nuts in its teeth through the bag and then getting the fragments out. This feeder was just
outside the entrance to the visitor centre, and we wondered how many of the visitors
would be terrified at a rat so close, but rats are found wherever there arc people, and the
books describe them aptly as parasites of humans.
I always say one should learn something new every day, but this was amazing. A young
man we met had been on a Palaeontological dig over the summer near Peterborough,
where they were digging out the remains of a fossil fish that had already had its rear half
dug out by JCBs where foundations were being prepared for a new building. Somebody
had spotted that a huge fossil was being destroyed, so the digging by JCB stopped and
the scientists took over. It was hard to estimate the total size of the fish, as only the front
'half was intact, but it is quite likely that this fish was larger (both longer and heavier)
than the Blue Whale, and would become the largest animal that has ever lived. It is hard
to prove, with only half of it, but what a remarkable fish, and not so far from here!
We have had several fungus hunts recently and all have produced great hauls of fungi,
both new species and old friends. Waxcaps have come up all over the place, especially
in their familiar haunts around Chelmsford (see report in this issue), but also in Belhus
Woods Country Park we have found lots of the kinds that grow in swamps under Willows
and Alder. An outing at Hatfield Forest was very productive too (see report in this
issue). After two years of drought-stricken autumns with very few fungi till late, now we
are awash with them. It is great fun going out collecting them, but then it takes me hours
and hours of homework with the microscope to identify them all, meaning household
tasks get pushed to the bottom of the list of priorities again.
Out on 11th November we saw Field-rose with 3 white flowers on it, and a Purple Lilac
in flower, as well as some other odd things that often have another go in the autumn.
Then, on the night of the 12th November we had our first frost and the flowers and fungi
all turned up their toes. Meanwhile the weather pundits are predicting a hard winter.
The main reason given is the lower temperature of the sea around the west coasts, where
the temperature is 1°C lower than usual for the time of year. The cooler sea indicates
that the North Atlantic Drift (or Gulf Stream, in old money) is decreasing. This in turn
implies that the Atlantic Conveyor is gently shutting down. You read about it in this
column a few issues ago (January 2004, No. 43), dear readers, and now it is actually
happening. Rather than planting cacti and olive trees in the garden, learn to build igloos
and eat mosses instead. It will be worth every penny to install double glazing and loft
insulation now if you have not already done so. Actually, as we are about as far from the
Atlantic as anywhere in Britain, we may retain our regular weather a bit better, especially
in the summer months. We shall see how much ice and snow we get this winter.
8
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 49, January 2006