Devichoys Wood: Trees Galore!

One of the modules I'm taking for my second year of my Zoology undergrad is 'Introduction to Ecological Consultancy'. It's been a really interesting module to take, focusing on interactions between species, legislation and the relationship between development and conservation. A huge part of this module has been increasing personal ID skills, particularly in the realm of trees, plants in general and protected species, so that we can complete Phase 1 habitat surveys.

With this in mind, we were taken to Devichoys Wood (between Penryn and Truro), a Cornwall Wildlife Trust nature reserve, Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and County Wildlife Site. We were split into two groups on this dull and drizzly morning, with one group going off to start on plants, and the other looking for mammal signs. I started off in the plant group, and so we started by looking into the soggy canopy.

The first tree we identified was Beech (Fagus sylvatica), easily distinguished by it's waxy, shiny leaf top and extra long buds:

Beech leaves with that characteristic long bud

The next thing to catch our attention was Hard Fern (Blechnum spicant):

Hard Fern

Hard Fern is an interesting species; unlike most ferns which are soft and delicate to the touch, Hard Fern, as the name suggests, feels strong and thick. Next we came across some Holly (Ilex aquifolium) and Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum):

Later on during our little trip around the woods, we learnt that Honeysuckle is of ecological importance to Dormice, a European Protected Species. They tear strips off of the plant and use these to help build their neat, oblong nests.

Next we came to another patch of trees and another new species for the list, Downy Birch (Betula pubescens):

Downy Birch

Downy Birch, as the name suggests, has a slight hairy, soft feel to it's leaves.

Another species found was Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa). Similar looking to the Horse Chestnut in some ways (a seasonal favourite at the moment for it's conkers), Sweet Chestnut is distinguished by its nut case holding 3-4 chestnuts that are smaller and not round, and by it's leaves. Horse Chestnuts have 5-7 leaflets on their stems which fan out from each other in a palmate fashion (like fingers on a hand). Sweet Chestnuts have separate leaves, which are arranged alternately from one another. Although Sweet Chestnut is an introduced species, I'm going to make an exception and put it on my list as it has been in Britain for over 2000 years and is often regarded as an 'honorary native' (according to The Woodland Trust)!

Sweet Chestnut leaves

A young tree

Our next tree was Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia). Also known as Mountain Ash, this is a distinctive tree with jagged-edged leaflets arranged in opposite pairs, and one leaflet at the direct tip of the leaf stem:

Slightly blurry Rowan leaves!

Away from the trees, we found a couple of other interesting species. Firstly, Soft Rush (Juncus effusus), and secondly, Ling Heather (Calluna vulgaris):

Ling, still pretty even after it's bright lilac flowers have disappeared

It was a really interesting day at Devichoys! We also talked about looking for Otter signs, Dormouse boxes and then we went and looked at an old Badger sett in the mammal portion of our trip. However, a certain species eluded me; whatever bit my head many times over!

Mammal Trapping and Surveying

Sorry for the length between this and my last post! I've been a bit hectic with uni work and society stuff to sit down and update properly, and I hadn't got some of the photos I wanted! But, nevertheless, here it is!

We held another great EcoSoc event, where we brought freshers along to learn how to survey the small mammals in the fields and banks around campus. As a committee member for EcoSoc, I got to go along and set up the Longworth traps we used 2 days before with the society president Roz. The process begins with 'pre-baiting'. Pre-baiting starts by setting up the traps with hay in the box and maybe a little food, attaching the tunnel and then placing them out in the field to be surveyed. We then left the traps locked open, so the small mammals could get accustomed to the boxes without being trapped.

Whilst putting the traps out, we were accosted by a gentleman who thought we were foraging for blackberrys from the Bramble bushes (Rubus fruticosa)! He proceeded to talk to us about foraging and wildlife for a good 45 minutes, maybe an hour! As a result, I'm now intimately familiar with Elder (Sambucus nigra) and it's berries :

Elder

Elder Leafs

Elderberry

Other species I learned or had confirmed by the forager were "Aazel!" - Hazel (Corylus avellana), and "Awwthorrrn!" - Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna):

Hazel Tree

A Hazel leaf - furry to the touch

Hazel leaf and catkins

Hawthorn branch

Hawthorn berries - edible, but not tasty! Ask Roz!

The distinctive Hawthorn leaf

The night following our strange encounter, we went back out to set the traps for the next morning's session. We had a little trouble with some as a few slugs had made their homes for the night on the trip in the Longworth! Once that was all sorted, we went back home and got ready for an early start.

Saturday morning came around, and I was up by 6:45!!! Up to campus we went, met the other students, and then we trundled off into the fields. We were quite lucky with our mornings session as nearly half of the traps we put out had been set off. The first mammal to be released was a Common Shrew (Sorex araneus). Shrews have very high metabolisms, and they need a high protein food source, so we baited the traps with casters (Blow fly pupae) in case we did catch any. All Shrew species are protected under the law in the UK, and so you must have a license to handle them, which luckily Roz had. However, as we didn't want to disturb the Shrew too much and prevent it from eating (which it needs to do lots of!) we let it go quite quickly.

We only found one Shrew, and the only other small mammal found in the traps that morning were Wood Mice (Apodemus sylvaticus), but they were found in abundance!

Lots and lots of Wood Mice!

Unfortunately we didn't find any Bank or Field Voles which are quite common on campus, or even the less common Water Shrew which is sometimes found up at Tremough, but there is always next time! Thanks to everyone that came along and for letting me take photos of you!

Housekeeping...

I thought I'd add a page to explain how I do things, and how I do some things a bit wrong sometimes... http://thespecieslist.blogspot.co.uk/p/a-bit-of-housekeeping.html!

Fistral Sand Dunes

Now I have to admit straight up, this wasn't a trip exclusively to ID lots of wonderful plants and animals. I was at Fistral on a mission with EcoSoc and Cornwall Council: remove the invasive species Rosa (Rosa rugosa) from the sand dunes to help preserve a threatened habitat. Rosa itself is a plant native to eastern Asia, earning the name 'Japanese Rose'. Therefore, it won't be going on my species list, but I thought I'd show you some pictures because it's a really interesting plant:

The flower of 'Japanese Rose'...

...And the fruit!

The reason it is on the dunes at Fistral is a common problem associated with invasives; it is a 'garden variety', grown in many people's gardens due to it's attractive flowers and relatively low maintenance requirements. It has managed to escape, and is prevalent across many sand dunes in Europe.

So whilst we were at Fistral, I of course took advantage of the native species to flesh out my little blog! So I'll start with a very common sand dune specialist, Marram Grass (Ammophila arenaria).

Marram Grass, interspersed with the pesky Rosa!

Marram grass is a favourite of mine.It is one of the first dune species I learnt as part of a school geography project based at Studland in Dorset. It has therefore earned the title of first land plant on my list! It plays a really important role in the ecology and succession of sand dunes. It is a 'pioneer species' which helps colonise the dunes, and slowly turns the soil more acidic and fertile through the 'leaching' of nutrients when the plant dies and rots in the sand. This is the beginning of the succession process, which eventually ends with the 'climax community' - a group of organisms at a stable or self-perpetuating state. In the UK, our main climax community is broad leafed woodland (particularly oak).

Back to the dunes at Fistral. My next spot was a great little gastropod I first came across at Polzeath last year; the Vineyard Snail (Cernuella virgata).

The Vineyard Snail

They are really curious little creatures, and whilst researching for this post, I discovered that they have a very bizarre mating rituals. For the purpose of mating, they create 'love darts'. Love darts are calcareous (or chitinous) spiny projections, covered in mucus, which both hermaphroditic partners pierce into their mates' skin. The use of this dart is somewhat unclear, but some research (http://jeb.biologists.org/content/201/15/2313.short) has shown that the mucus which covers the dart can cause the female reproductive tract to move more sperm to the ova, and shut off the canal to an organ which digests sperm!

On to the next species, and another plant. We were also tackling Sea-buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) at Fistral. Although a native plant, we were removing it to allow other, rarer plants to establish themselves, and to improve the habitat for animal species, perhaps through managing the process of succession... In other words, I'm not entirely sure why we were removing it, but they are the plausible excuses I've come up with!

The last two species from this trip come in the form of caterpillars. Firstly, this little caterpillar is the Buff Ermine Moth (Spilosoma luteum):

An early 'instar' Buff Ermine caterpillar!

And then the second species we found was the fantastic Fox Moth (Macrothylacia rubi) caterpillar:

The beautiful Fox Moth caterpillar!

It would have taken me a good while to find the names of both these species out, but luckily I discovered them thanks to some very clever naturey friends on good old Facebook! Apparently the caterpillars of Buff Ermines undergo quite a transformation in their larval stage, from how they look in my picture above, to being much more hairy and browner! These little beauties have certainly increased my new found love of lepidopterans!

On a final little note, the reason for our work at Fistral all comes down to some slightly sad news. Behind the dunes, a rather large golf course has been built. This prevents the dunes from spreading backwards and for much succession of species to occur. And at the fore of the dunes is the beach, which is a HUGE tourist draw and therefore economic asset to Newquay. Therefore, the stakeholders of the beach would not be keen to see piles of seaweed etc., which play a crucial role in helping embryo dunes form, on the beach, as the smell and aesthetic would potentially put off visitors.

In light of this, Cornwall Council is managing the dunes in a state of 'Plagioclimax' - a term which means that the community found in the dunes is the final stage of succession as humans are managing the habitat and keeping it in a (relatively) stable state. The council are doing this to protect the important habitat of the first stages of succession, which supports a wide array of specialist species, and is rare in the rest of the UK. Hopefully the association between Cornwall Council and EcoSoc can continue, and we can help protect this incredible habitat.

All in all it was a great day spent in Newquay, with some brilliant people and some very impressive wildlife.

Extras from Rockpooling

I thought I was rambling on a bit in the last post, but I have some more species that we found (but unfortunately no more interesting pictures)!

The other species we found were:

• Common Whelk (Buccinum undatum)
• Common Blenny (Lipophrys pholis)
• Hermit Crab (Pagurus bernhardus)

I really thought I had some whelk pictures, and the picture below was supposed to have a Blenny in it, but they are quick little fish! I'll be going back to try again soon!

Just a nice rockpool scene!

Rockpooling at Gylly

At university I'm part of a group called EcoSoc. This is a uni society dedicated to wildlife, and I managed to get on the committee last year. It's been great fun so far, planning events, meeting people, discovering new species I'd never heard off. But a couple of weeks ago, I found out that for our Freshers timetable, I was in charge of a rockpooling session. Now, don't get me wrong, I didn't have a problem with this, it's just my knowledge of the intertidal zone is not that good. In fact, it's actually pretty rubbish! Nevertheless, I went along with it, and we had a good day (trying) to ID some wildlife in the rockpools on Gyllyngvase Beach (Gylly for short!).

Gylly Beach , with a very tiny Oystercatcher!

We got to the beach at about low tide, and we started having a look around for what we could find. My first spot was Beadlet Anemones (Actinia equina), which is nearly the extent of my knowledge of wildlife on the shore!

Beadlet Anemones

It was a nice, quick start and was some knowledge I could impart on the first years! The next species we spotted was Purple Topshell (Gibbula umbilicalis), followed by Grey Topshell (Gibbula cineraria). I think Purple Topshell are absolutely incredible; they look like some kind of boiled sweet from a Victorian confectionary shop! Unfortunately my picture doesn't really do it justice (I think I need an actual macro lens, rather than just using the macro setting!). I'll also attach some general rockpool habitat photos in another post which have some more topshells of both species that we found.

A very blurry Purple Topshell

Now, I'm going to attempt some algaes, but I'm not 100% sure on them! So, my first one is the ID I'm more confident of! I believe that this seaweed on the right of the picture is Bladder Wrack (Fucus vesiculosus):

Bladder Wrack, with Grey and Purple Topshells and Common Limpets

On the picture above, there are also some Common Limpets (Patella vulgata). My second algae I'm going to give an ID on is Coral Weed (Corallina officinalis), and I'm less sure, but I've had a couple of knowledgeable friends confirm this for me!:

Coral Weed, or so I'm told!

I'm going to scuttle on to the one live crab we found, which I believe is a Common Shore Crab (Carcinus maenas), but it's only a baby at that:

Shore Crab

And we found the carapace of a crab as well, and the inside is beautiful!

I'm going to finish with what some would say are the more exciting finds: Starfish! First off, a very tiny Common Brittlestar (Ophiothrix fragilis) hanging on to a bit of Coral Weed in the dead centre of the photo.

Common Brittlestar

And the second starfish, again rather small, is the Cushion Star (Asterina gibbosa).

Cushion Star

I was a little overwhelmed on the day, but I really enjoyed finding all the different species, and writing and researching this post has really interested me in the species we found. I'll definitely be going back to the shore to improve my algae ID, brush-up on barnacles and to try and (ethically) catch some different species of crabs!

I really encourage people to go down to their nearest beach with rockpools and have a search for the life that inhabits such a difficult place to live; the intertidal zone. For those in Cornwall, definitely try Gylly if you are nearby, and for those in my home county of Dorset, you really cannot beat Kimmeridge Bay. The Dorset Wildlife Trust runs some great events there, such as their 'Welly Zone Walks'.

Essential equipment?

• Field Study Council's Rocky Shore Name Trail or Key - absolutely brilliant, handy chart for common species to be found in rockpools
• A good pocket guide on the British Shore
• A bucket for closer inspection of species
• A camera - remember the whole 'take only pictures, leave only footprint' quote?!

Butterflies

The last few weeks have brought many butterflies out into my (mostly) sunny home county of Dorset. Although I've always had a passing interest in these vibrant insects, after finishing my 1st year on a Zoology degree, I'm more and more interested to learn about the different species of butterflies (and all other living things for that matter!) living in my part of the UK.

My next door neighbours have a Buddleia bush in their back garden, which means I've been able to to see many butterflies from the comfort of my own home. Their Buddleia plays host to vast numbers of Peacock butterflies (Inachis io), Large Whites (Pieris brassicae) and the occasional Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) or Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae). They flit about the back gardens in search of nectar, occasionally landing on the wall, or a brightly coloured pair of trousers on the washing line, thinking they've found another nectar-laden plant!

A Peacock butterfly resting on my garden wall

Out and about, I've had the luck of observing some more species in my local area. Just a few metres from my house I have seen Common Brimstones (Gonepteryx rhamni, the wonderfully yellowy/green hued butterflies) and Small Whites (Pieris rapae), along with an abundance of Peacocks, Large Whites, Small Tortoiseshells and Admirals at each Buddleia.

On Upton Heath (a great site for reptiles and also for Nightjars) I managed to spot a couple of Graylings (Hipparchia semele), which are somewhat heath specialists. At this point I'm going to add a photo of a Grayling, but be warned, it's rubbish and it's been cropped!

The infamous, and well camouflaged, Grayling!

My best of the year were found at the beautiful Lulworth Cove (and one also seen at the Dorset Wildlife Trust's Kingcombe centre).They were the Marbled White (Melanargia galathea), and the Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera), both brilliant examples of exquisite patterns in nature. At Kingcombe I also caught a very fleeting glimpse of a Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus), but I wasn't quick enough to see the beautiful blue of the upperside wings!

A Wall Brown on the Coastal Path to Durdle Door - and my first specimen of the species!

I feel incredibly lucky to have seen all the species of butterfly I have, as news reports suggested it was going to be a bad year for these incredible inverts. I hope the rest of the season and next year allow me to discover more species on my journeys in the outdoors. Or just my back garden!