REPORTS ON MEETINGS

Containing this issue: 
 
MEMBERS’ EVENING 1 MARCH 2006 by Paul Lee
LINEAGE WOOD 7 JUNE 2006 by Rob Parker

MEMBERS’ EVENING 1 MARCH 2006

The 2006 Spring Members’ Evening was held at the Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s (SWT) Lackford Lakes education centre on Wednesday 1st March. Forecasts of snow and ice and the opportunity to watch the England versus Uruguay football match on the television did not deter thirty-two members and friends from driving to the meeting from all across Suffolk and Essex. As last year it was good to see new faces in addition to old friends.

Martin Sanford opened the series of ten-minute presentations with a preview of a forthcoming article on oxlips written for the SWT magazine. He explained how to recognise our county flower and in particular how to distinguish it from primrose, cowslip and the various hybrids. Distribution maps suggested the species, which is now almost confined to ancient woodland in East Anglia, might be declining still and he requested members’ help in checking for its presence in sites from which it has not been recorded in the last ten years.

Tony Prichard talked about two moth larvae that feed in teasel heads and can be found by searching old seed heads in the spring. Endotheria gentianaeana is a black and white micro moth with larvae that feed and overwinter in the central cavity of the teasel head before pupating and emerging the following summer. Cochylis roseana is a pinkish coloured micro moth with larvae that feed on the teasel seeds. The larvae produce a characteristic spiral bore through the seeds as they feed. Tony also displayed photographs of both species for closer examination by members. Rob Parker spoke on the value of butterfly records supplied by the BTO from the Garden Bird Watch survey. Butterfly conservation recording in 2004 had produced 49% coverage of tetrads in Suffolk giving a species density of 8.5 species of butterfly per tetrad. In 2005 a lower level of coverage had been achieved but the species density was increased to 9.4. When the BTO records were included coverage increased by 50 tetrads and species density went up to 9.9. Rob also displayed a range of literature from Butterfly Conservation.

Arthur Rivett gave members a virtual tour of the key bat hibernation sites he surveys in West Suffolk. He explained the need for stable temperatures and high humidity in these sites and illustrated a range of icehouses, chalk tunnels and constructed sites he visits. He appealed for information from members on other potential sites and was particularly keen to have details of an icehouse that was believed to have existed in Livermere Park.

Peter Payne provided an upbeat conservation note describing the recovery of shepherd’s needle Scandix pecten-veneris populations in the last ten years following its decline to near extinction through the second half of the last century. The decline was attributed to the use of non-selective herbicidal sprays. These have recently been replaced by more specific herbicides but the cessation of stubble burning and an increased market for straw were also considered important factors in the recovery of the plant.

Barry Ruggles presented pictures of a brown fungus he had discovered in a hedgerow near his home which overnight had turned white. Geoff Heathcote suggested it was a parasitic species of fungus that had caused the change and Martin Sanford suggested a powdery mildew was involved. Barry then showed pictures of a female Holly Blue apparently robbing nectar from the base of a runner bean flower in a similar manner to a bumblebee. It was suggested this would only be possible if a bee had already chewed through the base of the flower but Rob Parker also explained that the butterfly could be searching for a suitable egg laying site or investigating a damaged area of the stem below the flower, both of which activities involve probing with the tongue.

The final presentation by Paul Lee described the different species of pill bugs, both millipedes and woodlice, occurring in Suffolk. He explained how to distinguish the species and requested records from members’ gardens. A display gave details of the known distribution of the two most common species and live animals were available for members to see although no one seemed keen to test their supposed antacid properties!

Adrian Knowles exhibited specimens of a digger wasp new to Britain found in Lakenheath. Members were also invited to take a copy of the paper describing the discovery. All members are encouraged to bring along their exhibits to future Members’ Evenings. It is not necessary to have discovered something rare, it just needs to be something that would interest other members. You do not even need to know exactly what it is you have. As Barry Ruggles did, why not take the opportunity to find out if someone else knows anything about your mystery item.

Following the formal presentations there was plenty of opportunity to chat with friends old and new on topics of mutual interest. This was made all the more pleasurable by the refreshments served by the SWT volunteers who did a great job turning out on such a cold evening to make sure the event was a success.

Paul Lee

Return to top of page

Lineage Wood 7 June 2006

Lineage Wood, close to Lavenham comprises 65 hectares of ancient woodland with calcareous grassland, most of it a site of special scientific interest. The joint Butterfly Conservation/Suffolk Naturalists’ Society field meeting on 7th June 2006 drew 20 participants, under a wonderfully bright sky. Our guide was Simon Leatherdale, the Forest Officer responsible for a large area of Suffolk and Essex.

Managed by the Forestry Commission under a lease from the Melford Estate, with an area of riparian wet woodland, the wood has a good assemblage of flora and fauna including Roman snails and glow-worms. Over recent years, a major programme of felling conifers has been completed, and the future of Lineage is deciduous. This change of thinking by the Forestry Commission, with a swing from commercial timber production and a new emphasis on conservation, has given forest officers greater freedom to manage for diversity. These changes made this an interesting time to view the wood and consider its future. The wide variety of deciduous trees now has space to fill out, and natural regeneration will be encouraged.

One area, which had been cleared fifteen years ago, is now flourishing as calcareous grassland, and this provided an unexpected treat for the botanists amongst the group. The expected common spotted orchids were present in good numbers (despite the deer), as were the twayblades, but we also found a cluster of large butterfly orchids, one of which was in full bloom. An adjacent area had been clearfelled more recently and was nicely re-establishing its ground flora of bird’s-foot trefoil, wild strawberry and - the star of the show – the fly orchid. We found half a dozen spikes of this diminutive rarity in flower.

One discovery of interest was that the curiously pallid but tall creeping thistles are the result of a gall forming fungus. Puccinia punctiformis is the fungus, which triggers abnormal growth in infected thistles, so that they stand higher than the surrounding thistles at the moment that the fungus is ready to release its spores. Whilst most of us had noticed the white-topped thistles, which seem rather common this year, few of us knew the true cause.

We learned that grass management is a problem anywhere that conifer stumps are present, as forage harvesters can tackle only relatively level ground. Although Corsican pine decays reasonably well, the stumps of Lawson Cypress are extremely long-lived. In the year after felling, there is a need to suppress regenerating seedlings, but conifer seed lasts only one season, so it ceases to be a problem thereafter. Two clumps of pine have been left standing to preserve badger setts amongst the roots.

The Chad Brook forms the southern extremity of the wood, and the area subject to periodic flooding has a character of its own. The riverbed supports fresh water mussels and pea mussels, and is archaeologically interesting, as it periodically throws up fossilised bones. The surrounding riparian woodland, including alder carr, is managed by “planned neglect”. An open area of reed bed and wet grassland provides the right habitat for a strong population of grass snakes, and black poplar grows at the water’s edge.

The butterflies on the wing in early June were unexciting (nine species in total) but the improving condition of the woodland provides food for thought about the future. There is quite a lot of elm, including the hybrid named for the wood - Lineage elm, but also wych elm and maturing suckers in places that look right for Whiteletter hairstreak. Searches will be made to discover whether that species is present, though it was not found when Richard Stewart checked the Purple hairstreaks in 1996. There is not much honeysuckle at present, though the White Admiral has reached Markshall wood, just 16 miles away in Essex, and nearby Spelthorn wood has honeysuckle in plenty. The clearance of the conifers has opened plenty of good clearings, and the extra light will foster more nectar-rich wildflowers. The open ground outside the wood along the line of the disused railway supports Common blue and Small heath, both of which ought to find their way into the SSSI before long.

Rob Parker

Return to top of page