which was developing into a kind of brownfield site in the middle of the countryside. All
six common species of bumblebee - Bombus hortorum, lapidarius, lucorum, pascuorum,
pratorum and terrestris - foraged in large numbers and several bred among the tussocks.
Over forty species of hoverfly were also recorded including colourful (and easily
identifiable) species such as Pyrophaena rosarum, Chrysotoxum cautum, Xylota segnis,
Merodon equestris and four members of the family Volucella, namely, bombylans, inanis,
pelluscens and the spectactular yellow and black zonaria, Britain's largest hoverfly. In
autumn, the ragwort and fleabane flowers would sometimes be covered in thousands of
migratory flies such as Scaeva pyrastri and the Marmalade Fly, Episyrphus balteatus.
My interest in entomology tends to be more visual than scientific, perhaps because 1 have
neither the patience (or perhaps the inclination) to get up close and personal, which is
necessary to identify most species of insect. But for sheer numbers and variety the field
was a joy, presenting a treat to the eyes that is seldom encountered in the ruthlessly
manicured countryside of today.
A pair of Tree Pipits bred in the field for a couple of years before an ongoing decline -
caused either by global warming or problems on their wintering grounds - saw them
disappear from the area as a whole. In winter up to 50 Meadow Pipits foraged in the field
and both Whinchats and Stonechats became regular visitors during their autumn migration.
The grass tussocks provided an ideal habitat for small mammals, including both Pygmy
Shrews and Harvest Mice, and a pair of Kestrels took full advantage of this largesse to
successfully raise a brood several years in succession. The field never produced anything
rare but it did provide lots of memories : the spectacular aerobatics of Hobbys in pursuit
of the hundreds of Common Darters and Migrant Hawkers that thronged the field in
autumn; a young Spotted Flycatcher with an excess of appetite over logic, trying to gulp
down a Ruddy Darter; a Grass Snake attempting to swallow a Toad that had inflated itself
like a balloon (and which I shamefully rescued); Fox cubs playing a game of tug of war
with the wing of a pheasant; my first Wasp Spider, sitting fatly in the middle of its foot-
wide web; Meadow Grasshoppers and Roesel's Bush Crickets leaping skywards at every
footfall; a Hornet homing in on a hoverfly in the manner of a Peregrine dive-bombing a
pigeon. A microcosm of what used to be commonplace but what is now so scarce.
All this was swept away in two hours one day last October. It is now a ploughed field with
a miserly three metre margin of grass. Wheat prices had doubled in less than twelve
months (nearly trebled for the better quality grains) and DEFRA had ordered farmers to
plough up their set aside. The land was needed to feed the world's poor. Unfortunately
for them the price of rice and maize matched that of wheat and the hungry are now faced
with the prospect of becoming even hungrier. The reasons for the price hike? Crop failure
in some parts of the world. Increasing demand for grain based products from the expanding
economies of China, India and elsewhere. Also for meat. A third of the wheat grown in
the world is used to feed animals. Even speculation on the futures market. All were held
responsible. Initially, the increasing world-wide demand for bio-fuels hardly got a mention.
Soon, however, reports began to appear in the media of tens of thousands of hectares of
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 56, May 2008
9