LETTERS, NOTES AND QUERIES

Ipswich Museum and Crag Mollusca

    I read with pleasure Jeff Martin's report of Ipswich Museum following the 150th anniversary (White Admiral 39, 2 - 5). The Museum also houses most important geological collections. Amongst its material there are Type and Figure Specimens of shells illustrated in the early works on the East Anglian Crags, from the early works of the Paleontographical Society, especially the three volumes of The Crag Mollusca by Searles V. Wood, Snr and Jnr (1848-1892). There is further material from the era in the extensive shell collections. Over the turn of the 19th to 20th century the work was carried on by further amateur geologists, A. Bell and F. W. Hanner, who wrote his supplement to the Woods' work, The Pliocene Mollusca of Great Britain, published by the Paleontographical Society between 1914 and 1925. There are also important collections of fossil Mammalia and other groups.

    There must be many students like myself who spent happy days amongst the collections in the Borough Museum under the guidance of Harold Spencer or Bob Markham, until recently Curator, who still heads the Ipswich Geological Group, now incorporated into the Suffolk Naturalists' Society. The Museum therefore, as your article so clearly points out, is a breeding ground for young naturalists and geologists with a proud history and, we trust, a great future in prospect. The Borough must congratulate itself on possessing such a fine institution containing so much material which is held in trust for the students of the future. H.M. Geological Survey (IGS) is once more turning its interest to the Crags, and with researches such as that on the Swayling Borehole the molluscs of which I am investigating at the moment, the future need for the Museum's collections remains undoubted. I heartily concur with what Jeff Martin has to say in the final two paragraphs of his report.

The Revd Dr Peter Norton,
Appleby-in-Westmorland, Cumbria

Magpies Feeding on Muntjac Corpse

    On Sunday 1st February 1998, whilst travelling to Wroxham, Norfolk along the A1O62 through the village of Horning, I saw two Magpies Pica pica fly away from a large mammal corpse lying in a winter wheat field, three metres from the road edge. On stopping the car to investigate, I was amazed to see that the Magpies were feeding on a dead Muntjac Muntiacus muntiak. The deer was lying on its right side and the Magpies had eaten right through the left side, exposing the deer's rib cage. The deer was obviously a road casualty and had been hit as it ran across the highway, either dying before it had gone far or perhaps, having been killed outright, it was dragged off the road by the driver concerned. I somehow think it was the former as the deer was not badly damaged, indicating that it may have been hit a glancing blow and then died of shock. The corpse was fresh, there was no evidence of decomposition. Although I have seen Magpies feeding on carrion before, I have never seen them feasting on a Muntjac. It reminded me of the vultures at the carcase of an African beast.

Colin A. Jacobs

Not So Shy

    I was peacefully doing the wiping up and looking out of the kitchen window on March 21 st this year when I saw a disturbance in the pond. (The latter is plastic lined, 10' x 6' and 15' from the kitchen door and has sufficiently overgrown banks for people to ask, "Is it real?"). As I watched, a furry creature scurried round the waters edge, under the overhanging vegetation and disappeared.

    I watched hopefully next morning and was rewarded by the sight of what through the binoculars was unmistakably a water vole sitting nibbling grass stalks, only to disappear behind some dead ornamental grass and reappear over a period of about 20 minutes.

    Going outside I observed that a pathway had been made round three sides of the pond, with grass and even a buttercup cut off short (with numerous lengths floating on the surface) under the overhanging top growth: the pond level had also dropped 4 - 5 inches!

    The third day he was there again, this time swimming across the pond and diving but unfortunately 'Billy', our otherwise intelligent feline friend started to take a greater interest and didn't seem to understand 'protected species' - and I saw my unexpected visitor no more.

    There is a drainage ditch running from our garden (TM 093557) half a mile to the River Gipping, past the Alder Carr of Alder Carr Farm and a large natural pond is 150 yards away. Since then on May 20th Billy proudly brought us a large specimen - wedding anniversary gift? - which he then ate; and another lay dead on the lawn on May 3 rd , 8" long with 4" tail.

    I haven't yet located the hole in the pond liner: was he attempting an underwater escape tunnel? Could he cut the plastic, I wonder? - if so this would make him a less welcome visitor!

Nigel Smart

Behaviour of the common wasp (Vespula vulgaris)

    During the afternoon of 14th July 1998, at Holton, near Halesworth, a common wasp Vespula vulgaris was seen to enter a waste food bin and collect a fatty food substance similar in consistency to thick semolina. The wasp used its front legs to gather this substance and mould it into a small ball approximately 2mm in diameter. It then held the 'ball' under its abdomen, in the same way that a dragonfly would carry its prey, and flew off a short distance to a chemical store.

    Restricted access to the site prevented further investigation to see if the wasp had made a nest or was in the process of building one. Was the wasp collecting food for other wasps in a nest, or would the substance have been used to 'glue' a nest together?
I would be grateful if anyone has the answer.

Colin A. Jacobs

Indoor meetings programme - autumn 1998

Moss Taylor - The Mystery of Migration

    Wednesday, 23d September -
County Upper School, Beetons Way, Bury St Edmunds

Bob and Anne Scott - Birdwatching in Bulgaria

    Thursday, 29th October -
Windmill Room, The Forte Posthouse Hotel, Ipswich

Derek Moore - The Wildlife and Antiquities of Jordan

    Thursday, 26th November -
Wolsey Room, The Forte Posthouse Hotel, Ipswich

All meetings start at 7.30 pm

£1.00 for members
£2.00 non-members