The Suffolk Argus
Silver--studded Blues, Aldringham Walks by James Mann As you will have read in an earlier Argus I had little confidence in the success of the 1998 reintroduction of Silver-studded Blue to Aldringham Walks. On this premise Rob Macklin and myself decided that he would monitor the Aldringham site, just in case a Silver-studded Blue appeared, and I would monitor the donor site at Westleton so that we could repeat/reinforce last year's reintroduction at the peak flying time. Imagine my surprise when I returned from France to hear chat Rob had seen a Silver-scudded Blue at Aldringham in the third week of June. He and I had a discussion and decided that we would carry out our intended reinforcement. The Silverscudded Blues at Westleton had built up good numbers by early July and at 9am on 6th July I collected 12 females and 4 males in a matter of few minutes and went off to meet Rob at Aldringham at I 0am. Before releasing we counted 10 Silver-studded Blues from the previous year's release but only one of them was a female. We made our release and followed some of the females towards the end of the site. The second of them landed and it was swooped on by one of the resident males and mating took place. The weather on 9th July was a bit cooler and overcast and I made a release of a further 12 females and 3 males but despite spending some 30 minutes at the site I did not see any other Silver-studded Blues. I
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June 2000
made the rh ird release of 14 females and 8 males on 12th July and was pleased to see a few surviving from the earlier releases. The day of rhe final release 16th July was warm and sunny and I was able to catch 14 females and I O males in a few minutes in a radius of I 0 metres. As arranged I met David Thurlow at Aldringham at I 0am. As we approached the site we saw a Silverscudded Blue on the very first clump of bell heather, we made our release in rhe centre and walked to the end and saw our last Silver-scudded Blue on the very last clump of bell heather. We counted a total of 50, hopefully nor including our release of rhar morning. As a bonus we photographed what we thought was an Ant lion in flight. This I am pleased to say has been ratified by no less than Michael Chinery. The fact rhat any Silver-scudded Blues at all survived from the 1998 release proves that this is a good sire. With rhe R.S.P.B's planned work this winter rhe sire will greatly expand. In a few years rime it could well rival Wesrleton as Suffolk's largest colony. Please monitor it and let me know.
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............ SilverStudded Blue by Douglas Hammersley
New Cotntnittee by Richard Stewart This is listed on the back cover and 4 new committee members were elected at the recent AGM - Richard Champion had been co-opted already. He fills a big county gap from his base at Mildenhall and has been a Main Recorder in the Millennium Survey. He will also look after Conservation matters in his area of Suffolk - see back page for more derails about this. Richard will also act as Branch Publicity Officer. The remaining three were also Main Recorders in the Survey. Stella Wolfe lives in Ipswich and with husband Roger has comprehensively recorded the Srour Valley and adjacent areas, including tetrads for the Essex Survey. Beryl Johnson from Ipswich, with husband Allan, our Programme Secretary, has been responsible for the Argus illustrations accompanying accounts of their butterfly weekends and is the creator of the attractive front covers. Rob Parker, our new Chairman, is also a leading member of the Suffolk Hedge group and is currently on the SNS Council. He is also a vital contact at RAF. Barnham, which has the largest Dingy Skipper colony. He will also look after the Conservation matters between Bury St. Edmunds and Ipswich. Having restored, after many years, the female input on the committee, and filled the gap West of Ipswich, we now have a significant gap to the East, with the loss of James Mann, who lived at Darsham. Anyone in that area who feels they can contribute should contact the new Chairman.
Churchyard Survey in 2001 It was agreed at the Recorders' meeting recently to have a County survey of butterflies in Suffolk churchyards next year. This will also include other wildlife and we hope to liase with SWT and SNS, with plenty of publicity and a promotional launch next Spring. If you would like to 'book' any churchyards (at least 3 seasonal visits needed) please contact Richard Stewart.
Minsmere 2000 Summer help is needed, in July and August, especially to help in the Silver-studded Blue colony counts in early July. Again contact Richard Stewart.
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