Review of 2019 and 2020 - Mammals

MAMMALS (MAMMALIA)

My mammal-recording efforts aren't very systemmatic as I don't record every example of common mammal that I see but here's a summary of those I encountered in 2019 and 2020.



RODENTS (RODENTIA)


Grey Squirrel Sciurus carolinensis - One of the common species I don't record properly.  I occasionally see them in the garden and more often at the meadows.

Grey Squirrel, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 20th September 2019

Grey Squirrel, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 15th April 2020

Grey Squirrel, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 1st June 2020

Water Vole Arvicola amphibius - I was pretty sure that some holes along the edge of the dyke next to the railway at the bottom of the meadows belonged to Water Voles.  They looked like the animal had accessed them vertically from the water whereas I understand that Brown Rat holes would show a horizontal rat-run access from the sides.  It was over a year before I actually saw a Water Vole here, on 25th May 2019, and that was a pretty poor view.  It was initially completely hidden but I could see dead reed stems being pulled into the vegetation.  Eventually I saw the animal, albeit only very limited partial views.  Spring 2020 produced much better views as an adult and a youngster showed well on 19th and 22nd April.  The youngster showed again on 2nd May and one was seen again on several occasions up to 25th May.

Water Vole hole, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 11th January 2019

Water Voles, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 22nd April 2020

Water Vole, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 2nd May 2020

Bank Vole Myodes glareolus - Good views of one obtained at Lackford Lakes on 23rd February 2019.

Bank Vole, Lynford Lakes, 23rd February 2019

Wood Mouse Apodemus sylvaticus - this is the most likely ID for two mice seen well, one in my garden (where it was seen scurrying up to an empty fat-feeder (intended for birds) and hiding in the hole, and one at the meadows.  Without seeing the underside of their neck I can't absolutely rule out Yellow-necked Mouse Apodemus flavicollis as the ID for either of these, however that species is apparently rare in this part of Norfolk whereas Wood Mouse is very common.

probable Wood Mouse, North Elmham, 4th July 2019

probable Wood Mouse, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 12th August 2019

Harvest Mouse Micromys minutus - None - sadly no repeat of the Harvest Mouse that graced my garden one day in 2017.


Brown Rat Rattus norvegicus - Seen twice at the Cathedral Meadows, on 22nd March and 10th May 2019.

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RABBITS (LAGOMORPHA)


Brown Hare Lepus europaeus - I'm sure I saw others but the only ones I recorded in Norfolk in 2019 were at Sennowe on 17th April.  Although I have seen the species in the North Elmham area, including at Spong Hill in April 2020, I haven't yet seen it at the Cathedral Meadows (or in the surrounding farmland viewed from there).  Also some young Hares at Fidden on Mull in June 2019.

Brown Hares, Sennowe, 17th April 2019

young Brown Hare, Fidden (Mull), 9th June 2019

Rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus - Regularly seen at the meadows among other places.

Rabbit, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 14th April 2019

Rabbit, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 27th April 2020

Rabbit, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 13th July 2020

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HEDGEHOGS (ERINACEOMORPHA)


Hedgehog Erinaceus europaeus - None - the last one I saw alive was in my garden in 2017.

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SHREWS and MOLES (SORICOMORPHA)


Mole Talpa europaea - Plenty of evidence of their activity at the meadows but I haven't seen an actual live mole anywhere since 2013.  No Shrews recorded.

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BATS (CHIROPTERA)

I acquired an Echo Meter Touch bat detector in late October 2020 so hope to be able to record more bats in future but this was a bit late in the season to get started so not much to report yet.

Common Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus - One identified using Will Soar's Echo Meter at Brancaster on 2nd July 2020.  Several detected using my new Echo Meter at different points round the meadows between 30th October and 13th November.  Also a day-flying bat at Foxley Wood on 10th July which I think was either this species or Soprano Pipistrelle.

Common or Soprano Pipistrelle, Foxley Wood, 10th July 2020

Soprano Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pygmaeus - Several detected with the Echo Meter at different points round the meadows between 30th October and 13th November.

Soprano Pipistrelle, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 8th November 2020

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CARNIVORES (CARNIVORA)


Red Fox Vulpes vulpes - 1-2 recorded at least 5 times at the meadows in each of 2019 and 2020.  One young fox was watched chasing Pheasants in one of the neighbouring fields, with great ineptitude.  It would eye up a particular Pheasant in the distance and then start running at it, apparently not noticing other Pheasants that it was running straight past, and then give up the chase before it reached the target.  Maybe it was already well-fed and just larking about, but the Pheasants didn't seem to be very worried.

Red Fox, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 19th July 2019

Red Fox, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 8th September 2019

Red Fox, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 3rd May 2020

Grey Seal Halichoerus grypus - Common on Mull where 90 counted at Eilean an Fheoir on 11th June 2019.


Otter Lutra lutra - I didn't see any in Norfolk in 2019 or 2020 but seen on Mull in June 2019 with one near Carsaig and one at Dervaig.  I am aware that they're in the Wensum just below the Cathedral Meadows so they ought to be visible from the meadows on occasion.  I've had no sign yet though...

Otter, Carsaig, 10th June 2019

Badger Meles meles - A wonderful view of 2 Badgers at Great Wood in Borrowdale on 5th April 2019.


Stoat Mustela erminea - Seen on 2 out of just 3 visits to Burnham Overy in 2019.  None in 2020 and these were the third and fourth consecutive years that I failed to see a Weasel Mustela nivalis.

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EVEN-TOED UNGULATES (ARTIODACTYLA)


Wild Boar Sus scrofa - None seen but some were heard when I stopped between Sant Vicenc and Torrelles de Llobregat (Spain) to look for moths.


Roe Deer Capreolus capreolus - Frequently encountered at the meadows, or rather from the meadows as I don't think I saw one actually on the meadows themselves all year.  This included a family of 2 adults and 2 young - not sure I've ever seen any so young they're still spotty before.

Roe Deer family, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 3rd August 2019

Roe Deer, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 28th October 2020

Roe Deer, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 4th November 2020

Roe Deer, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 23rd November 2020

Red Deer Cervus elaphus - My only records in 2019 were from Mull where they were frequently encountered.  The individual photographed was taken from the cabin where we were staying at Carsaig.  None in 2020.

Red Deer, Carsaig, 10th June 2019

Muntjac Muntiacus reevesi - Frequent at the meadows.  A calling animal on the green in North Elmham was visible from my study window one day in 2019, the first confirmed record for my house (though I'm pretty sure I've heard them on a number of occasions).

Muntjac, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows, 13th July 2020

Muntjac, Stiffkey, 16th October 2020

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CETACEANS (CETACEA)


Bottlenose Dolpin Tursiops truncatus - 3 lots of 3 dolphins watched from our holiday cabin at Carsaig in June 2019 were probably this species although I'm not very experienced with dolphin identification and wasn't 100% certain. 

Ancylis badiana

I spent much of Friday 5th May birding in the Fens but picked up a few non-birds along the way.  One of a number of Coniopterix Waxflies at Methwold Lode defied identification to species level.  A Common Nettle-tap Anthophila fabriciana was easier.  A family of Otters along the River Wissey just west of the beet factory were fun to watch.

Otters, Wissington, 5th May

Further along this path were Orange-tip, Peacock and Small Tortoiseshells, with Brimstones seen at a number of places later on.  I also found this spider which I initially thought looked very distinctive with a turquoise abdomen.  But looking at the photos I realised that the large round turquoise thing at the end of it was in fact an egg sac, so the spider itself wasn't so distinctive.  Might be identifiable though - but not my me at the moment.

unidentified spider, west of Wissington, 5th May

Back closer to home a new bee for me, Flavous Nomad Bee Nomada flava was on the verge at Ryburgh.

Flavous Nomad Bee Nomada flava, Ryburgh, 5th May

This Cereal Leaf Beetle Oulema melanopus/rufocyanea agg. was at home.

Cereal Leaf Beetle Oulema sp., North Elmham, 5th May

A Roe Deer on the patch was looking photogenic...

Roe Deer, Bittering, 5th May

The moth trap that night produced my first Eyed Hawk-moth and Nutmeg of the year, along with Streaked Flat-body Depressaria chaerophylli, Common Flat-body Agonopterix heracliana, Red Twin-spot Carpet, Lesser Swallow Prominent, Flame Shoulder, 3 Hebrew Characters and 2 Common Earwigs.

Eyed Hawk-moth, North Elmham, 5th May

Nutmeg, North Elmham, 5th May

Found a Parsnip Moth Depressaria radiella at Ryburgh the following evening before another poor night's moth trapping at home - Brown-spot Flat-body Agonopterix alstromeriana and Flame Carpet were new for the year but Many-plumed Moth Alucita hexadactyla, 3 Hebrew Characters, Early Grey and Clouded-bordered Brindle were the only other moths.

Flane Carpet, North Elmham, 6th May

James Emerson had been to Hills and Holes at Hockham on Saturday and seen a couple of Ancylis badiana, a very smart tortrix moth that I've not seen before.  The forewing markings looked quite chestnut-brown which piqued my interest as Ancylis unculana is said to be distinguished from badiana by have chestnut-brown forewing markings.  Indeed I couldn't find any references which stated any other distinguishing features.  Yet looking at photos of both species I was pretty sure James was correct with his ID - for example the clean creamy surround to the dorsal blotch which was obvious in James' photos was consistently present on images of badiana whereas on all the images I could find of unculuna this was heavily marked with greyish.  Anyway, a site I had been planning to revisit soon, a good chance of a smart new moth, plus a desire to fully resolve an interesting ID conundrum made for an easy decision as to what to do on Sunday afternoon.

So, Dave and I rocked up to Hills and Holes and very soon found lots of insects including 23 Common Rollers Ancylis badiana.  The extent of chestnut colouration varied quite a lot - some were pretty much textbook individuals while others were much more chestnutty.  None looked like online images of unculana though, and for that matter none showed the terminal marks of the third similar species, Ancylis paludana.  I was already confident badiana was the correct ID and now I was even more sure, but just to leave no stone unturned I retained a couple of the more chestnutty coloured ones for gen detting.  The genitalia were, of course, consistent with badiana, apparently wrong for unculana (though the differences don't seem to be huge) (I can't find out what paludana is meant to be like, so that species was only ruled out on external features).

Common Rollers Ancylis badiana, Hills and Holes, 7th May

Other moths seen were 60 Plain Golds Micropterix calthella, Oak Carl Tischeria ekebladella, 2 Green Long-horns Adela reaumurella, Cocksfoot Moth Glyphipterix simpliciella and 4 Grey Gorse Piercers Cydia ulicetana. One female Adela looked really golden-bronze, indeed identical to the individual I posted about the other day which I'd quite unconvincingly concluded must be cuprella.  This time though there were no sallows in the immediate vicinity - surely this wasn't cuprella.  The genitalia were the same as the last one, apparently unlike the published image I had seen of reaumurella, but I still couldn't find any images of cuprella to compare to.  Then I realised that I'd been looking at the reaumurella image wrong - there are two pairs of stick-like appendages joined at the top and on my insects all four appendages were the same length.  The image of reaumurella made it look like one pair was much shorter than the other, but looking at it again I realised the two pairs had been separated so although the tips of one pair fell short of the other they were (probably) the same length.  So both of mine might be reaumurella after all, and despite them not looking green I think that's what they probably both were.

probable Green Long-horn Adela reaumurella, Hills and Holes, 7th May

lots of Plain Golds Micropterix calthella on sedge, Hills and Holes, 7th May

Bugs here included Harpocera thoracica and Red-and-black Froghopper Cercopis vulnerata.

Harpocera thoracica, Hills and Holes, 7th May

Red-and-black Froghopper Cercopis vulnerata, Hills and Holes, 7th May

I keyed this beetle out to Cantharis nigricans but subsequently wondered if I may have made a mistake and it should be Cantharis pellucida having seen Dave's similar insect (from elsewhere) identified as the lattter.  I re-found the specimen and checked the elytra hair again as this seems to be the critical point in the key - "Elytra almost covered with close-set very short pubescence, along with more scattered longer hair" for nigricans and "not as above" for pellucida (there are further species for both but the following couplets key out to nigricans or pellucida).  The elytra are covered with close-set pubescence, though whether that is very short or not is debatable.  There are also some scattered hairs protruding more than the downy hairs and at least some of them are clearly longer than the flatter downy hairs.  So I think I was right - oe else the key is misleading.

Cantharis nigricans, Hills and Holes, 7th May

An intersting selection of Ladybirds included Kidney-spot Ladybird, 7-spot Ladybird, four 14-spot Ladybirds and an 18-spot Ladybird - the latter apparently my first ever.

18-spot Ladybird, Hills and Holes, 7th May

14-spot Ladybirds, Hills and Holes, 7th May

There were half a dozen small shiny round black beetles one of which I retained to identify - but not being sure what family it's in that might take a while.  As I'm already getting behind I think I'll park it for now and come back to it later.

Dave pointed out this Cranefly and I agreed it looked distinctive.  I don't have a key or anything like that for these so please shout if I'm wrong, but I think it's Tipular varipennis, a new one for me.

Tipula varipennis, Hills and Holes, 7th May

Just four moths that night: Scalloped Hazel, Flame Shoulder, Hebrew Character and Early Grey.