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No. 15 2019 This edition has been supported by the Samworth Foundation Leicestershire & Rutland RECORDER Lizard Orchid new for Leics - p. 4 Published on behalf of the County Recorders Network by: Articles on wildlife recording including... ● Jellyfish ● Garden Hedgehogs ● Wild flowers ● Leaf miners ● Colour-ringed gulls ● Butterfly surveys ISSN 2052-6652 ● Mosses & Liverworts full contents on back cover L&R Recorder 15 2019 Leicestershire & Rutland Recorder the journal for biological recording in our counties For contents, see back cover. Cover photo Leicestershire & Rutland Recorder is published on behalf of the County Recorders Network by: Lizard Orchid Himantoglossum hircinum. Finding a new alien plant species in Leicestershire or Rutland is a Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust frequent event (see p. 28) but the discovery of a native species is very unusual (full story on p. 4). Indeed, the Registered Office: Lizard Orchid is a national rarity and one of our most The Old Mill, 9 Soar Lane, Leicester, LE3 5DE spectacular plants. A speaker at the Recorders Conference (see below) mischievously asked “who Tel. 0116 262 9968 Fax 0116 251 5426 needs orchids?” - well, many people get hooked on this family of plants and will be delighted at this addition to email: [email protected] our counties’ flora. Photo: Steve Woodward. website: www.lrwt.org.uk Charity No. 210531 Company Reg. No. 561833 The County Recorders Network is an informal group of naturalists (County Recorders and Co-ordinators) dedicated to recording the wildlife of Leicestershire and Rutland. Editor: Steve Woodward [email protected] Recorders Conference, Rothley Centre, 24 February 2019 Assistant Editors: Becky Pitman, Ray Morris This event was hosted by the Wildlife Trust. Production Consultant: Beverley Heath Attendance was about 140. ISSN 2052-6652 (Print) Presentations: Views expressed in this journal are not necessarily Uta Hamzaoui: New bryophyte finds in those of the Editors, Director or the Council of the Leicestershire & Rutland Trust. Rebecca Pitman: Rutland Water Mosquito Project Submissions for the next edition should reach the editor by 8 February 2020. See p. 47 for more Louise Marsh: Botany for Beginners - getting started information. with wildflower identification Text and illustrations are the copyright of the article’s Helen O’Brien: Announcing City Nature Challenge in author, unless otherwise credited. Leicester 2019 Peter Williams & Jim Graham: LROS recording and surveys update Brian Eversham: Wildlife recording in changing times Julie Attard: Improving connectivity and recording in the Charnwood Forest Paul Palmer: Who’s afraid of spiders? Philip Warren: Leicestershire Museums’ Natural Life Collections as a resource for recorders Geoffrey Hall: BSBI Atlas 2020 update 2 L&R Recorder 15 2019 Editorial Steve Woodward I would like to start by thanking Michael Jeeves, recently retired from the Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust, for supporting this journal. Previously published by Leicestershire County Council, the journal seemed doomed when the cash ran out and no-one was appointed to replace the previous editor, Gareth Price. In 2012, Michael persuaded the LRWT that a vibrant recording community was essential for keeping an eye on local wildlife and that the LRWT should support its journal and conference. As an Assistant Editor, Michael contributed to many articles, as well as writing several himself. I was delighted to learn that Becky Pitman, Senior Reserves Officer (Projects) at Rutland Water NR It’s cool for girls to be naturalists. This is the view promoted by Mattel (LRWT) had volunteered to take on the role of Corporation, creators of the “Barbie” doll, and National Geographic. They Assistant Editor, alongside Ray Morris. Perhaps I have “partnered to create a new product line and content centered around should explain the “behind the scenes” work that exploration, science, conservation and research. The Barbie and National they do - it involves finding topics and authors, Geographic product line features career dolls and playsets highlighting tracking down illustrations of suitable quality, filling occupations underrepresented by women and authenticated by an advisory council [comprised] of female National Geographic Explorers”. in missing record details, checking grid references and place-names, fixing other minor errors and See https://news.mattel.com/news/barbie-and-national-geographic- nudging the text towards “house style”. In short, announce-global-licensing-agreement trying to maintain accuracy, consistency and quality throughout the journal. I hope readers will agree with me that authors and Assistant Editors have co-operated well to produce informative, his widow Ann, who kindly agreed to send me the biography that appears enjoyable and (hopefully) error-free articles of on p. 12. lasting value. In the editorial of LRR 14 I mentioned an obscurely-named course offered Once again, there has been been no shortage of by the Field Studies Council: Soil Mesofauna. I attended the four-day submissions. In addition to the regular topics, this course last April, at Preston Montford Field Centre. The title means edition reports on three butterfly surveys and a animals living in the soil of “medium” size - visible to the naked eye but prediction (p. 40) that one million moth records will “able to fit through a 2 mm hole”. I hasten to add we did not try to squeeze be submitted by the end of 2019! Leaf miners may the poor creatures through a hole! The introductory session covered soil have escaped the attention of novice naturalists, ecology in general, but the course focused on the identification of two but Sue Timms’ account (p. 32) will open a few groups, Mites (Acari) and Springtails (Collembola). Needless to say, both eyes. Leicestershire & Rutland readers might be groups demand some concentrated study down the microscope. As well surprised to see Locusts and Jellyfish in the as learning much about soil mesofauna, I returned from the course with contents list, but the evidence of their presence is some identified and verified soil mites (see p. 42). clear enough (which cannot be said for the Puma stories that have appeared in the Leicester Alan Cann has also learned about Springtail Mercury recently, e.g. 25 Apr 2019). identification, thanks to the FSC, and I am pleased to report that he has taken up the Many naturalists will have known Harry Ball, and challenge of Springtail Co-ordinator for VC55, will be saddened to learn of his death during the (contact details in Recorders’ Roundup on p. preparation of this edition. He was a prolific 44). I hope to see an introduction to this group recorder (and talker!) with a particular interest in in a future edition of LRR. moths, who was always willing to help others. A moving tribute to Harry was presented at his Another change in Recorders’ Roundup is funeral by Adrian Russell, which is reproduced on that Andrew Heaton is retiring as County p. 34. Recorder for Amphibians and Reptiles, to be replaced by Ben Devine, of LRWT. Andrew’s While visiting the Hope Entomological Collections knowledge and experience is distilled in a at Oxford, I spotted a stack of storage boxes A springtail Monobella Review (p. 25). He continues as Recorder for grassei. Photo: Alan Cann. bearing the name D. Goddard - a name that will Fish. be familiar to Leicestershire entomologists. Darren Mann at Oxford Museum of Natural History Newcomers who need help with abbreviations, such as LRWT and LRR, explained that Goddard’s insect specimens had should turn to the list on p. 42. recently been deposited there, including many from Leicestershire. Darren put me in touch with 3 L&R Recorder 15 2019 To put this into context, I knew it was a very rare plant of Lizard Orchid - First Leicestershire and Rutland and was maybe the only second recorded sighting of this plant in the county? Just to confirm record for Leicestershire the sighting I phoned another friend (Sean Cole) about it and he said that it’s probably a first record for the county as the and Rutland only previous record (in Horwood & Gainsborough, 1933) was actually recorded just over the border in to Lincolnshire (Messenger, 1971). The national distribution is shown in Fig. 2. Dave Gray Realising that this now might be a first record for the county, I took a few more photos of the orchid. I then sent a photo to Sean who then put the news out on social media (Twitter and Facebook). Within a couple of minutes my Twitter feed and Facebook account went crazy and didn’t realise how many people wanted to see the Lizard Orchid! Over the next few days I heard from friends that the plant had been twitched from people from all over the Midlands and further field (who had contacted me via social media). I was also told people had even queued up to photo the orchid over the weekend following my discovery! The orchid flowered until the end of July and thankfully it wasn’t mowed over due to its location. At the time of writing, it appears that the plant will hopefully flower again in 2019 as a strong rosette has been noted on the roadside verge. So in conclusion, if you are looking for unusual plants it might be worth just checking your local roadside verge or even a nearby roundabout! Fig. 1. The Lizard orchid in flower is unmistakable. The lower lip of each flower is elongated, like a lizard’s tail. It is a grassland plant, most at home on limey soils. Photo: Dave Gray. Fig. 2. The Lizard Orchid is rare in England but absent from Over the last 15 years I have been looking at and recording Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The Leicestershire record is the lonely orchids in VC55. Finding a first record for the county is all but black spot in the Midlands.