The Suffolk Argus
Summer 2003 such as English Nature, Forest Enterprise, Wildlife Trusts, DEFRA and local authority Biodiversity Action Plan staff.This is a great opportunity to share information and plan activity for the year. There is clearly a need for increased awareness of Butterfly Conservation and its volunteer activities. Hopefully more records will. reach the County Recorders in future. This liaison has already identified potential new sites for Chalkhill Blue and Griuled Skipper in Cambridgeshire. In Suffolk I have been to the Sandlings Group meeting and will be attending the Suffolk Show in May. Work is underway to focus on Griuled and Dingy Skippers across the region to try and ensure someone re-visits all known sites from the last ten years. Sightings of butterflies or reports on habitat will be equally valuable and advice can then be given to landowners. Both specieshave shown an alarming decline and require conservation management at their now isolated colonies to maintain populations. Several sites are also threatened by development. The three-year Grizzled Skipper survey in Hertfordshire has been particularly useful in helping to plan work in other counties. I have started a weekly transect on Devil's Dyke which will give me first hand experience of what a transect involves and hopefully some really useful information. I will also be undertaking some torchlight surveys for Barred Tooth-striped moth with the Cambridgeshire moth recorder and other volunteers in April. I will report on further moth survey plans for the Norfolk and Suffolk Breckland area in the next newsletter. An application in February to Anglian Water Environmental Action Fund for £4300.00 has been approved by their directors and will fund display material and leaflets, maps, tools for practical work and training day costs. I would like to take this opportunity to thank members for their kind donations toward this post and hope the achievements in due course fulfil their expectations. Please feel free to get in touch with any project ideas.
Eastern Regional Officer makes a Start The new Eastern Regional Officer, Sharon Hearle, hasnow been in post for threemonths. A new office has been set up in Newmarket High Street, which is conveniently central for the Anglia region. Sharon spent the last twelve years working for the Wtldlif-e Trust in Cambridgeshire and is familiar with many aspects of habitat management; working with wlunteers, grant schemes and Local Biodiversity Action Plan process.This is her first report: I have now met all five branches in the Anglia region; Cambridgeshire and Essex, Hertfordshire and Middlesex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire, with a combination of committee meetings and site visits.The post is funded by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs(DEFRA) through their Environment Action Fund, which helps voluntary groups in England promote sustainable development through projects on biodiversity.The amount of grant BC receivesis directlydependant on the amount of voluntary work undertaken by Branches in the Region. A Regional Action Plan (RAP) meeting was held near Newmarket in March to review last year's activities by Branches, discuss current plans and my initial work programme for the year. I am impressed by the range of work that Branch volunteers are able to achieve and the detailed knowledge, which many individuals have. There will be great benefits from inter-Branch liaison over the year. I am also in the process of contacting and meeting key playersin each region from organisations
Sharon Hearle, c/o Busy Bee, 21 High Street, Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 8LX Tel 01638 663990 shearle@butterfly-conservation.org.uk
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A Relic of Warren Heath by RichardStewart After the destruction of Warren Heath on the edge of Ipswich, which included a Silverstudded Blue colony, I assumed that the few small patches of heathland left between houses were of a cosmetic value rather than being rich in wildlife. I had forgotten the areas of heather still remaining on the other side of the railway line from Ipswich to Felintowe, hidden behind the long frontages of the commercial units on the Ransomes Industrial Park and only briefly visible from the train. In the course of a conversation with Eric Parsons he mentioned one such site and on July 24th. 1996 we made an early evening visit getting access, as Eric knew the man on duty. It was very late in the butterfly's normal flight period but we expected to see a few, if present. We were unsuccessful but then saw an even more promising area next door, occupied by Brinor, who handle container traffic. This time I knew the right man and we found about an acre of land at present undeveloped, though there was outline planning permission. This was sited between the end of the haulage area and the railway fence. To our delight thirteen Silver-studded Blues were counted. I then made an annual count, each time trying to stress the importance of the site to the manager. In the process I also recorded Large, Small and Essex Skipper, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Small Copper, Small Tortoiseshell, Large White, Green-veined White and a colony of at least 20 Small Heath. The 1997 count was the best, with 48, and at this point the colony seemed viable, with plenty of Bell Heather, some a bit
leggy, and not much scrub invasion. In 1998 less than ideal recording conditions reduced numbers to 24 and I was informed the area could be developed soon. Consequently I contacted the Estates Manager of Ransomes, who owned the site, giving him all necessary details and asking for early warning of any development. The count rose to 35 in 1999 but the limitations of a yearly visit were evident in 2000 when I counted just five, three males and two females: partly because of poor recording weather but also due to long container lorries having started to turn and reverse on the site, damaging and fragmenting the heather beds. This obviously was the thin end of a large wedge and by 2002 there was much damage: continuing use by containers, dumping of large piles of soil and, as the manager admitted, repeated racing around the site by the employees, using old bangers and motorbikes. His excuse was impending commercial development. I counted eight, with just one female, all on an undisturbed small strip of heather in the far corner. Scrub, especially Gorse, was already invading the damaged areas. With some foreboding I went in 2002 and was amazed to find ten surviving, four males and six females. Probably the storing of several empty and long containers across the usual access point had prevented more damage. Consequently I contacted the Managing Director of Brinor, sending a letter and SAE to their Felixstowe headquarters. I gave details of the butterfly, asked if any further damage could be avoided, and if a work party could have access to tackle the scrub problem. I also added that I could probably get the company free, positive publicity. There was no response. Given that factor, the current condition of the site, and the low numbers of Silver-studded Blues remaining, even the short-term future of this colony looks bleak.
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