Looking at mites and
ladybirds among gorse twigs at the beginning of June I saw an organism which
was completely new to me and there were no familiar features which might give a
clue to its identity. It was tightly adpressed to a spine on the new growth,
about 2.5mm long and with a firm, flexible, moist texture (Photograph). In
profile, its smooth domed shape was broken only by a small projection at one end
and it was an elongated oval in plan view. Altogether four such organisms were seen
and when flipped over their underside was moist and smooth with no legs or suckers.
One had a depression in which there were about nine small, 6-legged animals,
presumably the young which scurried about in the heat of the lamp. What were
they?,
Michael Kirby,
The Studio, Blythburgh
Road, Westleton, Saxmundham, IP17 3AS.
E-mail:
e_j_m_kirby@btinternet.com)
Whilst botanising in Corton Woods north of Lowestoft on 5th June
2003 I was exploring the edge of the newly restored pond. When reaching out onto the surface to confirm that Egeria densa Large flowered water- thyme was present (which it was) I saw that there were one or two male Red-eyed Damselflies Erythromma najas resting on the flowers of this plant. As I moved away onto the higher ground I could see that there were at least ten males present. I could not locate any females
or any other species of Odonata for that matter. I assume when the pond was
stocked with some water plants that the larvae came with them. Suffolk
Dragonflies, Mendel 1992, states they are quick to colonise new ponds etc. So
perhaps now that the pond size has been increased it is to their liking. Red-eyed
Damselflies were also recorded at Kirkley Fen in Lowestoft in 2001/2002 after the
water board restored this water body.
Colin A Jacobs ,
During the week beginning 2nd June 2003, Lowestoft was
visited by a fair number of Painted Lady Butterflies Cynthia cardui. The
main body of butterflies was centred beside the Links Road car park where up to
twenty were feeding on nectar from on Slender Thistle Carduus tenuiflorus.
Further south on the North Denes net drying area only ten were present on
Sea Radish Raphanus raphanistrum ssp maritimus. along with up to twelve
Small Whites Pieris rapae. As the week
progressed the Painted Lady numbers did not increase but the area did produce a
few Red Admirals Vanessa Atlanta, and Silver Y moths Autographa
gamma. Painted Ladies were recorded inland especially at Flixton Marsh Lane in the Lothingland district of Lowestoft where less than five were seen nectaring on various flowering plants in set aside. On my allotment at Kessingland, Painted Ladies were present numbering five or six during the afternoon of 7th June. No nectaring was observed this time. It is hoped to search the Slender Thistles at the site mentioned for eggs in mid June.
Colin A Jacobs,
I was very surprised to find
a dead great crested newt juvenile (total length 85mm) stashed behind the
headlight of our car. The car had been parked in the same place for a few weeks
in December 2002 and much to our dismay a brown rat had nibbled quite
extensively through the wiring on two occasions. With the newt we found bits of
vegetable taken from a compost heap about 50 metres away and an apple put out
for birds. This must have been a dry winter larder for the rat in what was a
very wet period when our clay land became fully waterlogged. The newt was dried
out and had not been severely chewed but had clear marks on its head (eye and
jaw) where it had been bitten. I am not sure if the rat killed the newt but it
had clearly been considered as food. People often refer to the damage that rats
can do to amphibian and reptile populations but there is not much published evidence
other than rats killing common toads. This chance encounter suggests that it
may be true that rats kill great crested newts, which, like toads have
protective secretions in glands in their skins.
Tom Langton Dews Farm,
Man orchids, Aceras anthropophorum,
were found on a hay meadow in mid Suffolk on 9 June, by participants on an English Nature led training course. According to course participant Jonny Stone, who was the first
to see the flowering spikes, this increases the known number of man orchids in Suffolk by 25%.
Nick Sibbett,
Internet-enabled members may be interested in joining the Suffolk Natural History Mailing list. This mailing list was started in June 2002 for the free and open discussion of all branches of Suffolk natural history. The site is specifically focussed on sharing sightings of birds, mammals, insects, plants, fungi, molluscs etc, but any Suffolk-related discussion is fair game. The list has been brightened up by photographs ranging from a grass snake at Wolves Wood to common crane at Eastbridge, and from the
Red-veined Darters at Minsmere to the Caeruleopunctata aberration of
Small Copper at Mayday Farm. Membership is open to anyone and everyone
and the more the merrier! You can subscribe to the list – titled:
“suffolknh”,
- via Yahoo Groups at “http://groups.yahoo.com”. If you have difficulties or
questions I will be more than happy to assist -
E-mail me at jeff@higgott.info
Jeff
Higgott, 42 Valleyview Drive, Rushmere St. Andrew, Suffolk IP4 5UW,
Over the past 5 years I have been photographing the butterflies and moths recorded in the UK and these are now available as a web page at http://www.ukleps.co.uk. The site includes photographs of 850 or so of the British species at rest and this total is increasing all the time. Of the total, over 720 of the species photographed are represented by individuals recorded in our Rushmere St. Andrew garden, so it definitely has a Suffolk flavour!
Jeff Higgott
42 Valleyview Drive, Rushmere St. Andrew, Suffolk IP4 5UW,
Another exciting liverwortDuring its Spring Field meeting this year the British Bryological Society visited Fen Covert, near Walberswick. Mark Lawley, a member from Shropshire, discovered the liverwort Cryptothallus mirabilis beneath
some sphagnum in a boggy area amongst birch trees. This is a remarkable
liverwort because it lives beneath sphagnum moss; it has no chlorophyll and is
thought to be parasitic on the fungal element in the thallus. It produces sporophytes
as in other liverworts and the capsules are pushed up through the sphagnum so
that the spores are released into the air. It was found in NW Norfolk in 1967
but there has been no other record nearer than Bedfordshire.
Richard Fisk,
During a visit to Thelnetham Fen as part of the British Bryological Society’s spring meeting, a quantity of frogspawn was found on the branch of a large sallow, some two metres above the ground. There were some humorous exchanges about tree frogs in Suffolk before Bob Ellis suggested that this was the result of a spawning frog being taken by a heron. A suggestion with which we all concurred.
Richard Fisk,
© 2003 Suffolk Naturalists' Society