Tomorrow morning we're taking the CalMac ferry to the Scottish inner hebridean island of Rùm in search of rare snails. We're looking for tiny whorl snails (Vertigo species), guided by maps of Schoenus nigricans (black bog-rush, often associated with alkaline flushes), geology, geomorphology, and vegetation cover.
As the days get shorter, this week in late September sees us pass the point of equal day and night length: the autumnal equinox. The spring and autumn equinoxes are busy times for reptiles in northern latitudes with pronounced seasons. The vernal (spring) equinox sees lots of activity following a long winter hibernation period. Males bask to encourage sperm production, then feed to get into breeding condition. Female emergence usually lags behind by a couple of weeks.
We're engaged in lots of non-marine mollusc work at the moment; some of it relating to professional projects; some of it simply in the name of voluntary biological recording. Winter is a time for compiling all those species records collected throughout the year, and sending them off to the relevant Local Records Centres (LRCs).
It is encouraging to see that Amphibian and Reptile Conservation's "Add an Adder" recording campaign (www.adder.org.uk) is still going strong after six years. In this time it has gathered well over 4,000 records of adder sightings - past and present - from members of the public. The website shows a map of recent adder sightings (green dots) and those that are probably now extinct (red dots).
Spring isn't quite here yet, and there's undoubtedly plenty more cold miserable weather to come, but there are already signs of the reptiles waking up. Reports have come in today from Chris Dresh (ARC Dorset Field Officer) of a sand lizard at Great Ovens Hill and an adder at Lytchett Heath in Dorset. Reports of early adders have also come in from Gower in South Wales and Anglesey in North Wales.
Buglife, the Invertebrate Conservation Trust, has reported that England's largest population of freshwater pearl mussels (Margaritifera margaritifera) has been devastated by lowered water levels.
aSometimes things work out just fine if you leave them to the last minute; generally they do not. Today, however, was the former. I had my biggest ever NARRS reptile count - 87 common lizards and one slow-worm - in two hours walking round Redhill Common in Bournemouth, Dorset, at the very tail end of the season. Talk about leaving it late though...
For many years now, chytrid fungus has been devastating amphibian populations around the world, and caused the extinction of some species. Global concern has grown as more species head towards extinction, particularly in the tropics, but also in temperate latitudes. An ongoing research project conducted by the Institute of Zoology, London, is receiving fresh impetus this year with the employment of researcher Freya Smith to examine the spread of chytrid in the UK, and on the possibility of our amphibians being adversely affected by it.