Contents MAY 2020 Bristol Naturalist News Photo © Mike Hutchison Discover Your Natural World Bristol Naturalists’ Society BULLETIN NO. 590 MAY 2020 BULLETIN NO. 590 MAY 2020 Bristol Naturalists’ Society Discover Your Natural World Registered Charity No: 235494 www.bristolnats.org.uk CONTENTS HON. PRESIDENT: Andrew Radford, Professor 3 of Behavioural Ecology, Bristol University BNS and Covid-19: Chairman’s Statement HON. CHAIRMAN: Ray Barnett Your observations are welcome! [email protected] 4 Richard Bland Memorial Copse HON. PROCEEDINGS RECEIVING EDITOR: Dee Holladay, [email protected] 5 Garden Watch: Sign up! Bristol Weather ON EC H . S .: Lesley Cox 07786 437 528 [email protected] 6 NATTY NEWS : Bumblebees; 7 Covid-19 – Sources - and Vaccine? HON. MEMBERSHIP SEC: Mrs. Margaret Fay 8 99-million-year old bird 81 Cumberland Rd., BS1 6UG. 0117 921 4280 9 BOTANY SECTION [email protected] Future meetings; Botanical notes; HON. TREASURER: Mary Jane Steer Sandwith family history 12 Plant records 01454 294371 [email protected] 14 GEOLOGY SECTION BULLETIN COPY DEADLINE: 7th of month before The new President writes publication to the editor: David B Davies, 51a Dial Hill Rd., Clevedon, BS21 7EW. 15 INVERTEBRATE SECTION Notes for May; Beeflies 01275 873167 [email protected] . 18 LIBRARY Closure; From the WWI Archives Members’ Letters 20 ORNITHOLOGY SECTION Health & Safety on walks: Members Meeting Report participate at their own risk. They are 21 Breeding Bird Survey; responsible for being properly clothed and shod. 22 Recent News Dogs may only be brought on a walk with prior agreement of the leader. 23 Miscellany Redland Green Birds; 24 Botanic Garden; Richard Bland Cover picture: Bee-fly: See the article on page 16. Bristol Naturalists’ Society Discover Your Natural World 2 Registered Charity No: 235494 www.bristolnats.org.uk SOCIETY ITEMS Contents Bristol Naturalists’ Society and the Coronavirus Covid-19 Emergency, 25 March 2020. Dear Member, In the current national emergency BNS Council has considered what is best for the Society and for its members. As a consequence the following steps have been taken: • the Society’s Library has been closed since early March • all Society meetings have now been cancelled at least until the end of June, with the possibility of a further extension • the monthly Bulletin will continue, if at all possible, but in place of the information about meetings it will carry notes and observations by members on wildlife and geology • the publication and distribution of the annual publication Nature in Avon for 2019 may possibly be delayed to later in the year • improvements to the Society website are being actively pursued and implemented and greater use will be made of social media outlets (e.g., the Society’s Facebook group and Twitter feed) to provide information on local wildlife and geology • planning for a programme of indoor and field meetings for the autumn and winter will continue in anticipation of an improved national outlook. We wish all our members well in the coming months and hope you will be able to enjoy the natural world from wherever you are located despite the restrictions now in place. Fortunately, geology and nature are always around us and taking an interest in them is both rewarding and therapeutic. Please abide by all the government advice to stay safe and we look forward to seeing you again as soon as we are able to return to our usual extensive programme of walks and talks. Ray Barnett Chairman, BNS Send your observations to Bristol Naturalist News Many thanks to all our contributors – it is so gratifying to discover new talents hidden among the membership – talents which only emerge to wider view because of the space freed up by the absence of meetings. And the material is no idle chat: you have observations of real interest for each other. Please do keep them coming. Length: Pictures are most important, with few words if possible – leaving both room for your picture to be a decent size and space for others’ observations to get in. Just the picture (“worth a thousand words”!) and a caption may be enough. Your editor looks forward to hearing from you. Best wishes. David Davies [email protected] 3 Richard Bland’s Memorial Copse Contents Members may be aware that following Richard Bland’s untimely demise, a strong momentum grew to have a memorial of some kind as testament to his contribution to the City, to our greater knowledge of natural history emanating from his data collection around the region and to his enormous contribution to a number of organisations. It was decided there could be no better accolade than a memorial copse on his beloved Downs. However, getting permission to plant trees on the Downs would not be easy, so representatives of the Bristol Naturalists’ Society, Bristol Tree Forum, Friends of the Downs and Bristol City Council met (very appropriately) on the Downs in January 2019 to discuss possibilities. An area at the top of Ivywell Road was selected for planting with native species, including English Oak (Quercus robur), Sessile Oak (Quercus petraea), Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), Hazel (Corylus avellana), Holly (Ilex aquifolium), Bristol Whitebeam (Sorbus bristoliensis) and Wild Cherry (Prunus avium) amongst other native species. The City’s Nature Conservation Officer subsequently passed the grassland as fit for tree planting with no rare grassland plant species being present and all that remained was to put a proposal to The Downs Committee with a view to planting in the following November. The meeting, in October, was supported in person by representatives from the BNS, the BTF and FoD+AG but, unluckily, the Tree Officer as the appropriate proposer of the motion was still recovering from surgery leading to the decision being postponed. Creation of Richard Bland’s Memorial Copse Photo © Mark Ashdown However, with all queries and potential objections cleared up at the following meeting, a planting date was set for 23rd March where all were welcome to witness and take part in the creation of Richard’s Memorial Copse – then lockdown was imposed! Huge praise must go to John Atkinson (BCC Tree Officer) who single-handedly planted groups of trees with only a few onlookers in support, including of course, Richard’s wife. It was feared that neighbours might object to a copse with the potential to block the view to the Sea Walls but nearby residents were canvassed regarding the proposal. In yet another testament to Richard’s popularity and esteem the support was overwhelming. When lockdown is over, members will be able to stroll through this superb, practical addition to the support of our native flora and fauna; perhaps for some, with memories of Richard in their thoughts. Lesley Cox 4 GARDEN WATCH Contents Avoid cabin fever; sign up for the BNS/BTO Garden Watch With lockdown creating a lot of frustration and causing a stir-crazy mentality amongst many, help is at hand in the form of our gardens. Gardens are extraordinarily important for wildlife and we are offering members the opportunity to focus attention on them with a simple recording scheme that notes whatever species individuals can recognise. Members are probably familiar with the Big Garden Birdwatch run by the RSPB at the end of every January and this is very similar, except that this scheme runs each week. Just as the BNS had decided to offer this facility to members, the BTO asked if we would promote their very similar scheme so we have decided to amalgamate our forces and pass all our results to the national organisation when the lockdown ceases. One important thing to note: all sightings should be recorded whether avian, amphibian, invertebrate or mammal but don’t record anything you don’t recognise – just the species you do. Anyone interested in taking part please contact [email protected] to receive the recording forms and resources. Results will be channelled through the BNS. Many thanks. Lesley Cox Bristol Weather Contents March 2020 What a change one can experience in one month! March began as the preceding seven months had done, with substantial rainfall. The first 15 days of the month having 10 days defined as ‘wet days’; where the 24-hour rainfall exceeds 2.0 mm. This abruptly came to an end in the second half of the month as high pressure moved in and the wind turned to a more northerly direction. This set the seeds of a much drier weather regime which is continuing into April. Although initially cooler when the northerlies set in it soon warmed up and there were some welcome warm days, especially given what else is going on around the world. The rainfall in the first part of the month was above average but because of the drier spell later in the month it was not as much as the previous seven consecutive months and at 70.0 mm was only 105% of the 30-year average. The average temperature for the month of 8.0°C was close to the 30-year average but was only 0.1°C above the average for February 2020, which was a milder than average month. The maximum average temperature was 0.9°C above the average for March but the minimum temperature was -0.4°C below the long-term average. Put the figures together, and the whole month looks quite an average one with regard to the temperature at least. One of the most notable events of the weather in March 2020 was the sunshine recordings. It was the sunniest March since 2012 when there was 48.5% of the maximum possible sunshine.