S.Yorkshire Natural History Day
Thought of the week is slightly different this week because on Saturday 21st February it was the 15th South Yorkshire Natural History Day at Treeton Miners Welfare near Sheffield. This is an annual event open to all members of the Sorby society and anyone else who wishes to come along, an event where amateur naturalists convene from across the county and beyond to share and listen to talks about Natural History.
I took a little display promoting my blogger site and had a fabulous day talking to other naturalists who have a similar passion for hoverflies, who knew there were so many. Of course, the current president is a hoverfly enthusiast himself, Derek Whiteley.
Anyway, here are some thoughts and sound bites I took from this conference. Apologies in advance if I have mis-quoted any of the speakers, these are just my takeaway thoughts, ideas, questions, and important points. Some of these relate to thoughts about hoverflies and some don’t.
Bob Croxton – Changing Habitats.
Bob started the day off with a 30min presentation showing various wildlife places, before and after, within South Yorkshire. Most were places in the UK like Catcliffe flash, Orgreave lakes and RSPB Gypsy Marsh near Old Moor, whilst others were further afield in Slovenia and Texas USA. It provided an interesting insight to how some places had changed over the years, using photographs as the record-keeper.
It got me thinking: Succession is something ecologists always talk about a lot in in the context of conservation – and I guess the question should be, do we let nature do its thing or do we spend money on trying to maintain the status quo? I will leave that for you to ponder over.
One of the points Bob made was that brownfield sites are being swallowed up for building projects, asking the question is this right thing to do….
It made me think I should investigate sites visited regularly over the last 10 years and see if there any significant changes myself, especially with regards hoverfly species and numbers.
Paul Hobson – Henry Seebohm Naturalist & Steelmaker
I must admit I had never even heard the name Henry Seebohm before this talk, let alone know anything about his contribution to natural history.Henry Seebohm (1798-1871)
Originally from Bradford, his father being a wool merchant, he attended a school which dedicated many of their lessons to the study of natural history (sounds like my ideal school), before moving to Sheffield where he became a steel manufacturer.
He is probably best known in the natural world for ornithology with not one but two birds named after him the Grey Emutail (Dromaeocercus seebohmi) and Bay-crowned Brushfinch (Atlapetes seebohmi,) along with books he wrote about Siberian birds (1880, 1882 and 1901). He also has an ornithological rule named after him Seebohm’s rule – ‘migratory bird populations have relatively longer, more pointed wings compared to sedentary (resident) populations of the same or closely related species.’
I wonder if the same is true for hoverflies too?
Paul spoke passionately about Henry’s travels and life where he was ridiculed for his ideas, because unlike most Victorian naturalists of the time he ‘looked beyond collecting’. This is something I am aiming to do with my website writing stories about hoverflies – unsung heroes of our ecosystems to uncover their evolutionary, behavioural and ecological facets not just how to identify them, only time will tell if my exploits are just as successful.
Henry’s biography is available for purchase see below:
www.paulhobson.co.uk/pages/henry-seebohm-book.php
Trevor Mayne – Crayfish
I have known Trevor for many years through my membership of the Barnsley Naturalist Society of which Trevor is also a member. Until he retired, which was rather recently, he was Barnsley Council’s Biodiversity officer and had given many a talk to the Bnats about how the planning process can protect wildlife and encourage developers to consider and perhaps even enhance biodiversity. Yet here he was giving a talk about Crayfish.
Across the UK White-clawed Crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes) has been decimated by the invasion of the American Signal Crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus). Much like the Americian Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) which has transferred the squirrelpox virus decimating the Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) population, the American Signal Crayfish has brought the ‘Crayfish plague’ (Aphanomyces astaci) a water mould that infects the White-clawed crayfish resulting in 100% mortality. But unlike the Grey vs Red Squirrel where Pine martens are now fighting the red squirrel’s corner, there is no ecological solution, let’s hope one is found soon.
There is only one population left in Barnsley 😢 when Trevor started his Crayfish monitoring there were many more.
https://www.britishredsquirrel.org/grey-squirrels/pine-martin/
Catherine Artindale – Gosling Moor an Ancient Wood Pasture
Catherine shared with conference attendees a national project she had been involved with through the Sheffield Wildlife Trust. To help protect Gosling Moor, a 15-acre area of land, formerly a wooded commons with a fascinating history, once part of Wharncliffe Chase, now being successfully added to the Ancient Woodland Inventory and protected as an ancient wood pasture.
Taking us on the journey from medieval to the current day, she explored how the land had been used throughout history, and how it had survived. Survey work conducted by various natural history groups recently showed how biodiverse this site is now, but with only sheep grazing it the nettles are becoming dominant. So, it’s not in the best heart. With the encroachment of birch trees from the east, Catherine made the point that if action isn’t taken soon it importance as a wood pasture could be lost.
I would suggest larger herbivores are required to in order to maintain it for future generations.
The importance of these sites: I have found several hoverflies on this site and look forward to many more years of surveying it to see how big that list might become. I wonder if there is anything rare that could be discovered that might give it more protection.
Sophie Olenjnik – Biodiversity of Lindrick Golf Course
I must admit golf courses are not the first place I would necessarily go if I was looking for wildlife, mainly because unless you are a member of one, which I am not, and many have a ‘no admittance’ policy for the general public. Therefore, most non-golfers would perceive them as wildlife free zones, with their manicured greens. Yet I often watch golf on TV with Catherine and see lots of trees, shrubs and in the US even live alligators on the course. I have even been known to do a bit of birdwatching often seeing Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) hopping around the greens between golf swings. So, I knew they were not wildlife deserts, but how much wildlife does a golf course have I was about to find out.It would seem in a 24hour BioBlitz on the Lindrick golf course you can spot 225 species including 137 vascular plants, 20 species of moth, many butterflies including Dark Green and Silver-Washed Fritillaries, Marbled White and Brown Argus and is a site great for nesting Skylarks. Also listed was the Rare Spring-Sedge (Carex ericetorum) – 720 records NBN 2026 so one for the botanists. Am I surprised about the species list, no not really its built on limestone beds.
I know of another golf course on the cliffs at Flamborough head on the east coast that probably has the most amazing bird list.
Thought -This proves there is space for nature on golf courses, and I will watch with interest to see how public perception might change in the future. Does the existence of the golf course protect the land or remove it from naturalist study sites I will let you ponder over this thought.
It made me wonder - I did not see any hoverflies on their list of species but there is no reason they wouldn’t be there, a golf course having shrubs, woodland edges, aphids on plants for those larvae to eat and plenty of flowers for adults to visit.
Steve Byers – Gardening for Wildlife
I spoke to Steve before his talk and he seemed fascinated with what hoverflies he had in his garden. He was proud of a photograph he had captured of the Footballer (Helophilus pendulus) although he preferred the name Tiger Hoverfly, which he shared in his presentation.
He was also proud of the 22 species of butterfly that visited annually, either native to his garden or attracted from surrounding areas.
My Thought: Garden wildlife is important for many species that depend on them, not just hoverflies. The more people that create a haven for pollinators and other wildlife the better the world will be, it's just a pity not everyone sees it that way.
For those interested, Steve is planning a Sorby visit to his garden to collate ideas later in the year so keep an eye out for that.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/SorbyNatHisSoc/?locale=en_GB
Derek Whiteley – Henry Clifton Sorby 200th Anniversary of his birth
Unfortunately, due to a double booking at the venue Derek was unable to give his 30min talk, so instead did Henry Sorby in 5mins, see image below. I would have loved to have learnt more as it is the 200th anniversary of his birth.
In Summary
It was a super day.I would like to thank the Sorby society for putting on a great event, as it was last year, I am sure I will attend next year.
I thoroughly enjoyed all the talks, such a diverse breadth of subjects was covered, and I met some lovely people throughout the day who I hope will visit my site and keep in touch.
If you are interested in attending the 16th Festival of Amateur Natural History, it will be on the 20th of February 2027 at the same venue.
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