RIGS Group

Cornwall RIGS Group has been in existence for ten years now - a trivial time geologically (unless of course those ten years had included a major meteorite impact!). We have not, I am glad to say, been responsible for any mass extinction, or other catastrophic events, but rather for a slow, gradual accumulation of notified sites 		and, I hope, a slowly increasing awareness of Cornwall's rich geological heritage and of the fact that geodiversity underpins biodiversity. What we could have achieved with a paid officer in post is another matter. Sue Hocking, in ERCCIS, puts in three and a half valuable hours a week - we would not have got very far without her work over the last ten years!

Similarly we would not have got very far without a lot of volunteer time from the committee and others. Anyway, we are seeking with increased urgency funding for a project officer,
either part-time
or full-time.

John Macadam

Seaquest South-West

A national "Turtle Implementation Group" has been set up to implement the UK Species Action Plan for turtles. Mark Nicholson will be representing The Wildlife Trusts nationally on this group, in close consultation with Seaquest. Although the group will cover the "hard-shelled" turtles, which sometimes strand around our coast, the main focus is the leatherback turtle, whose natural migratory range includes the UK.		 Seaquest will also be focusing on the Seaquest for Kids initiative, which aims to involve children in taking action for marine life. Last summer our team of volunteers led very successful activities at the Newlyn Fish Festival and arranged four Sea Life in the City events in Truro.

If you would like to know more about Seaquest - or want to report a sighting (live or dead) - please call me on (01872) 240777 ext 200.
Tricia Hoskings
Alison Forward introduces children to sea life - in Truro's Victoria Gardens.

Photo: Dave Binks

Bat Hospital

Rare bat
 On 8th October the Cornwall Bat Hospital received its third Nathusius' pipistrelle - a fourth record for Cornwall. The bat, an adult male, was well fleshed, of good weight and, with the exception of his injury, in good condition. Because he was found in a storage bin at a bulb farm he was called Alfred King, after the King Alfred daffodil.

The first member of this species to come into the Bat Hospital arrived on 17th January 1989, having been found during tree felling in Penlee Park in Penzance. He was an immature male. Up until then approximately 16 specimens had been recorded in the UK, most of which had been found in the Channel Islands or on oil rigs or container ships. Only three had been found on mainland Britain.		 Spinturnix
 This year I came across what was for me a new species of mite. Although I have been working with bats for over 15 years, and initially received animals from all over the South-West of England, this was the first time that I had come across Spinturnix mites. They were found on three bats admitted to the Cornwall Bat Hospital this year - a newborn male noctule, an adult female noctule and an adult male whiskered - and are much larger and flatter than the members of the group Macronyssidae more commonly found on bats.

In conversation with Dr Anne Baker at the Natural History Museum in London, I was told that there are two species of Spinturnix, differentiated only by the number of hairs on the legs, but that her research is beginning to show crossover. 		Anyone wishing to assist Dr Baker with her research should send all ectoparasites, preserved in a solution of alcohol, to the following address (along with grid reference and species of bat): Dr Anne Baker, Department of Entomology, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD.

Ginni Little
 Ginni has produced much fuller articles on the above discoveries, which are available on application to the Trust. She also regularly reports developments at the Bat Hospital through the Adopt-a-Bat newsletter. Please contact us if you would like to know more.