September 2019

Contents / Diary of events

SEPTEMBER 2019

Bristol Naturalist News

Photo © Jon Mortin

Discover Your Natural World

Bristol Naturalists’ Society BULLETIN NO. 583 SEPTEMBER 2019

BULLETIN NO. 583 SEPTEMBER 2019

Bristol Naturalists’ Society Discover Your Natural World

Registered Charity No: 235494

www.bristolnats.org.uk

CONTENTS

HON. PRESIDENT: Andrew Radford, Professor

3 DIARY of Events; Nature in Avon

of Behavioural Ecology, Bristol University

HON. CHAIRMAN: Ray Barnett 4 SOCIETY ITEMS [email protected] Society talks; Biodiversity events; HON. PROCEEDINGS RECEIVING EDITOR: Bee & Pollination Festival

Dee Holladay, [email protected]

ON EC 5 Bristol Weather H . S .: Lesley Cox 07786 437 528

[email protected] 6 NATTY NEWS : Charles Lyell; HON. MEMBERSHIP SEC: Mrs. Margaret Fay Lyme disease; Insects feel pain?; 81 Cumberland Rd., BS1 6UG. 0117 921 4280 Hinkley; Wildflower verges; [email protected] Herring Gulls; NE bird-kill licences; HON. TREASURER: Mary Jane Steer Curlews; Hen Harrier

01454 294371 [email protected]

BULLETIN COPY DEADLINE: 7th of month before 8 BOTANY SECTION publication to the editor: David B Davies, ‘Other’ meetings (SRPG, Glosnats) 51a Dial Hill Rd., Clevedon, BS21 7EW. 9 Botanical notes ; Meeting Reports; 01275 873167 [email protected] 11 Plant Records . 13 Tony Titchen

Health & Safety on walks: Members participate at their own risk. They are 14 GEOLOGY SECTION

Mendip Rocks responsible for being properly clothed and shod. Dogs may only be brought on a walk with prior 15 INVERTEBRATE SECTION agreement of the leader. Notes for Sept.; Points of Interest;

17 Field Meeting Reports ;

19 LIBRARY Overseas Travel Guides

20 ORNITHOLOGY SECTION Recent News ; Fwd Dates;

22 Meeting Report

23 MISCELLANY Botanic Garden; AOG

24 Gorge & Downs Wildlife Project;

Zoo symposium: Bird conservation

Cover picture: Small Red-eyed

Damselfly at the Botanic Garden – see

the report on page 17

Bristol Naturalists’ Society Discover Your Natural World

Registered Charity No: 235494 www.bristolnats.org.uk Diary of events Back to contents

Council usually meets on the first Wednesday of each month. If you have any matters you wish to be discussed by Council, please contact the Hon. Sec. at least a week in advance.

Visitors & guests are welcome, free, at our lectures and field meetings. If contact details are given, please contact the leader beforehand, and make yourself known on arrival. We hope you will enjoy the meeting, and consider joining the Society. To join, visit https://bristolnats.org.uk and click on membership. Members are members of ALL sections.

AUGUST Mon 26 Clifton & Durdham Downs Perambulation Botany 14.30 page 8

SEPTEMBER Sat-Sun 31/8-1/9 BNS Exhibits at Bee & Pollination Fest. Botanic Garden 10.00 page 23 Sat 14 Severn Beach Botany 14.30 page 8 Sat 21 Portland Bill/Weymouth Ornithology 10.30 page 20 Thu 26 Westonbirt Ornithology TBA page 20 Sun 29 Lilstock, West Somerset coast Geology 11.00 page 14

OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST Sat 31 Aug. Water Plants (SRPG only) SRPG 10.00 page 8 Till 15 Sept. Exhibition – Natural Selection Museum page 16 Till 30 Sept. Exhibition – Beetles Botanic Garden page 23 Fri 6 Sept. Tyntesfield SRPG 11.00 page 8 Sat 7 Sept. All About Trees Botanic Garden 10.00 page 23 Sun 8 Sept. Herb Walk Botanic Garden 11.00 page 23 Thu 12 Sept. Mendip Rocks – Torr Works, Frome SESC 10.00 page 14 Sat 14 Sept. All About Trees Botanic Garden 10.00 page 23 Sat 14 Sept. Mendip Rocks – Banwell Bone Cave SESC 14.00 page 14 Thu 19 Sept. Urban Gloucester GlosNats 11.00 page 8 Sun 22 Sept. Trees of the Granny Downs Gorge&Downs 14.00 page 24 Thu 26 Sept. Growing Fruit Organically AOG 19.00 page 23 Sat 28 Sept. Mendip Rocks – Banwell Bone Cave SESC 14.00 page14 Sat 28 Sept. Lower Woods, Wetmoor Moth group 20,00 page 16 Wed 2 Oct. Mendip Rocks – Halecombe SESC 10.00/14.00 page 14 Tue 8 Oct. Fascinating Fungi (Talk) Gorge&Downs 19.00 page 24

Nature in Avon / Proceedings of the Society Volume 78 is published, I hope you enjoy reading it. Papers are now invited for Volume 79! If you have never written before, now is your chance. [email protected]

SOCIETY ITEMS

Contents / Diary

SOCIETY TALKS re-commence next month. Please enter 16th October in your diary.

BIODIVERSITY EVENTS

Advance Notice: A new programme of Biodiversity Events for members to enjoy focusing on a fresh private site is in preparation for next year.

Two recces at the site led by expert recorders have identified an interesting range of species Mullein moth caterpillar © Lesley Cox including, Green Sandpiper, Swift, Slow Worm tangles, Field

Slow-worm © Lesley Cox Cuckoo Bee, Red-Eyed Damselfly, Mullein Moth, Diastrophus rubi, Bee Orchid, Pyramid Orchid, Burnet Saxifrage, Snow-in-Summer and many more, including Soldier Beetles known locally as, Hogweed Bonking Beetles.

Soldier Beetles © Lesley Cox

…and of current interest at the University of Bristol Botanic Garden

The BEE & POLLINATION FESTIVAL st st Saturday, 31 August and Sunday, 1 September, 10.00 – 17.00

FACING UP TO BEETLES, by Michael Darby Monday 1st July until Monday 30th September, 11.00 - 16.00 (more details on page 23)

BRISTOL WEATHER Contents / Diary

JUNE and JULY 2019

une and July this year were months of large differences. June was dull, rather wet with below average temperatures. July on the other hand was largely a dry month with J plenty of sunshine, especially in the earlier part of the month, and the average temperature was 1.3°C above the 30-year average for Bristol. June 2019 was also in stark contrast to June 2018 which was the hottest and exceptionally dry and sunny. In 2019 the rainfall was almost double the average for the month.

It was the equal coolest June, with an average temperature of 15.8°C, since 2013. The average temperature was -0.5°C below the 30-year average for Bristol. The maximum temperature of 32.8°C recorded on the 29th was the equal 2nd highest for June, with 1976, since records began in 1937.

The highest daily maximum temperature for June, 33.5°C, was recorded in 2017. The rainfall of 111.8 mm was the wettest June since 181.0 mm was recorded in 2012, which was the wettest in 138 years of continuous data for the city. The maximum 24 hour rainfall of 24.1 mm on the 10th June was the highest since 26.7 mm was recorded on June 7th 2012.

It was the 3rd dullest June with respect to solar radiation since this data started in 2005. The minimum daily solar radiation for the month of 3.22 MJ/m2 on the 11th was the dullest recorded for any June day. The maximum hourly solar radiation of 897.8 W/m2 on the 21st was the lowest recorded since solar radiation started in 2005.

In July rainfall was only 53.3% of the 30-year average for the month in Bristol. And the first half of the month was particularly dry. Between the 26th June and July 16th there was only 0.2 mm of rain recorded. It was the 5th month of 2019 where rainfall was below average. The average temperature for the month of 19.6°C was 1.3°C above the 30-year average for Bristol. The high of 33.2°C on the 23rd was the highest July temperature since 34.1°C on July 19th 2016 and was the 4th warmest July on record since this data started in 1937. The highest July temperature in Bristol was 35.4°C recorded on the 19th July 2006. It was a relatively calm month with below the average wind speed for July. Winds were predominantly south westerly with 18 days coming from that direction.

Barry Horton

NATTY NEWS Contents / Diary CHARLES LYELL (1797 – 1875) was an important Scottish scientist and geologist who, in his Principles of Geology, demonstrated his belief that the world had been shaped by physical forces that continued to operate in his lifetime. This gradualistic view had much in common with the theory of evolution postulated by Charles Darwin, of whom he was a close friend, and he even put forward an early explanation of climate change. Now, the University of Edinburgh is appealing for help to save Lyell’s notebooks from being sold overseas. The notebooks are currently under an Export Bar until 15th October 2019. The original price of £1,444,000 has been re-negotiated so the University is now trying to raise £966,000. The institution has received messages of support from many distinguished individuals and organisations and has over 800 pledges raising £610,000 but they need more to meet the target by the deadline. The BNS has been asked to publicise the funding appeal by sharing news of the campaign and the address www.ed.ac.uk/giving/save-lyell- notebooks. If the University is successful, Lyell’s notebooks will be made ‘fully and freely accessible; physically in our centre for research collections and in exhibitions but also digitally and online, so that everyone can benefit from this unique and remarkable geological archive’. Every little helps as they say so if you feel that keeping this important archive in the UK and accessible to all is crucial, please contact Edinburgh University. LYME DISEASE. In a study by Cairns, et al., entitled The Incidence of Lyme Disease in the UK; A Population-based Cohort Study published in BMJ Open (Online) at the end of July (Volume 9 Issue 7) the authors analysed data from the medical records of 8.4 million individuals between 1st January 2001 and 31st December 2012. The aim was to estimate the annual occurrence of Lyme Disease in the UK. Whilst the Ramblers magazine, Walk, had stated in 2007 that the numbers of cases in Britain had risen from 380 in 2002 to 670 in 2005, this study estimates that the actual incidence is much higher at 12.1 per 100,000 individuals and has escalated much faster to a UK total of 7,738 cases in 2012. The authors extrapolate from the evidence that, if the occurrence of Lyme Disease has continued to rise, the number of cases in 2019 could easily be over 8,000. The study also estimated the number of cases in each region. Scotland had the highest incidence followed by the South West. They conclude that the incidence of Lyme Disease is three times higher than previously estimated and that people are at risk throughout the UK. They have called for greater awareness and the need for preventative measures. INSECTS: Whilst it has been known since 2003 that insects experience something like pain, a study by scientists at the University of Sydney has provided compelling evidence that insects experience persistent pain long after the injury has healed. In, Nerve Injury Drives a Heightened State of Vigilance and Neuropathic Sensitization in Drosophila, the authors Khuong, et al., explain how the experimenters damaged a nerve in one leg of the fruit fly and then allowed it to fully heal. However, despite this healing, the researchers found that all the fly’s other legs became hypersensitive and the animal tried to protect itself for the rest of its life. Associate Professor Neely who was one of the team suggested that the scenario was not dissimilar to chronic pain in humans. See, Science Advances, 10th July 2019, Vol. 5, No 7. HINKLEY POINT: The Environment Agency instigated a consultation (which has now closed) on one aspect relating to the Natural World following NNB/EDF’s application to vary a planning condition. The Society has responded. More news later. WILDFLOWERS: The national press has been acknowledging the impact of wildflower planting including photographs of 300 metres of poppies and Calendula on Hengrove Way. Bristol CC has also been criticised for cutting verges where wildflowers prosper. 6

Contents / Diary HERRING GULLS: Goumas, et al., from the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at the University of Exeter have been applying their minds to a thorny problem. Human-wildlife conflict is one of the greatest threats to species populations worldwide and one species facing national decline in the UK is the red listed, Herring Gull (Larus argentatus). Whilst coastal and marine populations have declined, urban populations have increased bringing complaints from some individuals regarding ‘nuisance’ behaviour such as food snatching. The Exeter researchers report, ‘Whether urban gull feeding is influenced by human behavioural cues such as gaze direction remains unknown. We therefore measured the approach times of Herring Gulls to a food source placed in close proximity to an experimenter who either looked directly at the gull or looked away. We found that only 26% of targeted gulls would touch the food, suggesting that food-snatching is likely to be conducted by a minority of individuals. When gulls did touch the food, they took significantly longer to approach when the experimenter’s gaze was directed towards them compared with directed away, though there were some variations between individuals, but overall human-herring gull conflict could be reduced by small changes in human behaviour’. See, Herring Gulls Respond to Human Gaze Direction published in Biology Letters, 15: Issue 8 (7th August). NATURAL ENGLAND is continuing to issue licences to kill species of birds many of which are red or amber listed or even endangered. Jason Endfield began a petition on Change.org to ‘Stop the Legalised Killing of Ravens’ only to find that many other species were being killed for what he considers to be spurious reasons. This issue was highlighted in May’s Natty News and the Freedom of Information requests have led to some information on the matter but Jason points out that licences for the destruction of Herring Gulls and Black-headed Gulls have been issued with the added ignominy of NE talking about ‘seagulls’- a species that does not exist and, as alleged specialists in their field, does not give a good impression. NE says that existing populations will not be damaged but it is hard to imagine, with the multiple threats from loss of habitat, herbicides, pesticides, agricultural intensification, climate change, legalised killing, illegal killing and everything else being thrown at our wildlife, how that could be entirely true. THE CURLEW has been called, ‘The Panda of UK Conservation’. First recorded in c.1377 in Piers Plowman, sightings of this beautiful bird or hearing its evocative call are getting much rarer as numbers plummet. Given that the UK population is of international importance, declining numbers are disastrous. Now Slimbridge has become involved in ‘head-starting’ the birds as they have done before with Spoon-billed Sandpipers in Russia and Black-tailed Godwits and Cranes in the UK (as members have heard described in winter talks) in the hope that they will join and augment the small wild population in Severn Valley. Eggs were collected from military airfields in Norfolk where they would have been destroyed under licence and now dozens of hand reared Curlews have been released into the grounds of Slimbridge. The Shropshire Recovery Project (originally a Landscape Partnership Scheme) was set up in 2014 and WWT have recently begun supplying their expertise in support but by the end of 2018 the LPS project funding came to an end and new partners came on board. The fly in the ointment? The new partner hosting the Shropshire scheme is ‘The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust’. Perhaps some mixed messages here? Look out for a yellow ring (right leg) and a numbered white ring (left). HEN HARRIER and General Persecution: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6NISg9pkYw

Lesley Cox 7

BOTANY SECTION PRESIDENT:- Clive Lovatt [email protected] Contents / Diary

HON. SEC:- David Hawkins [email protected]

FIELD MEETINGS From late March to early October, the BNS Botany Section will organise at least one field meeting a month in or relatively close to Bristol. More extensive programmes throughout botanical vice-counties 6 and 34 (North Somerset and West Gloucestershire respectively) are organised by the Somerset Rare Plants Group (SRPG) and the Plant Group of the Gloucestershire Naturalists’ Society (GNS). A few of these meetings will be joint meetings or will be advertised as open to BNS members by invitation.

A Bank Holiday Perambulation of Clifton and Durdham Downs Clive Lovatt 2.30 pm, Monday 26 August In Leigh Woods there is a yew tree through which the parish boundary passes which was mentioned in a 19th Century perambulation, the traditional ‘beating of the bounds’ to assert ownership. Clifton and Durdham Downs though divided by a line through the Gully and marked out on the plateau by meer stones, are managed as one. Meet at the north end of Sea Walls for a walk around the less frequently visited edges of the Downs, concentrating on their boundaries with the private properties which abut on them. Here we can expect the unexpected, for there are some areas which are difficult to mow, plenty of walls for wall plants, and the inevitable weeds and garden escapes which by accident or design “know no boundaries”.

SEVERN BEACH Saturday 14 September Clive Lovatt 2.30 pm A gentle walk along the sea walls looking at the general flora and maritime-influenced plants with a look at ‘what passes for a shingle beach’ for the subspecies littoreus of the Curled Dock, Rumex crispus, which grows there. We should see Rock Samphire, Crithmum maritimum, also at one of a small handful of current Gloucestershire sites, and several different Oraches (Atriplex), species. Meet on the estuary promenade at the end of Station Road at ST538847. Roadside parking is usually available near the railway station or on Riverside Park, below the meeting point.

OTHER BOTANICAL GROUP MEETINGS Contents / Diary Other botanical group meetings in late August and September in or close to the BNS area are given below. For SRPG membership and further meeting details refer to their website http://www.somersetrareplantsgroup.org.uk/. For Gloucestershire Naturalists’ Society Plant Group meetings contact [email protected] for details. Water plants workshop and field meeting at Shapwick Heath NNR, 10.00 am Saturday 31 August. SRPG members only. Tyntesfield National Trust estate and garden, 11.00 am Friday 6 September. The extent of the site and its then private ownership meant that no plants were mapped from the whole 1km square. This has been made good by Pam Millman’s recording over the intervening years. SRPG Meeting led by Helena Crouch and Pam Millman. Urban Gloucester. 11.00 am, Thursday 19 September. Starting at the Waterwells Park and Ride, just off the A38 at Quedgeley. A Gloucestershire Naturalists’ Society Plant Group meeting led by Clive Lovatt. 8

BOTANICAL NOTES Contents / Diary FIELD MEETING REPORTS Wapley Bushes, Yate, Sunday 16 June. Report by meeting leader, Clive Lovatt Despite a poor weather forecast and heavy showers as we began, eight of us with various group affiliations had an enjoyable Sunday afternoon at Wapley Bushes Local Nature Reserve. Outside the reserve, Sulphur Cinquefoil, Potentilla recta, a short upright plant, was growing for a third year in succession by the railwayside goods yard, its origin suggested by survivors of a wild flower seedmix. At the bottom of the first meadow we found Carnation Sedge, Carex panicea, growing with the similar looking Glaucous sedge, Carex flacca. Despite a more extensive search by several of us at the end of the meeting, we could find no evidence of Sneezewort, Achillea ptarmica here. In fact, we had been looking in the wrong place. A later check revealed that the 100 or so flowering stems in four or five clumps that had been recorded in 1996 were in the south corner of the field on higher and drier ground. By the wooded spring-fed stream at the top under a pear tree (Pyrus communis) we admired a large patch of Zig-zag Clover, Trifolium medium, with its flower-head larger and brighter than found in ordinary Red Clover. We managed to find the advertised Adder’s-tongue Fern, Ophioglossum vulgatum in the upper field, and a little Saw-wort, Serratula tinctoria, as we walked down through the first field towards the solitary bush of Spiny Restharrow, Ononis spinosa. One of the group recounted the story of how, when he had lived in the area, he had stood up to the local Council and successfully objected to their development plans – the upper field would otherwise have become a football pitch. We thanked him for this.

Clifton Down, Thursday 27 June. Report by meeting leader, Clive Lovatt Five of us enjoyed an evening walk around some of the places much loved by the late Richard Bland, beginning, as he did for his weekly Sunday morning walk, on Clifton Downs overlooking the Great Quarry, a place now known as Peregrine Watch. In remembrance, we looked at the photos of Richard from the order of service held at Clifton College Chapel on 5 January 2019. Walking southwards we soon brushed by a large old bush of Small-flowered Sweet- briar, Rosa micrantha, that had hitherto escaped our notice. Crossing Fountain Hill onto the Zoo Banks (time already being too short to stride off as Richard used to, along the Promenade into Clifton) we soon found the Gloucestershire rarity, Pale Flax, Linum bienne, which Richard had re-found in 2006 (see Plate 14 in Nature in Avon Vol 66). It seems to be doing particularly well there and now occurs in a second monad. We also admired the flowering stems of Dropwort, Filipendula vulgaris in the long unmown grass. It is a plant first recorded in the Avon Gorge 450 years ago by the herbalist Lobelius when he was apparently living in Bristol before the publication of his Stirpium Adversaria Nova in 1571. Loving trees as he did, Richard would have presumably remarked upon the three species of oak (Turkey, Holm and Pedunculate) self-seeded at the scrub line, though Clive was more interested by the surviving Western Gorse, Ulex gallii (just about to flower). We returned across the Downs to the meadows and, close to a long-established Walnut tree, Juglans regia, we found the Heath Milkwort, Polygala serpyllifolia, which grows with Tormentil, Potentilla erecta, two more relicts of a once-heathy downland. To conclude, we headed towards the top of the Gully, and saw a patch of the delightfully named Corky-fruited Water-dropwort, Oenanthe pimpinelloides where Richard had drawn my attention to it a few years ago. Richard loved finding garden escapes and would have appreciated seeing the single plant of Deptford Pink, Dianthus armeria, which (see below) the leader had found earlier in the day whilst on a reconnaissance for the meeting. Thanks Richard!

Walton Common, Sunday 14 July. Report by meeting leaders, Jenny Greenwood and David Hawkins, and Clive Lovatt Contents / Diary This was the day of England’s Cricket World Cup victory, but nonetheless seven doughty botanists set out to explore this wonderful limestone hill. We were very usefully provided with a site leaflet and checklist of plants by long-term volunteer warden for Avon Wildlife Trust, Dave Horlick. When we visited the Common with the Somerset Rare Plants Group in June 2014 (see the Bulletin for July/August 2014 and SRPG’s Newsletter for 2014) the plateau was quite overgrown: bad for wild flowers but good for roses, the site having a particularly good population of sweet-briars with dog-roses, Short-styled Field-Rose and various hybrids amongst them all. In recent years, the scrub has been cleared to a very significant degree, so that the site can be treated as a meadow, and the assistance of Dexter cattle has been sought to maintain it. As a result, apart from occasional scrambling bushes on the fringes, most roses on view were short-stemmed and only identifiable to broad group, but the rare Rosa agrestis, Small-leaved Sweet-briar and the infrequent R. micrantha, Small-flowered Sweet-briar, were tentatively identified by Clive. The sticky, glandular foliage of both species has a delightful odour of apple sweets. Another item of particular interest was some good patches of Knotted Clover (Trifolium striatum), whose dry seedheads were visible among the grass stems off the main path. Meanwhile, Musk Thistles (Carduus nutans) and Woolly Thistles (Cirsium eriophorum) provided picturesque food for butterflies and burnet moths. Having already remarked on the prolific and adjacent growth of the Hedge (white) and Lady’s (yellow) bedstraws the scene was set for one of us to find the creamy yellow- flowered hybrid, Galium x pomeranicum. Clive remarked that it is far less common than might be expected (seven current Somerset records) and had also been found when four of us (two now present) met on Dundry Hill six years ago, when Andy Murray first won the Singles at Wimbledon. Just inside a quarry from where we could see the estuary, Clive went looking for Euphrasia (Eyebrights) to add to his collection and send off for expert determination. There we also found the cottage garden plant Nigella damascena, Love-in-a-mist. The belief is that these arose from ‘wild flower seed bombing’ – a modern day means of sowing wild flower seed mix in little balls of fertilised soil, and rather oddly promoted by some organisations as a means of feeding pollinators and generally improving the environment. But these are not so much fun for botanists and site management, who have to deal with the consequences of introduction of alien varieties and species. At the end of the meeting three of us visited the nearby field springs overlooking the estuary. We encountered Anagallis tenella, Bog Pimpernel, still there among several other items of interest, but couldn’t find the two rare plants discovered there during the 2014 visit.

PLANT RECORDS AND OTHER NOTES Contents / Diary Deptford Pink, Dianthus armeria on Durdham Down Whilst doing an early count of the Round-headed Leek Allium sphaerocephalon at its fenced-off site on cliffs below Durdham Down (a good year for it!) I looked along the other fence line holding back the scrub from the small level grassy plain where I had occasionally found it growing. Immediately I saw a lot of Pale Flax, Linum bienne, where so far as I know, it had not hitherto been recorded. Its only other site currently known in Gloucestershire is on the banks opposite the Zoo, almost entirely in the same monad as its new site at the top of the Gully. Its abundance, sudden appearance, and the close availability of seed makes it more than likely that it has been sown here. There were also a couple of plants of Wild Clary, Salvia verbenaca (both a seed mix component and an uncommon drought resistant plant notable for its occurrence on Observatory Hill. I'm not sure if I recall it at the top of the Gully before, although there is a 1988 record for the square in the Flora of the Bristol Region. I then saw a single plant of a small-flowered Pink in flower in the late afternoon sun (left), which was easily identifiable as Deptford Pink, Dianthus armeria. The last local record seems to be on a roadside near Cheddar from 1997 to 2001 (Bob Cropper). By late evening when I showed it to the Kitchens at the end of my Clifton Down walk, it was harder to see, as the flower had closed. We hope it may set seed and become established for a while. It is a plant of a strange variety of habitats and has a long-recorded history in Britain, and many of its Dianthus armeria © Clive Lovatt occurrences have been casual. It has been lost from many apparently native sites and is new to the Avon Gorge, and in a place so frequently visited by botanists that we suspect it must have been introduced here recently. By coincidence, it could only have been 10 or 20 yards away I once found the only other plant in the British flora having armeria as its specific name, Silene armeria, Sweet-William Catchfly.

A mixed bag of Bristol alien plants On 16 May this year David Hawkins was peering through the fencing of a building site just north of Temple Meads station and saw several patches of a foot-high but large flowered St John’s-wort in the rough ground, surrounded by beer bottles and cans, waste paper and a road-marking cone (right). It was clearly the garden plant Hypericum olympicum, Olympic St John’s-wort, which has been recorded as an escape in Britain in scattered locations around the coast, and more frequently in London. By reference to the BSBI’s database, it is a first record for the Bristol region and for West Gloucestershire. Hypericum Olympicum Near where I found Vicia villosa, Fodder Vetch (Bulletin © David Hawkins for July/August 2019) in ST5569 beside Colliters Way, in the fenced off part of the old Yanley landfill, Rupert Higgins spotted a large growth of Galega officinalis, Goat’s-rue. There’s a record for the same monad by David Hawkins in 2017, so it is probably an established site. Rupert also mentioned finding near Bristol Airport (ST5164) a striking blue garden Eryngium, Sea-holly. At the time of writing it hasn’t been finally named. Catapodium marinum, Sea Fern-grass was nearby and seems to be new to the hectad. It is increasingly being found on our inland salted verges.

Eyebrights Contents / Diary The Eyebrights (Euphrasia species and hybrids) are one of several difficult and critical groups in the British flora. Cedric Bucknall (d.1921), one of White’s botanical companions, attempted a monograph in 1917 but it was considered rather superficial by the succeeding expert. However, a BSBI handbook (there’s a copy in the BNS library) authored by Chris Metherell and Fred Rumsey has been recently published (2018) and has made the group far more accessible, using colour photographs, line drawings, and a variety of keys and tables of characters. When I visited Coombe Hill at Wotton-under-Edge on 17 June, Julian Woodman and I collected some large-flowered plants, with rather spiny (aristate) floral leaves, which I thought might be E. pseudokerneri, Chalk or Large-flowered Eyebright. Chris Metherell has now determined them as E. arctica x pseudokerneri, which is new to Gloucestershire. This hybrid was first discovered by Helena Crouch and Fred Rumsey at Banner Down, VC6 in 2017 (det. Metherell) and there is a brief account and a photo by Helena in the Somerset Rare Plants Group’s 2017 Newsletter (available online). As the parents are thought to meet rarely, due to different geographical ranges and habitat preferences, it is presumed to be rather rare. Unfortunately, the BSBI database doesn’t yet take records for it, so I'm unable to confirm if there are records other than from Somerset and Gloucestershire.

Yellow Vetchling on Dundry’s Northern Slopes We had a BNS Botany meeting in June 2017 on the Northern Slopes of Dundry to see the Yellow Vetchling. Lathyrus aphaca. Len Wyatt, a member who is much concerned with the conservation of the area, tells us that by accident, he found more of it in an adjacent square (ST5870, again in N Somerset, VC6, and about 250m from where we saw it). It can occur as a casual but is well established in this area, currently the only area of occurrence in the Bristol Region (former Avon).

Some recent plant records corrected In the last Bulletin (July/August 2019) in the report of the Marshfield meeting, not having specimens or images to hand, I got the names of the two aliens of hanging basket/planter display origin wrong. The Monkeyflower was Mimulus x hybridus, which is mentioned as the bedding plant but not keyed out in Stace’s Flora, and not M x burnetii, which it seemed to key out to. What I initially took to be Annual Toadflax, Linaria maroccana, from its two lipped flowers with yellow bosses at the centre, and a spur at the back of the flower was in fact a Nemesia. Feeling some doubt after seeing the variety of colour forms of Nemesia available in garden centres and public displays, I went back, only to find the High Street had been sprayed and a lot of dead weeds, but I found one in bud just surviving on the stone steps of one of the houses. Dissecting the bud, it had the four lobed upper lip characteristic of Nemesia. Which one is unclear, and perhaps they could have been mixed by species as well as by colour? N. strumosa is the only species enumerated in Stace’s Flora and should, instead of a small spur, have a pouched depression at the back of the flower. The plant from the Hotwells harbourside illustrated on the cover of the March 2019 Bulletin clearly has a spur on the top flower and Professor Mick Crawley (co-author of the recent New Naturalist on Alien Plants and recorder of most of the Nemesia records in the BSBI database) suggests it is likely to be Nemesia denticulata ‘Confetti’, explaining that the commonest finds that have mauve flowers with a yellow eye tend to be this. It remains a first County record –

12 unless other records of Linaria maroccana supported by specimens or photographs prove also to have been in error. I'm also unsure which Parsley-piert (Aphanes) was on the top of Cam Peak in the acid soil there. In the June 2019 Bulletin I reported it as A. australis (Slender Parsley-piert) but the fruits (which should be smaller than the common A. arvensis and with shorter and non- spreading sepals) were unconvincing. Contents / Diary

Tony Titchen Tony Titchen, now in his eighties, is still a BNS member and has asked to be remembered to all his old friends from the Bristol Naturalists’ Society. He was Botany Secretary for many years, having ‘learnt his trade’ from Ivor Evans, another BNS Botany Secretary who knew JW White and had a few of his own records included in White’s Flora of Bristol (1912). For a decade or so, up to 2004, Tony regularly wrote some very erudite articles for the Bulletin on the history of some of the notable cultivated trees in the area. His tree walks (left), often under the Treegazing brand, were always well attended and enjoyed, but a few years ago, he began to find it difficult to walk in the field and to his great regret was unable to do any more. Tony has now found himself beginning to suffer from loss of memory and is finding it difficult to put names to plants (don’t we all?). If you would like to send Tony a card with other memories or simply to get in touch, Tony Titchen © Clive Lovatt he would appreciate hearing from you. Members can obtain his address from Clive Lovatt (or Lesley Cox or Margaret Fay).

If you’ve found any interesting plants, please let me know. Don’t forget that a record needs a recorder, the location resolvable to a grid reference, a date, and a plant name if you know it.

Clive Lovatt, Stroud, 7 August 2019

GEOLOGY SECTION

PRESIDENT: VACANT Contents / diary HON. SEC.: Richard Ashley, [email protected] Tel: 01934 838850

FIELD MEETING LILSTOCK, West Somerset Coast Leader: Richard Ashley 11.00am, Sunday 29th September Meet at 11am in the Car Parking Area located at Grid Ref: ST171451. This can be reached by turning off onto a track at Lilstock village. The beach is about 200 yards further down the track, and looks out towards the island of Steep Holm in the channel. Fossil hunting is a popular activity, with finds including ammonites and reptile vertebrae (Ichthyosaur and Plesiosaur). These can be found on the beach and also in the Blue Lias cliffs to the east, but walking across the pebbly shore is hard going. As this is an SSSI, extracting fossils from the living rock is not permitted. The principal object of the visit is to examine the rocks of the Lower Lias and if beach conditions are favourable the Rhaetic Lilstock formation to the west. If time permits it may also be possible to visit the coast at Kilve.  Bring a packed lunch and strong boots.  It would be helpful if you would let Richard Ashley know if you wish to attend.

MENDIP ROCKS FESTIVAL Mendip Quarry Tours booking essential/pay on day £5pp. (Wear or bring boots, and no shorts please, safety wear provided). Contents / Diary Thu 12th Sept 10am: Torr Works, Frome. Meet at Somerset Earth Science Centre (SESC) for minibus tour

Saturday 14th and 28th September 2.00pm to 5.00pm: Banwell Bone Cave Tours

Wed 2nd Oct 10am & 2pm: Halecombe, Leigh on Mendip Meet at SESC for minibus tour.

To book events visit the Eventbrite link at www.mendiphillsaonb.org.uk For more information about these and other events call SESC, 01749 840 156

INVERTEBRATE SECTION PRESIDENT: Mike Hutchinson [email protected] Contents / Diary Hon. SECRETARY: Moth Broyles [email protected] 07809 281421

INVERTEBRATE NOTES FOR SEPTEMBER 2019 he perils of identifying insects via the web were highlighted in early August. National headlines carried the news that a Bristol family had returned from holidaying in T Turkey and had subsequently noticed a solitary bee creating nests from petals in their conservatory. A search on line and they believed they might have accidentally imported Osmia avosetta hitch hiking in their luggage. O. avosetta was first named as new to science in 1988 and is known from Turkey, Iran, Syria and Jordan. The observation that this species makes nests from petals was first recorded by scientists in 2009 in both Turkey and Iran. As a non-native species DEFRA became involved and many other insect organisations were asked to comment on this discovery. It is illegal to knowingly release a non-native species and although this was accidental it was agreed that the bee(s) should be eliminated in case they carried disease which could harm native species or indeed in case they became established and threatened to displace or out compete native species. This decision provoked a major Turkish newspaper and a well-known novelist to condemn such action and to call for the bee to be spared. (Notice such reaction has not been forthcoming when nests of the Asian Hornet have been sprayed in the UK – ie bees good, wasps bad.) And then came the news that the (single) bee had disappeared from the conservatory before anyone could roll up to catch and/or kill it. Had it died or had it escaped to potentially infect the country? As it happens – and news that was not covered by all the media – David Notton Senior Curator, Hymenoptera at the Natural History Museum has since concluded that this was actually an occurrence of the entirely native solitary bee Megachile centuncularis. Commenting on a photograph he said: ‘…….the pollen brush under the tail is bright orange, whereas it is white in Osmia avosetta…… The nest is consistent with a nest of Megachile centuncularis in size, shape, situation.’ I understand that the nests were taken away for DNA analysis which if so, is highly likely to prove that David Notton is correct. Elsewhere, the media has been correct in reporting swarms of Painted Lady butterflies Vanessa cardui, not seen in such high numbers for a decade. One of the most widely distributed species in the world, when breeding conditions are good around the Atlas Mountains in Africa large numbers can then move across Europe laying eggs as they go. This time around the largest numbers appear to have been along the east coast of the UK so although they are not uncommon around Bristol, we have not seen the very large numbers some places have elsewhere.

Contents / Diary There have been other migrant insects locally this summer, notably Lesser Emperor Anax parthenope dragonflies at Chew Valley Lake (many observers) and Red-veined Darters Sympetrum fonscolombii at Walton Common (Dave Horlick) but also the Small Marbled moth Eublemma parva (Jean Oliver), Kent Black Arches Meganola albula (Jacky Tonkin), the plume moth Crombrugghia laetus (Ali Bourne) plus many Four-spotted Footman moths Lithosia quadra and masses of the tiny Diamond-back Moth Plutella xylostella (lots of recorders). Elsewhere in the UK Bedstraw Hawk moths Hyles gallii have delighted moth trappers but I am yet to hear of any locally but we have had Tree-lichen Beauty Cryphia algae (Ali Bourne) reported new to Gloucestershire, just north of Bristol. On the native species front, the butterflies whose larvae feed on grasses (Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina and Marbled White Melanargia galathea especially) have had a very good year which is surprising after all the grass dried up in last summer’s heat wave. A new site near Clevedon for the Hornet Robberfly Asilus crabroniformis has been found by Dave Horlick and the discovery of the very rare Four-lined Horsefly Atylotus rusticus near Congresbury by Colin Higgins has been confirmed. Small Red-eyed Damselflies Erythromma viridulum were spotted on the pond in the University of Bristol Botanic Garden on a BNS field meeting and several other sites have been found across the region for this new coloniser. Surprisingly an example of the Variable Damselfly Coenagrion pulchellum was photographed in Bristol – a species usually restricted to the rhynes of the Moors and Levels. Bristol urban gardens have also proven to be home to Roesel’s Bush-cricket Metrioptera roeselii, another recent colonist (Tim McGrath) and to the lovely spider Misumena vatia in Montpelier (Sue Giles) whereas the Great Green Bush-cricket Tettigonia viridissima was seen in a Clevedon garden (David Davies). A specimen of the Least Carpet moth Idaea rusticata (Jacky Tonkin) may indicate further colonisation in our region and Oncocera semirubella (Ray Cottrell) was another great micro-moth find. Bob Fleetwood found the tiny jewel beetle Aphanisticus pusillus near Clevedon – rediscovered in our region after a gap of 180 years! Ray Barnett 07/08/19

Points of interest Contents / Diary Exhibition: Natural Selection. Bristol Museum and Art Gallery until 15 September (pay what you think on exit). An exhibition by artist Andy Holden and his ornithologist father Peter looking at birds’ eggs and nests as things of artistic beauty. it also considers our relation with nests and eggs including the desire to collect and possess eggs even though against the law, which can become a destructive obsession. Bristol Moth Group meetings: Sat. 28 Sept., Lower Woods, Wetmoor, S Glos. 8.00pm ST7460 8809 Meet in the Lower Woods Car Park. Target species for the 2019 National Moth Nights (26–28 September) are migrants plus the Clifden Nonpareil. Details from Ray Barnett [email protected]

Invertebrate Field Meeting Reports Contents / Diary Dragonflies at Bristol University Botanic Garden: 6th July 2019. Leader: Steve Nicholls ight members and one visitor met in the Botanic Garden on a warm E Saturday afternoon and made our way to the main pond. Disappointment that no dragonflies were on the wing was quickly assuaged when our expert leader found resting damselflies in the aquatic vegetation and, demonstrating his skilled handling techniques, provided a detailed description of the relevant species, gender, key identification differences and Examining a Damselfly at the Botanic Garden Photo © Jon Mortin appropriate natural history. Shortly after this, the sun broke through and with it the dragonflies took to the air enabling us to witness aerial dog fights as male Emperors fought off invading rivals before catching Large White Butterfly prey and later, with females firmly clasped, regularly ovipositing. Meanwhile, in the quieter pond edges, various species of damselfly (and Common Darters) were engaging in similar reproductive behaviour but with much greater delicacy. Moving to the raised ponds, we found Small Red- eyed Damselfly males (E. viridulum) resting on Lily pads which we think may be a first sighting for this species at this location and also the larger Red-eyed Damselfly (E. najas). The meeting concluded with refreshments at the Botanic Garden café and a viewing of a wondrous selection of photographs taken by Steve himself. This was a superb meeting greatly enjoyed by all. Species recorded included Azure Damselfly, Blue- tailed Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly. Emperor Dragonfly, Common Darter (both single females ovipositing and when clasped by males), Small Red-eyed Damselfly and Red-eyed Damselfly. Lesley Cox

Invertebrate Field Meeting Crook Peak Contents / Diary Saturday 29 June 2019 Six members and friends assembled at 1:30pm at the base of the south face of Crook Peak on what proved to be an unseasonably hot and humid afternoon. In fact, the conditions were so draining that two members were obliged to retreat early and head home. However, the more resilient soldiered on and were rewarded with a cooling breeze shortly afterwards. The site was selected as a follow-up to the successful trip to Brean Down early the previous year. It was hoped that, as Crook Peak is also a calcareous outcrop, the south face may also yield interesting species, either similar or contrasting. In the event such comparisons proved elusive, but, nevertheless, there were interesting finds. The consolidated species list for the day included 13 Coleoptera, 12 Hemiptera, 14 Diptera, 1 Isopoda, 1 Dermaptera, 13 Lepidoptera, 3 Orthoptera, 3 Hymenoptera, 1 Odonata and 1 Arthropoda. The highlights were Hypsosinga albovittata (Westring) (Arachnida), Bombylius canescens Mikan (Bombyliidae) and Oedostethus quadripustulatus (Fabricius) (Coleoptera). This last species is a Nationally Notable A beetle, the only previous record of which in VC6, North Somerset, was in 1963 at Shapwick Heath; as such, the specimen has been submitted for confirmation of the identification. All in all, a worthwhile meeting, despite the weather! Bob Fleetwood

LIBRARY BNS Library at Bristol City Museum & Art Gallery, BS8 1RL. Contents / Diary HON. LIBRARIAN: Jim Webster [email protected]. The Library is open: Wednesdays 1.15pm-2.15pm, Saturdays 10.15am-12.15pm. Tel. (opening hours only): 0117 922 3651. CLOSED on Saturdays connected with Bank Holiday Mondays, and New Year, Christmas and Easter.

Access to the Society’s Proceedings and Nature in Avon online We are grateful to the Biodiversity Heritage Library and its participating institutions (Harvard and the Natural History Museum in particular) for digitising our Proceedings and Nature in Avon without charge and making them publicly available. To access them you can google “Biodiversity Heritage Library” and use the search facilities, or you can go direct to our own index pages at: http://biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/98898#/summary (for the Proceedings, i.e. up to 1993); and http://biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/99328#/summary (for Nature in Avon, from 1994 to date)

Overseas Travel Guides in the B.N.S. Library n recent times the Bristol Naturalists’ Society Library has been gaining a most interesting collection of books of much value to naturalists aiming to travel overseas. I Some can be called travel guides; others are really flora and/or fauna. Some cover vast areas, such as a Field Guide to African Mammals, others focus on countries (e.g. Birds of Nepal), and islands, such as Galapagos. These have all been donated by members over recent years. Inevitably they vary in condition, some are old, others very recent. In the BNS Library these are shelved on the left of the entrance door to the Library, currently on 3 shelves. At the last count there were 136 such items but more very recent donations will join them shortly once cataloguing has been completed. All continents are represented in the collection, and also many of the islands of interest. For those hoping to join the queue to climb Mount Everest there is “Concise Flowers of the Himalaya” to read while waiting! The shelves in the Library are worth a browse. Whilst the Library Rules allow books on loan for up to 2 months, we probably would not want to see many of our collection travelling in a backpack for many days on a holiday. We try to keep the books in the Bristol Naturalists’ Library in good condition. I would see in most cases that the books are borrowed in advance to help plan a forthcoming holiday trip, and to help identify areas and wildlife and geology of interest. They can also help suggest a suitable pocket guide of say birds, which you might want to buy for your journey. There will be references in some to local organisations (Ornithological clubs etc.), which could be worth contacting in advance, perhaps they will have meetings you might attend? Many overseas Societies and clubs have local leaflets referring to areas to visit, identifying special features to look out for. I remember sorting out my own guide books on birds, snakes, insects, mammals and trees that I wanted to take with me to Australia a few years ago. The first weighing showed 13 lbs! Plan B lead me to a smaller, less comprehensive collection, which actually gave me a great deal of what I needed. Inevitably more were purchased whilst there and some of those, and guides to local collections such as Sydney Botanic Gardens, will be in the BNS collection soon. Do please think about what you have in your bookcase from past holidays and if you want to find a home for them then our Library will be pleased to receive them. Meanwhile do come and visit the Library to see our Foreign collection. When you return from holiday, why not write a short article for Bristol Naturalists’ Society News on the highlights of your trip, and about the Guides you would recommend to members? Roger Symes. Library Committee member.

ORNITHOLOGY SECTION PRESIDENT:- Giles Morris, 01275 373917 [email protected]

HON SEC.:- Lesley Cox 07786 437528 [email protected] Contents / Diary

News Item: The Section’s Winter Talks Programme starts next month so please put 9th October in your diary. As usual we shall be meeting at Westbury-on-Trym Methodist Church. Visitors welcome.

FIELD MEETINGS

PORTLAND BILL / WEYMOUTH 10.30am, Saturday 21st September Leader(s): Giles Morris (07712 398903), Mike Johnson (07530 981106) We will meet at the Ferrybridge Chesil Beach car park at 10:30, which is on the Portland Bill causeway (Portland Beach Road), Postcode: DT4 9XE, Grid Ref: SY 668 755. We will be able to visit Portland Bill, RSPB Radipole and RSPB Lodmoor, all of which are nearby and have the potential to turn up unusual passerine and wader migrants. The actual itinerary will depend on the weather and bird reports. This is an all-day trip, so please bring food and drink for the day. The distance makes car sharing important where at all possible. It is therefore essential that anyone intending to join the trip contacts one of the leaders by Friday (20th) 5pm.

WESTONBIRT Thursday, 26th September (Time: TBC) Co-ordinator: Lesley Cox (Details above) We shall meet at the Great Oak Hall in Westonbirt for this opportunity to record as many of the resident and migrant avian population on site as possible. All are welcome and entry to this lovely site will be free. We shall be joined by the BTO Area Organisers for Avon and Gloucestershire. Anyone wishing to attend please contact Lesley by ‘phone or email for further information.

ORNITHOLOGY RECENT NEWS Contents / Diary

lack-tailed Godwits included 28 at CVL on 2nd and 11 at Cl-Y on 4th when 3 Whimbrel, 90 Curlew, 2 Avocet and 105 Redshank were also there. Some of these B waders might have been returned (failed?) breeders, although they probably also included summering non-breeding individuals. Such numbers of Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits would have been remarkable not that long ago but are now the norm. Typical mid- summer species during the month included: a smatter of Mediterranean Gulls with the first juvenile at Northwick Warth on 18th; small numbers of Yellow-legged Gulls of various ages at CVL (please report on and age all individuals to help us keep track of this species' status - is it really slightly declining with us or has michahellis-fatigue set in?); a male Common Scoter at Severn Beach on 9th; a very few Quail at their favoured Cotswold site(s); a few Avocets (now more regular with a number of breeding sites close to our area) such as two at CVL on 18th including a juvenile; an adult Spotted Redshank at Cl-Y on 18th (distinctly scarce these days); and three figure counts of Manx Shearwater in the estuary on the windy 20th. On 5th Pilning Wetland provided perhaps the bird of the month with a Glossy Ibis (presumably relocating to Goldcliff the next day). The adult Black Tern there on 30th was the only one of the month and a juvenile Goshawk at

John Martin

Forward Dates Field Meetings: 13th October, 16th November, 15th December. Indoor Meetings: 9th October, 13th November, 11th December

FIELD MEETING REPORT: Priddy - Saturday, 6th July Contents / Diary Birds seen and others snapped! group of 7 of us, including Giles Morris leading, gathered at the Stoke Hill car park on a sultry July morning. After a quick discussion about ticks, we set off and almost A peaked too early when a ‘robin’ supping from a muddy puddle, turned out to be a male crossbill. It could have been all downhill after that sighting but we heard, rather than saw, a selection of chaffinch, coal tits, blue tits, nuthatch, blackcaps and bullfinch in the first part of the walk through the conifer forest. A couple of song thrushes were rather briefly heard, eventually giving enough voice for identification. We saw plenty of butterflies, including Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Common Blue, Large Skipper, Gatekeeper, Small Heath. A few marbled whites were in evidence, and skippers, the smaller of which did not oblige us by settling for long enough to determine whether they were Small or Essex. After crossing the road to the Mineries, we had a lovely view of a low flying kestrel, which hovered nearby for several minutes. The first pool had an abundance of damselflies, dragonflies and darters. Giles helped us to identify Emperor, Black-tailed Skimmer, Common Hawker and Common Blue Damselfly. A single recently metamorphosed froglet quickly disappeared into the grass. At the next pool, a disturbance on the water surface turned out to be a common newt eating a blue damselfly. This was intently watched and photographed, until the scene was disrupted by an uncontrolled dog. Newt with Damselfly © Harry McPhillimy The walk continued with a number of whitethroats being heard and seen, and a noisy reed bunting also gave us a good show. Numerous 5 spot burnets and a chimney sweep moth completed the Lepidoptera tally. After crossing back to the forest, we were treated to some nice views of coal tits, long tailed tits, blackcaps, juvenile and adult goldcrests, as well as another bullfinch. Finally, as we 5 spot Burnet © Mel Parker approached the car park, we had a glorious finale, including nuthatches, an elusive Mistle thrush and 3 ravens flying over. Eventually we had a clear view of the Mistle Thrush, which was looking a bit bedraggled at the end of the breeding season. Altogether we identified 28 bird species and had a very pleasant walk. Mel Parker

Large Red Damselfly

MISCELLANY

UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL BOTANIC GARDEN Contents / Diary The Holmes, Stoke Park Rd, Stoke Bishop, BS9 1JG. Tel. 0117 428 2041 https://botanic-garden.bristol.ac.uk. Email: [email protected]

1 July until Mon. 30 Sept., 11am-4pm FACING UP TO BEETLES by Michael Darby Insects are the caretakers of our environments, the great recyclers, yet often overlooked, with many people unaware of their existence. This exhibition features images of British beetles viewed head on and magnified over 100 times. As well as the large, striking images, the exhibition will tell the story of beetles in the UK, their physical makeup and relationships with the natural world. Sat. 31 Aug. & Sun. 1 Sept. BEE & POLLINATION FESTIVAL 10am-5pm. As usual, the BNS will be participating in this event. Other exhibitors or activities include The Bristol Beekeepers Association, the University of Bristol School of Biological Sciences, Feed Bristol, Mad Apple Cider, Writhlington School Orchid Project, Avon Organic Group, nurseries selling insect-friendly plants, and wildlife charities including the global Bees for Development. Sun 8 Sept. 11am-12.30 HERB WALK with Chris Roe Learn about the medicinal purposes of herbs with Chris Roe, who has his own medicinal herb garden in the North of Bristol. Sat. 7 & Sat. 14 Sept., 10am-12noon ALL ABOUT TREES with Roger Mellors Learn how to identify trees and choose the best ones for your garden.

See website for more details of these and other forthcoming events. https://botanic-garden.bristol.ac.uk/events/

AVON ORGANIC GROUP www.groworganicbristol.org www.facebook.com/avonorganic All meetings 7-9pm at The Station, Silver St., BS1 2AG (in Dance Studio) Admission (incl. light refreshments): Member £2 Visitor £5 Student/Concession £3.50 (housing/council tax benefit recipients (with proof of eligibility))

Thurs. 26 Sept.: Talk “GROWING FRUIT ORGANICALLY” Tim Foster, Local Author & Lecturer on Organic Horticulture. Probably everything you need to know to improve the quality of the fruit you want to grow on your plot..

Avon Gorge & Downs Wildlife Project Contents / Diary Booking and further information: Contact the Project on 0117 903 0609 or e- mail [email protected] . Pre-booking essential for all events. Details of meeting points are given on booking.

Sunday 22nd September Trees of the Granny Downs (Walk)

Enjoy the new ‘Granny Downs tree trail’ in all its autumnal glory with Robin Haward (Friends of the Downs and Avon Gorge) and Mandy Leivers. Along the way, learn to identify the trees and find out fascinating facts about them. 2-4pm, £5. Photo © Emma Davis

Tuesday 8th October Fascinating fungi (Talk) Earth stars, fairy clubs and death caps... just some of the fabulous fungi you can find on the Downs. In tonight’s illustrated talk by Avon Wildlife Trust’s Joe McSorley, you’ll learn what to look for when Photo © Denice Stout identifying fungi, find out about their amazing ecology and their impact on the world around us, discover the wonderful traditional names, uses and mysterious folklore that Photo © Denice Stout surround this special group of organisms. 7-8pm, £5.

Bird Conservation: Opportunities & Challenges Contents / Diary

The Bristol Zoological Society will hold its 11th Annual Conservation Symposium on the 3rd of September 2019 in collaboration with Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. The symposium will highlight the opportunities and challenges currently facing bird conservation.

For details, including how to register, visit: https://www.bristolzoo.org.uk/whats-on/bristol-zoological-society-11th-annual-symposium