WHITE ADMIRAL
Newsletter 79 Summer 2011
SUFFOLK NATURALISTS’ SOCIETY CONTENTS
EDITORIAL 1 SNIPPETS 2 NEW MARINE RECORDS FOR SUFFOLK Gen Broad 3 THE PRIESTLEY WOOD DORMOUSE PROJECT Liz Cutting 7 - THE FIRST DECADE ACUTE OAK DECLINE - A NEW DISEASE OF Gary Battell 10 OAK TREES IN SUFFOLK DO YOU KNOW YOUR DRAGONFLIES? Mark Nowers 11 THE SLEEPLESS HIBERNATION Nick Sibbett 12 THE LICHENS OF HIGHAM LODGE Christopher Hitch 15 TWO NOTES ON GRASS SNAKES A determined grass snake J. & C. Bowdrey 21 Grass snake movement and dry weather in Tom Langton 21 2010 ANOTHER NEW SPECIES OF SPIDER FOR Ray Ruffell 22 SUFFOLK 23 NUTHATCHES Liz Cutting IPSWICH MUSEUM CELEBRATES HENSLOW’S Ann Ainsworth 24 150th ANNIVERSARY A BUTTERFLY SPRING Rob Parker 24 THE WALL BROWN - A SINGLE SPECIES Mark Nowers 26 SURVEY ODDS & ENDS Useful viewer-magnifier Richard Fisk 29 Testers sought for new earthworm key Martin Sanford 29 Stag beetle sightings 2011 Colin Hawes 29 A HERBALIST’S VIEW OF GREATER Caroline Wheeler 30 CELANDINE POEM The Resident Carp Rasik Bhadresa 31 THE NAIL FUNGUS IN SUFFOLK Neil Mahler 31 A FURTHER INFLUX OF RANNOCH LOOPER IN Tony Prichard 34 2011 WEBSITE UPDATES Adrian Chalkley 35
Cover photograph: Nuthatch by Liz Cutting ISSN 0959-8537 Published by the Suffolk Naturalists’ Society c/o Ipswich Museum, High Street, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 3QH Registered Charity No. 206084 © Suffolk Naturalists’ Society
SUFFOLK NATURALISTS’ SOCIETY
David Walker Ancient House Lower Street, Stutton Suffolk IP9 2SQ [email protected] SUMMER 2011
2010 was the United Nations Year of Biodiversity and SNS recorders did their bit and it is extraordinary how much time and effort they put into it. According to Martin Sanford, the Suffolk Biological Records Centre has added nearly a quarter of a million records in the last six months with records from SNS members continuing to greatly enhance the SBRC data holdings. Rob Parker has provided over 100,000 butterfly records (from the last 10 years). Richard Fisk has supplied 50,000 bryophyte records and David Nash has sent in nearly 20,000 beetle records. Many smaller contributions from members have added useful information on badgers, newts and other BAP species. The February 2011 British Wildlife magazine had accounts that illustrate the efforts people make - Peter Stubbs studies the Marmalade Hoverfly in his Peterborough Garden: “on 26th July 115 were seen, reaching a peak on 8th Aug of 739 – a record for my 20 years of monitoring”! Conversely, Paul Waring was winter mothing - again in Peterborough; the cold snowy weather did not deter him keeping an eye on the temperature and whipping out his moth trap on every time it rose above freezing. He was rewarded at the end of December with one male Winter Moth. John Walters describes his attempts to photograph the Heath Potter Wasp building its pots at Bovey Heathfield in Devon: it took four years to find an unsealed pot, though he did plot the position of 213 newly constructed pots and 200 from the previous year. He located a pot being built by following a wasp from where it was collecting the clay. I am certain that our Suffolk recorders make similar efforts and it would be interesting to hear their tales.
Joan Hardingham, SNS Chairman
The SNS extends warmest congratulations to The Suffolk Wildlife Trust on its 50th anniversary. The SWT has become a powerful voice for conservation in Suffolk and performs a vital, extremely effective educational role. It is needed more than ever in the 21st Century. Long may it continue.
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SNIPPETS
• Mark Avery, the former Director of Conservation at the RSPB, left his post in May after 25 years with the organisation. In an article in The Guardian on May 4th he hit out at farmers, saying “I’ve come to see the NFU as a fundamentally anti-environment organisation. At almost every opportunity the NFU chooses the option which will harm the environment…”. • The Harlequin ladybird is about to overtake the seven-spot as the most common in Britain. Ten species have declined in the last ten years including the 2-spot, 10-spot and 14-spot. See the new ladybird atlas: ‘Ladybirds (Coccinellidae) of Britain and Ireland’ published by Biological Records Centre, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, UK. ISBN 978-1-906698-20-1. • GeoSuffolk’s new Handbook (Earth Heritage Suffolk) has been distributed free to many Suffolk geodiversity providers. Copies are free if you are a provider or owner of Suffolk geodiversity, or £6 (including p&p) from GeoSuffolk, c/o Ipswich Museum, High Street, Ipswich, IP1 3QH. • The last time that ash trees came into leaf before oak was in 1953 (information from the Woodland Trust). • SNS sends best wishes to former SNS Council member Rob Macklin who retired from the RSPB in the spring. High among his many achievements is the restoration of Church Farm marsh, which is now one of the best sites for wild fowl in Britain. • Research carried out by the Zoological Society of London has found that some frogs infected with Ranavirus have recovered, indicating development of immunity. However, the problems of pond loss and parasitic fungi still remain the biggest threats to amphibia. • The EU’s agricultural commissioner has spoken out against GM crops, saying that they do not meet the needs for quality foods, diverse diets and biodiversity. Findings that toxins inserted into GM crops have been found in blood of women and unborn babies are also worrying. • Local authorities and Government must take a lead on reducing the impact of light pollution on Britain’s bugs, including that associated with new solar panels, according to a report published by Buglife. The report says that it is clear that artificial lighting and shiny flat surfaces in the wrong place significantly disrupt ecosystems, and could be contributing to current declines and extinctions of invertebrates. Artificial night lighting, the most obvious threat, disrupts the natural rhythms of light and dark which govern the feeding, breeding and migration patterns of nocturnal insects. Another problem is polarised light pollution. Until recently all flat shiny surfaces that reflected polarised light were ponds or rivers, but now there are many similar artificial surfaces such as plastic sheeting on agricultural fields, shiny tarmac, and solar panels. Aquatic insects, believing these surfaces are water, lay their eggs which perish in the sun.
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NEW MARINE RECORDS FOR SUFFOLK
It is exciting to report that two new marine records have been made in Suffolk by members of the public: a nudibranch (sea slug) on Lowestoft sea defences and an anemone (sometimes called the ‘fried egg anemone’) on Southwold beach.
Onchidoris bilamellata (Linnaeus 1767) In March this year, Nick Blacker found a species of nudibranch previously unrecorded in Suffolk, Onchidoris bilamellata. The nearest recent records of the species are from Norfolk (Cley and Weybourne) in July and August 2009 in the sub- littoral zone. There is an old record (July 1985) from Folkestone in Kent (NBN Gateway). On 19th March, Nick was following an Iceland gull, hoping for a good view if it landed. When the gull failed to cooperate and carried on flying south, he decided to have a quick look at the old concrete sea defences since there was an exceptionally low tide. Nick first noticed some closed beadlet anemones Actinia equina, and then his eye was drawn by “some small groups of smaller, pale brown blobs with small whitish spots”. It wasn’t until he transferred one gently onto a worn brick in a shallow pool of water that it opened up, revealing the characteristic features of a sea slug. The animals were about 25 mm in length. White masses on the concrete near the animals turned out to be sea slug eggs. Most of the sea slugs were out of the water, either singly or in clusters. To his surprise and delight, he realised he had come across many hundreds of the egg-laying nudibranch Onchidoris bilamellata, a species not previously recorded from Suffolk. Nick made further sightings of the slug when he returned to the shore during the following two days and subsequently every couple of weeks on spring tides. No individuals were spotted close to Ness Point, but Nick initially saw hundreds of sea slugs further south along the coastline. By 4th April, the numbers had reduced and by early June, most of the sea slugs had disappeared, with just a few small animals remaining. Nudibranchs are marine snails without a shell, belonging to the phylum Mollusca which includes snails, slugs, mussel, cockles, clams and squid. The term ‘nudibranch’ means “naked gills” because the gills are exposed along the back or sides of the animal. Although a few species, such as the very common sea lemon Archidoris pseudoargus, can grow to more than 100 mm, most UK species are much smaller and many are only 5 to 7 mm in length [Picton & Morrow 2010(a)]. Onchidoris bilamellata is a dorid sea slug, belonging to the sub-order Doridacea (Gofas 2011), a group which can produce acid secretions from the mantle as a defence. The species can be recognised by its dirty white colour with a brown pattern, horseshoe-shaped gills and club-shaped projections (usually white) on the mantle. This species is gregarious and feeds exclusively on barnacles, especially the acorn barnacle Semibalanus balanoides (Edwards 2004). Onchidoris bilamellata is widely distribution and is recorded north of the Arctic
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Pl. 1: Onchidoris bilamellata, Lowestoft beach, 20th March 2011 Photo: Andrew Easton
Pl. 2: Actinothoe sphyrodta, Southwold beach, 29th December 2010 Photo: Esther Simpson
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Circle in Greenland, Norway, Iceland and as far south as Connecticut on the North American coast. It has also been found in the North Pacific Ocean with records from the Bering Sea, Alaska and Puget Sound south to California (Sea Slug Forum 2011). The UK distribution is shown in Fig. 1. Interestingly, the Marine Life Information Service (MarLIN) staff reported that there have been very few records this year from Devon and Cornwall where it is commonly seen.
Fig. 1: Distribution of Onchidoris Fig. 2: Distribution of Actinothoe bilamellata sphyrodeta
© National Biodiversity Network 2011 © National Biodiversity Network 2011
Actinothoe sphyrodeta (Gosse 1858) Sandalled / Fried egg anemone On December 29th 2010, Esther Simpson photographed this anemone washed up on Southwold beach after heavy storms. She noticed the birds were enjoying the windfall along the strandline! This is another ‘First Record’ for Suffolk although the species has been recorded twice recently from North Norfolk by SeaSearch East, both times on wrecks. SeaSearch SCUBA divers recorded the species from the wreck of The Vera near Cley Beach in October 2010 and from the wreck of The Rosalie, 200 m off Weyborne Beach in September 2005. There have been several records from Kent in coastal waters between Dover and Ramsgate. However, the majority of UK records for this species are from the south and west coasts and it has also been recorded from the coasts of west and north France. The species’ absence from Suffolk and other eastern counties has been noted by MarLIN who state the Sandalled anemone is “Common around the British Isles with the exception of the east coast of Britain” (Ballerstedt 2007), presumably due to the shortage of rocky substrates. Using the NBN Gateway, a significant gap in records can be seen between Norfolk and the Farne Islands, 300 miles to the north in Northumberland (Fig 2).
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Actinothoe sphyrodeta usually occurs on the flat surfaces of rocks or other hard substrata (Ballerstedt 2007). Sometimes it occurs on seaweeds such as Laminaria (kelp), often in association with Devonshire cup coral and jewel anemones. The species is most commonly found sublittorally to a depth of about 40 m. This soft, delicate anemone is quite small with a basal diameter of about 2 cm. The name ‘sandalled’ arises from the stripes which can be seen running longitudinally down the column in Esther’s photograph. When the tentacles are showing, they are a white, translucent colour and relatively stout and pointed (Ballerstedt, 2007; Picton & Morrow, 2010 (b)). Actinothoe sphyrodeta could be confused with the elegant sea anemone Sagartia elegans. However, Sagartia elegans has numerous suckers on the column which look like white spots; these are lacking in Actinothoe sphyrodeta. Coastlines offer lots of potential to find interesting and unusual species, or even new records for the county, as Nick and Esther have shown this year. Please contact Gen Broad, Marine Recorder for Suffolk (tel: 01473 264308, email [email protected]) with any records. Esther said “It is exciting just wandering along the beach. The last time I was there, it was covered in brittle stars: I wish I’d photographed them. Who knows what I’ll see next time!”
References Ballerstedt, S. 2007. Actinothoe sphyrodeta. Sandalled anemone. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 08/06/2011]. Available from:
Gen Broad, SNS Marine Recorder
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THE PRIESTLEY WOOD DORMOUSE PROJECT ‐ THE FIRST DECADE
In June 2000, some captive-bred hazel dormice were released into Priestley Wood near Needham Market, a site with no dormice present at the time, but fulfilling the specific criteria for a potential release site. ‘Released’ in this context does not mean that someone turns up with a crate of dormice, opens the door, and says ‘Off you go’! This is a carefully managed project, run under the auspices of the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES). Some 200 dormouse boxes had already been put into the wood prior to the arrival of the dormice. About 30 dormice (15 pairs) were released. Each pair had a wire cage of approximately 12 cubic feet, which contained a nest box; these cages were distributed throughout the wood at appropriate intervals in good habitat. For the first couple of weeks, a team of volunteers visited daily on a rota basis to provide food and water. Food could be grapes, sunflowers seeds, rich tea biscuits, pieces of apple – they were really quite spoilt! After about 10 days, a small ‘door’ was opened in the cage, allowing dormice to get out, but also to get back in if they wish. The frequency of feeding was gradually reduced, until they were left to their own devices. That first autumn, the dormouse surveys revealed over 80 dormice present: one criterion of success (successful breeding in the first year) had been achieved. The following spring, from 200 boxes, not a single dormouse was found and no nests were present either. I wasn’t involved at the time, but I can still feel the disappointment and concern. The September check revealed some 19 dormice. This is hardly a runaway success, being lower than the number released, but at least we hadn’t lost them all, so there was a sense of relief.
Fig. 1: Mean numbers of Dormice counted in Sept/Oct surveys in Priestley Wood
100 80 60 40 Dormice 20
Mean number of 0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Year
Since then, we have had some ups and downs. The spring/early summer checks rarely reach double figures and occasionally produce not a single animal, so we have
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learned not to panic when this happens. The September/October checks have produced a low of 2 and a high of 74. In the last five years, the number of dormice found in the September and October checks has averaged 25. Fig. 1 shows the number recorded year by year averaged across the September and October records (in 2000 only September was checked). The number of dormice found at each check is not the whole story. In Suffolk at least, dormice typically have a single litter. However they occasionally have a second litter, but the youngsters from this may not have sufficient time to gain enough weight for hibernation. In a poor spring/summer, breeding may be late. Dormice need to achieve a weight of at least 12-15 g in the autumn to have a reasonable chance of surviving winter hibernation. The chart below shows the number of dormice at the October check each year that weighed at least 10 g, as an indication of the number that may be viable for coming through hibernation (weight data for 2000 and 2001 are not available).
Fig. 2: October counts of Dormice in Priestley Woods
40
30
Nos > 10g 20 Total Nos Number 10
0 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Year
Whilst 2004 must go down as a ‘good’ dormouse year in both total October numbers and in terms of numbers viable for winter hibernation, 2010 is better than all other years for which we have data. In 2005, where the average September/ October was the highest except the release year, only just over half of the October dormice were of sufficient weight. More interestingly, 2008 looked a poor year in terms of the total number of October dormice, but a higher than average proportion were of viable weight and if we take the number of dormice of more than 10 g, it becomes our third best year. More investigation is probably needed. It is of course all relative and the sort of numbers recorded each year are generally struggling to match the numbers released 10 years ago. It’s early days, but a more recent Suffolk release site appears to be doing rather better. Priestley Wood is owned by The Woodland Trust. Relatively nearby, is Bonny Wood, partly owned by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. Although of suitable habitat, dormouse surveys in the 1990s had proved negative. Admittedly this was based on
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hazel nut hunts (dormice leave a very characteristic hole) as surveys based on nest- tubes were in their infancy, but as far as one can tell, no dormice were present. There is a hedgerow between Priestley and Bonny Woods, offering a potential corridor for colonisation, though it did have at the time of the Priestley release some not insignificant gaps, usually considered a barrier to dormouse colonisation. However in 2002, some nest tubes were put in this hedge, and a few dormice were found. As a result, nest boxes were subsequently put into Bonny Wood and dormice were found in them. Bonny Wood entered the national dormouse monitoring programme in 2004. Numbers have been a bit erratic, as they are at most sites, but in the last few years, numbers of October dormice per 50 boxes have started to outstrip those of Priestley Wood, as shown in Fig. 3 below.
Fig. 3: Numbers of Dormice per 50 Boxes found in October surveys in Bonny Wood and Priestley Wood
16.0
14.0
12.0 10.0 Priestley 8.0 6.0 Bonny 4.0 2.0
Numbers per 50 boxes 0.0 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010
Year
This is intriguing. Was there a dormouse population in Bonny Wood all the time, or has it been colonised from the release into Priestley Wood? To answer this question, we are hoping to collect DNA from both populations, plus a ‘wild’ population a few miles away to act as a control. This should end the speculation, although of course science cannot always prove a hypothesis with absolute accuracy: there are often grey areas. So that takes us into the second decade of dormouse monitoring at Priestley Wood.
Liz Cutting April 2011
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ACUTE OAK DECLINE ‐ A NEW DISEASE OF OAK TREES IN SUFFOLK
Acute Oak Decline (AOD), a decline in which bacteria and a beetle Agrilus biguttatus appear to have key roles, is affecting Suffolk’s oak trees. This is causing concern among tree professionals, local authorities, the Woodland Trust, National Trust and the Country Land and Business Association, as trees can die within three years of symptom development. There is agreement that urgent extra funding is required to increase AOD research as we are dealing with a complex involving a number of organisms that are difficult to work with and the increased incidence has been so alarming that no more time should be lost in getting to the cause of the problem. So far research has shown that the bacteria are new to science, although nothing is known about their origin at this stage. Furthermore at the present time there is little understanding how the bacteria spread and what actually is killing the trees, whether it is the bacteria or secondary girdling by a beetle or poor root health or a combination of these factors. In Suffolk, we have numerous cases of AOD in our landscape and woodland trees and this is causing premature deaths. We should be very concerned about AOD. However, there is not much we can do until we understand its cause and effects. Dr Sandra Denman and fellow scientists from Forest Research, the official research agency of the Forestry Commission, are investigating the causes of the problem and are doing a truly excellent job. However, there is an urgent need for an adequate budget for staffing to speed up research, implement a monitoring programme and provide best advice. We all want to continue to see oak trees in our Suffolk landscape and oak wood in homes as furniture. At present we think we have AOD present throughout Suffolk in landscape trees and in many of our woods, however, specimens will have to be analysed by scientists for verification of bacterial species present and indications of the presence of Agrilus. The Agrilus beetle is associated with most of the symptomatic trees and scientists and entomologists will have to establish the precise relationship between the bacteria and the larvae of the beetle with regard to AOD. A major concern must be for our ancient trees in historic parks like Staverton and the condition of oak trees in Suffolk’s ancient woodland. The increase in pests, pathogens and diseases in Britain in general is largely due to globalisation of trade in plants and plant products, as well as climate change. All agree there is an urgent need for Defra to support and fund a project that researches, monitors and gives best advice on tree pests, pathogens and diseases as these are having an increasing impact globally on the health of the plant life that we all depend on. John Jackson, Director of the Royal Forestry Society says, “Urgent action is not an option – it’s a necessity”. Suffolk people have done much to raise concerns over AOD. Peter Goodwin, a founder of Woodland Heritage and owner of the fine furniture maker, Titchmarsh & Goodwin in Ipswich, has obtained charitable funding to support research. Peter is actively lobbying for increased Government action and an adequate project budget for Acute Oak Decline and other tree diseases currently affecting Britain’s trees. He
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told BBC news “I have never seen anything like it (AOD). Its spread over the last two years has been quite alarming; very little was known about the cause and the possible involvement of bacteria contributing to this disease complex; we have never had a bacterium that is capable of doing what this one is doing on oak”. Photos of some symptoms of AOD are shown in Plate 5, p. 19. AOD affects the UK’s two native species of oak - sessile and pedunculate; however, there must be some concern that this could affect other species in the future, for example in Spain a similar condition is reported on Holm Oak and Pyrenean Oak (Melojo).
Gary Battell Woodland Advisory Officer, Suffolk County Council
DO YOU KNOW YOUR DRAGONFLIES?
A simple question and if the answer is “yes”, you could be the next in line to help contribute to the fledgling (sorry, that should be teneral) Dragonfly Monitoring Scheme. The pilot project for this scheme which is run by the British Dragonfly Society was set up in 2009. The plan has much potential and I hope that it follows in the footsteps of the now well established UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme in providing a significant, statistically representative outline of trends for this taxa. One of the merits of this system is that it does not require a weekly commitment. One visit in suitable conditions every month between May and September is enough and a transect only has to be 100 metres in length. Please don’t think that your site has to be a Thursley Common or Wicken Fen either. The main aim is to keep a record of the change in numbers. One last thing - for me, the best thing about recording butterflies or dragonflies is that it has to be done in what can only be described as joyous weather. What more incentive does one need? I got in touch with Steve Prentice, the Dragonflies in Focus Project Officer for the British Dragonfly Society enquiring about setting up a transect on the Stour at Cattawade. He told me that at the moment there is only one transect set up in Suffolk. I admit that I don’t know all the names of the rivers in Suffolk, but I do know that there is more than one! I think it would be a worthy achievement if we could have at least one transect on every Suffolk river by 2013. If you can help, I am sure Steve would be delighted to hear from you. He can be contacted during office hours on 03000600647 or email [email protected].
Mark Nowers
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THE SLEEPLESS HIBERNATION
Dormice are the classic hibernators. They are thought to sleep continuously for several months, after doubling their weight to provide enough energy to remain alive during this period. Their ability to sleep is even reflected in their name, after ‘dormir’, to sleep. Bats, however, fly, which means that they can’t double their weight prior to hibernation. They would be unable to fly if their weight doubled. One tactic used by bats to reduce energy use during hibernation involves sleeping in a place which matches their desired body temperature, so in their torpid state they use very little energy keeping warm. To prevent fluctuation in temperature, hibernation is carried out in a place with a large thermal mass such as underground or deep within a tree. A person entering can disturb the bats, cause them to warm up and become active, and lose vital energy which would otherwise be used to maintain life during the hibernation. Best practice is to enter hibernacula no more than twice in a winter for essential survey only, to avoid excessive disturbance. This means that our knowledge of bats in any hibernaculum is restricted to two brief moments within the winter. For decades, bat ecologists have noted that bat numbers in a hibernaculum are different in the two visits, showing that bats enter and leave the hibernaculum as winter progresses. Recent improvements in technology are now giving a new insight into the activity within bat hibernacula. On 12th February 2011, an Anabat SD2 bat detector was placed within a bat hibernaculum at Cavenham Heath National Nature Reserve (TL74967326). At the time, four Natterer’s bats (Myotis nattereri) and two brown long-eared bats (Plecotus auritus) were observed, which incidentally was one more brown long-eared bat than observed there a month earlier. This bat detector can record the noises made by bats, from sounds audible to us to very high-pitched ultrasound used in echolocation when flying, onto a CF card embedded within the detector itself. An external 12V 3Ahr motorbike battery was used to give a week of continuous recording. The detector itself was not removed until 6th April 2011 so that hibernation would have come to an end and the act of removal was not critically disturbing. However, three bats were noted in the hibernaculum when the detector was removed. Prior to the bat detector survey, it was expected that little would be detected. Perhaps there would be a little flurry of sound after putting the detector in, as bats were disturbed by the person entering the hibernaculum. Apart from that, it was thought that there might be a brief record of ultrasound if a bat entered or left the hibernaculum during the recording period. However, the results were very unexpected. On the day that the bat detector was placed in the hibernaculum, at lunchtime, there were three social calls from bats spread over the next eight minutes. It is likely that this was a response to the disturbance from the surveyor. Social calls in bats are at a pitch audible to people and are distinct from ultrasound which is heard when bats are flying. The meanings of social calls are poorly understood. From 7 pm to 9 pm that evening, there were four separate social calls and seven brief ultrasound calls
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Fig. 1: Sonogram of a bat flying and social calling on 12th February 2011
recorded. A sequence of ultrasound clearly indicated flying and a further sequence of social calls and ultrasound were recorded together, which was helpful in confirming the identity of social calls and minimising the risk that those audible calls were produced by an animal other than a bat. Possible this too could have been a delayed response to the disturbance of the surveyor. Over the next week, the bat activity in the hibernaculum continued, mostly in the evenings.
13th February – two brief ultrasounds and ten social calls 14th February – one brief ultrasounds and two social calls 15th February – four brief ultrasounds and four social calls 16th February – one flight, two brief ultrasounds and one social call 17th February – seven brief ultrasounds, two flights, thirteen social calls, and one further recording of a sequence of calls during flight 18th February – three social calls 19th February – two flights and three social calls
Ultrasound records are interpreted as flights if a sequence of calls was recorded over, say, 0.5 seconds. The bat detector could only record in one part of the hexagonal hibernaculum, with a large central obstruction, so brief bursts of ultrasound could be
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bats flying away from the bat detector’s microphone. A more likely interpretation would be a stationary bat emitting ultrasound to detect any activity or change in its surroundings, but still requiring the bat to be alert and presumably not torpid. All recordings of flights were typical Natterer’s flights, with a wider range of frequencies than brown long-eared bats. It is not known which species made the social calls. A sonogram of a bat flying and social calling on 12th February 2011 is shown in Fig. 1. The ultrasound consists of the almost vertical lines up to around 80kHz, and the social calls consist of the dense mass of sound between 0 and 25kHz. Ignoring the day when the bat detector was installed, as activity then might have been influence by the installation, there were five flights, 16 brief ultrasounds, 36 social calls and one further flight combined with social calling over seven days. This is a total of 58 separate recorded activities by the six bats in seven days; it is not known if the flights were bats flying within the hibernaculum, or entering or leaving. Assuming that all bats stayed in the hibernaculum, there was therefore an average of 1.4 recorded activities per bat per day and an unknown number of activities unrecorded in part of the hibernaculum distant from the bat detector. The amount of bat activity was far greater than expected at the beginning of the survey, with frequent chattering, ultrasound usage to scan the bats’ surroundings, and occasional flights. The contribution made by Mike Taylor of Natural England in facilitating the survey is gratefully acknowledged.
Nick Sibbett 3 Salter Close, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP32 7EQ [email protected]
Contributions to White Admiral Deadlines for copy are 1st February (spring edition), 1st June (summer edition) and 1st October (autumn edition).
The opinions expressed in White Admiral are not necessarily those of the Editor or of the Suffolk Naturalists’ Society.
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THE LICHENS OF HIGHAM LODGE
In White Admiral 70: 11 (2008) a note appeared by Colin Hawes, reminding recorders that an offer had been made by Carol Gurney, the owner of Higham Lodge to record the flora and fauna therein. As the lichenologist, I decided to take up the offer and I made arrangements for myself and a colleague to visit the site on August 8th last summer. As was pointed out, the estate is approximately 600 acres in extent, situated in Dedham Vale. It is about 4.5 miles south of Hadleigh, being approached off the A12, by the B1068, which leads to the village of Higham. Close to the entrance, there are a number of houses of various sizes, flagged paving, walls, outhouses and workshops, some of which are low with slate tiles, or lath and roofing felt, which are easy to record from. However, the main workshops are high and roofed with asbestos sheeting - much less easy to get to. These substrates were the only saxicolous ones in the whole area, except for the dam wall supporting an unknown Caloplaca sp. (Pl. 4 c) at the outflow of the lake in a valley holding a beautiful water garden. The rest of the estate, which is on very light sandy soil, is made up of a pretty extensive garden round the houses, with either open pasture or woodland further afield. A number of fairly mature trees are present, with one gigantic oak in the vicinity of the house, the skeletal remains of an oak at the edge of pasture and another big oak with huge, low spreading branches, near to lakes further down the valley. All these trees were looked at in detail. During our walk around the property, the presence of soil lichens was considered, because the light sandy soil suggested heathland, particularly the field to the east of the house complex and the wood and racecourse beyond, but none were seen, probably because the land had been fertilised and the conditions would have been too enriched for the lichens to cope with. Altogether 62 lichen species and one lichenicolous fungus (a fungus that is host specific to a lichen) were noted during the day. The massive ancient oak, about 400 years old, by the house, had none of the ancient forest indicator species favoured by this kind of substrate, probably because previous pollution levels would have destroyed them and only four common species are now present. Other trees on the estate included some youngish planted cherries and oaks at the west end of the big block of woodland which, except at the margins, was too dark for colonisation to occur. These young trees had developing thalli on the branches and on buttress roots. Close by, at the edge of pasture, the huge, more or less decorticate oak lying on the ground was studied. The fairly rare Flavoparmelia soredians (Pl.3 c) was present on dead bark as were the two morphs of Evernia prunastri, the commonish yellowy white one and its grey counterpart. In these the colour or lack of it is due to the presence or absence of usnic acid, one of many organic chemicals that abound in lichens. Also noted where the bark had gone were Trapeliopsis flexuosa and
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Placynthiella icmalea. The first prefers worked wood, similar to the debarked branches, and the second prefers very well-drained, dry, acid soil. In the afternoon, a walnut tree near to the main house was looked at and twelve species were seen. The branches were well covered with Xanthoria parietina, the golden lichen that is common by roadsides these days, together with the small grey Physcias, which proliferate due to the nitrogen pollution from cars. Amongst this lichen cover, bushy Ramalinas, greenish brown spreading foliose thalli of Melanelixia subaurifera and various crusts, such as Arthonia radiata (Pl. 4 a), Lecanora chlarotera, Lecidella elaeochroma were present. Around the house in the formal garden, a number of different substrates of interest were encountered: - a metal gate, a wooden 5-barred gate and a huge decorticate tree stump which was well covered with Cladonia macilenta (Pl. 4 b). After the formality of the garden, the land turned to mixed woodland which was not of much interest, but near the lower lakes we found the very big oak, protected by tall vegetation round it. The lowest of the spreading branches of this tree were at head height, which made recording easy, and these were coloured grey mainly with Parmelia sulcata, a species that likes very acidic bark, and as with the walnut, the branches also occasionally supported Hypogymnia physodes, Physconia grisea and Punctelia subrudecta. The lichens of the stonework, paint, glass, metal, woodwork and roofing felt were also examined. About 30 species were seen on the trees and a similar number on stonework, with 16 on these other surfaces. Most of the stonework species were to be expected and are common in churchyards and other such places. However, there were two exciting finds, the first, on the slate roof of a ‘coal-bunker’, some very large, thalli of Xanthoparmelia luteonotata, extending to about 18 inches in diameter, (Pl. 3, a & b), only known from Suffolk and very rare in this county and the other, a green morph of the common lichen Candelariella vitellina, where the usual yellow pigment that covers the surface is missing, a variety which, it is thought, forms about 1% of populations. Other interesting finds included the grey form of Xanthoria polycarpa, similar to the Candelariella morph but not so rare, on a metal gate, Xanthoparmelia mougeotii on slate roofs (its usual habitat) but moving to paintwork and glass and a relatively common but undescribed Xanthoria sp., which seems to be turning up quite a lot recently on mortar pointing on south and east walls of churches. A full list of the lichens present has been sent to the owner and records are deposited in the SBRC database at Ipswich Museum and in Herb. Hitch.
Grid Ref 62/03-4.35-6 August 8th 2010 Recorders C.J.B. Hitch and J. Garrett
Christopher Hitch
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Plate 3: Lichens at Higham Lodge
(a) Habitat for Xanthoparmelia luteonotata
(b) Xanthoparmelia luteonotata
(c) Flavoparmelia soredians
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Plate 4: Lichens at Higham Lodge
(a) Arthonia radiata
(b) Cladonia macilenta
(c) Caloplaca sp.
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Plate 5: Some symptoms of Acute Oak Decline
(a) Wood ooze starting in infected tree
(b) Bleeds dry up at certain times of year (below left) (c) Thickening in sapwood associated with bleed (below right)
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Plate 6: Grass snake in the River Gipping
Fig. 1 Photos by J. Bowdrey Fig. 2
Plate 7 (below): Nuthatch in Hintlesham woods
Photo: Liz Cutting 20 White Admiral 79
TWO NOTES ON GRASS SNAKES
A determined grass snake (Natrix natrix) Whilst taking an enjoyable walk along the ‘Aggregates Trail’ in the Gipping Valley on 2nd April 2011, we paused for a while by the old lock at Pipp’s Ford (TM108535), where my wife Carol noticed a grass snake (Natrix natrix), swimming determinedly upstream against the current (Fig.1). It managed a few metres before the current took it back to its starting place but immediately tried again, making for the vertical brick wall and trying to gain leverage against the bricks with its head. Again and again it was swept back and eventually seemed to weaken, floating in a circle with its head resting on its body (Fig. 2) and drifting out of sight under the small bridge across the river. We waited for it to reappear on the other side, but after several minutes were surprised to see it had again swum upstream to the original spot and was still fruitlessly attempting to make progress against the current! Again the snake grew weak and drifted downstream to an eddy where it lay motionless. Concerned that it must by now be quite cold and exhausted I threw a dead elder bough into the water intending to give the snake something to rest up on, but the splash served only to reactivate it into recommencing its futile upstream bid. As before, it weakened and drifted downstream but this time appeared to gain some emergent vegetation where it hopefully was able to get ashore. We were both surprised not only by the reptile’s persistence but also by its ability to remain active in what must still have been quite cold water, at this time of year.
Jerry & Carol Bowdrey Grass snake movement and dry weather in 2010 Little is known about the duration and nature of dormancy in reptiles outside the cold winter period. Between March and October fieldworkers often notice a drop in sightings after a few weeks of dry weather until it rains again. This is thought to be associated with the problems, particularly in drier parts of the country, of water loss when they are active. Typically, in dry weather reptiles remain in one of their regular refuges and shut down, saving energy and water until wetter weather returns. Sun after rain is often the best time to look for reptiles. In 2010, as in 2011 we had a dry April to June with, in west Suffolk, around just 45 mm of rain over the three months. By the end of June snakes had been dormant for a long period and we wondered about what this might mean for their survival. In late June and early July, there was a noticeable movement of grass snakes of all ages before the weather broke in July and reptiles were again seen basking in usual places. In over 20 years of driving around Suffolk, and as a person fairly keen to identify road-kill, I had not seen grass snakes alive on roads and only around a dozen or so dead and a similar number reported killed over that period. Between 27th June and 3rd July 2010 however, I saw three grass snakes crossing a country lane from my
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car and all moving vigorously, possibly due to the heat of the road surface. One I photographed, the others were seen for around five seconds. All were unmistakably grass snake. The first was at Westall at around 12 noon, the second a juvenile at 8.30 a.m. on 1st July, seen locally close to the entrance to Dews Ponds SSSI/SAC in Bramfield. The third was seen two days later in Walpole at 10.30 a.m. This was either an amazing coincidence or due to some reason; why would snakes be crossing roads? Grass snakes are known from several studies to move from dry ground to wetter ground after spring mating. My interest was further raised when, at a nature event organised at Heveningham a few weeks later, two members of the public mentioned seeing a grass snake cross a road in front of them in the same period, one observer like me in a car, the other a dog walker and both having never seen it happen before. My guess from this evidence is that there may be a mechanism that makes snakes move location and perhaps long distance, if after around 12 weeks there has been little or no rain. This might be a movement to attempt to find a wet ditch, pond or river, to drink and perhaps to find damper habitat in general. If an April mating has not happened, then females might not breed during a drought spring year or might mate late and not lay eggs until the following year. This is supposition but the apparent synchrony is interesting. There is possibly a point when they are so thirsty that they move whatever the weather
Tom Langton
ANOTHER NEW SPECIES OF SPIDER FOR SUFFOLK
Four species of the Mimetidae, the so-called ‘Pirate Spiders’, occur in this country. Two of them are fairly common throughout and one is restricted more or less to the south-eastern quarter and is extremely uncommon. The fourth, Ero aphana, was first recorded in Dorset in 1968 and did not spread far from there until towards the end of the last century. The Spider Recording Scheme maps show that prior to 1992 this species was recorded from four hectads, but it has now been recorded from 29 hectads spread over several southern counties. Indeed, there is an isolated record from Nottinghamshire. Nor does it appear to be restricted to heathland, for it has now been recorded from gardens, houses, sheds and other unlikely places. Although following the similar rapid spread of the Wasp Spider, Argiope bruennichi, E.aphana is unlikely to generate the same number of records as it is far smaller and less showy. On 19th May 2011 I found an adult female E.aphana on gorse at Newbourne Springs N.R. which Paul Lee confirms as the first record of this species from Suffolk. Incidentally, this was the one hundred and eightieth species of spider recorded on Newbourne Springs N.R.
Ray Ruffell
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NUTHATCHES
The Nuthatch (Sitta europaea) is an extremely attractive bird, primarily found in mature woodland and open parkland. If you are lucky enough to live near such a wood or park, you may well have nuthatches visiting your bird feeders as they happily tolerate human environments nearby and certainly seem to have a taste for peanuts. This is a species that has experienced a large population expansion and a significant increase in its UK range during the last quarter of the 20th century (see www.bto.org/birdtrends2010/wcrnutha) and the RSPB woods in Hintlesham/ Hadleigh area boast a double figure number of territories. Whilst my own garden in central Ipswich has a surprisingly good bird list for such an urban location, unsurprisingly, it does not include nuthatches. However, I have been fortunate this year to find a nuthatch territory in Hintlesham woods, one of the local RSPB reserves. It is a very vocal species in late winter, so if there are nuthatches about, you will certainly know. They are not particularly shy, so you may well be lucky enough to get good views, especially before leaf-burst. I noted a pair investigating a hole in the trunk of an ash tree on 7th April and whilst sitting quietly nearby, I noted that they were in fact narrowing the entrance hole. They had obviously selected it as a nest site, on the north facing side of the tree. They make the entrance hole just big enough for them to squeeze in and out, but no more, and they plaster mud round the entrance to achieve this. Within the next few days, I witnessed courtship feeding and mating high in the canopy of nearby trees. As the nest was about 12-15 feet up, and the wood in this particular area was quite open, there seemed to be potential for capturing a few photographs too. I didn’t know exactly when eggs would be laid but with incubation of 13 days plus, I knew that I was unlikely to witness anything interesting for a while. I visited again late in April and then weekly. On my visit of 10th May, the eggs had obviously hatched and the parents were taking in a variety of invertebrate food and occasionally emerging from the nest hole with a faecal sac. I was careful to visit infrequently and stay only for a short time, though in truth the birds seemed fairly oblivious to my presence. The young have now fledged and as a rule, nuthatches have only one brood a year, so my ‘project’ has ended. However, I shall be keeping a look-out for other nests next year. Please note that although there are public footpaths along two sides of Hintlesham Woods, there is no public access within the woods themselves. Serious researchers and record gatherers for under-recorded fauna or flora are very welcome to visit the woods with the prior consent of the warden – [email protected] or 01206 391153.
Liz Cutting June 2011 (See photos on the cover and p. 20)
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IPSWICH MUSEUM CELEBRATES HENSLSOW’S 150th ANNIVERSARY Founder and President of Ipswich Museum from 1850‐1861
To mark the 150th anniversary of the death of the Reverend Professor John Stevens Henslow, Ipswich Museum will host a small display in his honour. Henslow is famously remembered as Charles Darwin’s tutor and the man who encouraged Darwin to accept the position on the HMS Beagle voyage. But he is also deeply entwined with the early days of Ipswich Museum, the development of the collections and placing the Museum at the forefront of the eminent scientific community of the time. Henslow was a great enthusiast for scientific education. He ensured that the museum provided free lectures for the working classes and encouraged moral and social improvements to the lives of his parishioners at Hitcham. His practical application of science helped to improve local farming methods and his curiosity about the small black stones known as ‘coprolites’ led to the development of the huge fertiliser industry bringing wealth and jobs to the region. Some of the letters written by Henslow to the Museum Curator George Knights remain in the museum collection. These letters, written in a hurry and then reopened to add up to three postscripts give a fabulous insight into the energy and enthusiasm with which Henslow approached his museum work. Henslow’s legacy remains to this day at Ipswich Museum where the original 1847 cabinets are still in use and the cases are still arranged according to his design. On display will be some of the objects Henslow collected and donated to the museum as well as the documents which tell us about Henslow’s life and personality. The display will open from the end of May 2011 until May 2012.
Ann Ainsworth
A BUTTERFLY SPRING The weather of March, April and May 2011 has set historic records for lack of rain, and East Anglia has been drier than anywhere else. Sunshine hours have also been well above average and the impact on our flora and fauna has been considerable, with early bluebells hitting the headlines, soon followed by complaints from farmers trying to grow crops. Gale-force winds in May blew sandstorms across West Suffolk and pig farms lost their topsoil. But what about the butterflies? Remember the snow of December 2010? The frosts of the winter must have taken their toll on the species hibernating as adults, particularly the relatively delicate Red Admirals. A few sturdy Small Tortoiseshells and Peacocks ventured out on fine days in February, but it was mid-March before they were out in numbers, accompanied by Brimstones and Commas. By then, the sun was warming everything up and it seemed that spring might be early and mild.
24 White Admiral 79
Those species that had overwintered as pupae, Orange-tip and Holly Blue most noticeably, appeared in good numbers early in April, and kept flying through a protracted spell of good weather. Temperatures were well above the norm for April, and reached record-breaking levels by 20th (23oC where I was in West Suffolk). By this time, all the Whites had emerged, along Dingy Skipper with Speckled Wood and Small Copper. All the hibernators were still on the wing, and the Red Admirals joined them, perhaps as immigrants. What a shame Hammersley Doug we did not have an April field meeting in this year’s calendar. On the Devil’s Dyke (just into Cambridgeshire) the first Dingy Skipper was noted on 23rd, and was flying in Suffolk by 4th May. The Norfolk Swallowtails were emerging by 5th May, much earlier than usual. Early May also brought Green Hairstreaks out, and this was the beginning of a good season for them. Three sat basking in the morning sun on the day of our first field meeting at Purdis Heath, though sadly they had disappeared by the time our group assembled at 2pm. The hot weather induced wandering instincts, and Green Hairstreaks began to turn up in unfamiliar places. A garden in Bury St Edmunds and an old quarry not far from Sudbury were both new records for their respective 10 km squares. Like the Holly Blue, the Green Hairstreak has had one of those long spring flight periods where it gets seen more often than usual. Brown Argus too, seems to be running a populous first generation. Our Dingy Skipper hunt in the King’s Forest found them in reasonable numbers on 6th, 13th & 14th May, and although they were again absent from RAF Barnham, there does appear to be a colony in the adjacent Barnham Heath, which is a Norfolk Wildlife Trust reserve (in Suffolk). This is good news as it provides some hope for re-colonisation at RAF Barnham by what is now Suffolk’s rarest butterfly. Strong winds and overcast skies took over from 16th May, and suddenly it seemed that the ‘May/June Gap’ had started. The Vanessids were no longer flying, the smaller butterflies were all sheltering, and even the Whites were scarce. The Silver-studded Blue was on the wing in Cornwall by 15th May, which is well ahead of usual. By 23rd May, the Silver-studded Blue larvae at Minsmere had mostly pupated, so we could be heading for an early season with them. [See update note below]. That is significant for the rest of the species which have overwintered as eggs or larvae, and we should be seeing them soon. The Large Skipper ought to be appearing any day now, to be followed by the Browns, whose grass-feeding larvae may have had a hard time munching on parched pastures. Given all of the above, it is quite surprising that none of the 2011 records mentioned above are earliest-ever records for Suffolk. But perhaps readers know better? Many of the spring species are bivoltine (double-brooded) and will make a second appearance in late summer. One of these is the Wall, and this year it is the subject of our special survey. Please send in records of any you see this summer/ autumn - even if you are not enrolled for the ‘Single-species survey’ [for more detail see page 26].
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Still unknown, is whether this will be a good year for migrants, although you will remember that in 2009, the Painted Lady invasion got underway on 24th May - the very day I wrote this note. Let’s hope that there will be clouds of migrants to brighten up our autumn.
2 June Update In the event, Large Skipper broke cover on 26th May. On 30th May, Silver-studded Blue broke all records by appearing a whole week ahead of Suffolk’s earliest-ever record (7 June 2007). The first was Rob Macklin’s sighting at Aldringham Walks, closely followed by others at Ransomes, Purdis Heath and Martlesham Heath, where 18 were counted on 2nd June. Not to be outdone, White-letter Hairstreak also put in a startlingly early appearance also on 2nd June, 18 days ahead of the standing record. Summer has arrived with a bang!
Rob Parker
THE WALL BROWN BUTTERFLY – A SINGLE SPECIES SURVEY
In conservation terms, the phrase “formerly common resident” is particularly gloomy. I haven’t hit 40 yet, but I despair of the fact that the House Sparrows that used to plague my father’s vegetable patch when I was just a boy, nest under the eaves no more. In the delightful borough of Croydon, House Sparrow is very much a formerly common resident. Here in Suffolk, House Sparrows are still relatively common and it fills me with joy to see them gorging on millet in our front garden. However, there are other species that are vying for that infamous moniker, the Wall being one. A tremendous amount of fieldwork has been undertaken over the last fifteen years and this has served to highlight a significant decline in records of the Wall. In the five year period of the millennium survey of Suffolk’s 1089 surveyed tetrads (1995-1999), the Wall was recorded in 350 (32%), with a distinct bias towards the coast and the Brecks. Over the most recent five-year period (2005-2009) of 997 tetrads, records were received from only 122 (12.2%). In 2010, records came from just 21 tetrads (4% of those surveyed), with no records from the west of the county.
Where you can help Only twenty-one tetrads, - surely the decline can not be that severe? Reasons for the decline are poorly understood and as such, the species has been allocated to the BAP category of “Research Only”. To the best of my knowledge, one of the primary drivers for readers of The White Admiral is to monitor our county’s wildlife; therefore, I would like to ask for your help in surveying sites for the Wall this year. Rob Parker has devised a list of paired tetrads across the county which we would like to get surveyed, ideally during both the May and August flight periods. One is a known or promising site and the
26 White Admiral 79
other is an adjacent or nearby square from which no records have been received in the last four years. This is not an arduous task. If you have not surveyed for butterflies before, you are missing a treat. At its simplest, it is a leisurely walk in the sunshine with a map, notebook and pencil. I can’t think of a more pleasurable pastime. The “Research Only” BAP category for the Wall will be greatly assisted if we can compile as much up to date information as possible. Even if you are unable to survey specific tetrads, any observations will of course be welcome. Monitoring is the bedrock of conservation and the combined distribution and expertise of SNS membership can truly help here.
Further reading For more information, I would direct you to Rob Parker’s monograph in the spring 2011 edition of the Suffolk Argus. Getting in touch If you would like to get involved, please email me at [email protected] or call 07562 980870. We will endeavour to offer survey squares close to your home or in your area of choice. First come, first served. Acknowledgements My sincere thanks to Rob Parker for providing the impetus for this survey and for allowing me to reproduce some of the detail from the aforementioned monograph.
Mark Nowers
Photo by courtesy of Butterfly Conservation of Butterfly courtesy Photo by Wall brown butterfly
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A Suffolk Naturalists’ Society Conference
LINKING LANDSCAPES – PATHWAYS TO THE FUTURE? nd Saturday 22 October 2011, Seckford Theatre, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 4JH
OCTOBER 22nd will soon be here. You will have found enclosed with this copy of White Admiral the official booking form for our conference. Since booking will be processed in order of receipt, we would urge you to book now. As tickets will be numbered (with row and seat number), early booking will ensure you obtain the seats of your choice. If you wish to sit with friends, we recommend that you book as a group. You will be pleased to know that members will receive priority. Including the themes of biodiversity, climate change, species movements, corridors and habitats, the conference will consider all aspects of our environment, natural and built, and also look at ways in which we can make progress in the future. For a sustainable future for all our wildlife, we not only need to guard and protect what we have, but also to restore, unite and reunite our declining habitats and generate new ones. At the conference, there will also be a number of exhibitors, amongst them Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Flatford Mill Field Centre, Butterfly Conservation, the RSPB and Browsers Bookshop of Woodbridge who will be selling local and natural history books. Jointly with the Suffolk Biological Records Society will be our own Suffolk Naturalists’ Society stall selling in-house publications and enticing people to join. We have a distinguished array of speakers: Steve Aylward of the SWT, Chris Baines, a leading environmentalist, John Cousins, Chair of Tastes of Anglia, Aidan Lonergan of the RSPB, Richard Mabey, one of our greatest nature writers, Oliver Rackham, the acknowledged authority on the British countryside, and Matt Shardlow of Buglife. This fine line-up of speakers is certain to make for a stimulating conference. Their brief CVs are outlined in the leaflet. Chairing the morning session will be Julian Roughton and in the afternoon, Bob Stebbings. Julian Roughton came to Suffolk in 1985 as a student volunteer to help with coppicing at Bradfield Woods. He then became Breckland Officer for Suffolk Wildlife Trust, and from 1988-95 was Regional Manager for the Woodland Trust. After a period as Conservation Manager for Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Julian was appointed Chief Executive of the SWT in 1999. Dr Robert E Stebbings started research on bats in 1952. From 1960 he worked as an ecologist for the Nature Conservancy and from 1974 provided conservation advice on bats for ITE and NCC. For ten years he was chairman of the Bat Specialist Group of the IUCN, responsible for conserving bats worldwide. In 1989, he became an independent wildlife consultant, specialising in species protected by legislation. Bob has been President of the Suffolk Naturalists’ Society since 1992.
We look forward to seeing you at this year’s conference. Further details will be posted on our website www.sns.org.uk as they become available.
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ODDS AND ENDS
Useful viewer‐magnifier A few months ago one of our bryology group showed off a magnifier he had bought on e-bay. He bought it for £0.99 plus £1.58 postage (from Hong Kong). The connection he gave was: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mini-Pocket-LED-60X-Microscope-Magnifier-Loupe- Jewelry/110634832265pt=UK_BOI_Medical_Lab_Equipment_Lab_Equipment_ET &hash=item19c2599189#ht_3329wt_1139
I went to this website and bought one at that irresistible price and it has proved to be useful on occasions . It has two white LEDs for normal viewing and a single UV LED apparently for detecting forged currency! The original connection is no longer there but if you use it you are taken to eBay and the same item is still there (seventh one down) and available on a buy-it-now basis at £1.00 plus £0.78 (from China). It is widely available via various internet searches and at prices that range up to £12.95.
Richard Fisk
Testers sought for new earthworm key The Field Studies Council has produced a new AIDGAP key to earthworms and are asking people to try it out and report back. They would like feedback by 1st August if possible. It is available as a pdf download at http:// tinyurl.com/aidgap Note that a lot of anti-virus software now flags up warnings with tinyurl addresses so it may be better to use the full FSC address below. www.field-studies-council.org/documents/PubsAIDGAP_test_version_Earthworms.pdf . This will take you straight to the key. Although written and edited by specialists, all AIDGAP guides are extensively ‘tested’ before final publication, so FSC are looking for ‘testers’ for their keys. If you are interested see: www.field-studies-council.org/publications/aidgaptesters.asp#testers for details.
Martin Sanford
Stag beetle sightings for 2011 I would like to thank all those who have provided me with records of stag beetles they have seen this year. Records of any further sightings are sought.
Colin Hawes
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A HERBALIST’S VIEW OF GREATER CELANDINE Chelidonium majus
This garden weed with small yellow flowers is a member of the poppy family and is not closely related to the lesser celandine (a member of the buttercup family). Its Latin name derives from the word ‘chelidon’ meaning swallow, because it was believed that swallows used the plant to open the eyes of their young. An associated belief was in its efficacy as a treatment for human eye disorders, but I know of no evidence to support this. Greater celandine is an archaeophyte, that is a plant introduced and naturalised before 1500. In fact it was probably introduced by the Romans as a medicinal herb, and has been used in herbal medicine ever since. Today it is used for disorders of the liver and gall bladder, in strictly controlled doses since some of the alkaloids it contains are toxic in excess. The bright orange latex in its stems can be applied to warts (taking care to avoid the surrounding skin) and is, I believe, effective in hastening their disappearance.
Caroline Wheeler
REMNANTS OF THIS YEAR’S FIELD PROGRAMME
Sunday 31st July 10.30am Geology group - Crag Sites of Orford/Bawdsey Area Leader: Bob Markham
Saturday 13th August 2.00pm Natural history survey of Purdis Heath SSSI, Ipswich - second visit Leader: Matt Berry 07599243026 or email [email protected]
Saturday August 20th 8.30 pm County Moth Night at Purdis Heath Leader: Tony Prichard , telephone 01473 270047
11th September 2pm - final orchard survey of 2011 Orchard adjacent to Oakley House Upper St, Oakley, Diss, Norfolk. IP21 4AT. Grid ref TM164 772 Leader: Paul Read [email protected], telephone 07860 585422.
For more information see White Admiral 78 or www.sns.org.uk 30 White Admiral 79
The Resident Carp (Dedicated to Helen Brown)
Silently it swims unseen In the murky waters of Kentwell In amongst the water lilies
Effortlessly it weaves in and out You wouldn’t know But for the occasional ascent When it surfaces like a submarine
For a moment It shows you its mirrors But like a creative thought It quickly disappears.
Rasik Bhadresa
THE NAIL FUNGUS IN SUFFOLK
The Nail Fungus, Poronia punctata, used to be quite common on horse dung throughout Britain and Europe many years ago, but with the advent of the motor car and changes in horse husbandry the fungus became very rare and almost totally confined to the New Forest. It is thought that fertilisation of pastures, additives in supplementary food, and worming all had their toll upon the fungus until eventually it became listed as a BAP species. Since then however, it has turned up in a few more locations. In August 2010, Sheila Francis thought she had found the species in dung from Exmoor ponies whilst on a field trip with the Lowestoft Field Club at RSPB Snape Warren. She arranged for an email to be sent to me, but I failed to receive it somehow, so was told of this exciting discovery only when I bumped into Sheila and friends last March. The next morning, I rushed over to Snape and headed to where I knew the horses like to congregate. I spotted the fungus straight away on the first patch of old dung I found. Further searching revealed it to be widespread all over the lower reaches of the reserve. The Nail Fungus is classed as an Ascomycete. As such it shoots out its gelatinous spores through a tiny opening on the fungal surface (those tiny black dots) from a buried flask-shaped chamber. The spores land on nearby blades of grass which are eaten and pass through the gut of an herbivore - in this case, a pony. With the warmth and moisture in the fresh dung, the spores quickly germinate to produce new fruiting bodies.
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I collected three lumps of dung to take home to examine. Having seen only photos, I had no reason to doubt this was the real thing.; the fungus looked like nails embedded in horse dung - its usual host - but when I later examined the mature spores under a microscope I realised they were far too big for P.punctata. I was aware of an even rarer species called P.erici, found only at one location on the North Norfolk coast but this was smaller than P.punctata and had only been found on rabbit dung. Furthermore, I erroneously assumed the spores would also be smaller (this species being so rare, very little had been written about it). So what was I looking at then? Luckily, I had previously booked a place on a British Mycological Society Ascomycete Workshop/Spring Foray held last May at Wentworth Castle in Yorkshire. There were 41 attendees, including eight European experts from six different countries. I was going to hand over my material to Dr Brian Spooner, the retiring Head of Mycology at Kew, but Brian pointed me to Thomas Laessoe, saying “He’s your man”. (I have a sneaking feeling now that Brian had already guessed what my fungus must be). Anyway, I was now quite nervous as Thomas is one of the ‘greats’ in the field of mycology and I was reluctant to interrupt such a great person in his work: he was seldom away from his microscope. So it was up to Liz Holden to examine my material and announce to the mycological world only the second record of Poronia erici in Britain, and also growing on a new substrate of pony dung. All this caused a bit of a panic for the mycologists who had come up from the New Forest counties, for I had previously said that the ponies had been brought from the New Forest. If so it would mean that all herbarium material of P. punctata on horse dung would have to be re-examined to see if it was P.erici. In addition any future Poronia finds would have to be thoroughly examined to determine to which species they belonged. Fortunately, back home, the RSPB were able to tell me that the ponies had come from Sussex. Much hard work now has to be done to discover if P.erici has always been present at Snape, how long the spores remain viable, or if they were originally introduced from Sussex with the transfer of the Exmoor Ponies.
Roadside Nature Reserves Last April, I cut back the overgrown vegetation at Marlesford RNR where the rare Battarrea phalloides occurs. This has been known to produce fresh fruit bodies as early as May, so after the recent rains I went back to check out the site, and although no new fruiting bodies were seen, I was able to find seven from last year still standing and also rediscovered of an earthstar Geastrum fornicatum, which I had not seen there for over five years. Just as exciting was my finding of about six Ant Lion pits right underneath a patch of privet that I had cut back in late April, so these craters have appeared in a matter of no more than five weeks. I do not keep records of Ant Lion pit locations, but these must be some of the furthest inland.
Neil Mahler
32 White Admiral 79
Plate 6: Nail Fungus Photo: Richard Fisk Photo: Richard (a) above - immature fruiting bodies on fresh pony dung (b) below - asci on dried dung, with nail-like appearance Photo: Neil Mahler Photo: Neil Mahler White Admiral 79 33
A FURTHER INFLUX OF RANNOCH LOOPER IN 2011
Photo: Tony Prichard Photo: Tony
In Britain the Rannoch Looper moth is normally to be found in central Scotland, where it occurs in pine and birch woodland, with the larva feeding on bilberry and possibly cowberry. There are a few twentieth century records of this moth – J. & G. Burton at Barking and S. Beaufoy at Bentley in 1946 and later G. Ford noted the moth at Norton in 1968. In 2009 there was a large influx of the moth across the country and in Suffolk, with sightings of the moth from mainly coastal stations in May and June. A smaller influx occurred in the county in late June 2010. This year has seen what appears to be a massive influx of the moth starting around 3rd June, peaking over the next three of four days and with odd records of the moth still appearing now in mid-June. Most of the records have come from the coastal counties on the south and south-east coast, from Cornwall round to Suffolk. One of the first individuals of the year was recorded at Landguard and the moth group recorded four at Sizewell the following night. One lucky trapper found fifty seven in his trap in Kent. Since then I have heard of further Suffolk records from Ipswich and Bawdsey. The moth is unlikely to establish itself in the county due to a lack of the foodplant, although it may well establish itself, at least temporarily, elsewhere in southern Britain. The records so far appear to be almost exclusively of male moths: I am only aware of one record of a female turning up at recorders’ lights as part of this migration wave. The influx in 2009 is thought to have originated from the Netherlands based on the prevailing winds at the time and coupled with a local population explosion of the moth in that area. It remains to be seen if this year’s influx had a similar source.
Tony Prichard
34 White Admiral 79
WEBSITE UPDATES
The society runs two websites: http://www.sns.org.uk and http://www.white- admiral.co.uk both of which have recently had a makeover. We also run the SNS Blog at http://snblog.boxvalley.co.uk/blog and the SNS Discussion Group at http:// tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/suffolknatssociety/. Both site layouts have been updated, incorporating the new SNS logo, and at the same time our main menu has been reorganised to make key features easier to locate. In addition you will now find quick links to the main sections of both sites at the top of every page. Whenever you log on please look at the top right corner of any page, this also carries a couple of quick links to whatever the latest news or initiative might be. This might be a reminder of the next field trip or details of a members evening and right now there is the latest Conference News. It is worth noting that as October the 22nd draws nearer the website conference page is always the best place to go to for the latest information. Council has just produced a number of useful leaflets and members who have not visited our websites for a while will find these all available to download. Rasik Bhadresa has also produced an attractive new leaflet giving details of the society: you may see these appearing shortly in libraries, nature reserves etc to encourage new members to join. If you know of anyone who might be interested in becoming a member then they can view this membership leaflet on line, or it can be downloaded and printed. Forms to join the society can also be printed from the website and should be sent to Rosemary at the museum. Recently our treasurer Graham Simister has initiated our participation in the Gift Aid Scheme, which makes your subscription worth 20% more to the society. Our Admin. Secretary, Rosemary Milner, has worked very hard to process all the forms which have come in since they were sent out in White Admiral 78. (We should take a moment here to thank Rosemary not only for all this extra work but for all the years she has spent supporting the SNS council, of which we are all very appreciative). Any members who have mislaid their Gift Aid form will find one on the site, so please do make sure you have sent one in. If you are contemplating some natural history research and could use a little financial assistance then our Secretary, Gen Broad, has prepared a new bursary application form to download and has provided some useful information to help with your application. Bursary application forms can be sent in to Rosemary at the address on the form and we would encourage members and non-members alike to read through the details and consider the possibilities for their area of interest. Should you wish to contact the society then email is generally the quickest way and the ‘Contact SNS’ page has again been revamped to make it easier to decide which is the best address to use. Please do note that to reduce junk mail the site does not contain active email links, in other words you will have to copy the address manually. Members may also find the ‘Surveys’ page useful. Here you will find many hints and tips on sending in records to our various county recorders and, if you wish
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to find a very accurate Ordnance Survey Grid Reference for a particular spot anywhere in the British Isles. Try the link to Keith Balmer’s ‘Grab a Grid Reference’ webpage on the BNHS website. This makes it very easy to find an OS reference using an on-screen map with satellite imagery. All the normal areas of the sites are still there. If you have not checked the ‘What’s on - Field Trips’ page lately then you may well have missed an extra event or two that has been added since the last White Admiral went to press. We add non- SNS events as well so if you are organising something why not email us and let us help publicise it for you. If you are a member who has not used our sites yet then do please try them - it is our quickest means of communication. We can put new information onto the website within hours; a notice printed in White Admiral can take months to get sent out to the membership. One website feature which is much underused is the SNS Blog. Apart from entries to announce members’ evening and the Conference, the last posting from a member was in August 2010. Since it does not appear to be of much use to members it is probable that this will not be continued when next it comes up for renewal. The White Admiral website started in 1998 and contains all issues since number 40 to read on line. With issue 76 we switched from re-writing each article as a web- page to providing each complete edition as a pdf file. This has proved very popular; some people even prefer to have a copy of the latest issue on their computer for reference as well a hard copy on their bookshelf ! These pdf editions are downloaded by search engines such as Google and indexed. This means that if Google is used anywhere in the world it will then provide a link to download the correct White Admiral edition that relates to the subject search. In this way the profile of the society is raised. I also hope that this may provide even more encouragement for potential authors to provide contributions - after all their work may be being read by a very large audience indeed. In the last month we have had people from as far away as America, Russia, China and Australasia amongst many more. Do contact David Walker if you have a potential article for the next issue. There are also several ex-pats living around the world who, being born in Suffolk, like to keep up with the natural history of home. However, since each issue of White Admiral is downloaded an average of 260 times or 4 times a day for the first two months there must be quite a number of other readers who are regulars. It seems fitting then to end with a plea to those extra but regular readers to consider joining The Suffolk Naturalists’ Society and gain all the other benefits of membership.
Adrian Chalkley Website Manager
36 White Admiral 79 SUFFOLK NATURALISTS’ SOCIETY BURSARIES
The Suffolk Naturalists’ Society offers five bursaries, of up to £500 each, annually.
Morley Bursary - usually awarded for studies involving insects (or other invertebrates) other than butterflies and moths.
Chipperfield Bursary - usually awarded for studies involving butterflies or moths.
Cranbrook Bursary - usually awarded for studies involving mammals or birds.
Rivis Bursary - usually awarded for studies into the County’s flora.
Simpson Bursary - in memory of Francis Simpson; this will be for a botanical study where possible.
Any member wishing to apply for a bursary should write, with details of their proposed project, to the Honorary Secretary. As applications are normally considered at the Council meeting in May of each year, proposals should be with the Hon. Sec. by 30th April.
Applications made at other times will be considered but, even if considered worthy of an award, may not be successful if all the bursaries for the current year have already been taken.
The following two conditions apply to the awards:
1. Projects should include a large element of original work and applications must include a breakdown of how the bursary will be spent. 2. A written account of the project is required within 12 months of receipt of a bursary. This should be in a form suitable for publication in one of the Society’s journals: Suffolk Natural History, Suffolk Birds or White Admiral. THE SUFFOLK NATURALISTS’ SOCIETY
FOUNDED IN 1929 by Claude Morley (1874 -1951), The Suffolk Naturalists’ Society pioneered the study and recording of the County’s flora, fauna and geology, to promote a wider interest in natural history.
Recording the natural history of Suffolk is still one of the Society’s primary objects, and members’ observations are fed to a network of specialist recorders for possible publication before being deposited in the Suffolk Biological Records Centre, which is based in Ipswich Museum.
Suffolk Natural History, a review of the County’s wildlife, and Suffolk Birds, the County bird report, are two high quality annual publications issued free to members. The Society also publishes a newsletter, White Admiral, and organises two members’ evenings a year plus a conference every two years .
Subscriptions: Individual members £15.00; Family membership £17.00; Corporate membership £17.00. Joint membership with the Suffolk Ornithologists’ Group: Individual members £26.00; Family membership £30.00.
As defined by the Constitution of this Society its objects shall be:
2.1 To study and record the fauna, flora and geology of the County 2.2 To publish a Transactions and Proceedings and a Bird Report. These shall be free to members except those whose annual subscriptions are in arrears 2.3 To liaise with other natural history societies and conservation bodies in the County 2.4 To promote interest in natural history and the activities of the Society
For more details about the Suffolk Naturalists’ Society contact: Hon. Secretary, Suffolk Naturalists’ Society, c/o Ipswich Museum, High Street, IPSWICH, IP1 3QH. Telephone 01473 433550
The Society’s website is at www.sns.org.uk