Andrew Douglas

Californian Trapdoor Spider burrow: image via Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication

Day 3 of #Advent and another door to 'open' on a wintry spider:

Sunset to nearly full moon.

Quick excursion over the border in to Suffolk for a late walk at Lakenheath Fen.

Free online talk, tonight, book asap on Eventbright:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/saving-our...

Trapdoor spider burrow - image via Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

Here's door 2 in our #AdventCalendar of wintry GB #spiders. DON'T open these doors 🚫but check in on our reply for the picture 'inside'!

YouTube video by Goldmark Gallery Ken Matsuzaki Major Ceramics Walkthrough | GOLDMARK

If you're near Uppingham, this would be worth a visit. I wish there were more pots and less talk in this little video but it gives a flavour. One day I'll finish the wood kiln I started and fire some pots in it, but for the moment, I watch the videos. www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cP-...

OK thanks - that is better, although I pushed it more in to the gel this time. I'm not convinced the alcohol and gel have a similar refractive index, which doesn't help (why should it - well the person who suggested this gel said so.) This time it moved about a bit too. Less rush, more calm.

It's the first day of #Advent so here goes with our arachnid #AdventCalendar. Sadly, we don't have the tech to let you open the doors (never advised in this case anyway!), so you just need to check in on our replies.

I wonder if pushing the palp down in to the gel is trapping small amounts of air in the gel. It might disperse into the alcohol if I let it sit. I bought some cheap swan-necked dispensers but they're not as good as droppers; easier to administer but spurty and messy.

Erigone atra. One of a handful of palps I recognise immediately. All the 'dusty' stuff around it is the gel that it's sitting in, so need to do something about that. (There's a layer of alcohol on top - the palp is just sitting on top of the gel.)

Porhomma pygmaeum I think. Ignore last post - there's a key and has one spine on femur I, only one pro-lateral spine.

First mulled wine mulling now - half a bottle of non-descript pinot noir from yesterday. And I bought a more expensive chicken for tonight - a Norfolk Black - it was ok, tastier than the cheap one I had a few weeks back that had no flavour at all. Expensive, so a treat.

Also this Dicymbium species. It's nigrum probably, but I can't recall how to tell the difference between that and tibiale.

It's a small tube, and the missing tube for site C was a slap-dash on the way back to the car - a tree with a large cavernous hole in it. There's an Ero sp in there, but possibly more.

I have five tubes of spiders left to look at. Only four have labels 😬 Let's say they're for sites A, B and C. I have windows folders for each visit, and for site C, I split that in to sub-folders for three tubes. Only two are labelled for site C. Do I attribute the unlabelled tube to site C, or not?

Whether you were taught about industrial melanism at school or are completely new to the subject, this should be an interesting online talk -

Thanks. Yes I know Eleanor, our spider recorder, although I haven't spoken to her in ages. I'm also in touch with various members of @britishspiders.bsky.social who are helping me.

Whooper Swans, sounding like a brass band falling down the stairs. Sound up. #ukbirding

... that had West Norfolk spider records from the 1980s. Following this I have been looking for a particular spider, recorded at Boughton in the late 80s. I'm not sure whether that was your hand too, but that, and the online bird reports, will be useful. I do look at the printed version too.

OK - i hadn't put two and two together but there would have been a reason i followed you (it was the whales and whaling book.) It's the online Transactions, in particular, that is the reason for my interest in Boughton Fen - being online allowed me to find a couple of papers...

Thanks. Yes, that's what Helen said too, which is why I went to the lower fen yesterday (reeds cut, lots of grass). So far I've only found one huge pile of cut reed, but it was rotten and under bushes/trees. Hard to get to. I'll try and get in to the higher fen and look there, when I can.

I'll record it with a grid ref on the bridge over the lode and add a note. I'll try and find another - I ran out of time on that side. I was looking for Hygrolycosa but I'm not sure this is the right habitat or not?

Ahem, yes, well, one of three tubes with live spiders but no label/grid ref; two were from reeds that were bashed down, one near a sluice and another in lower fen, east edge of Boughton Fen. The other from near the river. All within 100m of each other. I'll be going back at some point.

Last of the night - Centromerus sylvaticus. Fairly common I think, but first time I've seen it. Three or four females in the mix, of differing sizes (largest being about 3.5mm)

Ozyptila brevipes - found in fens. I think we might have seen this at Wicken?

In the cut reed/reed pile area, it's mostly Centromerus sylvaticus and male/female Walckaenaria unicornis, but I think this must be Kaestneria pullata, a wetland species.

Ah. Watching the little you tube video by @cofnod.org.uk and @tanyptera.bsky.social the head profile seems to suggest alticeps.

Walckenaeria from Boughton today. Wet habitat. Is it alticeps or antica? alticeps or antica? Well, in my ability to measure the emoblus, 13/45 is about 28.89 so antica. Nice to finally find a male though.

I only attended it - Andy Musgrove was our teacher. I try to do as many things as I can, if they're in West Norfolk or not too far away.

22 spot LB I think. Previous one I think is 24 spot.