Oli Haines – Hoopoe – A blog by nhbs

Author interview with Joe Shute: Stowaway

This tale of rat catchers, crumbling buildings and back alleys delves into the complex linkages between humans and rats, questioning why some animals are accepted while others are cast aside. Joe Shute follows the course of this intricate relationship through history, from those in the trenches to the present day, where an estimated ten million rats live in Britain alone.

Joe Shute is an author and journalist who has a keen passion for the natural world. He is the long-standing author of The Daily Telegraph‘s Saturday ‘Weather Watch’ column, is currently a post-graduate researcher at Manchester Metropolitan University and lives in Sheffield with his wife and pet rats.

We recently had the opportunity to speak to Joe about his book, including his most unexpected lines of enquiry while writing Stowaway, how his own relationship with rats has changed over time, what he plans to do next and more.

What initially drew you to focussing on rats for this book?

I am particularly attracted to the less fashionable corners of nature writing, I suppose. In particular I have a soft spot for scavengers, of which rats are obviously the greatest of them all. I find it fascinating that wild rats are creatures which have adapted and thrived in our shadow over centuries of human history and yet we still don’t know much about them. I wanted to unpick the rat stories and mythology and folklore attached to rats and see them as an animal in their own right. Because the history of rats is so bound up in our own, I also hoped that focusing on rats would help change my understanding of how humans interact with the world.

Wild Rat climbing up a breezeblock brick in a field. — Wild Rat – Rutland Water by Airwolfhound, via flickr.

What were some of the unexpected lines of enquiry the writing of this book opened for you?

I knew about the intelligence of rats beforehand but until I started writing the book I hadn’t appreciated the complexity of the inner lives of rats. Numerous studies have shown that rats feel empathy, regret, possess the power of imagination and even enjoy dancing. I also hadn’t appreciated until writing the book how little is known about rats in the wild. Despite being such a familiar animal, we really have little idea about the size of rat populations or exactly where and how they live in cities. Also, I hadn’t fully appreciated just how clever rats are. I visited a project in Tanzania where rats are taught to detect landmines. In the US, scientists have even taught rats how to drive cars.

Rats have pretty bad PR and this book does an illuminating and erudite job of portraying them with a nuanced and sympathetic appreciation. Why is it important that we scrutinise our relationship with rats?

It’s important to redress our relationship with rats because I believe we are entering a new era of history alongside them. The 20th century was marked by a ‘war on the rat’ with countries committing huge resources to eradicate populations with mostly limited success. This has also had a terrible impact on the natural world, with toxic rodenticides poisoning animals throughout the food chain. This is now changing and various cities such as Paris and Amsterdam are asking whether we might be able to better co-exist with rats. In the UK and elsewhere greater restrictions are also being placed on the indiscriminate use of rodenticides. There are certainly settings where rats are destructive and cause great harm, for example in important seabird colonies where they can devastate nesting populations or indeed when living in someone’s house. But why should they not share our parks and gardens with us?

Wild rat photographed in amongst long grass and damp leaves. — Wild Rat by Airwolfhound, via flickr.

What are some ways in which rats, and our misconceptions of them, hold mirror up to our own behaviours?

I argue in the book that rats thrive where humanity has failed. Industrial farming, where wildness and natural predators have been lost and monoculture of crops exist, provide the ideal conditions for rats. Similarly in urban areas rats flourish among poor sanitation and low quality housing stock and lots of litter. War, waste and a devastated natural environment are all places where you will find rats. If we address these very human problems and behaviours then rat populations will automatically be kept more in check.

What are your hopes for what rat appreciation can offer us?

I think an appreciation of rats can offer all of us a different perspective on how we interact with nature. When you look at a rat out foraging for food and put aside the cultural baggage attached to it, you see a supremely adaptable creature that can also be very cute!

How has your own relationship with rats changed throughout the process of researching and writing this book?

I started writing this book as someone with an innate fear of rats. Once I started interrogating this, however, I came to realise that so much of this is cultural – the books I read as a child and urban myths about rats which we all grow up with. To conquer my fears I adopted pet rats, Molly and Ermintrude, who revealed to me so much about the inner lives of rats and are the little beating hearts of my book. So much so in fact that I dedicate Stowaway to them.

Finally, are you currently working on any other projects that you can tell us about?

I am currently based at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Centre for Place Writing where I am undertaking a research project on rivers – specifically a lost urban river called the Irk in Manchester. I am doing a lot of work with communities, running writing workshops to connect people to the river and the urban flora and fauna which flourishes there. Unsurprisingly, there are a lot of rats along the Irk, but Kingfishers, Dippers and Grey Wagtails too. It is exactly the sort of contested and overlooked environment rich in human history which I love writing about and where I always feel most inspired.

Stowaway has been published by Bloomsbury and is available via our online bookstore.

Toads in the Roads

It is in the earliest months of the year, when the weather turns milder and deeply saturating rains arrive, that adult toads, frogs and newts begin to emerge from their wintering hibernacula and make their long-standing annual journeys to the waterways in which they breed. It’s an ancient way of life for amphibians and a behaviour that pre-dates humankind by millennia.

Close up of a Toad crossing a loose, stony road at night. — Toad – Oli Haines

Roads are a relatively new addition to the landscape by comparison. A blink of an eye in toad evolution. They frequently bisect the paths that amphibians must navigate in order to reach their ancestral ponds. Being relatively slow-moving, small, and cryptically coloured, amphibians are incredibly vulnerable on tarmac roads. As such, it is estimated that two tons of toads are killed on roads each year in the UK.

This February was one of the warmest and wettest on record in England, and it felt every bit of it. Despite the gloom of early darkness and torrential rain, I was thrilled to sign up and join an enthusiastic local volunteer group of Toad patrollers, deep in the Devon laneways, to learn what work is being done to mitigate our impact on the amphibians currently making these critical journeys.

The Toads on Roads project was spearheaded by the amphibian charity Froglife over twenty years ago. Volunteers that are involved in the project put in considerable effort each year to monitor known and established toad crossings around the country. These are the places where toads gather in their largest numbers and are at significant risk of being run over in their attempts to reach spawning ponds.

The group I joined have, for a number of years, been protecting an intersection where three roads meet beside a large pond. As we gather in high-vis vests at around half five in the evening, it’s already fully dark. We’re wearing latex-free gloves and bearing large white buckets. The pond is swelling up either side of the road, flooding the tree roots in a muddy soup. The rain falls intermittently and, sure enough, a proud collection of male toads is already eagerly lining the roads awaiting the females.

Toads crossing for 800 metres sign on the side of a road with a grassy verge, wildflowers and long grass. — Toads crossing sign in Stalisfield Road by Pam Fray, via geograph.org.

We walk along the lane counting the toads we find and placing markers near them that are more visible for passing cars than the toads themselves are. It’s not such a busy road, but it is narrow and steeply enclosed between old earthen hedgerows that cars and tractors have clipped away over time, resulting in an overhang that the toads are incapable of climbing. Often, they become trapped along the lane. Where we find them in a predicament, we watch to observe the direction of their travel, and if the cars come, we gently lift the toads off the tarmac and place them in the verge where they appear to be headed.

A few drivers who come by slow down and ask what we’re doing. Many seem intrigued by the response, often vowing to take care as they go on. I’m told this is an improvement. As awareness of toad crossings and the work being done to monitor them increases, people are more understanding, though I’m assured there’s still animosity from some drivers who feel inconvenienced.

During some of the evenings on the patrol we encountered beastly weather; driving rain and flooded roads; and I marvelled at the dedication of the volunteers and their care for the amphibians crossing the roads. I learned that more people are approaching Froglife to get involved and that, due to increased awareness and publicity, the plight of toads is reaching more and more would-be patrollers. There have also been successful cases of temporary road closures to divert traffic during the heights of toad migration in the UK this year.

Close up of two toads, one on the back of another, crossing a gravelly road at night. — Toads – Oli Haines

It’s a complex web of challenges that contribute to amphibian population declines – not just nationally but globally. Land-use intensification threatens our waterways with myriad pollutants and our roads and construction projects fragment vital habitats or obliterate them entirely. It’s heartening that awareness is building. It has been such an inspiration to me to learn there’s a network of enthusiastic and caring volunteers out there in the winter nights, working at limiting the damage to amphibian populations, championing these remarkable and charismatic animals, and building hopeful connections in local communities while doing so.

If you feel call to get involved, visit the Froglife website where you can learn more about local toad crossings. There’s also abundant information on ways that you can make any local green spaces or gardens more amphibian friendly, such as making ponds, allowing wilder patches and encouraging greater invertebrate diversity.

Read our two-part Gardening for Wildlife blog for more information.

Author Interview with Andrea Hart and Ann Datta: Birds of the World, The Art of Elizabeth Gould

Throughout her life, Elizabeth Gould’s work was appreciated mostly through her husbands projects documenting the birds of the world, including John Gould’s Exotic Birds, and she was therefore often not recognised under her own name. Following her tragic death at the age of 37, her artistic talents were nearly forgotten, and her name was completely unfamiliar in the art world.

Birds of the World: The Art of Elizabeth Gould is an incredible, one of a kind volume brought to you by Andrea Hart and Ann Datta, offering a remarkable tribute to Elizabeth’s artwork, reputation and skill. Containing over 200 beautifully detailed and scientifically precise illustrations depicting birds from 19th-century Europe, South America, Central America, Africa, Asia, and Australia, as well as previously unpublished artworks and an introduction to Gould’s life and achievements, this book is a lasting legacy for one of the greatest bird painters in history.

The authors kindly took the time to answer our questions about the inspiration and research behind the book – read our Q&A below.

Could you tell us a little about how you first began studying Elizabeth Gould’s work and the drivers behind embarking on this book project?

The Natural History Museum was initially approached by the publisher, Prestel, early last year asking if we might consider working with them on a book on Elizabeth Gould. As Andrea had already published a book on the women artists represented in the Museum’s collections and Ann has published a significant work on the correspondence of John Gould, this felt like a wonderful opportunity to bring the spotlight to Elizabeth and highlight her story and the incredible artist she was.

How did you gather the work for this collection? Did you have access to some of Elizabeth’s original plates?

The Museum’s Library and Archives has an incredible collection of books, manuscripts and artworks and is particularly strong and comprehensive in taxonomic works on natural history. Our rare books collection therefore has sets of all the Gould’s published works, including those published following Elizabeth’s untimely death. While we held some examples of Elizabeth’s original works already, notably the ones she completed for William Jardine, we were incredibly fortunate to have been permanently allocated an album of her and John’s original works through the Acceptance in Lieu scheme of Arts Council England. This publication therefore gave us a wonderful opportunity to share some of these historically significant original drawings with a wider audience, and to further appreciate her artistic talent.

Do you have some favourite images among the plates Elizabeth made?

This is a really tricky question as most of the illustrations that we chose are most of our favourites! Ann specifically likes the bowerbirds, the Narina Trogon, the quetzal and the Australian wren and Andrea became quite fond of the toucans (but also had to include a magpie).

It’s clear from the biography of Elizabeth Gould in your book that she was incredibly industrious and hard-working, and that she experienced a great deal in her short life during a remarkable period in history. Do you get a sense that Elizabeth Gould paved the way for more women to work as artists in this field?

There is no evidence that Elizabeth Gould was influential in inspiring other women to become bird artists due, probably, to her short life. After her death in 1841, Gould’s folios were continued seamlessly by the draughtsmanship of Elizabeth’s successor, Henry Constantine Richter. Only those who knew the Goulds intimately would have been aware of her early contribution to the success of the folios. John Gould went on producing bird books for another 40 years, their contemporaries died and few questioned who was the ‘E’ in the ‘J & E Gould’ plate credits in the earlier books.

Also, although Elizabeth may have been a promising artist as a young woman, it was not an easy career path to succeed in, and she chose to become a governess with more security. Elizabeth probably would not have become a bird artist had she not married John. John had the scientific knowledge to identify the birds in the preserved, dried skins and provided sketches to guide Elizabeth’s meticulous watercolours. They were truly an equal partnership.

During Elizabeth’s lifetime, plants were a much more popular subject for women artists to take up than animal subjects, and a few women who were Elizabeth’s contemporaries were successful in this line. But in general, there were few opportunities for women to follow a successful career in art.

I found it fascinating that many of Elizabeth’s plates are made using a lithographic process. I wonder if you could elaborate a little on that process and the time it would have taken to produce an individual plate?

All Elizabeth Gould’s published plates for John Gould were made by the lithographic process. Lithography seems a very strange process but in the 19th century it was adopted by hundreds of aspiring artists of all subjects – history paintings, genre scenes, topography and natural history. The lithographic method dominated print and book plate production in the 19th century replacing the more expensive engraving process. By using lithography, artists could make monochrome prints of their original paintings which they could sell to the public – the rising middle classes who wanted affordable art to hang in their homes. Learning and doing the lithography themselves had two advantages for the artists: total control of the print-making process and avoiding the expense of hiring a lithographer. Those artists who mastered the technique, such as George Scharf, had no need to go to the extra expense of adding colour as they could create great delicacy of tones and lines in landscapes and street scenes etc, just by adding shading and stippling effects on the stone. Some of the most acclaimed natural history artists such as Edward Lear (contemporary of Elizabeth) and Joseph Wolf learned lithography. Lithography was especially well-suited to reproducing bird plumages, from soft down to large feathers.

The process of lithography consists of drawing or painting with greasy crayons and inks on fine-grained limestone blocks. At the lithographic printer, where the stone would be taken after the artist had finished, the stone would be moistened with water. The parts not covered by the crayon would become wet while the others where the greasy drawing was made would repel the water and remain dry. In a special lithographic press the printer would rub an oily ink with a roller over the stone. The oily ink would adhere only to the drawing but be repelled by the wet parts of the stone. After a sheet of paper was pressed against the inked drawing an exact copy of the original on the stone would be transferred to the paper but in reverse. The process would be repeated until the requisite number of prints was taken after which the stones would be cleaned for the next person, although the stone with its original drawing could be preserved for several years. The stones were very heavy. A Gould plate measured 22 × 16 inches. A stone measuring 18 × 22 inches would be about 3 inches thick and weigh 100 pounds.

The Art of Drawing on Stone, courtesy of archive.org

The lithographic printer Charles Hullmandel was responsible for all Elizabeth’s plates. His book, The art of drawing on stone (1824), has a vignette on the titlepage of a woman working on a stone. The first prints that came off his printing press – proof plates before lettering – were sent to Gould to approve. Then they went back to Hullmandel for him to add lettering to the stone according to Gould’s instruction (title = bird name, credits to the names of the artists, lithographer and printer). The proof plate after lettering, still a monochrome print, would go back to Gould again for her to colour to match her original watercolour. This artist’s colour proof would go to Gabriel Bayfield, the proprietor of a firm of colourists used for all Elizabeth’s plates, for his employees to copy the proof print on the requisite number of copies of each plate that Gould ordered.

Using this complicated and time-consuming process, each title took several years to complete. The books were sold by subscription (maximum number of subscribers often 250) who received parts, perhaps four times a year, and each part might contain 20 hand-coloured plates. The time taken to produce a lithograph would depend on the competence and confidence of the lithographer, and the complexity of the subject.

Elizabeth’s life contained many intense hardships. Aside from her incredible artworks, is there much record of her personal life and experience, such as in letters and diaries?

Very little extant information exists about Elizabeth with only about 15 letters dating between 1838 and 1840 surviving, all of which are now preserved in the Mitchell Library in Sydney, Australia. They were written by Elizabeth to her mother and cousin who had moved into her house in London to look after the children while Elizabeth and John were in Australia. The letters record some details of their visit including the people she met, especially Sir John and Lady Franklin, who accommodated them for nearly 12 months in Tasmania. Other topics include some of the problems faced by European settlers, e.g. acquiring servants, schooling, and the adverse climate, John’s collecting trips and his helpful Aboriginal guides, and making plant drawings. She writes proudly about her new son Franklin, born in Tasmania in Government House, and regularly enquires about the health of her mother and children. She does, however, reveal profound sadness at being away from her three young children in London.

In addition, there is one earlier letter written by Elizabeth in 1827 to her mother when she was working as a governess in London before her marriage. Only a fragment of a diary written by Elizabeth over the few days from 21st August to 30th September 1839 is known. It was written after she had left Tasmania and travelled to New South Wales to stay with her brother Stephen Coxen. In it she describes seeing several unusual birds.

From other sources it is possible to glean a few snippets about John and Elizabeth’s life in London. For example, she travelled with John to visit museums in Europe, and she probably accompanied him on some visits to Sir William Jardine’s estate. In a letter to Stephen, John Gould wrote in May 1841 that all the family had gone to stay in Egham for four months (Egham was then a village in the country).

In what ways does the industry of art for scientific publications differ today? Are there any similarities to the time in which Elizabeth was active?

Elizabeth Gould’s bird drawings served the scientific community. Accuracy of posture, colours and pattern of plumage and external anatomy were particularly important, alongside the impact of an attractive image, all of which are still required for taxonomic identification today. This could be achieved by painting the figure on a branch or on the ground according to its natural habits, often in a profile position. For Elizabeth, we believe, she would have started with a pencil outline, following the sketch that John would have made to assist her assemble a life-like figure from a dried bird skin. Elizabeth’s first meticulous drawings were rather conventional figures of very static birds – a style which persisted for many years until it was broken by John James Audubon in the early 19th century. Audubon spent many years in the field in North America and was the first to successfully paint the birds in their authentic natural habitat. Influenced by Lear and Audubon, Elizabeth would gradually develop her technique to produce more lively birds reaching a pinnacle in the Birds of Australia with the inclusion of appropriate flora and landscapes.

Today, an aspiring artist might attend art school before specialising in natural history art. Those who progress onto becoming wildlife artists would still observe their subjects in the wild and have additional equipment and technology to assist them, including binoculars and digital cameras to record and perfect their art. The detail required remains the same in terms of studying the subject’s internal and external anatomy and showing in their illustrations the required detail to be able to determine differences between species.

Bird art, however, includes many different styles and techniques which can change according to the artist’s preferences or the client’s requirements. There is, for example, a particular style used in field guides to compare large numbers of species on a page. Bird monographs, on the other hand, might just focus on a particular family and devote a whole page to an image of just one species showing male, female and juveniles, and so there is endless variety depending on the nature of the publication. Some bird artists, such as John Busby, also have a uniquely ‘casual’ style that is perfectly capable of depicting birds accurately and recognisably, but is very different from that of a more traditional modern bird artist such as the brilliant Robert Gillmor, who sadly passed last year. Those that illustrate for scientific purposes would also, just like Elizabeth, need recourse to examining bird skins or taxidermy in museum collections at some stage in their work.

Digital photography has certainly made images of birds and the natural world more widely available for guides and species identification, but there is still definitely a demand for artists to illustrate new species and produce illustrations and detail that is not possible to achieve with a camera.

Do you have plans for any future projects or publications that you’d like to tell us about?

There are so many other collections and artworks held by the Natural History Museum that would be amazing to research and publish on. For Ann, who did publish a significant volume on the correspondence of John Gould, she has some additional research papers to complete and, if time permits, would like to publish a biography of Thomas Hardwicke, who was an army officer and naturalist in India. Andrea would like to work on the botanical artist Worthington George Smith and the natural history artist Denys Ovenden in addition to developing a new temporary exhibition on artworks in the Richard Owen collection at the Museum, for display in the Museum’s Images of Nature Gallery in 2024.

Birds of the World: The Art of Elizabeth Gould was published by Prestel in September 2023 and is available from NHBS – Wildlife, Ecology & Conservation

No Mow May 2023

In Spring 2023 NHBS have, for the third year running, participated in Plantlife’s #NoMowMay initiative. We’ve requested that the grass areas around our premises are spared from mowing for the duration of the month of May, allowing a host of flowering plants to expand and in some cases complete their flowering cycle.

May is a vital time in the lives of many flowering plants, as they grow up in a rush after the winter months of dormancy in the soil to meet the pollinators upon whom they rely for regeneration. In our gardens and municipal green spaces, we tend to keep lawns tamed and green by regularly mowing and clearing out flowering plants in favour of a neat and uniformed low-cut grass. This has benefits for us in some of our recreation activities, but it wreaks havoc on our ecosystems. If pollinating invertebrate species can’t find the flowers they rely on, they disappear from an area, which also has a knock-on effect on the species that need the invertebrates as a food source, and the flowering plants that need them to spread their pollen and reproduce. Over time, this fragments habitats and drives down both biodiversity and abundance of species.

So, by committing to #NoMowMay, no matter what size of a green space you have, you offer real potential for reconnection between plants and their pollinators, which in turn supports a greater number of birds, bats and other mammals large and small, including us!

This year, after quite a wet spell of late winter weeks with cold winds blowing through, May arrived with a warm embrace of pleasant sunshine that supported a quick growth of many flowering plants. Early flowers here were the Cut-leaved Crane’s-bill (Geranium dissectum), Common Vetch (Vicia sativa) and Cuckooflower (Cardamine pratensis), that spread rigorously through the grass along with a matt of Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens). As soon as mowing ceased Daisies (Bellis perennis) and Germander Speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys) flowered throughout, alongside Dandelions (Taraxacum officinalis), Spotted Medick (Medicago arabica) and Herb-robert (Geranium robertianum). Many of the species present this year are listed in our species tally from last year (See our No Mow May 2022 blog here for a more comprehensive plant list).

This year, it’s been a real wonder to witness some more of the invertebrate life across our May meadow. In the still warm sunshine, we’ve seen a fair few bumble, honey and solitary bee species dashing by, some impressive wasps and flies (including scorpion flies) and, owing to our riverside location, we’ve started seeing Mayflies and Damselflies in the last week or so. There’s been some fleeting glimpses of spiders sunning themselves on the walls and walkways and a beautiful Nursery Web spider (Pisaura mirabilis) touring the vegetation.

Along the edges of the plot here where trees and shrubs tower up, surrounded by Cleavers (Galium aparine), Brambles and Docks, we’ve found a few small green weevils (that we’re struggling to ID beyond the subfamily of Entiminae) and Red-and-black Froghoppers (Cercopis vulnerate) – plus, a short distance away we were delighted to encounter an incredible Horned Treehopper (Centrotus cornutus)! There’s also been a regular meeting of Iris Weevils (Mononychus punctumalbum) on the blue marking flags we had put out to highlight points of particular interest.

We’ve had regular visits from Orange-tip butterflies (Anthocharis cardamines), Holly Blues’ (Cauchas rufimitrella), Peacock (Aglais io) and Green-veined White Butterflies (Pieris napi) throughout the month, and, when the afternoon sun has been particularly strong, a handful of beautiful Meadow Long-horn moths (Cauchas rufimitrella) have gathered in a shimmering dance around the blooming Cuckooflowers. We’ve also been treated to some short appearances of a Burnet Companion moth (Euclidia glyphica) as they quickly nipped between the vetch flowers.

We’re hoping that we can leave the plants a little longer into June again this year, as there’s still some remarkable species yet to flower, and it’s such a delight to see so many invertebrates thriving alongside the plants in this wayside patch. Suffice it to say if this place had kept to the same mowing schedule as some other local verges, there’d be little or no opportunity for the plants or their pollinators to proliferate or regenerate, and that’s without even considering the benefits to us humans of allowing and encouraging this dynamic ecosystem. Small contribution as it may be in the grand scheme of things.

We hope you’ve been inspired to join in with Plantlife’s #NoMowMay this year too, or perhaps through June, and next summer too! We sell a wide range of handy books for identifying wild plants and animals, and there’s a growing number of books that are helpful resources for gardening for wildlife!

Author Interview with Katty Baird: Meetings With Moths

In her debut book, Meetings with Moths, ecologist Katty Baird delves into the Scottish landscape in search of some incredible moths that have formed remarkable relationships, responses and adaptations in order to prevail. Meetings with Moths is a journey through all seasons, across a range of habitats and taking in each stage of the moth life cycle; investigating the ways in which moths utilise sight, sound, and smell in their lives, as well as their unique camouflage abilities and navigational skills. Along the way Katty meets with fellow ecologists, researchers and moth enthusiasts and draws on past research, records and recorders to explore the changing fates of these often overlooked (by their very nature) insects, and the intricacies of their fascinating lives.

Following a Zoology degree and PhD, Katty Baird continued in academia as a postdoctoral research fellow, studying insect-plant interactions. She now works as an ecologist, recording and monitoring invertebrates throughout Scotland. Since 2016 she has run the Hibernating Herald project and in 2019/20 she wrote a popular blog, recording moths on the Whittingehame Estate in East Lothian.

We were delighted to be able to ask Katty a few questions prior to the release of Meetings with Moths.

There are some beautiful ponderings throughout the book alluding to your early encounters and memories with moths. Could you tell us a little more about what got you hooked on moths, and how you’ve come to work so closely with them, both in the wild and in your work with museum collections?

I’m a big fan of all insects (and other invertebrates) and generally, as long as I’m learning new things, I’m happy. However, with moths, I love that you don’t need a microscope to enjoy their beautiful variety and a light trap means many species can be enjoyed relatively easily. It’s hard not to be impressed by the stature of a Poplar Hawk-moth or the delicacy of a White Plume Moth. They are also great insects to share with others; excellent ambassadors for our often-overlooked smaller fauna.

Moths are a relatively well-studied insect group in the UK which provides useful context for me to understand my own recording efforts. But at the same time, there is so much we don’t know, particularly about moth life cycles and ecology, leaving plenty of opportunity for making new discoveries!

As for museum collections, through my endeavours here, I’ve discovered a treasure trove of information waiting to be unlocked. Sadly, there just isn’t the resources to extract this data and make it available to all. I’m fortunate that I’ve been able to offer some time to help, though it wasn’t entirely altruistic – I have also learned much about moths and moth recording in the process; I only wish I had more time to give.

The book contains many fascinating introductions to prominent lepidopterists, ecologists and enthusiasts, some of whom are at the forefront of current moth research, and others from the early days of modern appreciation and understanding. Did you set out with clear influences to research and include in the book, and have some surprised you along the way?

I’m naturally quite shy and like nothing more than being outdoors on my own, but I think this book has highlighted how important people in the moth-ing community have been to me. An initial aim of the book was to share some of the wonders of our native moths through my own experiences of seeking them out, but as I got stuck into the writing, I realised that my best stories were those that included the people I’ve met along the way. Lots of wonderful characters, a few quirks here and there, each pursuing moths in their own way but ultimately for the same reason: because they love seeing these insects. Wanting to know more about the animals and plants around me has led me to an interest in moths, but my fellow Lepidopterists have definitely enhanced it.

From your experiences working among archives of invertebrate specimens, do you think the character of a collector comes through in their collections?

Yes, I think so, particularly in archives with accompanying notes and diaries. Just as contemporary recorders have slightly different motivations; for example seeing as many species as possible or understanding the moths of a particular area well, so did collectors from the past. The details that are written on the labels, the handwriting, the comments in notebooks all hint at the personality of the characters involved. I’m not sure our modern legacy of spreadsheets and digital photo archives provide the same back story. Of course in many cases – a bit like social media feeds – only the significant finds and achievements get documented for prosperity. Failures are brushed aside and conveniently forgotten.

As the title suggests, you meet with many incredible moths within the journey of this book, and you deftly extol their virtues while inspiring the reader to do the same. What initial advice would you offer to those wanting to start meeting moths?

Get out there and start looking! Try an early morning check of walls of buildings that have been lit overnight (toilet blocks are surprisingly good) or wandering around at dusk looking at flowers with a torch. To start with, just enjoy finding them but as your curiosity is piqued you will probably want to know their names. There are various guidebooks and online identification resources – try the ‘What’s Flying Tonight?’ app or join a social media moth group (there are many!). Best of all though is to learn from and be inspired by others. Many local Butterfly Conservation groups run moth events where you can see moths, and some have light traps to borrow if you want to try before you buy. Once you start using a light trap, you will wonder what took you so long.

It’s clear that moths face a myriad of existential challenges in our changing climate and with many unique habitats and relationships under increasing threat, the stories in your book of their adaptations and adjustments in life are remarkable and admirable. What do you see as the conservation priorities that would actively support greater moth abundance and diversity in the UK?

We need to improve, connect and protect habitats beyond the limited spaces within nature reserves so moths can move across landscapes more easily. This means things like limiting chemical use, reducing grazing pressures, flailing hedges and verges less frequently, and allowing areas for nature to do its own thing. It can be helpful to focus on saving a particular species of moth, or a particular habitat, but it is the wider benefits of that focus that will make the most difference.

It’s easy to feel a bit helpless, but planting gardens, balconies, window boxes with plants that insects can use, will make a difference to your local moth populations and has the bonus of attracting them to you.

I really enjoyed reading about how you return to certain species each year to check in with them in both new and familiar places. Could you tell us a bit about a species that calls you back, and why they speak to you?

It has to be the Tissue, Triphosa dubitata. In Scotland, this is sparsely distributed and quite hard to catch up with, but through seeking overwintering adults out in various caves and mines we are learning a bit more about its life here. They arrive in these overwintering sites in late summer, and for the last six years, I’ve got inexplicably excited when seeing the first ones of the year. Even though they are almost expected in some places, I still get a buzz from seeing them. It is a beautiful moth, with lovely patterns of silver, grey and pink. Each one has slightly different patterning which makes them individually recognisable and easy to follow over the winter (though I’ve stopped short of giving them names). A big part of the attraction of finding Tissue is exploring the caves and mines where they turn up. On a bleak October day, with the wind and rain lashing, the peace and restoration of being enveloped in the darkness of a cave in the company of beautiful moths can’t be replicated.

Is there a moth you can tell us about that you’ve not met that you’re eager to see?

There are many species I’ve still to meet. If I put my mind to it, I expect I could see a lot of them by visiting known sites at the right time of year but I’m not in that much of a hurry. In my home county of East Lothian, one of my most-wanted is Portland Moth. It’s a rather optimistic wish; this is a rare moth anywhere in the UK and hasn’t been seen for about a hundred years in East Lothian. They live in dune areas, but we don’t really know exactly how they like their dunes to be. We’re not even sure what range of plants the caterpillars will eat. It is one of the species that Butterfly Conservation Scotland is hoping to find out more about, so I’m hoping to join them on some of their planned searches for caterpillars at known sites further north. Nocturnal crawling around sand dunes with a bunch of moth enthusiasts can only be fun.

Lastly, I’d like to ask what you have in mind next, if there are further writing projects you’d like to tell us about or a new line of research on the horizon?

I would love to write more about Alice Balfour and other forgotten Scottish entomologists from the past. There are some interesting stories to be told. I would also like to do more moth science. Butterfly Conservation have a list of ‘priority species’, rare moths that they want to know more about. If I could, I would pick one of these, go and base myself somewhere in the middle of Scotland and spend my days and nights finding out all there is to know about them. Anyone is welcome to come and help!

Meetings with Moths
By: Katty Baird
Hardback | April 2023 | Forth Estate

The Big Butterfly Count: NHBS Staff Results 2022

Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) sunning on a hazel leaf – Sabine Lang

Butterfly Conservation opened the Big Butterfly Count between 15^th July and 7^th August this year. This annual initiative sees citizen scientists taking to their gardens, local parks and verges, or heading out into the countryside to spend fifteen minutes counting the butterflies and moths in their chosen patch.

At the time of writing (15^th August) the results on the 2022 Big Butterfly Count page state an accumulation of just shy of 95,000 counts recorded by approximately 63,400 participants. Most counts were submitted from the UK but there was a scattering of submissions from elsewhere in the world. It’s a lower participation count than last year, but there’s still time to submit any counts you took between 15^th July and 7^th August at: https://bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org/map

The results from the 2021 Big Butterfly Count suggested a continued decline of the overall number of butterflies across the UK and prompted some sobering thoughts on the diminishing appearances of these beautiful, remarkable and vital members of our ecosystem. “76% of butterflies have declined in abundance in distribution since 1976” heads one article on the Butterfly Conservation website, then goes on to state that “We may be the last generation to enjoy butterflies and moths in abundance.”

Some interesting results from the 2021 Big Butterfly Count were increases in the recorded numbers of some species such as Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina) (33%), Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus) (81%) and Six-spot Burnet (Zygaena filipendulae) (42%) and a whopping increase of 213% from 2020 for the Marbled White (Melanargia galathea)!

It’s hard to imagine that 2022 has been more favourable for the UK’s Lepidoptera. A prolonged winter of record-breaking storms that rattled the country was followed by low temperatures through spring that gave way in a burst to record-breaking heat, parching the soil for weeks on end and plunging us into drought and sporadic wildfires by the time the Big Butterfly Count came around.

Town centre meadow of dried grasses in Totnes – Oliver Haines

For one of my counts I took a lunch break trip to a local parkland meadow under a heavy humid sky where the grasses, thistles and cow parsley flowers have been allowed to grow all summer long. Allotments run along one field edge and private gardens with a variety of growing styles along the other. In my allocated 15 minute count a single Large White (Pieris brassicae) slipped past in a hurry, over the wall and away.

A second count along a hedge by the local river bank was a little more fruitful, sporting three Gatekeepers (Pryonia tithonus), one Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina) and five Ringlets (Aphantopus hyperantus) all skipping along the spent bramble flowers and sunning themselves on the leaves.

Results

Elsewhere within the NHBS team, counts were taken by Hana, Catherine and Sabine who spotted the following species in their chosen locations:

Hana:

1 x Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)

1 x Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

1 x Jersey Tiger Moth (Euplagia quadripunctaria)

Catherine:

7 x Large White (Pieris brassicae)

3 x Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)

2 x Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

2 x Gatekeeper (Pryonia tithonus)

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) – Catherine Mitson

Sabine:

1 x Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus)

1 x Comma (Polygonia c-album)

2 x Small White (Pieris rapae)

2 x Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas)

1 x Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

Comma (Polygonia c-album) – Catherine Mitson

Butterfly Conservation

There’s some interesting reading on the Butterfly Conservation website on their strategy to save and support the UK’s butterfly and moth populations here and a useful guide to ways that you can directly get involved and help out here.

The current top 5 Butterflies recorded in the 2022 Big Butterfly Count are as follows:

Large White (Pieris brassicae)
Gatekeeper (Pryonia tithonus)
Small White (Pieris rapae)
Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

Useful resources

NHBS sells a wide variety of helpful guides to assist in butterfly identification all around the world – some great ones to get you started in the UK include:

Britain’s Butterflies: A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland
Flexibound | 2020
£12.50 ~~£17.99~~

Pocket Guide to the Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland
Paperback | 2019
£8.99 ~~£11.99~~

Collins Butterfly Guide: The Most Complete Field Guide to the Butterflies of Britain and Europe
Paperback | 2009
£13.99 ~~£18.99~~

Guide to the Butterflies of Britain and Ireland
Unbound | 2019
£3.99

Guide to the Day-Flying Moths of Britain
Unbound | 2006
£3.75

Life Cycles of British & Irish Butterflies
Hardback | 2019
£34.99

No Mow May 2022

Just days into May the flowers begin. Image – Oli Haines

Throughout May 2022 Plantlife have once again made their impassioned annual plea for garden owners across the UK to resist the urge to mow lawns and tidy up their gardens and to join in with #NoMowMay. It’s a simple enough premise to leave grassy areas alone for a month, and it has huge benefits for biodiversity at this time of year to do so, giving a wide variety of flowering plants a chance to bloom early in appeal to our rich network of vital pollinators.

As in 2021, we here at NHBS have participated this year by letting the grassy areas on our premises flower and the results were quickly quite astounding. Within days there was a carpet of daisies and dandelions, Germander Speedwell and Black and Spotted Medic, and, as the month progressed and we explored further, the picture grew more and more complex. Tangles of Common Vetch, Creeping Buttercup and Common Mouse-ear proliferated, and tall fronds of Beaked Hawk’s Beard, Ribwort Plantain and Prickly Sow-thistle appeared. Hidden deep within a mixed mat of grasses the miniscule flowers of Cut-leaved Crane’s-bill, Thyme-leaved Speedwell and Scarlet Pimpernel flourished and, at the lawn edges, tall stands of Garlic Mustard and Cleavers towered over the last of the seasons Bluebell flowers.

It can still feel strangely radical to let an area of public space, or even a private garden, to grow wild. Perhaps it can feel like going against the flow to sit back and not mow or trim the grass, and to embrace a modicum of wild chaos. Much of our wildlife relies on the flowering plants that we suppress with our tidiness and our control of lawns. Multitudes of beetles, bees, ants, moths and butterflies have evolved alongside plants that, given half a chance, can still thrive in our green spaces. No Mow May offers us a glimpse into this rich relationship, this conversation in time, and it provides a lifeline. One flower that showed up in our lawn here, by way of an example, is the Cuckoo flower or Lady’s Smock, a light and elegant pink flower of grasslands that is almost exclusively selected by the Orange-tip (and Green-veined White) butterfly in spring to lay their eggs on, as it feeds the caterpillars when they hatch. Growing up to 50cm in height its reach is well within the mowing range.

In addition to the No Mow May initiative, Plantlife have also introduced Every Flower Counts, a citizen science survey that asks participants to count, record and report back the flowers found in a single metre squared patch of lawn . This will enable them to gather important data on the impact that leaving areas to grow can have on abundance and biodiversity.

Our premises at the end of May. Images by Oli Haines

As May winds to a close, species are still beginning to emerge in our lawn ready to flower in June: Spear Thistle, Oxeye Daisy, members of the Carrot family and, with a final flourish of the month, a Bee Orchid slowly opens its blooms right by the footway, surprisingly cryptic until you meet it at ground level.

Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera). Image – Oli Haines

We hope that we can leave our grass uncut for a little longer so we can see who’s still there to flower, and that those of you who have participated in No Mow May may feel inspired to do the same.

Below is a list (in no particular order) of the flowering plants we discovered on our premises during No Mow May this year and a small selection of guides for wildflowers and grasses, plus some suggested reads for those who have inspired to take wild gardening further.

White Clover – Trifolium repens
Red Clover – Trifolium pratense
Common Vetch – Vicia Sativa
Germander Speedwell – Veronica chamaedrys
Common Speedwell – Veronica persica
Thyme-leaved Speedwell – Veronica serpyllifolia
Common Dandelion – Taraxacum officinale
Common Daisy – Bellis Perennis
Meadow Buttercup – Ranunculus acris
Creeping Buttercup – Ranunculus repens
Cuckoo Flower – Cardamine pratensis
Yarrow – Achillea millefolium
Spotted Medick – Medicago Arabica
Black Medick – Medicago lupulina
Bluebell – Hyacinthoides non-scripta
Cut-leaved Crane’s-bill – Geranium dissectum
Common Mouse-ear – Cerastium fontanum
Ribwort Plantain – Plantago lanceolata
Bee Orchid – Ophrys apifera
Herb Robert – Geranium robertianum
Oxeye daisy – Leucanthemum vulgare
Beaked Hawk’s-beard – Crepis vesicaria
Catsear – Hypochaeris radicata
Broad-leaved Dock – Rumex obtusifolius
Sheep’s Sorrel – Rumex acetosella
Southern Marsh/spotted Orchid Hybrid
Creeping Cinquefoil – Potentilla reptans
Primrose – Primula vulgaris
Common Ragwort – Senecio jacobaea
Hemlock – Conium maculatum
Hemlock Water Dropwort – Oenanthe crocata
Cuckoo-pint – Arum alpinum
Scarlet Pimpernel – Anagallis arvensis
Nipplewort – Lapsana communis
Bristly Oxtongue – Helminthotheca echioides
Cleavers – Galium aparine
Ivy-Leaved Toadflax – Cymbalaria muralis
Wood Avens – Geum urbanum
Garlic Mustard – Alliaria petiolata
Red Valarian – Centranthus ruber
Hoary Willowherb – Epilobium parviflorum
Broad-leaved Willowherb – Epilobium montanum
Fringed Willowherb – Epilobium ciliatum
Procumbent Pearlwort – Sagina procumbens
Groundsel – Senecio vulgaris
Cornsalad – Valerianella locusta
Spear Thistle – Cirsium vulgare
Prickly Sow-thistle – Sonchus asper
Common Nettle – Urtica dioica
Lesser Trefoil – Trifolium dubium

Suggested books and equipment

Wild Flower Flowcharts Species: ID the Easy Way
Spiralbound | March 2022
£6.99

A Field Guide to Grasses, Sedges and Rushes
Spiralbound | April 2016
£11.99

The Wild Flower Key: How to identify wild flowers, trees and shrubs in Britain and Ireland
Paperback | March 2006
£24.99

Harrap’s Wild Flowers: A Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of Britain & Ireland
Paperback | November 2018
£19.99

Collins Wild Flower Guide: The Most Complete Guide to the Wild Flowers of Britain and Ireland
Paperback | June 2016
£24.99

Making a Wildflower Meadow: The Definitive Guide to Grassland Gardening
Paperback | February 2015
£16.99

Wildlife Gardening: For Everyone and Everything
Paperback | April 2019
£14.99

Q1 Quadrat
£14.99

Q2 Quadrat
£15.50

Opticron Hand Lens 23mm 10x Magnification
£12.95 ~~£14.95~~

All prices correct at the time of this article’s publication.

The NHBS Guide to UK Wader Identification

Waders, also known as shorebirds, are a part of the order Charadriiformes and are most commonly found along the shoreline and in coastal habitats such as mudflats, saltmarshes and estuaries. These species feed by wading in shallow water for small invertebrates. Thus, many species in this order have long legs and a long bill.

Almost all wader species are ground-nesting birds. They build their nests either on the shoreline or inland habitats with short vegetation such as farmland and heathland. This makes them vulnerable to disturbance, from walkers and dogs, and to many predators. While most of the species in this article are listed as Least Concern by the IUCN red list (except the curlew, which is near threatened), many wader species are considered critically endangered. All the species mentioned below are placed on either the Red or Amber Birds of Conservation Consern 4 list. In the UK, the main threats are climate change and human development, reducing suitable nesting habitats. As farmers are pressured to increase their yield, less of their land is left available for nesting birds. Additional threats include pollution, changes in river management, changes to habitats such as afforestation or wetland drainage and dredging. Therefore, these threats, along with a high number of predators, are causing many wader populations to decline.

Luckily, many can still be seen while birdwatching along UK coastlines. A pair of binoculars or a scope are useful for spotting identifying features without disturbing the birds. A notebook or birdwatching journal can help you keep track of everything you’ve seen. It would also be best to bring a field guide to other wader species not mentioned in this article, a selection of which have been listed below.

Curlew (Numenius arquata)

Distribution: Here all year round, curlews can be seen along the whole of UK’s coastline, with the largest populations in areas such as the Solway Firth, the Wash, and the Severn, Humber and Thames estuaries.
Size: Length: 48–57cm, Wingspan: 89–106cm
BoCC4 status: Red
What to look for: Curlews are the largest wader in Europe, a mottled brown bird that visits the coasts around the UK in winter, but can be found inland in heath and moor and upland habitats. Nationally, their numbers are in steep decline. They have a distinctive long delicate downward curved bill and an evocative and somewhat haunting call.

Redshank (Tringa tetanus)

Distribution: Occuring in wetland areas such as estuaries, saltmarshes and flood meadows, they’re widespread across the UK, although the breeding population is greatest in Scotland and northern England.
Size: L: 24–27cm, WS: 47–53cm
BoCC4 Status: Amber
What to look for: Redshanks are small mottled brown waders with bright orange-red legs and an orange-red bill tipped with black. In-flight, they have darkly tipped wings with a bright white stripe on the trailing edge. They can often be seen foraging along the tideline on the coast and at estuaries and marshes.

Common redshank by Imran Shah via Flickr

Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)

Distribution: Widespread along UK’s coastline, they’re also found in most major estuaries and occasionally inland flooded gravel pits and large rivers.
Size: L: 39–44cm, WS: 72–83cm
BoCC4 status: Amber
What to look for: Oystercatchers are a common and unmistakable wader around the UK coastline. They have bold black and white markings, a long bright orange-red bill and long pinkish-red legs. They are very vocal birds and their distinctive piping call can often be heard as they tour rock pools and the tide line.

Oystercatcher by Paul Asman and Jill Lenobie via Flickr

Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus)

Distribution: Found in habitats such as farmland and estuaries, they occur throughout the UK but particularly in lowland areas of northern England and eastern Scotland.
Size: L: 28–31cm, WS: 82–87cm
BoCC4 status: Red
What to look for: From afar and in flight, Lapwings appear black and white with long rounded wings and a wavering flight pattern. Up close they are a beautiful petrol green colour on top and white below. They have a long crest on their head, large dark eyes (underlined with a black line) and red legs.
Did you know? They are also known as peewit, an old name honouring their plaintive and distinctive call.

(Pied) Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta)

Distribution: This more restricted species can been seen along the east coast in coastal lagoons during the summer, and around sheltered estuaries of south-west England and south Wales during the winter.
Size: L: 42–46cm, WS: 67–77cm
BoCC4 status: Amber
What to look for: These very graceful white and black waders are unmistakable, with long, slim grey legs and a distinctive upturned bill that they use to filter food from the tideline in a characteristic side-to-side sweep of their head.
Did you know? Successful recolonisation of this species in 1947, after its extinction within the UK, led to their adoption by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) as their logo.

Snipe (Gallinago gallinago)

Distribution: Widespread, this species is found on moorland and well-vegetated wetlands across the UK.
Size: L: 23–28cm, WS: 39–45cm
BoCC4 status: Amber
What to look for: Snipe have short legs and a long, straight bill, with mottled brown feathers on their back and head. Recognisable features are the buff stripes along their back and alternate pale and dark stripes across their head. Their underparts are pale, with a heavily marked chest. When tucked, their wings fall short of the tail and point upwards slightly.

Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos)

Distribution: In summer, this wader species can mainly be found along rivers, lakes and reservoirs in Scotland, northern England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In winter, they aremore likely to occur along the south coast, and in spring and autumn, they can be found throughout other parts of the UK, near freshwater habitats and some estuaries.
Size: L: 19–21cm, WS: 32–35cm
BoCC4 status: Amber
What to look for: Common sandpipers may initially seem similar visually to snipe, but there are several key differences. This species has the same contrasting brown upperparts and paler, white underparts, but it is a more striking difference in this species. The common sandpiper has a smaller bill and, most importantly, lacks the stripe patternation of the snipe. They can also be identified through their habitual bobbing motion, called ‘teetering’, and the distinct three-note call they give before they fly off.

Common sandpiper by Rob Zweers via Flickr

Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula)

Distribution: Found around much of the UK coast in suitable habitats, such as shingle beaches, they’re also occasionally found on reservoirs and inland flooded gravel pits.
Size: L: 18–20cm, WS: 48–57cm
BoCC4 status: Red
What to look for: This charming species has a brownish-grey back and head, with pale underparts. Their distinctive features are the black and white rings around their neck and the patternation on their face. This bird also has orange legs and a striking orange bill with a black tip. They can be mistaken for a similar species, the little ringed plover (Charadrius dubious). However, that species lacks the orange bill and has bright yellow eyes. The little ringed plover, as the name suggests, is also a smaller species.

Ringed plover by Ekaterine Chernetsova (Papchinskaya) via Flickr

The NHBS Guide to UK Coastal Bird Identification

The UK coast is home to many different bird species, which play a key role in the coastal ecosystems. They depend, directly and indirectly, on the marine and coastal environment. Seabirds are often used as bioindicators of marine ecosystems as they are easy to detect and survey, and are top predators; their presence and abundance can indicate the health and status of the habitat and food chain.

This guide contains some key identification features to look out for while out birdwatching by the coast. It is possible to see birds along our coastline throughout the year, but in late spring and early summer, particularly around June, many seabird species are feeding chicks. This is, therefore, the best time of year to spot some of our iconic coastal birds.

Very little equipment is needed for birdwatching, but it is generally recommended to bring a pair of binoculars or a scope, as this helps to see the less obvious features that aid in identifying species. These also allow you to observe without getting too close and disturbing the wildlife. A pen and notebook to keep a record of the species you spot is also a good idea, along with a field guide for the species not mentioned on this list.

Herring gull (Larus argentatus)

Size: length (L): 54-60 cm, wingspan (WS): 123-148cm

A widespread and common (though declining) gull species across the UK. They are large white birds with grey back and wings (tipped with black), a yellow bill and pink legs, and can be seen far inland in almost any habitat from the coast to farmland, moorland, town and city. This highly versatile species is our archetypal ‘seagull’.

Lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus)

Size: L: 48-56cm, WS: 117-134cm

Slightly smaller than the herring gull with darker slate-grey back and wings. Look out for yellow legs which are a key identifier of this species. Favours rocky coasts but is also found inland in mixed flocks with other gulls and around inland lakes.

Lesser Black-backed Gull by Francesco Veronesi via Flickr

Great black-backed gull (Larus Marinus)

Size: L: 61-74cm, WS: 144-166cm

These are very large and stocky gulls with a dark grey back and wings, a thick-set yellow bill and pink legs. This species are far more prominent along coastal areas and nest largely on rocky islands.

Great Black-backed Gull by Tony Hisgett via Flickr

Black-headed gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)

Size: L: 35-39cm, WS: 86-99cm

Another widespread and common species often found inland, black-headed gulls have white heads for most of the year, often with a prominent black ear spot. In the summer, adult birds heads turns a dark chocolaty brown. They also have a red bill and red legs.

Black-headed Gull by Ian Preston via Flickr

Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla)

Size: L: 37-42cm, WS: 93-105 cm

A somewhat slight looking gull, white bodied with pale grey back and wings and black wing tips. They have a small yellow bill, dark eyes and black legs. Predominantly a summer breeding species in the UK and very rarely seen away from the coast, though they are known to form colonies within urban areas near ports.

Common tern (Sterna hirundo)

Size: L: 34-37cm, WS: 70-80 cm

Slight, slender and angular birds, often breeding in colonies around coastal lakes and lagoons, common terns are bright white with a light grey back and wings, a deeply forked tail, black cap and red legs and bill. Their bill has a black tip.

Common Tern by Jevgenijs Slihto via Flickr

Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea)

Size: L:33-39cm, WS: 66-77 cm

For much of the UK Arctic terns will be spotted on passage during their incredibly long migration. They are superficially similar to common tern though their bill is usually plain red with no black tip.

Arctic Tern by Lindsay Robinson via Flickr

Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis)

Size: L: 43-52cm, WS: 101-117 cm

Fulmar, though gull like in appearance, are petrels, related to albatrosses and shearwaters. They have a thick-set ‘tube-nose’ bill which they can spit foul-smelling oil from to deter predators from their nesting sites. They nest on sheer cliff faces and fly on stiff and shallow wing beats.

Gannet (Morus bassanus)

Size: L: 85-97cm, WS: 170-192 cm

Gannets are large white seabirds with a distinctive yellow head and long pointed wings with black tips. They also have a long pointed grey bill and white pointed tale. They can be seen flying high over the sea and circling before plunging at great speeds into the water in pursuit of food.

Guillemot (Uria aalge)

Size: L: 38-46cm, WS: 61-73 cm

Guillemots come to land only in the summer to breed and do so in large colonies on sheer cliff faces. Adult birds can often be seen ‘rafting’ at sea below the colony also. They have a brown/black head, back, wings and tail and white underneath. There is also a ‘bridled’ form where the birds have a white ring around their eye with a stripe behind it.

Razorbill (Alca torda)

Size: L: 38-43cm, WS: 60-69 cm

Razorbills are superficially similar to guillemot: black on their wings, back, head and tail and white underneath. An easy distinction between the species can be made however, by the razorbills deep thick-set blunt bill, where the guillemot has a longer slim bill. They are another summer breeder, wintering in the northern Atlantic, and favouring sheer rocky cliffs and islands for nesting.

Puffin (Fratercula arctica)

Size: L: 28-34cm, WS: 50-60 cm

Unmistakeable small seabirds with a black back and white underneath. They have a white face with dark eyes set in dark triangular markings and an iconic vibrantly colourful bill. They are a summer visitor predominantly in large nesting colonies on islands, where they nest in burrows along vast grassy banks.

Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)

Size: L: 77-94cm, WS: 121-149 cm

A large long-necked black bird, with a white face and yellow and grey bill. Cormorants are often seen inland on rivers and lakes, and in harbours where they extensively dive for their food and then stand to dry with their wings characteristically spread wide.

Cormorant by Dirk-Jan van Roest via Flickr

Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis)

Size: L: 68-78cm, WS: 95-110 cm

Shags are similar in appearance to cormorants though smaller, with a slimmer bill. Adult birds are entirely black (lacking the white face of cormorants) though still they have a yellow and grey bill. Shags are more strictly coastal and seldom seen inland, they also have a distinctive black crest on the top of their head.

Rock pipit (Anthus petrosus)

Size: L: 15.5-17cm

Synonymous with the coast, these small, streaked brown/grey birds (with pale underside) are commonly seen flitting from rock to rock with a swift undulating flight. They have a light peeping call and can be seen perching around harbour walls -they are often quite plucky and approachable.

Useful books and equipment:

Seabirds: The New Identification Guide
Hardback | June 2021

Lavishly illustrated with 239 full-colour plates, this is the first comprehensive guide since Harrison’s 1983 opus, covering all known seabirds, beginning with seaducks and grebes and ending with cormorants and pelicans.

Flight Identification of European Seabirds
Paperback | July 2007

Containing over 650 colour photographs showing every seabird species likely to be encountered in European waters, this is an essential field guide for seawatching. Key features of each species are depicted in typical field conditions, with particular attention paid to shape and flight action, as well as plumage.

Conservation of Marine Birds
Paperback | July 2022

This is the first book to outline and synthesize the myriad of threats faced by one of the most imperilled groups of birds on earth. With more than half of all 346 seabirds worldwide experiencing population declines, this book will be an important resource for researchers and conservationists, as well as ecologists and students.

Gulls of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East: An Identification Guide
Paperback | December 2021

This title offers the most up-to-date guide for gull identification in Europe and beyond. Using a direct and visual approach, this guide provides accounts of the 45 species of gulls found int he Western Palearctic, extensively represented in nearly 1,400 colour photographs.

Guide to Summer Coastal Birds
Unbound | July 2014

From cormorants to kittiwakes, and guillemots to gulls, this 8-panel laminated fold-out chart features 28 of the birds you can see around the coastline of the UK in the summer. Birds are shown in their adult summer (breeding) plumage.

Kite APC Binoculars 30

This powerful pair of image stabilising binoculars are great for use on moving boats or in unfavourable windy conditions.

Kite Ursus Binoculars

These easy-to-use, entry-level binoculars have a wide field of view which, combined with their image quality, makes them great for panning.

Opticron Explorer Compact Binoculars

These lightweight and compact binoculars are easy to transport and store, with a weatherproof design that makes them ideal for use in the field whatever the weather.

Swarovski CL Companion Binoculars with Wild Nature Case

These high-end binoculars offer outstanding optical performance in a compact and lightweight body. Their wide field of view is perfect for surveying large landscapes or fast-moving animals.

OP/TECH Bino/Cam Harness (Elastic)

This self-adjusting harness reduces pressure on the neck for prolonged binocular use. The unique loop attachment system enables the harness to quickly snap in place and the binoculars to slide along the strap for use.

Kowa TSN-500 Series Compact Spotting Scope

Durable, lightweight and with excellent image quality, this compact scope is ideal for beginners or experienced birders looking for a portable alternative.

Kowa TSN-883 Spotting Scope

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Butterfly Conservation Moth Recorders’ Meeting 2021

On Saturday 30th January I attended the first online Moth Recorders’ Meeting of 2021, organised by Butterfly Conservation and chaired by Dr. Richard Fox. Although it was still a couple of months from the time when people would be putting their traps out in earnest for the spring/summer influx of species on the wing, there was a poignant and reflective look back on the strange year that had just been. It was also noted how, through national lockdowns and social distancing measures brought on by the global pandemic in 2020, there had been an indisputable increase in appreciation for the importance of moths and butterflies. It was mentioned that, at the time of the meeting, there had been 14 million impressions across social media platforms using the hashtag #mothsmatter and an insatiable appetite for the Butterfly Conservation hawk-moth identification sheets and for moth traps!

The impact of lockdown on moth recording

The first talk of the morning from Dr. Zoe Randle discussed the connection to wildlife that was kindling in our homes and gardens through 2020, and reported that there was, in the last year, a 62% increase in records submitted to Devon Moth Group, and a 72% increase in recorders! This speaks volumes about a growing awareness and appreciation for moths and provides vital data on the bigger picture of how our native species are faring. There is also evidence to suggest that 2020 was a boom year for the Jersey Tiger moth, with abundant national sightings indicating that the species could be expanding its range further north.

Inevitably, this influx of records requires consolidation by county moth recorders on local levels in order to feed them into the national dataset, and it was these hard working volunteers who were the focus of Zoe’s talk. Specifically she discussed the best ways to support them in their rolls and investigated the demographics of county moth recorders alongside details on the submission status at the time.

The pandemic has resulted in a huge increase in submitted records and email correspondence

This need to streamline the information in support of county moth recorders was echoed and advanced by Dr. Katie Cruickshanks who was next to speak.

Katie spoke about the benefits of this widening pool of public participation suggesting that, not only does it expand our understanding of national biodiversity, but it also connects us meaningfully with wildlife and has positive effects on our own personal wellbeing. Public perception of moths and butterflies is improving through events like Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count, which encourages people to log the species they see in their local patch for a set period of time using a dedicated app. The wealth of sightings that come through apps like this and iRecord – alongside information gathered from social media and anecdotal sources – has meant that the recording process is a vast and time consuming activity for volunteers. Katie spoke on how this process currently works and speculated on how it might be streamlined moving forwards.

Data from citizen science projects and moth recording is vital for making conservation decisions, compiling atlases and for directing policy.

As a follow up to the publication of the Atlas of Britain & Ireland’s Larger Moths at the end of 2019, Dr. Richard Fox spoke next on the state of Britain’s larger moths.

The compilation of data for the new State of Britain’s Larger Moths 2021 report was an ambitious project and took into account 50 years worth of accumulated information, providing a unique understanding of moth population trends. To date, it represents the longest-running standardised monitoring of insect populations anywhere in the world. The study divides data to create a more accurate picture of the abundance and distribution of larger moths across the country, and takes into account northern and southern records separately to build a stronger idea of where increases and declines in species numbers are occurring. Overall abundance of larger moths caught in traps over the 50 year survey period points to a concerning 33% decline across the country (with a southern decline of 39% and a northern decline of 22%). There is, however, evidence that moth species in the UK have increased their distribution by 9% over a 47 year period (1970-2016).

Changes in moth abundance over a period of 47 years

Dr. Fox also talked through the understanding we now have of distribution indicators for different habitats including woodland, grassland, moorland and heathland. These indicators suggest that “loss and deterioration of wildlife-rich habitats is probably still the main cause of population declines”.

Distribution indicators for several habitat types

There are, however, many nationwide projects working to correct for this and enrich habitats once again; such as the Highways England roadside verge scheme managed by Butterfly Conservation’s Dr. Phil Sterling, which is working to create improved grassland habitat corridors along roadsides.

Next came a passionate report on moth trapping through lockdown from Luke Phillips (Dorset RSPB). In this personal account of how national restrictions pushed him to connect more keenly with wildlife locally, Luke described some of the star species that visited his patch throughout the long spring and summer season of 2020, including a scarce Alder Kitten (Furcula bicuspis) and an unusual Birch Mocha variant (Cyclophora albipunctata).

Luke has been involved in a number of public engagement activities that encourage individuals and families to embrace the wildlife in their own spaces, including nationwide moth trap reveals and The Big September Sleepout, which sees hundreds of families across the country meeting to camp in wild places and witness the wildlife around them. In the last year these activities have still occurred, but with participants camping in their own gardens and spaces (in accordance with social distancing measures) and then convening virtually to discuss their findings. The uptake on these activities has been really encouraging and, besides the obvious benefits to wellbeing of connecting people and wildlife in these ways, these moth mornings and camp-outs also produce lots more data for Butterfly Conservation!

The final speaker of the day was Dr. David Wagner, a systematist and lepidopterist from the University of Connecticut, who spoke about Insect Decline in the Anthropocene and How Moths are Faring. David discussed our current understanding of anthropogenic impacts on climate through habitat destruction and the intensification of agricultural practices around the world, and how their knock-on effects impact on parts of the tropics that are still feeling little to no direct harm from these practices. As a result of spreading drought conditions through the world’s grasslands and cloud bank diminishment in the tropics it is clear that insect abundance is in decline (although some species are faring better than others, and even increasing in numbers).

Cloud bank diminishment in the tropics over a period of 30 years

David pointed out that the most concerning thing is situations where there are declines in common/abundant species in parts of the world where there is little to no anthropogenic impact. This indicates a systemic problem that we can’t yet see. But in the unique case of the United Kingdom, where we have a vast archive of data collection and large levels of public involvement in monitoring, we can see more clearly the impacts of emerging anthropogenic factors, and this can inform our understanding to a certain degree. This depth of research has still not been realised in most parts of the world which means our global view of how insect populations at large are faring is incomplete.

The morning wound up with an important message to anyone passionate about moth and insect conservation: keep working at collecting the data, keep submitting records, lend your voice as an ambassador for insect surveying where you can, and continue to learn and encourage learning.

An important checklist for anyone passionate about insect conservation

If you would like to get involved in future talks or events with Butterfly Conservation, you can find out more on their website.

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