Open meeting at a member's garden, 24th June 2006
Barbara and Richard Chapman 20 Lindon Road, Runwell, Essex SSH 7LR
Over the years of Field Club outdoor meetings, probably many have begun or ended in
the leader's garden, but whether a meeting has been entirely held in a member's garden
before, I don't know. The idea was put forward as a recording day to take a 'snapshot' of
domestic wildlife in the 21st Century. This rather grand sounding premise could be
otherwise expressed as an excuse for inviting knowledgeable people to come and identify
the creatures in our garden, pay ment for Illis service being offered in the form of tea and
homemade cakes. I hoped it would be an interesting exercise to discover just how many
species can be found in a moderate-sized suburban garden. Obviously, this is greatly
influenced by not only what is in the garden (habitats, plants grown, etc.), but also by the
general surroundings.
The plot on which our bungalow stands is approximately 0.25 acres (0.1 hectare) in
size. The soil is heavy clay, which has been worked since the property was built in the
1930s. Previously farmland, probably grazed, some plants from those times are still to
be found, notably Lady's Smock Cardamine pratensis, and Fluellen Kickxia elatine.
Along one side there used to be a field boundary of a ditch (now piped), and elm trees,
long dead. We have planted a mixed, semi- native hedge along this boundary, which is
much used by birds (40+ species recorded so far). The garden consists of fruit and
ornamental trees, large vegetable plots, decorative flowerbeds, 3 small ponds, lawn and
a small 'wild' area of longer grass around the trees. We make our own wood chips for
paths, stack leaves for leafmould and have 3 compost heaps which provide breeding
areas for slowworms. These were easily seen when the cover was lifted from the semi-
rotted heap. In some areas the garden is sunny and drier, in others it's shady and damper.
The built structures include conservatory, greenhouse, cold frames, shed, bike and wood
stores, providing habitat for a further variety of wildlife. We are surrounded by other
gardens, mostly of reasonable size, with grazing land, hedges and woodland nearby.
A brief shower of rain greeted our 10 participants, but thankfully thereafter the weather
was sunny and dry. Ken Adams looked at mosses on the walls and Ken Hill investigated
centipedes. Tony and Judith Boniface searched for fungi, and found some new species
to add to our existing list of 30. These included the Cushion Bracket Phellinus pomaceus
on an old plum stump, and Cerrena unicolor, growing on conifer logs used as path
edging. Colin Sparkes found a common micro-moth, Pyrausta aurata, on mint, and a
Small Emerald moth, Hemistola chrysoprasaria, which feeds on Clematis.
Peter Harvey swept every inch of the garden with his insect net, frequently disappearing
inside it to 'pooter up' specimens. He produced an impressive list of species - 14 bees,
11 beetles (later identified by Peter Hammond), 7 flies, 4 wasps, 16 spiders and 3 woodlice
- and 1 ant. The beetles ranged from the very common, e.g. Pollen Beetle, through more
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 52, January 2007
23