Local September - December 2012 A news and events diary from wildlife and conservation groups in Wildlife the Ipswich area News © Colin Hullis ‘New meadows for Ipswich’- page 8 ‘Glorious grasslands’ - page 14 Produced by the BELSTEAD BROOK PARK MEGABASH Sunday 18th November 10am - 3.30pm Come and help with woodland management in Spring Wood, Millennium Wood and scrub control in Kiln Meadow. A joint event with Greenways, Ipswich Wildlife Group, the Friends of Belstead Brook Park and Access To Nature. Coppicing, dead hedging, scrub removal, bonfire etc. Refreshments including tea, coffee, biscuits and baked potatoes. Meet near Bobbits Lane car park. More details from Greenways 01473 433995 (up to 4pm Friday 16th) or 07736 826076 on the day. Fungal Foray A Beginners Guide to Mushrooms and Other Fungi Fungal Foray A Beginners Guide to Mushrooms and other Fungi Sunday 7th October 10:00am – 12:30pm Sutton Heath car park (SouthSunday) off the B10837th October 10:00am – 12:30pm Sutton Heath car park (South) off the B1083 Do you know your Stink Horns from your Sulphur Tufts? If not, why don’t you join this Ranger led Fungal Foray. Find out much more about the weird and wonderful world of fungi. Do you know your Stink Horns from your Sulphur Tufts? Wear stout shoes and bring waterproof clothing. If not, why don’t you join this Ranger-led Fungal Foray. To book a free place on this event please contact us on: 01394 444619 or e-mail [email protected] out much more about the weird and wonderful world of fungi. Wear stout shoes and bring waterproof clothing. To book a free place on this event please contact us on: 01394 444619 or e-mail [email protected] Welcome Local Wildlife News Welcome to the Autumn issue of LWN, produced mainly by the Greenways Project providing a voice for local wildlife, conservation and other ‘green’ groups. In this issue plaudits are given by various organisations to the Parks Department of Ipswich Borough Council for their initiative in leaving areas of long grass throughout local parks and other open spaces. The IBC Wildlife Rangers explain the policy on page 14. Meanwhile, our cover photograph shows young Charlie enjoying an adventure in one of the long grass areas of Holywells Park. We are always keen to receive feedback about the publication and look forward to receiving any suggestions for improvement. Contributions We are always happy to receive articles of anything up to 650 words, photographs of local wildlife or conservation work and local sightings or wildlife ‘snippets’ – so please do send in anything which may be of interest to: Greenways Project, Stable Block, Holywells © Matt Berry Park, Cliff Lane, Ipswich, IP3 0PG 01473 433995 [email protected] Mailing lists – Please note We are aware that some who are members of several conservation organisations may well receive more than one copy of the newsletter. If this is the case we would be very © Paul Sherman grateful if you could pass on the spare copy to someone who will appreciate it. If you don’t receive LWN regularly, how about joining one of the groups who distribute it to their members, i.e. Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Ipswich Wildlife Group, or RSPB local group. We have quantities of back issues of LWN that could be used for children’s craft activities or similar. Call the Greenways Project if you could make use of these. Contents Page Suffolk Wildlife Trust 4 © RSPB Images Ipswich Wildlife Group 8 Friends of Belstead Brook Park 9 Greenways Countryside Project 10 Access to Nature 13 © Robert Garrod IBC Wildlife Rangers 14 Local Wildlife News is published by Greenways Countryside Project. Landguard Partnership 15 Editor: James Baker [email protected] Tel 01473 433995 Butterfly Conservation 16 Production Editor: Colin Hullis Friends of Christchurch Park 17 [email protected] Tel 01473 728674 RSPB Ipswich Local Group 18 Artwork production: Chris Saunders [email protected] Tel 01473 721550 Friends of Holywells Park 20 Printed by PJ Print [email protected] Suffolk Ornithologists’ Group 20 Tel 01473 276010 Portal Woodlands Conservation Group 21 Printed on recycled paper The opinions expressed in Local Local Wildlife News Snippets 21 Wildlife News are not necessarily those of the Greenways project. Events Diary 22 3 Ipswich Group Newsletter Chairman: David Munday 01473 217310 [email protected] Secretary: Wendy Brown 01473 259674 [email protected] Treasurer: Tony Clarke 01473 741083 [email protected] Newsletter Editor: John Ireland 01473 723179 [email protected] We are the Ipswich Group of the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. We offer an interesting range of monthly meetings with guest speakers which take place usually on the third Wednesday of the month at 7.30 p.m. in the hall of St Margaret’s Primary School, Bolton Lane, Ipswich. Trust members and non-members are equally welcome. During the summer months we offer a variety of trips, some local, others by coach. Details of these and our monthly meetings can be found in our ‘Diary’ section which follows, or on the SWT website, www.suffolkwildlifetrust.org. Chairman’s Letter Barn Owl Family 6th Scent? Have you been watching the SWT Barn Owl family on Unfortunately I have lost a lot of my sense of smell so the live camera from the Barn Owl box at Redgrave and the perfume from my roses, carnations, honeysuckle is Lopham Fen? It’s fascinating! At the time of writing it now sadly lost on me. However the brain is an amazing was still up and running, but by the time in September thing and if I sit and imagine sniffing, for instance, a when you read this it may well be all done and dusted. punnet of strawberries the brain seems to be able Nevertheless it’s always worth having a look at the SWT to generate the smell for me – it doesn’t work for web site for the latest news and details of “What’s On” everything though! etc. Try www.suffolkwildlifetrust.org New Season Grassland Strategy I look forward to seeing you for our new programme Many of you were involved in supporting Ipswich of evening meetings which start on Wednesday 19th Borough Council in their proposal to do less grass September when Carl Powell will be telling us all about cutting and leave more areas for wildlife and your votes the SWT Sizewell Belts reserve. Full details of all our for certainly carried the day. But believe it or not some meetings are in the Diary section. people are moaning that the lovely wildflower areas look untidy! So please email your continued support and encouragement to the Parks Manager, Eddie Dave Munday Peters, at [email protected] and copy your (Chairman) email to Councillor Rudkin (portfolio holder for parks) at [email protected]. Sluggish Summer Have you got an allotment and nice garden and have © Dave Fincham you been plagued with slugs and snails this year? And are you tormented by the choice of slug bait or no slug bait? I put a lot of time and money into my allotment but don’t want to potentially poison the birds and hedgehogs with slug bait, and beer traps are a lot of bother and I’d rather drink the beer! I was therefore interested in a suggestion heard on the radio to sprinkle Dave Munday raw oats (must be raw) which is apparently poisonous to slugs, and any leftovers the birds can have. So now I’m looking for a row of brassicas that haven’t been marmalised already to use as a test bed. If it works it will make me oats so happy! 4 Ipswich Group Newsletter Walberswick Walk 9th June by HP On Friday 8th June, for the first time in its 180-year history, the Suffolk Show had to be cancelled because of extraordinarily strong wind and rain. On Sunday 10th June the rain and wind returned, although with © Colin Hullis not such great force. But Saturday 9th June dawned bright and sunny, and although it was still windy a few Suffolk Wildlifers seized the opportunity for what turned out to be a delightful ramble around Walberswick. They say this village was once the home of the Walberswick Whisperers, men noted for their loud voices, which could be heard across the river and the marshes in Southwold. Not any more, though. Walberswick is no longer the busy port it once was before C14th storms dumped sand and shingle on its shore, creating the sand bar which strangled it and Dunwich. Now dunes fringe the sea, providing ideal habitat for maritime plants such as the yellow wild lupin and round clumps of birds-foot trefoil Muntjac Deer - bitter complaints or ‘eggs and bacon’. The dunes offer some shelter for the Dunwich River, which flows under the bridges where although the lofty tower was kept as a seamark. We children go crabbing as mute swans float by, these ones passed the time of day with a gardener, who complained looking unusually scruffy. Hunkered down against the bitterly of the muntjac deer, whose barking kept him stiff breeze a pair of avocets were feeding on its shallow awake at night and who then ate his vegetables. From margins. On the boardwalk across the marsh a male here our way led through heathland, with spectacular common lizard sunned itself until our footfall made it drifts of purple and white foxgloves. An enormous scuttle off into a crack. As we turned inland through bracket fungus clung to a gorse bush and the delicate meadowland and scrub, graceful alexander and lofty white flowers of bedstraw blanketed the open areas.