Witches' Brooms
Witches' Brooms, galls comprising a cluster of twigs, caused the ascomycete fungus Taphrina betulina, are well known on Birch trees. Another type of Witches' Broom can be found on Willows and Sallows. Several were seen on Willows on the edge of Hornsea Mere during the Hull Nats trip on 6th November. This gall is formed from a catkin and can vary in appearance. The ones I saw seemed to be a mass of small dull greyish brown leaf-like structures. The identity of the gall causer is uncertain. These galls often contain eriophyoid mites (Stenacis triradiatus), which even as adults look a bit like tiny maggots with two pairs of anterior legs. However it is thought that the mites could be a vector for a virus which causes the gall. It is also possible that the galls might be caused by a phytoplasma. Phytoplasmas are specialised bacteria lacking a cell wall that live in the phloem of plants and are transmitted by sap-sucking insects. Disruption of the phloem transport of sugars and other products might lead to the development of distorted catkins.
Richard Shillaker, 26 November 2021
This fungus Xylaria polymorpha, commonly called Dead Man’s Fingers, was found at the base of a stump of a cut down tree in Brantingham on 4th November. The white powder on the tips of the fingers consists of the asexually produced conidiospores. The fungus also reproduces sexually via dark brown ascospores.
I spotted a small green/yellow patch (green island) in an otherwise brown leaf on a Beech tree in Welton Dale. The green/yellow area contained the twisting mine of the larva of a micromoth, the Small Beech Pigmy Stigmella tityrella (mine characterised by starting in angle of a vein close to the midrib). The larva of this moth is thought to have a symbiotic bacterium which is responsible for causing the release of cytokinins which delay leaf senescence (keeping the leaf green and containing nutrients), thus maintaining a food source for the larva. The green island in this leaf is turning yellow, probably because the larva is no longer present.
While searching through the Mappleton parish registers for a family baptism I came across the following unusual entry for 1687 - 
We found these rare solitary bees foraging for pollen and nectar on the abundant Sea Aster (Aster tripolium) at Skeffling [top]. Africa then led us to where there are known nesting aggregations in sand pits at Welwick Saltmarsh [middle], where there is also abundant Sea Aster, here protected by fencing from grazing sheep. The Sea Aster is their key food plant for pollen, though they will nectar from other plants. The global population is all on southern North Sea coasts up to the Humber, in such saltmarsh habitats.
I have been trying to record plants at the Sculcoates patch, aided by the distribution in the Hull plant project maps. I noticed Traveller's-joy is not that common in Hull, but today I found a large plant flowering by the railway line just outside the km square at TA09173100. It is very obvious now that it is flowering. I took a record shot and when I checked it at home I realised that there is a Volucella zonaria in it. Not a common hoverfly by any means!
A freshly-dead Common Toad found beside the path at Aldbrough. The animal had an infection of a fly, Lucilia bufonivora, the larvae of which feed on the tissues around the nostrils.
Among the many delights awaiting in my moth trap yesterday morning was this huge female Oak Eggar, pictured above on the side of an egg-box. This moth is usually more likely to be encountered on the North Yorkshire Moors than Holderness.
Whitcliffe Common
Cramer Gutter SSSI
As I walked by the Oak Road playing fields yesterday I noticed an odd bird feeding on the grass. I couldn't believe my eyes: it is a silvery crow! I remembered that Andy Gibson messaged me about such a bird on New Years Day. I went to find it the following day and I have been visiting the area regularly, so it has taken me over 4 months to find it. It is likely to be a genetic variant of the usual colour plumage, instead of it being due to poor nutrition (as exemplified by this very tame young bird at West Park). Carrion Crow young being fed on bread appear to suffer from discolouration of their primaries, and are more frequent around public parks. They might grow black feathers in their next moult, but in the meantime, the white feathers fray more easily and sometimes these crows look like they have to make more effort to fly.
I've been for a long walk to the north limits of the city following the Beverley and Barmston drain. Had a close look at the Mistletoe, and nearby was a little flock of Siskin coming down to drink on a puddle after feeding on the Alders. Also had my first Colt's-foot by Oak Road Lake, and my 2nd picnic of the year!
As the lockdown was announced, a strong sense of déjà vu, what to do? how to fill the quota of wildlife I need to stay afloat from the madness of this world. I need a local patch, within walking distance, and diverse enough in habitats that it will keep me busy recording in it. So I decided onto Sculcoates square (TA0930), with a river, a drain, lots of scrubby, brownfield places and three cemeteries. I have planned to visit at least weekly year round and if you want to follow my patch adventures, check my 
Over 2020 I kept a daily record of all (identifiable) birds seen or heard from our Wawne garden. Travel restrictions and cancelled holidays resulted in an unbroken sequence of 366 lists with 47 observed species. The above chart shows the frequency of occurrence (as a % of days listed) of the twenty most frequent species.
We were grateful when the lashing rain stopped just as we arrived at King Rudding Lane. We found over 40 species of fungi, and other highlights included three Black Darter dragonflies, two Leopard Slugs, one with eggs, and a nest of baby newts, all found by Africa.
I went to Victoria Dock area on Tuesday. At the end of Corinthian Way, there is a little bit of a beach (the only beach in Hull!) The beach is shingle, although, this having been a shipyard a few decades ago, there is also plenty of rubble and even some rocky patches, possibly made out of slag. Some salt marsh plants have established, including Sea Aster and Marram Grass. I noticed the tide line of wrack and had a poke to check what was under it. There were many sandhoppers, far too quick for photos, but I managed to get a few photos of some sea slaters, Ligia oceanica, the largest I've seen, about 3 cm long. These are relatives of woodlice and usually live in rocky shores.
At the last minute, I decided to take my camera on Daisy’s walk over Beverley Westwood. While walking along the western boundary and looking at a couple of dragonflies, out of the corner of my eyes, I saw something land on a thistle head. I was too far away to see what it was so I took a photo (600mm equivalent lens). When I zoomed in to see what it was I realised it was a White-letter Hairstreak so took a few more. As it seemed settled, I changed position, knelt down so I only had grass in the background and took the above shot. I believe they have been seen in Thwaite Gardens but, otherwise, are not known from this area.
On our Tuesday evening visit to Keyingham Gravel Pit I was able to collect several shells of the small fresh-water bivalve Corbicula fluminalis. Although mixed in with a range of marine molluscs, such as Cockle, still commonly found around our coast, these are now only encountered in fresh, warm water and are long extinct in Britain. It is believed that they represent animals once living in the streams which re-shaped the local landscape as the ice of the last glacial period melted. The marine shells, which are often broken, were derived from sediment incorporated into the glaciers as they moved over the sea floor.
We discovered galls among a patch of grasses including Agrostis stolonifera in an unmown area of the Barbara Robson Aquagreen. Andrew discovered they had killed off the flowering shoots and quickly consulted his phone to discover it was Epichloe baconii, a 'choke grass' fungus. It only becomes visible when it’s ready to shed its spores in its sexual reproductive stage. This begins as a white collar around the immature flowerheads of mainly Agrostis species, inhibiting their growth. It then turns yellow/orange as spore-bearing asci (sacs) become visible (as in the picture). It seems that the fungus attracts flies from the genus Botanophila, which feed on the fungal material before laying their eggs on another grass of the species which is also infected. The fungus will then reproduce, and the fly larvae in turn will benefit from the food source of the fungi. 
I walked north from Raich Carter Way on the river bank this morning and saw a Peregrine landing on one of the pylons
- wrong light, too windy and the Peregrine was intent on preening the back of its tail so I only got poor photos.
In the interesting visit to Welton Top on Tuesday I found this little door snail on a tree trunk. It is a Toothed Door Snail, Clausilia bidentata. Although a common species in the UK, records appear to be concentrated in the Wolds in East Yorkshire. It lives in woods and hedges and is active at night and in damp weather, when it climbs onto trees or rocks to feed on lichens.
Four members attended our first field trip after the latest lockdown. There was a good range of birds, both on the water and in the woodland with the star record being a Great White Egret. Although early for many flowers, we found a patch of Rue-leaved Saxifrage (Saxifraga tridactylites)- top - not far from the car park. In the floodplain meadow were Cuckooflower (Cardamine pratensis) and Marsh-marigold (Caltha palustris) amongst what promises to be a good display of Great Burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis). We were interested to find most of the patches of Broad-leaved Dock crawling with iridescent green beetles which were busy mating and laying eggs - middle. These were identified as Green Dock Beetles (Gastrophysa viridula)! Other finds included the fungus Blushing Bracket (Daedaleopsis confragosa) and a slime mould, the False Puffball (Enteridium lycoperdon) - bottom - about to crack and release its spores.
On the 30th of December I headed to Withernsea to see the stranded Sperm Whales. I've never seen a stranded whale before and I was saddened by their misfortune, but incredibly curious to see these animals up close. Five whales were stranded and a team was carrying out the necropsies. The individual closest to Withernsea is pictured in the photo.
These small, dark green overwintering buds (turions) on Frogbit, from my garden pond, were photographed on 29th September. They look quite different to the turions of Whorled Water-milfoil featured in the news item below by Gabrielle Jarvis. An informative series of photographs showing the annual life cycle of Frogbit, including development of the turion in spring, can be found on the 
Retrieved by Bill Dolling rom the Barmston Drain on Swinemoor: bright green turion growing on Whorled Water-milfoil. A turion is a wintering bud formed from a modified shoot apex, produced in autumn. It will detach itself and sink to the bottom where the mud will be warm enough to preserve it, rising in spring.
A group of Buff-tip caterpillars
found by Bill Dolling demolishing English Elm leaves at Welwick. The adult moth is perfectly camoflaged as a piece of dead twig but is sometimes caught in moth traps (below RM Wawne).
The above plant appeared in our greenhouse a few weeks ago and was allowed to grow until an identification was possible. The characteristic fruits show it to be Datura ferox - Longspine Thorn-apple. 
Four-spotted Orb Weaver Spiders (Araneus quadratus)are the heaviest spiders in the UK, the females (pictured) becoming swollen with eggs in late summer. They spin their webs close to the ground and prefer grasshoppers, but this one was packaging up a squirming fly until it spotted me looming with my mobile. It froze and then raced to the Timothy grass where it was expertly camouflaged. The females adjust their colouring over several days to match their homes. 
Found near Rudston in a field corner inaccessible to the crop sprayer, this tiny plant was once a common arable weed. Venus's-looking-glass is so-called because the seeds look like miniature hand mirrors.
I walked by the marina yesterday between showers and remembered the Sea Spleenworts. Last summer they were looking quite dry and dishevelled, but they are back in good form, benefiting from the rains and unaffected by the recent flood defence works.
A pleasant surprise in my moth trap on Monday - a fine specimen of the relatively diminutive Small Elephant Hawkmoth. Normal service was resumed this morning with two examples of its much larger cousin the Elephant Hawkmoth, as pictured in last year's "News" of exactly the same date.
I went to Alkborough Flats today, I hadn't been since our Hull Nats visit the 20th October 2020. As I went by the path I remembered that botanists noted the dry flower stems of Flowering Rush and I looked for it. I found a single plant, and a single flower was open, what a beautiful marginal plant! I shall remember it.
The Friends of the General Cemetery in Hull fitted a number of nest boxes in the cemetery last autumn, including two Tawny Owl boxes. You would think that with so many mature trees there wouldn't be a need. However, Tawny Owls rapidly occupied one of the nests. I was alerted to the presence of owlets at the nest entrance a couple of days ago by a friend. I visited them on May 6th and 7th, when I took photos. A wonderful experience! Despite having a nest in use in front of my house for years I had never seen the owlets. On the 7th one of the owlets had 'branched', where they leave the nest, even if they can't fly. I haven't seen them in the last few days so I presume they are now well camouflaged in nearby trees being fed by their parents.
I've spent a couple of hours dissecting the three fresh pellets I collected from under the Pine tree nest box on our trip to Allerthorpe common on the 25th April. They contained a large number of shrews, with other prey being just 2 Field Voles and a couple of bird wing bones
When visiting Easington at the end of last year I was struck by a broad band of brown, dirty-looking, sand at the top of the beach. I collected a sample of this material which proved to be half as heavy again as normal beach sand.
Upper (top) and lower (bottom) leaf surfaces.
Chris Sulston spotted this female Red-crested Pochard on East Park lake at the end of last year. They occur commonly in Europe, but are fairly rare visitors or escapees in the UK. East Park has a good selection of waterfowl and is well worth a visit.[AC]