as it was late, and had begun to get dark. The following evening,
everyone on the islands got into position, in very good time, on both
sides of the valley where it has last been seen, that morning. Being a
crepuscular bird, opinions were sought as to the best time it was likely to
fly. By five o'clock, I had taken up position on a farm road, overlooking
the valley, with the airfield and Lower hoors, a marshy area, on the far
side. By far the larger number of birders, probably about 300, had
assembled on the airfield, at the edge overlooking the valley, but they
could not see Lower loors from where they were standing. Presently, a
Short-eared Owl appeared over Lower lhoors, and started to hunt over the
marsh. Our group of about 20 people moved downhill slightly to get a
better view of the Owl, still retaining a general view of the valley.

The crowd on the opposite side of the valley, seeing where we were looking,
and our movement, rushed as one man to the edge of the airfield, leaving
unattended a collection, which I quickly estimated as worth about £50,000,
of what we in business call ‘optics’ - telescopes, in short. These

looked highly amusing, all perched along the skyline: However, their
owners soon returned and when the Nighthawk did appear, ten minutes after
the Owl, along the valley where it was expected, a roar went up that
would have done credit to Liverpool playing at homes The bird put up a
tremendous flying display, catching what insects there were to be had

on a warm October evening, and everyone went back to their evening meals
very satisfied. 1 was right outside our farmhouse flat so only head to go
in and cook supper:

what was even more astonishing was the bird's appearance the following
might after it had got dark, and in steady rain - it flew up and down the
road to Hugh Town, in between observers’ legs, and also at head height, but
Was not seen again the following morning. Wwe assumed that it had succumbed
to the cold and lack of food the previous evening, as it should have
been on its way to South America when we saw it.

Another memorable incident that year was the discovery of a male Orphean
Warbler, rather like a large Blackcap, but with a brilliant yellow eye.
Some of us had just returned on the afternoon boat from Tresco, and we
heard the news on the quay at St. hary's. host people ran the two miles
to rorthellick, where the bird had been seen in some gorse, but there
were the usual taxis and the odd cycle or two. So intent was everyone on
looking at or for the bird, that no-one reacted when a crash in the bracken
was heard. The unfortunate collapse of one of the older watchers, for whom
the dash from the quay had obviously been too much, had gone competely
un-noticed; fortunately he recovered,because I am quite sure that no-one
would have known what to do if he had suffered a serious heart attack. Such
are the trials and tribulations of high pressure birdwatching eee.

The following year, naturally we all wondered what was in store for us this
time; we were not to be disappointed, as 1982 proved to be the best year for
American vagrants for many a long time. There were other surprises as well -
a young and inexperienced Osprey practising its fishing techniques on the
Fool at Porthellick, and in the bay nearby. The noise made when the bird
crash-landed or belly-flopped at close quarters had to be heard to be
believed! The success rate of its dives was about one in ten, but the
spectacle involved with the aerobatics was marvellous to watch.

As I mentioned before, Siberian birds always seem to get through somehow,
and 1 think that 1982 was the first occasion when I saw an American bird
(Scarlet Tanager, which by the way wasn't scarlet at all, but a yellowy-
green female) sitting in the same bush as a 3% inch long Siberian bird,

a Pallas’ Warbler. It always staggers me when you realise that these
little mites have flown over 3,000 miles in the wrong direction, and
appear as fit as though they have come from the next field, rather than
the distance they actually have travelled.

4nd while still on the subject of American vagrants, one memorable day
bears recall; I had spent the morning on St. hary's watching the Osprey's

— FF wa

antics at Porthellick, when a rather large and strangely-coloured Hen
Harrier appeared over the Fool; it turmed out to be the American race of

Hen Harrier, but more excitement yet was in store = a number of birders set
out for St. liartin's to see a Killdeer (a large American plover), which had
just been reported from there. As usual, the boatmen had turned up trumps,
and provided us with half-an-hour to see the hilldeer, which was in a small
field right by the quay, then setting out direct for St. Agnes to wait for
the Nighthawk (another one of course!) which had made an appearance, and we
had superlative views as it flew round the old lighthouse like a large moth,
approaching as close as three feet. The new management at the island store-
cum-Post Office had got in on the act, and was providing hot cups of soup
for late birdwatchers, but a cryptic message on his blackboard had me
disbelieving; it said: "Black-billed Cuckoo in Police garden on St. Mary's".
I was sure that this was some kind of joke, until I realised that there were
very few people watching the Nighthawk, and when the special boat left at
dusk for St. liary's, I realised that most must have left on another boat
chartered specially for the occasion. Thiswas indeed the case, and had seen
the errant Cuckoo, which had appeared two days earlier, but had then gone to
ground, and all the experts were quite sure that it had died, as all
American cuckoos seem to do, most sooner rather than later - no-one is quite
sure why, it was indeed disporting itself in the Police garden in Hugh Town:

I felt that I had obviously tried to cram too many American birds into
one day and was doomed to miss something; the weather was appalling during
that night, with driving wind and rain, and 1 was quite sure that the
Cuckoo would be found the following day " under a bush with its feet up",
as they says The following day, Saturday, was my last day on the islands
and it dawned fine, sunny and warm, as if to mock mee Down in the town
there were a number of long faces, especially those who had come over to
the islands for the day (oh, yes, they do that too:) hoping that the
Cuckoo was still to be seen. There was no sign, however, so I presumed that
it had died, and went off to other parts of the island to spend my last hour
or so before the helicopter flight to Penzance, Just by chance (or was
it good luck?) I came back to Hugh Town, and was told: "It's on view"; I
didn't need to be told what was on view - I nipped round the back of a row
of cottages in a flash, and there was a small group of people watching a
Tather woebegone Cuckoo gulping hairy caterpillars and then looking rather
dozy; Il gather that it was found dead the following day....

It was then a quick dash to the airfield for the afternoon flight, the
ticket for which I could have sold several times over, or demanded, and
obtained three times the price for it, as a Chimney Swift, which had never
been seen in Europe before, had been reported near Porthgwarra, the South-
Western tip of Cornwall. Pinning down a Swift would sound like an impossible
task, but birds are creatures of habit, and if they like a particular spot,
they will stick to it.

So, elated with my last-minute discovery of the Black-Billed Cuckoo, I
returned to Penzance on the helicopter, the next question being -how to arrange
transport to Porthgwarra, which was about seven miles from the town.

Getting there was one thing, getting back could be sorted out later: As luck
would have it, a colleague, with his car at Penzance had room for myself
and luggage, so we went out to the spot considered most likely to afford a
decent view of any aerial movement, and waited patiently for what seemed
an age, relieved by the necessity of transferring my luggage to another
friend's car, then by a Pallas's Warbler, a tiny mite from Siberia,
skipping through the Sallows in the valley floor. By 6 p.m., there were
only about 20 of us left, and I had made up my mind to stick it out until
dusk, colleague and his wife permitting, when a cry went up, "Swift", and
there flying towards us down the valley, was a small cigar-shaped bird that
was very definitely a Swift of sorts. What's more, there were two of them

and one birder shouted "It's the one on the left+" whereupon someone else

shouted: "The one on the right is one too." and the whole valley erupted
with exclamations of disbelief. The birds put up a superb flying display,

before eventually flying back up the valley, after having flown within

- 13-

ten feet of us, as we stood there, watching in amazement. Never had I
expected to witness the first occurence in Europe of two North American
birds of the same species, simultaneouslys A once-in-a-lifetime experience ...

1983 I shall always recall as the year of the siege, or rather dock
strike. Proposed new manning arrangements, with ''versatility" in the West
of England ports, had led to the Penzance dockers refusing to load the ships
in port at the time. This of course included the "Scillonian", and I only
found out about this problem, being off the beaten track, I suppose, the
day before I was due to travel, due to a chance remark from a colleague who
knew of my mad exploits in October each year. We had to make an emergency
booking by a special flight from Fenzance, leaving at 7.10 a.m. It was quite
eerie taking off from lenzance heliport in the dark, but more was to follow.
We found that basic supplies were rationed on St. hary's and fortunately I
had taken the trouble to put nine loaves in my holdall before leaving home,
plus a few other basic necessities, and these proved invaluable. hilk was
hard to come by later in the first week, but the islanders were nothing if
not resourceful, being a hardy race, and so most folks managed to cope.

Tony Soper was filming on the islands at the time, and the plane he had
chartered, known in some quarters as "i.amikaze", was kept busy ferrying film
crews in one direction, and crammed with fruit and vegetables to the islands
in the others The "Scillonian'' sailed very infrequently during the fortnight,
and with no supplies at all (normally it provides the islands’ main lifeline).
Passengers also had to handle all their own luggage. Finally, on the last
Friday morning I was there, she sailed for her annual refit direct to Falmouth,
and the hapless passengers on board had to make their own way to Penzance
where they had their cars parked: The locals were furious, as they had

only been told of this unscheduled trip at 5.30 the previous evening, and

had had no time to make any arrangements for travel, stores, or anything

else for that matters Altogether, quite a pantomine, and a very interesting
fortnight.

The birds lived up to the usual expectations, with another ‘first' for
the Western Palearctic, a Cliff Swallow. The sequence of events leading
up to my seeing this bird was hilarious; I was in the flat cooking and had
slipped out the back door for a few seconds to put some rubbish in the
dustbin; I heard the front door go, and someone mumbling something about
"the Garrison" which is part of the ancient fortifications on the South West
side of the main island. When I returned to the kitchen, my assistant cook
had deserted, three of the hobs had vegetables cooking, which I turned off,
as there was no-one to ask what had happened: The lounge had the television
still on, but no-one watching so I switched that off; the front door was
swinging on its hinges, so rapid had been the exodus of the other seven
inmates, and it was then rather like following the Fied Piper of Hamelin or
being one of the Gaderine swine, both speeded up about five times. One
passer-by described the bird as a Cliff Swift, of which 1 had no knowledge,
but everyone was running in the direction of the Garrison, so I followed
the mobs;one individual had just come out of his bath dripping wet and was
running partially clothed down the main street, but everyone was obviously
enjoying the anticipation of seeing a bird of which many of them had never
heard before: Anyway, the bird was there, flying low over the heads of about
300 delighted watchers, most of whom were fully clothed, I might add, and so
we went back glowing warmly, to a late supper that evening ....

Another incident, worth repeating,was the way in which a Parula Warbler,
another American vagrant, was enticed out from its normal spot on St. Agnes.
It frequented a couple of fields where it could not be seen from the main
path, and two of the more experienced birders got permission to go into the
fields, and played a recording of a Screech Owl (American Bird of course).
The effect was electric; the Warbler shot out of its normal haunt into a
smell orchard where most people watching could see it, albeit momentarily.
The tameness of Arctic American birds, especially waders, sometimes has
to be seen to be believed, and when 1 saw a group of watchers on a path
on Tresco looking down with binoculars close to the path I crept up

a Ie =

quietly and whispered to enquire what they were looking at. There, about
six feet away, and out of focus, was ea Solitary Sendpiper, feeding in a
small muddy puddle, quite unconcerned by the fuss being made, and the fact
that it was almost surrounded by birders: But the most incredible example
of this tameness was shown by an Upland Sandpiper. By now I had got used

to extraordinary events on the islands, and had had a Song Thrush eating
crumbs from my lunch out of the hand on St. Agnes, but I did not believe
what I was hearing, so I had to see for myself. An Upland Sandpiper,
another North Amcrican wader, had arrived some days previously and flown
around St. liary's before finding a favourite spot, a field near the

island's hospital, where it was finding grubs anc worms in the grass.

After a few days, it hac become so approachable that one worthy decided to
try and offer it a juicy wom, which it came and inspected, and then took
from his hands This then became a pastime, and "feeding the Sandpiper"
wes an interesting way of passing e spare quarter-of-an-hour or so between
"bird spots" on the main island, observing an exceedingly rare bird at very
close quarters. Eventually it got so fat that it could hardly move, and then
sufferec the final indignity of mouth-to-mouth feeding with yet another worm
by someone with e new idea:

One final thought - it is sometimes difficult to get away from the crowds
when there are a number of rarities one wishes to see, but when you
eventually find a secluded spot (and this is quite easy to do if a conscious
effort is made) and then you don't see anyone for an hour or two, a sort of
panic can creep over you, and the inevitable question is asked: “where's
everyone else?" The chances aré that they are looking at some rerity or
other that you don't know about, and I could recoumt details of one or
two occasions thet this has happened to me eece

Dut enough is enough; I hope that 1 have given you some idea of the
extraordinary phenomena that occur in the work of natural history and
especially in that twitcher’s paradise, the Isles of Scilly. 1 hear that
the American birdwatching is up to standard again, and I am sure you will
see why I am looking forward with pleasant anticipation to going there
again tomorrow.

Thank you for listening.

= TS

Presidential Address 1985
Fungus Facts, Fictions and Fancies.
Alan Brickstock.

"No Fad or Hobby
is esteemed so contemptible
as that o£
Fungus Hunter
or
Toadstool Eater'

W. Di. Hay, British Fungi, 1687.

Honey fungus (Armillaria mellea).

Pungi are very ancient organisms, going back about 400 million years,
compared to 600 My for Blue/Green Algae, 300 My for Mosses and Conifers,
and less than 100 My for flowering plants. They differ from flowering
plants, trees, etc. in several ways; in particular they have no chlorophyll
and so cannot photosynthesise. Consequently they either parasitise living
Organisms - plants, trees, animals etc., or they are saprophytes, living
off dead and decaying matter.

There have been many strange explanations for the appearance of fungi. The
ancient Romans and Egyptians believed that they were formed where lightning
struck the earth. They have frequently been declared to be ‘earthie
excrescences’ or ‘evil ferments of the earth', formed by a reaction between
the earth and some evil, supernatural agency.

North European folklore tells us that as the god Odin rode through the sky
on stormy nights, pursued by devils, blood-flecked foam fell from the mouth
of his horse and where it struck the earth, red and white mushrooms grew.

Periodic fungal ravages in agriculture were attributed to the wrath of the
gods, and the Romans even had a god of rusts, Robigus.

The reasons for these and many other beliefs probably stemmed from the
rapid appearance of fungi, apparently from nowhere, their liking for damp,
Gark places, frequently in conjunction with decaying matter - light has
little effect on their growth, although some species may require it for
spore formation -— and their apparent lack of seeds or any other means of
reproductive process. Their spores, the analogue of seeds, are much too
small to be seen with the naked eye, and only with the advent of the high
powered microscope in the seventeenth century was their existence
discovered.

“Mould and Mushrooms require no seminal property, but the former may be
produced at any time from any kind of putrifying Animal or Vegetable
substance.’ - Robert Hooke, ‘Micrographia' 1665.

Also , many had no visible ‘roots': Theophrastes, a pupil of Aristotle, in
320 B.C. observed that truffles had ‘neither root, stem, branch, bud, leaf,
flower, nor fruit', and Jerome Bock, in 1552, believed that fungi and
truffles were ‘merely the superfluous moisture of the earth, of trees, of
rotten wood, and of other rotting things'.

Incidentally, it is now known that the reason why sows were used so
successfully to search out and dig for truffles is that truffles contain a

St ee

steroid which 1S a male sex pheromone, not only for pigs, but also for
humans. So presumably women should be good at finding truffles!

Fungus spores are “minute, “ot -the “order “of a “few microns an size; y the
largest only about one thousandth of an inch in diameter. They show a great
variety in size, shape, texture and colour. Most keys for identifying fungi
start from the colour of the spores, which can be found by taking an
overnight spore-print, but which can, unfortunately, rarely be told in the
field. Spores are produced in vast numbers: a three inch mushroom can
produce something like two thousand million spores, occupying about a
quarter of a occ, and a giant puffball can produce about seven million
million, occupying about half a litre. Despite their minute size, the
spores of the latter, placed side to side, would girdle the earth!

The names Toadstool and Mushroom are very confusSing and have been used in
all sorts of different ways: for example, Mushrooms are the edible species,
all others are poisonous Toadstools; sometimes the name Mushroom is used to
refer to only the cultivated species, and so on.

In ‘The Grete Herball' of 1526 we find:

‘There be two manners of them, one manner is deedly and slayeth them
that eateth of them and be called tode stooles, and the other doeth
not. They that be not deedly haue a grosse gleymy slimy moysture that
is dysobedyent to nature and dygestyon, and be peryllous and dredfull
to eate, and therefore it is good to eschew them.’

The name toadstool may have arisen because toads were thought to be
venomous and creatures of the Devil, and since fungi were all thought to be
evil and poisonous, they were obviously closely associated.

Dioscorides, in the first century A.D., ascribed the poisonous nature of
fungi to the breath of serpents, and as late as 1597, Gerard, in his
Herbal, suggested that rather than being intrinsically poisonous, mushrooms
absorbed any noxious substances present near them.

The association of fungi with witchcraft and malevolent powers iS
reflected in the common names for some of them: Witches butter, Devil's
Snuipi-bDox, “tammy Clubs, farry cups, Larry rangs etc.

Fairy Rings have for centuries engendered many curious beliefs:

In England they were thought to be the paths where fairies danced, and to
bring good luck to houses built where they appeared. French peasants would
not enter the rings because enormous toads with bulging eyes lived there.
In Sweden anyone entering a ring came under the control of fairies. In
Germany the bare part of a ring marked where a glowing dragon had rested,
Or it was made by witches dancing on Walpurgis night. In Holland it was
thought that cows grazing in the rings would give milk which would make bad
butter.

Many believed the rings contained buried treasure, which could only be
found with the aid of fairies or witches. They were also thought to be
generated by subterranean vapours, breathed out from the earth as smoke
rings.

The true reason for the growth of fungus rings, although less romantic
than these beliefs, 1S nevertheless very interesting. A ring starts from a
spore, which begins to send mycelium outwards in all directions. Mycelium
does two things to grass. Firstly it liberates nitrogenous salts which
fertilise the grass, leading to a bright green circle. Secondly, it begins
to feed on the grass and eventually kills it, leading to a brown patch in
the centre of the ring. As the mycelium continues to spread outwards, at a
rate between 3 and 15 inches a year, the fungus in the centre begins to use
up all the available food, and to die off. Eventually the dead mycelium
itself decays and once more liberates nitrogenous salts. Grass seeds can
germinate again at the centre of the ring to produce a fresh, bright green
centre. So now we have a bright green centre, a ring where the grass iS
more or less dead and the fungus fruits appear, and an outer bright green
ring where the grass is being fertilised. Meeting rings never Cross,
although new rings often start in the centre of old ones.

——————
= _

on Se

If left undisturbed, rings can continue to grow for many years; some rings
are believed to be two or three centuries old.

A number of common fungi grow in rings. The commonest iS Marasmius
oreades, which 1s edible and can easily be dried and stored, regaining its
consistency when soaked. However, beware poisonous white Clitocybe species
which sometimes grow mixed in these rings.

Other species forming rings include the very large Clitocybe gigantea. I
used to know one ring of this species which was over 30 yards across, with
individual fungi as big as dinner plates. Even in mid summer it was visible
as a broad brown ring in the vegetation.

One of the more horrifying afflictions of the middle ages, prevalent in
Northern Europe, was the Holy Fire or St. Anthony's Fire. The symptoms of
this included an agonising burning sensation in the limbs, followed by
gangrene, with fingers, toes and even limbs falling off. One form of the
disease lead to convulsions and madness. An outbreak in Aquitaine, France,
in 944 A.D. is said to have killed over 40,000 people.

For centuries it was believed to be a divine punishment for sin and
Gebauchery. Not until the end of the nineteenth century was it shown to be
Que to poisoning by a fungus called Ergot. This grows on many grasses, but
especially on rye; outbreaks of the poisoning are caused when infected
grain is used for bread making. Modern grain cleaning and milling methods
have practically eliminated the disease, but there was an outbreak in
Russia in 1926, one in Manchester in 1928 and as late as 1951 there was an
outbreak at Pont-Saint Esprit in France, with several deaths. There is no
Known cure.

For a long time Ergot was regarded as just a malformation of the grain.
Baron Otto von Munchausen recognised it as a fungus in 1764, Dut this
assertion was disputed as late as 1837, when Rennie in his ‘New Supplement’
Geclared that he had ‘ascertained beyond doubt that it 1S an exudation
caused by the puncture of an insect - namely Aphis graminis'.

Spores from Ergot land on the grass or grain stigmas and send mycelial
strands down into the ovaries, eventually producing hard, purplish-black
fungal growths called sclerotia. The name Ergot is derived from the French
*Argot', a cock'sS spur, which is shaped like these growths. Sclerotia over-—
winter on the ground, and in the spring produce tiny, pinkish fruiting
bodies called stromata, which produce spores, ready to infect new grain.

Ergot contains LSD as well as various alkaloids. Because of its ability to
produce muscular contractions, it has for at least four centuries been
used, in controlled doses, to accelerate childbirth and to_ control
haemorrhage after birth; references to its obstetric use go back as far as
1582.

Wnen infected grain is harvested, much of the Ergot falls to the ground,
and cattle subsequently grazing in the field may eat enough of it to cause
abortion or death.

Fungi are responsible for decomposing dead animal and vegetable matter of
all kinds. They are able to break down the cellulose of which plants are
built. Recently it has been shown that one common white-rot fungus, at
least, (Phanerochaete chrysosporium is able to decompose even persistent
environmental poisons such as DDT, Dioxin and PCB's.

Estimates of the number of fungus species in the world vary between about
85,000 and about 250,000. Of these about 3,000 to 6,000 are to be found in
Britain. They range in size from the giant Puffball, which can attain a
metre in diameter, to microscopic species too small to be seen with the
naked eye. They include mushrooms, bracket fungi on trees, moulds on jam,
yeasts, rusts on potatoes and on many other plants; some lead to the
production of antibiotics such as penicillin, and others produce diseases
such aS ringworm, athletes foot and many others. Fungi of some species or
other are able to grow in almost any environment. For example fungal growth
on lenses of cameras and binoculars etc. 1S a serious problem in regions of
high humidity.

=) Wee =

It 1s tempting to think of the visible fungus as the analogue of a ‘plant’
and the mycelium which spreads through the medium on which the fungus is
growing as the analogue of the ‘roots'. However this is misleading: the
visible fungus is the fruit and the mycelium is the ‘plant'. The fruiting
body forms below the surface, as a bud among the mycelial strands. When
conditions are right, it rapidly absorbs moisture, swells and breaks
through the surface. A large fruiting body may grow in a few days or even
hours. Individual fungi can essentially live for ever, as long as suitable
conditions are maintained: there may be fungi that have lived for thousands
of years, if left undisturbed.

Some species are very specific to particular hosts - plants, trees,
animals, pine needles etc.- others are normally found on one host, but may
appear on others. Some, such as the Honey Fungus, will attack virtually any
living tree and many other plants as well, almost invariably killing the
host. This species produces thick black rhizomorphs, or ‘boot-—laces', which
spread through the victim's sap channels, eventually causing death when all
the channels are blocked.

Fungi do not always destroy their host. Some form what is called
*‘Mycorhiza’ with the roots of plants, benefitting both parasite and host.
Many Orchids will not grow without the appropriate fungal partner.

Plant-—fungus symbiosis can significantly improve the growth rate of many
species of plants, especially on poor soils. Already many millions of Pine-
seedlings are being treated with culture-grown mycelium in the United
States.

Pungi have been used for many different purposes. Some mystical cults have
worshiped species such as the Mexican ‘magic mushroom'. The Fly Agaric has
been used not only for killing flies, Dut also as an intoxicant and to give
Nalucinogenic ‘trips'. Other species have been used as razor strops, for
Mounting insects etc. Puff balls were once dried and used to staunch
bleeding, especially nose-bleeds, as well as being used as tinder; Gerard
says of them ‘In Givers parts of England, where people dwell farre from
neighbours, they carry them kindled with fire, which lasteth long’. But
surely one of the most bizarre uses is quoted by Culpeper:

‘Te Laplanders have a method of using Toadstools ... to cure pains. They
collect the largest funguses which they find on the bark of beech and other
large trees, and dry them for use. Whenever they have pains in their limbs,
they use some of this dry matter; pulling it to pieces with their fingers,
they lay a small heap of it on the part nearest to where the pain is
situated, and set it on fire. In burning away, it blisters up the part, and
the water discharged thereby generally carries off the pain. It is a course
and rough method, but generally a very successful one; especially when the
patient has prudence enough to apply it in time, and resolution enough to
bear the burning to a necessary degree' (!).

There are common names for relatively few fungi, and these vary greatly
not only from one country to another, but also locally within countries.
Worse still, the same name is sometimes given to different fungi. For this
reason it is best to stick to Latin names, although even here there is
considerable confusion with some species, stemming partially from several
people finding and naming them independently, and partially from lack of
knowledge about them and exactly what characteristics place them in
particular families; species are not infrequently moved from one family to
another.

Of the 3,000 or so British species, about a couple of dozen of the
‘larger' fungi are ‘edible and excellent', something like a couple of dozen
are seriously poisonous. About half a dozen of the latter are deadly, with
no reliable antidote, if any. The vast majority are inedible in the sense
that they range from being not worth eating to being violently unpleasant
to eat; for example the taste can be so unpleasant as to make one sick,
without cauSing any other harm - this is not the same as being poisonous.

«= TOS —

Euripides, in the fifth century B.C., was visiting Icarus when

‘a woman, her maiden daughter and two grown sons were ‘strangled' by
the eating of fungi which they had gathered. All four died in one
Gay'.

In ‘Castel of Helthe'’ (1533) Elyot warns:
“Beware of musherons...and all other things which will soon putrifie'.

Jonn Gerard in 1597 said:
‘,..they are all very cold and moist and therefore to approach unto a
venemous and murthering facultie and ingender a Clammy, pituitous, and
cold nutriment if they be eaten. To conclude, few of them are good to
be eaten, and most of them do suffocate and strangle the eater’.

Francis Bacon in ‘Sylva Sylvarum' of 1627:
*.,.Musnromes are a venereous meat’.

However, over most of the European continent fungi of many species are
eaten in vast quantities. Over 30 species are sold commercially in France,
ang in the fungus market in Munich, over 300 species are licensed to be
sold.

Tere are many so-called rules or tests for distinguishing edible from
poisonous fungi.

In the first century A.D. Pliny said:

‘“,..some of the poisonous kinds are easily known by a dilute red
colour, a loathsome aspect, and internally by a livid hue; they have
gaping cracks and a pale 11ip around the margin'. (!)

However, this isn't very useful. Neither is the assertion that fungi
growing near to serpent's dens are poisonous !.

There are many more specific tests for edible fungi, and with one
exception all of them are quite useless. The Death Cap, Amanita phalloides,
and the rarer Destroying Angel (Amanita virosa) and Spring Amanita (Amanita
verna) which account for 90 to 935 % of all deaths from fungus poisoning,
Pass all the tests for edibility! - they even taste good!. But don't try
tasting these species!.

The extreme toxicity of these three Amanita species cannot be over-
stressed. Even a small part of one specimen can be fatal; all parts, even
the spores, are toxic. A characteristic of Amanita poisoning is that there
are no symptoms for several hours, perhaps as long as 24 hours, and by then
it is too late: death takes several agonising days.

Among the so-called ‘rules' are:
(1) All poisonous fungi are brightly coloured - the Destroying Angel is

white!

(2) All poisonous fungi are viscid, smell foetid, have a sharp, bitter
taste, exude ‘milk' when broken - Amanitas have none of these
characteristics.

(3) Blacken a silver coin or spoon cooked with them - the Death Cap does

not; Badham in his ‘Treatise on the Esculent Funguses of England’
showed that this was false over a century ago, but Mrs. Beeton
mentions it and it is still widely believed.

(4) Other substances used in place of silver to test for poisonous fungi
include gold, iron, tin, onions, garlic cloves, bread-crumbs etc.
Amanitas do not change the colour of any of these.

(5) Poisonous fungi turn salt yellow. Amanitas do not.

(6) Poisonous fungi become brightly coloured when cut - Amanitas stay
white.

(7) Poisonous fungi don't peel, edible ones do - the Death Cap peels
easily.

(8) Poisonous fungi cause milk or egg white to coagulate, those that do
not are edible - no!

(9) Fungi smelling 1ike flour are edible - Entoloma sinuatum, which could
be mistaken for a mushroom, smells like flour and is dangerously

poisonous!
(10) Fungi eaten by deer, badger, squirrel, rabbit, Slug, snail etc. are
edible - all these creatures can eat many substances toxic to man,

without ill effect.

(11) The old practice of soaking fungi in water with salt and vinegar
sometimes, but by no means always, renders them safe to eat - but not
with the Death Cap. In any case it ruins their flavour, and so is
quite useless.

Finally two quite ludicrous ones:

(12) Spring fungi are edible -— not so the Spring Amanita!

(13) Late autumn fungi are edible - most fungi grow in late autumn,
including the Death Cap!

Never eat fungi that are not young and fresh; even edible species, when
decomposing, can be toxic, as can be many other foods. The toxicity of some
species can vary with ecological conditions or with geographic location. In
addition, some people are allergic to fungi normally considered edible, as
some are allergic to many other foods.

The mushrooms Agaricus xanthoderma (‘Yellow stainer') and Agaricus
placomyces can be eaten without ill effect by many people. In other people
they can cause coma, but without lasting ill effect - Friar Laurence and
Juliet ?. Did Shakespeare know his fungi ?.

Despite the failure of all these commonly believed tests, the dislike or
loathing of most British people for fungi - ‘Oh my God, come away from him'
has been said to children inspecting my fungus basket - helps to keep the
number of fatalities in Britain low. However the vast increase of interest
in fungi over recent years could well result in a great increase in this
total, unless fungus eaters learn to identify their specimens correctly.

As a passing thought, why do so many people expect an infallible test for
the edibility of fungi to exist ? — what about a test for fruits or berries
or leaves?.

There is only one certain test for edibility of fungi, or for anything
else for that matter, and for the benefit of posterity it is essential to
reliably record the species before trying this test!.

Never eat fungi on the basis of a negative identification: ‘It isn't any
of the poisonous species so it must be OK to eat' iS a recipe for disaster.
Remember that you may only live to make one mistake.

Identification simply from a picture in a book is notoriously unreliable.
There are many books on fungi, and illustrations in them differ to a most
extraordinary degree. Sometimes this is due to age or abnormal variations
in a specimen, and many species are normally very variable; Sometimes
colours are badly printed. Read the text, test as many features as
possible, check the habitat. If uncertain, don't eat it!. In the end, the
only real way to identify fungi is by long experience, with the guidance of
more experienced members of that contemptible band of fungus hunters or
toadstool eaters.

BUT - There is more to fungi than eating them!. They are equally as varied
and fascinating as wild flowers and fill in the late autumn and early
winter days, when flowers are scarce. They are much more variable as
regards when and where they appear than most flowers, so there is always
the uncertainty of which species will be found in even the best-known area,
with a real chance of rare finds. Once the initial hard work of starting to
identify some of them has passed, they are as addictive and time-consuming
as any other Natural History pursuit, but I can think of few more enjoyable
ways to spend my time.

Note. Alert readers may have noticed numerous uses of common names, where
I did not use them in my talk. This is to avoid having to disfigure my text
with too many compulsory underlinings of scientific names.

A ol

Lavell's Lake Conservation Area

Dinton Pastures
Paul Andrew

The site was purchased in 1982 by Wokingham District Council (grant aided
by the Countryside Commission). Te is an area of 32 acres, of which
about half is water. It is bounded to the north and east by the Emm
Brook, and to the south by the River Loddon. The dominant vegetation
is rough grassland with invasion by Alder.

The area is important from the natural history aspect because of the
following factors:-

a. It contains a number of known breeding species of birds and a number
of possible species. Those known to have bred include great-crested
grebe, mute swan, Canada geese, mallard, gadwall (the only regularly
used site in Berkshire), kestrel, pheasant, moorhen, coot, little
ringed plover, stock dove, wood pigeon, wren, dunnock, robin, black-
bird, sedge warbler, reed warbler, blackcap, willow warbler, long-
tailed tit, treecreeper, carrion crow, starling and reed bunting.

It is suspected that other species which nest include turtle dove,
blue tit, great tit, chaffinch, greenfinch and goldfinch. King-
fishers may possibly have bred but there is no proof of this.

b. The area is important for birds in two other aspects:-

i. as a wintering roost, particularly in the Hawthorn copse at the
northern end;

ii. as a refuge for wildfowl which have been disturbed by the sailing
which takes place at the adjoining Country Park.

c. The rough grassland is very good for breeding and feeding butter-
flies. Common blue, gatekeeper, meadown brown, large skipper and
small heath are all abundant, whilst it is possible that clouded
yellow bred in 1983.

d. About ten species of dragon and damselfly breed, the most noteworthy
being Sympetrum sanguineum (Ruddy darter).

e. The banks of the Emm Brook hold clumps of Loddon Lily, which is
locally quite common but nationally very rare.

In 1984 it was designated a Conservation Area by Wokingham District
Council, and a "friends'! organisation was set up soon afterwards to raise
funds for management work to be carried out and to create a forum from
which there could be both ingoing and outgoing information about the area.
A nominal fee is asked for membership, which really only covers mailing
and information sheets during the year, but it is extremely important
that as large a membership as possible is maintained to demonstrate to
the Council that there is great support for the site. Further details
can be obtained from the Secretary (F.0.L.L.), c/o Dinton Pastures Country
Park, Davis Street, Hurst, Reading RGI1O OTH.

Since its designation there has been a flurry of activity on the physical
Management side. A muddy scrape was dug almost immediately at the
northern end, of about one acre in size, particularly to attract passage
wading birds. This has proved very popular with certain dragonfly
species, particularly Orthetrum cancellatum (Black-tailed skimmer).
Chestnut fences were also erected to restrict access around the northern
side of the Lake in the hope that the undisturbed areas may play host
to even more wildlife. This particular part held a bittern for three
months earlier this year, which undoubtedly relished the quieter
conditions provided and often showed itself very well to the birders on
the other side of the fence.

The large island (left by the gravel company after extractions in the
1970s) has had north-south-east-west hedges planted to provide cover for
small birds and insects, whilst tit boxes have also been erected, and
dragonfly pits dug.

ma Dies

Floating islands, covered in shingle, have been anchored out in the Lake,
hopefully attracting further little ringed plovers and common terns to
breed, and provide loafing sites for ducks in the winter.

Typha has selectively been removed from certain areas and replaced with
Phragmites to encourage more nesting birds. Large stands of Typha will
be left as it is preferred for ovipositing by certain dragonfly species.

The hawthorn copse will be opened up to more light very soon to promote
more vigorous growth and increase the diversity of breeding birds.

The area of long rank vegetation in the south-east corner of the reserve
will be cut down and kept shorter than before (possibly by grazing) to
see if new species of flowers will come through, with the possible help
from introductions from the Dinton Pastures wildflower nursery.

Further tree planting is envisaged in the future, whilst the provision
of two hides is well under way.

Hopefully, this site will continue to flourish in the future, but it
desperately needs your support, so please get in touch with the "friends"
and join today!

Practical work on the reserve has been carried out in the main by the
Manpower Services Commission scheme based at Dinton Pastures Country Park,
but also by Berkshire Conservation Volunteers, and the Friends of Lavell's
Lake themselves!

Lavell's Lake adjoins Dinton Pastures and the entrance is in Sandford
Lane, Hurst. OVS SU 781 792.

Our congratulations to Emma Cox on winning the schools' poster award.

Her entry concerned ecology of the seashore. She will receive a copy
of Studies in Biology and Kendrick School will receive a cheque for £75.

Well done Emma!

A

us) a

Caddis flies (Trichoptera)
M Ian Crichton BSc PhD

(Department of Pure and Applied Zoology, University of Reading )

Caddis larvae with transportable cases are familiar inhabitants of ponds
and streams, but those which do not construct cases are less often seen.
Even less familiar are the other stages in the life cycle of these
insects. In recent years new publications on our British species have
become available so that it is possible now to name most larvae and
adults. These should stimulate interest in this rather neglected group
of insects.

The latest check-list of the Trichoptera of Britain and Ireland (Barnard,
1985) lists 199 species and includes useful information on recent name
changes, corrections of previous publications and a good bibliography.
Itis an essential starting point for anyone wishing to become acquainted
with our native species.

The pioneering work of Norman Hickin on caddis larvae was triggered off
by the suggestion in 1937 from N D Riley of the British Museum (Natural
History) that he should describe the larvae and rear them through to the
adults which could then be identified. Hickin was at that time looking
for a research topic; as a dedicated naturalist and skilful artist he
was the ideal person for such a study. His Forest Refreshed (1965) is
the story of his development from a small boy fascinated by insects to a
professional entomologist. The first of his long series of descriptions
of caddis larvae, in the Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society
of London, appeared in 1942, and the work culminated in the volume Caddis
Larvae in 1967, with a wealth of information and beautiful drawings.

Thus he made it possible for us to name about 60% of the British species.
Mostof the remaining species have since been described by entomologists
who started their research under Normal Philipson at the University of
Newcastle upon Tyne or under John Edington at University College, Cardiff.
The caseless caddis larvae are now covered in a useful key by Edington

& Hildrew (1981), to be followed by one on the case-building species by
Phidipson & Wallace, in the same series from the Freshwater Biological
Association. Thus, the naturalist taking up the study of caddis larvae,
or the ecologist coming to the group from other fields, can now name
larvae without difficulty.

It should be remembered that almost a quarter of our British caddis do
not build the distinctive transportable cases. Some spin silk nets which
collect their food in streams, others make galleries on rocks, while
others are active predacious larvae. Then there are the tiny
Hydroptilidae (31 species) which build cases only in their final instar.
Caddislarvae, with their diversity of habit and feeding, play a vital
part in the food webs of freshwater habitats. They may be indicators
of pollution levels and are of increasing importance in studies of water
quality and in the supply of unpolluted water. Mention may be made also
of Enoicyla pusilla, the only British species whose larvae are not aquatic.
They build a transportable case of sand grains and vegetable fragments
and feed on leaf litter and moss around the bases of trees; both larvae
and pupae are truly terrestrial. It was found over 100 years ago in
Worcestershire, and re-discovered by Hickin's younger daughter in 1957
when she found the larvae crawling around their tent in the Wyre Forest.
Recent collecting shows that it extends beyond the Wyre Forest, from the
north of Herefordshire to the outskirts of Birmingham. Perhaps diligent
search will turn it up in other parts of the country.

Adult caddis flies are retiring sombre-coloured insects, which at rest
hold their wings in a characteristic roof-like manner over the body.

They are usually found near water, but are not often seen because they
are mostly night-flyers. However, on suitable warm humid nights,
especially in autumn, the larger limnephilids fly actively and may be

et ee

caught at lighted windows or in light traps far from water. I have run
a light trap in my garden in Mortimer every night for 20 years up to the
end of 1984, as part of the Rothamsted Insect Survey, and have caught

in it 1101 caddis flies, belonging to 51 species. This represents a
quarter of our British list, from an essentially dry area with the nearest
pond about half a mile away. I have also been operating a light trap

at intervals since 1952 by the side of the 8} acre Millbarn Pond, near
Mortimer (Crichton, 1960). This has yielded immense numbers of caddis,
belonging to a total of 73 species, most of which must have emerged from
the pond or the outflowing stream. Continuous collections from light
traps in the Rothamsted Insect Survey over a number of years have made

it possible to construct histograms of the flight periods of many species
and thus deduce the pattern of life cycles.

Most caddis flies are active in the summer and autumn months, when they
find their mates and lay eggs. The leptocerids, of slender build and
with excessively long antennae, may often be seen in swarming flight in
the daytime over streams and ponds or adjacent vegetation. Members of
other families fly mainly in the evening or at night. The Limnephilidae,
with 59 species in Britain, are of medium to large size and may disperse
far from the water in which they have developed. From an analysis of
light trap records (Crichton, 1971) they may be grouped according to their
flight periods as follows:-

1. those which may be found from spring through to the autumn, and

normally spend part of this time in a resting diapause;

2. those found for a shorter time in spring and summer, without a

diapause;

3. those found only in the autumn, without a diapause.

The limnephilids of the first group are of interest because their habit
would appear to have evolved as an adaptation to temporary waters, so
that the adults are resting in vegetation while their streams and ponds
are dry. They become active again in response to the shortening days
of autumn when they lay their eggs on warm and often wet nights. If
kept in the laboratory under artificial long day conditions their gonads
do not mature and they will remain in diapause for months. Practially
all our limnephilids lay their eggs in a mass of jelly on leaves above,
or very close to water. These egg masses can resist dry conditions for
many weeks. With the coming of rain the jelly becomes more liquid and
may extend as a long hanging drop, with the larvae collected at the bottom
until they slip out into the water below. When a stream is completely
dried out the flies will still lay their egg masses on leaves above the
stream bed, and not elsewhere.

A total of 105 species of caddis flies had been recored in the County
of Berkshire up to 1959 (Crichton, Baker & Hanna, 1956, 1957; ° Crichvoa
& Baker, 1959). No comprehensive list for Berkshire has been published
since then, and there is no doubt that a keen naturalist could find many
more in the field. For those collectors wishing to know more about the
distribution of caddis flies in Britain, Dr I D Wallace (County Museums
Department, William Brown Street, Liverpool L3 8EN) is working on the
10km square system of the Biological Records Centre. He would be pleased
to give advice and to have records.

The identification of adult caddis flies was fairly well covered in The
British caddis flies (Mosely, 1939), but there was not enough information
to name many of the females. Since then, D E Kimmins of the British
Museum (Natural History) has filled many of the gaps, and species can
be named, without too much difficulty, from Macan's key (1973) published
by the Freshwater Biological Association. This should be used in
conjunction with Barnard's 1985 Check-list.

During the past two decades an interesting development in entomology has
been the emergence of groups of workers with a special interest in a
single order, or even a family, of insects. They have set up organisa-—

ApS eS

tions to arrange periodic symposia or working parties, or to produce news-
letters. Perhaps this has happened because of the ever-increasing
complexity and extent of entomological knowledge, and the sheer cost and
size of the big entomological congresses. This has happened, for example,
with the Odonata (dragon flies), the Ephemeroptera (mayflies), the
Neuroptera (lace wings, etc.), the Siphonaptera (fleas), and for such
families as the Ceratopogonidae (midges), the Chironomidae (non-biting
midges) and the Carabidae (ground beetles). It has happened also for
the Trichoptera, thanks to the initiative of Hans Malicky in Austria. He
organised the lst International Symposium on Trichoptera at the
Biologische Station Lunz, in the mountains west of Vienna, in September
1974. It was attended by 39 workers from 17 countries, from as far
afield as the USA and Australia. It set the pattern of a week crowded
with papers and discussions, collecting trips in the field, and social
gatherings. Reading came next in 1977, then Perugia in Italy in 1980,
Clemson in South Carolina, USA, in 1983, and now we look forward to Lyons
in France for 1986. Each time we meet old friends who have been active
in the symposia from the beginning, and new faces from new countries,
making a total of 77 participants at Clemson, '... the largest gathering
of trichopterologists in history'. The published Proceedings have grown
from the 31 papers at Lunz to 59 papers in the bulky volume for Clemson.
This activity is a good example of the way in which science breaks down
international barriers. We have had people from Bulgaria, Hungary,
Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, but they are only a
handful of those working on Trichoptera behind the Iron Curtain. We
have had none from Russia, the Indian sub-continent or the Far East.
Thus we make progress in the study of a fascinating and important group
of insects, and we enjoy doing it.

References

Barnard, P C (1985) An annotated check-list of the Trichoptera of Britain
and Ireland. Entomologist's Gaz., 36: 31-45.

Crichton, M I (1960) A study of captures of Trichoptera in a light trap
near Reading, Berkshire. Trans Ro ent. Sees Wondi. 5; V2 2 39-34

- (1971) A study of caddis flies (Trichoptera) of the family Limnephilidae
based on the Rothamsted Insect Survey, 1964-68. JietZooles, Nondig 163:
Bo5—50 3's

- & Baker, B R (1959) Records of Trichoptera from the Reading area,

1957-58. Entomologist's mon. Mag., 95: 85-87.

- , - & Hanna, H M (1956) Records of Trichoptera from the Reading area.
peakorologist's mon. Mag., 92: 31-35.
- , - (1957) Further records of Trichoptera from the Reading area.

Encamollog ier’ s mon. Mag., 93: 241-243.
Edington, J M & Hildrew, A G (1981) A key to the caseless caddis larvae of

the British Isles, with notes on their ecology. Scient. Publs Freshwat.
Biol. Ass., 43: 1-92.

Hickin, NE (1965) Forest refreshed: the autobiographical notes of a
biologist. London: Hutchinson.

- (1967) Caddis larvae: larvae of the British Trichoptera. London:
Hutchinson.

Macan, T T (1973) A key to the adults of the British Trichoptera. Scient.
Publis. Freshwat.. Biol), Asse), 28:0d-1L51.

Mosely, M E (1939) The British caddis flies (Trichoptera): a collector's
handbook. London: Routledge.

= aga

RED DATA BOOK PLANTS IN BERKS, BUCKS AND OXON

By HJM Bowen

Records of very rare plants in our region are scant, often out of date and
sometimes unreliable. The following list is a critical summary of regional
information about the sixty-six national rarities which have been recorded
from fewer than thirty grid squares in Britain, and updates an earlier
summary . I would welcome information on finder, grid reference and date
for any of the species mentioned on this list. There are several arable
weeds, such as Agrostemma pithago, Bupleurum rotundifolium and Scandix
pecten-veneris, which are practically extinct in our region and which
should probably be included in future lists.

Apera interrupta (Loose silky-bent). A Breckland species, sporadic in open
sandy soils near Abingdon, found in two BBONT reserves.

Apium repens (Creeping Marshwort). A critical species near A, nodiflorum,
It occurs in wet pasture in an SSSI near Oxford, and perhaps in three
other sites.

Arnoseris minima (Lambs Succory). An annual, photographed in a sandy
rhubarb field in Berks in 1965 and reported from Bucks in 1971.

Asarum europaeum (Asarabacca). This woodland perennial is not a native,
though known from one locality in each county. The Bucks site is
protected, and it has not been seen in Berks since 1915.

Bromus benekenii (Lesser Hairy-brome) is a critical woodland grass near
B.ramosus. Jt is known from 8 sites, 3 of which are BBONT reserves,
and probably occurs in others. It is often associated with Hypericum
montanum.

Bunium bulbocastanum (Great Pignut). This umbellifer is easily overlooked,
but has not been seen since 1952 in E. Bucks, where it should be
sought.

Campanula patula (Spreading Bellflower). Though common in grassland in
Europe, this beautiful plant has not been seen in its single Berks
locality since 1968.

Cardamine bulbifera (Coralwort). A local woodland plant known from 14 grid
squares, mostly in Bucks, and protected in 4 BBONT reserves. Not seen
in Berks since 1944,

Carex appropinquata (Fibrous tussock-sedge). A critical sedge of fen carr,
mostly in East Anglia, which was collected at Denham, Bucks in 1905
and never seen again.

Carex elongata (Elongated Sedge) likes wet woods on acid soil. Of its 3
sites between Reading and Sandhurst, only one appears to survive.

Carex montana (Hill Sedge). Its only locality was destroyed by roadworks
at Bracknell in 1973°, where a tiny fraction of its acid grassland
habitat survives.

Carex tomentosa (Downy-fruited Sedge) is known from 3 more or less wet
calcareous grassland sites, all in BBONT reserves.

Carex vulpina (False Fox-sedge). A critical species near the common
C.otrubae. It is known from one marshy site in each county, one of
which is a BBONT reserve.

Cephalanthera longifolia (Narrow-leaved Helleborine) is a woodland plant
which has not been seen in its Bucks site (a BBONT reserve) since
1954, and which faded away in its single Oxon site in 1970.

Cephalanthera rubra (Red Helleborine). A woodland plant protected by BBONT
in its single locality.

Cynoglossum permanicum (Green Houndstongue). A plant of the woodland edge
which survives unprotected in 3 Oxon sites.

ee

ae eas} Ys

Cyperus fuscus (Brown Galingale). This late-flowering and inconspicuous
plant of drying mud is known in one Berks SSSI; last seen in Bucks in
1933.

Cyperus longus (Galingale). Not native here, but more or less naturalised
in 3 waterside spots in Berks and Bucks.

Dactylorhiza traunsteineri (Narrow-leaved Marsh Orchid). This critical fen
species occurs in 4 sites near Abingdon, 2 of which are BBONT
reserves,

Damasonium alisma (Starfruit) is a sporadic aquatic from a few ponds in E.
Bucks, where it was last reported in 1976.

Daphne mezereum (Mezereon). A charming short-lived shrub of calcareous
woods, known in small numbers from 12 sites, 4 of which have BBONT
protection.

Draba mralis (Wall Whitlow-grass) is a weed with recent records from only
3 sites near Oxford or north of it.

Dryopteris cristata (Crested Buckler-fern) occurs in a Molinia bog within
yards of the Berks-Surrey border, last seen on the Berks side in 1968.

Epipactic leptochila (Narrow-lipped Helleborine) is present in small
quantity in beechwoods in 20 grid squares, mostly in the Chilterns,
and in 6 reserves.

Epipogium aphyllum (Ghost Orchid) flowers sporadically in shady woods with
deep leaf litter. It has protection in its 4 sites.

Festuca heterophylla (Various-leaved Fescue) is doubtfully native, though
well established in 10 localities, mostly old plantations.

Filago lutescens (Red-tipped Cudweed) is extinct in all 3 counties; the
last specimen known was collected in sandy fields near Abingdon in
EON?

Filago pyramidata (Broad-leaved Cudweed) is declining in all 3 counties and
may be extinct in Bucks; it is a plant of open sandy soils.

Fritillaria meleagris (Fritillary). Very few water meadows of the Upper
Thames and Loddon still hold large populations of this beautiful
plant, but 4 are reserves. There are records from 14 squares which
are probably native, and other records which are likely to be garden
escapes.

Fumaria vaillantii (Few-flowered Fumitory). Only 5 grid squares on the
chalk are known to harbour this arable weed, which has been seen in 2
BBONT reserves.

Gentianella ciliata (Fringed Gentian) is very local in chalk grassland in
one protected site.

Gentianella germanica (Chiltern Gentian). As its common name implies, this
plant is nowhere so common in Britain as it is with us. It likes
rough chalk grassland and 14 of its 25 sites are in reserves.

Himantoglossum hircinum (Lizard Orchid). Plants have occurred sporadically
in calcareous grassland in 7 sites in our three counties. The only
current site is in a BBONT reserve, where management broke the
dormancy of a resting tuber.

Iberis amara (Candytuft). This showy annual of open chalk soil and arable
is known from 9 BBONT reserves and 18+ grid squares.

Illecebrum verticillatum (Coral-necklace) is poradic on wet, acid soils and
lake shores in F. Berks where it was last seen in 1972.

Leucojum aestivum (Summer Snowflake) is a characteristic plant of wet
willow woods in the valleys of the Thames and Loddon, and an
occasional garden escape. It is known in 2 BBONT reserves and 23 grid
squares.:

Leucojum vernum (Spring Snowflake) is not native, but is more or less
established in 3 parks in our region.

Limosella aquatica (Mudwort) is sporadic on bare mud in 4 sites in Oxon and
Bucks, and last seen in Berks in 1935. It is hard to conserve.

ng ae

Lythrum hyssopifolia (Grass Poly). A sporadic plant of sites which are wet
in winter. Possibly extinct, as recent records may be of similar
species introduced with bird seed.

Marrubium wwlgare (White Horehound) is probably extinct, though seen in
Berks up to 1963. It likes dry, open calcareous soils in warm sites.

Muscari neglectum (Grape Hyacinth). Recorded from 2 limestone grassland
sites in N, Oxon, in one of which it was still present in 1984, though
unprotected.

Nymphoides peltata (Fringed Water-lily). This handsome aquatic is known
from 8 sites where it .is somewhat sporadic, and in some cases planted.

Oenanthe silaifolia (Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort). A critical umbellifer
of old water meadows by the upper Thames and Ray, known from 5
unprotected sites.

Orchis militaris (Military Orchid}. An orchid of calcareous scrub and
woodland which suffered a catastrophic decline earlier this century,
which still qccurs in small numbers in 3 protected sites.

Orchis purpurea (Lady Orchid). One plant occurred in a beechwood near
Reading in the 1960s, but has not been seen there since 1964.

Orchis simia (Monkey Orchid). A-few diminutive specimens of this plant of
calcareous peuiea nev ive in one protected site on the edge of its
range. '

Ornithogalum pyrenaicum (spiked Star- AE ois blaberiNd Very local in SW Berks
in at least 4 unprotected woodland or ancient hedgerow sites.

Orobanche loricata:(Ox-tongue Broomrape). A critical parasite of chalk
grassland, with 2 records from Bucks before 1955.

Physospermum cornubiense (Bladderseed) survives in its single locaiaty in
old woodland at Burnham, Bucks,

Poa bulbosa (Bulbous Meadow-grass), common in S.Europe, may be extinct in
our region, but known until 1961 in a limestone quarry in N. Oxon.

Polygonum dumetorum (Copse Bindweed). A sporadic climber by the edges of
woods near Abingdon, last seen 1968 but likely to reappear.

Potamogeton nodosus (Loddon Pondweed) still occurs as an aquatic in many
sites on the Loddon in 2 grid squares; not seen in the Thames since
1941.

Primula elatior (Oxlip) occurs in two unprotected woods in N. Bucks,
outliers from its strongholds in East Anglia.

Pulsatilla vulgaris (Pasque Flower) has suffered from habitat destruction
but has records from calcareous grassland in 6 grid squares, and is in
2 BBONT reserves. .

Salvia pratensis (Meadow Clary). An attractive plant known in 12 sites,
but introduced in some; found in 4 BBONT reserves but lacking
protection in the Wychwood area.

Silene conica (Striated Catchfly). This sporadic Breckland annual of sandy
s0il just.survives in 2 sites near Abingdon, one with some protection.

Sonchus palustris (Marsh Sowthistle). A tall plant of wet ditches, known
in 2 sites near Otmoor where it became extinct around 1910 and 1925
respectively.

Stachys germanica (Downy Woundwort)., Hard to conserve because of its
sporadic appearance in disturbed limestone soil. There are recent
records, from,l11 unprotected sites in the Wychwood area, mostly in very
small numbers,

Stratiotes aloides (Water Soldier). A sporadic submerged aquatic of still
water, known from 7 unprotected sites.

Tetragonolobug maritimus (Dragons-teeth). This legume is steadily
increasing and now occurs in 7 calcareous grassland sites, one of
which is protected.

Thlaspi perfoliatum (Perfoliaté Pennycress). A sporadic annual known from
2 unprotected calcareous sites in’ the Wychwood area, where it was once
more widespread; in 1957 it was seen on a railway track in N. Bucks.

Verbascum lychnitis (White Mullein) occurs .in small numbers on a sunny
railway bank near Reading and may also’be in E. Bucks.

Veronica praecox (Breckland Speedwell) was found on a gravel bank near
Oxford in the 1960s but has not been seen since 1968,

Viola persicifolia (Fen Violet) is a sporadic fen plant seen near Otmoor up
to 1968. It may reappear following soil disturbance, It is a
critical species:which hybridises with V. canina,

Vulpia unilateralis (Matgrass Fescue) is a tiny annual grass of bare soil
known from 4 sites, 2 of which are in BBONT reserves.

Wolffia arrhiza (Least Duckweed). This easily overlooked aquatic, the
smallest British plant, was found in N. Bucks in 1972.

Summary:' Our ‘region is a major British relictuary for 16 rare plants,
Cardamine bulbifera; Epipactis poe Epipogium aphyllum, Fritillaria
meleagris,, Gentianella ciliata, G.permanica, Iberis amara, Leucojum
aestivum, Orchis ‘militaris, O.simia, Potamogeton nodosus, Pulsatilla
vulgaris, Salvia ptatensis, Stachys germanica, Tetragonolobus maritimus,
and Thlaspi perfoliatum. It contains important habitats along the Thames
and its tributaries, in the Chilterns, the Wychwood area, Otmoor and the
sandy soils near Abingdon. Of the 66 nationally rare species recorded, 11
are probably extinct and only 26 occur in reserves. The following steps
should be taken to conserve these rarities:

1 support BBONT in maintaining suitable habitats in its reserves;

2 encourage BBONT to buy.:-or to obtain management agreements, protecting
all sites with the rarities listed above. Most sites are very small;

3 maintain seed stocks, especially of the 18 annual rarities, or
vegetative material of the 6 aquatics, by cultivation; and

4 re-introduce extinct and declining species, keeping records of what
has been done.

References:

1 HJM Bowen, BBONT Bull. 76(1985)7

2 HJM Bowen, Redding Nat. 27(1975)23
3 KI Butler, Reading Nat. 15(1963)27

eH Ig ome

The Recorder's Report for Botany 1985

B.M. Newman

The nomenclature and order used in this report are according to the
"Flora of the British Isles" by Clapham, Tutin & Warburg (1962). An
alien taxon is indicated by an asterisk (*). Most of the English names
are from "English Names of Wild Flowers", the recommended list of the
Botanical Society of the British Isles.

The records sent in by members are gratefully acknowledged and a
selection is listed below.

List of Members' Records for 1985
EQUISETACEAE

Equisetum sylvaticum L. Wood Horsetail
Rare, on Snelsmore Common ,(HJMB)

POLYPOD ITACEAE

* Onoclea sensibilis L.
Grounds of Cliveden, Bucks., 15.6.85,(HJMB)

Blechnum spicant (L.) Roth Hard Fern
Buscott Gully, 20.8.85,(JW)

Dryopteris carthusiana (Villar) H.P. Fuchs Narrow Buckler-fern
Under Alder, Ufton Woods, 19.10.85,(HJMB)

OPHIOGLOSSACEAE

Ophioglossum vulgatum L. Adder' s-tongue

By River Thames near the Dreadnought, Reading, 16.6.85,(AB)

RANUNCULACEAE

Helleborus foetidus L. Stinking Hellebore

Naturalised at Hennerton House; Sulham Wood, 24.4.85,(JW)
This species was recorded at Sulham in 1942

Aconitum anglicum Stapf Monk' s-hood
Brimpton, near River Enborne, 15.5.85,(AB); Roundmoor Copse, 25./.85;
Hogmoor/Peatmoor Copse, 15.7.85,(JW)

* Nigella damascena L. Love-in-a-mist
Abundant by railway track between Goring Station and bridge, 27.7.85,(HHC)

Ranunculus lingua L. Greater Spearwort
Asiton, Bowant 5 :3:%i685);GAB)

Ranunculus hederaceus L. Ivy-leaved Crowfoot
In pond dredgings, Nuneham Park, Oxon, 19.5.85,(HJMB)

Ranunculus fluitans Lam. River Water-crowfoot
River Enborne, Brimpton, 26.4.85,(AB)

Son =

PAPAVERACEAE

Meconopsis cambrica (L.) Vig. Welsh Poppy
In cleared woodland, Greenfield Wood, Pishill Bottom, Oxon, 2.6.85.
Very rare here (HJMB)

CRUC IFERAE

Lepidium heterophyllum Benth. Smith's Pennywort
By River Thames near the Dreadnought, Reading, 16.6.85,(AB)

Thlaspi arvense L. Field Penny-cress
By the River Pang, Bradfield, 6.5.85,(AB)

Arabis “hirsuta.(L.) Scop. Hairy Rock-cress
Ladle Hill, 12.6.85,(AB) |

Rorippa amphibia (L.) Besser Greater Yellow-cress
By the River Thames near the Dreadnought, Reading, 16.6.85; canal west of
Theale, 27.7.85,(AB)

Descurainia sophia (L.) Webb ex. Prantl Flixweed
In new shrubbery, Whiteknights Park, 12.6.85,(HJMB)

V LOLACEAE

Viola palustris L. Marsh Violet
Locally dominant in Ufton Woods, 19.10.85,(HJMB)

Viola tricolor L. Wild Pansy
In cleared woodland, Greenfield Wood, Pishill Bottom, Oxon, 2.6.85, very
ranevierer, HIMB): **canal west ‘of Theale, 27'./.85,(CAB).

HYPER ICACEAE

Hypericum androsaemum L. Tutsan
Remenham Wood, 7.8.85; High Knowl Wood, 27.6.85,(JW)

CARYOPHYLLACEAE

Berene’ dioica ‘(L.) Clairv. Red Campion
Langham Pond, 15.6.85,(SW)

myehnis flos-cuculi L. Ragged-Robin
Burghfield gravel pits, 15.6.85,(AB)

Saponaria officinalis L. Soapwort
By the River Enborne near Brimpton, 15.5.85,(AB)

Cerastium arvense L. Field Mouse-ear
Badte Hill. 2.6.85, CAB)

Cerastium glomeratum Thuill. Sticky Mouse-ear
Bucklebury, 4.5.85,( AB)

Stellaria neglecta Weihe Greater Chickweed
Meadow by canal, Old Mill, Aldermaston, 8.5.85,(AB)

= BD ue

Stellaria palustris Retz. Marsh Stitchwort

Emmer Bog, 11.5.85,(AB); Langham Pond, 15.6.85(SW)

Moenchia erecta (L.) Gaertn., Mey. & Scherb. Upright Chickweed
Snelsmore Common, 6.7.85,(HJMB)

PORT ULACEACEAE

Montia fontana L. Blinks
Sandford Mill/Dinton Pastures, 5.5.85,(AB)

* Montia perfoliata (Willd.) Howell Springbeauty
Bucklebury, 4.5.85,(AB)

* Montia sibirica (L.) Howell Pink Purslane
In the grounds of Yattenden Manor, 14.4.85,(HJMB)

TILIACEAE

Tia, condata Mili: Small-leaved Lime
Several trees in Redhill Wood, Hamstead Marshall, 1.6.85,(HJMB)

MALVACEAE

* Althaea hirsuta L. Rough Marsh-mallow
One plant at Remenham, S. Everett; a very rare casual (HJMB)

GERANIACEAE
Geranium rotundifolium L. Round-leaved

Crane' s-bill
In old layby on Peppard Road, south of Sonning Common, 29.8.85,(HHC)
OXALIDACEAE

Oxalis acetosella L. var. subpurpurescens DC. Wood-sorrel
Farley Hill, in sphagnum, 12.4.85,(HJMB)

PAPILIONACEAE

Ononis spinosa L. Spiny Restharrow
Ridgeway, between Overton and Uffington, 8.8.85,(AB)

Trifolium arvense L. Hare's-foot Clover
Meadow opposite AWRE main gate, 17.7.85,(AB)

Lathyrus nissolia L. Grass Vetchling
Reading, by River Thames near the Dreadnought, 16.6.85,(AB)

ROSACEAE

Potentilla palustris (L.) Scop. Marsh Cinquefoil
Emmer Bog, 11.5.85,(AB)

Potent illaireeta’L. Sulphur Cinquefoil
Hogmoor Copse/Peatmoor Copse, 15.7.85,(JW)

Potentilla anglica Laicharding Trailing Tormentil

In old grassland, Briff Lane, Bucklebury,(HJMB)

ee
—————=—=—=—=

eB

POLYGONACEAE
Polygonum aviculare ssp. rurivagum Jord. ex Bor. Knotgrass

Waste ground on site of CWS printing works, Elgar Road, 8.10.85,(HHC)

Polygonum bistorta L. Common Bistort
In the grounds of Yattenden Manor, 14.4.85,(HJMB)

* Rumex cristatus DC. Greek Dock
Abundant by Kennet above Waterloo Meadow, 8.10.85. Long established
here, last published record 1969,(HHC)

URT ICACEAE

Parietaria diffusa Mert. & Koch Pellitory-of-the-wall
Reading, by R Thames near the Dreadnought, 16.6.85; Gatehampton, 18.7.85,(AB)

FAGACEAE

Quercus petraea (Mattuschka) Liebl. Sessile Oak
Gd Weer Park Wood,.15./.85,(JW); Owlsmoor,, 21.6285 ,(CAB)

SALICACEAE

Salix repens L. Creeping Willow
Tadley Common, 14.8.85,(AB)

PR IMULACEAE

* Cyclamen hederifolium Ait. Cyclamen
Kidmore End, Oxon; Bucklebury; Hackwood Park,(HJMB)

GENT IANACEAE

Gentianella germanica (Willd.) Borner Chiltern Gentian
Fawley Hill, 21.9.85,(AB)

Gentianella amarella (L.) Borner Autumn Gentian
Wayfarer's Way & Old Burghclere Pit, 26.9.85,(AB)

MENYANT HACEAE

Menyanthes trifoliata L. Bogbean
In old water meadows, Boxford, C Flower, 12.6.85,(HJMB); Emmer Bog,
Py. 5.85 ,CAB)

BORAG INACEAE

Cynoglossum officinale L. Hound" s-tongue

By the side of track east of Hardwick House, in seed, 29.9.85,(HHC)

Pentaglottis sempervirens (L.) Tausch Green Alkanet

Roadside verge, Goring/Woodcote Road, 18.7.85,( AB)

*Pulmonaria officinalis L. Lungwort

Garden outcast near Colemansmoor, 24.3.85,(HJMB)

— Sr) =

Geum rivale L.
Moor Copse, 1.6.85,( AB)

Sanguisorba officinalis L.
Langhan Pond) 15.6.85',CSw)

Sorbus torminalis (L.) Crantz

Water Avens

Great Burnet

Wild Service-tree

Bottom Boles Wood, 20.6.85; Gardener's Copse, 13.8.85,(JW); Five Oaken,

19.10.85, J. Ward ,(BMN)

CRASSULACEAE

Sedum telephium L.
Bucklebury, 4.5.85,(AB)

* Crassula helmsii (Tikirk) Cockayne
In pond, Mortimer Common, 22.9.85,(HJMB)

SAXIFRAGACEAE

Chrysosplenium oppositifolium L.

Orpine

Opposite-leaved
Golden-saxifrage

Buscott Gully, 20.8.85,(JW); Fir Copse, Binfield Heath, Oxon,(HJMB)

LYTHRACEAE

Peplis portula L.

Farley Hill, 12.4.85,(HJMB)

ONAGRACEAE
Epilobium lanceolatum Seb. & Mauri
Moulsford, R C Palmer. Very rare here ,(HJMB)

HIPPUR IDACEAE

Hippuris vulgaris L.
Langham Pond, 15.6.85,(SW)

HYDROCOT YLACEAE

Emmer Bog, 11.5.85,(AB)

UMBELLIFERAE

Apium graveolens L.
Sandford Mill/PDinton Pastures, 5.5.85, (CAB)

Oenanthe pimpinelloides L.

Water Purslane

Spear-leaved
Willowherb

Mares-taal

Marsh Pennywort

Wild Celery

Corky-fruited
Water-dropwort

Reading, by the River Thames, 16.6.85, A Brickstock & S Diserens. A new

County record for Berks.(HJMB)

Seana
—

E35. =

SOLANACEAE

Solanum verriei

On dumped soil in three places, Whiteknights Park, 19.9.85. New to Britain,
(HJMB)

SCROPHULAR IACEAE

*Linaria purpurea (L.) Mill. Purple Toadflax
On dumped soil at old layby on Peppard Road, 29.8.85,(HHC)

Scrophularia nodosa var. verticillata
Bowdown Woods, R J Hornby. Leaves 3-whorled ,(HJMB)

Pedicularis sylvatica L. Lousewort
Owlsmoor, 21.6.85,( AB)

OROBANCHACEAE

Orobanche hederae Duby Ivy Broomrape

On Ivy, Whiteknights Park, D W Hadley. New County record for Berks ,(HJMB)
VERBENACEAE

Verbena officinalis L. Vervain
On track east of Hardwick House, 28.9.85,(HHC)

LAB LATAE

Mentha x verticillata L. (M. aquatica x arvensis)

Restored land at Wasing, 20.9.85,(AB)

Acinos arvensis (Lam.) Dandy Basil Thyme
Fawley Hill, 21.9.85,(AB)

CAMPANULACEAE

Jasione montana L. Sheep's-bit
Wayfarer's Way & Old Burghclere pit, 26.9.85,(AB)

COMPOSITAE

Senecio aquaticus Hill Marsh Ragwort
By River Blackwater near Farley Hill, 10.8.85,(HHC)

*Doronicum plantagineum L. Plantain-leaved

Leopard's-bane
Roadside, Hedsor Park, Bucks, 15.6.85; still at Snelsmore Common,(HJMB)

Chrysanthemum segetum L. Corn Marigold
Field between Bramshill Plantation and River Blackwater, 10.8.85,(HHC)

Arctium minus Bernh. ssp. pubens (Bab.) J. Arenes Lesser Burdock
By River Kennet above Waterloo Meadow, (HHC)

*Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn. Milk Thistle
Whiteknights Park, on old bonfire site ,(HJMB)

=e BG

Serratula tinctoria L. Saw-wort
Hedge between Bramshill Plantation & River Blackwater, 10.8.85,(HHC)

Mycelis muralis (L.) Dum. Wall Lettuce
Reading, by River Thames near the Dreadnought, 16.6.85; Aston Rowant, 3.8.85,
(AB)

*Cicerbita macrophylla (Willd.) Wallr. Blue Sow-thistle
Grounds of Cliveden, Bucks, 15.6.85,(HJMB)

HYDROCHAR ITACEAE

Hydrocharis morsus~ranae L. Frogbit

Langham Pond, 15.6.85,(SW)
LILIACEAE

Ruscus aculeatus L. Butcher' s-—broom

Mosshall Wood, 29.4.85,(JW)

Ornithogalum umbellatum L. Star-of-Bethlehem
Hogmoor/Peatmoor Co) COpse,, Lo«/ sOayCIW)

JUNCACEAE

Luzula sylvatica (Huds.) Gaud. Great Wood-rush

Remenham Wood, «7.8.85 ,CJW)

*Luzula luzuloides (Lam.) Dandy & Wilmott White Wood-rush

Grounds of Cliveden, Bucks, 15.6.85,(HJMB)

AMARYLLIDACEAE

Leucojum vernum L. Spring Snowflake
In old plantation, Shiplake, Oxon, possibly a relict of Victorian planting,
E Charles, 5.6.85,(HJMB)

Narcissus pseudonarcissus L. Wild Daffodil
In..old. wood... Lrish, HillgeKintbury,¢ 1.62855¢R IMB)

Narcissus poeticus (agg.)
Well established on banks of M4, 4 miles east of A34 junction, 25.5.85,(HJMB)

ORCH IDACEAE

Epipactis purpurata Sm. Violet Helleborine
Great Copse, Tadley,( AB)

Neottia nidus-avis (L.) Rich. Bird's-nest Orchid

Flobrigham' s,.Copse, 1156.85, (CIW)

Ophrys apifera Huds. Bee Orchid
Brimpton Gravel, Pits, 3.76853 TadleysEstate,. 34 flhowereiphoamm8s, GAB) 7 o
Dactylorchis maculata CLs) Mermeul. Heath Spotted-orchid

Snelsmore Common , VR es) ,( AB)

Dactylorchis as aetermissa (Druce) Vermeul. Southern Marsh-orchid

Owlsmoor, 21.6.85,(AB)

= 37 2

TYPHACEAE

Typha angustifolia x latifolia Godr.

River Thames below Moulsford Ferry, R C Palmer ,(HJMB)

CYPERACEAE
Eriophosum angustifolium Honck. Common Cottongrass

Owlsmoor, 21.6.85,(AB)

Cyperus longus L. Galingale
Dinton Pastures, M L Lorain; ponds at Oakley, N Hants; Hackwood Park, Hants,

CH JMB )

Rhyncospora alba (L.) Vahl White Beak-sedge
Owlsmoor bog, in small quantity, 6.10.85,(HJMB)

Carex pendula Huds. Pendulous Sedge
Filn Copse, 3.6.85,(JW)

Carex strigosa Huds. Thin-spiked Wood-sedge
Greenfield Wood, Pishill Bottom, Oxon, 2.6.85. Very rare here ,(HJMB)

GRAM INEAE

Sieglingia decumbens (L.) Bernh. Heath-grass

In old grassland, Briff Lane, Bucklebury,(HJMB)

*Festuca heterophylla Lam. Various-leaved Fescue
Grounds of Cliveden, Bucks, 15.6.85,(HJMB)

Festulolium loliaceum (Huds.) P. Fourn

Top of Winter Hill, Cookham, 15.6.85,(HJMB)

Lolium perenne x multiflorum Hausskn.
i oold gravel pit near Cock Marsh, 15.6.85,(HJMB)

Poa subcaerulea Sm. Spreading Meadow-grass
Near Whiteknights Lake; Boxford water meadows ,(HJMB)

MaGQmucharscia Vall, Broad-leaved
Meadow-grass
Grounds of Cliveden, Bucks, 15.6.85,(HJMB)

Ceratochloa carinata (Hook. & Arn.) Tutin California Brome
Colemansmoor pit, 24.3.85,(HJMB)

Agropyron caninum (L.) Beauv. Bearded Couch

Buscott gully, 20.8.85,( JW)

Additional 1984 Records

PAP ILIONACEAE

Genista tinctoria L. Dyer's Greenweed
Twyford, S Webster ,(HJMB)

ROSACEAE
Crataegus oxyacanthoiodes Thuill. Midland Hawthorn

Curderts, Coppice, 11.12.84, CIW)

Sorbush Lorminalis. CL. jeCrantz Wild Service-tree
Cutjex"™ s*iGeppice,§ 11212684; Scarlett's Wood, 29.11.84,¢ Jw)

SCROPHULAR LACEAE

*Verbascum blattaria L. Moth Mullein
Temple Golf Course, near Hurley, S Webster ,(HJMB)

ORCHIDACEAE

Dactylorchis fuchsii (Druce) Vermeul. x Gymnadenia Conopsea (L.) R. Br.
West Woodhay Down, D Reed, 7.84,(HJMB)

GRAM INEAE

Alopecurus aequalis Sobol. Orange Foxtail
Littleworth Common, Bucks ,(HJMB)

Contributor sk—
Dr. H.J.M. Bowen (HJMB), Dr. As» Bricksteck,( AB), Mr«e Hey tatters aac,
Mas Sica Ward, (SW). Mrs. J. Welsh (JW).

hc ae

The order and nomenclature used in this Report are those given in Kloet
and Hincks, A Check List of British Insects, Part 1: Small Orders and
Hemiptera, 1964.5.- Pant 2: .. Lepidoptera, 19/72; Part,.3: | Coleoptera, 1977;
Part 4: Hymenoptera, 1978; and Part 5: Diptera, 1975.

EPHEMEROPTERA Mayflies

Habrophlebia fusca (Curtis)
Pangbourne, 21.5.78, subimago (RGL)

ODONATA Dragonflies
Gomphus vulgatissimus (L.) The Club-tailed Dragonfly

Near Dreadnought Reach of River Thames, 16.6.85; Aldermaston, 16.6.85, a
single specimen seen by Mr I Parker (AB). This very local species is well
known to us from localities on or near the Thames, the Aldermaston record
is therefore noteworthy. Graham Vick has pointed out that many of the
larger dragonflies will fly well away from their breeding areas, returning
again later, he also knows of one, well authenticated, previous record from
the Kennet at Aldermaston Mill.

Hemiptera Plant Bugs, Aphids, etc.

Aneurus laevis (Fabr.)
Bix Bottom,’ 6.7.72 (RG)

Lygocoris contaminatus (Fall.)
Baynes Reserve, 26.8.85 (HHC)

Psallus falleni (Reut.)
Sonning Common, 22.6.85 (HHC)

Medra aurita (L.)
Earley, Reading, 15.10.85, one adult (JFN); Moor Copse Nature Reserve,
16.11.85, one nymph beaten from bracken (BRB)

Speudotettix subfusculus (Fall.)
Baynes Reserve, 28.5.85, last recorded Tubney c. 1920 though said to be
common (HHC)

Cixius pilosus (Olivier)
Baynes Reserve, 28.5.85 (HHC)

LEPIDOPTERA Butterflies and Moths
Hepialus fusconebulosa (DeG.) Map-winged Swift

Bowdown Nature Reserve, 6.6.85 (NMH)

Zeuzera pyrina (L.) Leopard Moth
Aldermaston, 25,31.7.85 (AB,PS); Burghfield Common, Woolhampton, 13.7.85(DAY)

Thymelicus lineola (Ochs.) Essex Skipper

Moor Copse Nature Reserve, 3.8.85, several in a limited area of the Reserve
and extending into an adjoining wheat field, none recorded along River Pang
banks where T. sylvestris (Poda) Small Skippers were very common. This is

ee ee

a surprising, and new, record for the Reserve and one wonders if this first
authenticated spread to the west of Reading has not been by way of the
miles of grass verges of the motorway as it sweeps westward from near
Wokingham, a known locality for Essex Skipper (BRB); Owlsmoor, 18.8.85 (BRB)

Gonepteryx rhamni (L.) Brimstone
Burghfield Common, 18.5.85, 15 recorded (DAY); Whiteknights, 2.4.85 (HJMB);

Caversham, 8.3.85, 20.10.85 (HGB); Bracknell, 6.4.85, 29.9.85 (MJD);
Tilehurst,, 12.35.85, 31.10.85, very Late sw)

Quercusia quercus (L.) Purple Hairstreak

Burghfield Common, Padworth Common, larvae at both sites but not as common
as in the previous year (DAY)

Strymonidea w-album (Knoch) White Letter Hairstreak

Maidenhead Thicket, 26.7.85 (MVA). An encouraging record of a species

much decreased in our area since the ravages upon its foodplant by Dutch
Elm Disease.

Plebejus argus (L.) Silyer-studded Blue
Burghfield Common, Padworth Common, small numbers noted (DAY)

Celastrina argiolus (L.) Holly Blue
Glebe Road, Reading, 18.5.85 (HJMB); Burghfield Common, Mortimer, first

brood quite common, second brood in smaller numbers (DAY); Aldermaston,

8, 17.25.85 (PS); Caversham, 8.5.85, 1,8,24.8.85 (BRB); Bracknell, #25.95( me

Ladoga camilla (L.) White Admiral
Maidenhead Thicket, 25.7.85 (TJGH); Burghfield Common, 31.7.85 (DAY);
Aldermaston, 17.7.85 (PS)

Apatural sais (Ts) Purple Emperor
Woolhampton, 3.8.85, a good sighting of a male (DAY). An unusual and
interesting record for this well worked locality indicating the periodic
far ranging flight of this species.

Vanessa aitabanta Ga.) Red Admiral

Glebe Road, Reading, 1.7.85 (HJMB); Burghfield Common, 6.4.85, others in
mid August (DAY); Snelsmore Common, 6.7.85, Caversham 6.7.85, and several
between 9 and 22.10.85 at ivy blossom (BRB); Bracknell, 27, 28.9.85 (MJD)

Cynthia eardui (L.) Painted Lady
A very unusual early immigration of this species occurred in 1985, mainly
during April, but an even earlier one had taken place before the snow of

mid February as shown by our first record: Aldermaston, one seen 6.2.85 (PS)

later records are: Vastern Road, Reading, 6.9.85, Well Barn, Berkshire
Downs, 11.9.85 (BRB); Burghfield Common, commoner than Red Admiral and
still in evidence on 12.10.85 (DAY)

Aglais urticae (L.) Small Tortoiseshell
Aldermaston, Owlsmoor, Burghfield, larvae noted at each locality (DAY);
Moor Copse Nature Reserve, 11.9.85, a very late nest of larvae which may
not have been able to complete its development through to butterflies as
Frohawk states that most Small Tortoiseshells enter hibernation at the
end of September (BRB). Occasional butterflies are however seen in
Octeben,) viz Tid chursti,| 20.10. 851e6SW) .

Argynnis paphia (L.) Silver-washed Fritillary
Moor Copse Nature Reserve, 5.8.84 (MRH). Record received too late for last
year's report.

|

= 6] <

Melanargia galathea (L.) Marbled White
Aldermaston fairly common, Aston Upthorpe common (DAY)

Hipparchia semele (L.) The Grayling
Burghfield Common, Padworth Common, small numbers(DAY); Padworth,31.8.85(BTP)

Aphantopus hyperantus (L.) The Ringlet
Bucklebury, 30.6.85 (HJMB); Aldermaston, not common, Woolhampton, common( DAY)

Gastropacha quercifolia (L.) The Lappet
Shinfield Road, Reading, 27 to 29.7.85, a female on a shop window, reported

to the Museum by Mr Kelly. The site was kindly visited by BTP who removed
the moth and accrued eggs to safety. Aldermaston, 17.7.85 (AB,PS)

Saturnia pavonia (L.) Emperor Moth
Ufton Nervet, one female to light, 19.5.85. Larvae noted at Burghfield
Common and Padworth Common (DAY); Snelsmore Common, 6.7.85, larvae (DAY, NMH)

Tethea or (D. & S.) Poplar Lutestring
Bowdown Wood Nature Reserve, 3.6.85 (NMH)

Idaea sylvestraria (Hb.) Dotted Border Wave
Aldermaston, 14, 24.7.85 (AB, PS)

I. straminata (Borkh.) Plain Wave
Snelsmore Common, 6.7.85 (NMH, DAY)

Rhodometra sacraria (L.) The Vestal

Caversham, 19.9.85 - a specimen in Mrs B Kay's sitting room, noted during a
committee meeting of RDNHS (and this species a decidedly uncommon immigrant! )
After the meeting the specimen was released into St Peter's Avenue.

Mesoleuca albicillata (L.) Beautiful Carpet
Bowdown Wood Nature Reserve, 3.7.85 (NMH); Woolhampton, (DAY)

Lampropteryx otregiata (Metc.) Devon Carpet
Aldermaston, 25, 26.8.85, new vice county record (PS, BRB). This species

was discovered in 1983 just outside our recording area by our member Col GG
Eastwick-Field, thereby making a new vice county record for N Hampshire, and
since that time several of us have worked in the hope that otregiata might
be discovered in Berkshire. It is therefore now very satisfying to record
this little Carpet from near Aldermaston. That the Devon Carpet has been
overlooked by lepidopterists is not surprising for its habitats are dark,
damp woods and gullies, often difficult to work or walk through. Acpre-
requisite is an abundance of Galium palustre L., Marsh Bedstraw. Leis: es
be hoped that other localities within Berkshire will now be discovered.

Rheumaptera undulata (L.) Scallop Shell
Burghfield Common, 10.8.85 (DAY)

Perizoma affinitatum (Steph.) Large Rivulet
Bowdown Wood Nature Reserve, 3.6.85 (NMH); Enborne Valley below Greenham
Common, 15.6.85 (BRB)

Eupithecia venosata (Fabr.) Netted Pug
Aldermaston, 4.7.85 (AB, PS)

a RD =

ANLICollix ‘Sparsata (CTreit.) Dentated Pug
Woolhampton, 31.7.85 (DAY,PS)

Asthena albulata (Hufn.) Small White Wave
Aldermaston, 30.7.85 (AB,PS); Bowdown Wood Nature Reserve, 3.6.85 (NMH)

Plagodis pulveraria (L.) Barred Umber
Bowdown Wood Nature Reserve, 29.5.85 (NMH)

Ectropis consonaria (Hb.) Square Spot
Bowdown Wood Nature Reserve, 29.5.85 (NMH)

Selenia lunularia (Hb.) Lunar Thorn
Aldermaston, 19.5.85 (AB,PS); Bracknell, 4, 10.6.85 (MJD)

Hyloicus pinastri (L.) Pine Hawk-moth

Burghfield Common, 19.6 to 30.7.85, 15 recorded, Woolhampton, 13, 20, 27.7.85
(DAY,PS); Owlsmoor, 21.6.85, Snelsmore Common, 6.7.85 (NMH); Aldermaston,
14 recorded during the season with one remarkably late record, 12.9.85

CAB, PSJep* Bracknelis. 2776.85, 21.7.85, 6.8.85, (MID)

Macroglossum stellatarum (L.) Humming-bird Hawk-moth
Southcote, Reading, 1/7.4.85, reported to the Museum by Mrs §S Kenna.

Hyles lineata (Fabr.)
ssp. livornica (Esp.) Striped Hawk-moth

Aldermaston, 10.4.85, a single specimen at rest on a wall (PS). This and
the Humming-bird Hawk-moth recorded above are indication of an early
immigration of insects, the majority of which made landfall on our southern
coasts and continued northwards in decreasing numbers. This striped Hawk-
moth is only the second from this district known to the Recorder during
thirty-three years of entomological reports, our member David Notton having
had the good fortune to record one from Emmer Green on 3.7.82.

Deilephila porcellus (L.) Small Elephant Hawk-moth
Aldermaston, nine between 1.6.85 and 22.7.85 (AB,PS9; Burghfield Common,
5.7 v0. (DAY) Ser Bracknenl, 19.6.85, lls/.85' Gop)

Euproctis chrysorrhoea (L.) Brown-tail Moth
Cutbush Lane, Earley, 20.5.85, a nest of larvae found on a bush of Crataegus

growing on the motorway embankment (BTP). An interesting record of a
species rarely recorded in our area, and never before to our knowledge in
the larval stage. This is the moth which, from time to time, hits the
headlines in the national press when larvae in pest proportions defoliate
bushes on the south east coast.

Leucoma salicis (L.) White Satin Moth
Snelsmore Common, 6.7.85 (NMH); Burghfield Common, 30.6.85, 9, 31./.85,
Woolhampton, 13.7.85 to 17.8.85, nine recorded (DAY)

Euxoa tritici (L.) White-line Dart
Aldermaston? *22;)°2798265 CAB,PS)

Rhyacia simulans (Hufn.) Dotted Rustic
Aldermaston, 17.7.85, 6.8.85 (AB,PS9; Pinkneys Green, 12.9.85 (TJGH);
Bracknell, 10.9.85 (MJD)

Spaelotis ravida (D. & S.) Stout Dart
Burghfield Common, 26.7.85 (DAY)

sy ey

Naenia typica (L.) The Gothic
Woolhampton, 10.8.85 (DAY); Woolhampton, 13.9.85, one at sugar (PS)

Anaplectoides prasina (D. & S.) Green Arches
Aldermaston, six between 26.6.85 and 17.7.85 (AB,PS9; Bowdown Wood Nature

Reserve, 3.7.85 (NMH)

Cerastis leucographa (D. & S.) White-marked
Aldermaston, 18.4.85 (AB,PS)

Polia hepatica (Cl.) Silvery Arches
Owlsmoor, 21.6.85 (NMH, DAY)

Lacanobia contigua (D. & S.) Beautiful Brocade
eidermasiton, 913./6585,, 3. 7/985; CAB,SPS) 3 Burghfield Common, 24, 26, 30.6.85
(DAY); Owlsmoor, 21.6.85 (NMH)

Hadena compta (D. & S.) Varied Coronet
Burghfield Common, 3.6.85 to 30.7.85, 18 recorded (DAY); Snelsmore Common,
Derwoy (NMH); Bracknell, [2.6.85,: 2227.85 (MJD)

Cucullia chamomillae (D. & S.) Chamomile Shark
Burehiield Common, 26.5.85, 3.6.85 (DAY); Bracknell, 24.5.85 (MJD)

Agrochola helvola (L.) Flounced Chestnut
Burghfield Common, 15.10.85 (DAY)

Apamea sublustris (Esp.) Reddish Light Arches
Snelsmore Common, 6.7.85 (NMH, DAY)

Apamea unanimis (Hb.) Small Clouded Brindle
Ali@exmaston, 23.6.85 (AB,PS); Burghfield Common, 9.6.85 (DAY); Unhill
Wood, 26.60.85 (BRB,PS);-- Bracknell, 14, 25.6.85 (MJD)

Mesoligia literosa (Haw.) Rosy Minor
Bracknell, 4.8.85 (MJD)

Pyrrhia umbra (Hufn.) Bordered Sallow
Aldermaston, 16.7.85 (AB,PS)

Helicoverpa armigera (Hb.) Scarce Bordered Straw
Bracknell, 10.10.85 (MJD). A scarce immigrant, this being only the second
dated record in the Museum's index of Berkshire lepidoptera

Eustrotia uncula (Cl.) Silver Hook
Woolhampton, 13.7.85 (DAY)

Schrankia costaestrigalis (Steph.) Pinion-streaked Snout
Snelsmore Common, 6.7.85 (BRB,NMH); Aldermaston, 10, 25.9.85 (AB,PS)

Hypenodes turfosalis (Wocke) Marsh Oblique~-barred
Snelsmore Common, 6.7.85 (BRB, NMH)

COLEOPTERA Beetles
Trechus obtusus Erichson

Leighton Park School, 10.10.84, amongst leaf litter in copse of deciduous
trees (TDH)

= bel =

Asaphidion flavipes (L.)
Leighton Park School, 10.10.84, amongst leaf litter in copse of deciduous
trees (TDH)

Bembidion genei Kuster
Near Amners Farm, 20.8.85, at base of vegetation on bank of gravel pit (TDH)

B. obtusum Serville
Near Amners Farm, 20.8.85, at base of vegetation on bank of gravel pit (TDH)

Pterostichus oblongopunctatus (Fabr.)
Snelsmore Common, 2.4.85, under a fallen branch (TDH)

Laemostenus terricola (Herbst)
Aston Upthorpe Downs, 14.10.84, under fence post on downland, Leighton Park
School, 28.10.84, under a log in copse of deciduous trees (TDH)

Amara communis (Panzer)
The Ridges, Finchampstead, 13.10.84, under heather (TDH)

Agonum thoreyi (Dejean)
Near Theale, 16.3.85, under bark of willow on bank of stream (TDH)

Harpalus rufitarsis (Duft.)
The Ridges, Finchampstead, 13.10.84, under heather (TDH)

Anisodactylus binotatus (Fabr.)
Near Pingewood, 17.9.85, one male under stone on bank of gravel pit (TDH)

Bradycellus sharpi Joy
Whiteknights, 26.1.85, amongst leaf litter (TDH)

Stenolophus teutonus (Schrank) :
Near Amners Farm, 20.8.85, at base of vegetation on bank of gravel pit (TDH); ©
South Lake, Earley, 8.9.82 (RGL)

Acupalpus dubius Schilsky
Whiteknights, 29.10.84, under bark of tree stump (TDH)

Dromius angustus Brulle
Whiteknights, 30.1.85, under bark of felled tree (Aesculus sp.) (TDH)

Metabletus obscuroguttatus (Duft.)
Near The Coombs, 1.5.85, under a piece of wood on a tree stump © (TDH)

Coelambus confluens (Fabr.)
Pingewood, 29.9.84, on bare mud beside pond, near gravel pit (TDH)

Helophorus flavipes (Fabr.)
Leighton Park, 1304.85, in old bird's mest (CTDH)

Coelostoma orbiculare (Fabr.)
The Ridges, Finchampstead, 15.5.85, obtained by treading vegetation into
pond, in woodland (TDH)

Cercyon lugubris (Olivier)
Leighton Park, 13.4.85, in compost heap (TDH)

i =

Helochares lividus (Forster)

The Ridges, Finchampstead, 15.5.85, obtained by treading vegetation into
pond, in woodland (TDH)

Paromalus flavicornis (Herbst)
Whiteknights, 30.1.85, under bark of felled tree (TDH)

Metopsia retusa (Steph.)
Leighton Park School, 16.9.85, in pit-fall trap in garden cabbage patch (TDH)

Paederus riparius (L.)]
Near Shinfield Grange, 1.5.85, under stone in meadow (TDH)

Philonthus cephalotes (Gravenhorst)
Leighton Park, 11.4.85, in compost heap (TDH)

P. sanguinolentus (Gravenhorst)
Leighton Park, 13.4.85, in compost heap (TDH)

Staphylinus aeneocephalus Degeer
Lower Basildon, 6.7.85, under a log (TDH)

Sinodendron cylindricum (L.)
Ipsden Heath, 31.3.85, inside rotting log (TDH)

Getonia aurata (L.) Rose Chafer

Padworth Common, 1.6.85, two of these beautifully coloured beetles flying

in sunshine around a flowering Crataegus (BRB); Caversham, 1.6.85 (HGB);
Clifton Park Road, Caversham, 9.9.85, reported to Museum by Miss S A Gilford

Agrilus laticornis (Illiger)
Leighton Park, 3.8.85, sweeping thistles under a Quercus robur (TDH)

Melanotus punctolineatus (Pelerin)
Owlsmoor, 22.6.85, at moth trap (HHC)

Lampyris noctiluca (L.) Glow-worm
Owlsmoor, 22.6.85, unexpected at so acid a locality (HHC)

Hemicoelus fulvicornis (Sturm) :
Leighton Park School, 3.8.85, by sweeping Cirsium arvense growing on edge
of deciduous wood (TDH)

Dasytes niger (L.)
Near Benyon's Inclosure, 23.6.85, resting on Cirsium palustre (TDH)

Rhizophagus dispar (Paykull)
Whiteknights, 30.1.85, under bark of felled tree (TDH)

Tritoma bipustulata (Fabr.)
The Ridges, Finchampstead, 8.5.85, in rotting tree stump (TDH)

Dacne bipustulata (Thunberg)
Near Ramsdell, 28.3.85, under bark of dead beech (TDH)

Cortinicara gibbosa (Herbst)
Leighton Park, 1.9.85, by beating hawthorn tree (TDH)

Tetratoma desmaresti Latr. :
Leighton Park School, 23.12.84, under bark of fungoid branch (TDH)

- 46 -

Orchesia undulata Kraatz
Whiteknights, 30.1.85, under bark of decaying logs (TDH)

Anaspis lurida Steph.
Leighton Park School, 1.7.85, on flower of Prunus lusitanica (TDH)

Oedemera nobilis (Scop.)
Whiteknights, 22.6.85, on flower of Rosa sp. (TDH)

Monochamus galloprovincialis (Olivier)
Caversham, 30.7.85, brought to the Museum for identification by Mr AR

Graham of Direct Wines, Paddock Road

Lema cyanella (L.)
Leighton Park School, 3.8.85, by sweeping Cirsium arvense (TDH)

Lilioceris lilii (Scop.)

Near Whiteknights, 25.6.84, larvae on Lilium sp., adults bred out and
emerged 23.7.84 (TDH)

Hippuriphila modeeri (L.)
Leighton Park, 25.5.85, by sweeping Equisetum sp. (TDH)

Epitrix atropae Foudras
Hartslock, near Goring, 28.9.85, on plants of Atropa belladonna (TDH)

Psylliodes napi (Fabr.)

Leighton Park, 29.8.85, resting on ground beneath plants of Alliaria petiolata

(TDH)

Cassida flaveola Thunberg
Whiteknights, 25.5.85, resting on vegetation in a meadow (TDH)

CY viridis: Cue)
Near Sheffield Bottom, Theale, 20.8.85, sweeping Ranunculus (near plants
of Mentha) (TDH)

Rhynchites longiceps Thomson, C G
Heckfield Heath, 12.6.85, resting on leaves of Salix sp. (TDH)

Apion assimile Kirby, W
Leighton Park School, 3.9.85, sweeping clover (TDH)

A. ervi Kirby, W
Leighton Park, 9.6.85, by sweeping a meadow (TDH)

A. malvae (Fabr.)
Leighton Park, 9.6.85, on inflorescence buds of Malva sylvestris (TDH)

Phyllobius viridicollis (Fabr.)

Seven Barrows, near Lambourne, 28.5.85, obtained by sweeping a meadow on
calcareous soil (TDH)

Barypeithes pellucidus (Boheman)
Heckfield Heath, 12.6.85, walking on bare sand in birch scrub (TDH)

Sciaphilus asperatus (Bonsdorff)
Leighton Park, 27.5.85, resting on a leaf of buttercup in a meadow (TDH)

ey

a

Magdalis carbonaria (L.)
Heckfield Heath, 12.6.85, resting on vegetation under birch (TDH)

Pentarthrum huttoni Wollaston
Whiteknights, 30.1.85, under bark of tree stump (TDH)

Rhinoncus inconspectus (Herbst)
Child Beale, 30.6.85, on leaves of Calystegia sp. (TDH)

Phytobius olssoni (Israelson)

Nr Bracknell, old specimen recently re-determined and reported in Antenna,1984

Ceutorhynchus floralis (Paykul1l)
Leighton Park, 25.5.85, by sweeping a weed infested garden allotment (TDH)

G2-Litura (Fabr«)
Leighton Park, 5.8.85, by sweeping Cirsium arvense (TDH)

C. melanostictus (Marsham)
Near Sheffield Bottom, 20.8.85, sweeping Lycopus europaeus (TDH)

Gymnetron pascuorum (Gyllenhal)
Seven Barrows, near Lambourne, 28.5.85, by sweeping a meadow on calcareous
soil (TDH)

G. villosulum Gyllenhal
By River Blackwater near Farley Hill, 10.8.85, galls containing pupae and
unemerged adults, on Veronica anagallis-aquatica (HHC)

Rhynchaenus avellanae (Donovan)
Leighton Park, 4.8.85, obtained by beating Turkey Oak (TDH)

HYMENOPTERA Sawflies, Ichneumons, Bees and Wasps
Urocerus gigas (L.) Horntail or Giant Woodwasp

Bramshill, 22.8.85, a female of this impressive sawfly found indoors by
Mr P Kops of Springwater Farm, insect submitted to the Museum.

Stethomostus fuliginosus (Schrank)
Shiplake College, 7.6.80 (RGL)

Tenthredo schaefferi Klug sensu stricto
Shiplake College, 7.6.80, rare in Britain where var. perkinsi (Morice) is

the usual form (RGL)

Ctenichneumon messorius (Gravenhorst)
Shiplake College, 7.6.80 (RGL)

Cratichneumon clarigator (Wesmael)
Baynes Wood Nature Reserve, 28.5.85 (HHC)

DIPTERA True Flies

Dicranota simulans Lackschewitz
Baynes Wood Nature Reserve, 30.9.85 (HHC)

Simulium ornatum Meigen
Baynes Wood Nature Reserve, 24.6.85 (HHC)

age tee

Rhamphomyia barbata (Macquart)
Owlsmoor, 22.6.85 at moth trap (HHC)

Dolichopus nitidus (Fallen)
South Lake, Earley, 8.9.82 (RGL)

Medetera impigra Collin
Baynes Wood Nature Reserve, 24.6.85 (HHC)

Cheilosia albipila Meigen
Baynes Wood Nature Reserve, 16.4.85 (HHC)

Criorhina ranunculi (Panzer)

Baynes Wood Nature Reserve, 16.4.85, not a new species to the Museum's
collection but noteworthy (HHC)

Cryptaciura rotundiventris (Fallen)
River Kennet near Aldermaston Old Mill, 17.8.74 (EB)

Terellia longicauda (Meigen)
Sinodun Hill, 15.7.70, on Cirsium eriophorum L., (HHC)

Trypeta ruficauda (Fabr.)
Goring Heath, orchard at King Charles's Head, on Cirsium arvense (HHC,EB)

Sapromyza apicalis (Robineau-—Desvoidy)
2 College Road, Reading, 19.8.71 and 24.8.73 (EB)

Lonchaea corusca Czerny
2 College Road, Reading, 17.8.71 (EB)

Chamaemyia juncorum (Fallen)
Pamber Forest, 4.5./5 (RGL)

Pelignus durrenbergensis Becker
South Lake, Earley, 8.9.82 (RGL)

Discocerina obscurella (Fallen)
South Lake, Earley, 8.9.82 (RGL)

Parhydroptera discomyzina Collin
South Lake, Earley, 8.9.82 (RGL)

Actia pilipennis (Fallen)
Baynes Wood Nature Reserve, 28.5.85 (HHC)

Spanochaeta dorsalis (Von Roser)
Tippings Lane, Woodley, 5.7.81 (RGL)

Schoenomyza litorella (Fallen)
South Lake, Earley, 8.9.82 (RGL)

Phorbia sepia (Meigen)
Bucklebury, 4.5.85 (HHC)

Craspedochaeta karli (Ringdahl)
Baynes Wood Nature Reserve, 29.7.85 (HHC)

=. BO) =

Helina atripes (Meade)
Kennylands Paddock, Sonning Common, 29.6.85 (HHC)

Coenosia atra Meigen
South Lake, Earley, 8.9.82 (RGL)

The Society's Entomological Evening - 6th July 1985

Following the pattern set in recent years, the mothing night was again
preceded by the Society's Barbecue, organised by Dr Humphrey Bowen and
enjoyed at Snelsmore Common Country Park. Before lighting up at around
10.00 p.m. several members were busily sweeping larvae from Calluna, thereby
producing several Sataurnia pavonia (L.) Emperor Moth. The weather was
again kind to us and from the three well separated mercury vapour lamps we
recorded a total of 88 species; those of particular interest are in the
foregoing Report. Our thanks are due to Norman Hall, Peter Waite and David
Young for providing equipment, also for writing detailed reports in which
department they were joined by Sheila Ward. The Society acknowledges the
valued permission of Newbury District Council to visit and work at this
interesting locality.

Contributors
The Recorder would like to thank the following members and friends for
records received :-

M.V. Albertini (MVA), Mrs. H.G. Baker (HGB), Dr. H.J.M. Bowen (HJMB), the
fate, Dre.) Burt GES), .Dr..A./Bricksteck (AB), H.H.u:Garter,(HHC), Dr. M.J.
Dumbleton (MJD), N.M. Hall (NMH), T.D. Harrison (TDH), M.R. Hughes (MRH),
T.J.G. Homer (TJGH), R.G. Leeke (RGL), J.F. Newman (JFN), B.T. Parsons (BTP),
P. Silver (PS), Mrs. Sheila Ward (SW), D.A. Young (DAY). Additionally our
thanks are due to the Director of Reading Museum and Art Gallery, Mr. C.A.
Sizer, for allowing us to incorporate any relevant records from the Museum's
collections.

ARACHNIDA Spiders and Harvestmen

Xysticus lanio Koch
Baynes Wood Nature Reserve, 30.9.85, one immature female (HHC)

Savignya frontata (Blackwall)
Old Copse, Sonning Common, 25.3.85, under bark (HHC)

Gonatium rubellum (Blackwall)
Baynes Wood Nature Reserve, 30.9.85 (HHC)

Linyphia clathrata Sundevall
Twyford Gravel Pit, 21.4.84 (HHC). In the field this spider appeared to

be an ant mimic.

Leiobunum blackwalli
Baynes Wood Nature Reserve, 26.8.85 (HHC)

CHILOPODA Centipedes

Geophilus carpophagus Leach
Tilehurst, 6.10.85, specimen found in a house (HHC)

ae a

MILLIPEDES

Polymicrodon polydesmoides (Leach)
Two hibernating in crack in chalk with Eristalis tenax (L.), Playhatch Chalk

Pit,, 23.11.85,. (HEC)

Occurrence of Cylindrinotus laevioctostriatus (Goeze)

(Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae)
H.H. Carter

This relative of the familiar Mealwork (Tenebrio molitor L.) and other less
well known pests of stored food products is usually found by day resting
under bark or decaying logs. In 1985 I observed it on an oak tree on the
edge of Hagpits Wood (Sonning Common). At some time in the past a limb had
been sawn off about two metres from the ground, and callus formation had
begun round the periphery of the sawn surface. The beetle was first noted
at this locality in November 1983. On 29.4.85 one was seen wandering slowly
over the sawn surface at night, and similar observations were made on many
subsequent dates up to July 12th. Sometimes two and occasionally three
beetles were present. None were seen on other parts of the tree, though the
deeply fissured and ivy-clad bark would have made this difficult, nor were
any seen during daylight.

In September the beetles reappeared, and again up to three were seen until
late October. They were not seen to feed or copulate, and the exposed wood
appeared quite sound though some inconspicuous microflora - algal or fungal -
may have been available.

= Sl, —

The Recorder's Report for Fungi, 1985
Alan Brickstock

As a result of a poor summer, followed by a long, exceptionally dry spell,
there was an unseasonal ‘flush' of fungi in July, but the woods this autumn
were barer of fungi than I can ever remember. The total number of species
for the year was 301, compared with the average for the last four years of
352; some of this shortfall was due to your recorder not going to the
Mycological Society outing at Virginia Water this year, since it clashed
with our own foray, which I was leading! The MS foray recorded a superb 200
species.

Many species which are usually abundant were to be found only in ones or
twos, and that by careful searching. Despite this, there were some
interesting finds, with more uncommon species: one searches more carefully
when the normally common species are absent. Some uncommon species, such as
Amanita porphyria and Inocybe patouillardii, were found with unusual
frequency.

The Society forays produced 81 species at Holly Grove, Highmoor, on 5.10.85
(Judith Hack ):thanks to Barry Bristow and Alick Henrici for their help with
the identification of some of these species; and my double foray on 19.10.85
produced 53 species at Ufton Nervet and 60 species at Five Oaken, a
combined total of 91 species for the day.

Names of Agarics and Boleti are as given by Moser, others from Phillips.

Thanks to all those who have contributed records, including Barrie Bristow,
Alick Henrici, Humphry Bowen, and especially Mary and Neville Diserens, who
also shared many of our outings and subsequent deliberations.

Records, short or long, be the species rare or common, are always
appreciated.

The following are a selection of the more interesting species found.

AGARICALES
Amanita porphyria

Satwell, 15.9.85 (D); Newtown Common, 29.9.85 (D), 12.10.85 (B&D);
Ufton Nervet, 19.10.85 (NH); Five Oaken, 19.10.85 (NH).

Asterophora lycoperdoides
The Chase, Newbury, 12.10.85 (B&D); Fence Wood, Hermitage, 2.11.85 (B&D).
An uncommon fungus, growing on rotting Russula nigricans.

Boletinus cavipes
Sulnam, 1.9.85 (D).

Boletus calopus
Newtown Common, 12.10.85 (B&D).

Boletus parasiticus
Wasing, 16.10.85 (B); Snelsmore Common, 20.10.85 (D).
A small, uncommon Boletus, parasitising Earthballs (Scleroderma citrina).

Cortinarius armeniacus
The Chase, 12.10.85 (B&D).

Crepidotus mitis
High Copse, Frilsham, 2.11.85 (B&D).

Deconia (Psilocybe ) montana
Fence Wood, 12.10.85 (NDFC).

Gomphideus roseus
AWRE, 9.10.85 (B); Newtown Common, 29.9.85 (D).

Hygrocybe russocoriacea
Virginia Water, 19.10.85 (MS).

Inocybe patouillardii
Sulham, 9.10.85 (B)).

Present in large numbers; more than I have ever seen.

Leccinum dGurisculum
Wniteknights Park, 7.9.85 (D).

Lentinellus cochleatus
Holly Grove, Nettlebec, 5.10.85 (NH).

Nolanea staurospora
Fence wood, 12.10.85 (NDFC).

Panaeolus subbalteactus
Fence Wood, 12.10.85 (NDFC).

Pluteus petasatus
Sulham, 14.9.85 (B).

Psathyrella marcescibilis
Five Oaken, 19.10.85 (NH).

Psathyrella multi ata
Redhatch Drive, Earley, 31.10.85 (D).

Pseudocraterellus sinuosus
Fence Wood, 12.10.85 (NDFC).

Russula Drunneoviolacea
Burghfield Common, 27.10.85 (B).

Russula farinipes
Newtown Common, 12.10.85 (B&D).

Stropharia aurantiaca
Virginia Water, 19.10.85 (MS).

Stropharia inuncta
Mortimer (BB).

Tricholoma columbetta
The Chase, 12.10.85 (B&D).

Tricholoma inamoenum
Blacknest, Brimpton, 2.10.85 (B).

Tricholoma ustale

The Chase, 12.10.85 (B&D); Newtown Common, 12.10.85 (B&D).

A rare species, but found twice on one day!.
Also Fence Wood, 12.10.85 (NDFC).

Tylopilus felleus
Bucklebury Slade, 28.9.85 (BBONT).

Se

APHYLLOPHORALES

Coltricia perennis
Ufton Nervet, 13.10.85 (B); Five Oaken, 19.10.85 (NH);
Burghfield Common, 27.10.85 (B).

Creolophus cirrhatus
Virginia Water, 19.10.85 (MS).

Hydnellus concrescens
Newtown Common, 12.10.85 (B&D).

Ischnoderma resinosum
Ufton Nervet, 19.10.85 (NH).

HETEROBAS IDIOMYCETES

Pseudohydnum gelatinosum
Ufton Nervet, 19.10.85 (NH).

Tremella foliacea
Five Oaken, 19.10.85 (NH).

Tyromyces lacteus
Fence Wood, 12.10.85 (NDFC).

ASCOMYCETES

Cordyceps capitatus Lycoperdon molle
Five Oaken, 19.10.85 (NH).

Cordayceps ophioglossioides
Newtown Common, 12.10.85 (B&D).

An uncommon species, growing parasitically on the faise truffle:

Elaphomyces granulatus
Five Oaken, 19.10.85 (NH).
False truffle, parasitised by the previous species.

Hymenoscyphus epiphyllus
Holly Grove, 5.10.85 (NH).

Mitrophora semilibera
Great Wood, Hambledon, 28.4.85 (D).

Otidea onotica
Pamber Forest (Impstone), 20.10.85 (B).

Tarzetta cupularis
Fence Wood, 2.11.85 (B&D).

Xylaria longipes
Whiteknights, 9.11.85 (B&D).
Similar to Dead Man's Fingers, but much slenderer.

Contributors

Ivy and Alan Brickstock (B), Barrie Bristow (BB), Barrie Bristow and Alick
Henrici (B&H),Mary and Neville Diserens (D).

Society forays are denoted by (NH), (BBONT), (NDFC) for the Newbury and
District Field Club foray, lead by (B&H), and (MS) for the Micological
Society foray at Virginia Water.

~ BAe

Recorder's Report for Vertebrates 1984-85
H H Carter

FISH

Esox lucius L. Pike
Small tatty specimen under bank of Thames above Purley, 6.4.85 (MJC)

Leuciscus cephalus (L.) Chub
Some small Chub appeared in the Holy Brook under the new Central Library

in early summer for a week or two but have not been seen since.

AMPHIB IANS

Rana temporaria L. , Frog
Two dead in Mill Lane (Henley), 10.3.85, are the only evidence for spring

migration this year. Spawn a few days old in the Horse Pond, Gallowstree
Common, 31.3.85. Tadpoles in a garden pond on Cockney Hill (Tilehurst)

13.4.6). Albino tadpoles on the same date near Impstone Road, Silchester
Common (AB).

Bufo bufo (L.) : oe - Toad

One dead in Kennylands Road (Sonning Common), 12.10.84 and one dead in
Buckingham Drive (Emmer Green), 10.10.84 mark the date of last year's
autumn migration. One dead in Binfield Heath Lane (Sonning Common) ,
25.1.85 and in Kiln Road (Emmer Green), 28.1.85. Main spring migration
later, four dead in Binfield Heath Lane, 30.3.85, two dead there, 3.4.85,
28 dead Kiln Road, 30.3.85. 33 dead on 100m stretch of Folders Lane
(Bracknell) 7.4.85 (MJD). On autumn migrationm this year, one dead
Binfield Heath Lane, 3.10.85, one dead Kennylands Road 6.10.85.

Anguis fragilis L. Slow Worm
One in Pamber Forest between 12.3.85 and 6.4.85 (AB). One regularly in

garden at Beech Lane, Earley, basking on heat-absorbent black polythene,
25-31.10.65 (HL).

Natrix natrix (L.) Grass Snake

An adult about 500 mm long at Moor Copse, 14.10.85 was torpid but discharg
its anal glands when handled (PRC). Nine eggs found there in a compost
heap (a typical site), 28.9.85 contained fully developed young 200 mm long
but still attached to their yolk sacs (BRB). Juvenile killed by car, |
Reading, 8.5.85. An adult caught by boys on the site of Caversham Cork
Factory and later released, 28.8.85, was about 1.2 metres long.

Vipera berus (L.) Adder
From eight to eleven or more seen in Pamber Forest on various dates betwee

12.3.85 and 6.4.85 near their place of hibernation (AB).

MAMMALS

Protemnodon rufogriseus Red-necked Wallaby
One seen Witheridge Hill (Stoke Row), 17.1.85, reported in Henley Standard
(RB). (Last report 1981)

Talpa europaea (L.) Mole
Molehills following line of footpath (and of fence which had been removed)

Frieze Farm (Sonning Common), 27.12.84; Dinton Pastures, 19.1.85;
Pishill, 27.1.85; Peppard Common, 28.1.85; alongside Thames between
Purley and Pangbourne, 6.3.85; Bucklebury, 4.5.85.

2 55 =

Erinaceus europaeus (L.) Hedgehog
One dead in George St. (Caversham), 31.10.84; two dead Emmer Green 13.5.85

and one 29.6.85; one dead Upton, 21.9.85; ‘Woodley 5.10.85; Woodcote
POSTO SES; "Stoke Row, 16.11.85". One alive, Kennylands Road (Sonning
Common), 29.6.85. Frequent in Beech Lane, Earley, October 1985 (HL).

Pipistrellus pipistrellus (Schreber) Pipistrelle
One found dead at Major Dent's house, Burghfield Common, 1.4.85.

Plecotus auritus (L.) Long-eared Bat
One at AWRE (Burghfield), 23.9.85 (AB).

Vulpes vulpes (L.) Fox
One in field by railway between Winnersh and Hotere ult -November 1984 (HL).

Calling in Sonning Common area 4 ‘dates from 16.11.84 to 5.3.85. Two
playing in snow Cockney Hill, mid January. (IB). Tracks north of Withy
Copse, 19.1.85. Smelt by RDNHS at Dinton Pastures, same date. Signs
Watlington Bill, 3.2.85: Vixen in Bath Road, mid February 1985 (AB).

One dead in ditch Grazeley, 10.3.85 (HL). - Two cubs reared at 36 Allcroft
Road (TS). One to two seen frequently Coley Park, July 1985 (FC). One
in field by Pack Saddle (Mapledurham) ,' 28.12.85 (MJC). -

Meles meles (L.) * . Badger

Sett in use Hockett Shaw (Peppard), 19.1.85. One dead on road at Bray,
1643.05. One dead on Bath Road at Woolhampton (MM). One several days
dead at roadside east of Goring, 27.7.85. Signs at Hardwick, 26.12.85.

intra dlutra (L<) Otter
One at Sheffield Bottom (Theale), December 1984 (PB). Last reported 1973.

Mustela erminea (L.) Stoat
One dead near ROB (Burghfield), 11.10.84 (JRC)

Mustela eversmanni Lesson Polecat Ferret
One dead on Peppard Road (Chalkhouse Green), 4.11.84.

Mustela nivalis (L.) Weasel
One dead on Peppard Road, 14.5.85

Dama dama (L.) Fallow Deer
Female dead at roadside, Green Dean Bottom (Mapledurham), 27.12.84, and
three crossing road from College wood (Woodcote), 1.1.85 (JW). Several
at Witheridge Hill (Stoke Row), 17.1.85 (RB).

Capreolus capreolus (L.) Roe Deer
Two females at Moor Copse, 9.12.84 (MRH).

Muntiacus reevesi Ogilby Munt jac

Calling at Kidmore End, 19.11.84; Hagpits Wood (Sonning Common), 27.8.85
(EMC) and 1.9.85; Crowsley, 18.5.85; and Fries Farm (Sonning Common) ,
oretl. 85. Juvenile dead on Peppard Road, 20.3.85. Slots seen south of
Holly Grove (Highmoor), December 1984 (MJC) and north of Withy Copse

CSU 680.810); 1901.85. One seen at 80 Kennylands Road (very close to
Hagpits Wood), 26.5.85 (CK).

= 56 =

Oryctolagus cuniculus (L.) Rabbit

Numbers in the Sonning Common area were the highest ever recorded, but in
the absence of reports from other observers it is impossible to say whether
this is a purely local phenomenon. Many tracks at New Copse and north of
Withy ,Copse,, .19.. 1485.. Signs at Watlington Hill, 3.2.85; and Bucklebury
be SD Total sightings in the Sonning Common area 1306, with maxima of
45 at Chalkhouse Green, 16.4.85; 55 Kennylands, 21.5.85; 38 Chalkhouse
Green pit, 16.7.85. Hedges grubbed out and grassland ploughed here,
November 1985.

Lepus capensis Pallas Hare
As usual, numbers low in a year of Rabbit abundance. One on Bishopsland

Farm (north of Emmer Green), 15.6.85. One dead on road at Chalkhouse
Green, 4.10.85. Three in field east of Cane End, 26.10.85 in an area
largely free of Rabbits.

Muscardinus avellanarius (L.) Dormouse
A nest of baby Dormice found apparently abandoned in a wood at Upper
Basildon,.26.9.85,4Mrs. 2) «

Clethrionomys glareolus Schreber Bank Vole
One under roots of fig tree, 82 Kennylands Road (Sonning Common), 4.4.85.

Arvicola amphibius (L.) Water Vole
Many burrows in bank of Thames below Pangbourne, 6.4.85.

Microtus agrestis (L.) Short-tailed Vole
One’ dead Ga Peppard Koad, SU 721 776, 27.308 rX. One at 82 Kennylands
Road, ll. 1.63.

Apodemus sylvaticus (L.) Wood Mouse

One dead at side of track, Pishill (SU 72 90), 2.5.85. One dead at

80 Kennylands Road (Sonning Common), another there, 29.8.85 (A & EK), and
one 82 Kennylands Road, 15.10.85, all apparently killed by cat from

84 Kennylands Road.

Rattus norvegicus Berkenhout Brown Rat
One dead in Reades Lane near Gallowstree Common. One at 82 Kennylands
Road, 12.11.85 (MJC) and one in field north of 80 Kennylands Road, 13.11.85

Sciurus carolinensis Gmelin Grey Squirrel
Tracks in New Copse (Sonning Common) 19.1.85. One dead on road at
Grassland Research Institute (Hurley), 7.9.85. One dead at E.P Coliiece
School [677.65 per SYl. Frequent in Beech Lane (Earley), October 1985
CHL Widespread throughout the year in South Oxfordshire, mainly ones
or twos, at Chalkhouse Green, Goring, Sonning Common, Binfield Heath, Cane
End, Carmel College (Crowmarsh) but 9 at Swyncombe (MJC).

Thanks are due to the following contributors:

Brian Baker (BRB); Alan Brickstock (AB) and Ivy Brickstock (IB);

P Bristowe (PB); Richard Brough (RB); Elizabeth Carter (EMC) and Mary
Carter (MJC); J R Cooper (JRC); Paula Cox (PRC); . Fred, Croucher (®C)5
Major Dent (MD); Michael Dumbleton (MJD); Michel Hughes (MRH);
Christopher, Alexander and Edmund King (CK, A & EK); Hilda Lambden (HL);
Mr Maskell (MM); Mrs Palmer (MP); Tony Stemp (TS); Shirley Townend
(SYE)=" Janet Welsh ( JW).

ey ie

The weather at Reading during 1985

Dr. R.D. Thompson
Department of Geography
University of Reading

1985 will be remembered as a year with a disappointing (even non-
existent!) spring, with temperatures well below average in March
and April, and a poor summer, with June receiving some 80% more
rainfall than average and with August recording the highest number
of raindays since 1956. However, since the Autumn was dry (about
25% of the rain expected) and warm (with the October extreme
maximum the highest since 1959), this Indian Summer weather meant
that the year ended up as about average in terms of pressure,
rainfall and mean temperature.

In fact, the sunshine hours were the only major deviant being about
7% below the yearly average. However, the near-normal mean
temperature did mask the abnormal number of air frosts and ground
frosts which were the highest since the infamous winters of 1963
and 1979 respectively. The following monthly weather notes, based
on Table 1, will reveal the detailed weather characteristics of
1985 and hefevence to Table 2 will confirm the eee SD of the
main observations.

January was a cold month with temperatures about 3° below average,
the most number of air frosts since 1979 and the last day of the
month the only day without a recorded ground frost. Sunshine and
rainfall were less than average.

February was mostly a cold (2°C below average), dry and sunny month
associated with higher pressure than normal to reveal the anticyclonic
dominance, which resulted in 70% of the winds (observed at 09.00hrs)
from a NE-E-SE direction.

March continued to be cold and dry with rainfall some 22% below
normal. Frosts again dominated the weather both in the air (highest
number since 1970) and on the ground (highest since 1976).

April was the first month of the year with above (1°C) average
temperatures with the highest mean temperature for 14 years. The
first part of the month was very wet and windy (with 58 m.p.h. gusts
on the 11th and 10.3mm rain on the 7th) which then changed to dry,
calm and reasonably warm weather, with 19.5°C on the 19th (the
warmest day of the year so far).

May began with a dry spell lasting until the 12th but very heavy falls
of rain on the 14th (the most in one May day since 1952), the 21st

and 26th made this the wettest May for 20 years (some 37mm above
average). Temperatures for the month were about average but six ground
frosts were still recorded, with -3.0°C as an extreme grass minimum

on the 10th and -2.8°C on the 30th.

June started off warm and sunny but soon deteriorated to become cold,
cloudy and wet. Rainfall was the main feature with the month's

total some 80% above average and the highest number of raindays since
1935. Temperatures were below normal, with the mean temperature the
lowest since 1977 and 0.9°C below average. Sunshine was well below
average with a pathetic mean duration of only 5 hrs. for the mid-
summer month, losinz almost two hours per day compared with normal

=~ 58 =

conditions. Three ground frosts were recorded between the 8th and
15th, (about -2.4°C) which, at this late stage, were a headache for
local gardeners.

July was a month of two distinctive halves, starting off dry and

sunny with only one rain day up to the 13th and then changing to a

wet second half, with 15 rain days between the 14th and 3lst. The
number of rain days was almost double the average number, and the
number of wet days (1.0mm or more) was the highest for 15 years.
However, Overall, the total rainfall was very close to the average
aggregate. Temperatures were about normal and in a brief respite from
the rain, the highest recorded value of 28.0°C occurred on the 25th.

August was a disastrous month weatherwise being cool, wet and windy for
the first three weeks with a welcome change to a warmer, drier and
calmer last week. Consequently, temperatures were about 2°C below
average, the number of raindays were the highest for any August since
1956 and the mean pressure the lowest since 1963. It was indeed a
miserable and forgettable month, ruining the holidays of so many

people in the south of England.

September After such a poor spring and summer, we all hoped for an
Indian Summer which indeed appeared after the 5th. Consequently,
temperatures were higher than normal (the highest mean since 1980),
pressure was the highest for 8 years and with rainfall only 25%

of the monthly average, the aggregate was the lowest since 1979.

October continued the Indian Summer with above average temperatures,
pressure (the highest for 25 years) and sunshine and below average
rainfall (which was only about half of the total expected). In

fact, an absolute drought (ie., a period of at least 15 consecutive
days, none of which receives 0.2mm rain or more) occurred from the 9th
to Slst.

November ended the glorious Indian Summer after a warm, dry and sunny
start and by the middle of the month, had a bleak mid-winter appearance
with snow on the 1lth and 18th and a minimum temperature of -5.4°C on

the 14th. Mean temperatures were 2°C below normal (the lowest since
1958) and the soil temperatures were the lowest since 1961. However,

the month did have its compensations with sunshine hours 6% up on

average and rainfall down by over 36%.
December was a very wet and cloudy month with pressure well below |
average and temperatures nearly 2°C above average, the highest for

11 years. The month started off reasonably warm, with a maximum
temperature of 15.8°C on the 2nd (the highest for 25 years) and continue
mild until the last few days of the month when the minimum on the 28th |
plummeted to -6.8°C. Heavy rain characterised the holiday period, with

a fall of 24.9mm on Christmas day being the highest total for any
December day since 1954. This, added to the total, made the aggregate
rainfall for the month the highest in 20 years.

Table 1. WEATHER RECORDS: 1985

STATION: READING UNIVERSITY (WHITEXNIGHTS)
$$ nn MEER TIGHTS)

Mean
Daily
Temperatures
“(5
Extreme Max.
| Extreme Date
Temperatures| Extreme Min.
eC Date

Extreme Grass
Min.
Date

:
)Days with air frost

Days with ground frost

nN

_ Sunshine Sum 164 151 BEL 179 136 1S 83 38 1462
' Hours % of possible 34 31 45 40 36 34 31 15 33
; Daily Mean 5.35 5.0 Ted eS )48 4.5 3.6 8 Ve2 4,

(
Precipitation Amount in mm
: Rain Days

| Noximun rain in one day "
| Date

.
A

_ Longest run of consecutive
‘jrain days

Longest run of consecutive
dry days

_ Snow or sleet days

Days with snow lying

Visibility | Days with fog
at 0900 GMT
\Thunderstorm| Days of thunder
Activity Days of hail
Barometric Mean
‘Pressure Highest
‘nb Date

|

Lowest
Date

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ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS TO THE RDNHS MEMBERSHIP LIST
IN THE 1985 READING NATURALIST

Bowen, Dr. H.J.M. (Humphry), M.A. D.Phil. & Mrs. M. (Muriel), 8 Glebe Road
READING, Berks RG2 7AG, Tel. 871669

Brazier, Miss H.M. (Hilda), 34 Weirside Court, Orts Road, READING, Berks
RG1 3JN, Tel. 509167

Buckley, Mr D.K., 50 Woollaton Close, Grange Park, SWINDON, Wilts SN5 6BB

Everett, Miss S.J. (Sue), 122 Derwent Road, Thatcham, Berks RG13 4UR
Tel. 0635 60478

Foley-Fisher, Mr. D. (David), B.Sc. & Mrs./M. (Mary), "Beechlands',
Flowers Hill, Pangbourne, READING, Berks RG8 7BD

Francis, Mr. I. (Ilan), BBONT Berkshire Office, Dinton Pastures Country
Park, Davis Street, Hurst, READING, Berks RG1O OTH

Horswell, Mr. Ke (Ken) , in giGc SSIS A GAlionia lle & Mrs. B. (Beryl), R.S.C.N.,
2 St. Andrews Road, HENLEY-ON-THAMES, Oxon RG9 1HP, Tel. Henley 574555

Lush, Mr. R. (Ray), B.Sc. & Miss G.M., 32 Matthews Green Road, WOKINGHAM,
Berks RG1l1 l1JU

Mackey, Mr. F.J. (Frederick), 14 Heath Drive, Binfield Heath, HENLEY-ON-
THAMES, Oxon RG9 4LY, Tel. Henley 482246

Maitland, Mr. J.N. (James), 161 Old Woosehill Lane, WOKINGHAM, Berks RG11
Pom. Lek. 788341

Reynolds, Dr. D.J. (Debora), B.V.Sc. Ph.D. M.R.C.V.S., Brimstone Cottage,
Little Lane, Upper Bucklebury, READING, Berks, Tel. Thatcham 60254

Rutley, Mr. K.S., B.Sc., 15 Chilcombe Way, Hunters Walk, Lower Earley,
READING, Berks RG1 5HY

Ryley, Mr. M. (Martin) & Mrs. R. (Ruth), Flat 1, 74 Elmhurst Road,
READING, Berks RG1 5HY

Taylor, Miss A. (Ann), 45 Mereoak Road, Three Mile Cross, READING, RG7 INR

Vincent, Mrs. V.M. (Veronica) , 32 Maldon Close, READING, Berks RG3 2DH,
Tel. 54504

Weller, Miss J. 28 Swallowfield Park, Swallowfield, READING, Berks RG7 1TG

Wellings, Mr. & Mrs. V.G., Cherry Tree Cottage, Hill Bottom, Whitchurch
Hill, READING, Berks RG8 7PT, Tel. Pangbourne 2918

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