Latest News

Latest Wildlife News in the Charnwood Area

Please email your records and photos of anything you may think our Members will find of interest to Jim Graham

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Winter Finds: unusual lichen, bug, midge and plant

Lathagrium auriforme – a Jelly Lichen

On 1 December 2025, a “new-to-me” lichen was spotted on the mortar of the granite wall at Swithland Reservoir, Kinchley Lane. This was easy to determine to genus, Lathagrium, from the photographs, but on checking with Ivan Pedley it needed confirmation to species by having water dropped onto it, which we did. It turned out to be Lathagrium auriforme, a jelly lichen, as it swelled with the water. A similarly looking species, Lathagrium fuscovirens, does not swell. This group of lichens use a cyanobacteriun for its photobiont making it a cyanolichen, compared to the majority of lichens (90%) which use green algae. This lichen seems to be infrequently recorded in Leicestershire.

Gilletteella cooleyi – Cooley Spruce Gall Adelgid, Douglas Fir Adelgid

On 13 December 2025, I visited Leicester Knighton Park in the company of members of the Leicester Lit & Phil Natural History Section. As with any group, between us we found a range of fungi, galls, lichens, birds and plants. I noticed some unusual looking “fluffy lumps” on the lower accessible shoot tips of a Douglas Fir tree, plus some tiny black blobs like pencil full stops. I took a few shoots home to examine under the microscope and realised, after much searching on the Internet, that I had found overwintering sistentes of Adelges cooleyi an adelgid bug. Adelgids are closely related to aphids and are found on conifers. They differ from aphids in that they only lay eggs, never giving birth to live young. They are however parthenogenetic in that the females of one generation of the two generation lifecycle lays eggs not fertilised by males. The lifecycle takes two years. The alternate generation causes galls on the shoots of spruce. The “fluff” was wax protecting the eggs. Both stages are infrequently recorded on Leicestershire.

Adelges cooleyi (Cooley spruce gall adelgid, Douglas fir adelgid): identification, images, ecology, control

Contarinia coryli – a Gall Midge

On New Years Day January 2026, I took home some distorted immature Hazel catkins from Polly Bott’s Lane to examine more closely. I knew that the distortion could be caused by two gall forming organisms, the larva of the midge Contarinia coryli or the mite Phyllocoptruta coryli, and that these galls cannot be told apart visually but the catkins must be dissected to look for the causer. On this occasion I found fly larvae in three of the catkins but could find no evidence of mites in any of the others. Mite galls are tricky to identify it is essential to see the mites, mites being only 0.2 mm long maximum. Most mite galls can be identified by the shape of the gall and the name of the host plant. I will look for more distorted catkins to see if I can also add the mite gall to my list. There seem to be very few records of these species in our counties, possibly because few people look, rather than them being uncommon.

Umbilicus rupestris – Navelwort

Also on New Year’s Day, on Polly Bott’s Lane I noticed a stand of Navelwort on the verge under a stone wall. This was exciting as I understood that Navelwort is on the Rare Plant Register. Apparently, although still scarce, it is increasing from just four sites in 2011, to up to ten sites in 2022, it is now off the Rare Plant Register as it is being found in more new sites in Charnwood Forest. This site had already been spotted! I am sure the County Plant Recorders would be grateful for records of any new sites so its expansion in Charnwood Forest can be tracked.

Hazel Graves

All photos © Hazel Graves

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18 November 2025 – DANES Open Day

Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Entomological Society Open Day at Nottingham Trent University Brackenhurst Campus, Southwell, Notts.

Several members of Loughborough Naturalists’ Club and Leicestershire and Rutland Entomological Society attended DANES on Saturday 8 November 2025, to view the wide range of exhibits and to listen to the programme of short talks.

I attended for the third year with a view to promote interest in plant galls, one of my favourite topics, along with Chris Leach, both of us members of the British Plant Gall Society. We both took fresh specimens along with display panels. Chris also had a microscope showing films of microscopic creatures in action.

There was a steady stream of visitors from 10am to 4pm, apparently about 300 people visited the Open Day altogether. Students from the college helped manage the event and were very keen to talk to us and find out more about plant galls. It was very rewarding.

The Loughborough Naturalists’ Club, and Leicestershire and Rutland Entomological Society were both promoted along with the British Plant Gall Society, by handing out leaflets and talking about activities.

It is very much a fun event and a fun activity to get involved in. I look forward to attending again next year.

Hazel Graves

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A short report by Margaret McLoughlin of some interesting finds at Colony Reservoir, Charnwood Lodge can be found HERE

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A second report by Margaret McLoughlin of Fungi found at Charnwood Lodge in November 2025 can be found HERE

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27 October 2025 – The wasp gall Andricus gemmeus f. agamic on Oak

As many of you will be aware, one of my big interests in recent years has been the recording of plant galls. Although there are a wide range of plant galls caused by various organisms on many plants, I do tend to see the same ones regularly. My gall recording has usually taken the form of just looking at various plants and trees noting what I find, although I have searched for some specific galls such as those on buttercups, creeping cinquefoil and ragwort after I had been alerted to them. I have noticed recently on NatureSpot that more people are finding the wasp gall Andricus gemmeus f. agamic on Oak. This is something that I was never going to find by chance but needed to search for it.

On the Loughborough Naturalists’ trip to Swithland Wood on the 1 October 2025 I decided to make a priority of searching for it. This gall is often formed on dormant buds of the new twiggy growth on the trunks of oak trees. It is about 3-4 mm in diameter, yellow then orange, red to brown as it matures. The surface is covered in bumps. So far there are 22 records on NatureSpot for VC55.

To my delight I found it on two of the oak trees in the woods, and these have been confirmed by Sue Timms on NatureSpot. Both specimens were early and yellow to orange.

It is an interesting gall, only having arrived in Britain in 2008, but spread widely since then. It is another of the wasp galls on oak such as Knopper, Cola Nut, and Ramshorn, that need Turkey Oak for the alternate generation, where they should occur on branches and the trunk, but have not yet been recorded in Britain. I will have to examine Turkey Oaks more carefully in the spring.

Hazel Graves

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A report of recent Fungi sightings at Charnwood Lodge by Margaret McLoughlin in October can be found HERE

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A Report of the Field Trip to Swithland Wood on 1 October 2025 can be found HERE

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19 September 2025 – Willow Emerald Damselfly

It was a bit of a shock to find this male Willow Emerald Damselfly in our Cropston garden pond.

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A Report on the Club’s Field Trip Report to Kelham Bridge on 6 August 2025 can be found HERE.

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An updated report of the BioBlitz at Queen’s Park, Loughborough can be found HERE.

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1 July 2025 – New Dragonfly Species for VC55

Green-eyed or Norfolk Hawker has been recorded for the first time in VC55 along the Grantham Canal, close to Redmile. Follow this link at NatureSpot for full details.

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30 June 2025 – Cropston Reservoir – Scarlet Tiger

Found whilst monitoring the Sand Martin colony at Cropston Reservoir – looks like a first site record.

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25 June 2025 – Blackbrook Reservoir

Whilst doing a recce for a Loughborough Nats walk near Blackbrook Reservoir later in the year, Oscar Orridge and I stumbled across this Purple Hairstreak, which was a nice surprise.

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21 June 2025 – Emperor Dragonfly

A first for the garden. A female emperor Dragonfly ovipositing on lilies in our Cropston garden pond.

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A Report of the Club’s June 2025 Field Trip to Jubilee Walk, Shepshed and White Horse Wood can be found HERE.

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10 April 2025 – Goshawks in Charnwood!!!

The Leicestershire & Rutland Ornithological Society has recently announced that Goshawks seem to be establishing as a regular bird in the Charnwood Forest. After extensive discussion, there is now a Goshawk viewing area in Bradgate Park below the War Memorial.

For more details please see the LROS page https://lros.org.uk/the-phantom-of-the-forest-returns/

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5 March 2025 – First Migrant Birds

The first singing Chiffchaffs have been heard in the area with singles near Thornton Reservoir dam on the 5th, Bradgate Park on the 6th and Swithland Res on the 7th.

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22 December 2024 – Starling Murmuration

Spectacular murmuration of approx. 10,000 birds this afternoon at Brascote Pits. Dropped into the reedbed close to the public footpath at SK44560231 – Steve Woodward

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4 December 2024 – Mycena pseudocorticola

A small troop of Mycena pseudocorticola was found in moss on an Oak tree at Bosworth Country Park at SK41150266 during the Loughborough Naturalists’ wildlife walk. Photographs and samples were taken and identify confirmed by renowned Mycologist John N Hedger. This is the first known record for the county since 6 September 2016 in Holly Hayes Wood, Whitwick. Jim Graham

Mycena pseudocorticola All photos (c) Jim Graham

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