Suffolk Argus 26 Summer 2002 by Suffolk Naturalists' Society

Suffolk Branch Contacts Chairman Rob Parker, 66 Cornfield Road, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk IP33 3BN (01284 705476)

BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION

Conservation Officers (Butterflies) Richard Stewart, .East Suffolk Rob Parker, Central/West Suffolk (addresses left)

( Membership Secretary Beryl Johnson, 28 Medway Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP3 0QH (01473 715701) Newsletter Editors Jim Foster, Lugano, The Street, Stonham Aspal, Stowmarket, Suffolk IP14 6AH (01449 711484) Richard Stewart, 'Valezina', 112 Westerfield Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP4 2XW (01473 216518)

Conservation Officer (Moths) Tony Prichard, 3 Fowling Road, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP3 9JR (01473 270047) ,

County Recorder (Moths) Tony Prichard (address above)

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Secretary Tony Prichard, (address above) Treasurer Graham Bull, Willow Cottage, 1 The Street, Raydon, Suffolk IP7 5LP (01473 310371)

Publicity Officer (Vacant) Programme Secretary Alan Johnson, 28 Medway Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP3 0QH (01473 715701) County Recorder (Butterflies) Richard Stewart, (address as above)

Committee Member Stella Wolfe President Howard Mendel, c/o The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD (0171 938 8782)

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Volunteers Needed

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If you feel you could /

help out now and then with the growing work of the Branch, please contact Beryl Johnson on 01473 71570 I.

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Painted Lady byBerylJohmton

The Newsletter of the Suffolk Branch of Butterfly Conservation

Reg. No. 2206468 Reg. Charity No. 254937 Head Office: Manor Yard, East Lulworth, Wareham, Dorset BH20 5QP Tel: (01929) 400209 Editors: Jim Foster & Richard Stewart Logo: (Silver-studded Blue) Doug Hammersley Design: Stephen Ion, Cat & Mouse design

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Summer 2002 BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION

Volume26

Summer2002

The Suffolk Argus

Contents 3 Climate change makes some Butterflies less f1:1ssy 3 Butterfly Report for 2001 4-5 The Red Admiral in Suffolk 2001 6-7 SilveMtudded Blue Counts July 2001 8 A Perfect Day 9 10-11 Goodbye Colchester Road 12-13 The Great Apollo Hunt Episode 2 What a Funny Place to Find a Butterfly 13 The Suffolk Butterflies in Churchyards Survey 2001 14-19 Two-tailed Pasha Update 19 Snippets from BC HQ 20 Sheep's Cheese and Large Fritillaries 21 Butterflies in Ipswich 22 Newsletter details and general information 23 Editorial

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Phone or fax Mervyn Crawford on Mildenhall (01638) 712600 for Colour brochure I Price list.

The Suffolk Argus

Summer2002

Butterflies in Ipswich

Speckled Wood. The north of Ipswich was colonised in the last few years and the first one was seen in our garden in 2001. This prompted a next morning visit to the woodland reserve in Christchurch Park where, not entirely to our surprise, we encountered two in a sunlit glade, just a few hundred yards from the middle oflpswich. The larger parks are probably the best habitats for butterflies within the town but on the edge are several more natural and extensive areas of good habitat: the heathland at Bixley, Rushmere and Purdis to the east, the Fynn Valleyrunning all the way from Witnesham to Martlesham and the threatened Piper's Vale and Bridge Wood areas to the south. The new book mentioned is available from the Ipswich Museum, price £10, or £ 11-50 including postage from the Suffolk Naturalists' Society, c/o Ipswich Museum, High Street, Ipswich, Suffolk. IPI 3QH. Cheques should be made payable to 'Suffolk Naturalists Society'. The book has 144 pages and is a full-colour hardback.

By RichardStewart Although the recently published 'Millennium Atlas Of Suffolk Butterflies' covers all of Suffolk, the area covering the town of Ipswich bas a strong representation. Of the 35 species recorded during the 1995-1999 Millennium Survey, only four were not recorded in Ipswich: the Dingy Skipper, now found only in the Brecldand, the White Admiral, which bas no colonies close to Ipswich, the Queen of Spain Fritillary and the even rarerLargeTortoiseshell, though one of these was at Felixstowe in 2001. Of the thirty-one present, the Green Hairstreak has been seen in many new areas that include our own garden in Westerfield Road and in several allotments. It is probably colonising via the 'green corridor' of the Ipswich to Felixstowe railway line, many sightings being close to this habitat. This also applies to Steve Goddard's record from the garden section of Sainsbury's Homebase at Warren Heath. The Purple Hairstreak has also now been recorded from more Ipswich sites, including the Golf Club at Purdis, the golf course at St. Clements, the old cemetery, the edge of Bourne Park, Landseer Park and the Open Space area off Valley Road at Broom Hill. Two heathland species also have been recorded: the Grayling, which wanders from its natural habitat in good breeding years and a few Silver-Studded Blues still survive on a small relic of the former Warren Heath habitat, behind one of the commercial units on the Ransomes Industrial Park. This area has permission for industrial use so the future of this small colony is bleak. Even the much rarer White-letter Hairstreak has a good-sized colony along a hedge just inside an Ipswich allotment but undoubtedly the most successful of the recent colonists has been the

P.S. A second colony for the White-letter Hairstreak was found in Ipswich, when Steve Goddard had a garden record from Colchester Road in 2001, close to the green corridor of the Ipswich to Felixstowe railway line.

For Sale Available at £30 - A very good copy of the much sought after, beautifully illustrated and expertly written 'The Butterflies of Britain &: Ireland'by Jeremy Thomas &: Richard Lewington published by Dorling Kindersley. Please contact Steve Goddardon 01473 623673 to arrange purchase.

Editorial

Climate change makes some Butterflies less fussy

by Richard Stewart This is a short editorial, with the focus firmly on recording in Suffolk. The combined efforts of general recorders and those concentrating on churchyards produced good coverage in 2001, with the hope that some new recorders &om the churchyard survey will now become general recorders each )":a£,

from BC LepidopteraConservati.on Bulletin No3 (2002} Professor Chris Thomas and his team at Leeds University have discovered that the Silver-spotted Skipper Hesperia comma and Brown Argus Aricia agestishave increased the variety of habitats they can colonise (see Thomas et a~ 2001). This is particularly welcome news for the Silver-spotted Skipper, a high priority species that reaches the coldest edge of its European range in southern England. Surveys in 1982 revealed that Silverspotted Skippers were largely restricted to the warmest available habitats: south-facing, sheltered chalk hillsides with short vegetation. However, a repeat survey in 2000, found that the butterfly has colonised other aspects, including east-, west- and north-facing slopes. Climate change has helped the Silver-spotted Skipper by making more habitat availableand therefore decreasing the distance that the butterfly has to cross to colonise climatically suitable grasslands.As a result, the rate of expansion of the butterfly is expected to increase. The Brown Argus has benefited even more. In the northern part of its British range, the butterfly had been restricted to warm habitats where it used Common Rock-rose Helianthemum nummu/4rium as a larval foodplant. Increasing temperatures have allowed the butterfly to expand into cooler habitats, where more widespread plants, such as Dove's-foot Crane's-bill Geranium mo~ and Cut-leaved Crane's-bill Geranium dissectum can be used. The initial range expansion, started as a response to the warming climate, is predicted to increase in speed, as individual butterflies better adapted to disperse and use alternative foodplants are favoured by natural selection.

The importance of monitoring our County's butterflies annually does not end with the completion of the Millennium report and book but it is alarming that many have now stopped sending in records, especially in West Suffolk, and that includes several former Main Recorders. I inherited a file in 1994, when I became the County Recorder, and it covered the years afrer the previous detailed Survey. It was a very thin folder. As you will gather from the programme and Rob Parker's article in the last issue, recorder concentration is on the White-letter Hairstreak in 2002. This is one of our most endangered butterflies and all 200 l recorders have been sent details of previous sites and records. Anyone else wanting this information should contact me. Another possible way of finding new colonies is to look for the word "Elm" in cottages, roads, farms etc. then seeing if any still survives nearby. Just a few more new colonies would raise the total, since 1995, to above that for the mid-eighties survey. Finally, please try to get to the AGM at Bury St. Edmunds in September. Jim Asher is the author, along with five others, of the highly successful Millennium Survey book, much acclaimed by the critics and having sold more copies than anyone expected. Jim is one of the most highly respected members of Butterfly Conservation and we are fortunate he is coming to Suffolk. If his talk is anything like the presentation he gave at the official launch of the book, in London, it will be a night to remember.

Summer2002

The Suffolk Argus

Butterfly Report for 2001

had a late record from North Warren on July 2nd. It was also recorded for the first time in 10 km square 05. Dingy Skipper still remains the rarest breeding species and was recorded at just three Breckland sites. Once again there were no records from the former Chalk Lane site. There was also excitement at Minsmere when Martin Grimwood and many other~ saw a Camberwell Beauty on 23rd May, with another report from the same site from Arthur Rivett on the 26th. A poor year for some migrants produced just 61 tetrad records for the Painted Lady, with an annual transect index of just five at North Warren. The Large Tortoiseshell at Felixstowe on 20th June was also seen by many and is the third in Suffolk in six years. Several species had a poor year, probably as a result of bad weather during early stages of their life cycle: tetrad results for these included Small Skipper 81, Essex Skipper 63, Grayling 32 and Brown Argus just 30. Common Blue had 106, with no large colony counts, and these plus other species were often absent from garden records. Similar comments apply to the Large Skipper, recorded in just 63 tetrads, with an alarming two as the annual North Warren transect total. Small Copper was also absent from many sites but conversely the 294 annual transect index at North Warren was a record and 35 were counted between the Dunwich cliffs car park and Minsmere sluice during an Ipswich and District Natural History Society meeting on 26th September. After reading my article about aberration caeruleopunctata in the SNS Transactions, Alan and Penny Cornish took a closer look at one at Uggeshall on 13th October, which produced the only record for the year. The Small Tortoiseshell had another bad year in many areas, not just Suffolk but nationally. Again, conversely, there were 54 at RSPB's Boyton Marshes on 22nd.July (Reg Etheridge) and 50+ at Wortham Nursery on 8th September. Another conundrum was the very poor year for Small White at coastal North Warren and the count by Marie and myself of over 600 on 1st September, coming in at the rate of about 100 every twenty minutes, at Bawdsey beach. Two gardens had high species totals; Rob Macklin had 25, including first time records of

by Richard Stewart Although the combination of poor weather and foot and mouth restrictions meant that 2001 was hardly a classic year, there were many positive signs from submitted records.

Jean and Ken Garrod recorded an early Small Tortoiseshell at Alton Water on January 13th and a Peacock the next day at Satterley. The spread of the Speckled Wood continued, with sightings in Holywells Park (Susan and Peter Thurston) then two observed by me in Christchurch Park, only a few hundred yards from the middle of Ipswich. Both Paul Gilson and myself had our first garden records in Ipswich, the annual index on the Center Pares transect was 155 and Rob Macklin had a staggering 336 on the North Warren transect as annual index. With 32 new records from the churchyards survey, and a further 45 from other recorders, the total of 77 new 2001 tetrads, was far superior to any other species - next was Holly Blue with 35. It has now been recorded in every 10 km. square in the county, except for the partial TG 30, a target for 2002. Holly Blues also recovered, aided by many churchyard sightings, being the seventh most recorded species, on 201 tetrads, the top being Meadow Brown on 305. Jean and Ken Garrod reported the unusual sight of a Brimstone being taken by a Goldfinch on April 24th at Dunwich Heath. This butterfly had 13 new records, 10 of which were in TM tetrads, a possible indication that the mass planting of Buckthorn may be working. Rob Duncan's Green Hairstreak ar l..andguard on 12th April just made it into the new butterfly book as equal earliest and Rob Macklin

Sheep's Cheese and Large Fritillaries

Silver-Washed Fritillary by Mervyn Crawford

valley.About a kilometre down the track we came to a very old Mas nestling against the hillside. As we left the car we were welcomed by three enthusiastic sheep dogs on eleven legs, one had lost an argument with an angry horse. We eventually found Yves in his workshop doing something to a chainsaw. He explained that we would not see the sheep as they were up the mountain guarded by a friend. They needed guarding as they were having trouble with "wolves", actually large dogs. I asked why he did not shoot them. He said this was not allowed and the law said he had to call out the Gendarmes who were the only people with the authority to do this. He took us to the sheep pen where the sheep are held prior to milking and here we were assaulted by two huge fluffy puppies two months old. They were Pyrenean Mountain Dogs and when fully grown would run in with the sheep to protect them from "wolves" or dogs. In the mean time they were getting used to living with sheep. Under the Mas, where originally the farm animals would have wintered, we were shown the milking parlour, the cheese making area and the maturing area, which is kept at 13 to 15 degrees C at a humidity of 90 percent. Having been assured that it would freeze Anne bought a huge piece of Brebis that would last for months. Despite being very busy Yves insisted on taking us into the living area of the Mas to drink his beer and to learn the Catalan pronunciation of our French words. When we reached the top of the track on the way home we stopped in one of the sunny areas to watch the butterflies. Among the many large Marbled Whites I spotted another large Fritillary which was a Silver-washed. So during an afternoon when we had set off to buy cheese we had managed to see two of Europe's largest fritillaries.

by James Mann During our Saturday morning visits to the market in Ceret we often give in to the tempting offers to taste the cheese. A few of the stalls are just cheese sellers but most of them are operated by people who own the animals and make the cheese.

There is a choice of cow, goat or sheep's cheese varying from fresh, soft and spreadable to mature and quite hard. It is very important to sample the cheeses for despite being the same species of animal from the same mountainside each individual farm has its own method of manufacture and maturing. Our favourite cheese is a Brebis from a farm in the mountains above the river Tech. Brebis (pronounced Brebi) is the French word for ewe so we are into sheep's cheese. The Berger-Fromager Yves Coste gave us a leaflet and invited us to visit his farm. One July afternoon, after butterfly watching at Le Tech we decided to make a visit. We took the D44 out of Le Tech and started climbing following the directions for Montferrer. The road is narrow and winds through the mountain scrub trees with every so often a clear area full of sunshine and flowers. As we passed one of these spots I saw some large butterflies nectaring on the flowers, I braked ro a halt and walked back and discovered that they were Cardinals. Just beyond this we came upon the sign for Can Nadal pointing down a rough track cut out of the hillside and leading down to a river

Summer2002

The Suffolk Argus

Snippets from, BC HQ

"Britain's Butterflies" Work on the new identification guide by David Tomlinson and Rob Sill was well advanced, and should produce an excellent field guide. Published by Wild Guides, it featured a photo blending technique that placed all stages of the life cycle on a natural background (i.e. foodplant), came to 192 pages, and could be going to press as soon as May.

(gleanedat the BranchMeeting on 6 April 2002) by Rob Parker Regional Development Officer for the Eastern Region DEFRA have just agreed to fund a major slice of the cost of setting up two new RDOs, one for the West Midlands, and the other for us. This is extremely good news, and is due in no little part to Richard Stewart's pressure to obtain an RDO to cover our area. HQ will shortly be assembling matched funding and then advertising these posts, which will be funded (initially) for 3 years. The Eastern Region post will cover the same area as the Eastern Regional Development Area, which includes Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex [ie the BC region defined for the RAP], but also Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire (but without Northamptonshire, which is awkward for the Beds & Northants Branch!)

Buff Ermine by Mervyn Crawford

Garden Butterfly Count The initial TV launch by Alan Titchmarsh resulted in a flood of 4000 enquiries, which used 40% of the stock of pack-ups. The Gardeners' World launch was expected to be equally successful, and the Daily Telegraph magazine would reach an even larger audience on 13 Apr. It was quite likely that a fresh batch of packs would be needed to meet this impressive response, which should result in an increase in membership, as well as raising the society's profile. The initiative had benefited from a speedily approved £50,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Privet Hawk by Mervyn Crawford 20

White Admiral and White-letter Hairstreak, at Snape, and at Wenhaston a White Admiral was part of Richard Havard's 23. There were several sightings of White Admiral, at Minsmere, Jean and Ken Garrod found one unexpectedly in the Orford Quay car park and the other came via Clive Naunton from Benacre. Probably the White-letter Hairstreak was the species of the year, with eight new tetrad records, which added to the ones in 2000 bring the total from 1995 to 2001 to just below the mid-80's survey coverage. This will have special recording status in 2002. The specimen in Steve Goddard's Ipswich garden was a goodbye present from a butterfly-rich habitat and two sites recorded high numbers, at least 30 from Adrian Richards at Haughley and around the same number from the edge of Dunwich Forest (Dave Riley). In the TL terrads new records came from Janet and Arthur Watchman in their garden at Monks Eleigh, two from Rob Parker at Cavenham and a third near Bury St. Edmunds (Moreton Hall), Fred Currie at Great Barton North, myself at Thornham and finally P.J.Vincent at Fressingfield. The Purple Hairstreak was again under-recorded but had eight new records, including an area well apart from previous recording, at Stutton (Mr and Mrs Ruffell). Two records were the first in 10km square TM 26 for the Small Heath and Rob Macklin's North Warren annual transect index for the Wall was 50, the highest ever. This species appeared to be recorded in many areas, including churchyards, early August: 23 on the SNS meeting in the Fynn Valley on 11th August. The butterflies seemed to take quick advantage of spells of sunshine: Ann and Alan Fairchild noted almost immediate appearance at Beccles of several species after 64 mm of continuous rain eventually stopped and there were good counts elsewhere: 66 Peacock at Minsmere, 4th August (Colin Jacobs), 1000 plus Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper at Boyton Marshes on 22nd July (Reg Etheridge) and 200

Holly Blue by DouglasHammersley

plus Essex Skipper at Bush Heath, Mildenhall, 23rd July (Rob Parker). Superb late autumn and early winter conditions led to many late records, the best being a new latest ever for the Small White from the Johnsons on 1st November, Landseer Park, who also recorded a Large White in their Ipswich garden on 27th October. Small Copper late records included one on October 27th at Orwell Country Park (Mr and Mrs Ward) and Alan and Beryl Johnson again at Bromeswell Heath on October 30th. An exceptional number of December records completed the year: Peacock in Dunwich Forest (Roger and Stella Wolfe), Small Tortoiseshell at Stonham Aspal (Rosalind and Jim Foster) and Red Admiral in Ipswich (Peter Steggall) - all on the 8th, but the latest I received came from Felixstowe, a Peacock on 18th December, the recorder being Bert Warren. Finally, the careful reader will note a few missing species. Two, the Silver- studded Blue and Red Admiral, are the subject of separate reports.

Summer2002

The Suffolk Argus

The Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta L. in Suffolk, 2001

beach at Dunwich, TM 4870, the date being 25 October, and at north Lowestoft, opposite the lighthouse, TM 5594 on 28 October. Evidence of attempted southward migration in this species is mentioned in Mendell & Piotrowski (1986) and Stewart (2001). The first record I have received of a Red Admiral attracted to a moth lamp came from Neil Sherman, on October 12 at Ipswich Golf Club, TM 207433. In my own Ipswich garden, TM 169461, a Red Admiral was observed and photographed on Buddleia, having the normally red outer bands of the hind wings a mainly straw yellow colour. Ken Willmott of Butterfly Conservation could not name this aberration, noted just once on 16 September, suggesting (pers. comm.) that there was either an absence of pigmentation as in Meadow Browns with white wing patches, these aberrations often being unnamed, or a pathological variety due to scale defects, these being curved or deformed instead of being flat and lying in organised rows like slates, leading to colour being reflected differently from normal scales. On a visit with the Surrey Branch of Butterfly Conservation to the Natural History Museum in London I was able to inspect several boxes of Red Admiral aberrations, included some similar to my observed specimen. A subsequent letter received a reply from Geoff Martin, Curator (Moths and British Butterflies) stating that he could find 'no exampk exactly correspondingto your slide. There are howroer three specimens without an aberrational name that have pak patches on the red band of the hind wing, similar to your specimen. This variation was apparently not major enough to warrant an aberrational name. 'The final observation was from John Mullen, Royal Avenue,Lowestoft. I reproduce the whole of his letter 'On Christmas Day morning a &d Admiral . .. 'see enclosed for rest. I was able-to examine this myself and can confirm it is genuine. Mark Tunmore, editor of 'Atropos' commented that 'it doesshow how resilient this speciesmay be' (pers. comm.) and Nick Bowles of Butterfly Conservation, writer of the butterfly reports in 'British Wildlife' commented (pers. comm.) that it was 'pretty exceptional; adding that 'evengiven that the pupa was in a carport it obviously

By Richard Stewart This species wa., recorded in 264 2km. tetrads in Suffolk in 2001, second only to the Meadow Brown (305) and it wa., an exceptional year for behaviour observations.

In Colin Campbell's garden, at Chilton Road, Ipswich, TM 194438, mating behaviour was observed; two freshly hatched Red Admirals being observed in cop. on 7 October. This record was double-checked by me since Tucker (1997) observed 'that hardly anyone has sun a paired coupk of &d Admirals in the wild in the British Isles.'The second detailed observation was from a Bawdsey garden, TM 3440, where Lydia Calvesbert observed the same Red Admiral throughout July, August and into September quartering a specific part of the lawn, with no nectar source obvious. It was finally decided that the homemade paper making of her daughter, an Art student, on that part of the lawn, was the attractant. She didn't use any chemicals but included dried seaweed and beach flowers. The butterfly kept close to her during the making process, presumably seeking out any salts and minerals available. Two separate observations by Doug Ewels were of Red Admirals flying out to sea, on the

13) Where areas need to be regularly cut, consider making the cut lesssevereand short, to encourage low-growingbut important nectar and larvalfood plants such as Clover and Bird' s-foot Trefoil. 14) Make churchyard conservation areas large enough to be effective and realise that these need management to avoid a monoculture effect from the dominance of one invasive plant. Consider also the advantages of dappled shade to species such as the Speckled Wood but also the detrimental effect of too much shade. If resources are lacking, consider the possibility of 'churchyard wardens' to monitor these conservation areas, liaising with the church authorities and replicating the valuable work carried out by local roadside nature reserve wardens. 15) Remind all parish churches in Suffolk that SWT management advice is available, referring to the list of churchyards already receiving guidance in this respect. Pooling the resources of the conservation groups involved in this Survey could produce a helpful and informative leaflet about butterfly conservation in Suffolk churchyards, which could be sent free to every parish.

Richard Stewart, March 2002. References: Cork~, D., 1997. The butterflies of Essex. Lopinga Books, Wimbish, Essex. Dowding, J., 2000, Brimstones and buckthorn, 2000 update. Suffolk Argus 21:4-5. Greenoak, F., 1985 God's acre; the flowers and animals of the parish churchyard. Orbis and W. I. Books London. Mendel, H. & Piotrowski, S. H., 1986. The butterflies of Suffolk. Suffolk Naturalists' Society, Ipswich. Stewart, R., 2001, The Millennium atlas of Suffolk butterflies. Suffolk Naturalists' Society, Ipswich.

Two-tailed Pasha Update byJames Mann Suffolk Argus page 19, June 2000. Magic moments in a place of tranquillity. We visited the Saint Ferreol Hermitage several times throughout the summer. We frequently saw Twotailed Pashas chasing each other through the trees at times as many as five or six. The earliest sighting was May the latest mid October so it seems certain that we have found a reliable site.

Suffolk.Argus page 16, Autumn 2001. Anne's Jardin Sauvage. When this article was written we had yet to see a Two-tailed Pasha. During one of our June 2001 visits to what has become known as "The Patch" I thought I saw one flash overhead but seeing no further sign put it down to wishful thinking. To my delight on three subsequent visits over the next two months I sighted two, two and three chasing about and even managed a photograph. Despite being a few metres lower than Saint Ferreol it looks as if our hill is being colonised, another notable species for our list.

The Suffolk Argus

Summer2002 6) Encourage the churchyard management to differentiate between areas that have new graves and are much visited, and need a high degree of accessibility,and the parts less frequently visited, which probablyhave older memorials.These could be lefr as productive conservationareas,increasing biodiversityandbutterfly species,and alsoreducing the amount of mowing that isneeded.

Churchyard Survey Recommendations This final section summarises the main findings of the report in a series of recommendations, some of which could be immediately implemented and others with a longer term and financial element. The order of recommendations largely follows the arrangement of this report:

7) Discourage the use of chemical controls that have a detrimental effect on many different forms of wildlife, especially insects, and discourage the over-zealous use of strimmers, encouraging the leaving of borders of longer grasses around larger graves and around the churchyard perimeter.

1) Any future Survey of a similar nature should specifically target areas that are traditionally under-recorded, by contacting church communities, parish councils and local WI groups.

8) Encourage the creation of a variety of habitats and a mowing regime that produces a mosaic effect, leaving areas of longer grasses alongside sections that are cut short, so that butterflies from spring to autumn have some part of the churchyard where they can successfully complete their life cycle.

2) The recording sheet should place more emphasis on the importance of four seasonal visits to a churchyard and stress the limited value of single visits. There should also be more emphasis on the importance of a full list of nectar and larval plants present, and detailed comments about management.

didn't get a great deal of respite.from the weather;so this is very definitely the latestrecordI know offar a Red Admiral emergingoutdoorsin the U.K' At the time of writing, 24 March, I am not aware of whether it survived hibernation.

49 Royal Avenue Lowestoft Suffolk NR324HJ Sunday 6 January 2002 Mr Richard Stewart "Valezina" 112 Westerfield Road Ipswich Suffolk IP4 2XW

References: Mendel, H., & Piotrowski. S. H., 1986. The Butterflies of Suffolk. Suffolk Naturalists' Sociery, Ipswich.

Dear Mr Stewart On Christmas Day 25 December 2001 morning a Red Admiral butterfly emerged from its pupa - it didn't fly away, it just moved/walked to a flower pot and just backed into the odds and bits in the pot. Its still there now. Early in October I was sitting on the back door step when I noticed a blackish caterpillar crawling (about 5ft up) up the inside wall alongside me. Guessing it was looking for somewhere to pupate I put it in a small plastic tub with some twigs, put a clear plastic top, with holes in it, onto the tub and placed the tub outside on a shelf under the car-port area. 2 - 3 days later it had changed into a pupa, so I put a small bit of cardboard over the top - to wait till spring. I checked it every few days and was very surprised on Christmas Day morning! The Car-port area is shaded on the North and South sides, and is full of all sorts of things. The temp drops down to -3/-5°. A small lane alongside of this house has some nettles growing in it in summer, so I think that is where the caterpillar came from. I hope this is of interest to you.

Stewart, R., 2001. The Millennium Atlas of Suffolk Butterflies. Suffolk Naturalists' Society, Ipswich. Tucker, M., 1997. The Red Admiral. Butterfly Conservation, Dedham, Essex.

9) Discourage excessive short cutting every few weeks, especially of the whole churchyard, and encourage later cutting in summer, rather than in June and the first of July, when many butterflies emerge as adults.

3) Future record sheets should ask for information about trees present, and the habitats immediately surrounding or close to the actual churchyard. 4) Consider the possibility of introducing proven nectar and larval food plants, which the Survey revealed to be absent in many churchyards. These include herbs, especially Marjoram, Thyme and Sage, Lavender, Heather, Aubrietia, Knapweed, Buddleia, Scabious, Teasel, and Buckthorn.

10) Leave Ivy on older tombs and the walls of churches and other structures. Ivy is not a parasite and is one of the most important plants not just for butterflies. 11) Consider planting borders of good nectar and larval food plants as listed in recommendation 4 and if new trees are to be planted, consider those usually richest in honeydew, such as Oak, Ash and Lime.

5) Give the same degree of protection in churchyards to important nectar and larval food plants as is currently provided for early flowering Primrose and Cowslip, and other plants such as Saxifrage and Orchids.

Yours John Mullen.

12) Recognise the importance of mature churchyard trees, areas of dappled shade, sheltered parts and the wildlife benefit of mature hedges, especially those with such good plants as Bramble, Holly and Ivy.

RedAdmiral by Beryljohmton 7

Summer2002

The Suffolk Argus

Silver-studded Blue Counts July 2001

Table3

Table4

Butterfly Species Recorded and Number Of Sites

Main Nectar and Larval Food Plant Sources with Site Frequency

Meadow Brown Small White LargeWhite

171 167 150

Nettles Ivy Bramble

166 162 107

3rd

Gatekeeper Holly Blue Red Admiral

121 116 91

Dandelion Holly Knapweed

104 94 87

6th

OrangeTip Green-veined White SpeckledWood

81 68 60

Buddleia Hedge Garlic Thistles

68 61 52

Small Tortoiseshell Peacock Ringlet

52 50 49

Ground Ivy Dead Nettle Buttercup

42 37 (Red & White) 34

Wall Common Blue Comma

45 41 36

Daisy Bird's foot Trefoil Clover

34 32 32

Small Skipper Small Copper Painted Lady

30 21 14

Plantain Cow Parsley Speedwell

30 29 29

Essex.Skipper Brimstone Small Heath

13 13 12

Ox-eye Daisy Cowslip

28 26

Large Skipper Brown Argus Purple Hairstreak

12 5 3

Grayling Green Hairstreak

By RichardStewart

Brinor Warehouse

Richard Stewart

Lower Hollesley A

Richard Stewart

Lower Hollesley B

Richard Stewart

Martlesham Heath

BC volunteers

Minsmere/Westleton (RSPB colonies)

BC/RSPB

Grid Ref. TM464612 TM2042 TM 342465 TM 342458 TM2445 TM4567,4569,4468

Purdis Heath

Richard Stewart

TM2142

Site

Recorder

Aldringham Walks

Rob Macklin

Walberswick 5 Crossways Adam Burrows Adam Burrows Westleton Heath NNR

TM 491752 TM 4569

Westleton Common

TM 445686 Total

John Davies/David Mason

Comment: There has been some friction between BC and the Sandlings Group over the first attempt to get a systematic colony count completed. This was not properly organised and the final delayed report revealed gaps in monitoring at Dunwich Heath and two other counts, noted above, which were too late to be meaningful. The former small colony at Blaxhall registered nil for the second year and is almost certainly gone. This may also be the fate of the colony at Blackheath, Wenhaston, though a reported late sighting of two by local resident, Richard Havard, may indicate a few still survive. The necessary bracken clearance has now been completed at the top of the site, the main centre of the colony. The small offshoot from Purdis Heath, at Ipswich Golf Club, had no records in 200 l; Neil Sherman suspects heather beetle as the cause. The relic colony on the Ransomes Industrial estate is slowly deteriorating because of unhelpful human activity - racing old

No.

Date

113

9th

3rd

210

4th

657 626

4th

1,706 145 42 178 1,172

23rd 23rd 2nd

4,857

bangers and bikes around the small area of heather still left, but this site does have planning permission for industrial development. Liaison is taking place between Dave Mason, newly promoted to be in charge of the Sandlings management, and the conservation group at Martlesham Heath. Here there is urgent need for more scrub clearance. The same applies at Purdis and I am informed this has already taken place. To lift the preceding gloom, the colonies at Hollesley(A and B) are growing and there has also been volunteer work to establish corridors between the two colonies. I was somewhat disappointed that BC wasn't contacted beforehand about this, since I have monitored these colonies, and James Mann before me. Rob Macklin's introduced colony at Aldringham Walks also had record numbers. As can be seen from the above counts, the colony at Westleton Heath has high numbers and this return was just from two thirds of the flight area.

FemaleSmallWhite by DouglasHammersley

The Suffolk Argus

Summer2002

A Perfect Day

Table 2:

The Twelve Best Churchyards for Numbers of Butterfly Species Churchyard

Grid Ref.

Species

Recorders

Visits

Acton

TL 893493

Hundon

TL 739488

Kettleburgh

TM 265606

Redgrave

TM 058782

5 4

Wenhaston

TM 425755

Aldham

TM 041445

Walpole Old Chapel

TM 374752

Wesdeton

TM 430678

Shottisham

TM 321447

5 6

Nacton

TM 217397

Huntingfield

TM 337743

Halesworth Cemetery

TM 393776

7 Note: Husband and wife recording teams at Ketdeburgh, Shottisham and Nacton were included as two recorders.

FemaleOrangeTip on Hedge Garlic byJim Foster 16

by Angela Woodrow A colleague approached my desk grinning from ear to ear. He keeps up to date with what's put out on Birdline and he knew pretty well how I'd respond to the news he was about to give me. However, it wouJd be two days before I couJd set out for Landguard Point, near Felixstowe with high hopes and fingers crossed.

wings while shutters whirred in unison. From the finger it happily walked on to the flat top of a bright yellow achillea and obligingly opened its wings fully. Magnificent! There was much debate about this insect. Had it arrived from Europe on one of the container ships, which were streaming into Felixstowe throughout the day? Why wasn't it feeding? Had it already built up its reserves for a long hibernation despite it only being the third week of June? Had it been released locally?The area around Ipswich was a stronghold in the late 40's. Could it be making a . comeback? Most people felt it had hitched a lift but whatever the reason for it being at Landguard, it was a delight to see. \

/ ,,,v/1

I was expecting there to be a large crowd of enthusiasts, so on arrival I was surprised to find only a handful of cars. The weather was perfect for any sun-loving creature and the heat shimmered across the shingle beach on the short walk to the Bird Observatory. An arrow had been fixed to the gate and another in the garden leading you around the corner to where a small group were gazing at a green camera bag on the grass. And there it was, sitting on the bag! A beautiful Large Tortoiseshell with its wings closed to reveal crinkly edges. A ribbon of deep blue followed the ourl\ne of the wing, and then a broad band of light brown patterned like bark with the remainder of the underside being dark brown with a speck of white in the centre. Its long antennae were striking, with yellow tips shining brightly in the hot sun. This perfect insect remained motionless for over an hour soaking up the sun and completely ignoring the lenses poking towards it from all directions. Finally, the owner of the camera bag had had enough so efforts were made to entice polychloros on to a finger. Great excitement ensued as this action caused a fleeting opening of the

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LargeTortoiseshell by BerylJohnston

The Suffolk Argus

Summer2002

Goodbye Colchester

that we ended up with twelve of eight species/varieties. Family favourites (and no doubt everyone has theirs) are B. x 'Lochinch', B. davidii 'Royal Red' and B.davidii 'Dartmoor'. B. x 'Lochinch' invariably produced the first summer flowers during the first week of July followed by 'Royal Red' by the third week with 'Dartmoor' waiting until the first week of August and then with 'dead-heading', flowers were present well into October. Whilst the others were also flowering during this time these three provide a good example of the long flowering range that can be achieved with this genus. The maximum number of vanessids visiting these shrubs were 20 Peacock in 1997, 19 Small Tortoiseshell in 1999, 8 Red Admiral in 1999 and 12 Painted Lady in 1996 during their amazing immigration year. Another much looked forward to visitor was the Humming-bird Hawk-moth which appeared in no less than five out of eight years of moth recording. Although Buddleja was by far the most ·favoured nectar source coinciding with the late summer garden butterflies, other preferred nectar sources at this time were: Hebe, Lavender, Lobelia, Verbena bonariensis, Agastache mexicana, Clarkia, Origanurn and Sedum spectabile (including the variety 'Brilliant' but not 'Autumn Joy' which is commonly sold as attractive to butterflies but is not as good as 'spectabile'). At springtime the most invaluable source was Aubretia. It is fair to say that the garden was planted mainly for nectar sources but Honesty and Garlic Mustard were always part of the scene as larval food-plants but without success. In some years we planted Virginia Stock and Nasturtium. The latter regularly hosted Large White and Small White and the former once, Large White. Returning to individual species, the Brimstone, being scarce in the east only visited us once in June 1996 although there were possible 'fly-throughs'. This, and the following scarcer garden visitors may have been attracted by our now well stocked garden for by this time it had evolved to much as we had wanted with central flower beds for maximum sunshine, deeper borders with a wide range of shrubs and flowers and a wildlife pond.

Road by Steve Goddard Eleven years and twenty six species - way beyond anything we might have expected when we moved here in 1990. Although we have now moved for pastures new, the memories will linger on.

I did not start to keep a garden diary until 1995 which as it happens, coincided with the start of the Millennium Survey. By that time however, we had been lucky enough to have been visited by at least 15 species in a still 'developing' garden. We had inherited mainly lawns with a minimal number of flowers and shrubs but the potential was there, particularly once the children no longer wanted it as a playground! Although the rear of the house was northfacing, the back garden was large and open enough to receive plenty of sunshine from three directions. In addition, we were surrounded by mature gardens, the cemeteries were quite close by but moreover, the Ipswich-Felixstowerailway was just six doors away providing a valuable wildlife source along its 'green corridor'. In July of my first year of diary-keeping, came two new species: Ringlet and Grayling. I can remember this first Grayling well not just because it was the 20th species to visit but because it luckily appeared on Buddleja close to the house just before I was departing for a Butterfly Conservation field trip to Bawdsey College on the 29th of the month. An excellent start to the day I thought! What a marvellous shrub Buddleja is or 'summer lilac' as described to me by a fellow branch member some years ago. So marvellous

Table 1:

Churches Surveyed - 2001

r--

Summer2002

The Suffolk Argus

The Suffolk Butterflies in Churchyards Survey, 2001 by RichardStewart This produced details from 219 churchyards, though many lacked full details, i.e. four seasonal visits and full comments on nectar and larval food plants plus management. The distribution map shows big gaps, particularly in the border areas that are only in Suffolk for recording purposes, and a disappointing empty 10 km. squareTM 06, north of Stowmarket.A table lists the top twelve sites for a range of butterfly species and, with the exception of Redgrave and Huntingfield, for which no management was recorded, despite a follow-up letter and SAE, all are coveredin greater detail in the full report, which hopefully will be published in the Suffolk Naturalists' Society Transactionsin Autumn 2002. The specieslist was led by Meadow Brown (171 sites). Small White (167), Large White (150), Gatekeeper (121), Holly Blue (116) and Red Admiral (91). Thankfully the Holly Blue, closelyassociatedwith the Ivy and Holly in churchyards, was in a positive phase of its five/six year cycle and another species well recorded, emphasising its continued spread through Suffolk,was the SpeckledWood (60). Speciessuch as the Small Tortoiseshell(52), Common Blue (41) and Small Copper (21) reflect their bad breeding year in Suffolk and many other areas. Poor returns for Skippers and Hairstreaks were probably due to inability of some new recorders to identify them and in the case of Brown Argus the five site records all came from SBBC Committee members. Except for Sedum and Bird's-foot Trefoil, the nectar and larval food plants listed on the recording sheet were well recorded: Bramble, Buddleia, Dandelion, Hedge Garlic, Holly, Ivy, Knapweed and Nettles, but evidence of nectaring records suggested that Buddleia (68 sires) and Knapweed

(87) could beneficially be planted elsewhere. This also applied to poorly represented plants with good nectar and egg-laying comments where present, one of the Survey's recommendations being increased planting of Sedum, Teasel, Hebe, Lavender, Aubrieria, and herbs like Sage and Marjoram. Most of the ·recommendations related to churchyard management and the Survey acknowledged that burial grounds are primarily for the remembrance of the dead and if governing bodies and parishioners want a near, close-cut monoculture of little value to insects and other wildlife that is their right. However, it was hoped that more would in future appreciate how valuabletheir site could be for wildlife, ofi:en now being a veritable oasis in a sea of agricultural intensity or building developments. Recommendations included separating the near areas around new and ofi:envisitedgravesfrom wilder areas that could surround older, less visited memorials, having a higher cut to encourage low-growing plants like. Clover and Bird's-foot Trefoil, making the mowing regime less often and more varied, to encourage a wide variety of habitats, with shorter areas next to longer grassysectionswhich, if lefi:until well into July at the earliest, would enable many butterflies, especially those egg-laying on grasses,to complete their life cycle.There was also stress laid on the importance of marure boundary hedges and trees, which were a source of another butterfly food, the honeydew produced by aphids. Many churchyards had conservation areas, but some were too small, threatened by the 'tidy up' brigade, or becoming too shady and dominated by one vigorous plant. Here there was a reminder that the Suffolk Wtldlife Trust can offer wildlife management advice in churchyards and hopefully the County's conservation and wildlife groups may be able to produce a leaflet, distributed free of charge to all parishes, about churchyard management for butterflies. Other good sites for management examined in the report included Bury St. F.dmunds Cemetery and Hessett {West Suffolk), Burgate, Elmsett, Eye Cemetery, Westerfieldand Culpho (mid Suffolk)and Aldeburgh, Benhall, Blaxhall, Brundish, Holton, LowerUfford, Rarnsholt and Wangford (East Suffolk). Finally, can I thank all who supported, publicised, or participated in the Survey.

Speckled Wood by Jim Foster

Our first Green Hairstreak to recognise our hard work flew in on a fresh North Easterly wind on 31 May 1997 and went on to entertain us for ten minutes on Pyracantha before spiralling upwards and away. We were always pleased to see this little gem which was becoming quite frequent by the time we lefi:. This annual new species trend was now becoming most enjoyable with our first Essex Skipper being identified on July 25 1998. What could possibly arrive next year? Well, a new species did arrive the next year and it was a total surprise. The butterfly that our Recorder considers to be the most under-recorded in Suffolk, the Purple Hairstreak, considered that a near spent panicle of Buddleja to be worth a brief visit on 31 July. It arrived in a month that had been the driest since 1984 and the sunniest since 1990 which must have had a bearing on its remarkable appearance. With Speckled Wood advancing into the town and suburbs of Ipswich and with a possible sighting in 1999 could this now be the next species for the garden? The year 2000 proved this to be right. Richard Stewart was urging recorders to keep a look-our particularly as a fellow observer had already entertained one in his garden earlier that year. My turn was to come on 30 August when it and a 'white' were the only butterflies in the garden. Marvellous! The following year saw five more between July and September. Hopefully it was here to stay.

All told, 2001 was a rather poor year in the garden but probably the most amazing event of all was to occur at 1.20 pm on 26 July. Just like its cousins it came in from the east (the railway side), our scarcest hairstreak, the 'white-letter'. To my amazement it had alighted on the petal of a bright pink cosmos flower right in front of me as I sat on the patio. I think I stopped breathing for a moment. Unfortunately however, it was clearly not too keen on its chosen perch and quickly flew high to the west leaving me a little shocked to say the least. Butterfly number 26 had arrived and gone, an astonishing sight and the icing on an extraordinary cake. What a way ro finish! We were to leave in September. Whilst we had so many excellent butterfly moments in the garden I have to say that the greedy part of me is just a little disappointed that Small Heath never made it nor indeed Clouded Yellow in one of its good years. Never mind, with 292 species of moth identified,13 species of dragonfly, 8 species of hover-fly including the spectacular Volucella zonaria and 26 species of butterfly I think we can be well satisfied that is, not just myself but my wife Anne, who does all the hard garden work for me to reap the rewards. We now look forward to starring all over again here in Martlesham Heath.

Summer2002

The Suffolk Argus

The Great Apollo Hunt - Episode 2 ByJames Mann

Small Pearl-borderedFritillary byJim Foster We now know where to see the Apollo having read the notice board at the Chalet Las Conques so on 27 July 1999 we set off early for the Reserve Naturelle De Jujols. We crossed over into the valley of the river Tet and proceeded up the valley and in about an hour and 50 miles on we arrived at Vtllefranche de Conflet, situated at a height of 427m. Villefranche is the oldest free town in France founded in 1090 it was built as a fortified town on the fluid border between France and Spain. It was reshaped and the fortifications improved under the instructions ofVauban after his visit in 1669. At least a whole day is needed to explore this small town.

We left the town and continued to follow the Tet valley. After a short time we turned off the main road and climbed up the side of the valley to the tiny village of Jujols at 960m. It had taken half an hour to cover 10 miles. We parked and walked the narrow steep roads of the village. It had originated as an agricultural_village based on sheep but is now mostly Gites and holiday homes but it is at least preserved in the traditional style. We followed the dirt track upwards making for the car park sign on the map. When Anne said that the track was getting as bad as the one in Spain where the exhaust had fallen off when we were looking for castle ruins, we decided to abandon the van. We parked at a height of 1173m beside what we at first thought was a big pond. It turned out to be a I 00m x 50m reservoir boasting a capacity of 17000 cubic metres for use in fire fighting. One of the long sides had been gently sloped with concrete and was alive with tadpoles of three distinct sizes the largest up to 50mm long, the smallest like our normal frog and an intermediate. I wonder if the R.S.P.B. would like a Natterjack Toad pond this big. We studied the map and saw that the track turned back on itself to skirt the mountain but a footpath was marked taking more or less a straight line and less than half the distance so we set off along it. Despite being very narrow and clinging to the steep side of the mountain like many footpaths in this area it was well marked. It was just after midday, we were on a steep southwest-facing mountainside and it was very hot. Anne longed for some cool water to bathe her feet. I did not help by saying that I did not think the water main ran up there. Just then we came across a little spring bubbling into a tiny pool right beside the path. We had found Font de I.:Abeuradou, beautiful sweet water to drink and a wonder for hot feet. After climbing around 1000ft in about a mile we came to an enormous bergerie (Sheep shed) large enough to house several thousand sheep. Just behind was the car park on a grassy area boasting a notice board welcoming us to the Reserve Naturelle de Jujols at 1471m together with a small shelter and masses· of butterflies. We rested and ate our lunch admiring the butterflies. From where we were sitting we saw

Scarce Swallowtails, Black-veined Whites, Marbled Whites, several species of Grayling, Blues and Fritillary plus a few Skippers and to add to the colour lots of both red and blue colour flash grasshoppers. We walked further into the reserve looking for Apollos, every minute or so we thought we saw one but each time it turned out to be a large Marbled White. In the shady areas muddy pools had formed and attracted many mudpuddlers. Among them were Chalkhill, Furry and Common Blues and Small Pearl-bordered, Queen of Spain and Marbled Fritillaries. The largest puddlers were several Scarce Swallowtails. Just down the slope there were many Black-veined Whites some of whom were mating. We wondered if some might be Clouded Apollos but our photographs have proved us wrong. We walked a considerable distance and were still predominately among the trees and came to the conclusion that any Apollos would have left due to afforestation. On our return to the car park we concentrated on the sunny bank and saw many Graylings including Great-banded and several Black Satyrs, a species rated as rare so this made it a good day. We decided to take the long way down by the track, as it was a gentle even slope, when the van first came into sight it looked like a dinky toy beside a puddle. When we finally reached it we had been away for four hours. Before we drove off Anne endangered the tadpoles by bathing her tired feet in the water. I still kept seeing Marbled Whites disguised as Apollos. It had been a long tiring day, and we still had to drive home, but the scenery, the walk, the mountains and the butterflies had made it well worthwhile. On the drive home we determined to carry on the hunt higher in the Cerdagne where there are more flowers and less trees.

What a Funny Place to Find a Butterfly Byfames Mann Wednesday 29 August 2001 about midday found us on the A6 Autoroute de Soleil just north of Lyon. We decided it was time to stop for coffee and to fill up with diesel. We filled the tank and parked the van in the area marked for diesel vehicles. These areas are always covered with patches of oil so it seems wise to keep special areas for oil drippers. We had our coffee and walked through a belt of trees to stretch our legs, the strong wind was blowing loose leaves off the trees. We crossed the car park to the van in a flurry of leaves. As I was poised to open the door I thought that a leaf did not look right. I took a closer look and it moved opening its wings to reveal a purple sheen to show that it was a large Purple Emperor. I have heard and seen mudpuddling but was this one oil puddling? Unfortunately a gust of wind forced it to fly off before I could verify this but it poses the question 'i'lreFrenchEmperorsoilfired"?

Editors note: See Argus 14, page 5, 'The Emperor's

Dietary Supplement'

Summer2002

The Suffolk Argus

The Great Apollo Hunt - Episode 2 ByJames Mann

Editors note: See Argus 14, page 5, 'The Emperor's

Dietary Supplement'

Summer2002

The Suffolk Argus

Speckled Wood by Jim Foster

The Suffolk Argus

Summer2002

Goodbye Colchester

Table 1:

Churches Surveyed - 2001

r--

The Suffolk Argus

Summer2002

A Perfect Day

Table 2:

The Twelve Best Churchyards for Numbers of Butterfly Species Churchyard

Grid Ref.

Species

Recorders

Visits

Acton

TL 893493

Hundon

TL 739488

Kettleburgh

TM 265606

Redgrave

TM 058782

5 4

Wenhaston

TM 425755

Aldham

TM 041445

Walpole Old Chapel

TM 374752

Wesdeton

TM 430678

Shottisham

TM 321447

5 6

Nacton

TM 217397

Huntingfield

TM 337743

Halesworth Cemetery

TM 393776

7 Note: Husband and wife recording teams at Ketdeburgh, Shottisham and Nacton were included as two recorders.

FemaleOrangeTip on Hedge Garlic byJim Foster 16

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LargeTortoiseshell by BerylJohnston

Summer2002

The Suffolk Argus

Silver-studded Blue Counts July 2001

Table3

Table4

Butterfly Species Recorded and Number Of Sites

Main Nectar and Larval Food Plant Sources with Site Frequency

Meadow Brown Small White LargeWhite

171 167 150

Nettles Ivy Bramble

166 162 107

3rd

Gatekeeper Holly Blue Red Admiral

121 116 91

Dandelion Holly Knapweed

104 94 87

6th

OrangeTip Green-veined White SpeckledWood

81 68 60

Buddleia Hedge Garlic Thistles

68 61 52

Small Tortoiseshell Peacock Ringlet

52 50 49

Ground Ivy Dead Nettle Buttercup

42 37 (Red & White) 34

Wall Common Blue Comma

45 41 36

Daisy Bird's foot Trefoil Clover

34 32 32

Small Skipper Small Copper Painted Lady

30 21 14

Plantain Cow Parsley Speedwell

30 29 29

Essex.Skipper Brimstone Small Heath

13 13 12

Ox-eye Daisy Cowslip

28 26

Large Skipper Brown Argus Purple Hairstreak

12 5 3

Grayling Green Hairstreak

By RichardStewart

Brinor Warehouse

Richard Stewart

Lower Hollesley A

Richard Stewart

Lower Hollesley B

Richard Stewart

Martlesham Heath

BC volunteers

Minsmere/Westleton (RSPB colonies)

BC/RSPB

Grid Ref. TM464612 TM2042 TM 342465 TM 342458 TM2445 TM4567,4569,4468

Purdis Heath

Richard Stewart

TM2142

Site

Recorder

Aldringham Walks

Rob Macklin

Walberswick 5 Crossways Adam Burrows Adam Burrows Westleton Heath NNR

TM 491752 TM 4569

Westleton Common

TM 445686 Total

John Davies/David Mason

No.

Date

113

9th

3rd

210

4th

657 626

4th

1,706 145 42 178 1,172

23rd 23rd 2nd

4,857

FemaleSmallWhite by DouglasHammersley

The Suffolk Argus

1) Any future Survey of a similar nature should specifically target areas that are traditionally under-recorded, by contacting church communities, parish councils and local WI groups.

49 Royal Avenue Lowestoft Suffolk NR324HJ Sunday 6 January 2002 Mr Richard Stewart "Valezina" 112 Westerfield Road Ipswich Suffolk IP4 2XW

References: Mendel, H., & Piotrowski. S. H., 1986. The Butterflies of Suffolk. Suffolk Naturalists' Sociery, Ipswich.

Stewart, R., 2001. The Millennium Atlas of Suffolk Butterflies. Suffolk Naturalists' Society, Ipswich. Tucker, M., 1997. The Red Admiral. Butterfly Conservation, Dedham, Essex.

Yours John Mullen.

RedAdmiral by Beryljohmton 7

Summer2002

The Suffolk Argus

The Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta L. in Suffolk, 2001

By Richard Stewart This species wa., recorded in 264 2km. tetrads in Suffolk in 2001, second only to the Meadow Brown (305) and it wa., an exceptional year for behaviour observations.

Summer2002

The Suffolk Argus

Snippets from, BC HQ

Buff Ermine by Mervyn Crawford

Privet Hawk by Mervyn Crawford 20

Holly Blue by DouglasHammersley

Summer2002

The Suffolk Argus

Butterfly Report for 2001

by Richard Stewart Although the combination of poor weather and foot and mouth restrictions meant that 2001 was hardly a classic year, there were many positive signs from submitted records.

Sheep's Cheese and Large Fritillaries

Silver-Washed Fritillary by Mervyn Crawford

The Suffolk Argus

Summer2002

Butterflies in Ipswich

Editorial

Climate change makes some Butterflies less fussy

Summer2002

The Suffolk Argus

Suffolk Branch Contacts

Back Cover

A purpose built Hotel with all the facilities that today's travellers require yet in a rustic traditional environment that is welcoming and comfortable.

Butterfly Hotel, Al 4 Bury East Exit. Moreton Hall, Bury St. Edmunds Tel: 01284 760884 2

Editorial

Butterfly Line 09068 884505

Copy Dates

,,.

Contributions for our newsletter should reach the Editor (address on back page) no later than: Spring

Christmas Eve

Summer

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Regular Updates & Latest News

Any piece of writing that is considered to be of interest will be published together with line drawings/prints /photographs. The Suffolk Argus is your magazine, so please let us hear from you.

All profits are used for the conservation of butterflies and their habitats.

To advertise in the Suffolk Argus please contact Jim Foster on

Calls charged at 60p per minute at all times

01449 711484.

House number/nameplates too, all painted in durable enamels to last for many years. One quarter of the purchase price will be donated to branch funds.

.,/1:f/Ju· c;lf:J~/

Phone or fax Mervyn Crawford on Mildenhall (01638) 712600 for Colour brochure I Price list.

Suffolk Branch Contacts Chairman Rob Parker, 66 Cornfield Road, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk IP33 3BN (01284 705476)

BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION

Conservation Officers (Butterflies) Richard Stewart, .East Suffolk Rob Parker, Central/West Suffolk (addresses left)

Conservation Officer (Moths) Tony Prichard, 3 Fowling Road, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP3 9JR (01473 270047) ,

County Recorder (Moths) Tony Prichard (address above)

...

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Secretary Tony Prichard, (address above) Treasurer Graham Bull, Willow Cottage, 1 The Street, Raydon, Suffolk IP7 5LP (01473 310371)

Publicity Officer (Vacant) Programme Secretary Alan Johnson, 28 Medway Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP3 0QH (01473 715701) County Recorder (Butterflies) Richard Stewart, (address as above)

Committee Member Stella Wolfe President Howard Mendel, c/o The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD (0171 938 8782)

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/,'

(._

Volunteers Needed

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If you feel you could /

help out now and then with the growing work of the Branch, please contact Beryl Johnson on 01473 71570 I.

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Painted Lady byBerylJohmton

The Newsletter of the Suffolk Branch of Butterfly Conservation

.J~, /'N: ••

Summer 2002 BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION

Volume26