1995 Field Trips

Comma (Polygonia c~album) • • • • • • • ! .• : • • • ••••

Freston Area, near Ipswich, Sunday April 30th

by Richard Stewart

33 members ofboth Butterfly Conservation and Suffolk Naturalists' Society attended this joint meeting on an afternoon which proved the fickle nature of early spring weather. It had been sunny late morning and early afternoon but as we left the car park it clouded over and stayed that way. Thankfully, there is a spot in Freston wood which seems to have. a ,distinc~ microclimate and here we saw two Peacocks (Inachis io) and one Comma (Polygonia calbum). Although the lanes next to the wood are,bordered by Garlic Mustard, the Orange Tip (Anthocharis cardarnines) did not materialise. To compensate however, there ·were many areas carpeted with Bluebells and a few plants of Meadow Saxifrage were in flower in Freston churchyard. Birds recognised by call or sight included Blackcap, Chiff-chaff,

Garden Warbler, Cuckoo, Swallow and

Green Woodpecker. Tea in Cutler's wood was enriched by the melodies of Cuckoo and Nightingale. A few Wood Anemones were flowering here and later, there were good views of four variously coloured fallow deer, one limping badly. A Whitethroat was also heard and on our return the Bluebells and carpets of wild Garlic in Freston wood were noticeably more aromatic as evening approached.

Butterfly Transect Training Day, R.S.P.B., Minsmere, Sunday May, 21st

by Roger Kendrick

In spite of cool and overcast conditions, a very successful outdoor "hands-on" day was enjoyed by nine enthusiastic butterflywatchers keen to learn of, amongst other things, section totals, index figures, five metre boxes and constant pace! Enough butterflies were seen to demonstrate a transecr and allow the theory to be put into practice after a break for lunch (when the sun came our!) The day closed by collating the data from the practice walks and working through the figures as if producing a full transect' s results. [Full details of the procedure will be available in the next Suffolk Argus when the Branch should have a stock of the 'Butteifly Monitoring Scheme' handbook, published by the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology]. For the record, butterflies seen included Orange Tip (Anthocharis cardamines), Green-Veined White (Pieris napi), Green Hairstreak (Callophrys rubi), Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas), Peacock (Inachis io), Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) and Brown Argus (Aricia agestis). Cinnabar moths (Tyria jacobaeae) were present .in good numbers, nettles were rife with the Nettle-tap moth (Anthophila fabriciana), a member of the Choreutidae family and several longhorn moths (Adela reamurella) were seen on the leaves of Hawthorn awaiting the afternoon sunshine. Our thanks to Geoff Welch, warden at Minsmere, for allowing the event to be held on the reserve.

Halesworth Area, Sunday, May28th

by Paul Gi~on

With conditions overcast and breezy, twentysix ofus (a superb turn-out) assembled at the town centre car park off Saxons way. We were introduced to Wilfred George (well known for his excellent footpath maps), who outlined our route for the morning. Wilfred had even managed to find some Orange Tip . (Anthocharis cardamines) eggs and chrysalis for us to inspect before we set off.

Leaving the car park we were soon walking beside a disused canal, the banks of which were covered in a variety of wild plants. This differed greatly from the main river we had already crossed. Our first butterfly of the day, a Green-Veined White (Pieris napi), arrived on the canal bank and alighted for a short while on Garlic Mustard before continuingonitsway. =

After leaving the canal, the party crossed an area of rough pasture which led us underneath the main railway line and the old Halesworth to Southwold narrow gauge line. At this sheltered location a male Qrange Tip (A cardarnines) appeared. An overgrown gravel pit was our next destination. A female Broadbodied Chaser dragonfly was seen stalking the area and even came to rest on a gorse bush for everyone to get incredible dose-up views with binoculars, monoculars and cameras.

The weather continued in its overcast and breezy mood as we made our way along a shaded footpath. This_footpath became a track which continued up to the main road, however we carried straight on into Wilfred's very own nature reserve. The now narrow path led us to a pond dug by Wilfred himself which he had planted with Yellow Iris. It was just a little further on from here where Wilfred showed us an ingenious device he had made for the capture and inspection ofHoverflies and other such insects.

Upon our return to the trackleadingro the main road, the nettle beds either side revealed many secrets. Early stage Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) larvae, a beautifully camouflaged Angle Shades moth (Phlogophora meticulosa) and both Large Red and Common Blue damselflies. The most unusual find of the walk was discovered at this spot by the youngest member of the party, Ben. After much consultation it seems that he had found a Glow-worm larva, a very rare find indeed!

On returning through the gravel pit area, a Large White (Pieris brassicae) made a brief appearance and further on near the railway bridge, a Wall Brown (Lassiommaramegera) was sponed. A quick detour from the main party by Wilfred and myselffailed to find two Red Admirals (Vanessa aralanta) which Wilfred had located on an earlier visit. More Orange Tips appeared at the sheltered spot where we had seen diem earlier.

The sun started to show itself again as we made our way across the rough pasture towards the canal. Wilfred managed to capture a Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) which allowed everybody a close inspection. Our attention.was then drawn to a distant lowflying bi~d, a Green Woodpecker without the famous'yaffie'. The canal bank was to hold two more surprises for us, a nectaring Brimstone ( Gonepteryx rhamni) and on the opposite bank, an intriguingly camouflaged female Orange Tip which was only evident through binoculars.

Back at the car park everyone agreed that it had been a successful morning, made even more interesting by the leader Wilfred George, having such a wealth oflocal knowledge. So much so that a number of the parry stayed to carry on the visit after a welcome lunch-break. Thanks again to Wilfredforamostenjoyable field trip.

Moth Night at Bawdsey, 9thJune, 1995

by Roger Kendrick

A cold and wet June day had people reaching for the telephone to check whether this event would be going ahead. I have to admit the thought had occurred in my mind but with the ground drying and the clouds lifung (but not breaking), the outlook was much more positive and the reply was "be there".

The twenty specimens seen between 9.00pm and midnight provided a superb opportunity fur the small group of hardy souls present to get to grips with field identification. Indeed this was the ideal follow-up to the last article in the Suffulk Argus on the subject of field notes, as representatives of the three major moth f.unilies (Noctuidae, Geometridae and Pyralidae) were all present. The small numbers of species seen allowed ample time fur everyone to get a good idea of the observation skills required to determine each species using distinguishing features such as body shape, resting posture, wing paneming and antennae structure. The star of the show must have been the aposematic Cream-spot Tiger (Arctia villica britarmica) which was much photographed by some of the group. Its display of black, yellow, red and white patterning clearly illustrated the classical combination of colours saying "keep away", I'm distasteful". Of the other species, the Light Brocade (Laconobia w-latinum), Treble Lines (Charanyca trigrammica), The Seraphim (Lobophora halterara) and The Spectacle (Abrostola triplasia) were either noteworthy or of particular interest in terms of identification or distribution bur there were no. real surprises.

Despite the weather and the poor species total, a thoroughly good time was had by all ( especially those who brought their thermos flask!).

Cream-spot Tiger (Arctia villica britannica)

The King's Forest, Sunday June 11th

by Richard Stewart

Eight members met at Rampart Field on a cold, overcast and occasionally rainy day; not a day for butterflies and none of the three target species of Dingy Skipper (Erynnis tages), Green Hairstreak (Callophrys rubi) and Brown Argus (Aricia agestis) was seen. We managed to find one Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) and one Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus) plus several Cinnabar moths (Tyria jacobaea). Bird life was more interesting with a singing Nightingale, Woodlarks, Cuckoo, Whitethroac, two Green Woodpecker and calling Turtle Dove and Y ellowharnmer. Views of a Common Lizard and Sparrowhawk also helped to balance the lack of butterflies. Two other moths, Latticed Heath (Semiothisa clathrata clathrata) and Common Carpet (Epirrhoe alternata) were recorded together with Brown-lipped Banded Snails.

The high point of a disappointing morning was, however, a butterfly. Despite the cold, gloomy conditions an early Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina) took flight as we approached, definitely my earliest sighting of this species.

After lunch, an unsuccessful attempt was made to locate the Brown Argus (Aricia agestis) colony where ride 203 meets the Brandon road bur I understand Tony Pritchard returned in better weather and found several close by. Finally, the four left in the party by this time made their way past a colony of Stinkhorns in various stages of growth and decay to explore Chalk Lane, discovering ten Common Blues (Polyommatus icarus) at rest, most on a wide open corner with Viper's Bugloss and many other nectar sources. This w9uld have been very productive had the sun come our. We also found and photographed a Cream-spot Tiger moth (Arctia villica britannica) and Bordered White moth (Bupalus piniaria). Steve Goddard had a relatively close encounter with five Fallow deer and this was for me the highlight of the day. I had already seen one Roe, one Muntjack and four Red deer and these Fallow made it the first time that I had seen all four species in one day. Despite the weather, we all agreed that it had been a very satisfying day, demonstrating that butterflies, as well as other wildlife, can be found with a little hard work regardless of the depressing conditions.

Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina) . ........ .