Scrub Clearance ·at Purdis Heath

Saturday January 25th 2003

by Richard Stewart

Drinker

by Mervyn Crawford

Thanks to plenty of advance publicity, much of it generated by James Baker of the Greenways Project, this event was attended by about fifty people, some of whom stayed all day, others

putting in several hours of work.

Ac a minimum a total of210 volunteer hours was achieved, with chose present well fortified throughout che day by plentiful supplies of drinks and biscuits. One person used a chainsaw but most cackled the scrub with saws or loppers. In this souchwesc corner of the site, which has SSSI designation, I recorded a good count of Silverr--. scudded Blues in 200 l but numbers

C )j~were low last year, mainly due co seedling Silver Birches shading ' out much of the site and reducing the hotspots _,.,, __ needed by the ant / /. - • • 1 "' ";-.. colonies, which / 'j • • • ••• •r• • , •; • ., are an integral pare of the Silveri'' •; I• scudded Blue's life ' . /. • cycle. If this colony \ ,,. '=', declines ic could affect '\'\ the status of the site and resurrect \ "- applications for • housing development.

Silver Studded Blue

by Beryl Johnson

Wildlife seen on a day chat had cloud, brief showers, a rainbow and bright sunshine, included Heron, Green Woodpecker, Great Spocced Woodpecker, Mistle Thrushes and some flowering Gorse. The Rabbits sensibly kept hidden. By the end . of the day a large area, much larger than anticipated, had been cleared of scrub, one large bonfire had taken place and other large heaps awaited burning the following week. Some of the longer poles will end up in racehorse fences and the longest will form part of sea defences on our Suffolk coast. The stumps were created with a herbicide co hopefully prevent regrowth and ic will be interesting co moniror this site co see if numbers improve. There is still the problem of the large row of Silver Birches nearby, which seed the area and need reducing in numbers. In the long term a wide corridor could be created co cry co link up this area with chat at the other end of the site, adjoining Purdis Farm Lane. Perhaps the best pare of what was a very successful and harmonious day was the list of organisations represented. I apologise if I have missed any but my list covers Buccerfly Conservation, Greenways Project, Ipswich and

District Natural History Sociery, Suffolk Wildlife Trust, the Sandlings Group, Otley College,

Ipswich Golf Club, a Park Ranger, local residents and members of the Parish Council, Bucklesham

Road Action Group and, thankfully, several children. The local press also attended and spent some time caking details and photos.