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The Reading Naturalist No. 69 Published by the Reading and District Natural History Society Report for 2016 (Published 2017) Price to Non-Members £5.00 T H E R E A D I N G N A T U R A L I S T No 69 for the year 2016 The Journal of the Reading and District Natural History Society President Mrs Jan Haseler Honorary General Secretary Mr Rob Stallard Honorary Editor Mr Ken White, Yonder Cottage, Ashford Hill, Reading, RG19 8AX Honorary Recorders Botany: Dr Ren ée Grayer, 16 Harcourt Drive, Earley, Reading, RG6 5TJ Fungi: Position Vacant Lichens: Position Vacant Lepidoptera: Mr Norman Hall, 44 Harcourt Drive, Earley, Reading, RG6 5TJ Entomology & other Invertebrates: Position Vacant Vertebrates: Mr Tony Rayner, The Red Cow, 46 Wallingford Road, Cholsey, Wallingford, OX10 9LB CONTENTS Presidential Musings Jan Haseler 1 Membership Norman Hall, Ian Duddle 2 Members’ Observations Julia Cooper, Rob Stallard 2 Excursions 2016 Renée Grayer, Jan Haseler 6 Sean O’Leary, Peter Cuss Ailsa Claybourn, Norman Hall Ken White, Sarah White Mid-week Walks 2016 Jan Haseler, Renée Grayer 17 Jerry Welsh, Rob Stallard Indoor Meetings 2016 Renée Grayer, Rob Stallard 21 Winning photographs and photographs from outings Members 33 Christmas Party and Photographic Competition Laurie Haseler 40 Presidential Address Jan Haseler 41 Theale Nightingle & Warbler Survey 2016 Richard Crawford 45 Saving our Swifts Colin Wilson 47 Recorder’s Report for Botany 2016 Renée Grayer 48 Recorder’s Report for Lepidoptera 2016 Norman Hall 52 Recorder’s Report for Vertebrates 2016 Tony Rayner 63 The Weather in Reading during 2016 Roger Brugge 70 Thanks go to all the contributors for their efforts in meeting the deadlines whilst carrying on with busy lives. The Honorary Recorders do a fantastic job and are totally reliant on all of us to send them information during the year. My special thanks go to Jan & Laurie, Rob, Renée, Ian & Julia, Sean, Ailsa, Jerry, Peter,Ian E, Richard, Colin, Norman, and Sarah for the records of the walks, excursions & meetings, articles and help with validating and proof reading. So now it is time to get your thinking caps to create interesting articles for the next RDNHS Naturalist journal. The spring, summer and autumn stretch is imminent to inspire you in your particular field of interest. So don’t forget to document and photograph those interesting expeditions and discoveries, whether they are near or far and submit them for publication. Ken White (Hon. Editor) Copyright © 2017 Reading & District Natural History Society. Copyright of photographs is indicated in the captions. Presidential Ramblings It may be that 2016 will be remembered as the year when Ash-dieback became established in the area around Reading. It is a disease of Ash Fraxinus excelsior trees which is caused by the fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxinus (previously called Chalara fraxinea). On our Wednesday walk westwards along the Thames Path from Whitchurch-on-Thames in September, we noted young Ash saplings with curled, blackened leaves. Diseased young Ash trees have also been seen on the wildlife walks at the National Trust’s Basildon Park. Bare twigs emerge from the crowns of many of the mature Ash trees at the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust’s Moor Copse Nature Reserve at Tidmarsh. Hosehill and Clayfield Copse Local Nature Reserves both have young Ash saplings which show signs of disease. Members in North Hampshire and South Oxfordshire report similar sightings. According to the Forestry Commission website, the first reports of Ash trees dying in large numbers were from Poland in 1992. Ash-dieback was first discovered in Britain at a nursery in Buckinghamshire in February 2012. The disease causes leaf loss, crown dieback and bark lesions in affected trees. Once a tree is infected, the disease is usually fatal, either directly, or indirectly by weakening the tree to the point where it succumbs more readily to attacks by other pests or pathogens. Evidence from continental Europe suggests that older, mature Ash trees can survive infection and continue to provide their landscape and wildlife benefits for some time. The best hope for the long-term future of Britain’s Ash trees lies in identifying the genetic factors which enable some trees to tolerate or resist infection, and using these to breed new generations of resistant Ash trees. This year we have had several mammal-themed field trips. In February, Dr Pat Morris gave a fascinating talk about the Edible Dormouse Glis glis, which was introduced to Britain in the Chilterns near Tring in 1902. It has become a significant pest and is still expanding its range. Dr Morris described the findings of an ongoing 20-year study of the Edible Dormouse in the Chilterns, the only long-term investigation anywhere in Europe. In September, members of the Society were invited to join the volunteers who were inspecting the nest boxes which have been put up to monitor the Edible Dormice at Hockeridge Wood near Berkhampstead. A total of 32 adults and 72 juveniles were found in the 40 nest boxes which were opened. In November, members were joined by Dr Amanda Lloyd of the Berkshire Mammal Group on a hunt for Harvest Mouse nests at BBOWT’s Moor Copse reserve. The Harvest Mouse is Europe’s smallest rodent and it weaves a spherical nest out of grasses or reeds. We were delighted to find a total of 24 nests. Some distinctive bees were my most memorable wildlife sighting of 2016. It was early June and my husband & I were doing the Aston Upthorpe butterfly transect in the Berkshire Downs. We had reached the sixth leg of the transect, my least favourite part. When the transect was originally set up in 1993, leg 6 was probably a wide ride through Hazel woodland. At that time, Duke of Burgundy butterflies were still being seen in good numbers - they have not been recorded on the transect since 2007. Nowadays, despite the best efforts of the volunteers on the winter work parties, leg 6 is a struggle up a steep hillside through dense Sycamore regrowth, with the ever-present danger of breaking a leg while putting a foot down one of the many rabbit holes. There are a number of big Buckthorn bushes amongst the Hazels, so Brimstones and Speckled Woods are regularly recorded, but other butterfly sightings can be sparse. But on this occasion, as we struggled up the steep path, a small bee flew past us, carrying an enormous dead grass stem. The stem was perhaps as much as 10cm long and it was carrying it transversely. Aerodynamically, it would have made more sense to carry it longitudinally, like an Osprey carries a fish. We saw where it landed and it appeared to be building a nest on the ground. We watched as approximately 2 bees per minute flew in, carrying grass stems or very light twiggy bits, probably mostly nearer 5 cm long. Then later on, we found another nest being built by similar looking bees, on flowery grassland on the other side of the valley. We had no idea what the bees were, so I sent several pictures plus a description to local naturalist Richard Lewington, who had painted the wonderful illustrations in the recently published ‘Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland’. Richard was able to identify the bees as Red-tailed Mason Bee Osmia bicolor . They nest in empty snail shells and then cover the shell with leaves and grass stalks. The field guide describes their habitat as chalk and limestone grassland, rides and clearings of calcareous woodland, chalk and limestone quarries and calcareous brownfield sites. 1 MEMBERSHIP Norman Hall, Ian Duddle Membership figures as they stand at the end of December 2016 Single members 86 Family/Couples 64 Student 1 Total 151 of which there were 19 new members. Christine Tull Christine(Chris) Harford Rachel ER Chilton Richard & Anjali Barber Annette(Netty) Bell Maggie Bridges Richard Huggins Rachel Paton Dr A(Alison) Ries Hilda Reynolds Barbara(Babs) Spence Susanne Earl Catherine Keogh Valerie(Val) Siddiqui Mr P. (Paul) & Mrs P. (Penny) Briggs Mr D. J. (David) & Mrs M. (Marguerite) Roberts MEMBERS’ OBSERVATIONS 2016 Julia Cooper, Rob Stallard 5 Jan Avril Davies – roost of Pied Wagtails near the Heathrow bus stop at Reading station. Tony Rayner – near outskirts of Didcot, fence line had 7 posts occupied by Red Kites. Susan Twitchett – Yucca in full flower and clematis “Freckles” flowers in garden at Upper Basildon visited by Buff-tailed Bumblebee. Sue White – worker Bombus terrestris bees in garden (Whitley) for the first time in January. Graham Saunders – also reported B. terrestris workers and a Red Admiral yesterday in garden at Pamber Heath. Jan Haseler – more than 30 plant species in flower on our last walk at Silchester on 19 th December, again most unexpected. 19 Jan Janet Welsh - Ivy Broomrape growing on ivy near bus stop to south of main entrance of Royal 2 Berks Hospital last Wednesday. Alan Parfitt - at the Warburg reserve, Scarlet Elfcup, Daphne mezereum in flower and Green Hellebore coming into flower. In the hibernaculum, at least 10 bats which is more than usually seen, probably Myotis spp - Natterer’s and Daubenton’s. Fiona Cummins – Siskins and Blackcap in her garden at Sonning Common. Ailsa Claybourn – two Blackcaps in garden. Trish Marcouse – Blackthorn in flower. 2 Feb Sheelagh Hill – Hedgehog which resides under bushes in their garden at Binfield Heath has appeared every night for the last 2 weeks, coming to eat food in rat trap. Tony Rayner – a flock of at least 50 Siskins on the outskirts of Upper Basildon today, the largest flock he has seen.