Open Day at Scotland Place Farm

helped to park cars but also was kept busy answering questions about how he kept the garden in such good heart – a man with green fingers!

Visitors arriving mid-morning were invited to take part in Rob Parker’s informative butterfly walks and two were held before a late lunch was taken. A couple of moth traps had been set up the night before, and between the butterfly walks the catch was examined by Mike Swindells and an enthralled audience, fascinated by the variety and beauty of these little known creatures of the night.

The generally overcast sky did not encourage day-flying moths and butterflies into flight, but the temperature was high and in the sheltered garden migrant Silver Y moths covered the lavender. Red Admirals, a few Peacock butterflies, a Comma or two, and whites adorned the buddleja bushes, which also attracted at least two Grayling. More Grayling were sighted on the heath where Small Copper was noted, and appropriately in the wood a Speckled Wood – generally considered to be rather scarce at the moment - was spotted. Unlike 2009 when the buddleja were weighed down by the invasion of Painted Lady, this year the species has been noteable for its absence, and during the day only one was recorded.

We thank Trudie and her gardener, Paul and other helpers for their hard work in preparation and their enthusiasm on the day. The large garden at Priors Oak with its many formal and informal outdoor rooms, the wild heathland garden and the wood make this a fascinating garden to visit, and the more so during Save Our Butterflies Week when knowledgeable enthusiasts are at hand to indentify and inform visitors about the butterflies and moths. If you haven’t visited then make Priors Oak a priority for 2011.

Open Day at Scotland Place Farm, Stoke by Nayland.

Sunday 1st August 2010

Michèle Francis

I’m a new conscript to BC, and clearly as green as I’m cabbage-looking. This morning’s introduction to Peter Maddison, as editor of The Suffolk Argus newsletter, was quickly followed by the suggestion that I write my impressions of the day. Here goes ... Today, I attended the open day at Scotland Place Farm (Stoke by Nayland). An open day is run every year, in aid of a variety of charities. Today was the turn of the Suffolk Branch of Butterfly Conservation. Scotland Place Farm aims to have a lower-carbon

impact, to farm less intensively, to raise quality livestock including large black pigs (a rare breed). This is a family-run farm: Simon Hayter grew up on this farm, and his wife Tracey was also born in the village. They and their families are involved in producing local organic food.

It was an excellent day for meeting new people and sharing information about wildlife-friendly farm management, gardening with insects in mind, or simply the best way to spot Purple Hairstreak (with binoculars, from the top floor of a block of flats!). It was also a day for local networking, since a few of us used free group transport (a large taxi), organised by Jane Hutton, which had been paid for by “Sudbury ’s Market Town Partnership” as part of Green Suffolk. The open day at Scotland Place Farm is part of a series of five (I believe) eco-days in Sudbury and the surrounding villages, looking at positive action in conservation and landmanagement AND green buildings and businesses. I for one am enthusiastically supporting any practical initiative to pool local knowledge and experience.

2010 was bound to be my year to get out into the field more. I’m delighted that some synchronicities have made my practical efforts worthwhile. I’ ve had a magical time meeting new people and making new wildlife contacts. Today has been a good day. Not brilliant in terms of actually seeing Lepidoptera on the wing, as it was overcast, cool and eventually showery, but a fabulous day for meeting with like-minded souls. I met two ladies from Sudbury, one of whom is on the Common Lands board of Trustees (aka Sudbury water meadows) and the other who is sensible enough to bring her binoculars when butterfly spotting, and who is co-ordinating improvement of a green space in the town as a butterfly meadow and wildlife corridor. I learnt a lot walking around the farm with them, talking about their projects and, incidentally, how the machinery of local government works.

The farm was show-casing its butterfly meadow today: a field on a hill, well, a floriferous hill-field with large swathes of mown pathway. I was just trying to recall which way its slopes faced, and pretty-well every direction is my conclusion. Steeper slopes up from north east and north west, gentler slopes back down in a more southerly direction, at the top open towards the south. The meadow is bounded on three sides by old established mixed hedges with some oak, some (diseased) elms and other trees standing proud with other food plants like spindle and sloe or hawthorn and in places bracken, bramble, nettles forming an understorey. There is a mature oak on the more sheltered side of the hill, standing alone in the field. The western field boundary seemed to have a ditch, in which there was standing water. The present meadow was sown and now there is plentiful bird’s-foot-trefoil, a mixture of smaller grasses, standing taller was mainly field thistle, some greater knapweed and a little lucerne, and a range of yellow composites as well as field chamomile. I did not notice as many umbellifers or vetches as I have seen elsewhere lately, and I did not see any sorrel Rumexacetosella, but there was some common dock. So all in all this was a varied habitat, with lots of different possible food plants for Lepidoptera. I spent quite some time on my knees examining stands of

BFT (which clearly were being eaten) for small green larvae. Even carefully parting the stems and looking between the grass thatch for fallen caterpillars. Not one. Later, Rob told me, “One factor to remember about looking for larvae is the timing. It is best to choose the middle of the normal period in which they are in the larval stage. A good book on butterflies will include a timeline diagram, showing (for Common Blue) that they overwinter as larvae and feed up into April. The second generation hatch as larvae early in June and keep munching until mid July, pupating briefly to emerge as second generation adults late July/early August. So when we were at Tracey ’s, the butterflies flying were recently hatched, and those yet to hatch were pupae. Any stragglers that were still in the caterpillar phase would have had to be two or more weeks behind the mean. Not impossible, but only in very small numbers. ”

I also spent some time trudging off-piste, crossing from one path to another, attempting to kick up some reluctant blues, or maybe a Small Copper or Brown Argus. I was looking for roosting butterflies, and was actually trying to move quite carefully across known territories.

Tracey had organised a visual butterfly identity treasure hunt as a child-friendly activity, with hidden pictures of the butterflies around the meadow. It was good how that overlapped with visiting public using the BC identification leaflets to name the few flying beasties. We were able to see Meadow Brown (m&f), Small White, Gatekeeper (m&f), and male and female not-so-common Common Blues, and Ringlet along the hedge. I also saw three distinct sorts of dragonfly – just don’t ask me to name them! The most common sighting of the day was of Six-spot Burnet moths, some looking fresher than others, most cocoons empty and straw-coloured but a few butter yellow & still holding their contents. I was able to point these and the adults out to some children who once they knew what to look for were away! (seephoto) I also found a pair which I photographed inflagrante delicto, for use in Year 6 Life Cycle lesson (thankfully, ‘birds & bees’ is still taught in our National Curriculum).

Part of my pleasure in meeting Stella, Peter and Rob was hearing their in-depth knowledge. I also thank them for welcoming me and all members of the public so warmly and equally enthusiastically. They were able to engage everyone in an appropriate level of conversation be that expert discussion on management of elm, or how to lift the flap to find a hidden picture of a butterfly. It was their hospitality and warmth that gained at least one new member today. In my recent return to more serious butterfly-spotting and recording I realise I have forgotten so much about habits of flying, display, territorial behaviours. I will definitely come out on these Suffolk Branch excursions, not only to see what I can spot but also to learn.

Common Blue by Douglas Hammersley