a small number of reports of death's-head and
pine hawk-moths; likewise the midsummer
hoverfly peak hardly materialised.
But despite the dodgy weather, the signs of
global warming were still there. The wasp
spider Argiope bruennichi, first recorded in
Essex in 1997, turned up at new localities in
the county. This is starting to become a
familiar pattern - south coast specialists
extending and consolidating; perhaps Argiope
will follow in the footsteps of the bee wolf
Philanthus triangulum five years ago? Also,
no doubt, reflecting the changing global
climate, little egrets, now present throughout
the year on the Essex coast, started to show
preliminary suggestions of breeding activity in
at least one heronry. How long into the new-
Millennium will it be before the first breeding
attempt occurs?
And so the unsettled weather pattern continued
into August, with very heavy thunderstorms
spread throughout the month, and considerable
periods of dull weather. The summer that
never was, although Rainham Marsh got its
own taste of the Mediterranean in the form of
a brief visit from a cattle egret. A whiskered
tern at East Tilbury also hailed from Europe,
as did a small influx of silver Y moths from
the 11th. Closer to home, water rails were
proved breeding al Fingringhoe Wick for the
first time.
On the survey front, 1998 saw the
continuation of the national stag beetle
project. Anyone who lives around Colchester
must have come upon these dramatic insects,
and the survey work has restated the
significance on a national scale of this north-
east corner of Essex. Appropriately, following
its recent protection, a new location was
discovered for Deptford pink, away from its
usual Thames-side haunts. The locality near
Sudbury is in no-man's-land (or both-man's-
land) - now part of Suffolk in administrative
terms, but still part of Watsonian Essex. Not
far from here came also possibly the first
Essex record of the sandy stilt puffball
Battarraea phalloides; this is really a Suffolk
speciality, but fortunately spores know no
21
such bounds! Perhaps the most exciting
botanical record of the year, though came
from the unlikely locality of the Purfleet
Arterial Road. Tim Pyner stopped off here,
and discovered an amazing chalk grassland
road verge. Locally rare species were in
abundance, including clustered bellflower.
small scabious and large thyme, and the
highlight was the rediscovery in Essex of the
Red Data Book, specially protected species
broad-leaved cudweed Filago pyramidata.
Invertebrate surveys continued apace, and
Peter Harvey was able to confirm the
occurrence of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan
priority species shrill carder-bcc Bombus
sylvarum at both Benfleet Downs and Wat
Tyler Country Park. Observations of their
foraging behaviour helped to confirm the
emerging view of the importance of red
bartsia as a food source. In the north of the
county, Pam and Peter Wilson turned their
attentions to our coastal borrowdykes. I have
long maintained that the borrowdykes are
Essex's answer to saline lagoons, a European
priority habitat for conservation, but we have
not had much biological data in support of that
view. Now we have, with the discovery of the
starlet sea-anemone Nematostella vectensis at
three localities (new to Essex), and a single
location for the lagoonal sea-slug Tenellia
adspersa. Whilst there is a previous, old
record of Tenellia from south Essex, in recent
decades it has been found at only six or so
localities nationwide.
Summer is often rather quite in terms of
conservation issues, but this year was an
exception. Three important initiatives came
from Government. The House of Commons
Environment Committee held an investigation
into the affairs of English Nature, and it
passed with largely flying colours. In fact,
insufficient resources was identified as a key
factor in limiting conservation delivery, with
the outcome that an additional £6 million was
added to the next year's grant-in-aid,
particularly aimed at securing conscn'ation on
internationally-important sites and through the
Biodiversity Action Planning (BAP) process.
Which was highly relevant to us in Essex, as a
Essex Naturalist (New Series) 16 (1999)