Many of you have already spotted that the species illustrated on the cover of Transactions 40 was not Syrphus ribesii but the common Episyrphus balteatus. My apologies for this mistake, which I really should have spotted; E. balteatus was probably the main component of the hoverfly ‘plague’ in July and August of 2004. Many of this attractive group are quite easy to record (see Alan Hubbard’s piece on Volucella TSNS 40) and there is an excellent illustrated guide by Stubbs & Falk (2002). Although some 120 species have been recorded in the last 25 years, we have relatively few records of hoverflies on the SBRC database (see map for coverage post-1980) even a common species like E. balteatus has only got records from 29 tetrads (click here for SBRC page to see the maps).
A much rarer hoverfly was
photographed and identified by new member, Robert Garrod in the 
walled garden
at HolywellsPark, Ipswich in September. The golden hoverfly, Callicera
spinolae features in the national Biodiversity Action Plan and acts as a
‘flagship’ species to help conserve the wildlife that depends upon rot-holes in
trees. It is an endangered species found only in East Anglia and is considered
rare throughout its range in Europe. Apart from records in the 1990s from Thornham Estate
by Graham Rotheray, it had not been recorded in Suffolk since the late 1940s.
The species looks quite similar to a wasp except, as the name implies, it is coated in golden downy hairs. It can be distinguished easily from wasps by the antennae, which are long and black with white tips. Also, as with all true flies, it has only one pair of wings where wasps have two pairs. It is essentially a woodland species and the adults are unusual in having a flight period in early autumn where most other species associated with dead wood fly during the spring. Adults are most easily seen on ivy flowers, one of the few nectar sources available at this time of year. Further details of this find will be included in next year’s Transactions.
In White Admiral 59 (Autumn 2004) Centerparcs was congratulated for employing environmental management methods that are encouraging a very diverse bee and wasp fauna. I would like to echo this praise, but point out that, quite refreshingly, it is what Centerparcs has not done that is most important!
Through my previous discussions with Steven Falk about this site I believe that one of the most important areas at the Thetford site is actually the car park. What Centerparcs has not done is try to create a manicured "lush-green-lawn-with-lollipop-trees" landscaping. Rather, the scraped up banks of soil that were engineered when creating the car parking areas have been left to develop more naturally, providing small areas of bare ground, flower-rich drought-stressed ground and ideal nesting and foraging habitat for a host of scarce species.
Such an attitude could be embodied in many projects aiming to promote "sustainable development" i.e. a development that attempts to live in some sort of harmony with the natural environment that was already present, rather than trying to impose an artificial landscape over the top.
P.S. Also, an erratum - on page 33 in the Herbalist's view of horse chestnut, the article refers to sweet chestnut as "Castanea vesca". As far as I know, it has always been and remains "Castanea sativa".
After reading Colin Hawes’ article on white admirals returning to Bentley
Woods,
I thought that members would be interested in a record from the almost
adjoining Spinney and Wherstead Woods. I saw one, on the border of these
two woods at TM133401, on 6th
July 2003, shortly after thinking to
myself that the large amount of honeysuckle would make it
a suitable site. I’m not sure if there has been some confusion over grid
references and this is the record
referred to as being from TM1240.
I was unable to check again for white admirals in 2003 but I did fail to see
the species on two visits during their flight period in 2004, however, the
weather was not ideal during these visits.
During the first three
weeks of January, during the mild spell, the following observations were made
in the Lowestoft District.
In Gunton Wood red
campion Silene dioica was in flower.
At Kessingland feverfew Tanacetum
parthenium and Alexanders Smynium olusatrum were flowering. Visiting
these flowers were yellow dung-flies Scathophaga stercoraria.
The velvet shank fungus Flammulina
velutipes is particularly scarce this year.
Rooks have been at nests in
Somerleyton since 16th December.
Song thrushes have been in
song since 9th January.
After the recent gale I found a bird’s nest under our big apple tree, blown down by the force of the wind. I suspect it may have been that of a goldfinch, as earlier in the year I saw two collecting spider’s web and flying with it to the top of the same tree. The nest was very carefully woven from fine grass and twigs, then a layer of hair, (I had a net of hair combings hung up in a tree, and many birds come and pull it out for their nests during the summer). The final layer was a beautiful soft white felt.
I called our neighbour to show it to her little boy, and said that I didn’t know what the lovely white lining was. She suddenly said, “ I know what it is! In the spring I had my white mohair jumper on the washing line, and when I brought it in, I was puzzled because it looked as if someone had been plucking a lot of the fluff off”.
So our birds knew a good thing - and had very expensive tastes!
© 2005 Suffolk Naturalists' Society
used by kind permision.