Notes and Observations 12 Part 2

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NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS F L I G H T OF PIPISTRELLES (P. pipistrellus). Between June and November, in both 1960 and 1961 we watched Pipistrelles feeding over a rubbish tip on Framlingham Aerodrome. DĂźring the summer they appeared as dusk turned to darkness in very considerable numbers. We could not count them in the darkness but in the light of car headlights the place seemed to be alive with bats : there may well have been a hundred or so Aying. After mid-September as the nights got cooler a small number, usually half a dozen or less, flew much earlier and with a more direct and purposeful flight than is usual. T h e more numerous late comers had the ordinary fluttering, zig-zag flight of a pipistrelle amidst an abundance of insects. We caught a number of these " early fliers " ; all were pipistrelles. A large number of housecrickets was Aying from the tip ; these were being caught in large numbers by noctules. We could not see what was the main prey of the pipistrelles but it seemed to consist mainly of small insects. Very often however a pipistrelle would be seen to take a cricket when subsequent events could not be seen. Sometimes it would drop it to pick it up again as it feil, occasionally repeating the dropping and catching two or three times, sometimes catching the cricket, dropping it and Aying on. On a number of occasions a pipistrelle seized a cricket, closed its wings partially and feil three or four feet through the air to recover and fly on, sometimes apparently with the cricket still in its mouth, sometimes after dropping it. That pipistrelles attack crickets was obvious : how far they are able to master the larger ones was difficult to be certain. EVENING

H.

G.

BARRETT, CRANBROOK, G t .

Glemham.

PIPISTRELLES IN CHURCH. In January, 1962, pipistrelles were again found behind the panels in Snape Church. With 32 pipistrelles was one larger bat which escaped before it could be identified with certainty, but it seemed to be Natterer's. MRS. HARRISON, Snape.

CAT

SUCKLING YOUNG R A T .

Early

in

November,

1961,

my

dog dug up a nest of hairless young rats, killing the mother and scattering the babies with the nest material. I gave the babies to a freshly kitted cat to eat. A couple of days later looking at the kittens I found a young rat sucking at the cat alongside them. Annoyed at this disturbance the mother cat moved the whole litter, rat included, to another place. T h e rat continued to suck with the kittens until it was about § grown when one day I found that it had gone. J. SPALL, Gt. Glemham.


137

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

GREY SQUIRREL. T h e North American grey squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis, was introduced into Great Britain about sixty years ago and remained in the home counties and the South Midlands for some considerable time. Since the war it has spread into the rest of the country and even into central Scotland.

Usually the greatest concentrations occur where broad leaved trees, such as beech and sycamore, and to a lesser extent oak and ash, are interspersed with farmland and orchards providing ideal nesting and feeding places. Wherever the grey squirrel becomes established it very rapidly displaces the red squirrel. Until very recently the grey squirrel could not be found in Suffolk but grey squirrels are to be found in small numbers in the following woods. West

Suffolk

Sandpit Plantation Abbacey Wood Norney Wood Howe Wood Little Wood Trunley Wood

Stoke by Cläre Great Wratting Withersfield Withersfield Withersfield Great Thurlow

Wadgells Wood Cadges Wood Lawn and Over Woods Hart Wood

Great Thurlow Withersfield Withersfield

Branches Park

Great Bradley Cowlinge East

Freston Wood

Freston

Reported 1961 1962 1961 1962 1961 1962 1962 1962 1962 1957 1962

No. 2 1 2 2 12 1 1 2 4 2

Suffolk 1962

2

T h e grey squirrel, like several other mammals which have been imported, is by no means an asset in the countryside. T h e y do considerable damage to trees, they also attack corn especially in the stook and take peas, beans and eggs ; probably the worst and most wanton damage is caused by their gnawing the bark off trees thus robbing them of their cambium layer which is essential for continued growth. T o curtail this widespread damage and to try and prevent the complete eradication of the red squirrel, the grey squirrel must now, in the country, be ruthlessly treated as a pest and destroyed. CHAS.

MEAD.


138

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

BLACKCOCK. On one my Shoots at Moulton St. Mary, Acle, Norfolk, two pairs of Blackcock had settled on some Sedge Marshes where they are still to be seen and obviously intend to breed. I first disturbed them during December, 1961. I have kindred shooting ground at Martlesham, Suffolk, where woodcock abound. I have seen no blackcock on this ground and am inclined to think they have not reached Suffolk. It was not long ago that blackcock were not found outside Scotland and it is interesting to note they have reached as far as Norfolk. The Royal Forestry Society does not look upon them very kindly for reasons of damage to young trees but I had not the heart to kill them, although conscience may compel me to do so if I find them more numerous next season. R. N. CREASY, Eye.

YELLOW-NECKED M I C E . For a number of years I have seen many Yellow-necked mice, as distinct from the Long-tailed Field Mouse, in the locality of my address. Both species are annually attracted to my garden houses where they have lived separately on any garden produce stored within. I have always considered them friendly and delightful creatures with much cleaner habits than the House Mouse and without the penetrating smell. It is only recently, as a result of the great quantity of food they eat (garden produce such as nuts, peas, beans, etc.), that I have taken steps to destroy them. It is interesting to record that this winter I had stored a large quantity of firewood and, in one corner of the building, about one cwt. of shallots. Three weeks ago it was found that all these, apart from three or four lbs., had been eaten by what I have since discovered to be a pair of Yellownecked mice the nest of which was vesterday discovered in the pile of wood. T h e nest was an exceptional work of art and more astoundingly creative than usual. T h e material consisted entirely of molar-ground shallot tops and scrapings from the bark and fungus of the sawn wood. T h e nest was the usual globular shape and not less than three inches in diameter. The middle, in which the young had been reared, had been hollowed and lined with the most delicate wood-moss which must have taken hours of searching and collection apart from the time in using it as a material. Such industry and ability might well put to shame the more grotesque actions of man. I certainly feit some shame that I had been responsible for the demise of these queenly creatures. R.

N.

CREASY,

Eye.

A RARE GRASS (Calamagrostis stricta). This is a new record for Suffolk. Dr. S. M . Walters with Mr. Mark Rutterford were the first to find the grass in Turf Fen, Lakenheath ; subsequently the grass was also seen by Mr. J. E. Louslev who added his own confirmation to the original identification.


NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

139

The first intimation of this exciting news came to me from Mr. Swann of the Norfolk and Norwich N.H.S., who was personally interested in the grass because hitherto a spot in West Norfolk had been the sole recorded site for it in eastern England. We were able to obtain confirmation about the Turf Fen record via Mr. Bendix, who is a personal friend of Mr. J. E. Lousley.

D A P H N E MEZEREUM. On an earlier visit to that part of Suffolk Mr. J. E. Lousley had given Mr. Bendix a site for what is probably the only wild specimen still at large in Suffolk. Mr. Bendix subsequently visited the spot and was able to confirm that there were three plants still flourishing. This attractive little shrub with its pinky-mauve flowers out before the leaves in February or March and its scarlet berries later has, but for this one spot, been entirely transplanted to cottage and other gardens where everyone is familiar with it. Daphne Laureola (Spurge Laurel) with greenish flowers and black berries has been allowed to remain wild in many parts of the County.

FRIENDLY RIVALRY with Norfolk proceeds happily. Mr. Swann passed on his record of Epilobium lanceolatum which he was delighted to find for the first time in Norfolk as he thought, only to find later that he was on Suffolk soil. T h e n he asked if any of our recorders could help him and I regretfully handed over Mr. A. L. Bull, one of our niost diligent and knowledgeable botanists who had lately settled in Norfolk. On the other hand, one of their good botanists, Miss Forrest, has done quite a lot for us on our side of the Waveney. But do please take note any botanists who visit those border parishes that there is still a lot to be done there. On the Norfolk side records for a 10 km. Square run up to 600 while in our part of the same Square we have only 100 up to 200.

M R . M A R K RUTTERFORD has added two more species N E W to Suffolk during last year ; Silene muscipula, a casual from the Mediterranean region and Centaurea diluta, a North African Knapweed reaching this country with bird seed and described by Sir Edward Salisbury in his book " Weeds and Aliens", page 285. Mr. Lousley knew it instantly ; he had met it before.

T H E PALMATE N E W T , Triturus helveticus. Lt.-Col. R . H . R . Taylor who has just finished compiling all the data on reptiles and amphibians throughout the British Isles is rather worried about records of Triturus helveticus that four of our recorders sent him.


140

NOTES AND

OBSERVATIONS

This does not appear to exist in most of East of England and the Midlands. It was stated to have been found in 1933 at Burgh Castle but nowhere eise apparently. These recorders are trying to get specimens to verify their identification, but as Col. Taylor says, it is possible that a pocket does exist in East Suffolk where the Palmate Newt is found ; perhaps others who did not take part in the survey will look for it. I will send a detailed description to anyone Willing to undertake this. A N E W PUBLICATION we now get by Exchange is a bi-monthly journal or magazine from Roumania, N A T U R A . Although the text is in Roumanian there is a summary of each article in English and good illustration teils the rest. JANET C .

N.

WILLIS.


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