White Admiral 78

WHITE ADMIRAL Newsletter 78

Spring 2011

SUFFOLK NATURALISTS’ SOCIETY

CONTENTS EDITORIAL SNIPPETS FEWER TURBINE TURNS MEANS FEWER BAT DEATHS BIODIVERSITY? DON’T FORGET THE FLEA! OBITUARY Michael Kirby ROSEMARY BEETLES - CAN YOU ADD FURTHER RECORDS FOR SUFFOLK? CO-OPTED COUNCIL MEMBER - Liz Cutting IT’S NOT ALL DOOM & GLOOM IF YOU GO DOWN TO THE WOODS TODAY… IN WITH THE NEW A HERBALIST’S VIEW OF SWEET VIOLET HOW TO IDENTIFY THE KILLER SHRIMP SNS FIELD MEETINGS PROGRAMME 2011 BOOK REVIEW Mosses and Liverworts of Britain and Ireland FIRST MARINE PLAN AREA IN NORTH SEA LETTERS, NOTES AND QUERIES Spurge and Burdock - replies Request for help with landscape project

Compiled by the editor Kieran Mulvaney Adrian Chalkley David Walker Colin Hawes Nigel Odin Rasik Bhadresa Richard Fisk Caroline Wheeler Compiled by the editor

1 2 3 4 6 9 10 11 14 19 20 21 22

Richard Fisk BBC report

26 28

Brian Fountain Nick Miller

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Cover photograph: Prunus avium in Groton Wood by Rasik Bhadresa 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 David Walker Ancient House Lower Street, Stutton Suffolk IP9 2SQ Quercus121@aol.com SPRING 2011 After one of the coldest winters on record time will tell what effect the severe weather has had on Suffolk’s wildlife. At least the Coal Tits that visit the seed feeders here at Ancient House have survived, and it is good to see other the other tits in their smart new plumage sizing up potential nest holes. Let’s hope that they have a successful breeding season to restore some of the numbers lost in the freeze.

Council members have been working hard to make 2011 a good year for the SNS too. Meetings are lively events these days, with busy agendas, new ideas to discuss and plans to agree.

Chairperson Joan Hardingham picked up the Rose Hill baton from Adrian Knowles and, after obtaining several quotes, arranged felling of the unsafe Holm Oaks in the woods at Rose Hill, so we can stop fretting about that problem.

Treasurer Graham Simister has sought advice from the charity commisioners on making deployment of our financial resource more consistent with charity status. An example of this might be to purchase one of the wildlife sites currently in public ownership but up for sale, and then arranging for another body to manage it. Graham has also worked up procedures to enable SNS membership subscriptions to qualify for ‘Gift Aid’ tax refunds, thereby enhancing subscription income. Tax-paying members are urged to take up this option. Please refer to the leaflet enclosed with the newsletter.

Gen Broad, our Hon. Sec., has not been idle either - thanks to her we have a varied and interesting field meetings programme (see p.22). The programme includes an opportunity to visit three traditional Suffolk orchard sites in varying stages of conservation under the leadership of apple expert and all-round naturalist Paul Read. You could discover unusual species in a rare setting and learn about orchard management all in one visit! Gen has also been busy in drawing up criteria and a simpler system for processing bursary applications.

Rasik Bhadresa has worked wonders in organising the conference, not least in recruiting a truly impressive programme of eminent speakers. See p. 29 for more detail. This promises to be an enjoyable and edifying experience - book early!

Finally, Council wishes to record its gratitude to the late Mr M.J.F. Taylor for remembering the SNS in his will. Time was spent in the February meeting discussing how to use the legacy in a worthwhile and memorable way rather than just placing it in the investment account. The eventual decision will be reported to members through these pages.

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SNIPPETS ♣ An environmental audit has shown that Breckland is one of the England’s most important areas for flora and fauna, containing over 25% of the country’s rarest species. Sixty five species are rarely seen elsewhere, including plants such as Spanish catchfly, field wormwood, and Breckland thyme and insects such as the brush-thighed seed eater and the basil-thyme case-bearer moth. The study was organised by Dr Paul Dolman of UEA over an 18 month period and resulted in over a million records, many gathered by amateurs. ♣ 2012 will be the last year for contributing dragonfly records to the Dragonfly National Atlas, which is scheduled for publication in 2013. Suffolk records should be sent to adrian.parr@btinternet.com or via the BDS website at www.dragonflysoc.org.uk. ♣ In a 2008 nationwide survey of 121 ponds across the UK co-ordinated

by Freya Smith of the Zoological Society of London, the fungus that causes chytridiomycosis in amphibia was found at 19 sites on all species of British amphibia except the Marsh Frog. The Natterjack Toad, the rarest UK species, showed the highest infection rate while the Great Crested Newt showed the lowest.

All four sites sampled in Suffolk gave negative results. A repeat survey is planned for 2011. For more information go to www.arguk.org and click on ‘projects’. ♣ If you were to blindfold a Robin’s right eye it wouldn’t be able to orientate itself using the Earth’s magnetic field. Blindfold the left one however, and the birds orientation isn’t affected at all. This is because the Robin’s ability to detect a magnetic field is centred within the right eye and left brain hemisphere. (Research by Wolfgang Wiltschko, 1968) ♣ Former SNS Chairman and Treasurer Howard Mendel has retired from his post at the Natural History Museum in Kensington. White Admiral wishes him a happy and productive retirement - and hopes to receive some articles! ♣ A shocking report, published on the Defra website in November 2010, reveals that 70% of wild ducks bought in food retail outlets in England had been illegally shot with lead. Environmental Protection Regulations 1999 made it illegal to shoot water birds with lead or to use lead shot over wetlands. Spent lead shot is eaten by water birds as food or for grit and causes severe poisoning. It is one of the biggest causes of death and suffering among this group of birds, estimated to kill one in twelve wildfowl in Europe. There has been no enforcement of the law since the regulations were introduced. ♣ A four-year field trial in which more than 800 badgers in Gloucestershire were vaccinated against bovine TB showed a 74% reduction in the numbers of badgers testing positive for the disease. In a computer modelled comparison of the effectiveness of vaccination with that of culling (over a 10-year period for a 12 mile square area) the difference was only one ‘herd breakdown’ per year. More details of the analysis can be found on the Badger Trust website.

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FEWER TURBINE TURNS MEANS FEWER BAT DEATHS

In the search for alternatives to fossil fuels, wind power is high on most people’s lists. But for all their non-climate-changing goodness, wind farms pose an environmental problem of their own: large concentrations of wind turbines can mean significant local mortality for birds and for bats, which are struck by the turning blades. For environmentalists and turbine manufacturers, finding a way to overcome this mortality is, naturally enough, important. It’s all very well reducing carbon emissions, but a ground full of bat and bird carcasses hardly screams environmental friendliness. But there is evidence that mortality rates can be reduced relatively simply, for example, by not siting wind farms in areas of high concentrations of bats or on migratory bird pathways, or by using more modern turbines with larger, slower-turning blades. It may seem obvious, but the frequency with which turbine blades turn is the single biggest factor in bat and bird mortality, and the ease with which a slight change in that factor can cause a significant decrease in bat mortality, is underlined by a new study published in November 2010 in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. In the study, Ed Arnett of Bat Conservation International and colleagues examined the effects of changes in wind turbine speed on bat mortality during the low-wind months of late summer and early autumn. They monitored 12 of the 23 turbines at the Casselman Wind Project in Somerset County, Pennsylvania in the Appalachian Mountain region and recorded bat fatalities for 25 summer and autumn nights in both 2008 and 2009. In both years, the researchers found at least one fresh bat carcass every night that the turbines were fully operational. That changed, however, when the turbines’ “cut-in speed” was slightly altered. The cut-in speed is the wind speed at which turbines are programmed to begin rotating and producing power. Currently, most turbines in the US cut in at wind speeds of approximately 8-9 miles per hour. Arnett and colleagues found that a higher cut-in speed means less frequent turbine rotations and thus fewer bat deaths.

Specifically, by raising the cut-in speed to roughly 11 mph, bat fatalities were reduced by at least 44 percent, and by as much as 93 percent, with an annual power loss of less than one percent.

Arnett says: “This is the only proven mitigation option to reduce bat kills at this time. If we want to pursue the benefits associated with wind energy, we need to consider the local ecological impacts that the turbines could cause. We have already seen a rise in bat mortality associated with wind energy development, but our study shows that, by marginally limiting the turbines during the summer and fall months, we can save bats as well as promote advances in alternative energy. Rarely do you see such a win-win result in a study. There is a simple, relatively cost-effective solution here that could save thousands of bats. This is good news for conservation and for wind energy development.”

Kieran Mulvaney White Admiral No 78

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BIODIVERSITY? DON’T FORGET THE FLEA! - the waterflea that is…

It is interesting that Buglife has a strap line that reads ‘Conserving the small things that run the world’. As county recorder for freshwater invertebrates it is the small things that concern me. However, it is telling that out of some 28,000 records on my database I have 5,465 beetle records from 136 recorders but only 477 records of water fleas from 14 recorders. Of those 14 recorders only six were working in the last twenty years and during the last ten years only three recorders have sent in records.

So whilst the small things that run the world have their fans, the smallest things are definitely less popular and, it would seem, have waning popularity. However, I know a young entomologist, Hannah Robson, who is employed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and she is looking into the diet of Scoter Ducks in Scotland.

Apparently water fleas are an important constituent of a young duckling’s diet, but she has not found it easy to become adept at identifying the water fleas of Scottish lochs due to a dearth of information. Few people are working on the group, there is no national recording scheme and little knowledge as to which species are rare and which are common - indeed the most up to date key in English is a reprint of that published by the FBA in 1966.

Hannah and I launched the Cladocera Interest Group at the beginning of January.

We have already had an encouraging response showing that there are still people out there who have not forgotten these micro-crustaceans which help drive the aquatic ecosystem. We are busy putting together a website to publicise members’ work and an occasional newsletter to help members contact each other. We have contacted a wide range of other bodies in an effort to reach as many potential members as we can.

The Cladocera Interest Group would be pleased to include White Admiral readers who have an interest in water fleas in our mailing list and to encourage anyone with a microscope and a tea strainer to take the first steps in identifying some water fleas. If you are already involved in recording or identification then so much the better! Please email admin@cladocera.org.uk in the first instance to express an interest.

Adrian Chalkley County Recorder for Freshwater Invertebrates

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Polyphemus pediculus A predatory water flea found in Lound lakes

Eurycercus lamella us The Giant Crawling Water Flea Very common in Suffolk, this one from the River Brett

Scapholeberis mucronata f cornuta The Horned Meniscus Water Flea – a very common water flea in Suffolk.

It is swimming the right way up. It clings beneath the surface film by setae on the straight ventral rims of the valves and swims along whilst collecting food particles.

Water fleas photographed by Adrian Chalkley.

(The common names have been created by Buglife).

SUFFOLK NATURALISTS’ SOCIETY ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2011 The AGM will be held on Thursday 14th April at 7.30 pm at the Holiday Inn, Ipswich The Spring Members’ Evening will immediately follow the meeting, with refreshments and short presentations about the 2011 field meetings programme.

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OBITUARY Michael Kirby (1928-2011) – naturalist extraordinaire

Dr E. J. M. Kirby joined the Suffolk Naturalists’ Society in the year 2000 not long after retiring and moving to Westleton. He had worked as a plant physiologist in Cambridge; in his long career he gained international respect for his research, mainly into the growth of wheat and barley. His work was very influential: he wrote over 100 professional papers and was cited almost 2,500 times in publications by other scientists.

Michael was born on 2nd October 1928 in Henley-on-Thames. He spent most of his school years in the village of Thrussington, in Leicestershire, and attended Wyggeston Grammar School in Leicester. After school, towards the end of the war and for a few years after the war, he delayed entry into university as preference was given to returning servicemen; Michael worked on a local farm instead. He duly went to Durham to study agriculture (in the school that was later to become part of Newcastle University), and then to the Nottingham School of Agriculture at Sutton Bonnington for his PhD, which was on “Host-parasite relations in the choke disease of grasses”. After a short time at Glasgow, Michael moved to Cambridge, first to the University and then to the Plant Breeding Institute. In his later years at the Plant Breeding Institute and his early years of retirement, Michael travelled and worked with colleagues in other countries, most particularly Australia. He and Mabel spent nearly four years in Perth, and he co-authored the Lupin Development Guide, which complements his earlier and widely known Cereal Development Guide (co-authored with Margaret Appleyard).

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Michael’s SNS membership details stated his interests as ‘general natural history’. It became evident at once that here was a man who, driven by a burning curiosity, gifted with intellectual prowess and equipped with useful practical skills and ingenuity, was determined to make a significant contribution to the study of natural history in Suffolk. Retirement in Westleton was not going to be a period of inactivity! First indications of Michael’s copious productivity arrived in the form of a couple of articles in 2002 in the summer and autumn editions of White Admiral.

The first of these, Why Do They Do It?, with its fine photographs was a short letter pondering the reasons for clustering behaviour in baby garden spiders, which gave a clear hint to the emphasis in most of Michael’s investigations that were to follow. He wanted to know why, what are the benefits? The other, a longer piece, consisted of a progress report on his study of antlion larvae on Westleton Common and in Dunwich Forest. Armed with equipment borrowed from Otley College and a temperature data logger provided by the SNS - and essentially, a microwave oven, used with the permission of ‘The Studio Kitchen Manager’, Michael analysed the effect of the high temperatures experienced by these insects. This work was only a part of the full study, which was reported in two editions (2001 and 2005) of Suffolk Natural History. Both of these reports have turned out to be seminal papers, frequently cited by other authors, and the first, Antlions in the Suffolk Sandlings (2001) is possibly Michael’s magnum opus in the field of natural history.

Members of the SNS will recall with fondness a field study day organised by Michael at Dunwich village hall. This was a joint event with the Westleton Common natural history group in which he was a leading figure and for which he did much good work. After a morning of talks and discussion the weather turned damp for the afternoon foray into the forest. A torrential downpour did nothing to deter Michael or his audience from seeking out the antlion pits - neither did it deter the animals in question which, amazingly were seen by all.

After a relative lull in major investigatory work (but still finding time to speculate on ‘lesser’ questions such as the identity of soft scale insects on gorse: a problem solved by persistence, a bit of serendipity and correspondence with researchers at Christchurch College, Canterbury) Michael turned his attention to other SNS matters. Thus he became a member of the SNS Council on which he served from 2003 to 2006. Falling membership of the society was an issue at that time, so Michael set himself the task of analysing the membership, looking for reasons why people joined and left. This stimulated Council to discuss the facts he presented and make changes in its activities and priorities. After a period of turbulence, membership numbers eventually stabilised. He also undertook the task of creating a spreadsheet index of articles in back copies of Transactions to facilitate a keyword search: a laborious job from which many have benefitted.

However, it was not long before the draw of active enquiry became irresistible again, this time into spangle galls and the recurrent fascination with how and why interactions evolve between host and parasite. A beautifully articulated article in the summer 2004 White Admiral was accompanied by photos of the highest quality.

Michael’s mastery of photography was used not only for illustrative purposes but White Admiral No 78

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also to throw light on the biological relationships between the subjects, a feature of many of his studies. This began what was probably his most productive period, for there then followed a sequence of papers on kidney-spot ladybirds, scale insects, a separate one on their feeding methods, and gorse mites and their predators. The climax of this work was the article A Triple Alliance – the spindle tree, the ladybird and the scale insect (White Admiral summer 2007). Triple alliance was chosen carefully in the title for its double entendre, for Michael had worked in a threesome on the project with fellow Westletonians Joan Westcott and Alison Paul.

Disappointed not to have a full paper published in Suffolk Natural History, Michael submitted it to British Wildlife where it was published in the February 2008 edition a proper and fitting recognition of the work.

2007, 2008 and 2009 saw no let-up in his output – White Admirals included reports of a study of the biological succession involved in the decay of an oak stump, barkflies and silk-button galls on oak, lichens on bonsai trees, knopper galls, a slug suspended by mucus, and a rare alga found on Westleton Common. Michael enjoyed working with others and was happy to be the junior partner (photographer) with a new colleague, Christopher Hitch, who wrote about lichens on a park bench. In Epichloe and the fly (spring 2009) we see yet again an exploration of a mutualistic association, this time involving a fungus, a grass plant and a fly – how is the balance maintained and how has such a very complex relationship evolved? Transactions in this period included two articles on observations made entirely in the garden at The Studio - how bumble bees rob Penstemon flowers of nectar, and how honey bees manage to get to the nectar in Bottle Brush flowers, a species from Australia. This illustrates Michael’s oft made point that the garden can provide an inexhaustible source of investigations for the curious natural historian, a philosophy that was perfectly encapsulated in A garden for all reasons, which was published in the August 2010 edition of British Wildlife.

Michael’s guided tour of ‘The Studio’ garden was an education as well as a joy and a privilege. The wild grassy area, maintained by his relaxed mowing regime, the two mature oaks, and the untidy old boundary hedge all provided rich complexes of life for potential study and for enjoyment.

Beds of perennials, ornamentals from both hemispheres and productive vegetable plots might suggest a highly structured and controlled garden but that was not so – a lot of work certainly, but done by a gentle touch providing only a careful steer. Michael marvelled at the natural world and communicated his thrill and understanding of that world to others with a quiet authority and eloquence. He embodied a unique combination of knowledge, skills and enthusiasms. His work is an inspiring example to others and his death is a great blow for it leaves a gap that no one else can fill in quite the same way.

He is survived by his wife Mabel and children, John, Alex, Stephen and Sarah.

David Walker 8

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ROSEMARY BEETLES - CAN YOU ADD FURTHER RECORDS FOR SUFFOLK? In White Admiral 67 (Summer 2007, editorial p.1), David Nash appealed for pictures or specimens of the attractive, metallic green, purple-striped Rosemary leaf beetle. Quick off the mark, eagle-eyed Viola Tuckey became the first in Suffolk to respond with a sighting made in June of the same year at Lower Holbrook (TM 1735) on lavender, 18/06/2007 (White Admiral 68, Autumn 2007; Nash, 2007).

Since then, sightings of the insect have been reported at several other locations in Suffolk. These are given in date order as follows: Dale Hall Lane, Ipswich (TM 1646) on lavender, 29/06/2009 (Neil Sherman); Woodbridge (TM 2748) on lavender 20/07/2010 (Nigel Cuming); Ipswich Golf Club (TM 2043) on lavender, 23/07/2010 and 10/08/2010 (Neil Sherman); Dale Hall Lane, Ipswich (TM 1645) on lavender 09/08/2010 (David Nash); Church Road, Bentley (TM 1136) on lavender 28/08/2010 (Colin Hawes). There are four other records for Suffolk on the NBN Gateway database but as yet these have not been verified. It is perhaps worth mentioning here that anyone can submit records to the NBN Gateway site, which can lead to erroneous content.

An introduced species, the Rosemary leaf beetle Chrysolina americana feeds mainly on the leaves of its hosts, rosemary Rosmarinus officinalis and lavender Lavandula angustifolia (and other lavender species), though it is able to breed on thyme (Thymus species) and sage (Salvia species). It is also possible that some other plants in the Lamiaceae may act as hosts. A native of southern Europe, the beetle was first reported in Britain by Colin Johnson in 1963, when it was found in the kitchen of a house in Cheshire, a few months after the house occupants had returned from Portugal, where the beetle is common (transported in luggage?). The first report of an outdoor sighting in the UK was made in 1994, when adults were found on pot-grown rosemary at the R.H.S. Garden, Wisley, Surrey. Since then the beetle has become established in Britain. By 2002 it was found to be widespread in the London area and had spread rapidly across the south east of England. The main reason that the species continues to arrive in Britain seems to be that it comes with imported plants, while its spread is thought to be largely due to the movement of potted-lavender and other host plants purchased at garden centres. Discarded host plant prunings and the transfer of cuttings between friends and neighbours may add to its spread.

Adult beetles feed on the foliage shoot tips of host plants in spring but remain inactive during the summer months (June to August). In late August and September the beetles resume feeding, mate and lay eggs, which they continue to do on warm winter days until spring. The sausage-shaped eggs (2 mm long) are laid on the underside of host plant leaves and larvae emerge after about two weeks. These are greyish-white with five dark, longitudinal stripes, and feed for approximately three weeks. When fully grown, the larvae are about the same length as the adult beetle (58 mm). Pupation takes place underground, the pupal stage lasting a further two to three weeks before adults emerge. The beetles seem to do little damage to their host plants.

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Interestingly, the information given in some of the literature states that the beetle has reduced hind wings and is unable to fly, which limits its ability to disperse. However, David Nash (2007), reports that ‘the beetle has fully developed hind wings’. Although C. americana has generally not been observed to fly, David recorded a probable flight (autumn 2010), when he found a single specimen drowned in a bucket in his garden. He says that it is unlikely to have fallen in and more than likely crash-landed while flying (pers. comm.) There appears to be only one report of the beetle ‘observed in flight’, which comes from Spain (Cox, 2007, p.117).

Although until recently sightings of the beetle have been confined to the South East in the UK, horticulturalists monitoring the insect report that it is rapidly spreading further afield. It has been reported from North Essex, Norfolk and Cambridge, and the latest figures show the beetle being found as far north as Edinburgh and Glasgow. Climate change is almost certainly playing a role in it being able to survive further north: milder winters have allowed insects that were once restricted to the south of England to colonise more northerly regions.

Acknowledgements I am indebted to David Nash, Coleoptera Recorder for Suffolk, for his valuable comments on the text and providing data from his own records. Thanks, too, are due to Nigel Cuming and Neil Sherman for sharing their records of the Rosemary beetle.

I am also grateful to Martin Sanford of the Suffolk Biological Records Centre for accessing the records of the Rosemary beetle from the NBN Gateway database.

References Cox, M. (2007). Atlas of the seed and leaf beetles of Britain and Ireland. Pisces Publications.

Nash, D. R. (2007). Notes on the Suffolk List of Coleoptera: 13, seventeen species new to the Suffolk List, six deletions and recent significant records.

Transactions of the Suffolk Naturalists’ Society 43: 75-89. www.defra.gov.uk www.rhs.org.uk Colin Hawes

CO-OPTED COUNCIL MEMBER Council has co-opted Liz Cutting. Liz provides the following brief statement about herself.

“I am a keen naturalist and a passionate photographer, totally hooked on birds. I am closely involved in dormouse conservation in Suffolk and do occasional small mammal surveys, mostly in Wolves Wood near Hadleigh. I am also a novice ‘mother’, setting my trap once or twice a week in my garden in the summer. As a volunteer warden at SWT’s Combs Wood reserve from 2004 to 2010, I conducted a weekly butterfly survey each summer and a few bird surveys in Spring. I work parttime for the RSPB, mainly in the office, as Stour Estuary reserves administrator.”

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IT’S NOT ALL DOOM & GLOOM Those of us who have been setting moth traps for several years know, that in terms of the sheer declining volume of moths trapped, it is, to be brutally honest, all doom and gloom. But, in other ways it’s not all doom and gloom at all with several species actually doing quite well. This short note uses data on four disparate species of moths from Landguard Bird Observatory in an attempt to cheer up the doom mongers. The figures are not strictly comparable between years as in the early days of trapping at this site no electricity existed with the only trap in use being a battery powered actinic light. With the arrival of power, one Robinson trap quickly multiplied to two, with a twin 30 watt actinic trap added in recent years. Traps were added because the observers became more proficient in emptying them and also because the declining numbers and a smaller variety of species of moth caught nightly allowed the time to operate additional traps: not strictly scientific but once you allow us amateurs in then some maverick principles of recording creep in. None of the species below was noted in any year prior to the first year listed.

Least Carpet Idaea rusticata This species is largely restricted to the south-east of England with very few records north of a line from the Wash to the mouth of the Severn estuary. In Suffolk the moth is mainly restricted to the coast, Ipswich and the River Stour area. There are coastal records from Walberswick in 1971, 1973 and 1983, and one was recorded by Stan Dumican at Levington Marina in 1994 (Hall 1995). Landguard first noted one on July 22nd 1995 and the species quickly established itself. Least Carpets emerge from late June to early September with odd later individuals noted into October probably as a result of a second emergence. Landguard’s earliest is on June 17th with its latest on October 11th. The peak year for numbers was 2004 and it is possible that the species has stabilised its numbers following colonisation.

Table 1: Annual total numbers of Least Carpet moths trapped from 1995-2010 Year Total

1995 4

1996 26

1997 99

1998 86

1999 141

2000 176

2001 134

2002 121

2003 150

2004 451

2005 314

2006 375

2007 270

2008 163

2009 110

2010 257

Vine Moth Eupoecilia ambiguella The Vine Moth is a tortrix that has been given a common name as a result of it being a pest on grape vines on the continent (micros often only have an English name if they are a threat to farmers). Whatever it is feeding on at Landguard it is definitely not grape vines. Available maps of the species suggest it has been recorded in the UK at only a handful of sites in south-east England and South Wales.

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Its national status is listed as “notable” but I get the impression that there is some reluctance amongst the ‘powers that be’ to designate any protection to a species that others may perceive as a threat to their bank balances (call me a cynic - correctly).

Only four dots appear for it on maps of the coast of Suffolk (www.suffolkmoths) highlighting its rarity. First noted at Landguard Bird Observatory on May 18th 1998, there have been increasing numbers from 2005 suggesting that it is no longer a casual immigrant here but has colonised the site although a recent colder winter may perhaps have put colonisation on hold. The species has two emergences with extreme dates at Landguard May 8th to June 16th and July 15th to September 8th.

Table 2: Annual total numbers of Vine Moths trapped from 1998-2010 Year Total

1998 1

1999 0

2000 0

2001 0

2002 2

Year Total

2006 7

2007 21

2008 44

2009 41

2010 7

2003 0

2004 0

2005 3

L-Album Wainscot Mythimna l-album This species is restricted in Britain to the south coast from Cornwall around to Suffolk with a few noted in South Wales. The first Suffolk record was at Landguard on September 23rd 2000. The species is a nationally scarce species that has two emergences from late May to late July and again from September to October.

Extreme dates for Landguard are May 25th to July 17th and August 31st to October 17th. The first spring record was in 2004, four years after the first. The first county records away from Landguard Bird Observatory were at Orfordness in 2002 with the species now spread along the entire Suffolk coast plus the immediate areas inland (www.suffolkmoths). Whether the increasing numbers are as a result of continued immigration or as a result of local breeding is not known but I suspect, considering the numbers now noted during both spring and autumn emergences, the latter is the case.

Table 3: Spring, autumn and total numbers of Mythimna l-album trapped from 2000-2010 2007 2006 2004 2005 2003 2002 2001 2000 Year 4 2 1 0 0 0 0 Spring 0 13 14 5 2 5 1 1 Autumn 1 15 18 5 5 3 1 1 1 Total Year Spring Autumn Total 12

2008 7 15 22

2009 6 52 58

2010 24 61 85 White Admiral No 78

Ethmia terminella This species was first discovered in the UK at Dungeness, in Kent, in 1937 (Emmett & Langmaid 2002). It was originally assigned RDB2 (vulnerable) conservation status but this is currently under review as a result of its recent spread in Britain. It occurs on vegetated shingle where its main food plant, Vipers Bugloss Echium vulgare, grows. Consequently Landguard is ideal for it. First noted in Suffolk at Landguard Bird Observatory on June 9th 2004, it is now slowly spreading along the coast also being noted by Matthew Deans at Bawdsey from 2006. Extreme dates are May 22nd and August 1st. The species exploded onto the scene in 2004. Did a gravid female arrive undetected in 2003 allowing a healthy population to become quickly established? Whatever happened, it would now appear to be well established at Landguard.

Table 4: Annual total numbers of Ethmia terminella trapped from 2004-2010 Year Total

2004 23

2005 14

2006 36

2007 121

2008 117

2009 271

2010 148

There you go, I hope to have demonstrated with just these four species that it’s not all doom and gloom.

References Emmett, A.M. & Langmaid, J.R. (2002). The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland. Volume 4 (Part 1), 180.

Hall, M.R. (1995). Notes and comments on some Suffolk Moths in 1994. Trans.

Suffolk Nat. Soc., 31, 4.

Suffolk Moth Group. www.suffolkmoths.org Acknowledgements I thank Steve Goddard for his comments.

Nigel Odin Landguard Bird Observatory, View Point Road, Felixstowe, Suffolk, IP11 3TW

Contributions to White Admiral All contributions are gratefully received!

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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IF YOU GO DOWN TO THE WOODS TODAY….

Deep in the Suffolk countryside, there is a wood with magical qualities. Don’t be too bewildered if there is a surprise in store each time you visit. And to get a good idea of how the seasons unfold in Groton Wood, one does need to make several visits.

Early April is an excellent time to start and then every three to four weeks if you can, as spring metamorphoses into summer.

Spring starts early in the 20-hectare Groton Wood (TL 977428). On our first visit in early April last year, as we followed the track starting at the gate on the western side, we were immediately captivated by the spirited singing and chirping of birds in the dense woodland canopy. Spring had truly arrived. As we looked down and about us, the light butter colours with darker titanium yellow centres of the primrose greeted us. And this forerunner with its eternal promise of spring was visible everywhere in the wood, often beautifully nestled against the bottom of tree trunks and coppice stools. Ferns were unfurling in amongst the mosses. Further on, we encountered the wild cherry (Prunus avium), flowering. Along the pathway, still in the southern part of the wood (for there is distinctly a northern and a southern section), some boughs laden with flowers were leaning down, a few even to head height so we could truly appreciate the dainty white flowers with their blow-torches of stamens and fresh yellow-green stigmas. They were up there in the canopy too, of this essentially secondary woodland mixed with ash, hazel and oak, that dates back to the seventeenth century.

However, Groton Wood’s true reputation lies in its ‘northern’ part. As we walked further along the path past a large pond, one of many, and at this time of the year looking a bit quiet but without doubt harbouring all sorts of interesting creatures, we discerned a complete change in scenery. We encountered a broad strong bank and ditch running on either side of the path as we entered quite a different type of wood. The leaf buds in the coppiced area were just sprouting into tiny heart-shaped leaves. Aptly fresh-lime coloured, these leaves belonged to no other than the rare small-leaved lime (Tilia cordata) – a tree of ancient woodland and a living link with Mesolithic times – that occurs naturally in only a few places in Suffolk. Coppicing helps them to survive here since they don’t appear to be able to advance by way of seed; although quite common in this northern part of the wood, they don’t manage to advance south of the original east-west bank that runs along the width of the wood, into the secondary woodland. Climate appears to have turned against them. However, just a little later, a fine surprise awaited us - a couple of palmate-shaped seedling wonders of pry (for this is the country name for smallleaved lime)! We made sure we walked round these precious new-borns to give them every chance possible.

Further on, we came across a wide sunny ride, certain to be a hive of activity later on in the season. Proceeding over to the top end and then right, we discovered in between the lime stools, an extensive carpet of moschatel. One colony was even clasping the bottom of a trunk. What a lovely discovery!

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Other surprises lay ahead as we progressed further. In amongst the shady longpoled old coppices, we were amazed by the sight of the buds of wood anemones breaking loose all over the woodland floor. On this eastern side of the wood, there was an amazing coverage. You couldn’t help but notice that the concave-shaped flowers (as if to celebrate the coming of spring) were all pointing in unison towards the sun. We turned south and came across an open area of young coppice, scattered stacks of poles indicating the careful work of conservationists. All those seeds which had been lying dormant in the seed bank had a new lease of life. A previously invisible potential had lain there year after year and as soon as there was extra light, the necessary stimulus, a floral carpet had unfurled with a vengeance on the woodland floor. There were dense patches of violet, bugle and lesser celandine and strikingly large rosettes of sculptural woolly thistle. And it was here that we spotted a fine example of an early purple orchid.

More surprises were in store for our next visit! Half way up the western side, enveloped by the now green surroundings, something stopped us in our tracks. We kept still and quiet and from somewhere amongst the bushy undergrowth on our left, the song of the shy nightingale pierced the gentle woodland air. It was unforgivingly enchanting and we entered a time warp - it was at least another ten minutes before we ventured forwards. Through the lime-wood we went again, this time much shadier, and on eastward. As we progressed, our noses began to twitch with the distinctive fragrance of bluebells and within a minute we were surrounded by them, these old time favourite denizens of fairy tales. Arching over, the blue bells dangled and moved with the breeze, the shiny dark green leaves supplying a flawless background.

We turned southbound and just past the halfway mark, on the left of a small ditch there was a bank of sweet-smelling woodruff. I bent down to sniff the flowers,

Lesser Celandine

‘Pry’ - seedlings of Tilia cordata

but as I did I noticed that there was something even more special on the opposite side of the path. We were enthralled by a small patch of the quadrifoliate leaves of herb paris (Paris quadrifolia). Intrepidly we ventured further into this middle-aged coppice to find even more specimens and then a gloriously large patch. The stamens White Admiral No 78

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were spread up and out around the developing fruit (black and globoid) in the shadowy penetrating light and were projected as surreal anopheline silhouettes onto the leaves. What a find - a delightful surprise!

Our glass was overflowing. The other treats would simply have to wait: the treecreeper and the nuthatch, the woodcock and all the three species of woodpecker – green, greater spotted and lesser spotted - the dormouse and the crested newt. So too the fluttering brimstone and later on in the summer, the elusive hawfinch cracking open the cherry stones (to be seen only if you are there early in the morning and if you are very lucky). But there is a plant there of late summer which is even more mystifying than the hawfinch. This is the big violet helleborine (Epipactis purpurata) which grows and flowers in the densest shade under lime and never comes up twice in the same place, or so it would seem!

So as spring approaches, make a point of going down to Groton Wood. You are in for a big surprise.

Rasik Bhadresa N.B. Groton Wood is owned by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust and is wonderfully managed by their conservation work parties.

Visit their website www.suffolkwildlifetrust.co.uk for further information.

Herb Paris– with surreal shadows

Epipactis purpurata

Photos by Rasik Bhadresa

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Left - carpets of Wood Anemones

Below - Moschatel

Above - Dog Violet

Right - Primrose White Admiral No 78

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Microlejeuna ulicina

Ulota coarctata

Richard Fisk

Richard Fisk

Rosemary beetles Chrysolina americana on lavender in a Church Road garden, Bentley. See p.9 Colin Hawes

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IN WITH THE NEW I received a query from Rob Parker about bryophytes at Purdis Heath in Ipswich, in connection with the work to be done to improve the habitat for Silver-studded Blue butterflies. This is a site that I had never visited so I went to take a look on January 6th this year. The area of heath was not that exciting for a bryologist but surrounding it is a band of oak trees, many of which branch at eye level so that it is easy to look at anything growing on them. On a branch of one such tree in the northern part of the site I found the aptly named liverwort Microlejeuna ulicina. The leaves of this plant measure only some 0.3mm by 0.25mm but it is noticeable when growing in a dense patch. On the same branch and only about 50cm away was a tuft of the moss Ulota coarctata. Neither of these species has ever been found in Suffolk before.

Microlejeuna ulicina is an extremely rare plant in eastern England and its appearance here is a bit of a mystery. It is dioecious and only female plants are known in Britain so it cannot produce spores nor does it have vegetative propagules.

Ulota coarctata is a rare plant in lowland Britain (in is uncommon in NW Scotland where one might be more likely to see it) but was found in Hertfordshire last year and has been seen in Kent and Sussex. It also occurs in scattered places across the Channel so is perhaps slightly less of a surprise than the Microlejeuna. It is some time since I have found a bryophyte completely new to the county so this was an exciting start to the New Year.

Richard Fisk Suffolk Naturalists’ Society email group It has been a periodic item of discussion in Council as to how items of Society business can be communicated most effectively and promptly to the Society membership. Currently this is largely limited to periodic notices delivered with White Admiral and information available on the Society’s web site (http:// www.sns.org.uk/). It was recently decided by Council to try using an email group so that reminders of events and other notices can be sent to Society members who have subscribed to the email group. In case there are some not connected to the internet who may be concerned that they will miss out, I should make clear that this email group is intended as an adjunct to the existing society communications and not a replacement. The email group will only be open to members of the Society and members will have to request to join the group. The email group can also be used by members for discussion of topics related to the natural history of the county.

If you are interested in subscribing to this email group or have further questions then please contact me via email at tony.prichard@btinternet.com.

Tony Prichard White Admiral No 78

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A HERBALIST’S VIEW OF SWEET VIOLET Viola odorata The flowers of this, our only fragrant violet, will soon be appearing. Both flowers and leaves have a long history of medicinal use.

Extracts of the plant continue to be used in the treatment of sore throat, coughs and chest infections.

Animal studies have confirmed that such extracts have anti-inflammatory as well as anti-pyretic (temperature-lowering) activity comparable to that of aspirin. Indeed, the plant does contain some aspirinlike compounds. Externally violets have been used, in poultices and ointments and to treat inflammation of the skin.

Before the advent of effective cancer treatments, infusions of violet leaves were often used, especially for cancers of the breast and stomach. Violet leaf extracts have failed to show any anti-tumour effects in mouse test systems (Charleson 1980) but, more recently, an interesting group of peptides, known as cyclotides, have been isolated from members of the violet family. One of these, cycloviolacin O2, showed strong cytotoxic activity against several types of human tumour cells in vitro (Lindholm et al 2002).

Caroline Wheeler References Charleson, A.J. (1980). Antineoplastic constituents of some Southern African plants.

J. Ethnopharmacol 2: 323-325.

Lindolm, P., Goransson, U., Johansson, S., Claeson, P., Gullbo, J., Larsson et al.

(2002). Cyclotides: a novel type of cytoxic agents. Cancer Therapeutics 1: 365369.

Both the above were cited in Bradley (2006).

Bibliography Barker, J. (2001). The Medicinal Flora of Britain and North-western Europe. Winter Press, Kent, UK. Bradley, P. (2006). British Herbal Compendium Volume 2. British Herbal Medicine Association, Bournemouth, UK. Smith, W. (1977). Wonders in Weeds. Health Science Press, Devon, UK.

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HOW TO IDENTIFY THE KILLER SHRIMP Dikerogammarus villosus (often referred to as the killer shrimp) is an amphipod native to south-eastern Europe, which has recently spread to western Europe. In September 2010 it was found in Grafham Water, Cambridgeshire.

If you find Dikerogammarus, please send a photo and details of location to alert_nonnative@ceh.ac.uk.

Information and diagrams with kind permission of the Freshwater Biological Association

IDENTIFICATION Size and colour are useful aids to identification, but the projections on the urosome are definitive.

Maximum body length: Crangonyx pseudogracilis: 10 mm Gammarus species: 20 mm Dikerogammarus villosus: 30 mm Body colour: Crangonyx pseudogracilis: Bluish-white (when live) Gammarus species: Striped or uniform Dikerogammarus villosus: Striped or uniform Features on urosome: Crangonyx pseudogracilis: Urosome generally smooth (short fine setae may be present) Gammarus species: Dorsal setae or spines present on all three segments Dikerogammarus species: Urosome segments 1 and 2 each with a dorsal projection

Gammarus with urosome highlighted smooth

Crangonyx pseudogracilis White Admiral No 78

setae

Gammarus sp.

projections

Dikerogammarus villosus

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SNS FIELD MEETINGS PROGRAMME 2011

ORCHARD FIELD VISITS AND SURVEYS Orchard habitats generally Traditional orchards were designated Priority Habitat only in July 2007, whereas they have been recognized in many countries in Europe for decades. The 2nd Ed. OS maps of 1905 -1920 recorded 6,000 Suffolk orchard sites, almost all “traditional”. These unsprayed, extensively managed sites have much in common with ancient woodland and with wood-pasture but vary very considerably across Britain. In East Anglia the oldest sites are associated with old farm holdings, market gardens that fed small market towns, and more recently, country houses and institutions like workhouses and hospitals. Sites often include ponds, grassland, specialized hedges and walls and have similarities to some brownfield sites.

The items of most significant interest are the trees, their epiphytes, saprophytes and the wildlife that devour them. A veteran oak may be 400 years old but an apple tree with all the veteran characteristics can be only 50 years old. Uniquely amongst UK Priority Habitats, the crop is of great significance and the clonal and varietal crop diversity is as significant as the wild life diversity.

The event leader will be Paul Read of the Suffolk Traditional Orchard Survey, a Suffolk Biodiversity Partnership project. Paul Read’s contact details are readhf@aol.com, telephone 07860 585422.

16th April 2011 at 2pm Bayments Farm orchard High Street, Stansfield, Sudbury CO10 8LN, Grid ref TL782 514 Drive into the farmyard and park on the left.

The site is close to a farmyard and listed farmhouse, a situation typical of an orchard site that once provided fruit for family and farm workers for up to nine months of each year and, in this region, possibly cider too. The orchard has been unmanaged for decades, is overgrown, heavily shaded, full of “weed trees”, nettles, huge veteran apple trees, some dead and fallen, with rot holes and sap runs, and a covering of epiphytic mosses. The ground in winter is moss covered. There is an old hedge probably with hedge fruit species mixed with the usual thorns, and a heavily shaded pond. The site is about to go into Higher Level Stewardship which will involve restoration of the orchard principally for its crop trees and associated wildlife, and an 22

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open section will be replanted.

Surveying this site provides an almost unique opportunity to establish what is there now, and will potentially influence its restoration (which will begin in autumn 2011) for biodiversity gains. April is a good time to look for wood and ground invertebrates including isopods, myriapods, molluscs, as well as for mosses, lichens, spring ground flora and Prunus hedge fruit species. It is also a good time to look at the freshwater habitat of the pond.

The wildlife will be looked at again in summer, and the crop fruit identified in late summer.

6th July 2011 at 2pm Wordwell Hall orchard and wet woodland Wordwell, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP28 6UW Grid ref TL827 721 Turn into the main Wordwell Hall entrance, take the first track to the right and park anywhere behind the farm buildings. Please be sure not to block any entrances or gateways. Meet outside the front door of the hall at the bottom of the main driveway.

On light land north of Bury St Edmunds and almost into the Brecks this is a relatively young small apple orchard planted in the 1940s in close proximity to other interesting habitats. Once again this site is about to be restored under HLS. The apple trees have been planted in the shade of tall ash and alders in wet woodland and carr close by. The fruit varieties have been identified and are typical of Suffolk orchards of the first half of the 20th C. In shade the trees have grown tall and relatively slender, and do not exhibit many veteran characteristics but mosses and lichens reach high into the canopy. Associated habitats include an old clunch garden wall, wet woodland with freshwater ponds, ditches, dead wood and mature alders. A visit in July should be suitable for investigating insects and the invertebrates of the uncut grassland of the orchard, the canopy epiphytes, and the freshwater and dead wood habitats of the wet woodland.

Once again restoration is planned and details will be presented on the day, which might be influenced by the findings of the event.

11th September 2011 at 2pm Orchard adjacent to Oakley House Upper St, Oakley, Diss, Norfolk. IP21 4AT Grid ref TM164 772 Park on the road beside a brick wall, leaving space for passing.

This is a very different site from the previous two; a large commercial dwarf tree apple and pear orchard planted in the 1960s, abandoned for a decade but revived and back in production, i.e. it is not a “traditional orchard” by the JNCC definition. It is not registered as organic, but spraying is minimal, and parts are more or less unmanaged. The management regime will be explained on the day. Sites like this have been considered to be of wildlife interest only as “drop in” sites from surrounding “proper” habitats such as woodland or even gardens, but it is orchards like this that may alter this attitude, especially in East Anglia. Bryophytes on the White Admiral No 78

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trunks are tolerated, there is a range of interesting Orthoptera in the grassland, and it is the only orchard in Suffolk (we think) where Lesser Spotted Woodpecker has been seen. No systematic recording as been carried out, so this is a valuable opportunity.

A visit in September should turn up plenty of invertebrates as well as epiphytic mosses and lichens - especially in the unmanaged section. Surrounding this five acre plus orchard are copses, gardens, hedges and relatively small arable fields, and the question remains for us to discuss - is this a “drop site” or a habitat in its own right?

OTHER FIELD OUTINGS Natural History survey of Purdis Heath SSSI, Ipswich (1) Sunday 8th May 2.00 pm Join members of Butterfly Conservation to survey the site for butterflies and other flora and fauna of interest. Find out about a habitat restoration project to benefit Silver-studded Blue Plebejus argus on the heath, and ways to get involved, e.g. population monitoring in June-July. The colony shrank to very low numbers in 2010, and we hope to monitor its recovery rather than its continued decline.

Meet at Ipswich Golf Club car park, off Bucklesham Road TM205429.

Bring your own refreshments.

For more details contact Rob Parker 01284 705476 or email robparker@waitrose.com Knettishall Heath Country Park – Beginners’ Caterpillar Hunt. An introduction on how to search for and identify caterpillars.

Saturday 4th June 2011 2.00 - 5.00pm Meet in the car park at the western end of the country park at 2pm, grid ref TL944806 If possible, bring an old umbrella and walking stick or something similar and any plastic pots you might have.

Leader: Tony Prichard, telephone 01473 270047 Benhall Wadd Field Meeting Saturday June 18th at 10.00 am This lovely uncultivated meadow is managed by the Benhall and Sternfield Parish Council under Higher Level Stewardship agreement. Benhall Wadd is mostly a wet meadow with a wide alder carr running along the stream in the middle and a board walk on the very boggy eastern side.

Meet at the green in Benhall Green, TM385612.

Please share transport if you can and park next to the thatched primary school some 250 yards west of the green. Katie Carr-Tansley, warden and our guide for the morning will be very happy if people would like to join her in her garden for tea where members could eat their sandwiches and share any items of interest from the 24

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morning. Recorders will be welcome.

For further details about this meeting contact Rasik Bhadresa (01206 394338).

Natural History survey of Purdis Heath SSSI, Ipswich (2) Saturday 13th August 2.00pm Join members of Butterfly Conservation to survey the site for summer butterfly species. Particular targets are the Wall Lasiommata megera and the Grayling Hipparchia semele, both species of conservation concern. To help with the longterm management and protection of the site we will also aim to record other flora and fauna of interest.

Meet at Ipswich Golf Club car park, off Bucklesham Road TM205429. Bring your own refreshments.

For more details contact Matt Berry 07599243026 or email matt.berry1@sky.com County Moth Night at Purdis Heath Saturday August 20th 8.30 pm Meet at Bucklesham Road lay-by, grid ref TM212423 Leader: Tony Prichard , telephone 01473 270047 Bring torch and warm clothing.

The event is still waiting to be confirmed – contact Tony for confirmation.

GEOLOGY MEETINGS 16th June 2.00pm Coralline Crag at Sutton This will be of interest to both geologists and botanists. Sutton Knoll (Rockhall Wood SSSI) shows fine exposures of Coralline Crag, a geological deposit unique to Suffolk and of Pliocene age, about four million years old. Its myriad fossil shells include some of the direct ancestors of our living fauna. Many times smaller than the smallest shells are examples of fossil pollen, and what a tale they tell, of Sciadopytes (Japanese Umbrella Pine), Sequoia (Redwood) and many more living here before they were decimated by the Ice Age. We can’t show you the pollen, but we will show you GeoSuffolk’s ‘Pliocene Forest’ - an interpretation project using living relatives of our extinct flora.

Please book your place with Bob Markham (01394 384525) who will give you details of the meeting place.

Sunday 31st July 10.30am Crag Sites of Orford/Bawdsey Area Various sites in the Coralline Crag and Red Crag will be visited. Meet at Woodbridge railway station car park (TM273478). Joint visit with Essex Rock and Mineral Society and Tertiary Research Group.

Leader: Bob Markham

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BOOK REVIEW Mosses and Liverworts of Britain and Ireland: a field guide Atherton I, Bosanquet S. and Lawley L. (editors) British Bryological Society 2010 £24.95 inc. p&p (make cheques payable to British Bryological Society) Available from Mark Lawley, 12a Castleview Terrace, Ludlow, Shropshire, SY8 2NG It is now a year since this book was published so there has been time for its usefulness to be assessed. To call any book a field guide assumes that purchasers are going to take it out into the field, but in A5 format, 848 pages, 35mm thick and weighing in at 1.2 kg it will not fit easily into any pocket and some determination is required even to put it into one’s rucksack. Around 75% of British bryophytes are described, illustrated with colour photographs, and often with a line drawing of a leaf, shoot or other important point of detail. There is also a small dot map of the distribution of each species described. An important and perhaps the most useful part of the book is a 14 page gallery of line drawings of some of the more common genera, which point the beginner in the right direction to begin the process of identification from scratch. This is followed by an illustrated key to the commoner and or distinctive mosses and liverworts. To an absolute beginner this is perhaps a daunting work because it contains so many species, including some of the rarest in Britain, and this is why it is so large. A full page devoted to species that only occur in one or two places in Britain is all very interesting but it might have been better to leave them out to make the book a more manageable size and thereby increase its usefulness. Nevertheless, it is a very good and useful work and this has been proved when I have been in the field with someone brave enough to carry it. Any naturalist with experience of ‘looking up’ an unknown species will soon be able to make good use of this book. Many bryophytes are small and to have such excellent colour photographs of so many species helps one to appreciate their intricacy and beauty.

The descriptions are also clear, concise and without baffling technical terms. This collection of photographs makes it a valuable work of reference and it is a must for the bookshelf of anyone even vaguely interested in bryophytes or indeed any naturalist. Its success is illustrated by the fact that the original print run of 3,000 copies has been sold and it has had to be reprinted.

Richard Fisk

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Advertisement

The Trail Blazer A conference celebrating the life and legacy of the Revd. Prof John Stevens Henslow (1796-1861) on the 150th anniversary of his death Saturday 21 May 2011 9.45am- 5.00pm University Campus Suffolk, Waterfront Building, Neptune Quay, Ipswich, IP4 1QJ 09:45: Welcome and Introduction - Dr Harvey Osborne (UCS) and Edward Martin (Suffolk Institute of Archaeology & History) 10.00: ‘John Henslow at Cambridge: the evolution of a scientist’ – Professor John Parker (University of Cambridge) 10.45: ‘Darwin as Henslovian Botanist’ – Professor David Kohn (Drew University, New Jersey, USA) 11:30: Refreshment break 12:00: ‘Scientific approaches: Archaeology, Crag phosphates, and the Ipswich Museum’ – Dr Steven Plunkett 12:45: Lunch 13:30: ‘Henslow: Rural Society, Protest and Social Reform’ – Dr John Archer (Edge Hill University) 14.15: ‘Cradle to grave: Henslow the Universal Educator’ – Professor John Parker and Edward Martin 15:00: Refreshment Break 15.30: ‘Innovation never happens as planned’: Henslow’s herbarium collection in the 21st century – Christine Bartram (University of Cambridge) and ‘The changing flora’: using Henslow’s records to understand floristic changes at county (Suffolk) and parish (Hitcham) level – Martin Sanford (Suffolk Biological Records Centre), Alec Bull and Edward Martin 16.30: Summary and close 17:00 Wine reception Tickets £15 each For bookings contact: Harvey Osborne 01473 338814 or h.osborne@ucs.ac.uk

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FIRST MARINE PLAN AREA IN NORTH SEA A swathe of the North Sea has been chosen as the first area off England’s coast to get a marine planning system. The marine plan aims to bring to the sea the same level of planning as councils have on land. The area extends from Flamborough Head, East Yorkshire, to Felixstowe, Suffolk, and 200km (124 miles) out to sea.

Plans will be drawn up by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) over the next two years to co-ordinate the development of all marine activities. They will serve as a blueprint for what activities can be licensed in the new marine plan area.

The Flamborough-to-Felixstowe zone will be the first of ten that will eventually form a comprehensive marine planning system around England. They will aim to bring “joined-up” planning to marine activities including wind farms, oil and gas exploration, cable laying, commercial shipping, fishing and recreational use.

Steve Brooker, head of the MMO’s marine planning, said: “England’s marine area is extremely crowded in terms of existing activities and the pressure and competition for space are going to increase. Marine planning will enable the MMO and others to balance and integrate the vast range of competing activities and aspirations. As a country, we can then take informed decisions about the development of our sea area and our priorities, based on shared understanding, a common baseline and sound evidence.”

The MMO said it was the first organisation in the world to develop an integrated planning system for the sea “mirroring the terrestrial planning regime, which has, over 60 years, become an established and trusted mechanism for integrating and balancing land use”.

From BBC News website

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ARE YOU READY FOR THE SNS CONFERENCE IN 2011?

LINKING LANDSCAPES – PATHWAYS TO THE FUTURE? Saturday 22nd October 2011, Seckford Theatre, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 4JH We are busily organising this year’s all-encompassing conference on landscapes. Including the themes of biodiversity, climate change, species movements, corridors and habitats, not only will it consider all aspects of our environment, natural and the built, but 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. This inevitably touches on economic and moral issues in bringing about long-lasting changes.

We have Britain’s foremost nature writer Richard Mabey who is certain to provide a thought-provoking overview of the philosophy of linked-up, landscape scale conservation. Wildlife gardener and broadcaster Chris Baines will talk about rebuilding landscape integrity – urban to rural. The acclaimed authority on the countryside Oliver Rackham will focus on the lessons we can learn from history to inform our future. Agricultural consultant and farmer John Cousins will examine the farmer’s role in landscape conservation. Matt Shardlow of Buglife will focus on how landscape scale activities can save species. Aidan Lonergan of the RSPB will consider the science behind RSPB’s futurescapes programme. And last but not least, we have the Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s Projects’ Manager Steve Aylward who will enlighten us on the role of nature reserves in a living landscape for Suffolk. This fine line-up of speakers is certain to make for a stimulating conference.

The SNS Landscapes Conference will be held at the Seckford Theatre in the beautiful grounds of Woodbridge School on Saturday 22 October. So why not book it into your diary now? And while you are at it, why don’t you also tell a friend about it? Further information and a booking form will be enclosed with the summer issue of White Admiral which will be published at the beginning of July. However, you can also express your interest earlier by sending an Email to conference@sns.org.uk. As soon as the booking form is available it will be Emailed to you. A booking form will also be available to download from our website www.sns.org.uk from July onwards. Booking for the conference will only be possible using the official SNS booking form.

Members will receive priority.

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LETTERS, NOTES AND QUERIES Spurge and burdock - replies In reply to Geoff Heathcote’s article A Weed Gets Revenge in WA 77, I remember visiting my late father’s allotment in Bramford in July 1998 to help identify a plant growing there. It turned out to be caper spurge, and was naturalised. It had allegedly been introduced by a former holder as a deterrent against moles - a belief that is mentioned by Martin Sanford in the Flora of Suffolk.

In the same issue Caroline Wheeler (A Herbalist’s View of Burdock) appeals for a recipe for dandelion and burdock drink. I am pleased to advise that there is a recipe in Roger Phillips’ Wild Food (recently republished by Pan Macmillan).

Year-old burdock roots should be gathered in the autumn, but from experience, they go down deep and are difficult to gather, if you can find them. Dandelion roots are much easier, but much smaller, and fiddly to clean, and you need a lot of them (the recommended ratio is equal weights of dandelion and burdock roots).

References Sanford M. & Fisk R. A Flora of Suffolk. 2010.

Phillips, R. Wild Food. 1983. Pan Books.

Brian Fountain Request for help with landscape project I am currently undertaking a draft ‘grassroots’ project, intended for publication, relating wildlife distribution (very much including plants) to Suffolk landscape types.

This highlights records compiled at the local level, e.g. parish, valley etc., currently and also in former times, to build up attractive depictions of the nature of the fullest possible number of local landscapes, and hoping to facilitate popular interest in wildlife and its conservation.

I will be glad to hear from anyone wishing to participate in or comment on this project. I am aiming to distribute my first outline of the report in twelve months time.

Nick Miller Tiger Hill Cottage Bures Suffolk CO8 5BW Telephone 01787 227359 millernick15@yahoo.com

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Green, Andrew

Mayson, Scott

Jakes, Colin

Bullion, Simone

Belcher, Dr Hilary

Adrian Parr

Bowdrey, Jerry

Chalkley, Adrian

Fisk, Richard

Hitch, Dr. C.J.

Killeen, Ian

Knowles, Adrian

Cuming, Nigel

Birds (NE)

Birds (SE)

Birds (W)

Mammals

White Admiral No 78

Algae ( freshwater)

Dragonflies (Odonata)

Plant Galls

Aquatic Inverts

Bryophytes

Lichens

Molluscs

Aculeate Hymenoptera

Heteroptera

01206 330019

01473 310179

01728 832817

01502 714968

01787 210140

d. 01206 282936 e 01255 862507

01284 810465

not by phone

01473 890089

01284 702215

01394 385595

07766 900063

nigelcuming330@btopenworld.com

adrian.knowles@dunelm.org.uk

iankilleen@eircom.net

Cjbh.orchldge@freeuk.com

richardjfisk@waitrose.com

adrian@boxvalley.co.uk

jerry.bowdrey@colchester.gov.uk

adrian.parr@btinternet.com

By post: 23 Pepys, Girton, Cambridge CB3 0PA

simone.bullion@suffolkwildlifetrust.org

s.mayson@fsmail.net

andrew@waveney1.fsnet.co.uk

CONTACT DETAILS OF SNS RECORDERS

31

32

Broad, Gen

Lee, Paul

Ling, Stuart

Nash, David

Norton, Rosie

Prichard, Tony

Sanford, Martin

Mahler, Neil

Parker, Rob

Strachan, P

Marine Life

Spiders and other arthropods

Orthoptera

Coleoptera

Reptiles/Amphibians

Lepidoptera - Moths

Flowering Plants & Ferns

Fungi

Butterflies

Freshwater fish

martin.sanford@suffolk.gov.uk

d. 01473 433547 e. 01473 712069

01638 712894

01284 705476

tony.prichard@btinternet.com

d 01473 696313 e 01473 270047

no e-mail

robparker@waitrose.com

.fungi@sns.org.uk

rosie@brundish.demon.co.uk

david.nash42@tiscali.co.uk

stuartjling@yahoo.co.uk

paulatarachne@aol.com

01728 660369.

01206 391744

01473 402306

01473 327835

01473 400251 gen.broad@suffolk.gov.uk mobile 07894 885337

CONTACT DETAILS OF SNS RECORDERS

White Admiral No 78

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.

2.

Projects should include a large element of original work and applications must include a breakdown of how the bursary will be spent.

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