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President: Evelyn Crispe Editor: Rosie Etheridge Newsletter No 82 Autumn 2019

Next year (2020) will be the 50th anniversary of the Harrow Natural History Society. To celebrate this milestone we will be holding special events throughout the year. Look out for these in your programme. The first will be a Snowdrop walk in Pear Wood orchard on Saturday 15th February.

REPORTS ON OUTSIDE EVENTS

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APRIL, 4th

MAY and 1st JUNE – IDENTIFYING WILD FLOWERS AND THE USE OF KEYS

Following a request from a member, Margaret decided to run a short course on identifying wild flowers. I was invited to assist and together we held three sessions. The first was a workshop event at North Harrow Community Library. In this session we looked at the parts of a flower and introduced the Buttercup and Daisy families. We stressed the importance of examining a specimen carefully with a hand lens before trying to identify it. Everyone had a go at examining the specimens we had brought along. Some people tried to key out their specimen using Francis Rose’s Wild Flower Key.

The second session was held at the new education centre at the top of Masefield Avenue in Bentley Priory Open Space. After an introduction to two more families, the Deadnettles and the Cabbages, we took a short walk to look for and identify plants. We found White Deadnettle, Ground Ivy, Hedge Mustard, Ramsons, and three species of Buttercup - Bulbous, Goldilocks and Meadow.

The final session was held at the Old Dairy at the top of Wood Farm. We looked at three more families - the Peas, the Carrots and the Roses - and then walked around the Country Park. There was a wonderful display of flowers. We saw many members of the Pea family including Tares, Vetches and Bird’s-foot Trefoil. The Carrots were represented by tall stands of poisonous Hemlock and the Dog Roses were in flower.

Margaret and I learned a lot from planning these sessions. Copies of the information sheets produced for the course can be bought from the treasurer’s desk at one of our evening meetings. Rosie Etheridge

SATURDAY 20th

APRIL – SPECIAL

OPENING OF PERIVALE WOOD

For the first time the Selborne Society decided to organise a special opening a week before the Official Open Day. They invited members of Harrow Natural History Society, Hillingdon Natural History Society and Ruislip and District Natural History Society to attend. The idea was to spread the numbers of people attending across the two days and also for like-minded people to get together.

The afternoon was a great success. Given the vagaries of nature, it is always difficult to predict the best day for looking at Bluebells but on this occasion the weather was fine and

the Bluebells were absolutely perfect. Thirteen people from our society visited during the afternoon. As well as

Bulbous Buttercup has downturned

sepals.

Goldilocks

Buttercups do not grow all their

petals.

Perivale Wood by Marian Sartin

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being able to admire the new Bluebell Visitor Centre and enjoy refreshments, we were treated to the spectacle of adult Starlings feeding nestlings in a nest box under the eaves.

The Bluebells looked like a sheet of blue with the odd butterfly flying above them. John was pleased to have a woodland grass Wood Millet Milium effusium identified for him by John Wells (effusium meaning spreading loosely).

The organisers were pleased with how the day went and the plan is to repeat it next year. Well worth attending, both for the bluebells and other nature and the knowledgeable company. Margaret Huitson

THURSDAY 25th

APRIL – BLUEBELLS AND APPLE BLOSSOM IN PEAR WOOD

Apple Blossom by Marian Sartin

Black Clock Beetle

This annual event is always a source of pleasure. The bluebells and the apple blossom were beautiful. As a bonus we saw a Painted Lady. We wondered if it had overwintered. And Simon also found a Black Clock Beetle.

Rosie Etheridge

SATURDAY 27th

APRIL – STANMORE COUNTRY PARK FOR BUTTERFLIES AND BLUEBELLS

Seven valiant members of the Harrow Natural History Society gathered in the Dennis Lane car park. This was despite the weather forecast, which predicted a howling gale, 100% cloud and temperatures of down to 12⁰ C; not good for spotting butterflies. This was a pity as we had already noted 8 species on the previous very warm weekend. We had also seen a Small Copper 10 days earlier in one of Perivale Wood’s meadows and a very fresh Painted Lady in Pear Wood uphill from us, nectaring on Bluebell a couple of days previous (see above).

We altered the walk to get the maximum shelter from the wind. This meant we started up the Dragon Ride, recording ground flora as we went. On a dead trunk and about half way up we saw a fledgling Nuthatch which remained still until we went past. According to Brian, it then scrambled up to the top.

In the gas ride, the Bluebells were a deep violet, unlike the paler group we saw later. In Ant City Rosie identified a Moss for me on the anthills, the Neat Feather Moss Pseudosceropodium purum, and Mouse-ear Hawkweed Hieracium pilosella. There was a Buff-tailed Bumblebee on the Gorse. Any other insect was blown away before we could catch a glimpse of it. However Margaret spotted one of the long antennae moths, Adela reaumurella, hanging on to an oak twig.

In 40 Acre Field we saw several Oak Apples. These are caused by the larva of the wasp Biophiza Pallida.

The Baby Nuthatch

Oak Apples

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On our way back, Claire Abbott brought me a brick from the pit in Lower Blue Pond Field. I later gave this to an expert to have it dated. I wanted to see if the Duke of Chandos had built the bridge and wall 300 years earlier. He owned a vast area of Stanmore woodland. However the brick turned out to be a 20th century brick from the Dorking Brick Company. The last owner of SCP, Sir John Fitzgerald, probably thought he could expand his building aspirations. At this point the Middlesex CC stepped in and bought the 110 acres of SCP; good for them. Sir John went back to Ireland.

We saw that Bugle had emerged in the previous week in Six Acre Field on the way back to the car park. At least we had avoided the predicted rain. John Hollingdale

FRIDAY 10

th MAY – MOTH EVENING AT STANMORE COUNTRY PARK

Four members of the Harrow Nature Conservation Forum gathered for this moth evening. The weather was a mixture of cloud and clear periods. The wind was from the North; not promising.

However the moths came regularly and the following species were seen.

Brimstone Moth x 2

Lime Hawk-moth

Maiden's Blush

Nut-tree Tussock

Oak-tree Pug

Pale Prominent

Shuttle-shaped Dart

Waved Umber x 2

We also had one micro; Ancylis badiana which was retrieved from Lesley’s back. This is a new record for the Country Park. We decided to pack up at 11pm, which was a good idea as the rain began to fall at precisely this time. John Hollingdale

SATURDAY 18th

MAY – THE TREES OF PEAR WOOD

Rosie and I led our first tree walk in Pear Wood on 18th May. More than 20 people attended, although some didn't last the course! We showed them over 40 different species of trees, native and non-native, including some veteran oaks and limes, many hundreds of years old.

As well as covering identification, biology and the uses of various kinds of wood, I delved into the extensive folklore and some of the legends surrounding trees, such as the Norse “Tree of Life”. Some of these illustrate how different our relationship

with trees used to be: there were times when people would seek permission from the “Oak Men” or the “Elder Mother” before felling trees, to ensure no harm resulted from their actions. I also talked about how much people depended on trees for their day to day living, for food, heat and housing. With the change in climate we are again discovering that our very existence may still depend on trees and I hope the walk inspired people to appreciate trees even more. Claire Abbott

Lime Hawk-moth

Maiden’s Blush

A few of the participants on the walk

Could this be the Spirit of Pear Wood hiding inside an ancient

Lime Tree?

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THURSDAY 23rd

MAY – NATURE WALK AT ROXBOROUGH ROUGH

A group of us met to look at and record species at Roxbourne Rough as we have done in the previous two years. This time we did it a month earlier in the year in the hope of finding more species. We succeeded in doing this and a list was compiled and submitted. We were disappointed not to find the Grass Vetchling Lathyrus nissolia, but this may have been because we were too early. This very pretty magenta pea flower has had a good year and has been spotted in profusion on other sites. Points of particular interest were the number of Leeches spotted by Claire in the old pond, too many for a healthy pond. Tadpoles were present too.

During the walk, Marian photographed the following insects:

Cardinal Beetle

Pyrochroa serraticornis

Broad-bodied Chaser

Libellula depressa

The Azure Damselfly Coenagrion puella

We walked all around the reserve and into the new pond area which is protected from dogs. Although the water level was low the planted pond plants were doing well.There appeared to be both the pink and the white form of Ragged Robin Lychnis flos-cuculi. Interestingly there were no tadpoles in this pond. Probably following last year’s dry summer the whole area is quite dry, including some scrapes in the meadow area that should be damp.

Altogether it was an interesting and useful visit. Margaret Huitson

FRIDAY 7th

JUNE – MAPLE LODGE NATURE RESERVE

Although it was raining, eight hardy members attended our regular visit to this lovely reserve. We first visited the Rotunda Hide where we admired the profusion of purple Southern Marsh Orchids there and Marian took a photograph (see left).

At the Teal Hide there were several Little Grebes and we saw one of them catch a fish. Further on at the Long Hedge Hide we saw many water fowl including a single drake Teal with its colourful plumage and Black-headed Gulls nesting on the rafts. From the Main Hut Hide there were good views of many birds including Little Grebe, Great Spotted Woodpecker and a family of Canada Geese with several young.

The water fowl seen, apart from those already mentioned, were Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Mallard, Pochard, Shoveler, Swan, Cormorant, Moorhen, Great Crested Grebe, Greylag Goose and Coots with young.

Other species seen were: Jackdaw, Crow, Magpie, Swift, Pied Wagtail, Woodpigeon, Chaffinch, Dunnock, Blackbird, Robin, Starling and Great Tit. We also heard Blackcap, Song Thrush, Wren and Chiffchaff. Strangely, no Heron or Little Egret were seen.

At the end, as usual, we made use of the facilities in the main hut to have refreshments. Despite the weather, it had been a very enjoyable visit. Brian Hunter

Some of the Purple Southern Marsh Orchids

The blooms this year total over a thousand.

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MONDAY 10th

JUNE – EVENING WALK AT WOOD FARM

It had been raining all day so only a small group of us ventured forth to meet at 7.30 pm, but we were rewarded for our efforts with nearly an hour without rain to view the wild flowers of the area.

The Hemlock Conium maculatum, a very tall member of the carrot family (with white umbels) was much in evidence. The sheltered path between banks by the car park is a haven for flowers including several members of the pea family. A wildflower mix was sown in 2015 and it is interesting to see how the area is developing and to try to work out the effects of the different management / cutting regimes. More Red Campion Silene dioica is currently in flower around the pond in an area that is not cut. Some flowers that were sown such as the cream-coloured Hedge Bedstraw Gallium mollugo are doing well whereas the planted Kidney Vetch Anthyllis vulnereria disappeared very quickly. A pleasing variety of pink Cranesbills (Geraniums) are in evidence.

We can report that the Old Dairy is very cosy in the rain, especially with a supply of refreshments. Margaret Huitson

WEDNESDAY 26th

JUNE – NORTHOLT

This was our second trip to Northolt to visit St Mary’s Church, Belvue Park, and Northala Fields. We met John Wells and others at Northolt Station and walked to St Mary’s Church where we were welcomed with cups of tea and coffee and had a chance to look round the old church.

Next we walked to nearby Belvue Park to admire the wild flower meadows. There was a fine variety of plants, including cornflowers and greater knapweeds and a yellow crucifer that had round beaked seed pods and turned out to be Bastard Cabbage. Other yellow crucifers were White Mustard and Hoary Mustard. Margaret introduced me to Phacelia tanacetifolia, also known as Fiddleneck, a plant in the Borage family. It can be used as a green manure: the mature plant is dug in to return nutrients to the soil.

We then moved on to Northala Fields. The park consists of four large conical earth mounds, several fishing lakes and a large field area. The mounds were constructed using rubble from the demolition of the original

Wembley Stadium and wildflowers and grasses have been planted on the sides of the mounds.

Hemlock is recognisable by its purple spotted stems.

Red Campion was found around the pond.

St Mary’s Church By Marian Sartin

One of the four mounds in Northala Park

Bastard Cabbage

seed pods

Phacelia tancetifolia

A green manure

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We looked round for a while and then had lunch in the San Remo cafe. After lunch we set out again. Alongside one of the lakes we found Meadowsweet. We also saw some Broadleaved Willowherb that was suffering a massive attack from larvae of the Willowherb Flea Beetle.

Some of us stopped to listen to a Reed Warbler. We then discovered that John Wells and the others had gone on without us. We didn’t know which way they had gone, so Margaret and Brian decided to run up one of the mounds, hoping to see them from the top. We were amazed by their agility. But John Wells was nowhere to be seen. He and his companions were in fact hidden behind another mound.

At this point a few of us decided we had had enough and we set off for home, after a very enjoyable day. Rosie Etheridge

SATURDAY 29th

JUNE – STANMORE COUNTRY PARK FOR BUTTERFLIES AND FLOWERS

We walked up Dragon Ride for the second time this year. The walk was supposed to take about an hour but, as always, this extended to 2 ½ hours. We were looking for summer butterflies. Large Skippers had been very noticeable this year and we counted at least three. Meadow Browns were plentiful but there were no Ringlets although the previous day we had seen several. Gatekeepers emerge about two weeks later but several Marbled Whites were seen. In 40 Acre field we saw a Cinnabar moth and flying overhead was a Red Kite. Small Whites were abundant and at the end, in 6 Acre Field, was a Painted Lady. This has been a Painted Lady year with many thousands coming to Britain.

I must mention that a couple of weeks later, while I was sitting at the picnic bench, a large butterfly floated past and settled on a nearby oak tree. John Winter, bless him, took a couple of photos on his phone. Andrew Wood, the Butterfly Conservation recorder for the Herts and Middx branch, identified it as a Purple Emperor; the supreme butterfly! This is a rare butterfly for Middx. John Hollingdale

MONDAY 8th

JULY – EVENING WALK IN CANONS PARK

A small group of us met at 7.30pm at the Howberry Road entrance and were met by one of the Friends of Canons Park committee who is particularly interested in the trees of the park. The walled gardens were closed for repair work but there was plenty to interest us in the other trees around the park.

A large tree was identified as a Tree of Heaven Ailanthus altissima. This tree grows very quickly and has been dubbed by Plantlife as “The Tree of Hell” as it can become very invasive. We do need to be careful what we plant. Other trees appear to be much more restrained and we had an interesting time examining a variety of trees including the attractive Indian Bean Tree Catalpa bignonioides. It was in flower with its white flowers flecked with yellow and purple. It doesn’t come from India and it doesn’t produce beans. It comes from the southern United States, and it takes its name from a local Native American tribe called the Catawba. It seems the Latin name was just a mistake, with Catawba

misspelled as Catalpa by a sloppy botanist (oh dear!). As for the ‘beans’, the tree produces very distinctive long, slim, cylindrical seed pods that look rather like beans (another name is the cigar tree, and it’s easy to see why).

A pleasant way to spend an evening. Margaret Huitson

Marian photographed these butterflies:

Painted Lady

Meadow Brown

Margaret and Brian at the top

of one of the mounds

Seeds of the Tree of

Heaven

Flowers of the Indian Bean Tree

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FRIDAY 26th

JULY – FORTY HALL

The very hot weather had turned “showery” meaning periods of heavy rain, but it was not cold. The afternoon turned fine, which was good for us and for the wedding being held at The Hall.

Six of us met up at the Nice Green Cafe, where we planned our route. There was in fact far too much to look at in the time we had. We made off down the Nature Trail and the Lime Avenue. We passed the latest archaeological dig of part of The Royal Palace of Elsyng. The Palace was a former home of Henry VIII and the regular residence of his son Edward VI and daughter Elizabeth I. The grassland was wet so we cut back for lunch, then made our way through the farm.

Forty Hall Farm is an organic farm run by Capel Manor College, which is nearby. We admired a sow with five piglets: they were a lovely mixture of Saddleback and the tawny-yellow Tamworth. We saw chickens and ducks but the goats were missing; some animals had been moved because they might not enjoy the Livestock Music Festival being held there the next day. (John: I don’t know what part the livestock had though. Ed: I expect they were playing their horns.)

There is an orchard and also a vineyard from which wine is produced and sold at the farm shop. It must be good as it was quite pricey. The Walled Garden has been planted with pollinators in mind and we saw at least six species of butterfly.

We were accompanied along our walk by the lovely repetitions of a Song Thrush. It was, in all, an enjoyable trip and Marian took a number of interesting photographs.

Margaret Huitson

THURSDAY 30TH MAY AND THURSDAY 1ST AUGUST – BEE/POLLINATOR WALKS AT THE

GRIMSDYKE HOTEL

For several years now, Jane Skelly and John Hollingdale have been running bee walks in the grounds of the Grimsdyke Hotel, one in the spring and another in the summer. The head-gardener, Helenka, kindly allows us to walk through her vegetable gardens and also accompanies us to Lady Gilbert’s orchard and points out things of interest.

Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum

Tree Bee

Bombus hypnorum

Ashy Mining Bee

Andrena cineraria

Great Pied Hoverfly Volucella pellucens

During our May visit this year we saw a variety of insects. There were Honey Bees and Common Carder Bees on the Cotoneaster and a Tree Bee on the Rhododendrons. In the vegetable garden we saw a Small White butterfly and an Early Bumblebee on the Alliums. A Tree Bumblebee was seen on the bracken. We also saw an Orange Tip Butterfly, a Red Cardinal Beetle and a hoverfly pretending to be a bee (probably the Great Pied Hoverfly Volucella pellucens). However, the two highlights were the Ashy Mining Bees (Andrena cineraria) nesting once again in a grassy bank, and a bumble bee nest in Helenka’s shed.

The Lime Avenue

Two of the Piglets

A Mulberry Tree in the

Orchard

Grapes from the Vineyard

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Our second walk took place on a fine sunny afternoon on the first of August. The air was buzzing with honeybees, but the bumble bees were conspicuous by their absence. We found a few Bufftails on the Lavender. They were also present on the floral displays that Helenka had created beside the hotel. We guessed that the recent heavy rain had affected them.

John saw four Butterflies – Gatekeeper, Red Admiral, Meadow Brown and Small White. He also spotted a Shaded Broad-bar Moth. Here were five species of Hoverfly – the Banded, the Marmalade, the Deadhead, both sexes of the Long Hoverfly, and the Dronefly. We also saw a Soldier Beetle and a Harvestman.

Brian saw a male Mallard in eclipse plumage, swimming in the pond. It had lost its breeding feathers and looked like a female, except that it had a yellow beak.

We ended the walk with refreshments in the hotel bar. A couple of members had cream teas and argued about whether to put the jam or the cream on first. Apparently it depends whether you come from Devon or from Cornwall. I have ancestors in both counties so I will have to mix mine together.

It was an enjoyable afternoon. Thank you Helenka for letting us into your vegetable garden and for accompanying us on our walk. Rosie Etheridge

MONDAY 12th

AUGUST – BOVNR AND ALL SAINTS CHURCHYARD FOR BATS

All Saints Church may have no bats in the belfry, but there are plenty flying nearby. Jane Skelly lead this evening walk and we were joined by some church members. The event was in three parts: history, bats and refreshments. Jane started by taking us through the Lych-gate, where we tried to decipher the memorial inscription to Edward Munro, the first vicar. We then walked up the Lime avenue towards the church. One of the trees has recently had to be felled.

Jane told us something about the history of the church, which was consecrated in 1849. We found the tombs of Edmund Crosse and Thomas Blackwell, who built up the famous business that bears their name. The church itself wasn’t open so we couldn’t

examine the Pre-Raphaelite windows or the restored mosaics representing the Tree of Life.

Next we entered the Bentley Old Vicarage Nature Reserve (BOVNR). We walked round and looked at the Forest School. Then we settled down near the pond to watch for bats. There were plenty to be seen and we listened to them using some bat detectors.

The bats were apparently all Pipestrelles (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) or Soprano Pipestrelles (Pipistrellus pygmaeus). The two species are distinguished on the basis of their different-frequency echolocation calls, hence the need for bat detectors to tell them apart. The common pipistrelle uses a call of 45 kHz, while the soprano pipistrelle echolocates at 55 kHz.

Some participants left early while the remainder repaired to the Leefe Robinson for refreshments. Rosie Etheridge

The New Zealand Flax attracted many Honeybees

M

F

The Long Hoverfly Sphaerophoria scripta

The Dead-head Hoverfly Myathropa florea

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AND FINALLY, OUR POEM, CHOSEN BY MARIAN SARTIN

FROM A RAILWAY CARRIAGE

by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)

Faster than fairies, faster than witches, Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;

And charging along like troops in a battle, All through the meadows the horses and cattle:

All of the sights of the hill and the plain

Fly as thick as driving rain; And ever again, in the wink of an eye,

Painted stations whistle by.

Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,

All by himself and gathering brambles; Here is a tramp who stands and gazes;

And there is the green for stringing daisies!

Here is a cart run away in the road Lumping along with man and load;

And here is a mill and there is a river: Each a glimpse and gone forever!

OUR WEBSITE

You can find details of our current programme, and reports on our evening meetings, at the society’s website: http://www.harrownaturalhistory.org.uk/

Our sister organisation, the Harrow Nature Conservation Forum, also has a website where you can read about Harrow’s nature reserves and find details of additional natural history events that are open to everyone.

http://www.harrowncf.org/index.html

http://www.harrownaturalhistory.org.uk/http://www.harrowncf.org/index.html