Local Wildlife News Magazine – Produced by the Greenways Project to Help Local Conservation Groups Promote Their Activities and Events

Local January - April 2016 A news and events diary from wildlife and conservation groups in Wildlife the Ipswich area News

House sparrows in trouble - see page 14 © Thorsten Denhard

Produced by the Spring Wood Celebration Day

A free event for all the family to enjoy the wildlife and nature of Spring Wood and Kiln Meadow

Fun activities and storytelling for kids Folk music and dancing Have a go at ancient woodcraft Guided walks in the woods Make your own bird box

Refreshments or bring a picnic

Bank Holiday Monday 2nd May 11am to 4pm

Parking at Bourne Park off Stoke Park Drive with free minibus to the event. Please come on foot, by bike or bus if you can. Pedestrian entrance to Kiln Meadow off Marbled White Drive, Pinewood.

For further details call 01473 726082 (on the day 07736 826076). Email [email protected] or www.greenlivingcentre.org.uk/greenways

2 Welcome Welcome to the winter/spring edition of Local Wildlife News magazine – produced by the Greenways Project to help local conservation groups promote their activities and events. In this edition you can catch up with what at least 12 local conservation groups have been up to, and the events section has dozens of varied activities for you to join in with should you wish. 8 Our heathland ‘megabash’ events – Saturday 23rd January at Purdis Heath and Saturday 27th February at Martlesham Heath – are a great opportunity to get involved, with large numbers of welcoming volunteers and a lovely big bonfire! See the events diary for details. Once the weather starts to warm a little again in February or March, the annual exodus of common toads (and frogs and newts!) will start to cross Bobbits Lane in Belstead Brook Park again. For the last 10 or so years, the toads have been ‘helped across the road’ by a fabulous group of volunteers who patrol the Lane. Each year, we run a short training session to provide information about 9 amphibians and specifically about the operation of the Toad Patrol. If you would like to be involved in this great, ‘hands-on’ wildlife experience, please contact the Greenways Project. The Green Living Centre website, that hosts pages for many local conservation and environmental groups, is looking for a new webmaster. We have been extremely lucky to have had Steve Pritchard running the site for several years, but he is now moving away. If you have relevant skills and would like to help, please see the advert on the site at: www.greenlivingcentre.org.uk/webmaster-ad.htm Photographs When producing LWN, we always like to use plenty of pictures to help illustrate the news and articles 10 – sometimes these are supplied by those contributing the articles, but sometimes we need more. If you have high quality wildlife pictures that you would be happy for us to use in the magazine, we’d be delighted if you could get in touch. If you can help please either contact the Greenways Project or the Production Editor, Colin Hullis (contact details below left). Contributions We are always happy to receive articles of anything up to 650 words, or wildlife ‘snippets’ – so please do send in anything which may be of interest to: Greenways Project, Scout Headquarters, Stoke Park Drive, Ipswich, IP2 9TH. 01473 433995. [email protected] 12 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 grateful if you could pass on the spare copy. If on the other hand you don’t currently receive LWN regularly, but would like to, please consider joining one of the groups that distributes LWN to its members (i.e. Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Ipswich Wildlife Group, RSPB etc). 17 16 LWN is available online at www.greenlivingcentre.org.uk/greenways/ James Baker

Contents Page Suffolk Wildlife Trust 4

Local Wildlife News is published by Friends of the Dales 9 Greenways Countryside Project. Greenways Countryside Project 10 Editor: James Baker [email protected] Portal Woodlands Conservation Group 12 Tel 01473 433995 Production Editor: Colin Hullis Ipswich Borough Council Wildlife Rangers 13 [email protected] Tel 01473 728674 RSPB Ipswich Local Group 14 Artwork production: Chris Saunders Friends of Christchurch Park 16 [email protected] Tel 01473 721550 Butterfly Conservation 17 Printed by PJ Print [email protected] Suffolk Ornithologists’ Group 18 Tel 01473 276010 Friends of Holywells Park 19 Printed on recycled paper Friends of Belstead Brook Park 20 The opinions expressed in Local Wildlife News are not necessarily Local Wildlife News Snippets 21 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] Group contact: [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

It’s Goodbye and Hello Time Owl Sanctuary Your Committee has been very lucky to have Steve Pritchard In October we had a great evening being informed and on board for the last few years where he has brought his entertained by Matt Lotte, manager of the Owl Sanctuary, youthful enthusiasm to the table (well he is youthful compared together with “Cobweb” the Barn Owl and “Rio” the to several members of the committee!) and importantly his Kestrel. This has inspired Leigh Wlliamson, our summer IT skills. He has introduced and maintained our system of activities organiser, to investigate an outing based at and programme cards. Moreover, he is an accomplished naturalist around the Owl Sanctuary at Stonham Barns, provisionally who has shared his expertise with us on a number of site arranged for 10.30 on Saturday 9th July 2016. Look out for visits. Steve has moved to pastures new and is now with the further details in the next newsletter in May. BTO at Thetford. Good luck Steve and thanks for all you have done for us. Dave Munday (Chairman)

Not wishing to let the grass grow, we rushed into action and © Dave Fincham have co-opted member John Biglin to the committee to act in a similar role. John came to talk to us about Life in Ponds in September. Welcome John.

Two guests at our October meeting 4 Ipswich Group Newsletter

Visit to Orford Ness

We had a full house, or should it be a full trailer, for our tour of which consisted of a concrete base with absolutely no walls Orford Ness in July. We were lucky to have head ranger, David and a white glazed toilet sitting on top! Some way further on Mason as our guide who had an excellent knowledge of the and through another barrier we came to one of the pagodas dual aspects of Orford Ness, its secret history and its special which we were allowed to enter. These iconic building which status as a nature reserve. Even though at first sight we saw a seem so mysterious as you view them from a distance, were lonely desolate place, just shingle and the remnants of an odd even more fascinating at close quarters. These were the selection of buildings, we were to discover that it is also full of testing sites for elements of the atomic bomb. One myth wildlife. about the pagoda design was laid to rest by our guide. I believed that the heavy, shingle-covered roof supported by David had a set of keys which gave access to places not pillars would collapse inwards and smother an unplanned normally open to the public. We went through the gates explosion. However, it seems that originally there were into Kings Marshes to see conservation work that has been Perspex panels between the pillars and in the event of an done to restore grazing marshes and to provide areas for explosion the panels would be blown outwards to relieve the breeding and migrating birds. Bird spotters had a very good pressure. Any concerns about release of radioactive material day because along with a good selection including swallows, were unfounded as apparently no radioactive material was lapwings, little egret, kestrels, and marsh harrier were some used on the site. rarer sightings. Green sandpiper, wheatear (seen migrating south), and stonechat were identified. The sound of the stonechat like two stones being knocked together is quite distinctive.

We had a bird’s eye view of the site from the top of the bomb ballistics building. This tower was used along with powerful cameras and telescopes to calculate bomb ranges in the 1930’s. We looked down on mysterious concrete circles in the shingle whose use is as yet unexplained. Volunteers are trying to make contact with people who used to work on the site during the ‘secret years’ to try to answer this and many other questions before the knowledge dies with them. From the tower there was a clear view of one of the features which makes this a special natural landscape. Fragile strips of vegetation grow on the top of parallel lines of shingle No such explosion ever occurred so now the shingle roof ridges which have been laid down over hundreds of years. is the perfect nesting site for hundreds of noisy gulls. They Over time, wind and rain have caused the shingle to become objected to us intruding on their territory by flying above graduated in size with large pebbles in valleys and small our heads while screeching at us constantly. We walked grains on top of the ridges which can support plant life. back from here to meet the trailer again. En route however, members of the group discovered a good number of flowering plants. Some, such as the yellow horned poppy, biting stonecrop, woody nightshade and viper’s bugloss are particularly suited to this shingle habitat. But during the day 18 types of flowering plants were identified by one of our wildflower experts.

So it was a good day for birds, insects, plants and not forgetting the Chinese water deer and the seal which swam past at lunch time. It was also a fascinating look at the seventy years of secret military history which happened right on our doorstep.

Anne Cooper, Susanne Renshaw, Leigh Williamson

We had a closer look at this as we walked across the shingle towards the lighthouse for our lunch stop on the beach. Attempts are being made to prevent the sea from claiming the lighthouse. It is believed that even if the sea surrounds the lighthouse, it has such incredibly firm foundations that it will remain standing as an island for a considerable time. After lunch we met the trailer again which took us past some of the mysterious and not so mysterious buildings which are being left to undergo ‘controlled ruination’.

There was little doubt about the previous use of one building 5 Ipswich Group Newsletter

Coach Outing to BTO Thetford and Cambridge Botanic Gardens Saturday 21st May 2016 8.30am

This is a very special opportunity to visit The Nunnery, Thetford, to learn about the amazing work of the British Trust for Ornithology, much of it aided by thousands of volunteer bird watchers who take part in the Garden Birdwatch and other surveys. The old monastic remains date back to the 12thC and have been very tastefully restored so that the modern offices and research rooms fit into the old building, retaining its monastic character. Our guide Paul Stancliffe will explain the history of the Nunnery and the work of the BTO.

We shall also have a guided visit to the BTO‘s Nunnery Lakes Reserve next door, which has recorded 60 species of nesting birds as well as many other visitors. Roe deer, otters, slow worms, grass snakes and dragonflies are among the animals often sighted in this reserve.

In the afternoon we shall visit Cambridge University Botanic Gardens. Since its opening in 1846 it has been an inspiration Guided tours, lasting about 1½ hours and led by extremely to all, due to its wonderful collections of plants, these are knowledgeable botanists can be made available for an extra arranged to please both the scientist and the gardener alike. charge but numbers may be limited. There are a variety of habitats including a dry garden, a fen display, a genetics garden and a collection of systematic For more information Google ‘Cambridge University Botanic beds. The glass house range too has its variety of habitats, Gardens’. As we anticipate a lot of interest in this visit, from the cold alpine, to the steamy rainforest. The garden is preference will be given to SWT members until the end of also an important centre for scientific research. January.

Booking Form BTO at the Nunnery and Cambridge Botanic Gardens 21st May 2016 8.30am

Please reserve

……… places at £25 total £……………

………places on the guided tour at £5 total £……………

SWT Member Yes / No Delete as appropriate Total sum enclosed £……………

Name ……………………………………………...... ……………………...... ……………

Address …………………………………...... ……………………………………………

Postcode ………...... ……… Telephone ……...... Mobile ……......

Email address ……...... ………………………………………………...... …………

Please return this form together with an SAE and cheque made out to SWT to Pam Ireland, 49 Mayfield Road, Ipswich, IP4 3NG. Enquiries Tel 01473 723179 If you give an e-mail address you do not need to include a stamped addresses envelope.

6 Ipswich Group Newsletter

Dates for your Diary - January to May 2016

All meetings, unless otherwise stated, will take place in St Margaret’s School Hall, Bolton Lane, Ipswich at 7.30 p.m. There will be a charge of £2.50 which includes tea or coffee.

Wednesday 20th January 2016 at 7.30pm Homes for Wildlife in Ipswich by James Baker (Greenways) James is manager of the Greenways Countryside Project. With the aid of a band of volunteers Greenways protects and enhances the 100 sq. kilometres in and around Ipswich for the benefit of wildlife and people. Amongst other things they clear our footpaths and clean out our ditches. Their latest project is to encourage wildlife into our built up areas by getting us all to provide something in our gardens so that wildlife corridors can exist in our towns. Come along and see what you can do to improve our urban space and your own gardens for wildlife.

Wednesday 10th February 2016 at 7.30pm Conserving British Wild Flowers by Anne and Dennis Kells Ipswich Group members Anne and Dennis Kells are members of the charity “Plant life”. This organisation was founded in 1989, and its first president was Professor David Bellamy. Plant Life manages 4,500 acres of rare and important plant habitats, and campaigns for the adoption of policies which will conserve our native plants and fungi. With the support of Alan Titchmarsh, they have lobbied councils to manage verges in a wildlife friendly manner, they support the removal of invasive, non-native species, like Japanese knotweed, and help in the campaigns to make farms more wildlife friendly. Come and learn more of the work of this less well known charity which works hard to make the UK a green and pleasant land.

Wednesday 16th March 2016 at 7.30pm Wanderings in the Middle East by Su Gough (BTO ) Su is a training manager for the BTO, based at the Nunnery, Thetford. She will take you on a journey through two of the lesser known parts of the Middle East, sharing with you the wildlife and culture of this fascinating area, and proving to you that there is far more to the desert than just sand.

Wednesday 20th April 2016 at 7.30pm Breckland Wildlife by Alexander Bass The Breckland, which straddles the boundary between western Norfolk and Suffolk is England’s driest area. With its sandy soil and almost continental climate it hosts a variety of rare plants which are found almost nowhere else in England. Its iconic bird is the stone-curlew, with its bulging eyes and long yellow legs, but nightjars and woodlark may also be encountered. Alex is an expert photographer and a tour guide so you can expect an interesting evening. This meeting is preceded by a short AGM

Saturday 21st May 2016 at 8.30am Annual Coach Trip to BTO at the Nunnery Thetford and Cambridge Botanic Gardens Details and booking form on page 6.

Plant Life - Wednesday 10th February

A full listing of all Groups’ events can be found from page 22

7 Ipswich Wildlife Group

Chair: Ray Sidaway 01473 259104 www.greenlivingcentre.org.uk/iwg facebook.com/ipswichwildlifegroup Ipswich Wildlife Group is a registered charity, relying entirely on volunteers, that promotes interest in, and conservation of, wildlife and habitats in and around Ipswich. We seek to inform and educate the local communities of Ipswich about the wildlife and habitats that can be found in the area, and the issues affecting them, as well as involve local people in practical wildlife conservation. We carry out practical conservation tasks, bid for grants to improve wildlife and green areas around Ipswich and work closely with the Greenways Project, Friends of Belstead Brook Park and other local groups with similar aims. Fungi walk fun and the art of coppicing

More than thirty people including families and children joined turned out to be a species known as Pipe Club Macrotyphula us and Suffolk County Fungus Recorder, Neil Mahler, for IWG’s fistulosa, which grows on dead twiggy remains”. ‘Fungi walk and introduction to coppicing Day’ in the autumn.

Spring Wood and Kiln © Chris Courtney Meadow discovering over 50 types of fungi. Amongst the specimens were some that were a surprise even to Neil. “This was an interesting foray and only the second time I have seen the beautiful Blood Red Web Cap”, Cortinarius sangineus, said Neil. Blood Red Web Cap

Another that interested Neil was a gilled white bracket fungus growing high up on a dying Ash tree, a sample of which he took home and later identified as Veiled Oyster Fungus Pleurotus dryinus. “This was growing extremely high up and was a very Young grass snake large specimen, said Neil. “The only other time I had seen this in Suffolk was at Captains Wood in 2005”. After the fungi walk, we were delighted to have our biggest

Neil Mahler (facing camera) gets the foray underway © Neil Mahler “I always feel more at ease The coppicing demonstration begins when children join a foray because I know they will AGM - Note that our Annual General Meeting is scheduled for usually find good material Monday 25 January at 7pm at the Thomas Wolsey pub in St which older adults often Peters Street. All members and prospective members welcome, overlook, continued Neil,” and refreshments provided. sure enough a young girl found the coral fungus Upright Coral Also make a note of the annual Beanpole Day 24 April and Ramaria stricta, which led to Spring Wood Celebration Day 2 May Bank Holiday Monday. another chap jumping into the ditch and discovering it had Also, for the more practical-minded, our Wildlife Homes kit- spread all along. This used making sessions at the Thorington Hall barn continue throughout Upright Coral to be a Red List species, but the winter on the third Friday of each month. HELP - We seems to be spreading quite continually need wood for these sessions, if you know of any quickly now, especially on woodchips or where a chainsaw has suitable material, from planks to old fencing, please let us know. been used. The same chap also spotted something else which We are also in need of bamboo for filling insect houses. 8 Friends of the Dales

The Dales is a small Local Nature Reserve situated off Dales Road in Ipswich. For details of the Friends Group please contact Jessica Allen at [email protected] or find us on Facebook by searching Friends of the Dales

Much progress in the Dales

It has been another exciting summer on the Dales with plenty [email protected]. All monies will go to the friends happening and lots of things to report. The newly created group and contribute to the general upkeep of the Dales. wildflower meadow is taking shape with many more insects and butterflies recorded this summer. Thanks to Alan Cawston Finally, on the fifth of November the Wildlife Team had for the teasel he has been planting in the area, I’m sure the Framlingham Fisheries in to electro fish the biggest of the bees and other invertebrates will appreciate it. More wildflower two ponds. The fish are being removed as the pond supports seeds will be sown next spring to try and improve the floristic very good populations of amphibians and fish are known to diversity and aesthetics of the meadow. The football pitch eat their eggs. We had surprising results with well over 100lb project is also still progressing and we hope to have news on in weight being removed and some very interesting species a grant before the end of March, so please watch this space! found too!

The volunteer work parties have continued on the second Wednesday of each month with over 150 hours put in over the last year. Don, our new voluntary groundsman has continued to put in a vast amount of work improving footpaths and access in general, he has done over 30 hours in the last couple of months alone. Ipswich Borough Council has now paid for the group to have public liability insurance so they can work on site independently. The Wildlife Team and the whole Friends Committee would like to thank him and all the other volunteers sincerely for all of their efforts as you can certainly see where they’ve been!

We ran a successful wildlife homes event in August alongside Ipswich Borough Council and the Greenways Project as part of their eco network initiative. This included making hedgehog houses, bird boxes and bug boxes with local people and getting them to record where they were putting them. The event had a good turnout considering it rained while we were setting up and received good coverage in the local newspaper.

The best knitted and crocheted items Common and mirror carp up to 6lbs were caught along with The committee put in a tremendous effort with Margaret and roach, bream, perch, tench, chub (almost certainly put in from Roger Conway running a food and refreshment table with items the Gipping!) and a single pike of around 3lbs. We also saw kindly donated from Krusty the Bakers , Kay’s Greengrocers, quite a few eels which were left in the pond as they are now a Dales Pub and Dales Road Co-Op. Other stalls included Don rare and endangered species. Further work will be undertaken and Val Willingham selling wooden items that Don turned on to improve the pond for amphibians with trees being removed a lathe, Jan Cawston selling possibly the best knitted and to let light in to shallow areas where they can breed. If you crocheted items you ever did see (I have to be careful not see anybody introducing fish to this pond please contact the to upset my mother here!) and Jessica had a stall about the wildlife team immediately as it is illegal to move fish without Friends and what they do. £126.24 was made for future use gaining prior consent from the Environment Agency. towards the Dales so thanks to everybody who put the time and effort into making this event the success it was. If you Joe Underwood would like to buy any of Jan or Dons items then please email Wildlife Ranger Ipswich Borough Council 9 Scout Headquarters (next to St Peter’s Church), Stoke Park Drive, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP2 9TH Office: 01473 433995 [email protected] www.greenlivingcentre.org.uk/greenways The Greenways Countryside Project exists to protect and enhance the countryside, landscape and open space across an area of about 100 square kilometres in and around the town of Ipswich, and home to around one quarter of the population of Suffolk, for the benefit of wildlife and local people. The project relies on volunteers to complete much of its practical conservation work. The Greenways Project is a very successful and well-established partnership between Ipswich Borough Council, Suffolk County Council, Babergh District Council, Suffolk Coastal District Council and the local community.

The Ipswich Ecological/Wildlife Network Why be a conservation volunteer? With this edition of Local Wildlife News, you should find a Many regular readers of Local Wildlife News magazine may fold out leaflet showing the ecological network of Ipswich. well already regularly volunteer their time to help wildlife in a The leaflet also explains what an ecological network is, what wide range of ways – anything from feeding birds in the garden Ipswich Borough Council and partners are doing to protect and to wardening a local nature reserve. improve it, and what you can do as an individual. In simple terms, the network is made up of all the nature There are as many different reasons for getting involved with reserves, parks and other green spaces throughout the town conservation volunteering as there are ways to get involved! along with the links between them – basically the town as our Some simply love wildlife and want to do as much as possible wildlife sees it! to increase the chances of biodiversity thriving in their local area; others come along to be with other people to enjoy the social contact; some love the fresh air and exercise in beautiful natural surroundings; for others it can be a lifeline or respite from life’s other challenges; it may provide invaluable experience towards gaining employment or a place on a college course; or maybe ‘putting something back’ after years of enjoying nature reserves, and it has been said, some just come for the tea and biscuits!

Volunteers don’t only help us with practical site management - taking photographs, carrying out wildlife surveys, updating the website, taking notes of meetings, delivering flyers, helping with events, activities and open days- are all examples of just as valuable a contribution.

What’s available? As you will see from a quick glance at the events section (and ‘regular events’ on the back cover in particular), there are many Another wildlife-friendly garden is added to the Wildlife Network map ways to get involved with helping wildlife in the local area.

Whether you live within one of the buffer zones or corridors, or The Greenways Project runs regular midweek work parties on elsewhere, everyone can play their part in making the network Tuesdays and most Thursdays and Fridays, and works with more resilient and supportive to wildlife by either carrying out other local groups on three regular weekend sessions. The small improvements to a garden, allotment, school grounds or first Saturday of each month sees volunteers working along business premises, or by getting involved as a volunteer with the River Gipping and Alderman Canal in the heart of town, any of the local conservation organisations managing green jointly with Ipswich Wildlife Group and the River Action Group. spaces for wildlife benefit. During these morning sessions, the volunteers could be doing

Conservation volunteers at work in Belstead Brook Park 10 anything from tree felling and dead hedge building to reedbed cutting and boardwalk repairs – and inevitably some litter picking, sadly!

Tools down, it’s time for tea

The second Saturday of each month is the regular Friends of Belstead Brook Park work party, where the group meet at locations throughout this exceptional informal country park, around the south-western edge of the town. Belstead Brook Park (BBP) extends to around 250 acres of accessible land, managed almost entirely for wildlife and public benefit, and includes ancient woodland, wet meadows ponds and lagoons, wet woodland, reedbeds, new woodland, dry grassland, ancient hedgerows and the beautiful Belstead Brook itself. The Friends group carry out a wide range of tasks with great dedication and commitment (please see their page in this Volunteers working on our valuable heathlands edition). Get involved this winter! The third Sunday of each month sees Ipswich Wildlife Group In addition to all these regular activities for you to join in with, leading work in Spring Wood, the stunning ancient woodland we have two of our ‘Megabash’ events in January and February at the heart of Belstead Brook Park. Here the volunteers – these are ideal for anyone looking to start conservation work hard during the winter months to coppice an area of the volunteering as the tasks tend to be relatively straight forward woodland to maintain the structural diversity so important and large numbers of volunteers make light work of the to woodland plants and animals. In so doing, the volunteers objectives! create a crop of beanpoles, peasticks and other products for gardeners and allotment holders. The produce is sold at Purdis Heath – Saturday January 23rd 2016 – join with us, IWG, the end of April in National Beanpole Week (yes it really does Butterfly Conservation and many others to make a real impact exist, and actually largely due to the efforts of Ipswich Wildlife on this wonderful heathland Site of Special Scientific Interest Group!) from Millennium Wood and then again at the annual (SSSI). We will be felling small trees that are invading the open ‘Spring Wood Day’, this year to be held on bank holiday heathland habitat and building ‘dead hedges’ to create new Monday 2nd May 2016. habitat and protect the heathland from too much disturbance. Work will benefit the endangered Silver-studded blue butterfly as well as many other species. We provide drinks, biscuits and baked potatoes from the bonfire as well as all the necessary tools and instruction required.

Martlesham Heath – Saturday 27th February 2016 – similar to Puurdis Heath, Martlesham is also a SSSI heathland with a good population of Silver-studded blue butterflies – so our work here will focus on maintaining open flight areas by clearing gorse and other shrubs with a huge bonfire!

If you would like any more details of these events or any of the volunteering opportunities, please don’t hesitate to contact me for a chat. I look forward to meeting you soon, perhaps over a cup of tea and a baked potato!

James Baker Reed beds need managing too Greenways Project Manager 11 Portal Woodlands Conservation Group

Enquiries: Martlesham Parish Council 01473 612632 www.pwcg.onesuffolk.net or email [email protected] The group was formed to conserve the woodlands west of the Suffolk Police HQ and alongside the A1214. Volunteers meet each month to work on a variety of projects. Anybody is welcome to join this friendly group. Training and tools are provided.

In April we were shocked by the extremely sad news of the three species of bat: an impressive display of Noctule bats, sudden death of Katie Webb. Katie was only 21 when she some Pipistrelles and Leisler’s bats. died from a pulmonary embolism on 7th April. Katie had been a volunteer for many years, joining the committee in 2011 to We have also had some very unwelcome species visiting the represent the interests of our younger volunteer members. She woods. For the second time in recent years, goldfish suddenly will be remembered for her friendly, happy nature and scrummy appeared in the pond, probably deposited by well-meaning cakes – which everyone would enjoy at the volunteer work local people not realising the serious damage that they can do morning tea breaks. to the ecosystem of a wildlife pond. Whilst thinning the pond

© A. Vale of overgrown plants, we were surprised to find a non-native invasive pondweed, called New Zealand pigmyweed, probably brought in by ducks which occasionally drop in. This weed can also be very destructive to the pond life due to the density that it grows and the amount of oxygen it removes from the water. So far, the fish have been quite elusive and we have not been able to catch them. We have also found some mink scat and a mink has been seen - maybe this will sort out our goldfish problem.

Our volunteers have continued working on the two Bronze Age burial mounds in the woods, in order to give these features full protection as historic monuments. We are creating dead hedges around each one to demark the areas, diverting the pathways as needed. This dead hedging will help discourage people and dogs from walking on the mounds as well as providing habitat for a wide range of wildlife. The results of our efforts on the northern mound are already having good effect with grass starting to grow and flowers on show during the We have had good records of wildlife over 2015. A survey in spring. We are currently working on the southern mound and the spring with Longworth and tube traps captured wood mice, hope to have it completed by spring 2016. The general upkeep bank voles and a common shrew. We also have discovered of the woods has also kept us busy but fortunately the weather some badger dung pits which suggests that badgers are still has been without the strong winds of previous years. We were using the woods. Pond dipping by the Nature Watch Club thankful that the 1st Brightwell Guides visited the woods in the young members was very successful with lots of interesting summer to clear the woods of litter and other rubbish.

creatures being caught, including dragonfly and damselfly © Lee Cork larvae, water boatmen, backswimmers, snails and water beetles. Of particular note were freshwater pea clams – a good indicator of a healthy pond, and best of all, a great crested newt larva confirming that we still have a breeding population of this protected species. We held our annual Glow Worm Survey and Bat Walk in July. At nightfall, after a hot day, 14 people met at the Control Tower to walk through the woods. We recorded 14 female glow worms (no males this year) and © S. Corley

Tumulus dead hedge

We have just completed the 10th year of the Nature Watch Club. Thankfully we have had a steady stream of new members joining and the older members moving on to Nature Explorers and beyond – Chloe King and Sam Alexander joined Nature Watch at its start when they were 5/6 years old and are now members of our Committee. How time flies!

For the Group’s events see ‘Events Diary’; for more details and any date changes go to http://pwcg.onesuffolk.net/ or join our Pond dipping catch member’s Facebook Group by messaging Duncan Sweeting. 12 Wildlife Rangers

Office : 01473 433998 [email protected] Stable Block, Holywells Park, Cliff Lane, Ipswich IP3 0PG The Wildlife & Education Rangers are responsible for the management of wildlife areas within the town’s parks and other green spaces. As well as carrying out practical management, the team runs an events programme and works with many local schools to engage and inspire the public about the wildlife Ipswich has to offer. Landseer Park restoration project

In the 1950’s Landseer Park was a superb wildlife site with a poor, and have in turn generated the most diverse plant mixture of farmland, grassland and woodland interconnected communities on the whole park. Field scabious, wild marjoram, with numerous hedgerows. The most Iconic feature was greater knapweed and ladies’ bedstraw now flourish on the the spring lined valley which held a number of ponds and dry banks of the landfill cap. In the summer clouds of bees and streams. The species list at the site during the time was truly butterflies are accompanied by a symphony of crickets and exceptional with yellowhammers, red backed shrike and great grasshoppers. crested newts a common occurrence. Unfortunately during the 1950’s through to the 60’s the majority of these habitats were destroyed in a landfill operation. After it had reached its storage capacity it was capped with a mixture of clay and sand and reverted to green space.

Unfortunately, from a biodiversity point of view, only a few patches of original habitat were retained. These included a woodland A great diversity of wildflowers grow on the Landfill cap belt, a strip of wet meadow This year a national organisation named “Rewilding Britain” and a few was launched aiming to reinstate areas of lost habitat. The banks of acid Wildlife Rangers together with the Landseer Park friends group grassland/ are planning a re-wilding project of their own, to reinstate some dwarf scrub. of the historic hedgerows and rejuvenate some of the ponds to In the last 10 provide a more diverse habitat. The two groups have worked years however, together on several wildlife improvements such as tree planting the park has and the creation, and maintenance, of wildflower areas. Top - Landseer Park in the 1940’s showing the undergone Involving the local community in practical conservation is a farmland and hedgerows. Above - 2013 showing a massive great way to raise awareness of biodiversity, and in particular, the vast areas of recently created meadow transformation get young children interested in nature and the outdoors. In from a “sea” turn, by encouraging the public to spend more time observing of amenity grassland to one of the best wildlife sites in Ipswich wildlife on the park we can gather a more comprehensive set and has since been designated a County Wildlife Site (CWS). of species records We can then tailor the management of the park’s habitats to match the wildlife present. The fact that the site has been demolished and restructured however is not all bad news. The natural plant communities pre-landfill would have been sandy soil shrubs species such as gorse and broom interspersed with bracken and fine grasses. In the wetter areas there were numerous streams and large ponds with various submerged and emergent vegetation. The installation of a French drain has drastically reduced the area of water but the capping of the landfill has allowed seasonal ponds to form on top. The fact that these are ephemeral reduces the pressure from fish and waterfowl making them perfect for amphibians and consequently an exceptional population of grass snakes who rely on them for food. Nowadays the drained areas are still wet and although the aquatic vegetation has gone, there are large areas of marshy grassland consisting of meadowsweet, fleabane, devil’s bit scabious and southern marsh orchids interspersed with various rushes and sedges. Preparatory work for the annual seed bombing events whereby school groups and families, supervised by the wildlife rangers, gather The clay used to cap the Landfill contains all sorts of material wildflower seed to sow the following spring including pieces of chalk, brick and concrete. These mineral based soils are perfect for wildflowers as they are nutrient David Dowding, 13 Ipswich Local Group

Membership Secretary: c/o 19, Marlborough Road, Ipswich, IP4 5AT Email: [email protected] www.rspb.org.uk/groups/Ipswich Ipswich RSPB Local Group is for everyone interested in birds and other wildlife in the Ipswich area and beyond. Come along to our indoor talks, held monthly between September to April at Sidegate Primary School, or (throughout the year), get out and experience nature first hand on one of our regular field meetings, visiting some of the best spots for wildlife in the area. Three times a year the ‘Orwell Observer’, keeps readers abreast of the latest developments at nearby RSPB Reserves as well as news of Group activities, along with members’ photographs and accounts of birding exploits from home and abroad. Membership costs £3 per year (£1 for Juniors). For more information see the Events Diary in this magazine, visit our website or write as per details above. Get down, get urban; spadgers and devil birds; lets take it to the streets… © Diliff While we all love to get out to enjoy our fabulous and even famous Suffolk wildlife habitats, as this issue of LWN makes abundantly clear, Ipswich too, is a super location for wildlife, which through a number of initiatives, a whole host of groups and individuals are determined to make even better in the years ahead.

Two species long associated with our urban hustle and bustle are the still fairly ubiquitous house sparrow and the high- flying, high summer, common swift. © Kent Hagen

Female house sparrow

and eggs, although evidence suggests these measures had only a localised effect on populations at that time. Inadequately surveyed prior to the 1970’s the population has declined by 71% since 1977 and 2008, which dramatic reduction led to the species being Red listed as a species of high conservation concern. The latest population estimate for house sparrow is around 5.1 million pairs, which fortunately some recent research is reporting some signs of stabilisation.

Common Swift A highly sedentary species that has disappeared from many of our towns and villages, it appears that once a local In most respects, two more dissimilar species you would population has gone extinct it is very unlikely to return. be hard pressed to find; the first ‘the spadger’ is a familiar, dumpy, cheeky and gregarious passerine. The other, the 10 years ago, in 2006, RSPB Ipswich Local Group, undertook erstwhile devil bird, due to its habit of racing about screaming a House Sparrow Survey that divided up most of the town past our houses with its mates, is a jet-setting, aerial acrobat, into 300 metre squares. Group members and other volunteers a master of the skies, whose arrival and all too brief sojourn, conducted a survey to record where colonies existed and is for many, the quintessence of our equally fleeting British where they were absent.

summer. © Chris Courtney

The main and possibly the only thing that unites these two species is their breeding habitat, which from time immemorial, (at least 10,000 years), has been intimately connected with man; the nooks and crannies in the walls of our houses, gaps under the guttering, eaves and roof tiles. And it is very largely the modern ‘improvements’ to our new and existing buildings, that have served to deprive these two species of homes for their nests, which research has cited as a major factor for the marked population declines experienced in both cases.

House sparrows House Sparrows, which once were so plentiful that many farms and villages in the early part of the twentieth century, formed sparrow clubs, which culled many millions of birds House sparrows dust/sand bathing 14 Ipswich Local Group © Thorsten Denhard This means that in reality swifts should also be treated as effectively Red listed and afforded the highest degree of conservation effort.

Swifts are amazing creatures that eat, drink, sleep, preen and even mate on the wing! Their brains can operate in a hemispheric manner that enables them to maintain some degree of alertness when sleeping on the wing at high altitude. They can fly as high a 3kms and young birds after fledging from the nest will fly non-stop for 2-3 years, covering in that time somewhere between 28 - 36,000 miles!

It goes without saying that they are astounding fliers; using eight wing beats a second, followed by zooming glides, reaching speeds in level flight of up to 67.5 mph. (The fastest Male House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) head and plumage detail recorded of any species). Birds regularly fly around 500 miles a day and in a life-time, which can span 30+ years, they can The results of this survey can be found at www. clock up around two million miles! (That’s equivalent to going richardmudhar.com/sparrows/sparrows-of-ipswich-2006.html to the moon and back more than four times). The survey threw up some interesting results, which showed for example that house sparrows were absent We need your help from Christchurch Park, and other parts of the town centre To help our swifts and sparrows we need your help! We need together with absences along Valley Road and in the area of as many volunteers as possible to give up a few hours of your Purdis Heath golf course. time to conduct our survey starting this spring and continuing over the summer to plot our swifts that only start to arrive This year being the 10th Anniversary of the original survey, we around the end of the first week of May. Some aspects of will be conducting a new study only this time we are going the surveys can be highly enjoyable and recreational as for to be somewhat more ambitious as in addition to plotting many recording numbers of birds in local screaming parties squares where sparrows are present or absent we will also be can be accomplished very effectively from a semi-horizontal attempting to estimate the numbers of birds present. Also we stance in a garden deck-chair with a G&T, Pimm’s or glass of will be following up the survey with a project, in the areas that Chardonnay (not provided)! still have colonies, to promote the distribution and installation of nest boxes. Most importantly, in conjunction with Ipswich Wildlife Group (IWG) we will also be engaged in the production of affordable However, given the frequently overlapping nesting preferences nest boxes. Together with IWG we will be working to promote of house sparrows with our other priority species, swifts, these nest boxes in conjunction with a proposed affordable, there is clearly an opportunity here to help both species at the box installation service for householders, while also working same time. in co-operation with the Greenways/IBC Ipswich Wildlife Network (see the pull out in this magazine for details). Common swifts Populations of common swifts have in all likelihood declined In addition, together with other wildlife groups, we will also even more markedly than those of the house sparrow. With be seeking to influence Ipswich Borough Council, developers, a current UK population of around 87,000 pairs, currently landlords and other businesses to agree to install swift numbers are continuing to decline by around 3% a year, a bricks and swift boxes into as many buildings as possible situation which is clearly not sustainable. Although currently throughout the town. It is envisaged that these aspects of the only Amber listed as a species of conservation concern, project will be ongoing for some years to come. this is only due to the lack of long term historical data sets, as detailed census information is only available from 1994. Ideally, we aim to recruit sufficient volunteers so that

© pau.artgas everyone can help survey a designated small area around the immediate streets where you live. Although inevitably there will be scope for ‘enthusiasts’ to help us cover some of the ‘gap’ areas not covered by resident volunteers.

For full details of the survey and how to participate please see our website www.rspb.org.uk/groups/ipswich/

Initially, we need as many people as possible to register interest via our contact us page www.rspb.org.uk/groups/ ipswich/contact/ using the reference ‘Ipswich sparrows n swifts’ together with your postcode and email address so that we can begin to plot out coverage.

Results from these surveys will be supplied to the relevant sections of the RSPB, BTO and Save Our Suffolk Swifts and the Suffolk Biological Records Centre as appropriate.

Apus apus Chris Courtney 15 © Tim Kenny Friends of Christchurch Park

Secretary: Ann Snook 01473 251037 Membership Secretary: Robert Fairchild 01473 254255 www.focp.org.uk Follow us on Facebook@Christchurch Park and Twitter@ChristchurchPk The sole purpose of the Friends Group is to help look after the Park for the public good, and to promote its welfare. Anyone who shares this aim is welcome to join. For a small annual fee of £5 you can join in Friends activities all year round, including Illustrated talks and discussions, Guided Park walks and Practical conservation work. You will also receive an informal seasonal newsletter. Sheltered from the truth © Ann Snook In the orchard in Christchurch Park adjacent to the Wildlife killer, that the cuddly owl Reserve and quite close to the children’s play area is a major blinking in the sunlight addition to the Park’s facilities. We now have an ‘outdoor in its comfortable hole classroom’. This beautiful building provides a practical shelter at night swoops down for schoolchildren and other groups to study the Park’s on mice and rats and natural history. Built by Richard King, the classroom is an swallows them whole? I oval structure whose design is similar to an Anglo Saxon doubt it. Can we describe roundhouse and was constructed using the ancient crafts of to them why mallard and wattle weaving, daubing and thatching. Local materials have mandarin ducklings fail been used – the timber is Suffolk chestnut, the willow used for to survive thanks to the the woven wattle walls and roof battens came from Hadleigh menacing large gulls and reed and straw for the thatch from Woodbridge. The or just why there are work was funded by the Papworth Trust and the Friends of cormorants swimming Christchurch Park. in our ponds? We used

© Ann Snook to teach children these things. At what age is a child deemed old enough Mabel to know what nature is about? After all, why does a child need this kind of protection when violence and horrific goings-on can be seen daily on the television? The nine o’clock watershed is now ignored – Jekyll and Hyde at 6.30pm. Do me a favour!

Whilst the children of today can be exposed to horrendous human activity they remain, it seems, sheltered from the reality of our wildlife. When I was about nine years old as a youngster growing up on an estate on the outskirts of Ipswich, I enjoyed the freedom of going off into the nearby countryside where I would, when the opportunity arose, cut down the birds I found on a gamekeeper’s gibbet (I was never caught doing this) which I would take home to sketch. I have to say that my mother was not pleased when maggots began to crawl out of ‘Anglo Saxon roundhouse’ - outdoor classroom my treasures but at least I knew the reason why these birds were hanging on this line. Today, however, there are so few The idea of an outside classroom is great but just what do gamekeepers that gibbets have become a thing of the past and we teach the youngsters of today? What do we tell them vermin (what a horrible word) are allowed to multiply with little about nature in the raw? It seems that today we are far more control. Maybe we are inclined to over-protect our children but conservative than we used to be. Despite the encouragement should it be to the extent whereby it cannot be explained that of the Suffolk Wildlife Trust, the RSPB and of course the one bird needs to eat another in order to survive? local wildlife groups, it appears that children are being sheltered from the harsh reality of nature. Nature lessons Reg Snook at school were once a standard part of primary education. Now youngsters’ ignorance of the countryside is disquieting. Recently conducted national surveys suggest that the majority of primary schoolchildren have very little idea of what our countryside is all about. They are becoming detached from nature. How sad that many youngsters know little about trees, wild flowers, animals and birds and that many do not realise where meat comes from or how fish are caught, and how vegetables and fruit are grown. We have become an urban society with an urban culture.

So what will the children visiting their new centre in Christchurch Park actually learn? Will they be told that the Park’s most successful bird of prey, the sparrow hawk, is a ruthless killer and that it lives entirely on small birds often eating its semi-plucked victim whilst the bird is still alive? Will they be told that Mabel, our famous tawny owl, is also a 16 Butterfly Conservation Saving butterflies, moths and our environment

Membership Secretary 01379 643665 www.suffolkbutterflies.org.uk email: [email protected] Butterfly Conservation is dedicated to saving wild butterflies, moths and their habitats throughout the UK. All Butterfly Conservation members who live in Suffolk are automatically members of the branch and receive our newsletter, the Suffolk Argus, three times a year. The Suffolk branch is run by volunteers and we would be very pleased to hear from you if you would like to get involved. The Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey (WCBS) Black lined skimmer © Colin Hullis The WCBS is a collaboration between Butterfly Conservation (BC), the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and the Centre for Hydrology and Ecology (CHE). Its purpose is to monitor butterflies and establish how abundant and widespread they are. Within the scheme, data is also collected for moths and dragonflies.

The CHE randomly select OS grid squares to be surveyed and while these are organised by county, it does cover the whole of the UK. I am the BC co-ordinator for Suffolk and have 26 surveyors who cover 39 squares. Surveyors are needed for three remaining squares. The key months to do the survey are July and August when it is most likely that weather will be calm, warm and sunny, the best time to see lots of butterflies. Some surveyors do more than the two surveys a year required,

thereby those butterflies that only fly in April and May get Angle shades moth © Colin Hullis included.

One new surveyor has told me how delighted they are with their square, saying that it was a place they would never otherwise go to and that they enjoyed the walk and the whole experience. That is the essence of the WCBS; it is fun and has a purpose. The surveyor’s experience and joy is matched by the scientific method and its importance.

The WCBS is looking at widespread and abundant species but sometimes records the rare and specialist butterfly. Once a square has been set up, the same transects are walked at least twice each year when butterflies are most likely to be about in good numbers. The transects are across the OS square in two lines a short distance apart, making a walk of just just

over 2km. The transects are divide into 10 sections which can Brimstone © Julian Dowding reflect the habitat of each length, or be more random. The value comes from the repeated collection of data over time and in combination with the UK-wide results.

I have heard that there was one unfortunate surveyor who saw nothing for two years! That result was just as important as recording over 100 of one species along with 10 other species. The advantage to the surveyor was that no error of identification was possible and the walk took the minimum of time. I trust he/ she had a place to go where butterflies were abundant so as to restore their faith in the real joy of butterflying.

The WCBS does not suit everyone and I do not have a square, because I like to stop, admire, film, talk to people I meet, look at the view and generally get distracted. It is meant to be a slow walk and, like Just a Minute, without hesitation, deviation or repetition. It is the scientific UK-wide method that makes the Butterflies, moths and dragonflies are all recorded statistics of value but I expect that human nature has its way to some extent. Butterflies are ‘just an insect’ but one that is very visible and relatively easy to identify. Insects are at the base of many If the WCBS is not for you, then casual recording as you walk food chains hence the importance of identifying and counting the town or countryside is still of value. Statisticians will apply butterflies and the WCBS. the scientifically recorded data to the casual records and get a reliable outcome on abundance and distribution. Linked If you would like to know more, or are interested in becoming a to other data on moths, dragonflies, birds and bees, the surveyor, details are available from the website at the top of the information on butterflies builds a picture about the health of page. our environment. Twm Wade WCBS Suffolk co-ordinator

17 Membership Secretary Matthew Deans, 49c, Hollesley, IP12 3JY [email protected] www.sogonline.org.uk Twitter: suffolkbirds1 SOG is the Group for people interested in the birds of Suffolk, and provides a network and a voice for birdwatchers in the county. Field Trips whatever the weather

Suffolk Ornithologists Group has a number of field trips during the year, visiting many parts of Suffolk and sometimes further afield. These dates are penned down the previous year so that as the day approaches for the trip regular checking of weather reports is prerequisite to gauging, not only what to wear, but also what species may be seen.

Orfordness A couple of trips this past Autumn shows that although the weather wasn’t the ideal, wildlife can still be enjoyed. One of the trips was on the National Trust site at Orfordness. The weather was pleasant, part sunny and cloudy but the wind was mostly westerly, not too conducive to the hoped for easterlies or north-easterlies required for bird migration and sea-watching at that time of year. River Stour at Stutton

Indoor Talks Fortunately our indoor talks are not subject to the vagaries of weather and two important events included the 10 year celebration of the Suffolk Community Barn Owl Project. This was a talk by Colin Shawyer, an expert on Barn Owls, and someone who was at the forefront in establishing ways to stop the decline in Barn Owls and help increase their population by use of using Barn Owls. This has been the case in Suffolk with over 1800 Barn Owls boxes and an increase to over 400 pairs from a low of 50-90 pairs in the late 1980’s.

Herring Gull at Orfordness

Instead of seeing warblers etc. on migration our attention was grabbed by the raptors we encountered, of which Orfordness is a well-known location. Highlights including great views of Short-eared Owl and two Barn Owls, an Osprey flying around the River Ore and watching the hunting prowess of both Merlin and Hobby as they chased small birds and dragonflies respectively. Added to this, with sightings of Peregrine, Buzzard and Marsh Harrier, made for a wonderful experience.

River Stour Indoor talks A more recent trip was on the River Stour, this time to look for wintering birds on the river and the great array of waders The other important event was a talk by Dick Newell from that use the mud and saltmarsh as feeding grounds and Action for Swifts. Dick is someone else who has been roosting. With such a mild November there were few species instrumental in helping a bird species that has been in decline, mid-channel noting some Red-breasted Mergansers and as the Swift has been dropping in numbers, again partly from Goldeneye. The rain also set in, at times a light drizzle while loss of nesting sites. SOG has teamed up with Suffolk Wildlife at other times heavier and this gave the sky a leaden grey hue Trust for a project called Save Our Suffolk Swifts to help raise making the mudflats, river and sky almost merge in to one awareness, record numbers, promote the use of Swift nest colour. The spectacle of the waders was not diminished by this, boxes and influence local authority planning systems so that with large numbers of Dunlin, Knot, Curlew, Grey Plover and internal Swift nest boxes can be included in development Oystercatcher along with some Brent Goose feeding on the projects. foreshore. Gi Grieco

18 Friends of Holywells Park

The Group aims to work in partnership with Ipswich Borough Council to improve and promote the Park. Contact: [email protected] www.holywellspark.org.uk facebook.com/holywellsparkipswich

All during the construction work from late 2013 through to and the Bowls Club is that there will be something to see, March, or so, 2015 Holywells Park has remained open for weather permitting, all year round. And when the Great enjoyment. After the big opening in July 2015, our attention Outdoors palls, or it’s simply inclement, or one just fancies a switches to taking full advantage of the new, and newly coffee and possibly a bun, then the delights of the Stable Café refurbished, facilities on offer. Meanwhile, the Ipswich Society await. It’s also a good place to meet up with friends, of course. has awarded the Restoration Project a Distinction in their 2015 Annual Awards. The recognition is much appreciated by all The Stable Block houses a reception desk, where a visitor those who have been involved with the project, in one capacity may ask questions, pick up leaflets about the facilities offered or another, over the years. Thanks again for funding to the in Holywells Park, sign the visitors’ book or buy interesting National Lottery in the shape of the Big Lottery and heritages postcards. The team of receptionists know Holywells Park, and Lottery funds, Ipswich Borough Council and the numerous, and are getting to know its wildlife in detail. The reception desk is varied, volunteers whose work has counted towards matched made of oak from Holywells and Chantry Parks. Later on there funding. will be a shop facility, again using shelving made from recycled park oak.

Spring blossom

After the joys of Apple Day, which a large number of visitors attended, the next FoHP event will be the Cold Fair in January. Please come along and remember to wrap up well! Although one imagines wildlife will be hiding away, a Red Admiral butterfly was spotted on the 18th November, perhaps from a second brood. As the park settles in for Winter, visitors might be lucky enough to spot Muntjac deer or the various birds that inhabit the park, including Mandarin Ducks and Little Egrets. The steps in Holywells Park The essence of the beds in the maze between the Orangery Meanwhile, after the work on de-silting the canal, the path to the Orchard was getting very wet and slippery, probably due to the recent change in contour slowing the run-off of water. The solution has been to install a new land drain, using gravel-filled trenches to direct water to gently angled pipes with entrance holes, and thence the water now flows towards the canal. Thus your feet should stay dry when visiting events held in the orchard, or simply walking, perhaps with the dog, in that south- west part of Holywells Park.

So the disturbances to nature have, one hopes, pretty much finished for quite some time. It’s now a little easier to see nature than it was before, but Holywells Park retains its natural, wild nature over much of the domain. The heritage is visible as never before, so this winter bring stout footwear, warm clothes, sharp eyes, possibly accompanied by camera and/or field glasses, and enjoy your visit! Robin Gape The new maze Chair of FOHP 19 Friends of Belstead Brook Park

Website: www.greenlivingcentre.org.uk/fobbp E-mail: [email protected] Facebook: www.facebook.com/fobbp Friends of Belstead Brook Park (FoBBP) was set up in 2002 to help look after the 250 acres of informal country park on the south-western fringe of Ipswich. The group runs practical work parties, helps raise funds for improvements and acts as ‘eyes and ears’, passing information back to the Greenways Project.

Thanks to John, one of our members who identified the strange looking fly from our July work party as a Scorpion fly or Panorpa communis. (See the photo on our Facebook page). The scorpion fly is a strange looking insect which is found in gardens, hedgerows and woodland edges, particularly amongst nettles and bramble. It has a long beak-like projection from its head that it uses to feed, scavenging on dead insects and frequently stealing the contents of spider’s webs. It lives up to its name by sporting a scorpion-like tail, which the male uses in courtship displays. Adults usually mate at night, but mating can be a dangerous game for the male, who might easily be killed by the female. So he presents her with a nuptial gift of a dead insect or a mass of saliva to placate her - the equivalent of a box of chocolates! The resulting eggs are laid in the soil and the emerging larvae live and pupate at the soil Tiny toadlet surface. (www.greenlivingcentre.org.uk/fobbp) on Kiln Meadow and making a very sturdy looking dead hedge We were in Ellenbrook Meadow for our August work party with the cut material. And of course the camp fire had to be fed and although several stalwart volunteers were on holiday, we so it was at the right heat to cook our baked potatoes at the managed to repair the top of one of the benches, cut paths in end of the day! Food always tastes better after hard work and the long grass to connect different areas and do a litter pick out of doors! A great day and thanks to James and Peter of along the Brook in the Meadow. Greenways for organising and advertising the event. Ann Havard At the September work party we cleared some of the side growth along the path in Belstead Lower Meadows. It’s certainly been a good year for vegetation growth!

We worked hard at our October work party cutting and raking wet grass, nettles and thistles in Millennium Wood meadow. The cut material was heaped into doughnut shaped piles and will hopefully make good homes for snakes, hedgehogs and invertebrates. Removing the thatch from the meadow helps reduce the nutrient levels in the soil to encourage more specialist plants to thrive rather than just too many nettles and thistles. Hard work, but essential to improve the diversity of the meadow.

Sue making stakes for the dead hedge

Shifting the cut grass

We had a great time at the November Megabash, joining together with other volunteers from the Greenways Project and Ipswich Wildlife Group. With more people we were able to tackle several different areas and get lots of work done. Some people were coppicing in Spring Wood, others raking Kiln Meadow, others cutting down the invasive aspen saplings ... the finished dead hedge 20 Local Wildlife News Snippets

Berries galore Jackdaw rescue Tree surgeons from Ipswich Borough Council were called to Christchurch Park by wildlife ranger Joe Underwood after he discovered a Jackdaw had its leg caught in a tree. Staff climbed the tree using a rope and harness to reach the trapped bird as its partner stayed by its side in distress.

After the successful rescue the bird was passed over to Joe Underwood who was waiting with a cardboard box ready to take it to the Riversbrook Veterinary Centre in Cliff Lane to be cared for.

Lots and lots of lovely berries in shrubberies, parks and gardens this winter. Rowan, catoneaster, hawthorn and holly are all resplendent with their winter fruit. And very welcome for the blackbirds and thrushes they help to sustain when other food is scarce. Look out too for the avian visitors from northern climes, redwings, fieldfares and, if you’re lucky, the wonderful waxwings. By courtesy of Ipswich Star

Mower strikes wasps While a Greenways team were mowing in the wet meadows at Bobbits Lane, the mower struck a wasps nest concealed in a grass tussock. Result: lots of angry wasps and the question of how to extricate the mower without being stung from Belstead to Wherstead.

To give the wasps time to simmer down, the first strategy was to go for tea and biscuits. Having re-grouped, the intrepid Peter Scotcher put on as much of a bee-keeping outfit as could be contrived from what was at hand - boiler suit, elbow length gloves, chain-saw helmet with visor and various other items masking-taped together for safety. He managed to free the mower without mishap. The support crew were on hand (at a safe distance) to offer helpful and unhelpful advice.

Su Fox

IPSWICH BEANPOLE DAY in association with NATIONAL BEANPOLE WEEK Buy locally produced BEANPOLES & PEASTICKS Sunday 24th April 2016 11am - 3pm

Spring Wood, Ipswich - Bobbits Lane IP9 2BE off Stoke Park Drive/Ellenbrook Road For further details see www.greenlivingcentre.org.uk/iwg

21 DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUT THE REGULAR EVENTS ON PAGE 24 Events Diary

Saturday 9th January 9am RSPB FIELD MEETING RSPB North Warren for geese, wildfowl and winter birds. Meet at Thorpeness car park. TM473595. 4hrs. 6miles. Leader Stephen Marginson Tel 01473 258791

Thursday 14th January 7.30pm RSPB INDOOR MEETING ‘Wildlife of the Falklands, Georgia & Antarctica’ Anne and Dennis Kell. Sponsored by Bypass Nurseries Capel St Mary. Sidegate Primary School, Sidegate Lane. Details from Chris Courtney 01473 423213

Saturday 16th January 11am - 2pm Friends of Holywells Park COLD FAIR For more information contact [email protected]

Tuesday 19th January 10am RSPB MIDWEEK WALK Holywells Park (including Conservation Area). Meet at Stable Block off Cliff Lane. TM176432. Leader Kathy Reynolds 01473 714839

Wednesday 20th January 7.30pm Suffolk Wildlife Trust TALK ‘Homes for Wildlife in Ipswich’ by James Baker (Greenways). James is manager of the Greenways Countryside Project. Their latest project is to encourage wildlife into our built up areas by getting us all to provide something in our gardens so that wildlife corridors can exist in our towns. Come along and see what you can do to improve our urban space and your own gardens for wildlife. St Margaret’s School Hall, Bolton Lane, Ipswich. Entrance £2.50. Details from Dave Munday 01473 217310

Saturday 23rd January 9am - 11am Portal Woodlands Conservation Group NATURE EXPLORERS (11 to 18 year olds) Meet at the Education Area. Booking essential. For details email [email protected]

Saturday 23rd January 10am - 12noon Portal Woodlands Conservation Group VOLUNTEER WORK MORNING Meet at the Education Area. All welcome. For details email [email protected]

Saturday 23rd January 10am to 3.30pm PURDIS HEATH MEGABASH Come along and join supporters of Ipswich Wildlife Group, Greenways, Butterfly Conservation and other local groups and residents for a bracing few hours of important conservation work on our local heathlands. We will be clearing unwanted growth for the heather to replenish and thrive and helping the heath return to its former glory for the benefit of natural heathland plants, insects, birds and invertebrates. Hot drinks provided and potatoes from the bonfire. Everyone welcome.More details from GreenwaysJan 01473 433995 or 07736 826076 on the day

Sunday 24th January 10am RSPB FIELD MEETING Manningtree and Mistley for waders and wildfowl on River Stour. Meet at Manningtree Maltings. TM109319. 2-3hrs. 2miles. Leader Stephen Marginson Tel 01473 258791

Monday 25th January 7pm Ipswich Wildlife Group AGM Annual General Meeting for all members to learn what the Group has been up to in the past year and plans for the next. Prospective members welcome to join in this evening of socialising and official business at the Thomas Wolsey pub, St Peters Street. Further info from Ray Sidaway 01473 259104

Thursday 28th January 7.30pm Suffolk Ornithologists Group INDOOR MEETING Prof. Jenny Gill - A presentation on Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits. The Cedars Hotel, Needham Road, Stowmarket, IP14 2AJ. Admission charge £2 for all, non-members most welcome.

Saturday 30th January 10am – 3pm RSPB BIG GARDEN BIRDWATCH The Orangery, Holywells Park. Promoting Europe’s biggest annual Citizen Science project; free wildlife information, sales goods, children’s craft activities and a guided walk to count all the birds in the park! Free. Contact [email protected] Tel 01473 423213 / 07765 045182 for further details

Saturday 6th February 9am RSPB FIELD MEETING Melton to Woodbridge for waders, wildfowl and winter birds. Meet at Riverside car park Melton on A1152. TM288503. 4hrs. 4miles. Leader Stephen Marginson Tel 01473 258791

Thursday 11th February 7.30pm RSPB INDOOR MEETING ‘Wildlife in Shingle Street’ Jeremy Mynott Lifelong Birder and Author. Sponsored by Collins Waste Solutions. Sidegate Primary School, Sidegate Lane. Details from Chris Courtney 01473 423213

Tuesday 16th February 10am RSPB MIDWEEK WALK Chantry Park. Meet at car park near toilet block (Hadleigh Road). TM138443 Leader Kathy Reynolds 01473 714839

Wednesday 10th February 7.30pm Suffolk Wildlife TrustFeb TALK ‘Conserving British Wild Flowers’ by Anne and Dennis Kells. Ipswich Group members Anne and Dennis Kells are members of the charity “Plant life”. Come and learn more of the work of this less well known charity which works hard to make the UK a green and pleasant land. St Margaret’s School Hall, Bolton Lane, Ipswich. Entrance £2.50. Details from Dave Munday 01473 217310

Sunday 21st February 10am - 12noon Portal Woodlands Conservation Group VOLUNTEER WORK MORNING Meet at the Education Area. All welcome. For details email [email protected]

22 DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUT THE REGULAR EVENTS ON PAGE 24

Saturday 27th February 10am to 3.30pm MARTLESHAM HEATH MEGABASH Come along and join supporters of Ipswich Wildlife Group, Greenways, Butterfly Conservation and other local groups and residents for a bracing few hours of important conservation work on our local heathlands. We will be clearing unwanted growth for the heather to replenish and thrive and helping the heath return to its former glory for the benefit of natural heathland plants, insects, birds and invertebrates. Hot drinks provided and potatoes from the bonfire. Everyone welcome.More details from Greenways 01473 433995Feb or 07736 826076 on the day

Thursday 10th March 7.30pm RSPB INDOOR MEETING ‘Conservation Action at Sea - The Albatross Taskforce’ Oli Yates RSPB. Sponsored by Fenn Wright Estate Agents. Sidegate Primary School, Sidegate Lane. Details from Chris Courtney 01473 423213

Sunday 13th March 1.30pm RSPB FIELD MEETING Levington Creek for waders, wildfowl and winter birds. Meet at car park. TM236388. 2hrs. 3miles. Leader Stephen Marginson Tel 01473 258791

Tuesday 15th March 10am RSPB MIDWEEK WALK Bourne Bridge area and park. Meet at Bourne Park car park (Bourne Bridge entrance). TM161419 Leader Kathy Reynolds 01473 714839

Wednesday 16th March 7.30pm Suffolk Wildlife Trust TALK ‘Wanderings in the Middle East’ by Su Gough (BTO). Su is a training manager for the BTO, she will take you on a journey through two of the lesser known parts of the Middle East, sharing with you the wildlife and culture of this fascinating area. St Margaret’s School Hall, Bolton Lane, Ipswich. Entrance £2.50. Details from Dave Munday 01473 217310 Saturday 19th March 9am - 11am Portal Woodlands ConservationMar Group NATURE EXPLORERS (11 to 18 year olds) Meet at the Education Area. Booking essential. For details email [email protected]

Saturday 19th March 10am - 12noon Portal Woodlands Conservation Group VOLUNTEER WORK MORNING Meet at the Education Area. All welcome. For details email [email protected]

Thursday 24th March 7.30pm Suffolk Ornithologists Group INDOOR MEETING Open Mic night - Sam Lee (Turtle Doves), Sean Minns (Deserts) and Martin Tickler (House Martins). The Wolsey Room, Holiday Inn, London Road, Ipswich, IP2 0UA. Admission charge £2 for all, non-members most welcome

Sunday 3rd April 9am - 11am Portal Woodlands Conservation Group NATURE WATCH CLUB (5 to11 year olds) Meet at the Martlesham Heath Control Tower, booking essential. For details email [email protected]

Thursday 14th April 7.30pm RSPB INDOOR MEETING AGM plus ‘Turtle Doves - their Conservation’ Sam Lee RSPB Conservation Officer. Sidegate Primary School, Sidegate Lane.Details from Chris Courtney 01473 423213

Saturday 16th April 9am RSPB FIELD MEETING Bourne Park, Spring Wood and Kiln Meadow LNR for spring birds. Meet at Bourne Park car park, Stoke Park Drive. TM152419. 4hrs. 4miles. Leader Stephen Marginson Tel 01473 258791

Sunday 17th April 10am - 12noon Portal Woodlands Conservation Group VOLUNTEER WORK MORNING Meet at the Education Area. All welcome. For details email [email protected]

Tuesday 19th April 10am RSPB MIDWEEK WALK Bridge Wood. Meet at Orwell Country Park car park. TM188408Apr Leader Kathy Reynolds 01473 714839 Wednesday 20th April 7.30pm Suffolk Wildlife Trust TALK ‘Breckland Wildlife’ by Alexander Bass. With its sandy soil and almost continental climate Breckland hosts a variety of rare plants which are found almost nowhere else in England. Alex is an expert photographer and a tour guide so you can expect an interesting evening. This meeting is preceded by a short AGM. St Margaret’s School Hall, Bolton Lane, Ipswich. Entrance £2.50. Details from Dave Munday 01473 217310

Sunday 24th April 11am - 3pm Ipswich Wildlife Group BEANPOLE DAY Calling all gardeners and allotment-holders. Come along and buy all your beanpoles and peasticks produced from coppicing in Spring Wood. Park at Bobbits Lane car park IP9 2BE. For further details call Gerry Donlon 01473 726082, Ipswich Wildlife Group on Facebook or see www.greenlivingcentre.org.uk/iwg

Thursday 28th April 7.30pm Suffolk Ornithologists Group INDOOR MEETING Eddie Bathgate and Val Lockwood – A presentation on France: Cevennes and the Camargue. The Wolsey Room, Holiday Inn, London Road, Ipswich, IP2 0UA. Admission charge £2 for all, non-members most welcome.

Saturday 30th April 4.30am RSPB FIELD MEETING Dawn Chorus walk at Millennium and Spring Woods, Kiln Meadow and surrounding area. Meet at Bobbits Lane car park off Stoke Park Drive. TM148415. 2-3hrs. 2-3miles. Details from Chris Courtney 01473 423213

Monday 2nd May Bank Holiday 11am - 4pm SPRING WOOD CELEBRATION DAY Join the Greenways Project, Ipswich Wildlife Group, Friends of Belstead Brook Park and many others for a celebration of this wonderful area of Local Nature Reserve. Guided walks, woodland crafts, family activities, demonstrations, music, food and much more. Parking at Bourne Park off Stoke Park Drive with free minibus to the event on Kiln Meadow. More information from 01473 433995 or 07736 826076 on the day and at Ipswich Wildlife Group on Facebook May

2323 Regular Events

THIRD SUNDAY OF THE MONTH 10.30am - 1pm SPRING WOOD WORK PARTY Join Ipswich Wildlife Group and Friends of Belstead Brook Park for a morning of work in the wood. Meet at the stepped entrance to the wood in Bobbits Lane. Details from Gerry Donlon 01473 726082

TUESDAYS 9.30am Greenways CONSERVATION WORK PARTY The Project’s largest weekly work party – carrying out a wide range of practical tasks across the 50 or so sites that we manage. For all Greenways work parties, volunteers need to be registered via a short informal induction prior to joining us – please contact us for further details. Work party runs from 10.00am to about 4.00pm. Contact [email protected] or call 01473 433995.

WEDNESDAYS 10am Friends of Holywells Park HOLYWELLS PARK WORK PARTY Besides doing positive work as part of a small team of volunteers your time will be matched by cash from the Lottery enabling further work in the Park. Meet at the Stable Block located down the driveway from Cliff Lane. Contact Martin Cant for details 07858 436003

SECOND WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH Friends of The Dales WORK PARTY Contact Jessica Allen for the details [email protected].

THURSDAYS 9.30am Greenways CONSERVATION WORK PARTY A smaller group than on Tuesday, but operates in the same way – please see details above for Tuesdays Work Party.

SECOND THURSDAY OF THE MONTH 8pm ‘Green Drinks’ Dove Inn, Ipswich DRINKS AND CHAT Join us at the Dove Inn for a drink, a chat and a bit of networking with other environmentally-minded people. Look out for the ‘Green Drinks’ sign on the table. All welcome. Details from Gerry Donlon on 01473 726082.

FRIDAYS 9.30am Greenways CONSERVATION WORK PARTY Another opportunity to work on the 50 or so sites managed by the Project – please see the details above for Tuesdays Work Party.

FIRST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH 10am - 1pm Ipswich Wildlife Group RIVER WORK PARTY A joint work party with the River Action Group along Alderman Canal and the River Gipping, maintaining footpaths and making these splendid waterways areas to be proud of. Meet at Bibb Way alongside Alderman Road recreation ground. More information from Ray Sidaway 01473 259104.

FIRST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH Butterfly Conservation WORK PARTY Meet at Purdis Heath to help restore the heath for the benefit of butterflies. Use the lay-by in Bucklesham Road. More information from Helen Saunders [email protected]

SECOND SATURDAY OF EACH MONTH 10am - 1pm Friends of Belstead Brook Park CONSERVATION WORK PARTY Come and join us for a morning working in the fresh air. For further details visit our website: www.greenlivingcentre.org.uk/fobbp or email [email protected]

MOST SATURDAYS 10.30am - 1pm IWG Northgate Allotments WOODCRAFT & WILDLIFE Get involved in coppicing and woodland skills at the Wildlife area. Call Geoff Sinclair to confirm dates 01473 327720