Past and Present

Last updated January, 2010.

Newsletter – Winter – 2009/10

December 2008 - December 2009 has been a momentous year for the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust celebrating 60 years, and President Ted Smith, who was so instrumental in setting up the Trust in our county of Lincolnshire is still with us at almost 90 years of age.

Your Area Committee and I thank you for supporting so many events that we have put on this year. Your entrance fees and donations have enabled Grimsby, Cleethorpes and District Area Group to send £1,000 to the Trust's General fund during this year - much more than we have done for many years, so thank you. You are to be congratulated. Please do try and renew your subscriptions and recruit others to our cause if you can; the Trust has lost around 1,000 members across the County this past year and unfortunately this means a loss in revenue. Keep up the work of conservation for every one to enjoy.

Jennie Redpath, chairperson.

From our Records Officer November 2009:

It has been a fantastic year for wildlife in Northern Lincolnshire. I know this from all the reports I have received. So many eyes looking does make a big difference – we gain by learning from observing wildlife on our own patch and the Trust gains more data to give all of us the wider picture.

Let me try to give you a glimpse of the highlights:

Painted Ladies. Who could have predicted the billion strong (some reports say) migration of this beautiful migrant from N. Africa? What a surprise! I hope everyone saw at least some of them.

Harlequin Bugs. Another surprise was to see hundreds of these ‘super-predators’ on tombstones in Scartho Cemetery! We know from the press and TV that they are spreading northwards, but they were not supposed to have arrived here yet. These black and red monsters, larger than our native ladybirds, were feasting on greenfly from the falling sycamore leaves. (See http://www.harlequin-survey.org/) They appear in many variations of colour and pattern: red spots on black, black on red, yellow, orange. The dragon-like larvae have yellow spikes on their backs and the pupae stand on their heads! Within a week I found some in Keelby and had a report about them from Stallingborough. Did they appear anywhere else? Please let me know the date and place if you have seen them

Shaggy Soldier is an insignificant rarity**, like a tiny feverfew, not seen in Grimsby before; there are only three other places in northern Lincolnshire where it occurs. But Neil, our rarity hunter, found it hiding behind Grimsby Town Railway Station. He sent me a scan of it. I am not sure why I get so few notes about plants. They stay in one place and the flowers are eye-catching. Maybe in spring look for Wild Violets or Hazel catkins (don’t miss the scarlet female flowers on the same branch). If you want to see and smell Sweet Violets, come to Limber and find the small wood opposite the new cottages on the edge of the village.

Cuckoo. So far I have received twelve reports of birds walks in Tetney Blow Well NR, and by email, from Stephen Crossfield. Thanks Stephen! On 28th May he saw two Cuckoos and heard a third one – what a record! To put that into context – on the same day The Guardian said about the Cuckoo, "A shocking 37% decline since the mid-1990s." And later in 2009, the B.T.O. Lincs Newsletter declared, "Cuckoo joins the growing Red List of the UK’s most threatened birds." How sad - I have not heard one in Keelby for five years. [Note to myself: end of May is the time to visit Tetney Blow Wells!] Nature is full of surprises.

Thank you for all your reports, photographs and specimens. The records will all now be sent to the Lincolnshire Environmental Records Centre. Please do not stop looking at nature – almost all of it is still there, even in winter. Keep sending me records: What, When, Where and How Many you saw. Send any pictures by e-mail, or ring and I will come and look at it with you.

Mark Tyszka - email: mark.tyszka@tiscali.co.uk

Walk around Benniworth Moor L.E.A.F Farm "Skirbeet Farm"
12th September 2009 worked by Mr. And Mrs. Olivant.

We were met and greeted by Kay in her usual friendly, helpful manner in the car park. On our preferred route, we soon passed a "pond dipping" area, well signed – as are several other points of interest throughout the two and a half hour stroll.

There are numerous ponds/lakes, (when does one become the other?), each with their own habitat, including "bulrushes", flag irises etc, an abundance of wild flora along with a great variety of trees and shrubs within the copses and hedges separating the fields. All these with berries, including crab apples, brambles (thoughts of bramble and apple pies!), rose hips, haws, elderberries, rowan etc., all in profusion along with many types of thistle and other such plants/crops, providing a variety of food for birds and insects.

We observed hare, rabbits, buzzards, kestrel, lapwings, goldfinches, and the usual Corvus varieties, thousands of butterflies, moths, dragonflies (one soon became quite blasé), lots of bees, wasps and other insects/beetles going about their life/business pollinating and feeding. The small number attending enjoyed the outing, in near perfect weather conditions

Colin Rushby

Fungus Foray Linwood Warren 25th September

Market Rasen boasts a nationally known racecourse and next to it, a golf course. Opposite the golf course, on a minor road leading to Legsby, is Linwood Warren. It has been put to a variety of uses over the years, including practice trenches for the First World War, (see Linc's Wildlife Trust page on Linwood Warren).

On a beautiful September afternoon, ten people arrived at Linwood Warren to be met by Ray Halstead, our leader, and Jackie Freeman, a volunteer warden at the reserve. Ray said he did not know if we would find many fungi, as the weather had been so dry lately.

This soon proved to be not the case, and Ray's first find was a puffball (Cep or Boletus Edulinus, sometimes known as Yorkshire pudding). It was a lovely specimen and we could see why it might be known as Yorkshire pudding from its shape. The next find by Jackie was a sulphur tuft. This lives on any wood and destroys dead trees. A lot of them grow in rings (sometimes known as fairy rings). Ray told us that they take the nutrients from the soil and then expand the ring for the next year.

We then found milk cap (Collybia Maculata). Ray was not sure which of the family this particular one was so he placed it into his trug to go home to be identified later from his mycology books. It grows under conifers, which had been cut down at the reserve, and when a tiny piece was broken off it exuded white sap looking like milk.

Not long after we had started our walk, a lady from Lincoln joined us, and was very interested in our finds. Ray then told us about the oak apple that one of our group found next. The oak apple is a gall made by a gall wasp, and grows on oak trees. We could see the small hole where the insect had exited the gall and when Ray cut it open we could see inside where the insect had lived - so fascinating!

With Ray and Jackie's help we found a Brown Roll rim (Paxillus Involutus), with the rolled rim evident when turned over, and then the earth ball (Schleroderma Citrinum), which is similar to the puffball. Ray cut it open and millions of spores spilled out showing how they are spread. During our walk we found lots of Birch Russula (the tops of which are a lovely reddish colour). These grow under Silver Birch, which are in abundance on the reserve. We found razor-strop fungus (Piptoporous betulinus), which only grows on Silver Birch. Ray told us that it was used like a strop for sharpening cutthroat razors in times gone by.

As we walked further round the wood we came across Hoof fungus, or Tinder fungus (Fomes Fomentarius) so called as it looks like an animals hoof growing on the side of a tree.

It was called Tinder fungus as nomadic tribes took it with them from camp to camp for lighting fires. Our next find was the false death cap (Ammonita Citrinum). This is similar in shape to the very poisonous death cap, which grows near Oak trees. We learned that fungi recycle trees and insects recycle fungi so there was a lot of recycling going on at Linwood!

We saw lots of woodpecker holes in the trees on our way round and lots of the beautiful red-topped Russula. There were several unidentified species, which Ray said that he would take home and check. There was a lot of leaf litter underfoot as we walked around and lovely autumn colours everywhere.

We heard a blackbird chattering in the trees and as we came towards the end of our walk we spotted some really giant specimens of Boletus (Cep). Ray proceeded to pick them, helped by a couple from the group, and reminded us that they are edible and asked if anyone wanted them for tea. I'm sure they made a delicious meal for the couple that took them home.

We were only disappointed that we didn't find any Fly Agaric (Amanita Muscaria), the one most children know from stories, the one with the red and white spots that are home to fairies, aren't they? *

As we got back to the car park we all thanked Ray and Jackie for a really informative and interesting afternoon in glorious weather. Ray said that he hoped we had all learned a little, which we all agreed on whole-heartedly. I personally learned a lot as I had always thought of fungi as just wild mushrooms and not very interesting. I was very pleasantly surprised and had a great time.

Jackie Kirk

* You obviously weren't looking hard enough, Jackie! ;-) ............

Sunday afternoon 11th October 2009

Clifford and Barry led a guided walk around Tetney Blow Wells. A popular event, it was attended by thirty people, including three children. Half the people were visiting the reserve for the first time and went away with membership forms.

Autumn fruits noticed were hornbeam, maple, sycamore, rose, hawthorn and burdock. Late flowers included creeping thistle, hogweed, herb Robert, water forget-me-not, and yarrow. In Blow Well 4, a few flowers remained on the water violets, which have not had a good year, being fewer in number than previous years.

Two hares were seen in a field to the south of the reserve, one sitting motionless and the other amazing everyone by the speed at which it ran across the field. Many common darter dragonflies frequented the old cress beds.

One of the boys in the group discovered an old nest of a reed warbler. A successful and enjoyable afternoon, after which, many took advantage of the light refreshments on offer at the church.

Clifford Jukes

Monday 12th October 2009

Sixty years on from its foundation as the Lincolnshire Naturalists' Trust, the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust is the leading nature conservation charity with around a hundred nature reserves and over 25,000 members. The most tangible evidence of the achievements of the Trust can be seen in those nature reserves, which protect every type of habitat.

For the first indoor meeting of this season we welcomed David Robinson O.B.E., the Hon. Secretary of the Trust, to give his talk "60 years of the Trust". A good turnout of 35 people listened intently as David told about how it started. He illustrated his talk with photographs taken over the years at different reserves around the county.

Gibraltar Point was our first nature reserve and, as well as changes in the landscape, we were shown how the visitors' centre has grown and developed. David talked about how the land has been managed and showed the successes the Trust has had as well as telling us about the very few failures where the Trust was not able to buy new reserves.

His descriptions of Dole Wood and Tortoiseshell Wood made me want to visit immediately. He showed pictures of almost every reserve in the county and it was a very inspiring talk which made me want to visit many more of the reserves. David paid tribute to all the members and volunteers, and reminded us that it is our contributions that help keep the Trust working.

At the end of David's talk, Colin Rushby thanked him on behalf of us all. Our Treasurer, Julie Wood, and Secretary, Jackie Kirk, then presented David with a cheque for £700 for Trust funds, which had been raised from various events throughout the year.

Jackie told everyone that the Grimsby/Cleethorpes group had been the first to present a cheque to Paul Learoyd in the Jubilee year and was now doing so again to David as the year comes to a close. David said he would pass the cheque onto the finance officer. He ended by reminding us that he had brought copies of Ted Smith's memoir "Trustees for Nature", and the Milestones booklet, with him for sale. We all thanked David for a very entertaining evening.

Jackie Kirk

Three months later at Messingham

On 13th October, the day after our first indoor meeting of the season, I paid a visit with my husband to Messingham Sand Quarry. I had visited in July with our group but Dave has never been there before.

I identified swans and coots on the lake, but was not sure which geese and other water birds that I was seeing as I am still very much a novice. When we got to the clearing, I didn't recognise what had been there in July. I remembered that we went down to look at the beautiful orchids (Dune Helleborine and Marsh Helleborine). The ground was now rather boggy and you would never know that the orchids had been there. It just shows how nature moves on through the seasons.

We sat on one of the many benches around the reserve for our cup of coffee, and while we sat in the warm autumn sun, a dragonfly landed on Dave's jumper. I was able to photograph it, and it then landed on our map that was laid out on the grass so I was able to take another snap. We spent a lovely morning and Dave said he was very impressed with Messingham. He thought it was his best reserve visit so far, and wants to go back soon.

After taking care of some business in Scunthorpe and having lunch, we went off to Far Ings. We walked around the reed beds and then sat at the picnic benches for a cup of coffee and watched magpies and finches feeding as the sun started to go down. It was a most enjoyable day, with the hope of many more

Jackie Kirk

Bird Watching at the Fitties

On a rather unpromising Saturday morning, twenty brave souls turned up at the Humberston Fitties car park for a bird walk led by Ray Hume who, from a child, has been interested in the environment and especially in the lifestyles and calls of birds.

Ray is especially good at recognising bird songs even if the bird remains hidden and indeed not all of the thirty or so species that were heard that morning were seen. The morning of the 24th of October was misty with slight drizzle as we motored to the rendezvous. A bracing wind was also present which caused some to regret not bringing a hat and gloves with them.

Ray drew our attention to the board the R.S.P.B. had erected by the salt marsh lagoon. This indicated what we might expect to see. Then we went over the top and down onto the beach where a variety of waders – Oystercatcher, Godwit, Redshank, Ring Plover and a Cormorant - were spied feeding at the edge of the high tide line. We came not long after it had passed, Ray suggesting watching waders feed on this slightly shelving coast is best done just after an extra high tide.

Back to the lagoon and some shelter from the elements where most avians seen were either Gulls (most kinds) or ducks. Ray got very excited at seeing nine Little Grebe bobbing on the shallow water at the same time. The walk continued along the lagoon edge.

Our attention was drawn to an old nest in the hedgerow of the adjoining field, probably belonging formerly to a Goldfinch or a Linnet. Then we moved on between the chalet bungalows and caravans of Thorpe Park and our expectations were met when we saw a number of common birds hopping or flying around the gardens – Robin, Starling, Pigeon, Crow, Dunnock, Sparrow, Bluetit and Wren – and a rarer one the Redpoll. Linnets fluttered out of the rosehip hedge where they had been feeding as we passed.

Back to the beach, this time on the other side of the Yacht Club for one more chance to gaze at the receding sea and the avian feeder before getting back into the cars for home and the warm.

Jennie Redpath

A Bird walk looking for waders

On Saturday 14th November, seventeen hardy souls met at the Cleethorpes Discovery Centre for our walk with John Nelson. It was a very windy morning so it was pleasing how many people turned out.

We started our walk along the Boating Lake with the Mallard ducks all around us. John told us that the male mallard has a green head and the female a brown head and orange beak, but there are several variations in colour where they interbreed. They are common, along with the Greylag Geese that always seem to looking for something to eat.

We then saw tufted ducks on the lake and a scaup, one of the rarest ducks to breed in the U.K. according to the R.S.P.B. It is similar in appearance to the tufted ducks and is a diving duck as are the tufted ducks. There were also coot and moorhen on the lake.

At the end of the boating lake we crossed and then walked along Buck Beck to the outfall. We weren't seeing a lot of birds along the beck and thought that the wind had sent them looking for cover, although we did see a Little Grebe.

We were hoping to see a Kingfisher at the outfall as it had been seen there recently but we weren't lucky. Our first sight when we got across the path was a Little Egret. John told us that these used to be rare but we are now seeing more and more in the area. It seems that they first appeared in significant numbers in the U.K. in 1989 and first bred in Dorset in 1996.

Walking along the beach we saw a heron, and a curlew. The sun was brightly shining by then and we were out of the wind so it was very pleasant. A flock of linnets weaved overhead and quite a few of the party followed them with binoculars. We also saw shelduck, lapwing, robin, magpie, black-headed gull and reed bunting.

Starlings coming in from the continent for the winter passed by us and as we walked along the beach towards the leisure centre we all trained binoculars on the Brent geese that were in abundance on the shoreline. Even though we did not see too many waders we had a most enjoyable morning and all thanked John Nelson for leading us.

Jackie Kirk

Wildlife Watch Events

12th September. Our N.E.Lincolnshire Group met in Tetney churchyard at 8 p.m. for a bats and moths evening. We welcomed Vivienne Booth from the Bat Conservation Group. She started by showing the children some pipistrelle bats, all safely caged, which she was nursing back to health under license.

Everyone was amazed at how small the bats were, as they look so much bigger when flying. She showed the children how to use bat detectors, enabling them to hear bats before seeing them flying overhead. Afterwards the group visited a garden along Church Lane, where a moth lamp had been running. Although it was a fine, mild evening, it did not suit the moths, possibly because the sky was too clear. Only one large and one small yellow underwing were found. Steve and William Meek were thanked for their efforts on our behalf.

3rd October The Group met on Cleethorpes beach by the Meridian car park, to look for seashore life with Barry Whitehead, assisted by the regular group leaders. Mary Porter, Wildlife Watch Organiser for the Trust was welcomed, having come to visit the group.

Dipping a channel with small nets yielded bullheads or gobies and small shore crabs, and then Barry demonstrated digging for lugworms and managed also to find small rag worms. He then followed the tide out towards sunken wrecks where he demonstrated the use of his very large push-net, bringing his catch ashore for the children to examine.

It was immediately apparent that the sea was teeming with life, including brown shrimps, fairy shrimps, a pipefish, two hermit crabs and a sand eel, together with many small flatfish and more gobies. A short distance away, he was able to show everyone small tubeworms protruding from nearby sand. All, in spite of a long trek back against the wind, had a great time.

Clifford Jukes

Accounts of previous years' events have been transferred to:

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