LETTERS, NOTES AND QUERIES

Containing this month: 
Learner or Play? by Nick Gibbons
Hospitality of the chimney by Juliet Hawkins
White Admiral ‘Limited Edition’ by Wilfrid George
Colourful Jellyfish In River Blyth by Barry Wentworth

Learner or Play?

I have always heard that stoats kill a rabbit with one quick bite at the back of the neck.

Last week I thought I had disturbed a stoat whilst doing a bird atlas square. The stoat shot off but I immediately heard a loud squeal from behind an adjacent gorse. I realised that the stoat had run not because I had disturbed it, but that it was chasing prey, in this case a large rabbit.

Slowly manoeuvring round the gorse bush I was able to get a clear view of the stoat with its prey. It was gnawing away at the back of the rabbit’s neck which had eyes shut and appeared to be dead. After a couple of minutes the stoat tired of chewing and stepped back to look around. To my surprise the rabbit jumped up and began to run off.

The stoat quickly grabbed the rabbit again by the back of the neck and again spent two to three minutes chewing away at the back of the rabbit’s neck. When it stopped for a breather the rabbit again leapt up and started to run off only to be caught again by the stoat.

This was repeated four times in the 15-20 minutes I watched by which time the back of the rabbits neck was quite a mess. At this point I slowly backed off as I did not want to disturb the situation and I am sure the stoat and the two adjacent Buzzards would make a good meal of the prey eventually.

Was the stoat playing with the rabbit or was it a learner at its trade?

Nick Gibbons

Hospitality of the chimney

It has not been a particularly cold winter but whilst out gardening late one afternoon on 6th January I witnessed two bird species taking advantage of man’s hospitality. We have a 16th century brick chimney that juts out slightly from the house wall and a hedge-coppice fed wood burner chugs away continuously all winter. Against this chimney on one side is a boxed and lagged hot water pipe (external because there used to be a heated greenhouse there). Every summer I see blue tit broods reared from a little hole in this boxed pipe area. But as darkness descended on my digging, I watched no fewer than seven wrens, approaching one by one and, chittering loudly as if to signify “I’m coming in boys”, enter this snug little hole to roost for the night.

Completely mesmerised by this procession of wrens, I was suddenly aware of a whoosh of wings and up went a kestrel under the eaves on the other side of the chimney. On closer inspection, I watched the kestrel fidgeting to get really close to the brick chimney and plenty of white splash down the brickwork was evidence of its regular overnight stays, obviously oblivious to the music and television noise emanating just metres from its wingtips - or perhaps more than compensated by the extra warmth afforded by the chimney bricks!

Juliet Hawkins

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White Admiral “Limited Edition”

A poem from my old schoolfriend
Is good to read, but why this trend?
My aged eyesight does not suit
A typeface which is so minute.
It seems the time has come to pass
To use my magnifying glass.
The charming picture drawn by Anne
Appears so small, I barely can
Make out the figure of a man.
It looks to me it needs enlarging
To take up all that big white margin.

Wilfrid George

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Colourful jellyfish in River Blyth

The jellyfish was well inside the Southwold harbour entrance on a flood tide. At a rough guess it measured 30cm across the bell. I thought it might be a member of the Lion’s Mane group. The colour really stood out and could be seen at quite a fair distance. The photo (below & on the cover) was taken on 15th August 2005. I had forgotten about it until going through a batch of prints.

I should be very interested if anyone could provide more information.

Barry Wentworth

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