White Admiral Newsletter 97
Summer 2017
Suffolk Naturalists’ Society
Contents Editorial
Ben Heather
Great British Beach Clean
1 2
It’s Choke(d) Jim, but not as we know it
Neil Mahler
2
Ali North
4
David Falk
6
Colin Hawes
8
Caroline Markham
10
Gary Lowe
12
Juliet Hawkins
14
Pete Case
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Looking for the hedgehogs of Ipswich Recording Wildlife at Brandon Country Park
Two surprise stag beetle records 2017 Fissures in the Coralline Crag at Rockhall Wood SSSI, Sutton Wild Villages Mouse traps - some observations from the Tudor barn in Milden Monitoring Tubular Waterdropwort and Greater Water parsnip in East Anglia Butterflies In Christchurch Park, Ipswich Book Review - “Britain’s Spiders”
Richard Stewart
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Alan Thornhill
18
John Baker
19
Triumph for Tassel stonewort
Juliet Hawkins
21
The Enchanting Bee Orchid
Rasik Bhadresa
23
Nick Mason
25
Richard Fisk
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Yellowbelly Terrapin/Slider
Red-veined Darter invasion, May 2017 A welcome immigrant ISSN 0959-8537
Published by the Suffolk Naturalists’ Society c/o Ipswich Museum, High Street, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 3QH Registered Charity No. 206084 © Suffolk Naturalists’ Society
Cover Photo: Eristalis intricarius - Ben Heather
Suffolk The
Naturalists’ Society
Newsletter 97 - Summer 2017 Welcome to this, slightly late, Summer issue of the White Admiral newsletter. Special thanks, as always, must go to all those who have contributed to this issue and thanks to them we have articles covering subjects from Tassel stonewort to Fissures in Coralline Crag. This Summer has flown by and in some respects I am still waiting for Summer to happen. A Bioblitz event I set up at Brandon Country Park on the 8th August, for work (SBIS), summed this up. Specially planned at a time of year where we would normally expect perfect conditions for butterflies, bees, wasps and flies, we ended up dodging showers and struggling to reach 20 degrees celsius. However, we all still had a good time and recorded over 300 different species on the day (the day after was heavy rain all day). I think it is easy to forget that we did have some hot sunny periods but most of this weather came earlier in the season. It will be interesting to find out how species numbers and distributions are changing on the back of, ever increasing, unsettled summers. Also, this Summer has seen me delve into the world of solitary bees when I attended a week long course at Flatford Mill (Field Study Council (FSC)) under the tutorage of Ian Cheeseborough and Bex Cartwright. I have been on several FSC courses in the past and this one lived up to my high expectations and beyond. The course had the perfect blend of class and field work and the differing levels of experience amongst the students was well met and supported by the tutors. I would thoroughly recommend it if the course runs again next year! Editor: Ben Heather Suffolk Biodiversity Information Service, c/o Ipswich Museum, High Street, Ipswich, IP1 3QH ben.heather@suffolk.gov.uk White Admiral 97
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Great British Beach Clean The Marine Conservation Society Great British Beach Clean 2017 is on the 15th – 18th September. If you would like to take part, either as a Volunteer joining an existing team, or as the Organiser of a new team, please go to: www.mcsuk.org/beachwatch/ events/gbbc.
For more general information, please go to, www.mcsuk.org/ beachwatch/ or for information about what is happening in Suffolk, please go to: www.suffolkcoastandheaths.org/ volunteering/volunteering-learnmore/beachwatch/.
It’s Choke(d) Jim, but not as we know it Despite having several laboratory standard microscopes and a room full of the necessary fungal reference books, plus many years field experience, I am loath to call myself a ‘mycologist’, which I feel should be reserved only for those with the brain power to remember all the complexities that make up the fungal Kingdom. Just type the word ‘Epichloë ’ into the Wikipedia search engine and you will see what I mean.
Epichloë
is
the g e nus o f Ascomycete fungi, collectively known as Choke disease, which affects grasses and sedges. As the name suggests, Choke strangles the tiller, thus preventing flowering, but it doesn’t kill the plant - the complete opposite in fact for it increases vigour. Strains of grass infected by certain 2
species of Epichloë have long been used for the production of turf because all the effort is put into vegetative reproduction - the same effect as regularly mowing the grass and preventing it going to seed. The fungus also produces alkaloids which deter grazing by animals. But Choke is best known for the devastation it can cause and apparently, it was not known in the USA until it was introduced from Europe by infected seed in 1996 and was not known in China until September 2007. The Ellis’s only recorded Epichloë typhina in their book on Suffolk fungi because at the time, no DNA work had been done, but now there are at least 6 species known to occur in the UK and as long as you know your grass species, you White Admiral 97
have no need to examine the fungus under the microscope. Last May, I was sent some photos by SNS member, Marilyn Abdula who lives in an extremely remote h o u se i n F e l i x s t o w e w i t h magnificent views overlooking the mouth of the Deben estuary. Seems there had been no time to cut the grass and this had allowed flowering to take place and Choke to develop on some of the stems thus preventing inflorescences developing further. Marilyn already had experience with surveying grasses when she used to live in Norfolk so when she spotted the white early stage of Choke, all she had to do was identify the grass and look up what species of Epichloë it was, as they are all host specific. Marilyn even spotted the single egg belonging to the Botanophila fly which is laid upon the white infected part - the
larva feeds on the fungal asexual spores and will later will fly off to ‘cross-pollinate’ other fungi of the same species. The
grass
was
identified
as
Festuca rubra which in turn meant the fungus was E. festucae and therefore by default - a new record for Suffolk and only the 10th record for the UK. Following on from this, Marilyn was able to also identify E. clarkii growing on Holcus lanatus - another new record for Suffolk. Are members going to allow Marilyn to make a clean sweep of all the Epichloë species in Suffolk or will you find this a good excuse not to cut the lawn and to get down on your hands and knees and start searching for the tell-tell signs of Choke?
Neil Mahler
Photo captions: Left: Epichloë festucae infecting Festuca rubra , Felixstowe. This is the early white anomorph stage taken in May 2017. Right: Unknown species of Epichloë infecting unknown species of grass showing the mature sexual stage. Taken at Sotterly Estate 28 June 2007 when all Epichloë species were still tentatively lumped together as E.typhina.
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Looking for the hedgehogs of Ipswich; droppings, footprints and cameras! Can you help us monitor the hedgehogs of Ipswich? There are lots of ways to determine whether hedgehogs are present in your garden, allotment, playing field or other green space. Knowing where hedgehogs are is incredibly useful for our conservation work, so the more records we have, the better. The easiest way to detect hedgehog presence is by looking out for their droppings. Hedgehog droppings are around the size of the top of your little finger, dark, and full of bits of shiny insect casings and seeds. If you find these on your lawn or patio, you are lucky enough to have a visiting hedgehog! There are other ways to monitor hedgehogs too, and for the past few months I have been busy training groups and individuals to use our hedgehog footprint tunnels. Fo o tp rin t tun ne ls ar e the standardized way of measuring hedgehog presence as they are easy, cheap and quick to use. They are made of corrugated plastic and contain ink pads and a bowl of food to tempt hedgehogs (and often many other species) into the tunnel, leaving behind their footprints for us to identify. 4
Sidegate Primary school have been one of the schools to get involved, borrowing three of our tunnels to see what wildlife has been using their grounds. They were very excited to find that after just one night of laying the tunnels, one contained small mammal footprints (mice or vole), and one had hedgehog footprints! After leaving the tunnels out for several days, their student wildlife ambassadors found that all three tunnels contained hedgehog footprints.
Trail cameras are another great way of detecting hedgehogs. We have recently been running a hedgehog population study in North West Ipswich for Nottingham Trent University. Part of this project involved tracking, marking and recapturing hedgehogs (under license), followed by the installation of wildlife cameras in 120 gardens, to validate a method for estimating hedgehog population density, called a Random Encounter Model. We recorded some fantastic footage of hedgehogs and other wildlife, including courting hedgehogs, hedgehogs happily
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Monitoring hedgehogs
eating food next to cats and even some bouncing foxes. If you would like to help monitor hedgehogs in your Ipswich garden or green spaces, please get in touch. We have footprint tunnels and trail cameras that can be borrowed for no cost. Get in touch with Hedgehog Officer Ali North for more information: hedgehogs@suffolkwildlifetrust.org.
For more information about helping hedgehogs, how to get a
Surveying for Hedgehogs
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Hedgehog Highway plaque for your fence hole and how to become an Ipswich hedgehog champion, please head to our website, here: http://www.suffolkwildlifetrust.org/ hedgehogs-action If you have seen hedgehogs or hedgehog droppings, please submit your sightings to our online map, here: http://hedgehogs.ispywildlife.org/.
Ali North
A Hedgehog Highway
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Recording Wildlife at Brandon Country Park
Firecrest
Brandon Country Park are keen to hear from volunteers interested in conducting wildlife surveys. The Park consists of 35 acres of landscaped lawns, a small lake, arboretum, mixed woodland and a historic walled garden, all set within the wide expanse of Thetford Forest. Amongst the variety of wildlife seen at the park there are several species which have European protection including Soprano pipistrelle (with a maternity roost in the visitor centre roof), Barbastelle Bat (hibernation record in the Mausoleum), and Noctule Bat. Great Crested Newts (also a European protected species) have occurred on the site and Smooth Newts have been recorded
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in the Walled Garden. There are records of over 30 Species of Moth and Butterfly including the Lunar Yellow underwing moth and the Grayling and White -letter Hairstreak butterflies. Survey records reveal that the site has a significant quantity and quality of fungi with 745 species recorded, including a nationally rare Earth Star. The Park is home to up to 10 pairs of Firecrests, up to 20 Mandarin ducks frequent the lake and Muntjac Deer and Grey Squirrels are very frequently seen. The arboretum contains a number of Giant and Coastal Redwoods, a Monkey Puzzle Tree, Cedars and a Grand Fir reputed to be the tallest tree in East Anglia.
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The wider forest is the Breckland Forest SSSI, a component of Breckland Special Protection Area (SPA), a European designated site for woodlark and nightjar, that also attracts Goshawks, Sparrowhawks, Buzzards and Red Kites. Previous surveys have been conducted at BioBlitz events (2015 and 2016) and past ad-hoc recording. The park staff are keen to refresh records and are looking for
volunteers interested in helping out with this project. As a thank you, you will receive a complimentary lunch and free hot drinks throughout the day. If you are interested please contact David Falk, Manager Brandon Country Park, on: david.falk@suffolk.gov.uk.
David Falk
Pale Tussock Caterpillar
An update - Brandon Country Park Bioblitz 2017 On the 8th August 2017 the Suffolk Biodiversity Information Service (SBIS) held a bioblitz at Brandon Country Park.
of the day and had experts representing: Birds, Bats, Flies, Bees, Wasps, Plants, Spiders and Fungi.
Despite being a rather chilly day, for the middle of summer, we were lucky to escape the rain (for much
So far, over 300 species have been recorded from that day!
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Two surprise stag beetle records 2017 On April 3rd, 2017, ten stag beetle larvae were accidentally revealed underneath a rotting tree stump when it was being removed by Michael Wall at his garden in Lowestoft. Knowing that the larvae should be conserved, Michael carefully replaced the stump over the larvae and filled in any gaps around the stump with fresh soil.
year or the year after, on adult stag beetles emerging in Michael’s garden.
This is only the second report for the presence of this species in Lowestoft, the first being that recorded by Claude Morley in his Coleoptera of Suffolk published in 1899, where he states “sparingly at Lowestoft, Bedwell”. I hope that Michael’s discovery is just the beginning of more records being received from Lowestoft, and that I will be able to report, perhaps next 8
A surprise finding by Kathryn Meader of a male stag beetle in her garden at Saxmundham on 14 June, 2017, and her photograph of this find were reported to Lesley Walduck, who passed the information on to me. This sighting, as far as we know, is the first reported presence of this species in Saxmundham (see photo). Assuming that the beetle had not been transported to this location, as has happened elsewhere, we are now searching for evidence of female beetles in White Admiral 97
At first sight it seems unlikely that stag beetles w o uld be fo und at L o w e s t o f t a n d Saxmundham. However, examination of the map
Soils of Eastern England
this region of Saxmundham to confirm the possibility of a breeding population.
(1983) reveals soil types at these two locations to be of glaciofluvial drift, and glaciofluvial/aeolian drift respectively. These soils, like loams, have very good drainage and are known habitats for stag beetles elsewhere in Suffolk (Hawes, 2000).
Colin Hawes
References: Hawes, C. J. (2000). The stag beetle Lucanus cervus L. (Coleoptera: Lucanidae) – a hypothesis for its distribution in Suffolk. Transactions of the Suffolk Naturalists’ Society 36: 65-70, Plate 8. Morley, C. (1899). Coleoptera of Suffolk. J.H. Keys. Plymouth. Soils of Eastern England: scale 1:250,000. Soil Survey of England and Wales, Rothamsted Experimental Station. Based on Ordnance Survey Routemaster mapping, sheets 6 & 9, revised to 1980. Legend compiled and edited by D. Mackney, J. M. Hodgson, J. M. Hollis and S. J. Staines.
Contributions to White Admiral Deadlines for copy are: 1st Feb (Spring issue), 1st June (Summer issue) and 1st Oct (Autumn issue) The opinions expressed in White Admiral are not necessarily those of the Editor or of the Suffolk Naturalists ’ Society.
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Fissures in the Coralline Crag at Rockhall Wood SSSI, Sutton The Coralline Crag is unique to Suffolk with the major outcrop lying between Thorpeness and Orford. It is an unconsolidated sandy limestone of Pliocene age (about 4 million years old), the top few metres having been subjected to post-depositional induration by calcite. This is known locally as the ‘Rock Bed’ and has been used for building stone in the past. Nearvertical fissures are commonly seen in exposures of Coralline Crag and the faces at Rockhall Wood are no exception. There are eight in the
Fissure in the northeast face at Rockhall Wood SSSI
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northwest face which is known as the Quarry because much of the exposure is ‘Rock Bed’ which has been used in local buildings. The northern faces are capped by ‘Rock Bed’ with less indurated shelly Coralline Crag beneath - the northeast face has 3 fissures and the north face has two. The fissures in Suffolk’s Crags are welldocumented by P Balson and B Humphreys*, but they make no reference to Rockhall Wood (a southern outlier from the main mass of Coralline Crag) so I thought it would be interesting to record their nature at this locality.
Alignment of the fissures, according to Balson and Humphreys is orthogonal trending ENE-WSW and SSE-NNW. Thus the quarry face at Sutton intersects the SSE-NNW set of fissures and similarly the northeast face intersects the ENE-WSW set of fissures. The two fissures in the north face run back at a steep angle and a compass inserted in the one with no infill showed a bearing of 330o – very close to NNW. The other void fissure trending back into a face was at the far south end of the quarry – a compass inserted here showed a bearing of 250o, i.e. WSW. White Admiral 97
Diagrammatic representation of Rockhall Wood SSSI Northern and Quarry Faces
The spacing of the fissures at Sutton is very variable as would be expected given the geometry of their orientation and intersection. It ranges from 3.3m to 40m with an average spacing of 13.8m in the quarry and 9.0m in the northeast face. None of them show any vertical displacement – this is rarely seen in fissures in the Suffolk Crags, though the author has seen some small displacements in Red Crag at the Great Pit at Newbourne. The fissures at Rockhall Wood are all nearvertical, extending from the top of the face into the talus at the base. They have a width ranging from 2 – 10cm although five have been enlarged at the top, in some cases up to 2m wide, presumably by solution. White Admiral 97
Of the thirteen fissures, five are void, five are infilled with crag or soil and three contain micritic calcite. This last is suggested by Balson and Humphreys to be a relatively recent addition, having vestiges of fungal hyphae and plant roots. The crag infills are worthy of further investigation and samples were taken from the three fissures where this was possible – two in the north east face and one in the quarry face. All three showed similar results** with very fine-grained calcareous sand in the top where they intersect the ‘Rock Bed’ and also lower down where they traverse the shelly Coralline Crag, but the lower samples included calcite and aragonite shell fragments. These last are significant as aragonitic 11
shells do not occur in the ‘Rock Bed’ and so it would seem the fissures here are infilled with material from the deposits immediately adjacent to them, albeit in a finely comminuted form. In the lower section of the fissure in the Quarry face there was an identifiable part of a Clamys shell along with three porous calcareous tube-like structures about 1cm in diameter, i.e. it appears to be less ‘mashed up’ than the northeast face infills.
These results concur with those of Balson and Humphreys who suggest that the orthogonal geometry with little or no displacement points to a single episode of tectonic flexing. The infill analysis gives little clue to the timing of this event, although it probably happened post-Red Crag (c2.7 million years) because the similarity in the fissure systems suggest a single origin.
Caroline Markham
References: * P S Balson & B Humphreys, The nature and origin of fissures in the East Anglian Coralline and Red Crags. Journal of Quaternary Science 1986 **I am grateful to my husband Bob Markham for his help analysing the fissure infill samples.
Wild Villages A year of wildlife in Bawdsey, Alderton, Hollesley and Boyton It seems that news on the wildlife front is often depressing – species at risk of extinction and even common species disappearing. Luckily, areas such as the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB still remain rich in special wildlife - for the time being at least! If the area is to remain exceptional, it’s important
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that local communities understand the value of what can be found around them, and that wildlife is not just in nature reserves but can be found in their gardens, around their villages, and in schools and open spaces. Community charity Groundwork Suffolk has been awarded a grant from the
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Suffolk Secrets AONB Fund for the Wild Villages project. We are working to raise awareness and increase the understanding of the local natural environment in four coastal communities - Bawdsey, Alderton, Hollesley and Boyton – and encourage the community to protect and enhance their local natural environment. We are working with well over thirty organisations and local individuals that have an interest in the wildlife of the area. Together with the RSPB, we’ve had a couple of successful events on the local reserves, and we have had a wellattended Cherishing Churchyards event in Hollesley with the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. As coastal parishes, the sea plays an important part here and we have also organised a beach-combing event with Beach
Bonkers. There will be more later in the year. We’ve produced a leaflet, which not only lists events but also gives suggestions for how to encourage wildlife in gardens and what to look out for in the area (such as Ant Lions and Turtle Doves). As would be expected, we have an online presence: (www.groundwork.org.uk/wild villages and www.facebook.com/ wildvillages/). I am keen to keep the Facebook page relevant, so if anyone finds anything of interest in the area, can they let me know, and if anyone wants to help, get in touch! For further details contact Gary Lowe at Groundwork: gary.lowe@groundwork.org.uk, or 07736 132871.
Above Images - Clockwise from Left: Large Spotty -eyed Dronefly face, Swallowtail moth, beachcomb & Boyton Shark ’s teeth
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Mouse traps - some observations from the Tudor barn in Milden People who live in old houses will know just how often mice appear in strange places – we have them scampering in our attic and sometimes appearing through a little hole in the wall next to a water pipe, where the bread bin lives. Our Tudor barn is exposed to the elements through cracks in the roof, small holes where the brickwork meets the roof and other places typical of such an ancient building. We have self-catering guests who stay in the barn all year – they sometimes mention the bats that fly around and the orange wings of various yellow underwing moths on the banquet tables beneath the wagon wheel lights are evidence that they are quite correct! I think it’s fair to say bats up in the barn rafters above you while you sleep are a bonus in addition to witnessing the barn owl hunting on the nearby meadow. However, for paying guests we think it is definitely unacceptable to have them waking up in the night with a mouse scuttling around on their pillow! So my farmer husband Christopher puts out about four mouse traps when guests are not in the barn over the winter months (and we have to be careful to remove them before guests appear for the weekend!). 14
In autumn 2015 Christopher claimed there was a ‘mouse epidemic’ which I felt to be rather an over-reaction to the handful of yellow-necked mice (Apodemus flavicollis) he caught – and which he then put out in the garden for some other creature to recycle. So, last autumn (2016) I asked Christopher to let me record all ‘mice’ caught in the traps – not very scientific, but it proved quite interesting. Nothing was caught until 20th November 2016 when there was a brief flurry of sprung traps: two yellow-necked mice on 20th, one yellow-necked mouse on 21st, two field voles (Microtus
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agrestis) on 22nd and one pigmy shrew (Sorex minutus) on 24th. Thereafter there was an average of one yellow-necked mouse until Christmas, a second pigmy shrew and one wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus). And only one yellownecked mouse since the New Year. Definitely not an epidemic year. Given the frequency of yellownecked mice entering the barn in 2015 and even the mini-rush in November in 2016, I assumed they must like the warmth and shelter of the barn, but their sudden appearance in the barn did not coincide with particularly cold weather. Simone Bullion explains that the yellow-necked mouse is a woodland specialist and that an
explanation for them entering houses in the colder months may in fact relate “to dispersing animals
investigating new habitats when densities peak in the autumn ” (Bullion, Mammals of Suffolk 2009) – and they appear to be widespread in Suffolk but with most records in the south. The wood mouse is apparently more widespread and common in Suffolk and may be a nuisance in rural houses (Bullion, 2009) – certainly it was in the minority of one here. I had assumed, wrongly until close investigation, that the first shrew that was trapped was just a very small common shrew ( Sorex araneus). In fact, the relative length of the tail proportional to its body length (a relatively simple identification operation with a dead specimen) confirmed it to be a pygmy shrew. Simone Bullion explains that the pygmy shrew is a good climber and that spiders, harvestman, beetles and woodlice are its most important prey (Bullion, 2009) – the barn is certainly accessible to a good climbing shrew and once in, there is the reward of plenty of spiders in winter! I shall continue my observations in the winter of 2017/18.
Juliet Hawkins
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Monitoring Tubular Water -dropwort and Greater Water parsnip in East Anglia
Freshwater Habitats Trust is a national organisation dedicated to protecting all freshwater life; our largest current project, the Heritage Lottery funded, ‘People Ponds and Water’ has been running since 2015 and is connecting many thousands of people across England and Wales with freshwater wildlife. We are helping volunteers to take an active part in protecting freshwater for the future by gathering meaningful data that will make a real difference to how we understand and protect species and habitats. PondNet is a sub project of People Ponds and Water; a volunteer monitoring network putting in place regular standardised checks for both common and rare freshwater species. As we continue 16
to roll out the project in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, our priority this summer is to set up monitoring and checks for target wetland plants; Tubular Water-dropwort Oenanthe fistulosa and Greater Waterparsnip Sium latifolium. Both are Priority Species for conservation in England and Wales. Tubular Water-dropwort was once common throughout England and Wales and although it is still widely distributed, significant losses have occurred acro ss its range, particularly since the 1950s, associated with lack of grazing and the intensification of agriculture. G re ater Wate r -parsnip has declined rapidly over the last 200 years, mostly due to the drainage of wetlands and loss of suitably managed habitats. It is classified White Admiral 97
as scarce in the UK, due to its still widespread but declining range. Understanding these declines, and updating records on where these rare species still occur is vital, this r e qu i re s t he co l le ct i o n o f standardised, comparable data. We are attempting to revisit as many sites as possible where the species has previously been recorded, working with national recording schemes and Local Environmental Records Centres (e.g. CPERC/ NBIS/SBIS), who have kindly provided records of these species, they are also helping to promote the project to the recording community. The PondNet methodology for recording Tubular Water-dropwort and Greater Water-parsnip has been designed to record these species where they occur within pond habitats. On ponds, we want to assess the population of these plants by recording abundance (approx. count of individual plants), population strength (whether the species occurs in surrounding ponds), and document habitat conditions and water chemistry within the pond area. In addition to the pond-based monitoring, and to account for the fact that both species occur widely in non-pond wetland habitats, this
year, we are broadening this survey to include fens, ditches and other wetland sites where these plants grow – this is particularly relevant for East Anglia where records for both species are rarely from typical ponds! A simplified recording form has been made available so volunteers can simply record presence of either species if they encounter them in habitats which are not ponds. At these nonpond sites we are interested in presence/absence only. For both surveys, the species record, habitat information, grid reference and photos are being requested to allow us to generate maps with the 2017 distribution. The survey was running in July and August but if you have seen either species recently, please drop me an email with a grid reference and preferably a photo or follow the link below. Further details of the survey can be found on the PondNet TWD + GWP 2017 survey page here: http://freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/ projects/pondnet/twd-gwp-2017/ and I can be contacted via the following email address : pcase@freshwaterhabitats.org.uk.
Pete Case
Images - Left to right: Greater Water -parsnip, PondNet volunteer Kate Pruden & Tubular Water-dropwort
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Butterflies In Christchurch Park, Ipswich As a follow-up to the review of my book in ‘White Admiral’ can I ask those using the park to send any 2017 records to me, particularly as new nectar sources and plants for egg-laying have been added. I am particularly interested in sightings of the following species:
Common Blue - not recorded by me in 2016 - the best place is the long grass below the tennis courts.
Brown Argus - only two records - best to look in longer grasses from Snow Hill up to the northern edges
Grayling - only one record this is a powerful flier and often explores widely in good breeding years
Brimstone - more buckthorn has been planted in the
orchard and to the north of the park so hopefully records will increase; any of egg-laying will be particularly welcome.
Green Hairstreak - seen just once below the tennis courts but more gorse and broom, particularly along the northern edges, should increase records.
Also, I am hoping that both SilverWashed Fritillary and White Admiral will soon be added to the park’s list of species. The former was recorded in our garden only a few hundred yards from the park and the latter in The Dales in 2016, only about a mile away.
My email is: rgsvalezina@hotmail.co.uk
Richard Stewart
Book Review - “Britain’s Spiders” by Lawrence Bee, Geoff Oxford and Helen Smith Until recently, the only readily available guide to UK spiders has been a Collins handbook. Its detailed line drawings help with identification under the microscope but, despite paintings of some species, it isn’t very suitable for identifying spiders in the field or 18
for anyone starting to develop an interest in them. The new Wildguides book, “Britain’s Spiders” by Lawrence Bee, Geoff Oxford and Helen Smith fills that gap. Its 720 photographs, taken by about 90 people, are excellent and are used mainly, White Admiral 97
though not solely, in the identification section. Not being reliant on just one photographer – a limitation of some natural history guides in the past – meant that the authors had numerous photographs available to them. As well as a photograph, for each species covered in the book there is a distribution map and information on distinguishing features and where and when to find it. However, many species cannot be identified in the field and need to be examined under the microscope. “Britain’s Spiders” indicates for which species this is necessary. The 395 species described represent almost 60% of the UK total, the missing ones being mostly smaller ones for which such a guide would be impractical. Although “Britain’s Spiders” describes itself as a field guide it’s more than that. It covers spider biology and ecology, the types of
silk and webs they produce, and gives advice on studying them. Anyone developing an interest in UK spiders, and arachnology in general, would benefit from buying this book.
Alan Thornhill
Yellowbelly Terrapin/Slider Alain Paine has submitted photographic records of red-eared terrapins from the River Stour in Sudbury for four years. This year his photographs captured something a bit different - a yellowbelly terrapin, another non-
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native species, which like the redeared terrapin originates from the eastern USA (where these terrapins are more commonly called sliders). The yellowbelly terrapin Trachemys scripta scripta is closely related to the red-eared 19
te rrapin Trachemys scripta elegans. Instead of the red ‘ear’ markings of the better known su b- specie s the yellowbe lly terrapin has cream or yellow markings behind the eye and pale vertical markings on the shell. Alan also captured the ‘striped pants’ markings of the hindquarters, which further help to distinguish this form from the redeared terrapin.
successfully in the UK and so have not established reproducing populations. Nevertheless, they are long-lived animals and sightings of red-eared terrapins continue to the present. Since the ban on importation of redeared terrapins, yellowbelly terrapins have become more common in the pet trade as a substitute species, but more recently the EU has included the Trachemys scripta species on a list of invasive alien species of Union concern, restricting the trade of both. Alan’s photographs are the first confirmed record of a yellowbelly terrapin in Suffolk.
John Baker (Amphibian Reptile Recorder for Suffolk)
and
These two non-native reptiles have a similar history of introduction into the wild in Britain, both being imported in the pet trade and released into the wild. Red-eared terrapins are notorious as an invasive non-native species and were banned from import into the EU in 2003. Released terrapins have not been known to breed Images - Top: Fig 1. Yellowbelly terrapin by Alan Paine Bottom: Fig. 2. ‘Striped pants’ of Yellowbelly terrapin by Alain Paine
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Triumph for Tassel stonewort a new Important Stonewort Area
Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s (SWT) Grove Farm Nature Reserve, now part of the recently enlarged Black Bourne Valley Nature Reserve, covers 220 acres in Norton. Between 2012 & 2014 a Suffolk Naturalists’ Society bursary funded equipment that enabled Black Bourne U3A volunteers to help survey ponds and arable flora. To g e the r, w e re co rd e d an enormous number of species from different taxonomic groups, and demonstrated what a concentrated recording effort can achieve. Back in 2011, I excitedly reported, to the Suffolk Wildlife Trust, that I had possibly found Tolypella intricata Tassel stonewort in a White Admiral 97
restored pond on the reserve. This is an Endangered Red Data Book species which has only been recorded in Suffolk in one ditch in Mickfield in 2014 & 1998 (previously found there in 1960s by Francis Simpson) and another site in c1860 in Bury St Edmunds. Elsewhere in the UK, it occurs in only a handful of sites in Gloucestershire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Somerset, Worcestershire and, lastly, Oxfordshire where the Flagship Pond Project (part of the Freshwater Habitats Trust) is currently undertaking a translocation project. In 2011, I had found clumps of the mystery stonewort (see round 21
picture page below) but, until I got home with a fragment, had not realised the possible significance of it and had not taken good photos. I was not overly confident of my identification; due to my lack of stonewort experience (they do need a microscope!); the scarcity of the species; it is not competitive and there appeared to be quite a lot of
other pond vegetation; and the fact that it occurs in shallow water, ditches and semi-permanent puddles that dry up in summer (I had found it in a particularly deep part of a pond with treacherous edges that never dries up!). However, the rotting piece I sent to Tim Pankhurst, at Plantlife, was not sufficient to verify it and on every occasion since when the Black Bourne U3A volunteers, myself or Tim Pankhurst visited, 22
we could not find it again. So, slightly doubting I had ever found it, I accompanied Nick Stewart, the national charophyte (stonewort) referee to the site on 24th May 2017. After much ‘fussocking’ under the water (to coin Nick’s phrase for rummaging around and feeling under the water - (see picture page 21)) Nick found a small fragment of Tassel stonewort (see rectangular picture above) and despite more fussocking, definitely no more! How easy would it have been to have missed it?
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Nick went on to fussock in every pond, in his trousers and walking boots, on the nature reserve and found another Nationally Scarce Tolypella glomerata (Clustered stonewort) in a pond created in 2009, and three other relatively common species in early succession ponds: Chara vulgaris (Common stonewort), Chara virgata (Delicate stonewort) and Chara globularis (Fragile stonewort). The discovery of these stoneworts makes this one of the UK’s “Important Stonewort Areas” (Stewart, N.F. (2004).
Important Stonewort Areas. An assessment of the best areas for stoneworts in the United Kingdom (summary). Plantlife International, Salisbury, UK) and, as such, has implications for how SWT goes forward in managing this large cluster of 20 farm ponds to benefit stoneworts, great crested newts, toads, RDB water beetles and the other 90+ aquatic insect species discovered here.
Juliet Hawkins
Images - Page 21: Nick Stewart fussocking for Tolypella intricata Page 22 circle: suspected Tolypella intricata Page 22 rectangle: Tolypella intricata Tassel stonewort
The Enchanting Bee Orchid In the lovely undulating meadow near where we live, every May we look forward to seeing the life cycle of the, now well established, bee orchids unfurling on the northern stretch of the grassy landscape. Although not so large, their perennial presence is stored intimately in the mind - rosettes of ovate-lanceolate fresh grey-green leaves with parallel veins, a giveaway in spring. But it is in the early summer here that they show their majestic selves scattered about in five or six small colonies. Each plant, from 15-30 cm tall, is a
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loose inflorescence with four or five (occasionally more) curious and eye -catching flowers tempting one to literally crouch down to their level. This is the only way to get a feel for its floral dynamics. It is when you gaze closely at an individual flower, a hand-lens at the ready, that it reveals, carefully moulded by nature’s hand, its intimate detail (photo 1). What first draws the eye is the large, velvety deep brownish -red recurved oval lip which resembles the abdomen of a bee - a landing pad for bees, you may infer. It has 23
attracting passing bees. But herein lies a twist in the tale. In northern climes, the pseudo-copulatory mechanism of cross-pollination for which the bee orchid appears to be adapted is actually not so relevant. It is in the warmer Mediterranean regions and the Near East where there is a greater diversity of bees, that you encounter profound plantbee relationships. Photo 1
pronounced hairy side lobes and distinctive yellow markings, the central one - a collar that looks like a gold necklace. Then there are two lateral rolled-up furry petals which look like short portly antennae. Behind them the three large pink sepals with green veins provide a scenic backdrop while the central column, the top resembling a duck’s head, has pollinaria on the inside surface with their heads of pollinia poised to stick to the head of the itinerant visitor. At least this is what your gut instinct tells you. The sticky surfaces of the stigma leading to the ovary below are hardly visible and to prevent self-fertilisation in-between the pollinia and the stigma is a barrier - the rostellum. At this point, you would be forgiven to think that here was a perfect mechanism for cross-pollination, mimicry possibly with a pheromonal enticement, for 24
In temperate zones, bee orchids have overcome this difficulty by the development of self-pollination. As the flowers mature, the stalks of the pollinia contract in such a way as to cause the upper clubshaped pollen-bearers to curve Photo 2
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However, when it is a matter of survival, Mother Nature’s ingenuity – distinctive methods for different climatic zones - can hardly be doubted. Survival is key. As we rise, we say ‘au revoir’.
Photo 3
forwards in a semi-circle until they dangle over the stigmas directly below (photo 2). At the slightest movement, the pollinia quiver and touch the stigma to which they stick - a platform on which pollen grains germinate to effect selffertilisation (photo 3). It is this process that accounts for the usual morphological irregularities (and others no doubt) of inbreeding often seen in bee orchid populations.
Later on, in the season, the ovaries which morphose into elongate capsules, dehisce along weak vertical lines to expose and thence release the almost microscopic seeds. In their thousands, lacking an endosperm, these flattish ellipsoids ideally suited for wind dispersal blow away like dust particles wafting high up into the sky in warm currents over long distances. If extremely lucky, a few will find a substrate where they may form a partnership with a mycorrhizal basidiomycete that will provide them with the necessary nutrients they need to germinate and to grow into handsome plants. And if we are lucky, we will be there to witness their existence.
Rasik Bhadresa
Image Captions - Photo 1: Ophrys apifera – portrait Photo 2: A dangling pollinium Photo 3: Pollinia effecting self-fertilisation
Red-veined Darter invasion, May 2017 In the very hot weather towards the end of May there must have been a lot of hot air moving over White Admiral 97
the North Sea from the Continent. We had several rare moths on the Bawdsey Peninsula including 25
Blair’s Mocha, Grass Rivulet, Concolorus and Shore Wainscot. It is quite possible that a similar plume of hot air brought the Willow Emerald Damselflies over to coastal Suffolk in 2007, since when they have completely colonised the county and spread to many other neighbouring areas. On 25th May there was an invasion of migrant dragonflies. Red-veined Darters Sympetrum fonscolombii were found at Minsmere in the morning and at H o l le s l e y M a r s h e s i n t h e afternoon. There were about 30 of them at Hollesley alone. On that day only one female was recorded. They remained for some days (two even still being present at Hollesley on 10th June) and were well-photographed, notably by John Richardson and others. Locally to Hollesley they were also found in the days following, at East Lane and Boyton Marshes. There was also a record further north along the Suffolk coast at Benacre. 26
Red-veined Darters are a bit of a nomadic species, an immigrant to Britain, and can turn up in spring or early summer. They are a close relative of the red ones (Common Darters S. striolatum) that you get in your garden and which may perch on your chair or even newspaper in late summer and early autumn.
Red-veined Darters are quite capable in our climate of breeding quickly with a second generation emerging in autumn. It is possible that this may happen this year. A pair was briefly seen in tandem at Hollesley Marshes. Whether they have ever bred in Suffolk has not been confirmed although an immature was seen at Cavenham Pits in 2006 and oviposition was noted at Corton and Gunton in the same year (Mason & Parr, 2006). There is also the possibility that they bred at Minsmere in 2002. Much remains to be learnt about the species’ lifestyle, but as the young that emerge in autumn are White Admiral 97
thought to themselves be migratory, even successful breeding seems unlikely to result in the species permanently colonising our county.
It does however seem to be an increasingly common immigrant.
Nick Mason
References: Mason, N. & Parr, A., 2016. Suffolk Dragonflies – Suffolk Naturalists’ Society. Image Captions - Top left to right: Red-veined Darter flying, red -veined darter female & Red-veined Darter. All Photos by John Richardson
A welcome immigrant The reduction in air pollution, particularly of sulphur dioxide, that has taken place in recent years has enabled epiphytic bryophytes to thrive, not just in volume but also in the number of species to be found. The moss Orthotrichum affine, always a common species, has become particularly abundant and the liverwort Frullania dilatata thought to be extinct in 1989 (Smith 1989) is now common. The t i n y l i v e r w o r t Co l o l ej e un a White Admiral 97
minutissima,
a fairly recent arrival, is now frequent and a number of mosses, once rare in the county, are being seen with increasing frequency, it is a very interesting time to be a bryologist. On the 20th April, this year, I was looking at bryophytes in the Tangham area of Rendlesham forest, Capel St Andrew when I found a moss on the sloping trunk of a sweet chestnut. It was very small, stems about 5mm tall and with rather fat capsules. It was 27
clearly something I had not seen before and even after close examination at home I could not name it. I sent a specimen to Mr T. Blockeel, the British Bryological Society referee for that genus, who named it Orthotrichum patens and this was subsequently confirmed by Prof. F. Lara of the University of Madrid. This is the first record of this species in Britain. It is widespread in Europe, common in parts of Germany and has also been found a number of times in the Netherlands, so it’s occurrence in Britain had been predicted (Bosanquet 2012). There were twenty or more plants on the trunk of the tree where I found it so it is a well-established colony and has obviously been
O rtho trichum patens a t Ta ng ham
there for some time, but I was unable to find it on any adjacent trees although they all supported a variety of both mosses and liverworts. East Anglia is well placed to receive spores from the continent, the moss Pterygynandrum filiforme which I found at Wordwell in 2008 is more likely to have come from the continent rather than the northern part of Britain. In his paper, Bosanquet suggests a number of other mosses found on the continent that could turn up in Britain so what will be next?
Richard Fisk
References: Smith A. C. 1989. Suffolk Mosses and Liverworts. Trans Suffolk Nat. Soc. 25: 6571. Bosanquet S. D. S. 2012. Vagrant epiphytic mosses in England and Wales. Field Bryology. 107: 3-17. 28
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Suffolk Naturalists’ Society Bursaries The Suffolk Naturalists’ Society offers six bursaries, of up to £500 each, annually. Larger projects may be eligible for grants of over £500 – please contact SNS for further information. Activities eligible for funding include: travel and subsistence for field work, visits to scientific institutions, scientific equipment, identification guide books or other items relevant to the study. Morley Bursary - Studies involving insects (or other invertebrates) other than butterflies and moths.
Chipperfield Bursary - Studies involving butterflies or moths. Cranbrook Bursary - Studies involving mammals or birds. Rivis Bursary - Studies of the county's flora. Simpson Bursary - In memory of Francis Simpson. The bursary will be awarded for a botanical study where possible. Nash Bursary - Studies involving beetles. Applications should be set in the context of a research question i.e. a clear statement of what the problem is and how the applicant plans to tackle it.
Criteria:
1. Projects should include a large element of original work and further knowledge of Suffolk’s flora, fauna or geology.
2. A written account of the project is required within 12 months of receipt of a bursary. This should be in a form suitable for publication in one of the Society's journals: Suffolk Natural History, Suffolk Birds or White Admiral.
3. Suffolk Naturalists' Society should be acknowledged in all publicity associated with the project and in any publications emanating from the project. Applications may be made at any time. Please apply to SNS for an application form or visit our website for more details www.sns.org.uk/ pages/bursary.shtml.
Suffolk Biological Recording Bursary. See a list of the supported FSC courses supported here: http://www.sns.org.uk/pages/bursary -f.shtml
The Suffolk Naturalists’ Society, founded in 1929 by Claude Morley (1874 -1951), pioneered the study and recording of the County’s flora, fauna and geology. It is the seed bed from which have grown other important wildlife organisations in Suffolk, such as Suffolk Wildlife Trust (SWT) and Suffolk Ornithologists’ Group (SOG). Recording the natural history of Suffolk is still the Society’s primary objective. Members’ observations go to specialist recorders and then on to the Suffolk Biological Records Centre at Ipswich Museum to provide a basis for detailed distribution maps and subsequent analysis with benefits to environmental protection. Funds held by the Society allow it to offer substantial grants for wildlife studies. Annually, SNS publishes its transactions Suffolk Natural History, containing studies on the County’s wildlife, and the County bird report, Suffolk Birds (compiled by SOG). The newsletter White Admiral, with comment and observations, appears three times a year. SNS organises two members’ evenings a year and a conference every two years. Field meetings are held throughout the year often in conjunction with other specialist organisations. Subscriptions: Individual members £15.00; Family membership £17.00; Student Membership £10.00; Corporate membership £17.00. Members receive the three publications above. Joint membership with the Suffolk Ornithologists’ Group: Individual members £30.00; Family membership £35.00. Joint members receive, in addition to the above, the SOG newsletter The Harrier. As defined by the Constitution of this Society its objectives shall be: 2.1 To study and record the fauna, flora and geology of the County 2.2 To publish a Transactions and Proceedings and a Bird Report. These shall be free to members except those whose annual subscriptions are in arrears contact: 2.3 To liaise with other natural history societies and conservation bodies in the County 2.4 To promote interest in natural history and the activities of the Society. For more details about the Suffolk Naturalists’ Society contact: Hon. Secretary, Suffolk Naturalists’ Society, c/o Ipswich Museum, High Street, Ipswich, IP1 3QH. Telephone 01473 400251 enquiry@sns.org.uk