Suffolk Argus 34 Spring 2005

Suffolk Branch Contacts Chairman Rob Parker,66 Cornfield Road, Bury St. Edmunds, SuffolkIP33 3BN (01284 705476) MembershipSecretary BerylJohnson, 28 Medway Road, Ipswich,SuffolkIP3 0QH (01473 715701) NewsletterEditor Jim Foster,Lugano,The Street, Stonham Aspal, Stowmarket,Suffolk IP14 6AH (01449 711484) Publicity Officer (Vacant) ProgrammeSecretary Alan Johnson, 28 MedwayRoad, Ipswich, SuffolkIP3 OQH (01473 715701) County Recorder(Butterflies) Rob Parker (addressas above)

The Butterfly Conservation ConservationOfficer (Butterflies) Rob Parker (addr<:5s left) ConservationOfficer (Moths) Tony Prichard, 3 PowlingRoad, Ipswich, Suffolk,IP3 9JR (01473 270047) County Recorder(Moths) Tony Prichard (addressabove) Secretary Tony Prichard, (addressabove) Treasurer Graham Bull, Willow Cottage, 1 The Street, Raydon, SuffolkIP? 5LP (01473 310371) Committee Members StellaWolfe, Mike Dean President Howard Mendel, c/o The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW? 5BD (0171 938 8782)

Volunteers Needed If you feel you could help out now and then with the growingwork of the Branch, please contact BerylJohnson on

01473715701.

The Newsletter of the Suffolk Branch of Butterfly Conservation

Publishedby the Suffolk Branchof ButterflyConservation ButterflyConservationlimited by Guarantee R,gistcrcd

Office:Manor Yard, East Lulworth, Wareham, Dorset BH20 5QP Td: (01929) 400209 © 2004 all rights reserved Reg.No. 2206468 Reg.Charity No. 254937

Editor: Jim Foster Logo: (Silver-scuddedBlue) Doug Hammersley Design:Stephen Ion, Cat & Mouse design Printer. 321 Printing, 25 Brookhouse Business Park, Hadleigh Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP2 0EF

Butterfly Conservation

Spring 2005 Volume34

The SuffolkArgus

Spring2005

Contents

Editorial

·:~;.

fir'"'

For that difficult to find present, why not give a decorative butterfly or moth to mount on the front wall of someone's home ?

Editorial

3

Display Boards, any suitable venues?

3

Copy Dates

Safety Code

4

Field Meetings 2004

5

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

.•· ~~-

4 ·fldm •wt. rN .. .

Annual General Meeting 2004

15

Accounts

16

Summer

April Fools Day

New Online Guide to Suffolk Moths

17

Autumn

August Bank Holiday

Buddleia and Butterflies at Priors Oak

18

Garden Observations - 2004

19

Birds of a different colour

20

In Defence of Insects

22

Newsletter Details and General Information

23

To advertisein the SuffolkArgus

Back Cover

01449 711484.

Suffolk Branch Contacts

Spring

Christmas Eve

Cast In aluminiumand enamelledin very realistic colours at five times lif&-size, they will last for manyyears.

Highly individualnameplatestoo, to your own desi!PI,with n~obllaatlon colour preview.SuffolkBranchwill receive one quarter of the purchase price.

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.

please contact

Jim Foster

Phone or far Mervyn Crawford on MikJen/raJJ (01638) 712600for Colour brockure I Price list.

on

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

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, Moreton Hall,

Butterfly Hotel, Al 4 Bury East Exit.

Moreton Hall,

Bury St. Edmunds Tel: 01284 760884

Bury St. Edmunds Tel: 01284 760884

Al 4 Bury East Exit.

2

23

The SuffolkArgus

Spring2005

Monday walk found us in the Valley de Coumellade walking through the snow, as one would expect at an altitude of 1700 metres. As we paused to rest and admire the countryside spread out below a solitary small "Eagk"appeared, a study with binoculars and it was identified as an immature Egyptian Vulture possiblythe product of the above mating. We stopped to eat at the Cabin a Vielle an isolated refuge used by the shepherds.

After a short time the Egyptian Vulture appeared again this time being harassed by a pair of angry Crows who resented its presence in their territory.

Despite him turning back on them several times they eventuallywore him down and with a few lazy wing beats he was off over the ridge, the Crows now being satisfied flew off in the opposite direction.

There is never a dull moment up in the mountains, the weather can change in minutes, the scenery and variation of wildlife differs according to altitude and the particular exposure to the elements. My one great wish now is to see an Eagle stooping on its prey.

Swallowtail _____

In Defence

Editorial

Of 'Insects'

by Jim Foster

by RichardStewart

Readers may recall that in my article "ButterfliesDown Under"in the Summer 2004 edition of the Suffolk. Argus, I bemoaned the fact that Field Guides were not published on as many aspects of natural history as they are in the U.K. During a recent visit to Australia a new guide to the butterflies of Australia was published, "The

Perhaps it's just me exhibiting more examples of the 'grumpy Old Men' syndrome but I am becoming increasingly concerned about the increased use of the word 'Bugs'.

I have of course no objection to its proper use in the case of Shieldbugs, lovely insects that we occasionally find in our garden, but it's the increasing general application to all insects that concerns me. 'BBC Wildlife' magazine, in its June 2004 issue, page 64, had the title 'Get The Bug Bug' adding below that "Bugs are beautiful, bugs are beastly, but above all, bugs are the best", then using the phrase "insects and other invertebrates" on the next line. I am also given to understand it is an acronym, though for what is another matter.

According to 'BBC Wildlife' it is 'Biodiversity Underpinning Global Survival' but according to ~=E_nglish Nature it is 'Biodiversity In Urban

',iji

b_7_D_ou_~_1as __ H._a_m_m_ers_ley __ /._~_,_lllll,,iik?fW7·Gard:::!:ce;;y

J;;t~i:~t:a::n::

complaining about its use in their Big Bug Count and he did at least reply, saying he agreed with me. The word itself is short and ugly, yet another unwanted American import, and it conjures up images of dirt and disease; add a few letters and it has other negative connotations and it is also ' unspecific and unscientific. I don't want beautiful and elegant creatures such as butterflies and moths, or indeed many other insects as well, to be classifiedunder the word 'Bugs' - let's stick to the word 'Insects', which has served us well for hundreds of years.

22

Butterfly Conservation· Display Boards, Suffolk Branch Do you know of a suitable venue or a forthcoming event (under cover) where you could use our six- panel free standing, or three- pand table top, light weight, display to give publicity to Butterfly Conservation?

CompleteField Guideto Butterfliesof Australia"by Michael F. Braby, and published by CSRIO Publishing. This is the first complete Field Guide to all the Australian species and its illustrations depict for each species male, female both upper and undersides, together with a distribution map.

An informative text for teach species is included that lists larval food plants. In some cases subspecies are also illustrated. If you are going to Australia I recommend this book as an indispensable guide to the 400+ species in that Country.

As is usual with this issue the programme for the corning season is enclosed. I recommend these outings to members not only to increase your knowledge in natural history and lepidoptera in particular, but as a convivial meeting between people with like interests.

There are three Training Days following on the success of those held last year. Also there ar~ several out of county meetings, these present an opportunity for members to gain : ..~·· experience of lepidoptera that are not necessarilyseen in Suffolk. For those attending field meetings your attention is drawn to the Safety Code on page 4. Happy hunting.

The information on the boards gives details of Butterfly Conservation and the Suffolk Branch activities.

Membership leaflets, programme cards and other promotional leaflets could also be provided.

Fordetailspleasering:AlanJohnson,on 01473 715701.

CommonWainscot(pg 11) byMervyn Crawford 3

The SuffolkArgus

Spring 2005

Safety Code ■

As with any other activity, there are haurds in the countryside and everyone taking part in a Field Trip or Work Party has a responsibility (duty of care), for their own safety and that of others.

We try hard to ensure that our Events present no greater hazard than any other walk in the countryside, but please note and act on the following: ■

Wear appropriate clothing and footwear. If there are unusual requirements, these are noted in the individual trip details. Stout shoes are a minimum requirement for any walk.

■

During the main summer season you may be exposed to strong sunshine for much or all of the walk. Take a hat, use suncream or protection for exposed skin. Make sure that you have adequate food and liquid to drink with you. Equally, sunshine can easily turn to cold and rain during the day. Be prepared.

■

■

Joining the walk is an indication of your interest in butterflies. By their nature butterflies do not remain conveniently by the main path and will offer many opportunities (temptations) for you to wander away. Take particular care to look out for hazards - rabbit holes, fallen or hanging branches, barbed wire, boggy areas, etc. Beware of wet grass, particularly on sloping ground. \

■

Children are welcome on out walks, but if under 16 must be accompanied by at least one adult for two children. It is the responsibility of the accompanying adult(s) to ensure that the trip is within the children's ability.

■

Dogs are normally welcome on walks, but must be kept under control. Any exceptions are shown in the individual trip details.

■

If you are uncertain about any details of the

for a tasty meal to come into sight. In the spring up in the mountains 20 or more of these Buzzards are often sighted slowly drifting north at high altitude. The height makes their speed deceptive, this April I watched a dozen slowly appear over a ridge, within five minutes they were lost from sight several kilometres away. Even now afrer several sightings I find it very exiting when one of our randonners shouts "Eag!.e" and there high in the sky are one or two beautiful Golden Eagles. It is amazing how they soar around in the air currents needing only a tilt of the wings or a twist of the wingtip feathers to change direction. Only when they decide to take their searching pattern to another area do they give a couple of strong wing strokes and in seconds disappear over a ridge.

During one of the early randonnes near the Pie de Costabonne we sighted five large birds flying high above us, I, now thinking I was an expert said Eagles, the real man of knowledge corrected me and said that if there were

trip, ring the leader/contact in advance. There is always a telephone number given with the trip details.

The leader will provide a briefing on the trip before setting out, with details of any known particular hazards, and willalso give advice on what to do in an emergency. Please listen carefully.

■

If you decide to leave the event early, tell the leader.

■

Take care at all times, but ENJOY YOURSELF.

We thank Upper ThamesBranchfor all.owingus to publish their SafetyCode.PI.ease alsoreferto our own Safety Notes on the back of the Events Programme 2005-Ed.

At the briefing, please let the leader know if:you have a mobile tdephone and are able to take it with you on the walk; you have First Aid qualifications.

CloudedYellow

by BerylJohnson

4

three or more they were not likdy to be eagles and what we were looking at were Griffon Vultures.

Until then I did not know there were Vultures in out part of France. These five circled high above us and then carried on their way, they no doubt thought we all looked healthy and not a good bet for a meal. Last summer when we walked to the Massif de Madra, the most isolated comer of the department where our wolves and bear live, we became rather concerned and kept checking that all the others looked and felt in good health for as we were descending through the trees each time we came to a clearing three or fout Griffon Vultures appeared and circled round looking down at us.

One particularly ugly brute landed high up on a dead tree and watched us pass, very unsettling.

Apart from this one I had only seen the Vultures in flight so was rather chuffed when a few weeks later, again near the Costabonne, I saw one land and slow down with the characteristic jumps forwards.

When a couple of his mates followed him down we scanned the area with binoculars and discovered that the whitish hump near where they had landed was a dead cow. Over the next half hour or so the numbers slowlyincreased to over twenty. They were arriving in ones and twos starting as tiny dots in the sky far away and some 1000 metres above the mountains. As they got nearer they descended in decreasing spirals looking for the best place to land to get their heads in.

• We sat eating our lunch watching them through our binoculars, we were pleased that we were out of ear shot for their visual table manners left a lot to be desired and the sound of them eating would have been too much. After about an hour something that we could not identify disturbed them and they rose in mass, as they disbursed in various directions we counted a total of twenty-five.They must have been back, for two weeks later looking from the opposite side of the valley there was no sign that a cow carcasshad ever been there.

We recently read in our local paper that a pair of Egyptian Vultures had nested and raised young. This was the first in the Department for several decades. On 2 February this year our

21

The SuffolkArgus

Birds of a different colour ByJamesMann When we came to live in the deep south of France we were well aware that Swallowtails, Painted ladies, aouded Yellows and many of the lesser seen British Blues would be classed as common and that many of our Tortoiseshdls would be large and our Whites Black-ffllled.We hadgiven little thought to the birds, neither of us being aperts in ornithology. What we first noticed was how many things were the same.

In Darsham, Anne had fed a small flock of Collared Doves and felt she would miss them but within days she had another eager group in the garden here asking to be fed or were they the same ones that had followed us down? Angry Blackbirds shouting at the cats told us that we had a pair nesting in the ivy over-growingthe garage. Cheeky Sparrows were soon sharing food with the Doves.

We also found that we had a resident Robin.

One evening at dusk we were sitting outside a cafe in the centre of the town enjoying a cool beer when the peace was disturbed by a cacophony of bird cries coming from the plane trees. As we watched wave upon wave of anything up to a hundred Starlings swooped in from the surrounding countryside to roost for the night.

From the numbers we counted there were many thousands, where they all go during the day we have no idea. It was fortunate that afrer twenty min1,1tesor so of argument they settled down quietly to sleep for this is a daily event.

Early one spring morning Anne heard a strange·bird call, we quickly tracked it down to a male Hoopoe sitting on our T.V. aerial Hoo Hoo pooing for a mate. Our bird book tells us he does

Spring 2005 this out of sight in the crown of a tree but this one persisted with our T.V. aerial for several weeks before he left. We never saw a female at the house but hoped that he had success and was the male of one of the several pairs we frequently saw near the river on our evening walks. The trees that he should have been calling from give home to several rarely seen but regularly heard Nightingales.

In the summer we have crowds of Swifts screaming round the houses cutting down the insect population. They leave us in the autumn but the more sedate Swallows and Martins although diminished in numbers are often seen flying in small groups over the river all through the winter.

The plain where our vast areas of vines are grown does not attract a great many birds but in the wetter areas towards the river both the Llttle and Cattle Egret can be seen together with their larger cousin the Grey Heron. In late summer the trees and any likely structures in the town are invaded by the western population of migrating White Storks having a few days rest before crossing over into Spain to make for Gibraltar. They are not at all shy and are happy to pose, albeit high up, to be photographed from all angles. last September Anne took a wrong turning when going to collect some chairs she had bought the previous day at Canet en Roussillon Vide Grenier and found herself on the narrow strip of land between the sea and the salt water Etang de Canet which is very shallow, she had to stop to find out why it had turned pink. She discovered that the whole etang was massed with Pink Flamingos having a top up meal before moving further south for the winter. When I went to see them later in the week our small resident group were scillthere but the huge mass had flown away.

When taking part in English Butterfly walks I have often heard the word "raptor"spoken in awe so decided ro have a look for them here. If one decides to be lazy it is possible to visit Chateau Valmy where trained Owls, Hawks, Eagles and Vultures fly low over the heads of the spectators but I decided that that was cheating. Along and above the main road verges we often see Kestrels and the rare Sparrowhawk and often on the top of electricity poles we see stationary Buzzards waiting

20

2004 Field Meetings Field Trip to Kent 9th - 10th July byPaulJohnson 9th July,TrosleyCountry Park & Newtye Hurst Wood On the high summer's morning of 9th July, I stepped out onto the gravel of the Trosley car park to survey a malevolent bank of cloud brooding over the North Downs. Within a minute, I was back'inside the car mmrnaging for a fleece to supplement what was rapidly becoming mandatory apparel for butterfly season 2004 - a waterproof.

Climatically speaking, the situation hadn't improved greatly by the time the twelve members of our group (including a contingent of four from Norfolk) interrupted the descent from the parking area by stepping somewhat tentatively out onto a small section of open downland. We explored here for a few minutes, enjoying the rich song of a Blackcap and straining our eyes to distinguish the slate uppers of a Sparrowhawk from the dreary sky behind. Then, as we brushed through some undergroMh, a Mottled Beauty moth was disturbed from its resting place.

Emerging onto the site proper, our attention was drawn to the great number of Pyramidal Orchids in flower - the bright inflorescences almost seeming to illuminate the narrow path we now began to follow. Presently, we began to fan out across the slope and the increased coverage quickly brought rewards; a few Meadow Browns and Ringlets flying without enthusiasm, delicate Small Heaths taking evasive flight whenever our feet encroached too closely upon their hiding

places within the fine sward, and a number of Large Skippers squatting, stout-bodied, amongst coarser vegetarian. A little funher along we encountered a vivid male Gatekeeper, the upper surfaces of its forewings so profusely marked with dark scent scales as to virtually obscure the orange ground colour beneath.

We had covered perhaps a quarter of a mile, when an exultant cry rang out and we turned quickly to observe a comparatively large butterfly rapidly ascending the slope. Our attempts at pursuit were largely in vain, although sufficient to pleasingly confirm the butterfly's identity as Dark Green Fritillary. Over the remainder of our visit, the fricillary count increased in increments of one or two, and probably totalled around ten by the time we began the steep climb back - a satisfactory tally under overcast skies, but really a rather meagre return given the potential rewards at one of the strongest sites for this species in the south east.

The eastern edge of the Country Park is marked by a rather scrubby area in which buddleia, thistle, bramble & knapweed provide abundant and varied nectars. Here, in addition ro the Satyrids of earlier, Small White, Small Tortoiseshell and two funher species of skipper were recorded. I was somewhat surprised to notice the Norfolk ladies using binoculars to observe the latter species. However, as they explained, it is possible, with a little practice, to distinguish male Small from male Essex Skippers by checking the sex brands on the uppersides of the forewings; these being relatively short, straight and parallel to

PurpleEmperor

by Beryl]ohmon 5

Spring2005

TheSuffolkArgus the wing edge in the laner species, longer and curving distinctly towards the abdomen in the former. Indeed, recognition of these characteristics subsequently saved much of the stooping, crouching and cursing normally associated with anempts to identify these particular butterflies.

Although the large expanse of open chalk grassland at Trosley provides core habitat for the site's specialist butterflies, the various thorn thickets and fingers of early successionalwoodland should not be wholly discounted; providing, in the first instance, important shelter at what would otherwise be a very exposed location. It was within one of these scrubby nooks that, to the overoptimistic call of "fritillary,about to land!" a Comma made its way onto the morning's list.

However, our wait for a close view of a Dark Green was quickly ended with the discovery of a quite heavily marked individual nectaring on buddleia blossom. We delayed here for a few moments, taking in the green flush and silver ellipses of the undersides of the hindwings, before tracking back to our rendezvous point.

At the start of any Purple Emperor field trip there is almost invariably a quickening of the collective pulse, palpable anticipation and a sense of wishing to get to the hean of the site without lingering unduly around the periphery. Newtye Hurst did not prove an exception, and we walked purposefully past the large Oaks standing guard at the entrance and onto a narrow ride. A few minutes later, for this is not a large wood and Ringlet & Meadow Brown had thus far provided the only distractions, we stopped at a small clearing, put down our rucksacks and inclined our heads towards the treetops.

Purple Hairstreaks were immediately apparent, jin.king spasmodically about the boughs of Oak and Ash. Such activity was encouraging and presently a White Admiral glided gracefully int:othe clearing. There was opportunity to admire the upperwings outstretched fully against a backdrop of Hazel, before she (for the direction of the departure flight suggested egg-laying activities within the wood's shadier recesses)flew again.

Craning our necks skywards once more, an altogether larger and more powerful butterfly was

noted beating up from the lower section of the wood. The Purple Emperor alighted regally atop an Oak tree and, over the course of the ensuing hours, proceeded to command the natural amphitheatre formed by the broadly circular arrangement of trees at this point in the wood through imperious flicks of its angular wings.

Then, as we paused· to check the ripe fruits which had been positioned along the path as a lure, deeply coloured and unfamiliar upperwings were noted against a bracken frond; closer inspection revealing that these belonged to a female Purple Hairstreak which had descended froth the canopy.

Newtye Hurst is a quiet wood, in which human voices rarely compete with the calls and songs of the indigenous birds. Today was somewhat different, and I wondered what an unsuspecting visitor to the wood would have made of a scene comprising a group of twelve people gazing resolutelyskywards,a camera with lens of telescopic proportions mounted across the path, and a loose collection of banana skins and plums strewn amongst the grass. Furthermore, if the intrepid explorer drew closer, he might have overheard snatches of an apparently bizarre conversation:

Speaker 1 (in confident manner): "Oh yes, he's definitelystill up there.I canjust make out the tip of one antenna and about a quarterof theforewing."

Speaker 2 (sounding sceptical): "OK, but where exactlyareyou /,ooking?"

Garden Observations -2004

by RichardStewart It was highly unlikdy that the aceptionally good sightings in 2003 would be repeated but neverthdess our garden in Westerfield Road, Ipswich, has again had some interesting sightings. For the second year we had just one visit from a Purple Hairstreak, on July 8th and this has set me thinking about where it would have come from.

A large Oak is close to our house but many observations have failed to spot the species there though there may be Oaks with this buttetfly along the nearby Spinney linking Westerfield and Tuddenham Road, not at present available for me to explore. I doubt if any research has been carried out about Purple Hairstreak dispersal distances so I have decided to use an old school compass and draw a circle, with a diameter of three quarters of a mile, from our house and try to explore every Oak at a suitable time. Already I have discovered six new Oaks with the buttetfly present, one only

Speaker 1: "Yousee the largeoakjust to the left of the hazel... " Speaker 2 (interrupting enthusiastically): "Yes, the one with the knobbleon the trunk about tenfeet up."

Speaker 1: "Yes,we/£follow the trunk up until it splits.Thenkeepyour eyeon the lefthand branchuntil it kinks, then take the thirdsmallerbranchto the right andfollow that straightalonguntilyou reacha clump of leavesat the top.It'sreallyquitea distinctiveclump; woksa bit like a kidney and someof the leavesare a ratherrusty cowur.Now find the group of leavesat

6

about four hundred yards from our house. It will probably take another year or two to do it thoroughly but I confidently anticipate many more host trees being found.

The large Swallowrail, which flew quickly past me at the bottom of our garden on August 3rd was an incredible surprise, and it disappeared over • the back fence before Marie could see it and didn't return. This brings my garden total of species up to 26 but there is, with this butterfly, always the possibility of breeding and releasing, as almost cenainly occuned on the Rivers Estate in 1998.

However, there were two other sightings of what was probably the same bunerfly, in Ipswich, from Iris Maeers in Holywells Park and Pat Gondris at St. Edmund's Road; also, this was a time when more migrants were coming in and just three days later I was observing Clouded Yellows at Piper's Vale on the edge of Ipswich.

Finally, even though we keep a close eye on our garden wildlife, we probably missed a large influx of the migrant SilverY moth. Marie spotted one on Valerian outside our French window and a closer examination revealed at least fifty, nectaring also on two varieties of Buddleia, Verbena and Jasmine. We have never seen anything like this number before in the garden and a count the next night gave a total of twenty-three. This was on August 11th and 12th during the time already mentioned when • other migrants were coming in, but it did occur to us that the moths were feeding mainly on our large Buddleia, which was past its peak of flowering. We were left wondering whether the number would have been greater, had we looked late in the day during the earlier part of August.

Peacock

SilverY Moth

byDouglas Hammersley

byMervyn Crauford 19

v~ Buddleia and The SuffolkArgus

Spring2005

Butterflies at PriorsOak

by TrudieWillis Priors Oak lies adjacent to North Warren, where I have a very large 10-acre garden and still had loads of plants flowering well into autumn. My Buddleiawalkhas over 10 varieties and after the initial flowering we cut them back about two foot all round and this brings on a full second bloom that is still coveringseveralof the bushes.

It is interesting to see that regardless of the position of the sun on them, the pale blue and double white seem to attract all the late butterflies and on 1st October 2004, I counted ten Red Admirals, six Commas and a Painted Lady on the blue one, whereas the rest of the garden appeared to be just whites, Speckled Woods and the odd remaining Small Copper.

SmallCopper

by DouglasHammersley

RedAdmiral byDouglasHammersley I was saddened to read an article decrying the "rather boring Buddleia" recently. For those of you wishing to add one of these prime butterfly bushes please take time to look around as there are now around 30 varieties available!

The flowering ranges from whites, yellows to bright orange, all shades of pink and blues and finally to Black Knight (as its name indicates a deep purple bordering on black). Size and shape vary again from very large and spreading scale down to weeping, standards and small bushes so there really is something for every garden regardlessof their size. The earliest to flower is the yellow flowered Globosa and suangely it is the small yellow flowered Weyeriana that is the last to flower and willcontinue until frosts arrive. So you see the choice is endless and Buddleia does not have to conjure up the thought of a rather spindly tree with uninteresting mauve flowers, and please remember a summer prune will produce a second flowering. I think it is well worth encouraging people to do this summer pruning to get the most of the late nectar.

I had another fun sighting that same autumn day. The young hazels we planted in the wildlife area to coppice appeared to be heavily defoliated and I feared a Muntjac, only to see a host of large Lobster moth larvae, they really are weird and interesting caterpillars.

18

10th July,Downe Bank & West Kent Golf Course

about11 o'clockto the highestpoint on the clumpand he'snestledin there."

Speaker 2 (having repeated the instructions The wgency which had marked our entry into carefully to himself and now sounding Newtye Hurst Wood the previous day was jubilant): evident again this morning; prompted now by a "Fantastic, I'vegot him now,eversoclearthroughthe desire to benefit fully from the sunny binoculars,thanks." Then in deflatedand dejected conditions. Amidst the rough grass, scrub & tones: "Oh, oh no, it'sjust a hairstreak.~ are brambles of the meadow through which we initially passed butterflies were quite talkingaboutthe sametreearen'twe?... " numerous, with Holly Blue, Comma & Red A few of us descended through the lower reaches of Admiralparticularly eye-catching amongst the the wood, shortly emerging into a meadow where ubiquitous browns. Presently, we followed a trefoils, knapweeds, thistles and countless grasses track through some trees and descended to vied for position from every square centimetre of Downe Bank,pausing at the entrance to repel a stout Labrador, which had evinced great turf, and the air above resounded to the endeavour of a thousands-strong orchestra of grasshoppers. interest in our proceedings from the outset.

Butterfly sightings now came quickly along Meadow Brown~and Ringlets bobbed dark above this hidden little ribbon of chalk grassland on the the colourful sward, whilst the three golden southern extremity of administrative London; a skippers of the Weald were frequent amongst the Marbled White alighted obligingly on low foliage, grass stems.

Deploying the morning's a Brimstone flew strongly across open ground, and identification techniques, male Small Skippers were quickly differentiated from their Essex a little way along the path some of our group were hurriedly focussing binoculars upon dark counterparts, although by now verbose butterflies spinning around the boughs of a Wych descriptions of the sex brands had been distilled down to the simple expression, "straightEssex, Elm. Eventually, one settled in a prominent position and we passed an engrossing few minutes kinky Small''. observing a White-letter Hairstreak walking This mantra rather stuck in my mind as we methodically over the elm leaves; proboscis fully walked back through this little fragment of old uncoiled to sample aphid honey-dew from the England, and only the news from the rest of the rough surfaces. This was a rare insight into the group that the Purple Emperor had descended arboreal habits of this species, partly facilitated by onto quite low and prominent boughs during our the canopy of the elm being broadly at the same absence was sufficient to dislodge it. A few of us lingered now, and with the Purple Emperor's height as our vantage point.

Dark Green Fritillaries were evident about position only known to one of us at any one time the open grassland, their dashing flight and there were ample opportunities for further turmeric spice ground colours in contrast to the imaginative descriptions of various parts of trees. dark, introvert hairstreaks we had just observed.

Eventually however, it settled openly on a distant Of particular note was a fritillary flying in a rather Sweet Chesmut; wings set squarely towards the studious manner just above the sward. Upon early evening sun. landing, she angled back her wings and began to ButterflyList: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Essex enter, in a fashion which brought the word "tunnelling"strongly to mind, a dense clump of Skipper, Small White, Purple Hairstreak, Dark vegetation; another interesting insight into Green Fritillary, White Admiral, Purple Emperor, butterfly behaviour which we mused upon during Comma, Small Tortoiseshell, Meadow Brown, the minutes which she took to deposit her eggs Ringlet, Small Heath, Gatekeeper. safely amongst the leaves of an unseen violet. AI,

7 I

The SuffolkArgus

Spring2005

she endeavoured to raise her body temperature upon re-emergence, we enjoyed a fine view of the intricate-upperwing patterning.

'Af'we retraced our steps and made towards the northern section of Downe Bank, Broadleaved Helleborines and a Fly Orchid were particularly noteworthy amongst the more prolific Pyramidal and Common-spotted representatives of this family. The Fly Orchid deploys a unique mimicry, whereby the three perals of the flower combine to resemble a female Digger Wasp. The male digger, attracted not only by the appearance of the orchid hut also by a scent, which imitates wasp pheromones, is drawn irresistibly to the flower. I suspect that Charles Darwin, during his studies at Downe, may have been inexorably drawn to this rdationship too; observing the transfer of pollen during the unrequited encounter between insect and flower, and recording the completion of the fenilisation cycle in which the hapless digger is seduced again by another orchid.

Regrettably,the present day Fly Orchid's flowering structures had long since withered, although we gathered from Downe's warden that it takes patience far surpassing that of hairstreak watching to observe the fleeting liaisons with the Digger Wasp.

With the sun becoming increasingly obscured by banks of cloud, the air above the northern section's elms was not broken by the flight of hairstreaks, and butterfly sightings were now confined to more robust species. Small and Essex Skippers continued to weave amongst the grass stems, whilst Marbled Whites were noted regularly - either crowded about the heads of Knapweeds and Scabious, or fluttering atuactively about us. With weather conditions now deteriorating to rainfull, we concluded that the morning's count of fourteen species was unlikdy to increase and hastened back towards Downe.

Lunch was taken in our cars, and through breaks in windscreen condensation we occasionally caught glimpses of various walkers, cyclists and Girl Guides beating bedraggled and disconsolate paths back into the village.

Appetites appeased, we now followed a southwesterly bearing away from Downe village.

I

\

As we passed through some rough grazing pasture, small butterflies were noted upon the heads of thistles; mottled underwings betraying the presence of Large Skippers, inkpot black antennae identifying members of the Hesperidae family with East Anglian origins. Shortly, we pushed through a narrow opening in the scrub bordering the path and stepped out onto London Wildlife Trust's somewhat paradoxically named West Kent Golf Course reserve.

With the rain which had curtailed the morning's activities still falling and the wet grass clinging unpleasantly about our ankles, the reserve wasn't quite the vibrant and enticing spectacle I had hoped for. However, as we moved across the slope, Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper were noted embedded deep amongst the grass sterns. Then, to much greater enthusiasm, a number of Marbled Whites, including a mating pair, were discovered in a scrubby patch at the bank's base. With the butterflies rendered torpid by the cool conditions, they were readily enticed by the warmth of our outstretched fingers. We lingered here for some time, taking full advantage of the opponunities for close observation and photography, which had largely alluded us earlier.

As we ascended the slope, the cloud cover broke a little and we turned to witness the charming sight of the Marbled Whites taking to the wing; seeming to rise simultaneously from each and every Scabious and Knapweed bdow.

Then, as often seems to happen during fidd trips, a number of unusual sightings followed in quick succession; firstly, a Small Blue larva was located, its grey body well synchronised against the now seeding Kidney Vetch host. This was preceded by the discovery of a rather dapper Black Neck moth, before the bank's reverie was broken by the harsh call of a Ring-necked Parakeet. A few moments later the parakeet broke cover and flew rapidly across our eye line - an aptly tropical addition, given the monsoon conditions earlier.

In repetition of our 2003 field meeting, we moved to the southern extremity of the site and here spent a pleasant time amongst the chalk grassland'sflora and fauna. Comma and Common Blue were added to the afternoon's list, whilst Slow

8

New Online Guide to the Larger Moths of Suffolk

by TonyPrichard For those in the county with an interest in moths a new online web guide has been produced covering the macro-moths (larger moths) of Suffolk. Although the guide is currently in a draftform it should still prove useful for moth recorders or more generalised naturalists in the county. The guide is continually being updated with new information and recordsas they are received so should provide an up to date source of information on the county's moth fauna.

Each species within the guide has a species account page with textual information describing its national and local status, flight period, larval foodplants, preferred habitats, records (where these are few in number) and the entry for the species from Morley's Final Catalogue of . • Lepidoptera. In addition to the text most species accounts have a 10km distribution map and where we have enough data a chart showing in which month(s) the species has been recorded as an adult in the county. Over half of the species have photographs of the adult and new photographs are being regularly added by members of the moth group.

Each species account has direct links to web pages on other moth web sites for viewing additional information and photographs for that particular species. An identification section lists confusion species and allows for comparison of various features (distribution, flight period and

adult photographs) between the confusion species.

With time it is expected to provide additional information on identification and how to· differentiate the various confusion species. A search facility provides the ability to find species accounts based on the species name and also to search for text within the textual accounts.

In the near future the guide will be extended to include the pyralid moths (family Pyralidae) as these are a rdativdy well-studied group of microlepidoptera and being rdativdy large for microlepidoptera are recorded by some moth recorders who do not record other families of microlepidoptera.

At some stage in the future it is the intention of the moth group to produce a book on the larger moths of Suffolk and this online guide is seen as part of that process. Producing the online guide has cost very little apart from time and it can be changed in response to feedback with little effort.

The strategy being that we can iron out any problems or inaccuracies in the guide before we embark on the costly business of producing a printed version.

The guide can be found at the Suffolk Moth Group web site (www.suffolkmothgroup.org.uk/) and follow the link to 'Larger Moths of Suffolk'. I would wdcome any comments and feedback about the guide.

Swallow-tailedMoth byMervyn Crawford 17

The SuffolkArgus

Spring 2005

BUTTERFLYCONSERVATIONSUFFOLK BRANCH Income 8i.Expenditure Account for 12 Months Ended 31st March 2004 2002/03 £1,164.00 £7.49 £1-18.70 £86.50 £39.10

INCOME

2003/04

Membership Subscriptions............................................................................ £1,173.00 Bank Interest ........................................................................................................ £5.30 Donations: General Fundraising........................................................................ £48.75 Butterfly Plants (Suffolk Show)..........................:...............................£0.00 Sale of Merchandise......................................................................................... £213.80

£1,415.79 £25:00

£1,440.85 Cost of Sales .................................................................................................... £191.12

£1,390.79 £31.0.00 £144.70 £664.25 £3.99 £167.20 £69.83 £0.00 £62..21

£1,249.73 EXPENDITURE Donation ........................................................................................................... £300.00 Suffolk Show..................................................................................................... £140.00 Newsletters I Programme................................................................................. £563.97 Repairs ................................................................................................................. £0.00 Member's Night/ AGM ....................................................................................... £20.00 Office Expenses ............................"................................................................... £202.37 Conference Expenses ....................................................................................... £10.00 Depreciation ..............................................:........................................................ £49.76

£1,422.18

£1,286.10

(£31.39)

SURPLUS / (LOSS) ON CURRENT YEAR

(£36.37)

BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31st MARCH 2004 CONSOLIDATED FUND Balance 1.4.2003 Add surplus on year

Represented by: Giro Bank pie ..................................£1,695.58 Alliance & Leicester ...........................£TT6.15 Cash in hand £2.35 £2,474.08

£2,941.99 £(36.37) £2,905.62

ASSETS as at 31.03.2003 Generator £150.00 Projector Table £29.99 ExhibitionTent £100.00 Display Stand £229.12 Software £85.00

Write down value @ 20% £124.83 £23.70 £79.03 £82.48 Write down 3yrs £85.00

Worm and Grass Snake glided effortlesslyaway on the two occasions that our footfalls approached too closely. However, our eyes were invariably drawn most strongly to the numerous Datk Green Fritillaries and Marbled Whites flying and taking nectar about us. It is somehow very difficult to tire of the Marbled White, despite its monochrome markings. Similarly,the fritillaries we watched now seemed to excite, appeal and engage to no lesser extent than the one we had first tried vainly to pursue across the Trosley escarpment the day before. The rains soon came again, but not before the scene before us had imprinted fully upon our memones.

Butterflies on

Farrnland, 17th July

by Rob Parker

Just five members assembled in drearyweather at WaldegraveFann, where the objective was to Acknowledgements: I would like to thank Irene look at the health of common species on Palmer of Kent WildlifeTrust for allowing access farmland managedwith conservation in mind. to normally restricted areas of Downe Bank.

We planned our route to cross four adjacent tetrads of under-recorded territory so as to make ButterflyList:Small Skipper, Essex Skipper, Large the optimum use of this visit, which had been Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Holly Blue, arranged at the request of the landowners, who Common Blue, White-letter Hairstreak, Dark wished to know how butterflies were faring on the Green Fritillary, Comma, Red Admiral, Speckled • headlands of their farm.

Wood, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Marbled White, What we achieved was perhaps the best that Gatekeeper. could be done under the limiting weather conditions. Good numbers of Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Gatekeeper, Small Tortoiseshell and Essex Skipper were noted in all four sections walked before the thunderstorm that sent us scuttling back to the barn.

Sadly, we did not have the opportunity to search the oaks and elms for the hairstreaks that might have been present. At least we have filled in a few blocks towards the "Millennium plus 5" mapping project.

Editor' Note: I returnedhomefrom this meeting

£199.07 Debtors ..............................................£307.15 Stock - Merchandise..........................£145.32

after a picnic lunch at WaldegraveFarm in a torrentialdownpour.I recorded35mm of rain in about2 hours.

~

-~

£651.54 Liabilities...........................................(£220.00) NET WORTH

£2,905.62

MeadowBrown byBerylJohnson

16

9

The SuffolkArgus

Spring2005

Hollesley Meadows 25th July

2004

by Alan Johnson

by Rob Parker

Fairly heavy rain on the journey from Ipswich was not a good omen for our visit, but fortunately by the time our eight members had assembled, the rainhad ceased. The remainder of the morning staying mostly cloudy but with an occasional patch of blue sky appearing, and the temperature hovering around 14/15°C. We were met by the owner of the reserve, Rick Grundy, who gave us a brief introduction to rhe site and his involvement wirh it. Having spent his early childhood on a farm, rhen developing an interest in conservation, he bought rhe 16 acres of land in 1987, about two weeks before rhe 'hurricane'. The resulting afterrnarh needing no description!

Prior to his purchase, rhe area had been a private garden, wirh lawns, streams, trout_ pond and ornamental waterfowl, all tended by a gardener. The complete encircling boundary being a Leylandii hedge! Over rhe intervening years rhe 'garden' has been transformed into a superb wildlife reserve. The work being carried out by Rick, wirh rhe help of relations and friends, all in rheir spare time. The Leylandii has been replaced

by English hedgerow species, the neat lawns by a single mown parh bounded by thick vegetation, tall grasses, bramble, and backed by native trees, including Oak, Walnut, Alder and Willow. Small 'islands' of wild flowers, such as Water Mint, Fleabane, and Thistle, being left within the parhways. There are warm corners and sheltered areas wirh Bramble and Honeysuckle climbing up into rhe trees and shrubs. Completing rhe picture, wet meadows, log piles, clear flowing streams and

Chairman's

Report for

LargeWhite

by DouglasHammersley some deep ponds. The whole area generally damp underfoot, but with plenty of bark chippings where necessary.

Despite the cool damp conditions, our first sighting was of a rather worn Ringlet, amongst Fleabane, prompting the pessimists amongst us to comment, 'that at least we had seen one butterfly'.

Shortly afterwards, rwo Meadow Browns were noted, then at the next sheltered corner with the associated rise in temperature, a Gatekeeper and a Green-veined White. Further on, under tall trees, a Speckled Wood.

Reaching the far end of the reserve bounded by a public footpath, Self-heal was growing in the damper ground. We then took a path past a beautiful clear pond, noting Water-soldier and Water-milfoil. Adjacent to the pond, a dense patch of flowering Bramble, Red Campion, Woody Nightshade and Common Bistort, made a delightful combination of colours, attracting both Small and Green-veined White and rhe Sourhern Hawker dragonfly. Next, a small meadow, with Greater Bird's-foot-Trefoil, Meadowsweet and Marsh Thistle attracting Large White, the brightly coloured Small Copper, and after some discussion, a Brown Argus was identified. A spell of sunshine now bringing rhe insects and butterflies 'to life' in increasing numbers, with anorher area of lush vegetation adjacent to a larger pond producing Peacock, Red Admiral and Large Skipper.

10

It hardly seems a year since we last sat here, as 2004 has passed so briskly. In many respects, it has been a re-run of familiar routines, but in everything your Committee has delivered efficiently.

Members have enjoyed another excellent programme of field visits and three fine issues of the Suffolk Argus. More importantly for butterflies, we have continued to work at influencing landowners - seeking to improve rhe habitat in farmland margins as well as gardens and privately owned conservation areas. This benefits our common butterflies and moths in the wider countryside in parallel with pursuing the needs of our BiodiversityAction Plan species. Our finances are sound, and our cash has been put to work in support of our objectives - such as replacing a generator for moth trapping. Our membership has increased, partly as a result of our co-operative ventures with SWf, Thornham Walks and FWAG, along with several initiatives to involve the public in recording and transect walking.

I can not report very favourably on the weather, but most butterfly and moth species have fared reasonably well despite the rain, and I have been pleased to hear from a wide range of members, new recorders and trusty transect walkers with important contributions to this final year of the "Millenniumplus Five"survey. Special effort went into the Dingy Skipper survey, and of course, to the Silver-studded Blue count. On the moth front, we had several species new to Suffolk, but more of all that later.

I made my first visit to Butterfly

Conservation's fine new headquarters in Dorset, and was reminded of the strong support that they offer to Branches from rhe guidance in rhe Branch Handbook, and issuing informative brochures like the Dingy Skipper handout, right through to administrative necessities like printing address labels and arranging insurance. They have assembled a strong team of lepidoptera specialists, and are currently directing important research that will benefit once-common species like the Wall and Small Heath, that have previously been considered too ordinary to merit academic effort.

Last year, you met Sharon Hearle, Butterfly Conservation's Regional Officer for the East of England; and I am pleased to tell you that she has had another busy year, and she will be telling you more about that presently.

The number of activitieswe run in partnership with other organisations is on the increase. Our regular event for Thornham Walks was again successful,we participated in another Field Srudies Centre course at Flatford Mill, ran moth traps for rhe RSPB and the National Trust, whilst both rhe Ministry of Defence and rhe Forestry Commission have agreedto fell trees for rhe benefit of the Dingy Skipper population. The SuffolkWildlife Trust gave me the chance to run its first one-day butterfly course, and the Suffolk Naturalists' Society are interested in joint field meetings next year. All this co-operation gives us a chance to influence rhe decisions of larger organisations that share our aims, and wield larger budgets.

And now I am going to ask each of our officers to give you a little extra detail for their own area of interest. The following reports were then presented by the committee member responsible: Membership Secretary's Report Moth Conservation Officer's Report Butterfly Conservation Officer's Report Treasurer's Report, (The Accounts are published on the following page) Editor, Suffolk Argus Report Programme Secretary's Report Eastern Regional Officer's Report The Committee as listed on the back cover, was than elected. This was then followed by Member's Slides.

15

Spring2005

The SuffolkArgus Common Wave, Clouded Silver, Yellow Belle, Poplar Hawk-moth, Sallow Kitten, Iron Prominent, Lesser Swallow Prominent, Swallow Prominent, Maple Prominent, Pale Prominent, Brown-tail, Yellow-tail, Black Arches, Dingy Footman, Scarce Footman, Ruby Tiger, Turnip Moth, Shuttle-shaped Dart, Flame Shoulder, Large Yellow Underwing, Lesser Yellow Underwing, Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Least Yellow Underwing, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Square-spot Rustic, Smoky Wainscot, Common Wainscot, Poplar Grey, Grey Dagger, Knot Grass, Marbled Beauty, Copper Underwing, Mouse Moth, Straw Underwing, Angle Shades, Lesserspotted Pinion, Dun-bar, Dark Arches, Cloaked Minor, Common Rustic spp., Dusky Sallow, Uncenain, Rustic, Vme's Rustic, Silver Y, Straw Dot and Snout.

···-··1••···

.

.

.

.· ,.

..

~···

': _.. ·.: .•.. "; ~ ·:·/·:.::!_,•::::~/;:\:": ..·: ,:.•. ...

BlackArchesMoth byMervyn Crawford

Devil's Dyke 11th August

by SharonHearle

On Wednesday 11th August a joint meeting with Cambridgeshire and &sex Branch on a section of Devil's Dyke, in Cambridgeshirebetween the JulyRaceCourse and RDwleyMile was held.

Superb weather meant that there were numerous Chalkhill Blues to be seen and plenty of opportunity for photographs. Several people who had been on training days earlier in the season were able to spend time looking at the difference between Common Blue and Brown Argus.

There were several day flying moths including Dusky Sallow posing on Knapweed flower head. This moth has the strange habit of sitting all day on knapweed head where it is very conspicuous against the purple flowers. It is quite widespread in the Brecks of Norfolk and Suffolk and on Devil's Dyke.

The racecourse section of Devil's Dyke is covered by a weekly transect walked by Regional Officer Sharon Hearle which is now in its second year. Chalkhill Blue first appeared on 19 July 2004 and was last seen on 9 September 2004. The weekly counts are as follows: 15, 181, 883, 374, 409, 65, 54, 47, 9. This section is also imponant for Dingy Skipper and Green Hairstreak earlier in the season. On 24 May 2004, 23 Dingy Skipper were recorded.

The Devil's Dyke is managed by the Devil's .. Dyke Project, which is a Partnership of .:_: organisations including English Nature and The Wildlife Trust. Butterfly Conservation provides advice on conservation and the Cambridgeshire and Essex Branch have held work parties at the site for over 10 years. The Devil's Dyke has excellent butterfly habitat and is possibly the best site for Chalkhill Blue and Dingy Skipper in the Eastern Region.

14

Back at our starting point, we duly thanked Rick for taking the time to show us around this unique site, the three hours slipping by almost unnoticed. In spite of the early adverse weather conditions we had recorded twelve species of butterfly.

• Children from the local primary school visit Hollesley Meadows regularly and they have a wonderful opportunity ro observe natural history, enjoy pond dipping, all within a sheltered environment. At present, Rick is in the process of erecting a series of 'interpretation boards', sponsored by 'Copella'. The encapsulated information attractively displayed, set into a 'slice' of tree trunk.

We then returned to our cars, parked on a nearby farmer's 'concrete pad'. The surrounding vegetation giving sightings of Holly Blue and Essex Skipper. After a picnic lunch, most of our party opted for a brief visit to nearby Shingle Street.

Here, on a hedge-row of Bramble and Privet (well in flower), Peacock, Comma, Gatekeeper, and a Large White were noted, as was a white form of Erodium (Common Storksbill) and Lady's Bedstraw, growing at the foot of the hedge. On a shon walksouthwards along the shingle bank, we noted amongst the sparse vegetation, Yellow Horned-poppy, Sea Campion, Chicory, and Yellow-vetch, but no further sightings of butterflies, the weather deteriorating once more and the wind freshening. This brought our meeting to a close.

ThornhamWalks, 1st August

by Alan Johnson

This event, now a regular feature in our yearly programme, is a joint meeting with 'Thornham Walks'. This year it was decided to continue with the change of format introduced in 2003, having the illustrated talk- 'The Butterflies of Suffolk and how to identify them', at mid-day, prior to the afternoon 'Butterfly Walk'. The talk, presented by Rob Parker and JimFoster, was held in one of the rooms of the Field Centre, lasted for just over an hour, and was attended by thirteen members of the public.

The excellent range of colour slides was well received by the audience.

At 2.00 pm with numbers increased to approximately double that of the morning, including some children, we were joined by John Loombe, the Countryside Ranger for the Thornham Estate. In view of the numbers it was decided to split into two groups, one led by Rob, the other by Jim. Where grasses, thistles, knapweed and patches of bramble bordered the path, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper and Ringlet were pointed out.

Then on reaching the 'Pinetum' area, there was great excitement, Rob having discovered two White-letter Hairstreak butterflies nectaring on thistle heads. Members of both groups having good views of this rarely seen . • • ~><;d::'.~:::;;-;.;,,,; butterfly, and they were able to see the ...--..:;;:_ .........,....~, wh. 'W' eh h. d · fr ·..·· •· •. _;:-.·~r;·;:j·· 1te on e m wmgs, om ;.;;;;··'>:_,~§ where ~e butterfly gets !ts name. It .

• .-·•·\,c;"°"' also provided an opporturuty for some of the group to compare the butterfly to that shown earlier, on a slide. It was explained how the devastating loss of elm trees, caused by Dutch elm disease, had also caused the loss of many White-letter Hairstreak colonies. Young elm suckers now being used as egg laying sites rather than the large mature Green-veinedWhite trees formerly used. This area also provided a good opportunity to detail the problems in identifying

by DouglasHammersley

11

The SuffolkArgus the Small and Essex Skippers.

Moving on to the Walled Garden, some of our party were able to compare a Holly Blue and a Common Blue, both conveniently perched on the flower heads of the same plant. Also, on the underside of a Nasturtium leaf, a cluster of orange coloured eggs of the Large White were pointed out, together with some pale yellow eggs, laid singly, also on the underside of the leaf, these being those of the Small White.

Continuing on, past the Canal Pond, we eventually came to the 'Bunerfly Ride', set within the Connaught Plantation. A mix of shady and brighter sunnier areas, with paths encircling tall grasses,and plants such as Thistles, St. John's-won and Fleabane and here we found Small Copper and Brown Argus. This brought our walkto a close and we returned to the Field Centre. The response and the enthusiasm of the public was encouraging, hopefully some may continue their interest shown in butterflies and moths. Finally our thanks to Thornham Wallesand John Loombe.

Species seen: Large White, Small White, Greenveined White, Common Blue, Holly Blue, Brown Argus, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Gatekeeper, Speckled Wood, Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Essex Skipper, Painted Lady, Peacock, Small Tonoiseshell, Comma, Small Copper, White-letter Hairstreak.

White Letter Hairstreak

by Douglas Hammersley

Spring2005

Moth Night at Ramsey Wood·- 7th August

by TonyPrichard This was a joint meeting with the RSPB as one of their advertised events at one of the woods in the Hintlesham Woods SSSI. When this meeting was arranged it was purposefully timed to occur during the second brood of the localised moth, the Mocha. This moth tends to be found where its foodplant, field maple, grows on rather chalky soils and the site offered the possibility of this species turning up to light. A visit to the adjoining Hintlesham Wood earlier in the year to look for Pauper Pug had turned up a single Mocha, so we already knew that the moth was in the area.

Fifteen people turned up on the night, including an Evening Star reponer who intended doing an article on the moth night. We had six lights operating along the track along the nonhem part of the wood. The temptation to put lights in amongst the wood and tall vegetation was outweighed by the risk of picking up some of the deer ticks that abound in this wood. Other unwanted visitors, Hornets, tend to be building up in numbers at this time of year and can be found in most damp woods in the area where they are also attracted to our lights. I had purposely placed the sheet light, where the public would be, in the open area at the top end of the reserve away from the wood itsel£ This would hopefully reduce the numbers of any Hornets attracted to the sheet light.

As the light faded the moths staned appearing with numbers of Mother of Pearl £lining

12

.i

amongst the vegetation and coming to the light.

Other early risers included Dingy Footman and Orange Swift. Unfonunately as the moths started appearing so did the Hornets and our resident hornet boxer-upper, Neil Sherman, was kept quite busy for a while.

Ramsey Wood can be a bit of a puzzling site at times as we have recorded some species there that are associatedwith chalky soils but not others.

The presence of Mocha at the adjoining Hintlesham Wood would indicate a degree of chalkiness in the area and at this meeting we recorded Pretty Chalk Carpet but no Mocha. In the past severalsearches in the wood have failed to turn up Plumed Prominent, another species associated with chalky soils. Maybe there's just a hint of chalk in the soil.

As the evening went on there were plenty of moths around the light and a good variety of species to see and it appeared that the members of the public went away having enjoyed the event.

When we had been sening up Neil Sherman had pointed out that there was quite a bit of Red Bartsia growing along the tracks and as this is the foodplant of the Barred Rivulet it was a likely candidate to appear during the evening. We waited for it to turn up all evening but it was only when we were shuning down the final trap of the evening that we found a single Barred Rivulet bener late than never.

In terms of numbers of species we did rather well with 145 species recorded on the night.

PoplarHawk byMervyn Crawford

The following is a complete list for the night's recording: Orange Swift, Monopis weaverella, Caloptilia robustella, Calybites phasianipennella, Anthophila fabriciana, Argyresthia brockeella, Argyresthia goedartella, Ypsolopha dentella (Honeysuckle Moth), Ypsolopha scabrella, (Diamond-back Moth), Plutella xylostella, Batia lunaris, Batia unite/la, Hofmannophila pseudaspretella (Brown House-moth), Metzneria lappella, Monochroa palustrella, Psoricoptera gibbosella, Helcystogramma rufescens, Blastobasis lignea, Agapeta hamana, Agapeta zoegana, Aethes smeathmanniana, Pandemis corylana (Chequered Fruit-tree Tortrix), Pandemis heparana(Dark Fruittree Tortrix), Argyrotaenia ijungiana, Ditula angustiorana (Red-barred Tortrix), Cnephasia longana, Acleris forsskaleana, Acleris laterana, Apotomis betuletana, Lobesia abscisana, Epinotia ramella, Epinotia nisella, Epinotia brunnichana, hiraphera isertana, Gypsonomadealbana, Eucosma cana, Spilonota ocellana (Bud Moth), Rhyacionia pinicolana, Cydia splendana, Calamotropha paludella, Chrysoteuchiaculme/Ja,Crambusperk/Ja, Agriphila straminella, Agriphila tristella, Catoptria false/la, Platytes alpine/la, Acentria ephemerella (Water Veneer), Scoparia subfusca, Scoparia basistrigalis, (Brown China-mark), Elophila nymphaeata, Parapoynx stratiotata (Ringed Chinamark), Evergestis pallidata, Nomophila noctuella (Rush Veneer), Pleuroptya ruralis (Mother of Pearl), Hypsopygia costalis (Gold Triangle), Orthopygia glaucinalis, Endotricha jl.ammealis, Conobathra repandana, Acrobasis consociella, Trachyceraadvenella, Phycita roborella, Euzophera pinguis, Agdistis bennetii, Emmelina monodactyla, Drinker, Oak Hook-tip, Pebble Hook-tip, Bloodvein, Small Blood-vein, Small Fan-footed Wave, Small Dusty Wave, Small Scallop, Riband Wave, Red Twin-spot Carpet, Garden Carpet, Common Carpet, Yellow Shell, Purple Bar, Small Phoenix, Green Carpet, July Highflyer, Small Waved Umber, Pretty Chalk Carpet, Barred Rivulet, Lime-speck Pug, Common Pug, Yellow-barred Brindle, Magpie, Clouded Border, Scorched Carpet, Latticed Heath, Brimstone Moth, Canaryshouldered Thorn, Early Thorn, Scalloped Oak, Peppered Moth, Willow Beauty, Engrailed,

13

The SuffolkArgus the Small and Essex Skippers.

Moving on to the Walled Garden, some of our party were able to compare a Holly Blue and a Common Blue, both conveniently perched on the flower heads of the same plant. Also, on the underside of a Nasturtium leaf, a cluster of orange coloured eggs of the Large White were pointed out, together with some pale yellow eggs, laid singly, also on the underside of the leaf, these being those of the Small White.

Continuing on, past the Canal Pond, we eventually came to the 'Bunerfly Ride', set within the Connaught Plantation. A mix of shady and brighter sunnier areas, with paths encircling tall grasses,and plants such as Thistles, St. John's-won and Fleabane and here we found Small Copper and Brown Argus. This brought our walkto a close and we returned to the Field Centre. The response and the enthusiasm of the public was encouraging, hopefully some may continue their interest shown in butterflies and moths. Finally our thanks to Thornham Wallesand John Loombe.

Species seen: Large White, Small White, Greenveined White, Common Blue, Holly Blue, Brown Argus, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Gatekeeper, Speckled Wood, Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Essex Skipper, Painted Lady, Peacock, Small Tonoiseshell, Comma, Small Copper, White-letter Hairstreak.

White Letter Hairstreak

by Douglas Hammersley

Spring2005

Moth Night at Ramsey Wood·- 7th August

by TonyPrichard This was a joint meeting with the RSPB as one of their advertised events at one of the woods in the Hintlesham Woods SSSI. When this meeting was arranged it was purposefully timed to occur during the second brood of the localised moth, the Mocha. This moth tends to be found where its foodplant, field maple, grows on rather chalky soils and the site offered the possibility of this species turning up to light. A visit to the adjoining Hintlesham Wood earlier in the year to look for Pauper Pug had turned up a single Mocha, so we already knew that the moth was in the area.

Fifteen people turned up on the night, including an Evening Star reponer who intended doing an article on the moth night. We had six lights operating along the track along the nonhem part of the wood. The temptation to put lights in amongst the wood and tall vegetation was outweighed by the risk of picking up some of the deer ticks that abound in this wood. Other unwanted visitors, Hornets, tend to be building up in numbers at this time of year and can be found in most damp woods in the area where they are also attracted to our lights. I had purposely placed the sheet light, where the public would be, in the open area at the top end of the reserve away from the wood itsel£ This would hopefully reduce the numbers of any Hornets attracted to the sheet light.

As the light faded the moths staned appearing with numbers of Mother of Pearl £lining

12

.i

amongst the vegetation and coming to the light.

Other early risers included Dingy Footman and Orange Swift. Unfonunately as the moths started appearing so did the Hornets and our resident hornet boxer-upper, Neil Sherman, was kept quite busy for a while.

Ramsey Wood can be a bit of a puzzling site at times as we have recorded some species there that are associatedwith chalky soils but not others.

The presence of Mocha at the adjoining Hintlesham Wood would indicate a degree of chalkiness in the area and at this meeting we recorded Pretty Chalk Carpet but no Mocha. In the past severalsearches in the wood have failed to turn up Plumed Prominent, another species associated with chalky soils. Maybe there's just a hint of chalk in the soil.

As the evening went on there were plenty of moths around the light and a good variety of species to see and it appeared that the members of the public went away having enjoyed the event.

When we had been sening up Neil Sherman had pointed out that there was quite a bit of Red Bartsia growing along the tracks and as this is the foodplant of the Barred Rivulet it was a likely candidate to appear during the evening. We waited for it to turn up all evening but it was only when we were shuning down the final trap of the evening that we found a single Barred Rivulet bener late than never.

In terms of numbers of species we did rather well with 145 species recorded on the night.

PoplarHawk byMervyn Crawford

The following is a complete list for the night's recording: Orange Swift, Monopis weaverella, Caloptilia robustella, Calybites phasianipennella, Anthophila fabriciana, Argyresthia brockeella, Argyresthia goedartella, Ypsolopha dentella (Honeysuckle Moth), Ypsolopha scabrella, (Diamond-back Moth), Plutella xylostella, Batia lunaris, Batia unite/la, Hofmannophila pseudaspretella (Brown House-moth), Metzneria lappella, Monochroa palustrella, Psoricoptera gibbosella, Helcystogramma rufescens, Blastobasis lignea, Agapeta hamana, Agapeta zoegana, Aethes smeathmanniana, Pandemis corylana (Chequered Fruit-tree Tortrix), Pandemis heparana(Dark Fruittree Tortrix), Argyrotaenia ijungiana, Ditula angustiorana (Red-barred Tortrix), Cnephasia longana, Acleris forsskaleana, Acleris laterana, Apotomis betuletana, Lobesia abscisana, Epinotia ramella, Epinotia nisella, Epinotia brunnichana, hiraphera isertana, Gypsonomadealbana, Eucosma cana, Spilonota ocellana (Bud Moth), Rhyacionia pinicolana, Cydia splendana, Calamotropha paludella, Chrysoteuchiaculme/Ja,Crambusperk/Ja, Agriphila straminella, Agriphila tristella, Catoptria false/la, Platytes alpine/la, Acentria ephemerella (Water Veneer), Scoparia subfusca, Scoparia basistrigalis, (Brown China-mark), Elophila nymphaeata, Parapoynx stratiotata (Ringed Chinamark), Evergestis pallidata, Nomophila noctuella (Rush Veneer), Pleuroptya ruralis (Mother of Pearl), Hypsopygia costalis (Gold Triangle), Orthopygia glaucinalis, Endotricha jl.ammealis, Conobathra repandana, Acrobasis consociella, Trachyceraadvenella, Phycita roborella, Euzophera pinguis, Agdistis bennetii, Emmelina monodactyla, Drinker, Oak Hook-tip, Pebble Hook-tip, Bloodvein, Small Blood-vein, Small Fan-footed Wave, Small Dusty Wave, Small Scallop, Riband Wave, Red Twin-spot Carpet, Garden Carpet, Common Carpet, Yellow Shell, Purple Bar, Small Phoenix, Green Carpet, July Highflyer, Small Waved Umber, Pretty Chalk Carpet, Barred Rivulet, Lime-speck Pug, Common Pug, Yellow-barred Brindle, Magpie, Clouded Border, Scorched Carpet, Latticed Heath, Brimstone Moth, Canaryshouldered Thorn, Early Thorn, Scalloped Oak, Peppered Moth, Willow Beauty, Engrailed,

13

Spring2005

The SuffolkArgus Common Wave, Clouded Silver, Yellow Belle, Poplar Hawk-moth, Sallow Kitten, Iron Prominent, Lesser Swallow Prominent, Swallow Prominent, Maple Prominent, Pale Prominent, Brown-tail, Yellow-tail, Black Arches, Dingy Footman, Scarce Footman, Ruby Tiger, Turnip Moth, Shuttle-shaped Dart, Flame Shoulder, Large Yellow Underwing, Lesser Yellow Underwing, Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Least Yellow Underwing, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Square-spot Rustic, Smoky Wainscot, Common Wainscot, Poplar Grey, Grey Dagger, Knot Grass, Marbled Beauty, Copper Underwing, Mouse Moth, Straw Underwing, Angle Shades, Lesserspotted Pinion, Dun-bar, Dark Arches, Cloaked Minor, Common Rustic spp., Dusky Sallow, Uncenain, Rustic, Vme's Rustic, Silver Y, Straw Dot and Snout.

···-··1••···

.

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.

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BlackArchesMoth byMervyn Crawford

Devil's Dyke 11th August

by SharonHearle

On Wednesday 11th August a joint meeting with Cambridgeshire and &sex Branch on a section of Devil's Dyke, in Cambridgeshirebetween the JulyRaceCourse and RDwleyMile was held.

Superb weather meant that there were numerous Chalkhill Blues to be seen and plenty of opportunity for photographs. Several people who had been on training days earlier in the season were able to spend time looking at the difference between Common Blue and Brown Argus.

There were several day flying moths including Dusky Sallow posing on Knapweed flower head. This moth has the strange habit of sitting all day on knapweed head where it is very conspicuous against the purple flowers. It is quite widespread in the Brecks of Norfolk and Suffolk and on Devil's Dyke.

The racecourse section of Devil's Dyke is covered by a weekly transect walked by Regional Officer Sharon Hearle which is now in its second year. Chalkhill Blue first appeared on 19 July 2004 and was last seen on 9 September 2004. The weekly counts are as follows: 15, 181, 883, 374, 409, 65, 54, 47, 9. This section is also imponant for Dingy Skipper and Green Hairstreak earlier in the season. On 24 May 2004, 23 Dingy Skipper were recorded.

The Devil's Dyke is managed by the Devil's .. Dyke Project, which is a Partnership of .:_: organisations including English Nature and The Wildlife Trust. Butterfly Conservation provides advice on conservation and the Cambridgeshire and Essex Branch have held work parties at the site for over 10 years. The Devil's Dyke has excellent butterfly habitat and is possibly the best site for Chalkhill Blue and Dingy Skipper in the Eastern Region.

14

Back at our starting point, we duly thanked Rick for taking the time to show us around this unique site, the three hours slipping by almost unnoticed. In spite of the early adverse weather conditions we had recorded twelve species of butterfly.

• Children from the local primary school visit Hollesley Meadows regularly and they have a wonderful opportunity ro observe natural history, enjoy pond dipping, all within a sheltered environment. At present, Rick is in the process of erecting a series of 'interpretation boards', sponsored by 'Copella'. The encapsulated information attractively displayed, set into a 'slice' of tree trunk.

We then returned to our cars, parked on a nearby farmer's 'concrete pad'. The surrounding vegetation giving sightings of Holly Blue and Essex Skipper. After a picnic lunch, most of our party opted for a brief visit to nearby Shingle Street.

Here, on a hedge-row of Bramble and Privet (well in flower), Peacock, Comma, Gatekeeper, and a Large White were noted, as was a white form of Erodium (Common Storksbill) and Lady's Bedstraw, growing at the foot of the hedge. On a shon walksouthwards along the shingle bank, we noted amongst the sparse vegetation, Yellow Horned-poppy, Sea Campion, Chicory, and Yellow-vetch, but no further sightings of butterflies, the weather deteriorating once more and the wind freshening. This brought our meeting to a close.

ThornhamWalks, 1st August

by Alan Johnson

This event, now a regular feature in our yearly programme, is a joint meeting with 'Thornham Walks'. This year it was decided to continue with the change of format introduced in 2003, having the illustrated talk- 'The Butterflies of Suffolk and how to identify them', at mid-day, prior to the afternoon 'Butterfly Walk'. The talk, presented by Rob Parker and JimFoster, was held in one of the rooms of the Field Centre, lasted for just over an hour, and was attended by thirteen members of the public.

The excellent range of colour slides was well received by the audience.

At 2.00 pm with numbers increased to approximately double that of the morning, including some children, we were joined by John Loombe, the Countryside Ranger for the Thornham Estate. In view of the numbers it was decided to split into two groups, one led by Rob, the other by Jim. Where grasses, thistles, knapweed and patches of bramble bordered the path, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper and Ringlet were pointed out.

Then on reaching the 'Pinetum' area, there was great excitement, Rob having discovered two White-letter Hairstreak butterflies nectaring on thistle heads. Members of both groups having good views of this rarely seen . • • ~><;d::'.~:::;;-;.;,,,; butterfly, and they were able to see the ...--..:;;:_ .........,....~, wh. 'W' eh h. d · fr ·..·· •· •. _;:-.·~r;·;:j·· 1te on e m wmgs, om ;.;;;;··'>:_,~§ where ~e butterfly gets !ts name. It .

• .-·•·\,c;"°"' also provided an opporturuty for some of the group to compare the butterfly to that shown earlier, on a slide. It was explained how the devastating loss of elm trees, caused by Dutch elm disease, had also caused the loss of many White-letter Hairstreak colonies. Young elm suckers now being used as egg laying sites rather than the large mature Green-veinedWhite trees formerly used. This area also provided a good opportunity to detail the problems in identifying

by DouglasHammersley

11

The SuffolkArgus

Spring2005

Hollesley Meadows 25th July

2004

by Alan Johnson

by Rob Parker

Fairly heavy rain on the journey from Ipswich was not a good omen for our visit, but fortunately by the time our eight members had assembled, the rainhad ceased. The remainder of the morning staying mostly cloudy but with an occasional patch of blue sky appearing, and the temperature hovering around 14/15°C. We were met by the owner of the reserve, Rick Grundy, who gave us a brief introduction to rhe site and his involvement wirh it. Having spent his early childhood on a farm, rhen developing an interest in conservation, he bought rhe 16 acres of land in 1987, about two weeks before rhe 'hurricane'. The resulting afterrnarh needing no description!

Prior to his purchase, rhe area had been a private garden, wirh lawns, streams, trout_ pond and ornamental waterfowl, all tended by a gardener. The complete encircling boundary being a Leylandii hedge! Over rhe intervening years rhe 'garden' has been transformed into a superb wildlife reserve. The work being carried out by Rick, wirh rhe help of relations and friends, all in rheir spare time. The Leylandii has been replaced

by English hedgerow species, the neat lawns by a single mown parh bounded by thick vegetation, tall grasses, bramble, and backed by native trees, including Oak, Walnut, Alder and Willow. Small 'islands' of wild flowers, such as Water Mint, Fleabane, and Thistle, being left within the parhways. There are warm corners and sheltered areas wirh Bramble and Honeysuckle climbing up into rhe trees and shrubs. Completing rhe picture, wet meadows, log piles, clear flowing streams and

Chairman's

Report for

LargeWhite

by DouglasHammersley some deep ponds. The whole area generally damp underfoot, but with plenty of bark chippings where necessary.

Despite the cool damp conditions, our first sighting was of a rather worn Ringlet, amongst Fleabane, prompting the pessimists amongst us to comment, 'that at least we had seen one butterfly'.

Shortly afterwards, rwo Meadow Browns were noted, then at the next sheltered corner with the associated rise in temperature, a Gatekeeper and a Green-veined White. Further on, under tall trees, a Speckled Wood.

Reaching the far end of the reserve bounded by a public footpath, Self-heal was growing in the damper ground. We then took a path past a beautiful clear pond, noting Water-soldier and Water-milfoil. Adjacent to the pond, a dense patch of flowering Bramble, Red Campion, Woody Nightshade and Common Bistort, made a delightful combination of colours, attracting both Small and Green-veined White and rhe Sourhern Hawker dragonfly. Next, a small meadow, with Greater Bird's-foot-Trefoil, Meadowsweet and Marsh Thistle attracting Large White, the brightly coloured Small Copper, and after some discussion, a Brown Argus was identified. A spell of sunshine now bringing rhe insects and butterflies 'to life' in increasing numbers, with anorher area of lush vegetation adjacent to a larger pond producing Peacock, Red Admiral and Large Skipper.

10

It hardly seems a year since we last sat here, as 2004 has passed so briskly. In many respects, it has been a re-run of familiar routines, but in everything your Committee has delivered efficiently.

Members have enjoyed another excellent programme of field visits and three fine issues of the Suffolk Argus. More importantly for butterflies, we have continued to work at influencing landowners - seeking to improve rhe habitat in farmland margins as well as gardens and privately owned conservation areas. This benefits our common butterflies and moths in the wider countryside in parallel with pursuing the needs of our BiodiversityAction Plan species. Our finances are sound, and our cash has been put to work in support of our objectives - such as replacing a generator for moth trapping. Our membership has increased, partly as a result of our co-operative ventures with SWf, Thornham Walks and FWAG, along with several initiatives to involve the public in recording and transect walking.

I can not report very favourably on the weather, but most butterfly and moth species have fared reasonably well despite the rain, and I have been pleased to hear from a wide range of members, new recorders and trusty transect walkers with important contributions to this final year of the "Millenniumplus Five"survey. Special effort went into the Dingy Skipper survey, and of course, to the Silver-studded Blue count. On the moth front, we had several species new to Suffolk, but more of all that later.

I made my first visit to Butterfly

Conservation's fine new headquarters in Dorset, and was reminded of the strong support that they offer to Branches from rhe guidance in rhe Branch Handbook, and issuing informative brochures like the Dingy Skipper handout, right through to administrative necessities like printing address labels and arranging insurance. They have assembled a strong team of lepidoptera specialists, and are currently directing important research that will benefit once-common species like the Wall and Small Heath, that have previously been considered too ordinary to merit academic effort.

Last year, you met Sharon Hearle, Butterfly Conservation's Regional Officer for the East of England; and I am pleased to tell you that she has had another busy year, and she will be telling you more about that presently.

The number of activitieswe run in partnership with other organisations is on the increase. Our regular event for Thornham Walks was again successful,we participated in another Field Srudies Centre course at Flatford Mill, ran moth traps for rhe RSPB and the National Trust, whilst both rhe Ministry of Defence and rhe Forestry Commission have agreedto fell trees for rhe benefit of the Dingy Skipper population. The SuffolkWildlife Trust gave me the chance to run its first one-day butterfly course, and the Suffolk Naturalists' Society are interested in joint field meetings next year. All this co-operation gives us a chance to influence rhe decisions of larger organisations that share our aims, and wield larger budgets.

And now I am going to ask each of our officers to give you a little extra detail for their own area of interest. The following reports were then presented by the committee member responsible: Membership Secretary's Report Moth Conservation Officer's Report Butterfly Conservation Officer's Report Treasurer's Report, (The Accounts are published on the following page) Editor, Suffolk Argus Report Programme Secretary's Report Eastern Regional Officer's Report The Committee as listed on the back cover, was than elected. This was then followed by Member's Slides.

15

The SuffolkArgus

Spring 2005

BUTTERFLYCONSERVATIONSUFFOLK BRANCH Income 8i.Expenditure Account for 12 Months Ended 31st March 2004 2002/03 £1,164.00 £7.49 £1-18.70 £86.50 £39.10

INCOME

2003/04

Membership Subscriptions............................................................................ £1,173.00 Bank Interest ........................................................................................................ £5.30 Donations: General Fundraising........................................................................ £48.75 Butterfly Plants (Suffolk Show)..........................:...............................£0.00 Sale of Merchandise......................................................................................... £213.80

£1,415.79 £25:00

£1,440.85 Cost of Sales .................................................................................................... £191.12

£1,390.79 £31.0.00 £144.70 £664.25 £3.99 £167.20 £69.83 £0.00 £62..21

£1,249.73 EXPENDITURE Donation ........................................................................................................... £300.00 Suffolk Show..................................................................................................... £140.00 Newsletters I Programme................................................................................. £563.97 Repairs ................................................................................................................. £0.00 Member's Night/ AGM ....................................................................................... £20.00 Office Expenses ............................"................................................................... £202.37 Conference Expenses ....................................................................................... £10.00 Depreciation ..............................................:........................................................ £49.76

£1,422.18

£1,286.10

(£31.39)

SURPLUS / (LOSS) ON CURRENT YEAR

(£36.37)

BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31st MARCH 2004 CONSOLIDATED FUND Balance 1.4.2003 Add surplus on year

Represented by: Giro Bank pie ..................................£1,695.58 Alliance & Leicester ...........................£TT6.15 Cash in hand £2.35 £2,474.08

£2,941.99 £(36.37) £2,905.62

ASSETS as at 31.03.2003 Generator £150.00 Projector Table £29.99 ExhibitionTent £100.00 Display Stand £229.12 Software £85.00

Write down value @ 20% £124.83 £23.70 £79.03 £82.48 Write down 3yrs £85.00

Worm and Grass Snake glided effortlesslyaway on the two occasions that our footfalls approached too closely. However, our eyes were invariably drawn most strongly to the numerous Datk Green Fritillaries and Marbled Whites flying and taking nectar about us. It is somehow very difficult to tire of the Marbled White, despite its monochrome markings. Similarly,the fritillaries we watched now seemed to excite, appeal and engage to no lesser extent than the one we had first tried vainly to pursue across the Trosley escarpment the day before. The rains soon came again, but not before the scene before us had imprinted fully upon our memones.

Butterflies on

Farrnland, 17th July

by Rob Parker

Just five members assembled in drearyweather at WaldegraveFann, where the objective was to Acknowledgements: I would like to thank Irene look at the health of common species on Palmer of Kent WildlifeTrust for allowing access farmland managedwith conservation in mind. to normally restricted areas of Downe Bank.

We planned our route to cross four adjacent tetrads of under-recorded territory so as to make ButterflyList:Small Skipper, Essex Skipper, Large the optimum use of this visit, which had been Skipper, Brimstone, Large White, Holly Blue, arranged at the request of the landowners, who Common Blue, White-letter Hairstreak, Dark wished to know how butterflies were faring on the Green Fritillary, Comma, Red Admiral, Speckled • headlands of their farm.

Wood, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Marbled White, What we achieved was perhaps the best that Gatekeeper. could be done under the limiting weather conditions. Good numbers of Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Gatekeeper, Small Tortoiseshell and Essex Skipper were noted in all four sections walked before the thunderstorm that sent us scuttling back to the barn.

Sadly, we did not have the opportunity to search the oaks and elms for the hairstreaks that might have been present. At least we have filled in a few blocks towards the "Millennium plus 5" mapping project.

Editor' Note: I returnedhomefrom this meeting

£199.07 Debtors ..............................................£307.15 Stock - Merchandise..........................£145.32

after a picnic lunch at WaldegraveFarm in a torrentialdownpour.I recorded35mm of rain in about2 hours.

~

-~

£651.54 Liabilities...........................................(£220.00) NET WORTH

£2,905.62

MeadowBrown byBerylJohnson

16

9

The SuffolkArgus

Spring2005

she endeavoured to raise her body temperature upon re-emergence, we enjoyed a fine view of the intricate-upperwing patterning.

'Af'we retraced our steps and made towards the northern section of Downe Bank, Broadleaved Helleborines and a Fly Orchid were particularly noteworthy amongst the more prolific Pyramidal and Common-spotted representatives of this family. The Fly Orchid deploys a unique mimicry, whereby the three perals of the flower combine to resemble a female Digger Wasp. The male digger, attracted not only by the appearance of the orchid hut also by a scent, which imitates wasp pheromones, is drawn irresistibly to the flower. I suspect that Charles Darwin, during his studies at Downe, may have been inexorably drawn to this rdationship too; observing the transfer of pollen during the unrequited encounter between insect and flower, and recording the completion of the fenilisation cycle in which the hapless digger is seduced again by another orchid.

Regrettably,the present day Fly Orchid's flowering structures had long since withered, although we gathered from Downe's warden that it takes patience far surpassing that of hairstreak watching to observe the fleeting liaisons with the Digger Wasp.

With the sun becoming increasingly obscured by banks of cloud, the air above the northern section's elms was not broken by the flight of hairstreaks, and butterfly sightings were now confined to more robust species. Small and Essex Skippers continued to weave amongst the grass stems, whilst Marbled Whites were noted regularly - either crowded about the heads of Knapweeds and Scabious, or fluttering atuactively about us. With weather conditions now deteriorating to rainfull, we concluded that the morning's count of fourteen species was unlikdy to increase and hastened back towards Downe.

Lunch was taken in our cars, and through breaks in windscreen condensation we occasionally caught glimpses of various walkers, cyclists and Girl Guides beating bedraggled and disconsolate paths back into the village.

Appetites appeased, we now followed a southwesterly bearing away from Downe village.

I

\

As we passed through some rough grazing pasture, small butterflies were noted upon the heads of thistles; mottled underwings betraying the presence of Large Skippers, inkpot black antennae identifying members of the Hesperidae family with East Anglian origins. Shortly, we pushed through a narrow opening in the scrub bordering the path and stepped out onto London Wildlife Trust's somewhat paradoxically named West Kent Golf Course reserve.

With the rain which had curtailed the morning's activities still falling and the wet grass clinging unpleasantly about our ankles, the reserve wasn't quite the vibrant and enticing spectacle I had hoped for. However, as we moved across the slope, Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper were noted embedded deep amongst the grass sterns. Then, to much greater enthusiasm, a number of Marbled Whites, including a mating pair, were discovered in a scrubby patch at the bank's base. With the butterflies rendered torpid by the cool conditions, they were readily enticed by the warmth of our outstretched fingers. We lingered here for some time, taking full advantage of the opponunities for close observation and photography, which had largely alluded us earlier.

As we ascended the slope, the cloud cover broke a little and we turned to witness the charming sight of the Marbled Whites taking to the wing; seeming to rise simultaneously from each and every Scabious and Knapweed bdow.

Then, as often seems to happen during fidd trips, a number of unusual sightings followed in quick succession; firstly, a Small Blue larva was located, its grey body well synchronised against the now seeding Kidney Vetch host. This was preceded by the discovery of a rather dapper Black Neck moth, before the bank's reverie was broken by the harsh call of a Ring-necked Parakeet. A few moments later the parakeet broke cover and flew rapidly across our eye line - an aptly tropical addition, given the monsoon conditions earlier.

In repetition of our 2003 field meeting, we moved to the southern extremity of the site and here spent a pleasant time amongst the chalk grassland'sflora and fauna. Comma and Common Blue were added to the afternoon's list, whilst Slow

8

New Online Guide to the Larger Moths of Suffolk

by TonyPrichard For those in the county with an interest in moths a new online web guide has been produced covering the macro-moths (larger moths) of Suffolk. Although the guide is currently in a draftform it should still prove useful for moth recorders or more generalised naturalists in the county. The guide is continually being updated with new information and recordsas they are received so should provide an up to date source of information on the county's moth fauna.

Each species within the guide has a species account page with textual information describing its national and local status, flight period, larval foodplants, preferred habitats, records (where these are few in number) and the entry for the species from Morley's Final Catalogue of . • Lepidoptera. In addition to the text most species accounts have a 10km distribution map and where we have enough data a chart showing in which month(s) the species has been recorded as an adult in the county. Over half of the species have photographs of the adult and new photographs are being regularly added by members of the moth group.

Each species account has direct links to web pages on other moth web sites for viewing additional information and photographs for that particular species. An identification section lists confusion species and allows for comparison of various features (distribution, flight period and

adult photographs) between the confusion species.

With time it is expected to provide additional information on identification and how to· differentiate the various confusion species. A search facility provides the ability to find species accounts based on the species name and also to search for text within the textual accounts.

In the near future the guide will be extended to include the pyralid moths (family Pyralidae) as these are a rdativdy well-studied group of microlepidoptera and being rdativdy large for microlepidoptera are recorded by some moth recorders who do not record other families of microlepidoptera.

At some stage in the future it is the intention of the moth group to produce a book on the larger moths of Suffolk and this online guide is seen as part of that process. Producing the online guide has cost very little apart from time and it can be changed in response to feedback with little effort.

The strategy being that we can iron out any problems or inaccuracies in the guide before we embark on the costly business of producing a printed version.

The guide can be found at the Suffolk Moth Group web site (www.suffolkmothgroup.org.uk/) and follow the link to 'Larger Moths of Suffolk'. I would wdcome any comments and feedback about the guide.

Swallow-tailedMoth byMervyn Crawford 17

v~ Buddleia and The SuffolkArgus

Spring2005

Butterflies at PriorsOak

by TrudieWillis Priors Oak lies adjacent to North Warren, where I have a very large 10-acre garden and still had loads of plants flowering well into autumn. My Buddleiawalkhas over 10 varieties and after the initial flowering we cut them back about two foot all round and this brings on a full second bloom that is still coveringseveralof the bushes.

It is interesting to see that regardless of the position of the sun on them, the pale blue and double white seem to attract all the late butterflies and on 1st October 2004, I counted ten Red Admirals, six Commas and a Painted Lady on the blue one, whereas the rest of the garden appeared to be just whites, Speckled Woods and the odd remaining Small Copper.

SmallCopper

by DouglasHammersley

RedAdmiral byDouglasHammersley I was saddened to read an article decrying the "rather boring Buddleia" recently. For those of you wishing to add one of these prime butterfly bushes please take time to look around as there are now around 30 varieties available!

The flowering ranges from whites, yellows to bright orange, all shades of pink and blues and finally to Black Knight (as its name indicates a deep purple bordering on black). Size and shape vary again from very large and spreading scale down to weeping, standards and small bushes so there really is something for every garden regardlessof their size. The earliest to flower is the yellow flowered Globosa and suangely it is the small yellow flowered Weyeriana that is the last to flower and willcontinue until frosts arrive. So you see the choice is endless and Buddleia does not have to conjure up the thought of a rather spindly tree with uninteresting mauve flowers, and please remember a summer prune will produce a second flowering. I think it is well worth encouraging people to do this summer pruning to get the most of the late nectar.

I had another fun sighting that same autumn day. The young hazels we planted in the wildlife area to coppice appeared to be heavily defoliated and I feared a Muntjac, only to see a host of large Lobster moth larvae, they really are weird and interesting caterpillars.

18

10th July,Downe Bank & West Kent Golf Course

about11 o'clockto the highestpoint on the clumpand he'snestledin there."

Speaker 2 (having repeated the instructions The wgency which had marked our entry into carefully to himself and now sounding Newtye Hurst Wood the previous day was jubilant): evident again this morning; prompted now by a "Fantastic, I'vegot him now,eversoclearthroughthe desire to benefit fully from the sunny binoculars,thanks." Then in deflatedand dejected conditions. Amidst the rough grass, scrub & tones: "Oh, oh no, it'sjust a hairstreak.~ are brambles of the meadow through which we initially passed butterflies were quite talkingaboutthe sametreearen'twe?... " numerous, with Holly Blue, Comma & Red A few of us descended through the lower reaches of Admiralparticularly eye-catching amongst the the wood, shortly emerging into a meadow where ubiquitous browns. Presently, we followed a trefoils, knapweeds, thistles and countless grasses track through some trees and descended to vied for position from every square centimetre of Downe Bank,pausing at the entrance to repel a stout Labrador, which had evinced great turf, and the air above resounded to the endeavour of a thousands-strong orchestra of grasshoppers. interest in our proceedings from the outset.

Butterfly sightings now came quickly along Meadow Brown~and Ringlets bobbed dark above this hidden little ribbon of chalk grassland on the the colourful sward, whilst the three golden southern extremity of administrative London; a skippers of the Weald were frequent amongst the Marbled White alighted obligingly on low foliage, grass stems.

Deploying the morning's a Brimstone flew strongly across open ground, and identification techniques, male Small Skippers were quickly differentiated from their Essex a little way along the path some of our group were hurriedly focussing binoculars upon dark counterparts, although by now verbose butterflies spinning around the boughs of a Wych descriptions of the sex brands had been distilled down to the simple expression, "straightEssex, Elm. Eventually, one settled in a prominent position and we passed an engrossing few minutes kinky Small''. observing a White-letter Hairstreak walking This mantra rather stuck in my mind as we methodically over the elm leaves; proboscis fully walked back through this little fragment of old uncoiled to sample aphid honey-dew from the England, and only the news from the rest of the rough surfaces. This was a rare insight into the group that the Purple Emperor had descended arboreal habits of this species, partly facilitated by onto quite low and prominent boughs during our the canopy of the elm being broadly at the same absence was sufficient to dislodge it. A few of us lingered now, and with the Purple Emperor's height as our vantage point.

Dark Green Fritillaries were evident about position only known to one of us at any one time the open grassland, their dashing flight and there were ample opportunities for further turmeric spice ground colours in contrast to the imaginative descriptions of various parts of trees. dark, introvert hairstreaks we had just observed.

Eventually however, it settled openly on a distant Of particular note was a fritillary flying in a rather Sweet Chesmut; wings set squarely towards the studious manner just above the sward. Upon early evening sun. landing, she angled back her wings and began to ButterflyList: Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Essex enter, in a fashion which brought the word "tunnelling"strongly to mind, a dense clump of Skipper, Small White, Purple Hairstreak, Dark vegetation; another interesting insight into Green Fritillary, White Admiral, Purple Emperor, butterfly behaviour which we mused upon during Comma, Small Tortoiseshell, Meadow Brown, the minutes which she took to deposit her eggs Ringlet, Small Heath, Gatekeeper. safely amongst the leaves of an unseen violet. AI,

7 I

Spring2005

TheSuffolkArgus the wing edge in the laner species, longer and curving distinctly towards the abdomen in the former. Indeed, recognition of these characteristics subsequently saved much of the stooping, crouching and cursing normally associated with anempts to identify these particular butterflies.

Although the large expanse of open chalk grassland at Trosley provides core habitat for the site's specialist butterflies, the various thorn thickets and fingers of early successionalwoodland should not be wholly discounted; providing, in the first instance, important shelter at what would otherwise be a very exposed location. It was within one of these scrubby nooks that, to the overoptimistic call of "fritillary,about to land!" a Comma made its way onto the morning's list.

However, our wait for a close view of a Dark Green was quickly ended with the discovery of a quite heavily marked individual nectaring on buddleia blossom. We delayed here for a few moments, taking in the green flush and silver ellipses of the undersides of the hindwings, before tracking back to our rendezvous point.

At the start of any Purple Emperor field trip there is almost invariably a quickening of the collective pulse, palpable anticipation and a sense of wishing to get to the hean of the site without lingering unduly around the periphery. Newtye Hurst did not prove an exception, and we walked purposefully past the large Oaks standing guard at the entrance and onto a narrow ride. A few minutes later, for this is not a large wood and Ringlet & Meadow Brown had thus far provided the only distractions, we stopped at a small clearing, put down our rucksacks and inclined our heads towards the treetops.

Purple Hairstreaks were immediately apparent, jin.king spasmodically about the boughs of Oak and Ash. Such activity was encouraging and presently a White Admiral glided gracefully int:othe clearing. There was opportunity to admire the upperwings outstretched fully against a backdrop of Hazel, before she (for the direction of the departure flight suggested egg-laying activities within the wood's shadier recesses)flew again.

Craning our necks skywards once more, an altogether larger and more powerful butterfly was

noted beating up from the lower section of the wood. The Purple Emperor alighted regally atop an Oak tree and, over the course of the ensuing hours, proceeded to command the natural amphitheatre formed by the broadly circular arrangement of trees at this point in the wood through imperious flicks of its angular wings.

Then, as we paused· to check the ripe fruits which had been positioned along the path as a lure, deeply coloured and unfamiliar upperwings were noted against a bracken frond; closer inspection revealing that these belonged to a female Purple Hairstreak which had descended froth the canopy.

Newtye Hurst is a quiet wood, in which human voices rarely compete with the calls and songs of the indigenous birds. Today was somewhat different, and I wondered what an unsuspecting visitor to the wood would have made of a scene comprising a group of twelve people gazing resolutelyskywards,a camera with lens of telescopic proportions mounted across the path, and a loose collection of banana skins and plums strewn amongst the grass. Furthermore, if the intrepid explorer drew closer, he might have overheard snatches of an apparently bizarre conversation:

Speaker 1 (in confident manner): "Oh yes, he's definitelystill up there.I canjust make out the tip of one antenna and about a quarterof theforewing."

Speaker 2 (sounding sceptical): "OK, but where exactlyareyou /,ooking?"

Garden Observations -2004

by RichardStewart It was highly unlikdy that the aceptionally good sightings in 2003 would be repeated but neverthdess our garden in Westerfield Road, Ipswich, has again had some interesting sightings. For the second year we had just one visit from a Purple Hairstreak, on July 8th and this has set me thinking about where it would have come from.

A large Oak is close to our house but many observations have failed to spot the species there though there may be Oaks with this buttetfly along the nearby Spinney linking Westerfield and Tuddenham Road, not at present available for me to explore. I doubt if any research has been carried out about Purple Hairstreak dispersal distances so I have decided to use an old school compass and draw a circle, with a diameter of three quarters of a mile, from our house and try to explore every Oak at a suitable time. Already I have discovered six new Oaks with the buttetfly present, one only

Speaker 1: "Yousee the largeoakjust to the left of the hazel... " Speaker 2 (interrupting enthusiastically): "Yes, the one with the knobbleon the trunk about tenfeet up."

Speaker 1: "Yes,we/£follow the trunk up until it splits.Thenkeepyour eyeon the lefthand branchuntil it kinks, then take the thirdsmallerbranchto the right andfollow that straightalonguntilyou reacha clump of leavesat the top.It'sreallyquitea distinctiveclump; woksa bit like a kidney and someof the leavesare a ratherrusty cowur.Now find the group of leavesat

6

about four hundred yards from our house. It will probably take another year or two to do it thoroughly but I confidently anticipate many more host trees being found.

The large Swallowrail, which flew quickly past me at the bottom of our garden on August 3rd was an incredible surprise, and it disappeared over • the back fence before Marie could see it and didn't return. This brings my garden total of species up to 26 but there is, with this butterfly, always the possibility of breeding and releasing, as almost cenainly occuned on the Rivers Estate in 1998.

However, there were two other sightings of what was probably the same bunerfly, in Ipswich, from Iris Maeers in Holywells Park and Pat Gondris at St. Edmund's Road; also, this was a time when more migrants were coming in and just three days later I was observing Clouded Yellows at Piper's Vale on the edge of Ipswich.

Finally, even though we keep a close eye on our garden wildlife, we probably missed a large influx of the migrant SilverY moth. Marie spotted one on Valerian outside our French window and a closer examination revealed at least fifty, nectaring also on two varieties of Buddleia, Verbena and Jasmine. We have never seen anything like this number before in the garden and a count the next night gave a total of twenty-three. This was on August 11th and 12th during the time already mentioned when • other migrants were coming in, but it did occur to us that the moths were feeding mainly on our large Buddleia, which was past its peak of flowering. We were left wondering whether the number would have been greater, had we looked late in the day during the earlier part of August.

Peacock

SilverY Moth

byDouglas Hammersley

byMervyn Crauford 19

The SuffolkArgus

Birds of a different colour ByJamesMann When we came to live in the deep south of France we were well aware that Swallowtails, Painted ladies, aouded Yellows and many of the lesser seen British Blues would be classed as common and that many of our Tortoiseshdls would be large and our Whites Black-ffllled.We hadgiven little thought to the birds, neither of us being aperts in ornithology. What we first noticed was how many things were the same.

In Darsham, Anne had fed a small flock of Collared Doves and felt she would miss them but within days she had another eager group in the garden here asking to be fed or were they the same ones that had followed us down? Angry Blackbirds shouting at the cats told us that we had a pair nesting in the ivy over-growingthe garage. Cheeky Sparrows were soon sharing food with the Doves.

We also found that we had a resident Robin.

One evening at dusk we were sitting outside a cafe in the centre of the town enjoying a cool beer when the peace was disturbed by a cacophony of bird cries coming from the plane trees. As we watched wave upon wave of anything up to a hundred Starlings swooped in from the surrounding countryside to roost for the night.

From the numbers we counted there were many thousands, where they all go during the day we have no idea. It was fortunate that afrer twenty min1,1tesor so of argument they settled down quietly to sleep for this is a daily event.

Early one spring morning Anne heard a strange·bird call, we quickly tracked it down to a male Hoopoe sitting on our T.V. aerial Hoo Hoo pooing for a mate. Our bird book tells us he does

Spring 2005 this out of sight in the crown of a tree but this one persisted with our T.V. aerial for several weeks before he left. We never saw a female at the house but hoped that he had success and was the male of one of the several pairs we frequently saw near the river on our evening walks. The trees that he should have been calling from give home to several rarely seen but regularly heard Nightingales.

In the summer we have crowds of Swifts screaming round the houses cutting down the insect population. They leave us in the autumn but the more sedate Swallows and Martins although diminished in numbers are often seen flying in small groups over the river all through the winter.

The plain where our vast areas of vines are grown does not attract a great many birds but in the wetter areas towards the river both the Llttle and Cattle Egret can be seen together with their larger cousin the Grey Heron. In late summer the trees and any likely structures in the town are invaded by the western population of migrating White Storks having a few days rest before crossing over into Spain to make for Gibraltar. They are not at all shy and are happy to pose, albeit high up, to be photographed from all angles. last September Anne took a wrong turning when going to collect some chairs she had bought the previous day at Canet en Roussillon Vide Grenier and found herself on the narrow strip of land between the sea and the salt water Etang de Canet which is very shallow, she had to stop to find out why it had turned pink. She discovered that the whole etang was massed with Pink Flamingos having a top up meal before moving further south for the winter. When I went to see them later in the week our small resident group were scillthere but the huge mass had flown away.

When taking part in English Butterfly walks I have often heard the word "raptor"spoken in awe so decided ro have a look for them here. If one decides to be lazy it is possible to visit Chateau Valmy where trained Owls, Hawks, Eagles and Vultures fly low over the heads of the spectators but I decided that that was cheating. Along and above the main road verges we often see Kestrels and the rare Sparrowhawk and often on the top of electricity poles we see stationary Buzzards waiting

20

2004 Field Meetings Field Trip to Kent 9th - 10th July byPaulJohnson 9th July,TrosleyCountry Park & Newtye Hurst Wood On the high summer's morning of 9th July, I stepped out onto the gravel of the Trosley car park to survey a malevolent bank of cloud brooding over the North Downs. Within a minute, I was back'inside the car mmrnaging for a fleece to supplement what was rapidly becoming mandatory apparel for butterfly season 2004 - a waterproof.

Climatically speaking, the situation hadn't improved greatly by the time the twelve members of our group (including a contingent of four from Norfolk) interrupted the descent from the parking area by stepping somewhat tentatively out onto a small section of open downland. We explored here for a few minutes, enjoying the rich song of a Blackcap and straining our eyes to distinguish the slate uppers of a Sparrowhawk from the dreary sky behind. Then, as we brushed through some undergroMh, a Mottled Beauty moth was disturbed from its resting place.

Emerging onto the site proper, our attention was drawn to the great number of Pyramidal Orchids in flower - the bright inflorescences almost seeming to illuminate the narrow path we now began to follow. Presently, we began to fan out across the slope and the increased coverage quickly brought rewards; a few Meadow Browns and Ringlets flying without enthusiasm, delicate Small Heaths taking evasive flight whenever our feet encroached too closely upon their hiding

places within the fine sward, and a number of Large Skippers squatting, stout-bodied, amongst coarser vegetarian. A little funher along we encountered a vivid male Gatekeeper, the upper surfaces of its forewings so profusely marked with dark scent scales as to virtually obscure the orange ground colour beneath.

We had covered perhaps a quarter of a mile, when an exultant cry rang out and we turned quickly to observe a comparatively large butterfly rapidly ascending the slope. Our attempts at pursuit were largely in vain, although sufficient to pleasingly confirm the butterfly's identity as Dark Green Fritillary. Over the remainder of our visit, the fricillary count increased in increments of one or two, and probably totalled around ten by the time we began the steep climb back - a satisfactory tally under overcast skies, but really a rather meagre return given the potential rewards at one of the strongest sites for this species in the south east.

The eastern edge of the Country Park is marked by a rather scrubby area in which buddleia, thistle, bramble & knapweed provide abundant and varied nectars. Here, in addition ro the Satyrids of earlier, Small White, Small Tortoiseshell and two funher species of skipper were recorded. I was somewhat surprised to notice the Norfolk ladies using binoculars to observe the latter species. However, as they explained, it is possible, with a little practice, to distinguish male Small from male Essex Skippers by checking the sex brands on the uppersides of the forewings; these being relatively short, straight and parallel to

PurpleEmperor

by Beryl]ohmon 5

The SuffolkArgus

Spring 2005

Safety Code ■

As with any other activity, there are haurds in the countryside and everyone taking part in a Field Trip or Work Party has a responsibility (duty of care), for their own safety and that of others.

We try hard to ensure that our Events present no greater hazard than any other walk in the countryside, but please note and act on the following: ■

Wear appropriate clothing and footwear. If there are unusual requirements, these are noted in the individual trip details. Stout shoes are a minimum requirement for any walk.

■

During the main summer season you may be exposed to strong sunshine for much or all of the walk. Take a hat, use suncream or protection for exposed skin. Make sure that you have adequate food and liquid to drink with you. Equally, sunshine can easily turn to cold and rain during the day. Be prepared.

■

■

Joining the walk is an indication of your interest in butterflies. By their nature butterflies do not remain conveniently by the main path and will offer many opportunities (temptations) for you to wander away. Take particular care to look out for hazards - rabbit holes, fallen or hanging branches, barbed wire, boggy areas, etc. Beware of wet grass, particularly on sloping ground. \

■

Children are welcome on out walks, but if under 16 must be accompanied by at least one adult for two children. It is the responsibility of the accompanying adult(s) to ensure that the trip is within the children's ability.

■

Dogs are normally welcome on walks, but must be kept under control. Any exceptions are shown in the individual trip details.

■

If you are uncertain about any details of the

for a tasty meal to come into sight. In the spring up in the mountains 20 or more of these Buzzards are often sighted slowly drifting north at high altitude. The height makes their speed deceptive, this April I watched a dozen slowly appear over a ridge, within five minutes they were lost from sight several kilometres away. Even now afrer several sightings I find it very exiting when one of our randonners shouts "Eag!.e" and there high in the sky are one or two beautiful Golden Eagles. It is amazing how they soar around in the air currents needing only a tilt of the wings or a twist of the wingtip feathers to change direction. Only when they decide to take their searching pattern to another area do they give a couple of strong wing strokes and in seconds disappear over a ridge.

During one of the early randonnes near the Pie de Costabonne we sighted five large birds flying high above us, I, now thinking I was an expert said Eagles, the real man of knowledge corrected me and said that if there were

trip, ring the leader/contact in advance. There is always a telephone number given with the trip details.

The leader will provide a briefing on the trip before setting out, with details of any known particular hazards, and willalso give advice on what to do in an emergency. Please listen carefully.

■

If you decide to leave the event early, tell the leader.

■

Take care at all times, but ENJOY YOURSELF.

We thank Upper ThamesBranchfor all.owingus to publish their SafetyCode.PI.ease alsoreferto our own Safety Notes on the back of the Events Programme 2005-Ed.

At the briefing, please let the leader know if:you have a mobile tdephone and are able to take it with you on the walk; you have First Aid qualifications.

CloudedYellow

by BerylJohnson

4

three or more they were not likdy to be eagles and what we were looking at were Griffon Vultures.

Until then I did not know there were Vultures in out part of France. These five circled high above us and then carried on their way, they no doubt thought we all looked healthy and not a good bet for a meal. Last summer when we walked to the Massif de Madra, the most isolated comer of the department where our wolves and bear live, we became rather concerned and kept checking that all the others looked and felt in good health for as we were descending through the trees each time we came to a clearing three or fout Griffon Vultures appeared and circled round looking down at us.

One particularly ugly brute landed high up on a dead tree and watched us pass, very unsettling.

Apart from this one I had only seen the Vultures in flight so was rather chuffed when a few weeks later, again near the Costabonne, I saw one land and slow down with the characteristic jumps forwards.

When a couple of his mates followed him down we scanned the area with binoculars and discovered that the whitish hump near where they had landed was a dead cow. Over the next half hour or so the numbers slowlyincreased to over twenty. They were arriving in ones and twos starting as tiny dots in the sky far away and some 1000 metres above the mountains. As they got nearer they descended in decreasing spirals looking for the best place to land to get their heads in.

• We sat eating our lunch watching them through our binoculars, we were pleased that we were out of ear shot for their visual table manners left a lot to be desired and the sound of them eating would have been too much. After about an hour something that we could not identify disturbed them and they rose in mass, as they disbursed in various directions we counted a total of twenty-five.They must have been back, for two weeks later looking from the opposite side of the valley there was no sign that a cow carcasshad ever been there.

We recently read in our local paper that a pair of Egyptian Vultures had nested and raised young. This was the first in the Department for several decades. On 2 February this year our

21

The SuffolkArgus

Spring2005

Monday walk found us in the Valley de Coumellade walking through the snow, as one would expect at an altitude of 1700 metres. As we paused to rest and admire the countryside spread out below a solitary small "Eagk"appeared, a study with binoculars and it was identified as an immature Egyptian Vulture possiblythe product of the above mating. We stopped to eat at the Cabin a Vielle an isolated refuge used by the shepherds.

After a short time the Egyptian Vulture appeared again this time being harassed by a pair of angry Crows who resented its presence in their territory.

Despite him turning back on them several times they eventuallywore him down and with a few lazy wing beats he was off over the ridge, the Crows now being satisfied flew off in the opposite direction.

There is never a dull moment up in the mountains, the weather can change in minutes, the scenery and variation of wildlife differs according to altitude and the particular exposure to the elements. My one great wish now is to see an Eagle stooping on its prey.

Swallowtail _____

In Defence

Editorial

Of 'Insects'

by Jim Foster

by RichardStewart

Readers may recall that in my article "ButterfliesDown Under"in the Summer 2004 edition of the Suffolk. Argus, I bemoaned the fact that Field Guides were not published on as many aspects of natural history as they are in the U.K. During a recent visit to Australia a new guide to the butterflies of Australia was published, "The

Perhaps it's just me exhibiting more examples of the 'grumpy Old Men' syndrome but I am becoming increasingly concerned about the increased use of the word 'Bugs'.

I have of course no objection to its proper use in the case of Shieldbugs, lovely insects that we occasionally find in our garden, but it's the increasing general application to all insects that concerns me. 'BBC Wildlife' magazine, in its June 2004 issue, page 64, had the title 'Get The Bug Bug' adding below that "Bugs are beautiful, bugs are beastly, but above all, bugs are the best", then using the phrase "insects and other invertebrates" on the next line. I am also given to understand it is an acronym, though for what is another matter.

According to 'BBC Wildlife' it is 'Biodiversity Underpinning Global Survival' but according to ~=E_nglish Nature it is 'Biodiversity In Urban

',iji

b_7_D_ou_~_1as __ H._a_m_m_ers_ley __ /._~_,_lllll,,iik?fW7·Gard:::!:ce;;y

J;;t~i:~t:a::n::

complaining about its use in their Big Bug Count and he did at least reply, saying he agreed with me. The word itself is short and ugly, yet another unwanted American import, and it conjures up images of dirt and disease; add a few letters and it has other negative connotations and it is also ' unspecific and unscientific. I don't want beautiful and elegant creatures such as butterflies and moths, or indeed many other insects as well, to be classifiedunder the word 'Bugs' - let's stick to the word 'Insects', which has served us well for hundreds of years.

22

Butterfly Conservation· Display Boards, Suffolk Branch Do you know of a suitable venue or a forthcoming event (under cover) where you could use our six- panel free standing, or three- pand table top, light weight, display to give publicity to Butterfly Conservation?

CompleteField Guideto Butterfliesof Australia"by Michael F. Braby, and published by CSRIO Publishing. This is the first complete Field Guide to all the Australian species and its illustrations depict for each species male, female both upper and undersides, together with a distribution map.

An informative text for teach species is included that lists larval food plants. In some cases subspecies are also illustrated. If you are going to Australia I recommend this book as an indispensable guide to the 400+ species in that Country.

As is usual with this issue the programme for the corning season is enclosed. I recommend these outings to members not only to increase your knowledge in natural history and lepidoptera in particular, but as a convivial meeting between people with like interests.

There are three Training Days following on the success of those held last year. Also there ar~ several out of county meetings, these present an opportunity for members to gain : ..~·· experience of lepidoptera that are not necessarilyseen in Suffolk. For those attending field meetings your attention is drawn to the Safety Code on page 4. Happy hunting.

The information on the boards gives details of Butterfly Conservation and the Suffolk Branch activities.

Membership leaflets, programme cards and other promotional leaflets could also be provided.

Fordetailspleasering:AlanJohnson,on 01473 715701.

CommonWainscot(pg 11) byMervyn Crawford 3

The SuffolkArgus

Spring2005

Contents

Editorial

·:~;.

fir'"'

For that difficult to find present, why not give a decorative butterfly or moth to mount on the front wall of someone's home ?

Editorial

3

Display Boards, any suitable venues?

3

Copy Dates

Safety Code

4

Field Meetings 2004

5

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

.•· ~~-

4 ·fldm •wt. rN .. .

Annual General Meeting 2004

15

Accounts

16

Summer

April Fools Day

New Online Guide to Suffolk Moths

17

Autumn

August Bank Holiday

Buddleia and Butterflies at Priors Oak

18

Garden Observations - 2004

19

Birds of a different colour

20

In Defence of Insects

22

Newsletter Details and General Information

23

To advertisein the SuffolkArgus

Back Cover

01449 711484.

Suffolk Branch Contacts

Spring

Christmas Eve

Cast In aluminiumand enamelledin very realistic colours at five times lif&-size, they will last for manyyears.

Highly individualnameplatestoo, to your own desi!PI,with n~obllaatlon colour preview.SuffolkBranchwill receive one quarter of the purchase price.

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.

please contact

Jim Foster

Phone or far Mervyn Crawford on MikJen/raJJ (01638) 712600for Colour brockure I Price list.

on

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

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, Moreton Hall,

Butterfly Hotel, Al 4 Bury East Exit.

Moreton Hall,

Bury St. Edmunds Tel: 01284 760884

Bury St. Edmunds Tel: 01284 760884

Al 4 Bury East Exit.

2

23

Suffolk Branch Contacts Chairman Rob Parker,66 Cornfield Road, Bury St. Edmunds, SuffolkIP33 3BN (01284 705476) MembershipSecretary BerylJohnson, 28 Medway Road, Ipswich,SuffolkIP3 0QH (01473 715701) NewsletterEditor Jim Foster,Lugano,The Street, Stonham Aspal, Stowmarket,Suffolk IP14 6AH (01449 711484) Publicity Officer (Vacant) ProgrammeSecretary Alan Johnson, 28 MedwayRoad, Ipswich, SuffolkIP3 OQH (01473 715701) County Recorder(Butterflies) Rob Parker (addressas above)

The Butterfly Conservation ConservationOfficer (Butterflies) Rob Parker (addr<:5s left) ConservationOfficer (Moths) Tony Prichard, 3 PowlingRoad, Ipswich, Suffolk,IP3 9JR (01473 270047) County Recorder(Moths) Tony Prichard (addressabove) Secretary Tony Prichard, (addressabove) Treasurer Graham Bull, Willow Cottage, 1 The Street, Raydon, SuffolkIP? 5LP (01473 310371) Committee Members StellaWolfe, Mike Dean President Howard Mendel, c/o The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW? 5BD (0171 938 8782)

Volunteers Needed If you feel you could help out now and then with the growingwork of the Branch, please contact BerylJohnson on

01473715701.

The Newsletter of the Suffolk Branch of Butterfly Conservation

Publishedby the Suffolk Branchof ButterflyConservation ButterflyConservationlimited by Guarantee R,gistcrcd

Office:Manor Yard, East Lulworth, Wareham, Dorset BH20 5QP Td: (01929) 400209 © 2004 all rights reserved Reg.No. 2206468 Reg.Charity No. 254937

Editor: Jim Foster Logo: (Silver-scuddedBlue) Doug Hammersley Design:Stephen Ion, Cat & Mouse design Printer. 321 Printing, 25 Brookhouse Business Park, Hadleigh Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP2 0EF

Butterfly Conservation

Spring 2005 Volume34