COUNTY RECORDERS REPORT 2020 Wiltshire & Swindon Biological Records Centre Edited by: Chrysoula Drakaki March 2021 Table of Contents Table of Contents....................................................................................................................................... 2 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 3 WSBRC Update .......................................................................................................................................... 4 Records ........................................................................................................................................... 4 Curlew Call Project: Jonny Cooper ................................................................................................. 6 County Recorders’ Annual Reports ........................................................................................................... 7 Amphibians and Reptiles: Gemma Harding ................................................................................... 7 Bats: Gareth Harris, Wiltshire Bat Group ....................................................................................... 8 Birds: Claire Jones ........................................................................................................................ 11 Butterflies: Mike Fuller ................................................................................................................. 12 Coleoptera: Marc Arbuckle .......................................................................................................... 17 Diptera: Anthony Bainbridge ....................................................................................................... 21 Geology: Isobel Geddes, Wiltshire Geology Group ...................................................................... 23 Hemiptera: Marc Arbuckle ........................................................................................................... 23 Mammals (excl. bats): Gareth Harris, Wiltshire Mammal Group ................................................ 24 Moths: Wayne Clinch ................................................................................................................... 28 2 Introduction We are pleased to present the 2020 County Recorders Annual Report with contributions from the County Recorders of Wiltshire and Swindon. This document offers an overview and some key examples of the work that took place during this peculiar year, along with some noteworthy sightings. We would like to take the opportunity once again to thank the County Recorders for their work and support to WSBRC and the recording community of Wiltshire and Swindon. Their expert knowledge is key in ensuring the quality of the data held by WSBRC, as well as assisting curious and enthusiastic recorders. We are pleased to welcome Rosie Ray, who is taking over the role of the Odonata County Recorder from the late Steve Covey. Gemma Harding wrote a few words about Steve for last year’s annual report. He is going to be greatly missed. Also, Wayne Clinch will be taking over the role of the Moth County Recorder. Dave Brotheridge and Wayne jointly covered the role since 2013, however Dave has been lately unable to continue. At the same time, Catherine Hosie will not continue with her role as the Orthoptera County Recorder as she left the County. We would like to thank them both for their long contribution. Last but not least, we would like to thank all the recorders that submitted their sightings, in spite of all the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. They are the cornerstone of biological recording, not just in Wiltshire and Swindon but in the UK as a whole. 3 WSBRC Update 2020 was overshadowed by the Covid-19 pandemic that inevitably also affected the work of WSBRC. The extensive fieldwork scheduled for the 2020 survey season as part of the Curlew Call project, had to be postponed. The other operations of WSBRC continued as normal, while staff moved to home working. Another significant development was the change in the manager’s role. Simon Sanghera left WSBRC in June 2020 and was replaced by Jo Wright as the WSBRC Biodiversity Information Manager in January 2021. We would like to thank Simon for his contribution and wish him all the best for the future. We would also like to thank Sam Stork for her support and for covering the role in the interim period. One major challenge in the coming year will be for Jo to lead on the Nature Recovery Network mapping for Wiltshire, ensuring the approach WSBRC takes integrates with work being done by other organisations within and bordering Wiltshire, and around the country. The NRN is an ambitious scheme that will result in the production of a map displaying areas that may be targeted for better, more joined-up habitat creation or enhancement and biodiversity net gain, enabling wildlife to thrive. Jo will also be looking at developing new partnerships and projects, and investigating new funding streams with the use of the WSBRC drone. She is very much looking forward to working with you all. Records The WSBRC database held 2,714,353 records at the end of January 2021. The majority of records are largely comprised of three taxon groups: Vascular (flowering) plants 41%, Moths 19%, and Birds 19% (Chart 1). This order has not changed since the last report. % of Total Records flowering plant 4% 4% moth 7% 41% bird butterfly 19% terrestrial mammal 19% fungus Chart 1. Taxon group representation in the WSBRC database, 31 January 2021 Record input increased significantly in comparison to the previous year. 445,795 records were imported during the 2020 calendar year. This number includes both new and older records that had to be edited and re-imported. You can refer to Chart 2 for further details regarding total number of 4 records imported per calendar year for the last five years (Please note that total numbers refer to records that are currently in our database). Records Imported 500000 445795 450000 400000 350000 300000 250000 190717 200778 200000 150000 99851 103869 100000 50000 0 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 Chart 2. Number of records imported per calendar year The majority of the records imported during 2020 were Vascular plants (55%) (Chart 3). This was the result of working on and catching up with old and new datasets received by Sharon Pilkington (Wiltshire Botanical Society). Also, in 2020 we started importing into our database verified records downloaded from the iRecord website. This is a significant change as iRecord is a very popular biological recording platform. We aim to continue the work that we started and gradually import all records submitted and verified through iRecord. % of 2020 Imports flowering plant 6% 6% bird 8% insect - moth 10% insect - butterfly 55% fungus 11% terrestrial mammal Chart 3. % of Imports per species group during 2020 5 Curlew Call Project: Jonny Cooper 2021 marks the third field season for the Curlew Call project. The two previous field seasons have enabled the identification of the breeding locations of the remaining pairs and the development of a network of volunteers to help us monitor these birds. There is also widespread support for this work amongst the local landowners and communities across the Braydon Forest. Despite the setbacks from Covid-19 in 2020 we were thrilled to be able to record a successful breeding attempt by one of the pairs breeding at Blakehill Farm WWT Reserve. We also produced a StoryMap to promote the project online, this will be regularly updated as the project progresses. Figure 1. Curlew Call StoryMap In 2021 we aim to catch up on fieldwork that was missed in 2020. The primary focus will be on locating nests and implementing nest protection measures alongside the regular monitoring of the pairs. Some limited tagging work will also be undertaken (provided the current plan for lockdown restrictions easing is adhered to). The focus of this work will initially be at Blakehill WWT Reserve with attempts to tag birds breeding at other sites if time allows. We also continue to work with landowners and are putting fundraising plans in place. 6 County Recorders’ Annual Reports In this section you can find the reports submitted by the Wiltshire and Swindon County Recorders and their recording groups for the 2020 season. For any further information, please contact the relevant recorder. Amphibians and Reptiles: Gemma Harding Records There is no doubt 2020 was an unusual year. Fortunately, this did not stop records coming in and actually may have increased them. A positive note for wildlife, amphibians in particular, is that there seemed to be a lot of people, myself included, creating ponds in their gardens. Good numbers of records were submitted via Living Record and verified by myself or members of Wiltshire Amphibian and Reptile Group (WARG). No unusual or significant records were noted. Although a record of an alpine newt in Swindon has been recently received. Active Recording and Monitoring Projects/ Events Toad patrols and monitoring: We continue to have concerns relating to developments and toads. In particular, the site at Wichelstowe is still having problems with toads trapped in gully pots which we continue to rescue and raise the issue with the developers. Toads, despite being in decline and a priority species they are still not receiving the consideration they need. Being at home more during 2020 allowed me to monitor the