Notes and Observations 12 Part 3

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS ( T a l p a europaea, L.). T h e other day I noticed at m y front door a mole hill which, unlike the other mole hills in evidence on the same piece of ground, was bright orange in colour and had a fair amount of shale-like stones mixed up with the earth. W h a t interested me particularly was the fact that the heap itself did not appear to contain any surface or substratum soil. I therefore most carefully d u g down until I arrived at a lot of soil, bright orange in colour with stones in it, and by this time I was already down to 3 ' ; eventually at a depth of 3 ' 5" I came to a mole run, r u n n i n g diagonally and horizontally f r o m N o r t h to South. T h e r u n itself was perfectly constructed and was about 1 Y in diameter. F r o m the surface to a depth of 1' there were no less than six or seven mole runs, b u t f r o m 1' to 3 ' 5" there were no other mole runs in evidence.

D E E P GALLERIES OF M O L E

I was most intrigued to know why it was that the mole in question had made a run at a depth of 3 ' 5" in such unlikely soil, since the rather heavy orange sand and stone mixture m u s t present considerable constructional problems and, moreover, would seem to b e in an unsuitable Situation for feeding purposes.

M . BENDIX, Bealings.

BADGERS (Meies meles, L.) AT S I B T O N .

Early in 1962 sorae badgers dug a n u m b e r of holes in an overgrown gravel pit here.

In S e p t e m b e r one of these was still occupied.

A . P . F . HAMILTON,

Sibton.

FERAL F A L L O W D E E R (Dama dama, L . ) AT G L E M H A M .

In the late S u m m e r of 1962 about five or six Fallow Deer appeared in one of the woods on this farm. T h e y were seen fairly regularly in that and neighbouring woods but have so far done little or no damage to crops.

H. G . BARRETT, Street Farm, G t . G l e m h a m .

N A T T E R E R ' S BAT (Myotis nattereri, KĂźhl.) AT SAXMUNDHAM. M r . E. D. O r f o r d found a wounded $ bat in his garden at Saxm u n d h a m in September, 1962. It had obviously been shot : its wings were perforated and it had a w o u n d in the ehest. Efforts to feed it failed and it died the next day.

ROGER CLARKE,

S a x m u n d h a m M o d e r n School.

A cat brought a freshly killed <J bat into the Bell Hotel in S a x m u n d h a m in October, 1962.

ROBERT BRUCE, S a x m u n d h a m M o d e r n School.

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NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

Both the above were subsequently identified as Natterer's bats.

H.

V.

LOVETT,

Saxmundham Modern School.

L O N G EARED BATS (Plecotus auritus, L . ) AT THEBERTON. In July, 1962, I heard reports of a number of bats in the roof of a house at East Bridge, Theberton. I visited the house in July and September, 1962, and the owners told me of two previous occasions when bats were seen in the house. T h e known occurrences of long eared bats in this house are set out below :â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

August, 1957. rafters.

Workmen removed 34 Long-eared bats from the

August, 1961. Plumbers installing a cistern saw Clusters of bats in the roof but did not disturb them.

July, 1962. An evening examination produced three bats Aying in the roof ; a number were seen behind the lining.

September, 1962. A morning examination showed no signs of bats, save droppings on the floor below the roosts. All the bats seemed to have gone.

H.

V.

LOVETT,

Saxmundham Modern School.

LATE SWALLOW-TAIL LARVAE. In most years there is a small second emergence of Swallow-tail butterflies (Papilio machaon, L.), at the beginning of August ; and on 17th August my wife, daughter and I visited a favourite spot, near Stalham, on the Norfolk Broads, thinking that we might see a few Swallow-tails Aying, or find a few eggs laid on the milk-parsley. No butterflies, however, were seen ; but, to our surprise, we found four larvae ; three fully grown and one in its penultimate instar. This is another result of this year's (1962) very late Start to the spring.

Although we did not visit the Broads then, there is no doubt that the emergence of the spring breed was much later than usual.

S.

BEAUFOY.

PLAGUE OF CRANE-FLIES. Large numbers of crane-flies (Tipulidae) have been seen in various districts this autumn.

Our Honorary Secretary, Miss J. C. N . Willis, reports a plague at Holly Road, Ipswich. It is not known where the larvae of these had developed ; the turf of the neighbouring playing-field of Ipswich School certainly shows no sign of its having been their home. It is to be hoped that the adult females will not lay their eggs therein, so spoiling this perfect piece of grass for next summer.

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NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

A suggestion has been made that this prevalence of crane-flies this autumn may be due to the equally marked scarcity of wasps.

This is an interesting possibility, but there is no direct evidence to support the theory.

S.

BEAUFOY.

ALDER M O T H (Acronycta alni, Linn) AT WALDRINGFIELD. My grandson Alfred Waller has been away and has had few opportunities of using his mercury-vapour light, this last summer. In July, 1962, however, he had it going for a few nights and with very disappointing results, with one exception, a beautiful specimen of the Alder moth, which seems to be rare in this county and elsewhere. South, in his " Moths of the ' British ' Isles " says " Anyone who may obtain even a single example in a season may congratulate himself on a good find." Bloomfield in his Lepidoptera of Suffolk, 1890, calls " alni " rare and gives a few places where it has been captured in the county. Morley in the " Memoir " (1937) speaks of this species as rarer than in 1890.

There may be further records since 1937 and I may have overlooked them. I may add Alder is not essentially the food plant, though the name suggests it. Apparently it has been found feeding on a variety of trees, but I believe it may still be called a " good find ".

CANON A . P .

WALLER.

(Catocala Fraxini, L.) : A PROBABLE 16th September, 1962, while Walking near the Grove at Felixstowe, I saw a large moth Aying strongly along the edge of the wood. As it approached I thought it looked like a Red Underwing and then as it passed me there was no sign of the red but I saw what appeared to be the blue grey band of the Clifden Nonpareil (Catocala Fraxini, L.). There was no chance of getting close to it again as it was off at speed. I am familiar with the other species with which I might have confused itâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the Old Lady, but I am sure it was not thatâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;too grey all Over.

I realise that this is a very fleeting Observation ; but I thought I would let you have it for the record.

T H E CLIFDEN NONPAREIL VISITOR TO SUFFOLK. On

Not a lot of butterflies here this year, a few Painted Ladies, very few Small Tortoiseshells, a few Red Admirals and one Comma.

No Clouded Yellows seen.

F. J.

FRENCH.

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NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

PALE EGGAR IN SUFFOLK. Our visit to Suffolk this September, 1962, coincided with an overpowering harvest-moon which allowed us to stalk hares over the stubble but which reduced captures of moths at light. Almost the only insect present at blended light one clear evening was a fine Trichiura crataegi, L., a moth that I had never before seen in Suffolk. Reference to the 1937 Catalogue shows several previous occurrences but none more recent than 1918. Perhaps it is commonplace to some East Anglian collectors but previously I had taken it only in Aberdeenshire.

Our stay at Harmony Hall in the village of Weston, south of Beccles, was delightful in many ways but, apart from the above capture, unremarkable entomologically. 5th September produced about 50 commoners but it was pleasing to see T h e Dusky Sallow Eremobia ochroleuca, Esp., an insect that I had seen the previous week at Shepherd's Lane, Stowmarket, where I once found it commonly in the 1940's.

The Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui, L.), has obviously had a good Wanderlust this season, for it was as common about Harmony Hall in September as it had beeil in Kent and Surrey in June and July. I was very pleased to take a specimen of the Rosy Marbled (Hapalotis venustula, HĂźbn.), among bracken on Holmbury Hill on 14th July. I caught little eise of interest but trained bands were active on my behalf in the North. T h e ornithological section of the Common-Room at Alleyn's School by careful staff-work brought back a few Scotch Argus (Erebia aethiops, Esp.), a female from Birchwood, Craigellachie, and males from pasture by Rothiemurchus Forest. Barry Banson described the way these insects made the most of sudden snatches of sunlight. At 3,000 ft. in a corrie on Cairngorm itself he captured a fine specimen of Psodos coracina, Esp., T h e Black Mountain Moth.

ALASDAIR

ASTON.

GREAT OAIC TREE. Across the Valley from Harmony Hall, but hidden from view, lies the village of Ellough with its quiet churchyard and fascinating church that contains mention of John Leman.

Opposite the larger of the cemetery gates and on the other side of the road runs a drive to the site of a former farm and just beyond the site and to the left, almost hidden by the corner of a copse, stand two forest forefather oaks, the nearer of which measured this August at five feet from the ground a circumference of no less than 20 feet lOi inches. This must be almost the largest oak in Suffolk, as the only record of a larger one that I can find is in a note by Claude Morley who measured one in Heveningham marshes at 21 feet. Significantly enough, the roots of the Ellough Oak are also fed by water, a pond Standing not far away.

ALASDAIR

ASTON.

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NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

OUR GEOLOGIST at large, Mr. Spencer, has been visiting Cheshire and in a bank of the River Bollin at Styal was shown the Triassic formationsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the New Red Sandstone with marl which Covers Cheshire, part of Lancashire and all the western Midlands. Fossils, floral and faunal, are very rare in these series which were laid dow in arid and salt-pan conditions. The only traces found in Cheshire are a few footprints of an early Saurian (Lizard) at Storeton in Wirrai, except for a single wing of an early insect found at Styal.

Mr. Spencer looked along under a jutting ledge and saw a small dark patch which proved to be an insect's wing and said, " Behold, here is the other wing for you ".

Not much ? But it is 160 million years older than Mr. Spencer's usualfindsof Elphas primigenius and other great mammals, of a time when only the most primitive mammals, marsupials, existed and no true birds or true flies.

J. C. N. WILLIS.