39
It was mobbed at one point by a Kestrel, but I
think the prey it was after was pheasant
chicks. In two different points of the field
it must have spotted a hen pheasant with chicks
and dropped down only to have the hen pheasant
'jump' up vertically about 6 ft. in the air to
ward off the predator. Having been repulsed
twice it flew off in a northerly direction.
A hedgerow and field edge opposite Asheldham
Church provided my last interesting find of the
day — a group of half a dozen plants of Star
Thistle (Centaurea calcitrapa), one of the
most beautiful members of the thistle group,
with a typical Knapweed-like inflorescence, but
armoured with long, vicious and very sturdy
spines. Its leaves are most unusual, being
typically dark green, but with the veins picked
out with a pale grey-white band of colouring,
giving a reticulated effect.
MARK HANSON
ESSEX FIELD CLUB NOTE BOOK
1. Ted Benton, the Field Club Dragonfly
Recorder, has started a Bumble Bee (Bombus
spp.) and Cuckoo Bee (Psithyrus spp.)
recording scheme for Essex. He is collecting
data on a 10 km. square basis and hopes to have
fairly full coverage of the county in two to
three years time, eventually publishing the
results of the survey in the Essex Naturalist
series. Bumble bees have come under a lot of