BENFIELD WILDLIFE

AND

CONSERVATION GROUP

SUMMER MAGAZINE

2018

Web Site: http://benfieldwildlifeandconservationgroup.wordpress.co.ukAnd

http://benfieldlnr.tumblr.com/

Our Autumn talk is taking place on Wednesday 28th November 2018 at 7.30 at the Oasis Fellowship Church Hall corner of Northease Drive and Hangleton Way, Hove, with Peter Lovett telling us about the “The Birds of Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and

Sutherland”Admission Free, Coffee, Tea, Raffle

We look forward to seeing you

Martin has been keeping an eye out on the planning applications and nothing of note has been spotted, the Benfield Valley now hosts Football Golf.

The autumn speaker this year is Peter Lovett and the subject is a Bird Tour of the different counties, this is the most expensive talk we have ever had at over a hundred pounds and although this talk is quite late on November 28th I do hope you will all come along and support the group.

With the cold weather holding any early spring growth back, the sheep did not do too much damage on the hillside, although it was noted that fewer early flowers like the violets came through, which in turn left any early butterflies without a nectar source or egg laying plants. So the result shows that having the sheep so late in the winter is not beneficial for any plant or insect life on Benfield Hill. Our thoughts are now on the winter scrub clearing, and sharpening of tools and lists of work to be done are under way.

It’s not often we get to sit outside and watch the sun go down on those perfect days we have had, just listening to the Swifts flying round with juveniles screaming for food, made me wonder where they were nesting and I will have a wander up the road and see who is lucky enough to have them nesting at their house. Another surprise we had was the arrival of not one but two Hedgehogs!! It was a cliff hanger movie from the garden trail camera just watching what was happening in our own garden night after night. But I will tell you about that next time.

We look forward to seeing you at the autumn talk which I know you will enjoy.

Results of the 2018 Glow worm Survey

Once again we set off to undertake the Glow-worm Survey and Count on Benfield Hill LNR. Meeting at our usual point, the Hangleton Manor Pub in Hangleton Way, we set off up the footpath and pass the old Benfield Barn and on towards the Benfield Bridge over the bypass. Turning left at the end of the bridge and going up the path we saw four Glow worms, which gave everyone a chance to get the cameras out and take some good photos. Moving on, we crossed Badgers Way and straight into a stiff cold North East wind. Working our way round the rough, long grass on top of the old Benfield Golf course we counted several more. The setting glow from the sunset still held but it was a tad too early to spot the glow-worms easily, so our count started slowly. By midnight we had counted about 48 glow-worms, so they are still here on the hillside and part of the National Count. Photos by Claire Peters

****************************************************************** A Thank You and Reminder from the Treasurer

Our treasurer, Dave Bell, would like to thank all of those kind people who have paid their April subscriptions so promptly and those of you who are paying by standing order now, thank you.A reminder that if you have received this newsletter by e mail that your subscriptions are now well overdue. Your subscriptions are the mainstay of the group and enable us to pay for our insurance for the group, to provide the newsletter three times a year, provide leaflets for the notice board, hiring the hall, paying for talks, etc. This year’s autumn talk is costing over a hundred pounds with hall costs on top of that. So your support will be gratefully received this year.Some members are already receiving their newsletters by e mail, which saves the group money as costs are quite high now. If you would prefer to receive your newsletter this way, please let me know and I will arrange to e mail it to you.We have now arranged with the bank for subscriptions to be paid by Standing Order, just contact us for the details.

A Hot Day on the Hill

Sad to say, not a hot date, but another hot day. I cannot remember in my life- time having such a long period of time without rain and with the constant heat. Other places around have had a drop of rain but not here, at the time of writing this. We have been quite fortunate in plants keeping alive by the occasional heavy dew and their deep roots, showing how adaptable plants and small insects have to be. As I slowly walked along the pathway I noticed the bench the volunteers set up some time ago has green shoots and leaves growing out of the sides of the supports, giving it that authentic green bench look.

Loads of butterflies in the meadow, I spotted the blue wings of the Common Blue butterfly, Polyommatus Icarus among the Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers.

The few Ragwort plants, Senecio jacobaea, were well

covered in Cinnabar Moth Caterpillars, Tyria jacobaeae. Along with the bird song was the sound of crickets and grasshoppers all around me and I managed a quick photo of this grasshopper, probably a Meadow Grasshopper.

Did you know grasshoppers can fly? Because grasshoppers have such powerful jumping legs, people sometimes don't realize they have wings, too! Most grasshoppers are pretty strong fliers, and will make good use of their wings to escape predators. Their jumping ability just gives them a boost into the air. Another interesting fact.. did you know, Grasshoppers have ears on their tummy; the auditory organs are in

a rather unusual location—on the abdomen. On each side of the first abdominal segment, tucked under the wings, you'll find membranes that vibrate in response to sound waves. This simple eardrum, called tympana, allows the grasshopper to hear the songs of its mates.

An hour on the hillside, even with a bottle of water, was more

than enough in the heat, even so, there was

still much to be seen, like this Skipper butterfly, and this Bush Cricket which landed on my glasses.

Our Summer Flower Identification Walk

On Sunday June 24th 2018 we had our annual flower and butterfly walk on Benfield Hill. Weather wise, with the ongoing drought and very high temperatures we were fortunate to have a thin cloud cover which helped shield us from the burning rays of the sun. Now that’s a weather note I have never said before. There was a good crowd of us interested in what was on the hillside after the very cold winter, late browsing sheep, and now our long hot, drought conditions. To

me it seemed as if the spring orchids and flowers were late and some of the summer flowers had already had their day.At the start of the walk beside the notice board is a Wild Cherry tree which had some red cherry’s for the birdsFor the first time in memory we noted all four orchids were to be seen on the hillside, the end of the Twayblades, the Fragrant Orchid, Common Spotted Orchids and fresh Pyramidal orchids. As usual, lenses, cameras and field Guides were to hand and we were able to minutely examine various flowers and leaves, were the hairs on the leaves of the flowers black or yellow, with or without glands, were the leaves forked or spotted or simply covered in tiny holes as in the Perforate St John’s Wort. All details carefully noted and identifications confirmed. Musk Mallow In all, 70 plants were noted and named; although there were many more on the hillside and I think both Sally’s did very well in the time allowed.We looked for butterflies as we went along seeing Small Skipper, Meadow Browns, Gatekeepers, Marbled Whites, Large and Small Whites, Speckled Wood, Comma, Ringlet and Common Blue. A pristine Six Spot Burnet Moth was identified. It was a most enjoyable and interesting walk seeing just how the Benfield LNR was coping in the extremes of weather. If you go up onto the hill during July and August, many flowers would have set their seed but there will be plenty of Knapweed, Bedstraws, Agrimony, Eyebright, Thyme, Hawkbit and Clover to delight the eye.

Photos by Sally Wadsworth

Moth Trapping on Benfield Hill 2018

It’s been a few years since we were able to have a moth trap on the reserve. Last year both dates were cancelled due to rain, but this year was a fantastic success all due to Steven Teal our fantastic guide and teacher.

Steven brought three traps with him but we only used two, the Robinson MV trap 125W and the Skinner synergetic green light 15W, with the generator quietly humming away in the background the moths descended on us by their hundreds. With our books at the ready and a pen and pencil handy we started a wonderful magical night of fluttering wings, colours and aahs and oohs, as the moths got bigger in size. Sally and Alan did very well in remembering the more common ones and Claire took excellent photos of the delicate quivering moths.

Just before the dew descended Steven opened up the traps and out of the hundreds of moths that visited the traps the staggering count of species was 153. Here we have a Privet Hawk Moth, just look how big it is!

Steven had two “life bests”, moths he had never seen before.

We had three nationally scarce B moths which were Meganola albula – Kent Black Arches, and Pediasia contamineella – Waste Grass Veneer and Eudonia lacustrata – Little Grey.

It really was one of those truly magical evenings, so a big thanks to Steven for taking the time to come to Benfield and spend an evening with us on the reserve.

Photos by Claire Peters.

Honeycroft Hogs What a lovely summer we are having this year but not good for our wildlife. It has been so very dry so please put out water each day as all the wildlife will appreciate this.

A busy time at Honeycroft Hogs with rescues.

Mum hedgehog had made a nest in a plastic bag in a garden. The finder was clearing up and disturbed them. The babies were only a few days old. When we arrived two of the babies had sadly died but two were still alive. We carefully transported Mum and babies separately back to Honeycroft Hogs.

We had everything crossed and hoped that Mum would not reject the babies. No activity for the first 3 days but on the 4th night all the food was gone. On the 6th day we carefully checked the box and all were fine. We called Mum Rose, the baby girl Chardonnay and the boy Merlot. All three have since been released back to the wild.

Another Mum hog had also made a nest in a plastic bag in a shed. On arrival we found Mum and two babies. Mum was not in a good way, so we put babies in a box while we assessed Mum. During this time the babies were ‘peeping’ for their Mum. We worked as fast as we could on Mum identifying if there were any wounds present as she was covered in maggots. No obvious wounds so removed the maggots, cleaned up Mum and put her with her babies. Again, another testing time, would Mum reject her babies. All was well and this time two girls. We named Mum Claret, the girls Chianti and Chablis. All are doing just great and will be released very soon.Mum hogs do an amazing job with their babies. They thrive and put on weight much quicker than those hoglets without a Mum.

Little Henrietta came in at 74g in a very poorly state having been found out during the day. She had flystrike, maggots, fleas and numerous tiny ticks. It took us over two hours to remove the nasties. Henrietta was on syringe feeds, but her weight kept going down. She turned the corner after a week and began lapping herself. Then onto kitten food and kitten kibble. There was no stopping her and she is now going from strength to strength.

Please call for advice if you have any concerns about hedgehogs in your garden.

Carole Bean 07985 987908

Dates For Your Diary

Wednesday November 28 th at 7.30 pm our Autumn Talk with the Benfield Wildlife and Conservation Group on “ The Birds of Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Sutherland” with Peter Lovett at the Oasis Church Hall

corner of Northease Drive and Hangleton Way, Hove. Raffle, tea, coffee and mince pies, donations appreciated. We look forward to seeing you all. Contact ph 07887922002

************************************************ Saturday 25 August 2018, Hangleton Community Fair, 12.00 – 15.00, at Hangleton Park, Harmsworth Crescent Hove

***********************************Sunday 23 September , Autumn Village Fair at Westdene Green. Hove, BN1 5ED

********************************************* Friday 5 th October 1pm to 4 pm Community Engagement Event held by the 50+ group, showcasing what’s going on around the area, Line Dancing group, Sing Along, demonstrations . See the action at St Richards Church Hall Egmont Road Hove.

******************************Sunday 23   September   - Apple Day . 11am – 5 pm. A popular annual event held in Stanmer Park Brighton to celebrate the harvest season. Please be aware that there is a charge for parking at this event, Car Park: £10 per car, but the event itself is free. Suitable for the whole family

********************************** Friday   21 December - Burning the Clocks  Winter Solstice event. An annual community event consisting of a community lantern parade through the city centre finishing with a firework display from the beach adjacent to Madeira Drive. Conceived to celebrate the winter solstice, this event now takes place on 21 December each year and attracts around 20,000 spectators. Find out more at www.samesky.co.uk

**************************   Wednesday 14 November 2018 at 10 am A Mid-week wildlife walk to Ferring beach with the RSPB. A flat walk including seafront (some parts on shingle) and fields (can be muddy), looking for winter visitors. Easy going walks, in pleasant company.Everyone welcome, bring a packed lunch and binoculars, strong footwear is advised Price: Free to Brighton local group members. £2 donation for non-members of the Brighton local group. further information E-mail: ed.lough@ntlworld.com

Meet on the coast road at the bottom of Sea Lane, Ferring - be aware there is another Sea Lane nearby in Goring. OS Map ref. TQ100015

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.If you have any interesting events going on in your group that you would like included in our events diary do contact me on 01273 410430