Northwest Norfolk Naturalists

Saturday, 15 November 2014

More fungi!

Russula nitida - two found growing under Pine near the visitor center.

Funnel sp.?

Waxcap sp.

Friday, 14 November 2014

Callicera rufa - My find of the year.

Something from way back in July...

An orange fungus growing in grass at Holme Dunes was initially identified as Yellow Club Clavulinopsis helvola. Certainly some of the fruit bodies were this species, with darker orange tips. However some of the fruit bodies had pale yellow tips and I believe that these were Apricot Club Clavulinopsis luteoalba. Apparently these two species occur in mixed colonies along with Handsome Club Clavulinopsis laeticolor.

On Wednesday two of the plant species flowering on the Kit Kat wasteland site at the north end of Seagate Road caught my eye. One was very noticeable with a number of plants in flower. These were plants of a broom which I have keyed out as Montpellier Broom Genista monspessulana. Apparently this species can become quite invasive in the Mediterranean.

The other plant was much less obvious, nestled against the side of one of the large boulders of carrstone. It has been identified as Annual Mercury Mercuralis annua.

Colour-ringed Twite

Many of you will have noticed that the county is currently hosting more Twite than has been usual for the last few winters. Of the 51 birds in Thornham Harbour on 9th November, at least three were colour-ringed:

Blue/metal (left leg) X Blue/White (right leg) was ringed at Derby Delph, South Yorkshire on the 16th September 2014

Yellow/metal (left leg) X Yellow/White (right leg) was ringed at Derby Delph, South Yorkshire on the 29th September 2014

Orange/metal (left leg) X Blue/Blue (right leg) was ringed at Braich ty du, Snowdonia on 18th April 2014

The links with the south Pennines is well established but a bird from the tiny Welsh breeding population (estimated at only 30 pairs) is a great find.

Others are sure to be colour-ringed, so why not keep checking these and other birds and see what you can turn up.

Thursday, 13 November 2014

Housekeeping in progress..............

I've just (November 13th) added lists for 517 Beetles, 166 Hemipterans, 112 Dipterans, 48 Hymenopterans and a few tens of other assorted invertebrates recorded by our group in 2014. To ensure there is no duplication, I've 'hidden' some earlier sheets, transferring information from them, where necessary, to these or a small number of additional new sheets. I've also put all the sheets in some semblance of taxonomic order. It will take me a few days to neaten up all the new sheets, especially where I've transferred in data but in the meantime, I hope it all makes sense.

Sunday, 9 November 2014

Searching for Liverworts with Julia Masson

(Continuation on the theme of Andy's earlier post, this time all about Liverworts)

When I arrived the search for Petalworth (Petalophillum ralfsii) was just about to start in one of the dune slacks. Soon enough we were finding liverworts all over the place but not the special one we were after.

There were numerous specimens of Endive Pellia (Pellia endiviifolia) and a few Greasewort (Aneura pinguis) were found as well.

Endive Pellia (Pellia endiviifolia) Holme NWT 09/11/2014

Greasewort (Aneura pinguis) Holme NWT 09/11/2014

After all that searching we were still no closer to finding at least a little clump of Petalworth. We moved to the next dune slack and found the area where few were once recorded. However, the area was completely overgrown with mosses and the thatch layer was a few centimeters thick. No liverwort of any kind could ever penetrate that.

Marsh Bryum (Bryum pseudotriquetrum) Holme NWT 09/11/2014

Decision has been made to check another area, the orchid meadow, where Julia found another tiny species of liverwort. This time it was the Bifid Crestwort (Lophocolea bidentata) which is apparently very common and easily identified by its odour. It smells like potatoes! (i.e. earthy)

Bifid Crestwort (Lophocolea bidentata) Holme NWT 09/11/2014

The last area checked was near the main track to The Firs by a little pool. There Julia found another species: Jagged Germanderwort (Riccardia chamedryfolia) and some more Pellia.