Our guest speaker for the evening is Jim Foster of 'Froglife' (common species Co-ordinator) who will be giving an illustrated talk on 'Reptiles and Amphibians'. In addition, John Nicholls has once again organised a natural history quiz. Come along and join in. All members are welcome.
'Members Evening' 1999 will celebrate the Society's 70th year. Make a note in your diary now for the first Wednesday in December and book your place early for the celebration dinner (cost approximately £6.50) to be held at the Forte Post House Hotel, Ipswich. Guest speaker to be arranged. Early booking will secure your place (number of seats limited).
Paul Bright of Royal Holloway College, University of London, has recently published the findings of The Victorian Nut Hunt. By using evidence of Dormice - gnawed Hazel nuts, this aimed to determine whether Dormice (Muscardinus avellanarius) still survived at sites they were known to inhabit in the 19th Century. 
Overall evidence of Dormice was found at only 13% of the Victorian sites. The survey also revealed a significant decline of the Dormouse in southern Britain. 'Of Victorian sites south of Norfolk, evidence of Dormice was identified at just 25%' (British Wildlife 9 (6), 385).
Dormice are one of the short-listed species in the national (and local) Biodiversity Action Plan (see p.13) for which the Wildlife Trusts have offered to take responsibility.
In Suffolk, recent, reliable records of Dormice have come from The Stour Valley, the woods to the south west of Ipswich and the Suffolk Wildlife Trust's reserve at Bradfield Woods (see map on the SBRC page)
As Julian Roughton, writing in Suffolk Wildlife (Autumn 1998) explains, 'The first priority for the conservation of these mammals is to find out where they still occur'. To this end the SWT are working alongside the Suffolk Naturalists' society to survey suitable woodlands in order to collect records for SNS's Mammal Atlas.
If you are interested in getting involved please send a SAE to The Dormouse Survey, Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Brooke House, Ashbocking, IP6 9JY.
As mammal habitats become more scarce, gardens play an increasingly important role in supporting mammals. To find out the overall importance of garden habitats to mammals, the Mammal Society and People's Trust for Endangered Species have launched The Garden Mammal Survey. Your garden mammal records are now doubly useful; the SBRC needs them as well to help complete the SNS Mammal Atlas.
If you are interested the Mammal Society will send you a questionnaire together with an information booklet covering habits, food requirements and lifestyles of mammals in gardens. Please send an A5 SAE to James Hargreaves, The Garden Mammal Survey, The Mammal Society, 15 Cloisters House, 8 Battersea Park Road, London SW8 4BG.
An estimated 10,000 stag beetle records have been received at the People's Trust for Endangered species (PTES) where the results of the survey are now being analysed. Of these some 600 are from Suffolk. The survey produced an additional 500 records for Suffolk which were sent either directly to Colin Hawes (CH) or to the Suffolk Biological Records Centre (SBRC): these have been added to the SBRC data base and copies of the records sent to the PTES.
Analysis of the 1998 data received by CH and the SBRC shows: (1) stag beetle recorded in 83 1km squares, (2) stag beetles recorded from nine previously unrecorded Suffolk parishes (Benhall, Burstall, Dennington, Elmsett, Great Wenham, Holton St Mary, Little Bealings, Sibton and Tuddenham St Martin).
Thanks are due to Reg Clarke for painstakingly entering and analysing the data.
CH, the SBRC and the PTES thank all SNS members who contributed to the survey; the response was tremendous.
A full report of Going Places, the Society's 1998 conference on 'Migration' will appear in Transactions 1999. Meanwhile, it can be recorded that those who attended enjoyed a fascinating series of presentations. Additionally, a great deal of interest was shown in the Society's recording activities and publications. Provisional estimates indicate an attendance of 265, sales of publications in excess of £300 and that nine new members joined the Society. One of the latter is Nigel Marven, the first speaker at the Conference and producer of the television series Incredible Journeys which focused on animal migration. Members might like to know that Nigel has kindly donated a signed copy of his book Incredible Journeys to the Society.
Such an occasion requires a great deal of organisation and help from many people. Council thanks all those who contributed to making the Conference such an enjoyable and interesting event.