Notes and Observations 13 Part 3

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS WATER SHREW (Neomys fodiens).

A water shrew was killed by a cat in a garden in Cransford Street, fairly close to a small pond b u t half a mile or so f r o m the nearest stream.

MRS. E. A .

R I N G E D NOCTULE BAT ( N y c t a l u s noctula)

MONRO.

EATEN BY T A W N Y O W L .

T h e remains of a noctule ringed in Westleton by M r . H . V. Lovett in August, 1961, were found in a tawny owl pellet in the same parish in May, 1965, by Mrs. Houghton. T h e aluminium ring was still around the remains of the bone of the forearm.

H . E. AXELL, Minsmere.

RE-CAPTURE

OF

RINGED

NOCTULE

BAT.

A

female

noctule,

ringed as an adult and pregnant at Great Glemham, 18th June, 1961, was re-captured lactating at Letheringham, 17th July, 1965, \ \ miles away f r o m where it was ringed.

CRANBROOK, G t .

Glemham.

TREE-CLIMBING STOATS (Mustela erminea).

Recent reports in this Journal show that the stoat is at times a skilful climber of trees and walls. Some time ago I watched one in a small spinney of thorn trees some 15 to 20 foot high. T h e spinney was fĂźll of pigeons' nests and the stoat was running about in the branches, examining each nest as it came to it.

Presently it f o u n d one which was evidently occupied, for there was a brief flurry of wings and a young, partly-fledged pigeon feil to the ground. T h e stoat at once came r u n n i n g d o w n the trunk of the tree, seized the pigeon, which was trying to walk away, and dragged it struggling into some bushes. After a few minutes the stoat appeared again, ran u p the tree, h u n t e d about r o u n d the now e m p t y (?) nest, then once again descended and disappeared, presumably to eat its victim.

W . H . PAYN, Härtest.

WEASEL (M. nivalis) AND BLACKBIRDS. O n e day this s u m m e r I heard a great deal of scolding among the small birds in t h e garden but could see nothing to account for their agitation. However, later in the day I heard a perfect crescendo of screams f r o m a pair of blackbirds that had a nest of young in a tall laurel.

O n approaching the spot I was in time to see a weasel spring out of t h e nest and dart down into the undergrowth. Investigation showed that he had slain all b u t one of the young blackbirds.

As I value m y birds more than weasels, I removed the corpses, pegged t h e m d o w n below the nest and set a trap beside them.

But the weasel was too clever for me ; within an hour he had not only removed all the corpses without springing the trap, b u t had climbed back into the nest and carried off the remaining young blackbird

-

W . H . PAYN.

177

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

PARTY OF WEASELS (Mustela nivalis).

At 1 1 a.m. at Rendlesham I saw six weasels crossing the road in line ahead, head so close to tail that they looked like a string of sausages. T h e r e were hedges at the roadside of the very quiet lane, the weasels were only about 15 feet in front of a slow moving car and looked to be in perfect condition.

Miss R. COPINGER H I L L , Saxmundham.

LARGE BADGER ( M . meles).

A boar badger, killed recently by a motor car at Risby, weighed 37 lbs. Its stomach contained a large quantity of well-chewed acorns.

W. RED SQUIRRELS AND GRACIOUS L I V I N G .

Mr.

H.

and Mrs.

PAYN. P.

W.

Burke of Bulmer, near Sudbury, cherish a family of red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris). Fred and Freda and their three offspring live in some cedar trees near the house.

Several times during this past summer Fred has managed to find his way, via a Ventilator, into the house and once spent three days under the refrigerator in the larder, living mainly on raw eggs and sausage rolls. T h e whole squirrel family regularly visits the dustbins, jumping up on to the handles and pushing off the lids with their paws. Their taste in food seems most catholic, ranging from ham and roast chicken scraps to toast, melon rind, fish or anything eise they find in the bin.

Evidently gracious living has spread to the squirrel world.

W.

H.

PAYN.

OCCUPANTS OF N E S T BOXES. Düring 1 9 6 5 one hundred nestboxes erected at Gt. Finborough Park near Stowmarket were occupied by eight species of bird and by mammals.

T h e number of eggs laid by each species of bird, with hatching and rearing results were as follows.

Species 25 boxea occupied by Great tits 16 „ „ „ Blue tits 1 .. ,, „ Marsh tits 16 „ „ „ Starlings 5 ,, „ „ Jackdaws 2 ,, ,, „ Stock doves 3 .. „ House sparrows 11 >• ,, ,, Trce sparrows TOTAL

Eggs laid

Young hatched

Young reared

192 174 7 85 18 4 13 65

126 120

117 114

—

—

35 3

31 1

—

—

558

326

5 37

5 29 297

178 Transactions of the Suffolk Naturalists',

Vol. 13, Part 3

Seventy-nine boxes were occupied by breeding birds, eleven by birds which did not lay (eight tits, one jackdaw, one starling, and one little owl). Five were taken over by mammals (two pairs of red squirrels and three pairs of long-tailed fieldmice) and five boxes remained empty.

T h e rather poor hatching and rearing results were due partly to the disappearance of many starling's eggs, the red squirrel being thought responsible, and partly to the fact that " bumble-bees " took over several of the boxes occupied by great tits, before incubation began.

T h e bees, on entering the boxes, lay their eggs among the nesting material and when the rightful owner returns, set up a great buzzing which causes the bird to desert. It is Strange, incidentally, that only great tits seem to be victimised in this way.

Finally, I suspect that there was a higher-than-usual rate of infertility in the eggs, chiefly among those of blue tit and jackdaw.

One pair of tree sparrows were probably treble-brooded, laying clutches of six, four, and five.

R. J. COPPING, S t o w m a r k e t .

A STRIPED H A W K - M O T H IN SUFFOLK. Mr. S. Beaufoy reports that a female of the Striped Hawk-moth (Celerio livornica, Esp.) was handed to him by Mr. Sainsbury who had found it being chased by a blue tit near Bawdsey on 20th May, 1965. It laid about a dozen eggs which unfortunately all proved infertile. Often when this fine insect migrates to us in the spring, it produces fertile ova and good series have been bred the same summer.

In spite of big immigrations of this species, especially that of 1943, not many records have come from Suffolk and apparently only four up to 1937 in the Memoir by Claude Morley. But in that record year 1943 at least one was netted and four others seen in the County (vide 5 : 107). Four were noted in July, 1946, mcluding two at Lowestoft, and two were taken in Ipswich in September, 1949, one by Mrs. Beaufoy in her house there.

BARON DE WORMS,

Woking.