A wildlife diary
Mary Smith 33 Gaynes Park Road, Upminster, Essex RM14 2HJ
Buzzards were flying over Belhus Woods Country Park on the last day of July. On
asking around, it seems that they have become more frequent in south-east England over
the past decade or so, and have been moving into Essex, so that they have now reached
these parts. It was quite exciting to see, and hear, these wonderful birds of prey that I
associate with wild moors and mountains, here on my home patch.
On the same day the famous Death Cap mushroom made an appearance near Berwick
Pond. The smooth cap of a dull olive colour is very distinctive, and below is a big floppy
ring and snow white gills, with a bag at the base. It is quite uncommon, so it was
particularly pleasing to find it. I am told that one cap in a cooked dish can kill a whole
family, and that the symptoms appear in two stages due to at least two different poisons
in it. On day one, nothing happens, then on day two you start to vomit. This does not
clear the substances out, as they have been absorbed by then. When the sickness has
passed, you feel better and think that is over; but illness returns several days later with
lethal liver damage. Nowadays doctors can give a cocktail of drugs, including a large
dose of Vitamin C and an antibiotic, which can prevent the liver damage and thus save
your life. How these effect a cure I do not know, but it is not worth carrying out the
experiment to find out!
On 3rd August there were floods in west London and record rainfall in High Wycombe.
Later the same week, west London had another cloudburst, but neither of these gave a
drop here. Talking of 'cloudburst' reminds me of children in their first year at secondary
school, who regularly gave a curious answer to my question 'What are clouds made
of?'. The standard answer was that they were big bags full of water. When asked ' Why
bags?', the reply was in terms of cloudbursts, as only bags would burst. When the real
explanation about growth of water droplets was given, I was met with disbelief.
Later, after we did have some rain, we noticed a return of molluscs in the garden. Most
of our crop plants are too big by now to notice these invaders, but the French Beans still
succumb. There has been a surprising lack of molluscs in our garden in the last two
years, and I have no idea why. We used to be regularly inundated with them, and I
would tear my hair out as to how I could protect young plants of tomatoes, lettuce,
radish, spinach etc from their depredations. Maybe there has been a sudden increase in
a natural predator, but I have not seen any sign of hedgehogs or toads recently, and the
foxes don't eat the molluscs as there are too many tasty dustbins to raid. Probably
drought helps to keep them at bay. People often say to me that the slugs go especially for
their crop plants such as lettuces, but they do not seem to eat the weeds. This is obvious,
when you think about it, in terms of cultivated strains compared with wild ones. Take
Lettuce, for example. If you have never eaten any wild plants in the Lettuce group, have
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 46, January 2005 7