Cobalt Crust and Fluted Bird's Nests

Cobalt Crust, Terana caerulea

to view a gallery with more photos, click here

Yesterday I headed to a local wood in search of the Cobalt Crust fungus that had been seen there. I also photographed some Fluted Bird's Nest fungi and a herd of four Roe Deer.

Cobalt Crust, Terana caerulea

Cobalt Crust

Fluted Bird's Nest, Cyathus striatus

Roe Deer, Capreolus capreolus

Extinct birds, a heron, kingfisher and teal

Kingfisher, Alcedo atthis

to view a gallery with more photos, click here

On January 21st Mike Edwards gave a fascinating talk at Binsted Church about the insects of the area.

On January 28th I attended the 38th Annual Conference of the Sussex Ornithological Society. The talks were varied and excellent, as usual:

Chris Corrigan "The RSPB in Sussex" including the Medberry Reserve.

Ken Smith "Bars and spots - varying fortunes of our woodpeckers" Ken spent 30 years studying woodpeckers in Herts before moving to Chichester.

Michael Blencowe "A guide to extinct birdwatching" a hilarious and interesting account of some extinct birds, including the New Zealand Huia.

Martyn Kenefick "Birding Trinidad and Tobago from the Asa Wright Nature Centre"

At Arundel WWT I have watched a Heron and a Kingfisher fishing.

Littlehampton sunrise January 17

Mike Edwards talk at Binsted January 21st

Arundel WWT January 27

Coot, Fulica atra and Black-headed Gulls, Chroicocephalus ridibundus on ice

Grey Wagtail, Motacilla cinerea

Robin, Erithacus rubecula

Shoveler ♀, Anas clypeata

Teal on ice, Anas crecca

Teal on ice

Teal on ice

On January 28th I visited the Littlehampton Lifeboat station again hoping to see the black swan family (adults and 3 cygnets). Instead I watched some Turnstones on the launch slope.

Turnstone, Arenaria interpres

Rampion Wind Farm construction rig, January 28

Arundel WWT, January 28:

Mink spraint

Buzzard, Buteo buteo

 Plenty of Snipe landed in the pond in front of the Scrape Hide

Common Snipe, Gallinago gallinago

Snipe landing among Teal

Grey Heron landing, Ardea cinerea

Grey Heron feeding

On a boat trip we followed a male Kingfisher around the reed-beds

Kingfisher, Alcedo atthis

Long-tailed Tit, Aegithalos caudatus

Mallard ♀, Anas platyrhynchos

Mallards

Tufted Duck ♀, Aythya fuligula

Woodpigeon, Columba palumbus

Henry VIII half groat and a buzzard

Henry VIII half groat

to view a gallery, click here

I found a Henry VIII half groat last weekend on a club dig. I was heading back to the car because the frozen ground was melting and thick clods of clay soil were clinging to my boots and detector head. The detector located something, and when I put the pointer to the ground it beeped and I spotted the silver coin on the surface. It is a second coinage (1526-44), profile portrait type. It was grey in colour until I cleaned it and it is now a beautiful silver.

obverse

not all letters are readable on my coin, full lettering should be

HENRIC VIII D GR AGL Z FR

meaning

Henry VIII by the Grace of God King of England and France

reverse

CIVITAS CANTOR (City of Canterbury) indicates the mint

WA on each side of the shield is the insignia of Archbishop Warham of Canterbury.

A groat was worth 4d (four pence), so a half groat was 2d. There is continental influence in the name groat. Groot is Dutch for great or large, a word related to the French gros. The full groat coin was much larger than the silver penny.

More info about the groat here: http://www.coins-of-the-uk.co.uk/fourd.html

A similar coin is better condition can be viewed here: http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/SE/SE2343.html

I visited Warnham Nature Reserve and from the tern hide I watched a roosting Buzzard in a tree opposite being pestered by two magpies. There was also a bat hibernation box hanging high in a nearby tree.

bat hibernation box

bat hibernation box

Buzzard, Buteo buteo