The Fauna of an Ipswich Meadow

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TRAN SACTION S. THE FAUNA OF AN IPSWICH MEADOW. BY

EDWARD CHARLES

GREEN.

i.—BIRDS.

AT the western end of the Stoke District of Ipswich, south of the River Gipping, lies an area (shown in the accompanying Map), which has hitherto escaped the builder. From the tableland separating the Stour and Orwell estuaries, descent to the Gipping is made by a series of short and steep spurs and re-entrants of glacial origin. And upon the north-western slope of such a spur lies the two-acre Meadow containing Queenscliff Cottage and commanding an extensive view Over the lower Gipping Valley. This spur runs north and south, dropping from 145 feet at the Cottage to 80 above O.D. at the Meadow's northern apex ; its axis cuts the line of the Gipping at a point 600 yards north-west of Ipswich railwaystation bridge over that river. Sand and other glacial deposits extend down to the 90 feet level, overlying Red Crag, London Clay and Reading beds, which pass at about datum level into the basic Chalk of E. Anglia. Where the Crag rests upon Clay, most of the re-entrants contain moisture ; but in only a few cases does this amount to a stream. T h e number and diversity of Bird-life here, within a mile of Ipswich's centre and merely five hundred yards from its Station, must be due to the physical features of the immediate vicinity and proximity of a ' hinterland ' of woods, park and arable immediately to the south. Roads are few, and such houses as exist large, Standing in well-timbered gardens, alternating with copses ; so that the whole provides excellent cover for resident Birds and happy hunting ground for numerous stragglers from the southern parkland and woods. Former residents planted too many Conifers which, however, are offset by their attraction for particular kinds of Birds. This Queenscliff Meadow, excluding actual heathland and riverside, offers a miniature replica of almost every type of Bird Territory existant in E. Anglia. A small and rectangular spinney of Oak, wild Cherry and Birch with undergrowth of Eider, occupies part of the next westward spur, of which the Cottage overlooks the tree-tops, essential reconnaissance-points for Nuthatch, Woodpecker and Jay, exploration ground for Willow-warbler, Titmice and Goldcrest, leafy cover for the Blackcap. A densely overgrown hedgerow, nesting-place of Red-backed Shrike, consisting mainly of Hawthorn with interspersed Oaks, occupies the trough of the re-entrant; and, rising from this to the ridge's crown, grows such a tangle of Bramble, Oak and Broom as few


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THE FAUNA OF AN IPSWICH MEADOW.

mcadows can hoast. Some long-dead Optimist planted a tenuous spinney of Conifers and Birch upon the ridge's wind-swept crown, where depth of the hungry soil rarcly exceeds a half-foot : the Birches, all sloping eastwards, have matured but the surviving Conifers are stunted. Only dwarf Broom, short Grasses and Moss take kindly to the subprecipitous upper slopes of the meadow, which lie bare and open to the sky. Such description conveys little of the place's natural beauty. In early morning, when the rising sun comes slanting through the Pines, across the mist-filled and Rabbit-haunted Valley, casting the ridge's shadow on the tops of Oaks, Man and his works with the entire town beneath, fade to obscurity : one forgets the multitudes yet in gloom, and is satisfied to absorb such benignity the while it lingers. . . . Ornithologists prefer data to rhapsodies : the following details of Bird-life here represent the last seven years' observations. Of Dr. Ticehurst's 290 Suffolk Birds, fifty-six are resident, visitors, or visible in flight from the Meadow ; wild Duck and Waders, seen passing over and not positively identified, have been rigorously excluded. T h e list contains no rarities ; but, in view of the Meadow's proximity to a busv town and especially the railwavcentre, it could be considered sufficiently fßll. Residents, Visitors, and species merely seen in Flight are simply initialed. Figures indicate the number of pairs estimated as annually nesting within a hundred yards of the Meadow.—Blackbird R 3-4. Bullfinch R 1-2 ; oftener heard than seen ; pairs, or families, pass through. Chaffinch R 3-4 ; breeds on Meadow and in Pine-belt running east. Chiffchaff V ; does not normally frequent the Meadow ; first seen 26 June 1945. Cuckoo V ; much commonest 1945 ; one in Hedge Sparrows' nest June 1943. Spotted Fly catcher, Summer R 2 ; nests in two adjacent gardens ; seen rising 150-200 ft. pursuing a Butterfly. Goldcrest V ; small party regularly visits a Larch-tree, seeming to follow a set route at definite times in suitable weather. Goldfinch V ; small parties visit seeding Groundsel, Thistles and the plants in herbaceous border. Greetifi?ich R 1-2 ; feeds on lawn ; seen with young, but oftener heard than seen ; nest unlocated. Black-headed Gull F ; passes up country in early morning, seawards at even-tide. Common Gull F ; hundreds reside about Gipping and railway from late summer to spring ; hard weather compels them to descend on lawn for food. Hedge Sparrow R 2. Ileron F ; often observed Aying singlv along river-valley. Jackdaw R 1-2 ; frequents local hen-runs ; nests among roofs of adjacent houses, colony of ten in 1941, now fewer. Jay V ; seen and heard almost every day of year ; partial to Oaks and the taller Conifers. Kestrel V ; frequently hunts over Meadow and down spinney-side ; often mobbed by Sparrows and Chaffinches. Lapzving F ; breeds in open country a halfmile away. Linnet R 2 ; frequents Meadow, nesting in Bramblethickets. Meadow Pipit V ; often flushed from Meadow's short


THE FAUNA OF AN IPSWICH MEADOW.

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grass. Mistle Thrush V ; not at all common. Niglitingale, summer V 3 ; during 1945 only two nests in Bramble-thicket. Nuthatch V ; often heard about trees ; sometimcs, in MarchApril, Visits Bird-table. Little Ozcl F ; a pair observed 28 August 1945 hawking Flies as do Snipe, looking like large Bats tili glasscs focussed on them. Tawny Owl R 1. Partridge V ; small coveys in winter and early spring. Pheasant V ; not infrequent in winter. Robin R 5-6. Redstart V ; on 1940 autumn passage. Rook F ; mainly individuals from Rookery at Stoke Hill. Sand Martin, summer R 5-8 ; nest in adjaccnt sand-pit; perpetually Aying over Oak-spinney during summer. Sheld-duck V ; pair visited Meadow in springs of 1942-3, probably to nest, but left within a few days. Red-backedShrikc, summer V 1 ; regularly breeds in old hedgerow ; has many observation-posts near Cottage garden. Sky Lark F ; both seen and heard to the west of us, but does not breed in the Meadow. Common Snipe R ; all eftorts to discover the nest of a pair, constantly hawking over Meadow in April-May 1945, were fruitless, though there is little doubt that they bred in swamp below Oak-spinney. Song Thrush R 4. House Sparrow R 7-10 ; ubiquitous, but only just the commonest Bird here. Tree Sparrow V ; observed upon various occasions, but local breeding uncertain. Swallow F ; perpetually over Meadow during summer, but no adjacent nest. Whooper Swan F ; frequent, probably from Christchurch Park in north Ipswich or River Orwell. Swift F ; hawks Flies at a greater altitude than Swallow throughout summer. Starling R 4 ; nests in r o o f ; a flock of many thousands noted on 26 August 1945, performing aerial acrobatics. Blue Tit R 3-4 ; nests in roof. Colc Tit I< 1 ; nests in Pine-beltrunningeastfrom Cottage. Great Tit R 1 ; seen here with young, but nest unlocated. Marsh Tit V ; observed among the Birches here in 1944. Lungtailed Tit V ; small parties frequently pass through the garden and down Birch-spinney, but no evidence of nesting. Treecrecper R ; often noticed on Birch-trunks ; nests are probably adjacent. Turtle Dore, summer R 2 ; as many as twelve counted on wire-netting of hen-run ; nests in adjacent Conifers. Blackcap Warbier, summer R 2 ; nests amid Ăźense undergrowth in corner of Oak-spinney, and forages in Meadow but avoids garden. Willow Warbier, summer R 2-3 ; often with Tits on Larch-tree, also low bushes, small trees and scrub. Greater Whitethroat, summer R 1 -2 ; keeps shyly to Brambles and hedgerow. Greater Woodpecker R ; first heard drumming, in tall trees of sand-pit spinney, March and early April 1945 ; thenceforward often heard and seen in Birchspinney ; between 10-26 June hen visited Bird-table, where great holes were pecked in a half-loaf there placed. Lesser Woodpecker ^ ; one, on rotten trunk of fallen Birch, in 1939. Green Woodpecker R ; frequently observed both in trees and on Meadow. W ood Pigeon R 1-2 ; breeds in adjacent Conifers ; winter flocks in Oak-spinney ; ventures into garden during early morning. Wren R 2-3. Yellow Hammer R 1.



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THE FAUNA OF A N IPSWICH

MEADOW.

ii.—BATRACHIA.

T h e Frog, Rana temporaria, L., and the Toad, Bufo vulgaris, Laur., are our only Reptiles ; I have never yet found evidence of the presence of Lizards or Snakes. iii.—MAMMALIA.

Our wild Animals are of few species, and restricted to those one would reasonably expect to find in such environment :—The Common Bat, Vesperugo pipistrellus, Sch., occurs as a matter of course. The Hedgehog, Erinaceus Europaus, L., is in evidence throughout summer. Molehills of Talpa Europaa, L. and the Common Shrew, Sorcx araneus, L., both abound on the Meadow ; and the Rabbit, Lepus cuniculus, L., is ubiquitous. A small colony of Red Squirrels, Sciurus vulgaris, Brk., inhabits the copses and timbered gardens ; it moves from Burlington House through a thin belt of Corsican Pines to the garden-fence and Scots Pines of QueensclifT, and continues a 500-yards' arboreal journey to the grounds of Stonecroft ; in early spring, during presumed food shortage, they sometimes visit the Bird-table. House Mice, Mus musculus, L. and Brown Rats. M. Norvegicus, Brk., are not in unduc numbers ; and Weasels, Mustela nivalis, L., occasionally show themselves.

SUFFOLK SWALLOW-TAILS IN 1945. CONTINENTAL eruptions seem the superficial causes of phenomenal numbers of various Insects' presence all round the south, southwest and south-east coasts of Britain this year : e.g. Long-tailed Blues and Striped Hawks at Dorchester, Bath Whites in Cornwall, Greek Hoverer Flies at Bournemouth and Bristol, Convolvulus and Hummingbird Hawks, Common Whites, Red Admirals, Painted Ladies and Swallow-tailed Butterflies in our own County. Extraneous odd specimens of the last have occasionally been noted here before (Trans, iii, 85, &c.) but certainly never, for at least I i centuries or Kirby would have referred to it, hasPapilo Machaon, Linn., come across in such a foule as last summer ; and few folk appreciated the fact, because specimens were generally observed but singlv, as though merelv blown astray. It remains for our Society to collate and analyse the data. I saw a Swallow-tail, for the first time in my life outside a glasscase, on the wing at Felixstow on 15 July last (Mr. Harold E. P. Spencer, Ipswich Museum ; 25th). Dr. Garnett saw one Aying along Leiston High-street on 15th (Revd. Henry Waller). A single specimen Aying over farm-buildings at Weybread (E. Daily Press, 20th). One at Rushmere golf-course near Ipswich on 17th (Miss Perks, 74 Brunswich-road, Ipswich). Two at Pakefield about the 18th (Goddard, v.v.). My young friend, Master Raymond John Stannard of 13}, has shown me two Machaon that he netted in a clover tield at Dunnett-farm in Huntingfield on 19 July ; he added,


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