Anne's Jardin Sauvage .................................................. 16-1 Large T ortoishells and Small Eggars ............................ 1 7-18

Flowers seen included the rare Broad-leaved Ragwort, Common Sparred Orchid, Water Forget-me-not, Milk Parsley, Yellow Flag, Ragged Robin and Grear Water Dock. Birds included Reed Bunting, Sedge and Reed Warbler, Blackcap, several Herons, Great Crested Grebe, Jay and the strident Cerri's Warbler. Chinese Water Deer droppings and a Drinker Moth caterpillar were also noted and, of several damselflies and dragonflies, the Fosters sighting of a Red-eyed Damselfly, an important indicator of pure water, was significant. Donations were given co the Ted Ellis Trust from both groups and an indoor meeting has now been arranged on Saturday 9th March 2002 at the Oddfellows Hall, Ipswich, 7.30 pm. This is close co the museum and Charles St. car park is near-by. The meeting is part of the Ipswich and District Natural History Society programme of meetings and BC members are very welcome (admission is 50p). SBBC will be making a donation co rhe costs. David Nobbs will be giving an illustrated talk about Wheatfen and the work of Ted Ellis.

Joint IDNHS/BC visit to Wheatfen Broad

Saturday 9th June by Richard Stewart

There was a good turnout of 24 for this joint meeting and Phyllis Ellis was as usual most welcoming, with refreshments on the lawn evoking memories of earlier visits when Ted Ellis and Francis Simpson would renew their long friendship.

The windy, cloudy conditions produced just a few whites, Orange Tip and Peacock during sunny spells in sheltered areas and the Swallowtail area also was unproductive. A small group went back to the meadow in the afternoon bur again without success, though we had good views of a departing Kingfisher and a distant Marsh Harrier. David Nobbs not only rook us round in the morning, explaining the history, biodiversity and management of the reserve, but also extended his time by taking us around rhe wood area in the early afternoon. There were some raised eyebrows at the speed at which a boat from Brundall was travelling, and the reason given was chat it had speed exemption as it was undergoing trials for sea travel. In char case, ~hy didn't it go out co sea rather than erode rhe banks with its wash?

Orange Tip by Douglas Hammersley

Salcey Forest Sunday 24th June by Paul Johnson

With the sun approaching its zenith in a cloudless sky, thirteen Suffolk Branch members converged upon Salcey Forest in Northamptonshire. Historically, Salceywas one of a number of royal hunting forests, which shaped the landscape of this area of

the East Midlands. Today however, it

would be Wood White, not deer, pursued

along the rides, Black Hairstreak rather than pheasant flushed from the stands of

blackthorn.

Moving away from the activity of the car park and into the stillness of the woodland, we paused to observe Speckled Woods and a solitary Red Admiral before picking up a track running northeasterly to the forest boundary. To each side of the path luxuriant growths of vetches, at some points forming tracts of vegetation some 23m wide, bore testament to Forest Enterprise's endeavours in managing this corridor specifically for the Wood White. The efficacy of this policy was illustrated when a white butterfly fluttered down the ride, occasionally dipping down into the vegetation but never settling. Its size, weakness of flight, and wing profile were so characteristic of Wood White that the butterfly's identity was established without the need for close inspection. A male Orange Tip was encountered at a ride junction, although our attention was drawn to a delicate Wood White flying ponderously above the sward. The latter presently settled on a yellow meadow vetchling plant and, following a period of apparently intense deliberation, curved her abdomen to deposit a glossy egg onto the underside of a leaf. Whilst recovering herself on nearby vegetation, she was apprehended by a male Wood White previously concealed in the canopy of a blackthorn. The male proceeded to demonstrate the initial stages of Wood White courtship, unfurling his proboscis and signalling to his prospective mate through movement of the antennae. The male eventually departed, his advances unreciprocated. We moved on, noting the dark outlines of Ringlets active amongst the denser foliage and the stout profiles of male Large Skippers perched on prominent vegetation. Wood Whites, seemingly embarked upon ceaseless patrols of the ride, were observed frequently now. Opportunities for close viewing presented themselves however, as the butterflies would periodically pause to nectar from vetch flowers and, in one instance, to egg lay. Immediately prior to our exploration of Salcey, Andy Patmore (a Forest Enterprise Wildlife and Recreation Ranger) had provided us with an insight into the distribution of butterflies within the forest. Acting on this information, we settled to eat by a group of rather decrepit blackthorn bushes, which supported one of the forest's fourteen Black Hairstreak colonies. Although Wood Whites continued to pass by and a female Brimstone flew at speed, there was no butterfly activity above the blackthorn. Perhaps our county recorder had been fortified by a particularly fine lunch, for, in an attempt to rouse any indolent hairstreaks, he was observed entering the blackthorn thicket to subject the bushes to a vigorous shaking. There was a suspicion that something had flown, but no confirmation.

The diversity of habitats within Salcey was illustrated as we made our way back along shadier rides, the numbers of Wood Whites falling accordingly. We would pause occasionally to scrutinise sunny stands of