NATURE CAMBRIDGESHIRE

NATURE IN

CAMBRIDGESHIRE Published by the

Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely Naturalists' Trust Ltd. with the support of the Cambridge Natural History Society

1965

A Flora of Cambridgeshire F. H. PERRING, P. D. SELL, S. M. WALTERS & H. L. K. WHITEHOUSE

This new flora of Cambridgeshire gives details of 1,509 species which flourish in the county. For each species the following information is given : scientific name, vernacular name, first known record of the plant in the county, synonyms, habitat, notes on rare, difficult o r interesting species, and distribution by OS grid numbers. There are keys for the more difficult genera or groups of species. ' A model of what such work should be.'-Times Educational Supplement. 301- net

Flora Eurogaea, I EDITORS: T. G. TUTtN et. al.

A modern, comprehensive Flora for Europe, sponsored by ths Linnean Society of London. It is based on a critical review of existing literature and on studies in herbaria and in the field. The text is in English, but uses a restricted vocabulary. There will be four volumes in all. The families are arranged on Engler's system, except that the Monocotyledonae are transferred to the end. Volume I covers Lycopodiaceae to Platanaceae and also contains the intro- ductory matter and the maps. I/olume I, 84s. net

Flora of the British Isles Illustrations, Part IV This volume, which covers the Monocotyledones, completes the illustrations to the Clapham, Tutin and Warburg Flora of the British Isles. The drawings provide a visual impression of the habit, and a selection of the chief features of each plant. 3716 net

from all booksellers

C A M B R I D G E U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S S

Why you'll enjoy Xnimals' .

First and foremost in 'Animals' come the pictures, capturing the colour, the beauty, the movement, the variety, the magic of the world's wild life.

Week by week, 'Animals' brings you some of the finest photographs of wild life ever published-with at least sixteen pages in full colour. Paintings by Keith Shackjeton, David Shepherd, Axel Amuchastegui, Peter Scott, Maurice Wilson, and many more, have appeared.

But 'Animals' offers more than brilliant illustrations. It is the world's leading animal magazine. It is authoritative. Its Patrons are SIR JULIAN HUXLEY and SIR SOLLY ZUCKERMAN. Its Advisory Board includes PETER SCOTT, DAVID ATTENBOROUGH, NIKO TINBERGEN, JAMES FISHER. 'Animals' covers all animals-birds, fish, insects, the world over-and ranges from scientific discovery and wild life conservation, to animal behaviour and care of pets. Experts and amateurs alike enjoy its breadth of interest, colour and tremendous visual appeal. If you don't already know and enjoy 'Animals', buy a copy today (216 at any newsagent) and see what you're missing!

................... .............................. Far a free specimen copy. NAMB .. ...................... send this coupon to: ADDRESS .-

ANIMALS, 37 HERTFORD STREET, ............................................................... LONDON W. I . ...............................................................

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One of two underground retts in which Badgers con be wotched

I through gloss windows.

NORFOLK WILDLIFE PARK & ORNAMENTAL PHEASANT TRUST

at

GT. WITCHINGHAM, near NORWICH 14 miles N.W. of Nomich on A 1067.

A large and exciting collection of birds and animals displayed under near-natural conditions in 30 acres of beautiful grounds. British and European fauna, Owls and Birds of Prey a speciality. World's finest

collection of Game Birds.

Attractive Restnorunt, hrge parties cotered for of special rotes.

Admission : Adults 316, Children 21- Parties of 25. 21- each

FIELD STUDIES COUNCIL

C O U R S E S F O R N A T U R . I L I S T S

1 9 6 5

Many of the one-week resident ia l field courses (held f rom hiarch to November a t seven cenfrea in England & Wales) a re particularly designed f o r amateur naturalists. Among them are the fallowing:.

DALE FORT FIELD CENTRE. Haverfoidwest, Pembs.

7 - 141uly Coastal Plants 21 - 28 July Insect Nstural History 11 - 18 August Introduction lo the Crustacea

1 - 8 September The Pembrokeohire National P a r k

FLATFORD MILL FIELD CENTRE, Eas t Bereholi, Colchester, Easex.

19 - 26 May Garden Botany 14 - 21 July Biological Illustration 4 - I 1 August The Biology of Salt k Brackish Marshes

18 - 25 August Animal Life in the Soil 25 Aug. - 1 Sept. Botany of Coast & E s t u a r y 29 Sepr. - 6 Oct. Marsh & W a t e r B i rds

JUNIPER HALL FIELD CENTRE, near Dorkinz, Surrey 14 - 21 Jul: Botanical Ecology 25 Aug. ! Sept. Lichens

MALH.\M TARN F I t L D CENTRE, near Settle, Yorke. 21 - 28 April Bird Sang

7 - 14 July Grasses , Sedges & Rushes 28 ~ u l y - 4 ~ u g . conse r \ a t ion

4 - 11 August Insects 18 - 25 August Botanical Sfvdies -plant communities 18 - 25 August Lichens 25 Aug. - 1 Sept. Mosses ?. Liverworts

8 - 15 September Fungi

ORIELTON FIELD CENTRE, near Pembroke, S. Wales I 2 - 19 May Bi rds & Bird Song 28 July - 4 Aug. Pembrokeshira National P a r k - scenery & wild Life.

I8 - 25 August The Li.iving Countryaide

PRESTON MONTFORD FIELD CENTRE, near Shrewrbury. 7 - 14 A ~ r i l Mosses

14 - 21 April Fieldwork & Photography 14 - 21 July Climate & Plant Ecology

7 - 14 August Ecology of Mammals & other Vertebratee 14 - 21 August Soils & Plant Ecology

SLAPTON LEY FIELD CENTRE, near Kingsbridge, Devon 2 - 9 lnne Bi rd Study

30 June - 7 Jvly Grassea. Sedges & Rushes 28 Jniy - 4 Aug. Wild Flower* of Sovth Devon i - 8 September Lichens 6 - 13 October Autumn Bird Beha\.iour

FEES: The standard weekly charge of f 9. 10. i s reduced to f 9 for Amateurs. Members of local natural history Societies o r grovps should enquire about carnegie Bursa r i e s , by which the fee may be fur ther reduced by f 3 (to 1 6 ) in cer ta in c i rcumstances.

Single or double rooms are usually available.

.\PPLlCATIONS or requests for fur ther information should be made to the Warden of the Field Centre . General enquirie. and reqvests f a r full programmes, etc. . should be sent to:.

The Pvbiicify Secretary, F.S.C.. Ravenemead, Kesfon, Kent.

CAMBRIDGESHIRE AND ISLE O F ELY

NATURALISTS' TRUST LTD.

Reg i s t e red Office: 1 Brookside, Cambridge

Tel . 58144

Patron: THE LORD FAIRHAVEN

THE COUNCIL 1964-65

P r e s i d e n t J. S. L. Gi lmour

Hon. Sec re ta ry (Cambs. ) Dr. S.M. Wal ters , 1 Brookside, Cambridge

Hon. Sec re ta ry ( Is le of Ely) A .E .Vine , C r o m e r Lodge, Wereham, King's Lyna

Hon. Ass i s t an t Sec re ta ry M r s . G.Crompton, Thriplow F a r m , Thriplow, Cambs .

Hon. T r e a s u r e r C. J .E. Steff, Barc lays Bank, Bene ' t St reet , Cambridge

Hon. Ass i s t an t T r e a s u r e r J. C. Faulkner , 48 G r e e n P a r k , Brinkley, Newmarket

Hon. P r e s s Sec re ta ry Miss K. B. Gingell, Horningsea Manor, Cambridge

M e m b e r s

t P. J. Bourne J. Clegg J.W. Cla rke P. J. Conder D r . E . A . Duffey D. V. Dure l l W.E .H. Fiddian B . 0. C. Gardiner

E . A. George H. C . Hughes W. P. Kingdon W.H. P a l m e r S. R . Payne D r . J. S m a r t Dr . A . S.Watt

County Planning Depar tment Representa t ives B. Mel lor ( Is le of Ely) G. Wood (Cambs)

Hon. S e c r e t a r y of the Technical and Fie ld Commit tees Dr. F . H . P e r r i n g

Hon. S e c r e t a r i e s of the Hayley Wood Management Commi t t ees J. C . Fau lkner (1964) and 0 .Rackham.

Hon. E d i t o r s P. G. Ha l l and D r . M. Stanier

Auditors P e t e r s , Elsworthy and Moore

Edi to r ia l

Repor t of the Counci l f o r 1964

T r e a s u r e r ' s Repor t

Statement of 2ccounts

Na tura l i s t s ' T r u s t Conference i n York F . H . P e r r i n g

Cambridge Na tura l His tory Society Report f o r 1963 - 1964

Wicken F e n Commit tee Annual Report f o r 1964

Thriplow Meadows Grazing Exper iment : IV G. Crompton

F i e l d Meetings i n 1964

The B i r d s of Hayley Wood A. E . Vine

The Mammals of Hayley Wood A. E. Vine

Morden Grange Plantation W . H. Fordham

The Lichens of Cambridge Walls F .H.Br igh tman

The Badger , i n Cambridgeshire A. E. Vine

t P. J. Bourne, a n Obituary H. L. K. Whitehouse

Weather Notes f o r Cambridgeshire , 1964 J. W . C la rke

Vascular P l a n t R e c o r d s f o r 1964 F.H. P e r r i n g

Page 1

It i s to be hoped that not many people believe that the interests of Nature Conservation and those of the f a r m e r o r gardener a r e in opposition to each other . Even if the member s of the Natural is ts ' Trus t s were the sor t of people who would like to see the countryside overrun by rabbits o r thistles, long experience at

Wicken Fenand more recent experience at Hayley Wood has shown that some control of Nature i s essentialif these places a r e not to degenerate into jungle. No-one will deny the f a r m e r ' s right to protect his crops and animals, and if the Naturalists ' T ru s t s sometimes ob- ject to par t icular methods of doing so, they believe that these methods a r e not, in the long run, beneficial to the f a r m e r s themselves.

Thus when, aa i n this issue, our own Naturalists ' T ru s t champions the cause of badgers, there need be no f ea r that we wish to encourage pes t s . There s t i l l s e ems t obe ace r t a i n amount of predudice against these animals, but though badgers, like ca t s and children, may occasionally take something that does not belong to them, our experts have no doubt that they a r e ha rm- l e s s o r even beneficial. Whether moles a r e equally innocent i s a question that does not seem to concern this county to the s ame extent, but we hope that before widespread poisoning o r gassing of these animals i s allowedto take place elsewhere some investigation will be made into the possible consequences of such action.

There a r e hopeful indications that public opinion maybe becoming more enlightened, and those who f e a r the eventual formation of a v a s t conurbation embracing both London and Cambridge may take hear t f r om the conference held at York las t year , when among other problems those attendant upon the proposed development of the South-East were considered. Here in Cam- br idgeshire the increase of membership in the pas t y e a r should give us f r e sh courage.

We welcome to our editorial staff Dr. M. Stanier, who i s now applying to the physical p rocesses of producing Nature in Cambridgeshire the grea t energy and enthusiasm which she has already shown inmany other activities of the Trus t .

CAMBRIDGESHIRE A N D ISLE OF ELY SATURALISTS' TRUST UMITED

EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT 1964

The Trus thas hadanother successful year. Since April the administration ofthe Trus t ' s affairs hasbeen much simplified by the new arrangement whereby a room at 1 Brookside i s fully available a s an Office. We a re grateful to the Director of the University Botanic Gar- den and the University of Cambridge for allowing us to use this room at a nominal rent. A rota of volunteers, organised by Mrs. Crompton as Assistant Secretary, hasgiven excellent service throughout the year. During the year, Mr. Vine left Littleport, but i s kindly continuing to act a s Secretary for the Isle of Ely, operat- ing via the Cambridge address. The reports of the Work Par t ies and of Hayley Wood which follow include work done in January and February 1965; i t seems better to treat the winter work(as a whole, rather than divide it at the end of the calendar year).

Work Par t ies

The activities of the work parties during the year were mostly centred on Hayley Wood (see separate report).

Towards the end of February, 1965 a party of Scouts, organised by amember of the University Group spent a day bush-clearing on the Fleam Dyke, and the Group itself began work in clearing gorse from the Cinques Common at Gamlingay.

Hayley Wood

Mr. J . C. Faulkner reports:

Early inthe year the Management Committee heard with regretof the resignation of i t s joint Honorary Sec- retaries, Professor C. D. Pigott and Mr. M.H. Martin, who would both be leaving to take up appointments in other Universities. The Committee recorded their appreciation of all the work they had undertaken and wished them well in their new appointments.

During the year, work has been undertaken in the wood by a number of organisations to whom we a r e deeply indebted. In August, Mr. Arthur Cobb's Inter- nationalForest Camp work party spent two days cutting a more convenient outlet to the West ride. Later, the Council for Nature Conservation Corps widened the same ride in order to improve the accessibility to the

Z

main work a r e a s . A v e r y welcome in te res t in the Wood h a s been shown by schools, and par t i e s f r o m lmpington Village College under M r . Harr ison, and f r o m Swave- sey Village College under Mr. Harvey, a r e engaged i n building a log shel ter a t the cen t re of the wood, and a hide n e a r the pond. We a r e grateful a lso to the Cam- br idge University Training C o r p s Engineers fo r r e - moving unwanted s tumps f r o m the centre glade with explosives. This will enable c lose r cutting to be done and the growth of a g r a s s y sward encouraged.

The T r u s t ' s own work par t i e s have been very strongly re inforcedby m e m b e r s of the University Con- servat ion Corps (led by M r . R . Douthwaite) in the t a sk of coppicing the second of the annual plots. The wesk- ends before C h r i s t m a s w e r e not well supported and t h e r e was some anxiety about the success of the under- taking. However, t h e r e were good responses in Janu- a r y and February 1965, and we w e r e able to c a r r y out the ful l p rogramme of work. One par ty had the sa t i s - faction of seeing i t s effor ts on television!

As a resu l t of these activit ies, two lorry- loads of logs have been sawn and t ransported to the Botanic G a r d e n t o b e bought by members . Heavier t imber which c a n b e cut into suitable lengths wi l lbe sold, andwe hope by this means to m e e t the cos t of tools and t ranspor t . M r . Cox h a s given valuable help wi ththe h i reof a t r a c - t o r and saw bench, and h i s own se rv ices . He h a s a l so leased u s a r i g h t of way along h i s f a r m road fo r t r ans - p o r t involved in these operations.

No p r o g r e s s h a s been made so f a r i n clearing the proposed four -ac re glade in the southern a r e a of the wood. The Commit tee i s examining the suggestion that i tmigh t be done o n a commerc ia l b a s i s by a contractor, now that the re i s a be t t e r m a r k e t f o r coppice t imber .

Members will apprecia te the lone effor ts of M r . Vine, who h a s spent many days in the wood opening up to walkers some of the secondary r i d e s which had become completely overgrownin p laces . He, Mr.Phythian and M r . Rackham cleaned out and extended the pond during the d r y autumn.

The previous owners of Hayley Cottage have sup- plied the tenants with water but th i s i s now our respon- sibility. We have accordingly a r ranged with the Water

Company to lay on a supply by means of a pipe along the f ie ld marg in beside Hayley Lane, a t a cost of just over f ZOO.

3

After the completion of each coppice plot, p i l e s of logs and brushwood w e r e lef t to a t t r a c t such s m a l l an- i m a l s a s occupy habi ta ts of th is kind. Under the guidance of Dr . Duffey of the Nature Conservancy, w i r e - bound bundles of logs and brushwood w e r e s i ted n e a r the coppice marg in . These w e r e designed to faci l i ta te deta i led examination a t r egu la r intervals, , A demon- s t ra t ion w a s a l so a r ranged by D r . M. Tanton of the Na ture Conservancy of methods of trapping s m a l l m a m m a l s f o r recording. M r . Ol iver Rackham h a s un- de r taken g e n e r a l management of the sc ient i f ic work c a r r i e d o n i n t h e wood, and i s p repar ing a detailed plan f o r scientific recording and investigation. During the

y e a r , Dr . R . P e r r i n is completing a levelling su rvey of the wood.

The wood is f requent ly visited by m e m b e r s and f r i ends , and we a r e glad to have the s e r v i c e s of sev- e r a l volunteers to pa:rol a t the week-ends during the t ime Oxlips w e r e flowering. T h e s e not only rendered u s e f u l s e r v i c e i n preventing picking anduprooting of the Oxlips, but a l s o i n enroll ing s e v e r a l new m e m b e r s f r o m among the numerous unauthorised v i s i to r s . In September we w e r e glad to welcome delegates attend- ing a Botanical Society of the B r i t i s h I s l e s conference i n c a m b r i d g e . They w e r e shown round the woodby Dr. P e r r i n g and M r . Fau lkner .

The f i r s t newslet ter c i rcula ted to a l l s u b s c r i b e r s w a s we l l received, and t h e r e was a m o s t encouraging response to the m e m b e r s h i p appeal associa ted with the news le t t e r .

Technical and F ie ld Commit tee

Dr . P e r r i n g r e p o r t s a s follows :

I t h a s been a y e a r of mixed fo r tunes f o r T r u s t s i t e s i n the County. On the c red i t s ide we have the e s - tabl ishment of a Nature R e s e r v e of 5 a c r e s a t Norwood Road, March , which is leased by the Trus t , and a management commi t tee h a s been s e t up with Mr . P r a t t a s i t s able s e c r e t a r y . A t e a m of he lpe rs h a s a l ready e r e c t e d a f e n c e at v e r y l i t t le cost . The fight to save the Cinques Common a t Gamlingay was won. A management commi t tee h a s been s e t u p onwhich two m e m b e r s of the T r u s t se rve , together with represen ta t ives of the County Council, R u r a l Dis t r i c t Council and P a r i s h . A management plan d rawn up by the T r u s t h a s been a c - cepted a s a working mode l f o r the c rea t ion of a r e c r e - a t ional a r e a a n d a n a t u r e r e s e r v e . Onthe debit side we

have to record that the Trus t ' s objection fully supported by the Nature Conservancy, to an application for amaximum ploughing grant to enable the tenant of W i l - braham Fen to plough up a large part of this SSSI was not accepted by the Ministry of Agriculture, and the ploughing up has gone ahead. The interest of this important site for aquatic and semi-aquatic habitats has been very seriously reduced.

Concern for habitats of this kind continues to grow, andthere wasno reassurance f r o m a survey made during the summer of wet meadows inthe Cam valley. Re- ports f rom members and f rom excursions specially arranged for the purpose disclosed that there were hardly any sites of value remaining in the area, and emphasise the importance of such areas a s Dernford Fen, Sawston Hall Meadow, and Fowlmere Watercress Beds.

A major development has been the reorganisation of the Field Committee. There a re now over 80 sites in the County for which the Trust takes some respon- sibility. Until recently the dozen members of the Com- mittee divided the County between them, each agreeing tomake regular visits tofiveor six sites. This system had begunto collapse because members could not make the journeys of up to 30 miles often enough. Under a new scheme which came into force at the end of the year the County has been divided into 18 regions, each with a Regional Officer who is a member of the Field Committee. Trust members living in the villages have been asked to act a s 'watchdogs' for the sites in their own parish. They a re expected to make regular visits, about once per month, and report any unfavourable de- velopments to their Regional Officer. Already with 18 Committee members and 25 watchdogs, over half the sites have their guardian, but we can do with many more helpers yet.

The Technical Committee met in December and agreed that we should ask the Nature Conservancy to raise to SSSI status three more Cambridgeshire sites: Fowlmere Watercress Beds, Gamlingay Cinques and Morden Grange Plantation. Concern was expressed about the continual lowering of the water table, and it was agreed that the Trust should seek information about the new water projects proposed and try to ensure that they were not carried out without regard to our interests.

The Commit tee a l so d i scussed the u s e of s i t e s in the County f o r educational purposes . A reques t h a s been rece ived f r o m the County Planning Depar tment f o r suggestions of a r e a s which might be suitable. The Commit tee a g r e e d that the needs of P r i m a r y and Sec- ondary Schools a r e different. F o r P r i m a r y Schools proximity is the m o s t impor tan t factor : it would be ideal if a s m a l l p iece of land could be s e t a s ide within $ mile of e a c h school. F o r Secondary Schools, it was m o r e impor tan t to provide a number of s i t e s of d i f fer- ent kinds i n the County which could be used by t h e schools f o r biological f ield work without endangering the wild l ife which i t i s o u r duty to conserve. About half a dozen s i t e s of t h i s kind have now been recommended.

Repor t of the Education Commit tee

Aris ing out of the discuss ions held a t the County T r u s t s Conference a t York andthe R u r a l Studies A s s - ociation Conference a t Impington, the Commit tee explored the location and u s e s of loca l educat ionalnature r e s e r v e s . P l a n s have been p r e p a r e d f o r a pe rmanen t na tu re t r a i l a t Wandlebury.

M r . Fiddian regret ful ly had to r e s i g n a s s e c r e t a r y , and M r . R . S .George, the Adult Tu tor a t Sawston Vill- age College and f o r m e r P r e s i d e n t of the Gloucester- s h i r e T r u s t , h a s agreed to s e r v e i n th i s capacity.

Stubble Burn ing

M e m b e r s e x p r e s s e d g r e a t concern this y e a r a t the s e r i o u s i n c r e a s e of th i s p rac t i ce , with a consequ- ent l o s s of wild life. Representat ions made by the Council f o r Na ture have had some effect, and the N F U h a s condemned i r responsibi l i ty amongst i t s own m e m - b e r s and is drawing up a code i n conjunction w i t h F i r e Of f ice r s .

Meetings

As i n p rev ious y e a r s , a joint p r o g r a m m e of excur - s ions was held with the Cambridge Natural His to ry Society ( s e e p . 12). At t h e A . G . M . held on Apri l 25, M r . A. E . Smith, S e c r e t a r y of the T r u s t s Commit tee of the Society f o r the Promot ion of Nature R e s e r v e s , survey- e d the growth of the County T r u s t movement and con- s ide red the p r e s e n t and future ro leof the T r u s t s . After t e a a coach t o o k m e m b e r s toHayley Wood where near ly

100 people were conducted by Prof. C. D. Pigott on a short tour of the reserve.

Two meetings for members and the public were held this year in the Country Centre Pavilion of the Shire Hall, by kind permission of the Education.Dep- artment. In January the Granadat'W?rld in Actionl'film on the uses and dangers of insecticides was shown. In December, members and friends met for coffee and heard an illustrated talkon "The History of Hedgerows in Britain" by Dr. M. D. Hooper. Both meetings were well attended.

County Naturalists Trusts Conference at York

D r . Perring, Mr. Faulkner and Mrs. Crompton represented the Trust at the third of these biennial Conferences, and reportedto members of Council and Committees at a special meeting held in July. Dr. M. Stanier, the new joint Editor of the journal, represented the Trust at a Weekend Conference held by the Council for Nature, on 'Nature Trails , Publications and Publicity'.

Publications and Information

Again the Trust i s greatly indebted to Miss K. B. Gingell for her workin collecting and editing the Cam- bridge News 'Nature Notes', in distributing literature, and in particular for her splendid success in selling SPNRITrusts Christmas Cards, which yieIded a very useful profit of over 546. In November Council app- ointed Miss Gingell a s Hon. P r e s s Secretary.

Photographic Records

Mrs . C. P. Hallhas very kindly taken over the index- ing and arranging of photographs in possession of the Trust or in the hands of members. Information can he sent to Mrs.Hal1 at the Trust Office at 1 Brookside.

Membership

A very gratifying further increase in membership (to 503 on31st December)has been recorded during the year, largely arising fromthe appeal to the 'Friends of Hayley Wood' to become members of the Trust. This membership increase i s particularly impressive because it took place in the year when the doubled sub- scription rate might well have been expected to cause a decline in membership. The fact that so few mem- be r s have failed to renew their subscriptions i s very 7

encouraging; i t mus t m e a n that t h e r e a a s widespread real isa t ion that the previous min imum subscr ipt ion of 101- w a s quite unrea l i s t i c and represen ted l i t t le m o r e than the value of the s e r v i c e s and l i t e ra tu re provided. The f inances now s e e m to be on a much f i r m e r bas i s , andwe c a n g o fo rward w i t h m o r e confidence that the ex- panding work of the T r u s t will b e effectively supported.

TREASURER'S REPORT

A b e t t e r y e a r financially, a s a r esu l t of i n c r e a s e d membersh ip . A healthy annual growth in the numbers of our m e m b e r s i s the only m e a n s whereby we can i n c r e a s e our usefulness , and it is hoped that th i s welcome en la rgement wi l l be even m o r e m a r k e d in the coming y e a r .

Keen support f o r o u r Hayley Wood Fund continues. During the y e a r we have reduced our loan by f 500 to

E l , 000. We have a l s o bought Hayley Lane Cottage, a n e c e s s a r y protect ion of our ownership of the Wood.

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NATURALISTS' TRUSTS CONFERENCE IN YORK

F.H. Per r ing .

At York at the end of June, the County Natural is ts T rus t s held the i r third biennial Conference. I twas attended for the f i r s t t ime by representat ives f r o m al l over Britain, Scotland now having i t s own Wildlife Trus t . Th ree member s of the Cambridgeshire Trus t were there .

They soon real ised that these opportunities fo r an exchange of information on problems which a l l T rus t s have i n common provide an enormous stimulus to do things never t r i ed before, and do bet ter the things the T r u s t s havebeen doing for a v e r y long time. Theseex- changes were even more fruitful this t ime because of the presence throughout our discussions of the Director Generalof the Nature Conservancy, M r . E . M. Nicholson, and a number of h i s staff.

During the six discussion per iods which were held i twas agreed to recommend the setting upof joint commit tees of Nature Conservancy and the T rus t s to deal with s eve ra l urgent problems, problems which have been with us f o r a long time but which have recently been dramatical ly spotlighted by the publication of the planfor S. E. England. The increase i n population which ha s been forecas t represen ts a tremendous threat to natural is ts ' in te res t s in this p a r t of the country, but, in addition, i t i s going to mean a land shortage for a l l people who u se the countryside f o r recreat ion o r fo r theirlivelihood, fo r agriculture o r forestry, f o r shooting, fishing, sailing o r water skiing, o r simply for relaxation.

Natural is ts a r e just becoming aware of the grea t importance of the planned u se of land for the benefit of the whole community, not f o r sectional in te res t s alone o r fo r indiscr iminate u se by everybody so that the many in te res t s a r e continually inconflict . All potential u s e r s mus t s i t together round a table i n each county o r region and work out ways in which the mos t can be got out of the shrinking a r e a of land which i s available. A wonder- fu l precedent fo r this type of approach was se t by the "Countryside in 1970" conference held in London l a s t autumn.

A new idea which gathered a g r ea t dealof support during the conference was that T rus t s should begin to look round for a r e a s to be se t aside a s Educational 1 !

Nature Reserves . Biology t eachers today need a r e a s close to their schools where they can developnew meth- ads of teaching which include scientific observation and experiment in the field. These a r e a s will have to be r i ch

in common species and be able to withstand intensive human p r e s s u r e . This i s something the T r u s t hopes to be able to make p rogress within Cambridgeshire in the n e a r future.

CAMBRIDGE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

Pres iden t : Dr . G. Salt, F . R . S .

Report f o r 1964

At the Six General Meetings held during the Lent and Michaelmas t e r m s the following lectures were delivered:

Dr . R. M. Laws: Ecological Studies in the Queen Elizabeth P a r k , Uganda

Prof . J. Z . Young, F . R . S: Centres f o r the Control of Hunger and Motivation

Dr. Drummond Mathews : Continental Drift and the floor of the Arabian Sea.

Dr . M . F . Pe ru tz , F . R . S : Evolution of the Prote in Molecule

D r . E r n e s t Neal : Badgers Dr . J. A. Mil ler : Geochronology and Continental

Drift

The Botanical, Entomological, Geological, and Zoological Sections again thrived ; the six meetings of each made a to ta l of thirty meetings held by the Soc- iety during the y e a r . The annual Conversazione and Exhibition, organised by Mr. Pau l F e r r a r and M r . John Raven, was very successful, despite a decline in the number of exhibits compared with the previous year . The response f r o m schools was disappointing.

At the end of December 1964, there were 498 m e m b e r s in the Society, compared with 509 in 1963.

G.H. Harper Senior Secretary

Members of Training Colleges, annual 51-. Schools, Corporate (annual) £1 . Applications shouldbe made to: City Secre ta ry : M r . W.H. Pa lmer , 32 Fendon Road. Cambridge. University Secre ta ry : M r . M. O'Hare, Downing College.

Life m e m b e r s 301- Annual 101- (compounding to Life a f t e r 4 yea rs ) . Undergraduate 3-year membership 1216.

12

NATIONAL TRUST

WICKEN FEN LOCAL COMMITTEE

EXTRACTS FROM THE REPORT FOR 1963-64

The most important event during the year under r e - view has been the acceptance by the Executive of a plan to launch a full-scale NatianalAppeal for Wicken Fen. This will entail much detailed planning during the months ahead. The decision to launch the Appeal was taken after careful discussions of the many interes ts and difficulties involved.

Development of the voluntary work-parties on the F e n has led the Committee to envisage a change in emphasis on the bush-clearing programme. It i s now c l e a r that guided voluntary labour (largely in the f o r m of weekend par t ies of junior seamen f r o m the training ship H. M. S. Ganges a t Ipswich) can undertake the main extension of the bush-clearing planned fo r the Sedge Fen, a t l e a s t in the immediate future . This doesnot, of course, l e s sen the needfor effective machinery fo r the mainmaintenance and harvesting activities, and during the y e a r the following new i t ems of machinery have beenacquired: t r a i l e r , ro tary cutter, centre-mounted g r a s s cutter. The Warden i s fu r the r investigating with the Rura l Industries Bureau the possibility of mechan- ising the cutting and harvesting of the sedge crop.

The anticipated final repor t of the Management Suh- Committee has not yet been presented to the Executive; th is delay i s due, a t l eas t in part , to the complex and changing nature of the management problems, and the lack of cer ta in information, notably on water-levels. The Committee i s mos t grateful to i t s member D r . M. 3 . Chadwick and to the School of Agriculture fo r thei r ass is tance with a much-needed levelling survey now being ca r r i ed out on Adventurers ' Fen. During the y e a r a final repor t on the u s e of non-persistent arbor ic ides

onthe Fenwas rece ivedf rom theNature Conservancy's Toxic Chemicals Unit ; this confirmed, a s the e a r l i e r r epor t had shown, that there was no detectable p e r - s is tent effect an e i ther the f lora or fauna of the Fen.

It seems practically cer ta in that no Swallow-tail butterfl ies (Papilio machaon) survived on the F e n f r o m l a s t s u m m e r t o th is spring (1964). In the past t h e r e h a s been someuncer ta inty about this, but the populationhas been kept going by l iberating insects f r o m a laboratory

13

stock maintained, thanks to the in teres t of P r o f e s s o r Sir Vincent Wigglesworth, in the Sub-department of Entomology's Field Station. This laboratory stock hae now died out, in spite of the c a r e lavished on i t by M r . B. 0. C . Gardiner of the Field Station Staff. The Suh- department of Entomology has no pract ical in teres t in maintaining the Swallow-tail stock, and cannot be expected to r e - s t a r t the colony of i t s own initiative, especially a s the space used i s needed f o r other work of the Sub-department If i t i s considered desi rable , for aesthetic o r other reasons , to keep a domestic colony of the hutterflv in o r d e r to maintain i t s Dresence on the Fen, then the position will need to be very carefully assessed . Such an assessment would have to take into consideration the likelihood of the butterfly eventually maintaining i tself on the F e n f r o m year to yea r - a possibility if there a r e future favourable changes in the vegetation - and the actual costs of maintaining a cap- tive colony a s well a s the m o r e obvious mat ter of the ways and means of doing so.

Visitors to the F e n continue to increase ; during 1963 4434 people were recorded in the book in the Keeper ' s House; th is f igure was made up of 3392 individual signatures, and 65 organised par t ies varying in number f r o m 6 to 40 individuals. This figure does not include the Special National Nature Week event on May 25, when no count was made; a rough estimate put the vis i tors a t 500.

Report by the Warden-Naturalist

A. Work on the F e n

1. Control of water on the Reed Field of West Ad- ven tu re r s ' F e n seems to be paying a dividend a s f a r a s the cuttable reed beds a r e concerned. The extra pipe under H a r r i s o n ' s Drove enabled water to be le t on to the fields ear ly , and there is, to date, a mos t nncour- aging growth of reed, although i t does appear that the growthonindividual beds var ies very greatly f r o m y e a r to y e a r and i n a mas t unpredictable manner . However, the over -a l l s t a te of the reed beds i s most satisfactory, the bes t achieved since a ser ious attempt has been made to harvest this crop off this par t icular area of the Fen. It i s a lso obvious that the cutting of reed f r o m the dykes i s not only slaw and laborious but the re turn i s in no way worth the labour expended.

2. Considerable effor thas been expended in the c learance of new sedge-fields and in clearing and enlarging existing sedge-fields. There should be some smal l fin- ancial r e tu rn th i s yea r , a s a cut of sedge should be taken f r o m one of the f i r s t f ie lds cut in 1961. I t i s par- t icular ly important that a reasonable c learance should be made this yea r , a s there i s only a comparatively smal l a r e a due fo r cutting under the normal three- year ly rotation. A r e a s have been c leared a t the junc- t ion of Thompson's and Main Droves, converting two s m a l l f ie lds into one reasonable-sized field, and i t i s hoped to do fu r the r work in th is a r e a th is year . The field on the West side of D r a i n e r ' s Dyke, adjacent to the Lode, has been extended and a good s t a r t has been made i n opening up a new field on the Eas t side of Ver r - a l l ' s Drove, between Gard iner ' s Drove and the Main Drove. Grea t credi t f o r the c learance done i s due to the junior seamen of H. M. S. Ganges.

3 . Much heavy work h a s been done by the Fen staff in opening upand cutting back thebush by C r o s s Dyke and Malcarse Dyke. This work i s essent ia l to enable the drag-line, which should be clearing these dykes (the South p a r t of Malcarse only) this summer, to do i t s work. The opening up of these two dykes will make i t well worth-while to exploit sedge-fields on the West side of Dra ine r ' s Dyke. There a r e severa l a r e a s of good sedge, only lightly invaded by bush, which should rapidly develop into excellent sedge-fields.

4. The a r e a c leared by Rotavator makes good pro- g r e s s and there i s a reasonable growth of sedge. This method is very dras t ic , much m o r e so than hand c lea r - ance, but i t i s a method that might well be used if the supply of volunteer labour should cease . The painting of the s tumps with Spontox fi ts in very well with hand c learance, a s the Fen staff a r e able to t r ea t odd a r e a s of difficult work in th is way - the c a r r being cut with the mechanical saw. Thus volunteers a r e not required to attack the very heavy and back-breaking a r e a s .

5. The pump was used to g rea t effect over the y e a r . The 'village endr of the F e n was a s full of water in Oc- toher as i t i s normally in January and February. The

extr;r growth obtained when a sedge-field h a s a week's pumping i s quite noticeable, par t icular ly so when the c rop i s cut. The F e n on June 10 was a s wet a s i t i s normally in April, although no pumping has s tar ted th is s i d e o f Dra iner ' s Dyke. Because of heavy rain, i t i s by

15

no means ce r ta in that there i s any connection between the pumping and the wetness of the Fen this season. The only tiling that can be safely s a i d i s that the pumping in late s u m m e r and autumn had by October ra ised the water level over a >-ery large a r e h to the late \.,in- t e r level.

B. Produce

The demand for sedge remains much g rea te r than the supply but, apar t f rom the only too o b ~ ~ i o u s difficul- t ies in clearing the sedge-fields, until the cutting can be fully mechanised there a r e l imits to the amount of sedge that the F e n staff can handle. There i s at leas t one promising machine that might well he workable on large and level f ields, but there i s no such machine within a hundred miles of Wicken and i t s value cannot be tested.

The demand for r eed i sno t quite a s good, but there should be no difficulty in selling a l l that we produce, o r a r e likely to produce. The year was not a s good a s we had hoped, the reason being that the fields were not flooded ea r ly enough. There i s s t i l l a g rea t deal to l ea rn about the proper management of reed f i e lds ; much can be learnt f rom other producers, but each p resen t s i t s own par t icular problem.

C . Records

Many Bearded T i t s (Panurus biarmicus) were on the F e n this winter, at leas t one party of about s i r on the M e r e and at leas t two par t ies of a s imilar s ize on the reed fields. As f a r as i s known none of these bi rds have stayed to nest .

The Bi t tern (Botaurus s te l lar is) was present a l l winter, at l eas t one remaining until mid-April. ABit t - ern , in a v e r y emaciated state, was given to the Warden in January. This b i rd was kept for a month when, fully res to red to health, i t was released on the Mere.

Marsh H a r r i e r s (Circus aeruginosus) have been frequently repor ted at Wicken over the whole year un- d e r review. A pair of Montagu's H a r r i e r s (Circus py- w) were seen in May but, unfortunately, they did not stay.

16

There were severa l reliable repor t s of geese, species not identified (they were seen at either a con- s iderable distance o r a t dusk), and the Staff had a good view of eight ~ h i t e f r o n t ( A n s e r a1bifrons)on the Mere.

There was a lso a re l iable repor t of a R e d Squirre l (Sciurus vulgaris) on the Fen.

THRIPLOW MEADOWS GRAZING EXPERIMENT (IV)

G. Crompton

The management experiment, described in previous numbers of the journal, (Nos. 5, 6 & 7) h a s continued and a br ief summary of l a s t y e a r ' s work follows.

Grazing: The two re t i r ed ponies continued to graze Strip 1. One of the ponies h a s a marked liking fo r Carex acutiformis. In July a new a r e a of Blysmus corn- p r e s s u s was foundin Str ip 2 in the b a r e ground trampled by the ponies waiting to go through the gate into thei r s t r ip .

Jan. I LO days. 8 hra per day 1 1 . 6 2 2 heiferr in ."

1964 -

." May 31. 1 3 days, 24 hrs. per day 4. 6 1 heifer out

7 . 6 1 heifer out Ivne 2 8 . 1 ~ 1 ~ 15.17 days. 24 hrs. per day 15.6 20 heifers out

strip I 2 ponies (shut in)

July 31 -August 3,. 32 days, 24 hrs . Per day. 10 . D ~ ~ . 3. 14 if^^^

Nov. 1 - 3 0 30 days. 24 hrr. per day 50 day. (with addilional hay and sugar beet top. in adjoiniog meadow).

strip 4 (with access from adjoining

mcad0-r)

Cutting: Str ip 2 was cut by a Hayter Rotary Cut ter on July 29th. The hay was raked by hand and car ted away by August 20th.

Control: The plot of C a r e x acutiforrnis in Str ip 3 was cutby hand on June 5thand again i n August. By October l l t h a l l t h e previously b a r e ea r th between the C. acuti- fo rmis and Filipendula u l m a r i a plants had been m o r e o r l e s s c o m ~ l e t e l v colonised bv species of a r a s s e s , . . Ranunculus, Eoilohium, Cirs ium, Cerast ium, m- -- sotla, Galiurn, Rumex acelosa, G l i c a r i a dysenterica. --

The a r e a of Filipendula had increased and Juncus sub- nadulosus was sareading in f r o m the north end for about one ya rd . The south-eastern c o r n e r which i s shaded and a little lower was a s yet little colonised.

Orchid Count: This has been described indeta i l in the account of the Fie ld Meetings (p. 23). The 9; f igures below show the loss in the numbers of orchids counted a s compared with the previous year .

Strip 1964 1 9 6 3 1962 - 1961 1 1222 (40da) 2049 1516 1047 2 500 (257) 658 409 486 3 309 (40'7~) 498 - 693 4 908 (27";) 1231 716 250 (es t . )

Quadrats: The species present in the four quadrats were recorded between June 26th and July 23rd.

Water Level: The y e a r has been described a s one of the d r ies t of th is century, and this was reflected in the ve ry lo,.: water level during the second half of this year . Between July 12th and December 31st the water was above 30 cm. below ground levelon two days only ( ~ e c -

ember 5th and 13th), and since hlay 3rd the water has only been within 4 cm.of ground level on June 7th, June 14th and June 22nd.

FIELD MEETINGS IN 1964

Nine field meetings were held jointly withthe Cambridge

NaturalHis tory Society. (Approximatenumbers attend- ing each meeting a r e given in brackets) .

Saturday, 2nd May. Chesterford P a r k Woods and F l e a m Dyke. (16)

Joint excursion with E s s e x Field Club.

Members of the par ty assembled in the c a r pa rk adjoining Chesterford P a r k and w e r e welcomed by the i r hosts, F i son ' s Research Centre who kindly provided coffee, cake and biscuits i n a pleasant reception room. This room commanded anat t ract ive view of the pa rk and allowed m e m b e r s to see some of the numerous b i rds which frequent the park.

The par ty thenproceeded under the guidance of Miss L. Brown to explore some of the woodlands of the park. They f i r s t visi ted Emanuel Wood, and despite the soft nature of the ground a f t e r the heavy r a i n e a r l i e r in the week, were able to see an interesting f lora of woodland spring plants including theEar ly Purp le Orchis, Lady's Mantle, Yellow Archangel, and Herb Par i s , and signs that it would not be long before Twayblade would be i n bloom.

As they proceeded through the wood the bird-life didnotescape notice andthey notonly saw severa l w a r - b l e r s but a lso heardanight ingale inful l song. Theroute took the par ty over a chalky bank and here the bryol- ogis ts amused themselves findmg some species tha t p r e f e r th is type of habitat. Unfortunately a heavy and prolonged shower began, and a f t e r a shor t t ime i t was necessary to leave the woodland and go a s speedilv a s possible by a ra the r sticky field path to get Dack to shel- t e r . On the way the par ty inspected a gamekeeper ' s gibbet with its gruesome re l i c s of r a t s , weasles, a&d hedgehogs. On reaching shel ter s o m e members r e - mained to dry off, whilst others. m o r e hardy, paid a shor t visit to another wood and ye t o thers went to s e e a House Mar t in ' s nes t in course of completion.

About a dozen members of the morning par ty a l so took par t i n the afternoon excursion to Fleam Dyke, where they w e r e joined by four m o r e members of the T r u s t . The ra in temporar i ly he ldof fas the par ty began its exploration on the open s t re tch of the Dyke on the f a r side of the London-Newmarket Road, and the L s s e x vis i tors w e r e much impressed bythe height of the Dyke

19

at this point and the fine view over the surrounding fields. Cowslips and violets (of two kinds, Viola re ich- enbachiana and V. hirta)wereabundantly inb loomhere , and an ea r ly sedge (Carex praecox), with a feathery yellow head, was a lso found. F u r t h e r up in the m o r e shaded p a r t s were large patches of periwinkles. Shrubs inf lower whichwere particularly admired were juniper (a speciali ty of this place), box, and the striking yellow-flowered Oregon Grape JMahonia aquifolium). This l a s t plant, originally grown in cover ts a s food fo r the pheasants, h a s spread along many par t s of the vallum which runs beside the Dyke. The pheasants also seemed plentiful, fo r severa l were seen feeding i n the neigh- bouring cornfields. Three h a r e s were clear ly visible in one field, some rabbits scuttled to thei r hales in the side of the Dyke a t the approach of the party, and so did a smal l mouse.

The next evidence of local fauna was not so pleasant. T h r e e gamekeeper 's gibbets a t the approach to Dungates f a r m h e l d their g r i s ly a r ray , including a stoat i n i t s winter d r e s s , showing thewhite tail withits black tip. But among the victims were no fewer than thirty- five hedgehogs, and such intensive slaughter of these relatively innocuous animals does seem deplorable. I t was h e r e that one of the party spied a Grea te r Spotted woodpecker. Other b i rds heard and seen along the Dyke during the afternoonincluded willow warblers , awhi te- throat, and a blackcap.

The n e a r e r side of the London-Newmarket road was next explored, where the c lea r course of the Dyke i s ob- scured by a t ree-covered mound. Some members re- called that th i s was Mutlow Hill, o r "mootlaw", the assembly hill, anciently the meeting-place of the three adjacent hundreds ofwhichMr Hunter Blai r has written:

"The Camhridgeshire Mutlow Hill is of par t icular in te res t i n t h a t i t consists of a tumulus which itself stands uponthe Flearn Dyke. F r e e d f romthe t r e e s which now encumber it, the si te would command a very wide prospect . . . . . . . . . and m a r k s the point a twhich the boundaries of three adjacent hundreds meet, a s though to suggest that there was a common assembly fo r a l l three".

F r o m this point onwards, the party made a careful butunsuccessful sea rchfor thePasquef lower ( ~ n e m o n e pulsatilla), which was formerly fa i r ly plentiful on this s t r e tch of the Dyke, but which has since become increasingly s c a r c e . Passe r s -by find i t hard to r e s i s t the temptation to pickthis beautiful f lower, but unless they

20

can refrainandlet it set seed, itwill soon cease to exist in this locality. Incidentally the wildpasque anemone does not flourish if transplanted to a garden, though to the inexpert eye it appears the same as the garden variety. Finally, when the rest of the party had returned to their cars, two members found one plant with three nearly opened buds. Did it survive the following fine Sunday? As they left the dyke they were caught in a heavy shower, but on looking back over the dyke they saw, as a fine finish to the day, a magnificent double rainbow ofwhich the inner bow had a double spectrum.

Saturday 30th May. Monks Wood. (60)

Members joinedwith theRural Studies Association to visit the Monks Wood Experimental Station of the Nature Conservancy. About sixty members of the three bodies were welcomed by Dr. E.A.Duffey, who was to lead the party. From the top of the tower which forms the residential block he was able to show the situation andextent ofthe wood. Visitors were interested tohear that the name dates from the twelfth century, whenthe property was owned by the monks of Saurtrey Abbey.

At present thewood extends over some 387 acres of clay slope overlooking the fen, and is to some extent isolatedfrom agricultural influences hy areas of scrub. It f i rs t came into prominence with the discovery there in 1825 of a butterfly hitherto unknown in Britain, the Black Hairstreak, and i t i s still one of the very few stations for this insect. The Wood was designated a National Nature Reserve in 1953.

Among a number of experimental areas within and near the wood, visiting naturalists were particularly interested in a series of plots and lengths of hedgerow where several of the toxic chemicals usedinagriculture arebeing tested, with particular regard to their effects on the fauna of such sites. It i s hoped to discover what effect spraying, andthe drift of sprays on to hedgerows, i s having on the general invertebrate fauna.

Within the wood there was matter to interest naturalists favouring many differentt'-ologies", but allwere happy to follow their interests to the accompaniment of a wealth of birdsong. Wood, willow and garden warblers, chiff-chaffs, blackcaps, and even a nightingale, seemed to follow the party along the rides and the cuckoo called constantly from no great distance.

2 1

Spiders and caterpi l lars , bugs and beetles were swept up and identified on the spot, or , if too unfnmil- iar , popped into tubes to await fur ther investigation. Botanists found pleasure in such finds as Veronica off- icinalis, o r Common Speedwel1,which i s infact f a r f r o m common hereabouts; i n a Wild Service t r e e in full flow- e r ; in Lesser Teasel, a l so r a r e , growing side-by-side with the common species and in a s fine and f ragran t a specimen of Grea te r Butterfly Orchid a s one might hope to see .

The par ty found i t s way back to the station af ter a two-mile tour of the network of r ides which was, in spite of an odour of anti-midge lotion that became noticeable a t t imes, a delight f r o m beginning to end.

Saturday, 20th June. Wilbraham Fen. (25)

In spite of most unpromising weather in the morning, a p a r t y of Cambridgeshire natural is ts spen ta ve ry pleasant afternoon exploring pa r t of Wilbraham Fen.

Wilbraham F e n i s scheduled by the Nature Con- servancy a s a Site of Special Scientific Interest , being in fact the largeat of these in the county a s well a s the largest remaining fen re l ic that i s not a national nature rese rve . It i s a valuable sanctuary for many '-1nds of b i rds which s t i l l breed there . Two or three years ago a pair of c ranes nested on Wilbraham Fen and r e a r e d at leas t one young one-the f i r s t t ime this has been known to happen in the Bri t ish Is les fo r some four hundred years!

No very r a r e bi rds were seen on Saturday, but the party found anumber of interesting fenandwater plants, both among the sedges and reeds covering most of the wet ter ground and in a few pieces of open water st i l l remaining. Par t icular ly abundant and striking was the ra ther beautiful Meadow Rue, Thalictrum flavum, a n uncommon but character is t ic plant of fenland. Consid- ering how n e a r i t i s to Cambridge, Wilbraham F e n i s surprisingly little known; i twi l lcer ta inly repay fu r the r visits to any natural is ts interested in bi rds , f lowers, o r insects.

Sunday, 28th June. Thriplow Pea t Holes and Annual Orchid Count (60)

Cambridgeshire natural is ts were joined by 44 m e m b e r s of the Hert fordshire Natural His tory Society when they visited Thriplow fo r a n a l l day excursion on Sunday 28th June. The weather remained cloudy a l l day but it w a s pleasantly cool.

The large par ty of 60 people spent the morning walking around the low lying a r e a on the Whittlesford- Thriplow par i sh boundary. This was wel l known to Cambridgeshire botanists i n the nineteenth century a s the "Triplow Pea t Holes" and is an a r e a on the chalk where local conditionsformerly led to the formation of smal l fens andeven acidic bogs. Mostof the interesting plants, such a s the Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia and 2. anglica), Butterwort (Pinguicula n lga r i s ) ,B ladder -

wort, (Utricularia n l g a r i s ) , and Cotton G r a s s (Erio- phorum vaginatum), were los t when the land was en- closed i n 1836 and drained, and in p a r t planted with conifers and deciduous t r e e s . Thriplow has been visited continuouslv bvbotanists since the t ime of John Rav who recorded the r a r e Ground Pine ~ c h a m a e p i t y s ) on Triplow Heath in h i s F l o r a of 1660.

Most of the seventeenth and eighteenth - century plants recorded at Triplow were chalk grass land plants such a s the Ground Pine and the Pasque Flower(Anem- one pulsatilla) when much of Thriplow Heath was a - sheep walk and these species were probably lost due to ploughing a t the t ime of the Napoleonic Wars.

However, a l l h a s not been los t and the a r e a still remains an extremely interesting one. The par ty were able to see and photograph hundreds of plants of the G r a s s Poly (Lythrum hyssopifolia), which was discovered h e r e only in 1958, th is being the only s i te in the Br i t i sh mainland where it s t i l l grows. While walking through the Quave the par ty made a halt a t the large stand of mature Alder t r e e s under which were growing t a l l c lumps of the Broad Buckler F e r n (Dryopteris a- atata), and it was noted that a l l the fe rns were affected by some deficiency which h a s made the f ronds look scorched. I t was a relief to get out of the mosquito- infested wood and s e e a t the edge of an open field many tallf lowering spikes of the Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera) growing with the m a r s h orchid(Dactylorchis p rae te r - missa). Another ha l twas made a t the Litt leNine Wells, which a r e s t i l l a s c lea r and filled withthe moss F d - & antipyretics a s when M r . J. Maynard of Whittles- ford described i t over a hundred y e a r s ago.

23

One of the l a s t t r u e fen species. the Grea t F e n Sedge (Cladium mariscus) , grewabundantly inFenWood until t h e h a r s h winter of 1962-3 killed a l l bu t about two plants. Heavy shade h a s a lso contributed to the n e a r ex- t inctionof th is plant and it is hopedto obtainpermiss ion to c l e a r a l i t t le of the wood and thereby encourage the Cladium to survive.

Lunch was taken a t the edge of the orchid meadows which l ie a t the back of Thriplow F a r m , and then the par.ty w a s joinedby another dozen m e m b e r s f r o m Cam- br idge fo r the'Trust's Four th Annual Orchid Count. The T r u s t h a s leased oneof the meadowsf rom Lord Walston

f o r a n exper iment on the management o f the m a r s h o r - chids (Dactylorchis p r a e t e r m i s s a and D. incarnata), w h i c h a r e par t icular ly abundant he re . The meadow n a s beendivided into four equal s t r i p s andthe flowering o r - chids p resen t in each s t r i p a r e counted annually. Th i s y e a r a knotted rope was introduced in an effort to stop wandering while counting andwas foundtobe quite success fu l in keeping people in line, although somewhat of a n i m p a s s e was reached when the line came to the tele- graph post! The tota ls were; horse - grazed s t r ip - 222; annually cut s t r ip - 500; controlstrip-309; catt le-grazed s t r i p - 908. T h i s i s the f i r s t y e a r that there hasno t been a notable i n c r e a s e i n the numbers of orchids in the two grazed s t r i p s where th i s y e a r there was actually a v e r y heavy decrease . I t i s much too soon to be able to know whether these f igures reflect what m a y b e a cyclic var i - ation o r a r e due to inc reased grazing p r e s s u r e o r to the weather i n the b roades t sense .

After the count t h e r e was just t i m e f o r some of the par ty to go and see the r a r e smal l g r e e n helleborine - (Epipactis p ! l y l l a n t h ~ v a r . vectensis) i n i t s only s ta t - ion in the county.

Before boarding the coach and continuing on to Ashwell to have a bonfire t e a with M r W. H. Fordham, the P r e s i d e n t of the Her t fo rdsh i re Societv D r Greeorv " , thanked M r s Cromptonfor organising the excursion and D r S . M . Wal te r s f o r h i s ve ry welcome presence in the morning. M r s Crornpton thanked a l l those p resen t fo r the i r h e l ~ i n countine the orchids and a lso thanked M r . Baker , Lord Walston's gamekeeper, who had helped so much with prepar ing the route through the woods.

24

Thanks were also given to the many owners of the land who had so willingly given their permission for such a large par ty to walk over the land and attention was drawn to the importance for anyone wishing to make a fur ther visit to see some particular a r ea again of ob- taining permission to do so f i r s t .

Saturday, 11th July. Morden Heath Plantation. (22)

M r Fordham, who has studied thenatural history of the locality for morethan half a century, f i r s t sketched the history of the site, showing how human activities over the yea r s have created suitable habitats for a wide variety of plant and animal life. The Plantation f rom

which the s i te takes i t s name was a mixed woodland, cut down in 1939-41 when the original t rees were about a century old. Since then the wood has been rejuvenating itself by suckers and seedlings with varying success. Birch i s now in the ascendant, because i t s seedlings a r e not attractive to rabbits, nevertheless there a r e one o r two good beeches and some ash.

This wood was until recently the home of a vigour- ous Badger colony, which was exterminated by vandals in the spring of 1963. By the entrance of the empty setts, two dead elder bushes showed where they had originally been barked by the Badgers to a height of about two feet f r om the &ound. when M r Fordham lat- e r d i s ~ l a v e d some objects of natural history interest he z ,

had collected in the neighbourhood, these included a Badger 's skull and a wasp 's nest dug out by a Badger. The only mammal found during the afternoon was the corpse of a smal l shrew.

At the north end of the plantation the upper soil i s gravelly, with glacial deposits. Although the best of the gravelhas long since been worked out, anotable depos- i t was pointed out by Mr Pordham, - a large lump of Basalt, probably f rom Whin Sill i n Northumberland, ca r r ied down during the grea t Ice Age.

Throughout the s i te the underlying .rock i s chalk, whichis being extensively worked i n a large pit. Where the covering of top soil i s only light, the t r e e s have made little headway, though the chalk-loving Wayfaring Tree, (Viburnum lantana) and Trave l le r ' s Joy a- atis vitalba) a r e abundant. The small patches of open

grassland were bright with character is t ic chalk flow- e rs , notably the yellow Ladies F ingers (Anthyllis vul- nerar ia) , deep blue Milkwort ( P o l ~ g a l a vulgaris) and one patchof the blue Milk Vetch, (Astragalus danicus). Basi l Thyme (Acinos arvensis), with i t s aromatic leaf was moderately plentiful, inplaces bearing a pure white flower instead of the usual blue-purple. Four kinds of chalk-loving orchids were found, of which the eas ies t

to spot were the rose-coloured heads of the Pyramidal Orchis, (Anacamptis pyramidalis). The best orchid find of the afternoon was at the edge of the woodland, bordering on a recently ploughed-up ride. Here the Broad-leaved Helleborine (Epipcactis helleborine) was growing i n strength, and though i t was a little ear ly in the season, a few open flowers displayed their sombre green and purple colouring.

Where the topsoil and loose chalk had been pushed into heaps by the chalk workings, Viper 's Bugloss (Echium v n ) had rapidly colonised and was i n full and splendid flower, associated with patches ofwild thyme, apparently thriving on neat chalk. While the l e s s e r mor ta l s admired this gorgeous display of blue and purple against white, of a striking vividness which one expects to see on Swiss coloured photographs but hardly in one ' s own country, the experts threw themselves uponthe thyme, to see who should be the f i r s t to discover the r a r e r of the two species present - Thymus serpyllum. In this context theHon. Editor beatthe Hon. Asst . Secretary by a few seconds, M r Pa lmer adjud- icating. :"fter these excitements the party, which had mvsteriouslv increasedinnumber during the afternoon. - reassembled at the base of the pits, where Mr Fordham and members of h i s family had got a bonfire burning and kettles boiling and t reated everyone to a mos t enjoyable picnic tea. The party was thus doubly indebted to M r Fordham fo r a most memorable afternoon.

*When the Thymus was shown to P ro f . C. D. Pigott the following week, he determined it a l l a s T.drucei!.

Saturday, 25th July. Annual Excurs ion to Wicken Fen k 5 )

A group of about 15 m e m b e r s enjoyed a pleasant c r u i s e along the waterways of the F e R under the lead- ershipof the WardenNaturalist Col. Mitchell. Hebegan by giving a n outline his tory of the fen. A warm s u m y afternoon brought out a variety of insect life, and f r o m the boats the bankswereclosely scanned f o r interesting plants. B i rds were on the whole quiet, though a large flock of duck was seen over the m e r e .

The f i r s t landing was made to s e e the la tes t meas - u r e s taken to c lea r bush growth. This is the work of pa r t i e s of the training ship "Ganges", who have been making weekend vis i ts during this s u m m e r . A fu r the r

c ru i se took the pa r ty to see the l a rge r e e d bed on the edgeof the fen. An interesting example ofheavy equipment working onfen maintenance was seen in the use of anexcavator f o r cleaning out a long neglected and overgrown lode.

I t was disappointing to s e e no Swallowtails, but the re s e e m t o be none left on the fen this year . In addition, the domestic stock f r o m which the Zoology Dep- a r tment h a s fo r severa l y e a r s replenished the f e n population h a s a l so diedout. F r e s h s t eps a r e therefore to be taken if Wicken is to have i t s ownspecial symbol once m o r e .

Saturday, 22nd August. Welch's Dam (21)

The August excursion took place i n ideal weather on Saturday; the 2Znd a t Welch's Dam, where 21 mem- b e r s under the guidance of M r J. M. Way of the Nature Conservancy explored the different habitats around the Delph River and the Old Bedford Level.

M r Way f i r s t showed ade ta i l edmap ofthe a r e a and explained the complicated his tory of the drainage of the F e n s wi tha detailed account of the development of peat on the boulder clay s i l t s . Much of the Washland h a s never been cultivated and par t icular attention w a s drawn to the variety of plant communities to be found here .

The d r y banks w e r e f i r s t explored where a number of th is t les and Ragwort were abundant, and then a walk was taken along the r ive r banks where attention was drawn to the t rue Bullrush, (Scirpus lacustris) , and the false, Typha latifolia. Bordering the r i v e r s were B u r -

27

marigold LBidens cernua), Loosestrife (Lythrum sali- caria), the Flowering rush (Butomus umbellatus), and Skullcap (Scutellaria galericulata). In the water the Fringed Yellow waterlily (Nymphoides peltata) was flowering abundantly. In Cambridgeshire this plant i s confined tothe Fenlands andi t was this plant which was depicted on the 113 stamp issued recentlyto commem- orate the X International Botanical Congress. N m h - aides i s a relative of the Bogbean, but a r e a l water lily, Nuphar lutea, was also present.

During tea, taken on a d ry bank, an enormous specimen of Puff ball measuring 23" across was exhib- ited and photographed. Afterwards the most interesting par t of the a r e a was visited. This i s a low-lying a r ea of ma r sh lying to the S.W. of the Dam, where the Glaucous Bullrush (Scirpus tabernaemontani), i s dom- inant, andit i s he r e that those members who hadbrought their wellingtons were able to see the large flowers of theGreater Spearwort, a plantnow very r a r e i n Cambs, and also the very r a r e Stellaria palustr is with beautiful glaucous leaves. This plant was las t seen i n the county i n 1909 and was only discovered he r e in the autumn of las t year .

Lastly the 40ft. drain was investigated for a num- be r of Pondweeds and Bladderwort and the unusual sedge Eleocharis acicularis was found in flower.

There was hardly a moment in the afternoon when there were not Sand Martins wheeling overhead. I t has recently been learnt with thehelp of radar screens that the Washlands a r e the biggest collecting point for these b i rds p r io r to their southern migration.

Members were very grateful to Mr Way for the extremely interesting afternoon and the opportunity to see one of the r ichest a r ea s for water loving plants i n the county.

Saturday. 5th September. Hinxton Ha11 (34)

On Saturday 34 members viaited Hinxton Hall grounds, owned by Tube Investments Ltd. , and were mos t graciously guided and entertained by M r . and Mrs . Davison.

Thegrounds provided an unexpectedly r ich variety of t r e e s and plants; t r e e s of Tulip T r e e , Sequoia and Evergreen Oak w e r e par t icular ly good, and a grove of well-grown Hornbeam was of special in teres t a s being a ra the r uncommon t r e e in tbe county. The l ist of plant species recorded included Water Milfoil and Hornwort f r o m the ponds and a ra the r r a r e g r a s s Calamag- ros t i s epigeios.

Two Pied F lyca tchers hawking insects n e a r the ponds were certainly on passage and i t was interesting to compare them with the numerous resident Spotted Flycatchers . Other b i rds seen were l e s s spectacular, but included a L e s s e r Whitethroat and severa l Willow Warblers . Several roosting excavations madeby T r e e - c r e e p e r s i n the Sequoias w e r e also found.

The P a r k and Hall, together with the newer Lab- orator ies , provided a mos t pleasant setting on a quiet afternoon fo r a n enjoyable excursion.

Saturday. 3rd October. Fungus Foray in Hayley Wood. (70)

Nearly seventy m e m b e r s and f r iends attended the annual fungus foray which this y e a r was held i n the T r u s t ' s own proper ty ofHayley Wood. M r E. H. Corner , who led the expedition, was not hopeful of finding any fungi af ter the d r y summer , but immediately on enter- ing the wood one of the par ty discovered the Vegetable Beefsteak fungus (Fistulina hepatica)growing onanoak. Eventually over twenty different species were discovered. Nearly a l l these were of .ne species that grow on t rees , such a s Pleurotus cornucopiae, which grows on e lms , and Daedalea quercina, which grows on oaks, and s e v e r a l children, (of a l l ages ) climbed t r e e s in s e a r c h o f m o r e species. As was expected, a l l the ground fungi had become desiccated, some of them to the extentof being unidentifiable, s o that the exact number of spec- i e s discovered is uncertain. One of the m o s t notable discover ies of the day was the uncommon Sis tot roma confluens.

As in previous years , Miss Gingell had kindly offered a p r i ze fo r the bes t collection of fungi made by a schoolchild. Not many children entered fo r this, and eventually only five en t r i e s were submitted to M r Corner and M r W . H . P a l m e r to be judged. The p r ize ( a copy of Watching Wild Life by Daniel Stephens) was awarded toa joint effortby Geoffrey and Julia Sturgess . Their collection consisted of twelve, o r possibly th i r - teen, species including the Giant Puff Ball, Lvcoperdon perlatum.

Although the fungi were the main abject of attention, m e m b e r s w e r e pleased to see Centaurium pulch- ellum s t i l l in flower. This, unlike the comqoncen taury , . - is comparatively r a r e l y found inland, and i s not known to occur in m o r e than three o r four places in th is county. M r A. E. Vine noted the fiftieth species of b i rd found in Hayley Wood - a dead Heron, whose presence the re was perplexing.

PRELIMINARY LIST

of

THE BIRDS O F HAYLEY WOOD

A. E , VINE

Forty vis i ts have been made to the wood by the wr i t e r in the l a s t three y e a r s , over thirty of them in 1964. Unfortunately only e igh tv i s i t swere between April and August and only two of these in May o r June, so that the breeding b i r d s a r e not a t a l l xvell known. Very few other persons appear to have kept notes of thei r visits and the published ornithological l i tera ture i s a lmost non-existent. A quick check through the Cambridge B i r d Reports back to 1927 revealed only one direct r e f - e rence to the wood, in 1931. Hence this l ist can only be regarded a s preliminary, much of i t being r a t h e r speculative, but it i s hoped that i t r i l l lead to some m o r e intensive work in the future.

It was difficult to decide whether cer ta in species should be excluded f r o m the l i s t mere ly because they had no obvious connection with the wood. F o r example a Swallow (Hirundo rust ica) flying over might well be feeding on insects that had r i s e n f r o m the wood. Con- sequently everything seen above o r immediately adjacent to the wood h a s been included; the additional to ta l of non-woodland b i r d s is quite small .

The Hayley Wood 1i.t therefore s tands a t 62 species. Of these approximately 42 b r e e d o r probably b reed i n the wood and a r e marked with a "B" in the l i s t .

Heron. (Ardea c inerea) The remains of a dead b i rd w e r e found in the vrood on Oct. 3rd, 1964. I t had been dead 1-2 weeks a t the most, but it is difficult to know how it came to be there, a s the n e a r e s t heronry o r feeding grounds a r e some mi les away.

B. Mallard. (Anas platyrhynchos) In 1963 C. D. Pigott found a nest in a s m a l l pond in the nor th pa r t of the wood, and on May 18th 1964 I flushed a b i r d off a smal l pond adjacent to Hayley Lane. The n e a r e s t large con- centrations occur a t Kingston Wood F a r m to the east , and a t Hatley P a r k to the south-west, and i t s e e m s likely that b i rds f r o m ei ther of these locali t ies may somet imes attempt to nest .

Kobby. (Falco subbuteo) was seen f o r 2 -3 minutes a t the cen t ra l clearing on Sept. 24th 1964. Several b i rds w e r e seen i n various places in Camhs. in the s u m m e r of 1964 and the species may have nested somewhere, but not a t Hayley Wood, since i t had not been seen on any other visit.

Kestre l . One hunting over the field to the west on Oct. 9th 1964.

Red-legged Par t r idge .

(Alectoris rufa) I Occasionally recorded Par t r idge . in adjacent f ie lds .

(Perd ix pe rd i r )

B. Pheasant. (Phasianus colchicus) Mainly recorded during the shooting season. Smal l numbers come in to roost nightly and some remain a l l day in the compar- ative secur i ty of the wood.

B. Moorhen. (Gallinula chloropus) In 1964 a pa i r nes ted at the pond, the off duty bi rd feeding a t a smal l pond nearby.

Lapwing. (Vanellus vanellus) Flocks feed regular ly on adjacent fields during the winter.

Golden Plover . (Charadr ius apr icar ius) One over Hay- ley Lane on Sept. 30 1964.

B. Woodcock. (Scolopax rust icola) On severa l occasions i n late Feb. 1964, 2 - 3 w e r e seen roding by J. Sturgess and myself, and it h a s been recorded i n Oct. 1962 and Dec. 1964. T h e r e is a record of 2 in late Feb. 1931 (D. Lack), and in 1934 it was discovered that it had once nested "6-7 y e a r s ago i n a f i r wood a t Hat- ley Wilds", which mus t have been close to Hayley Wood. In view of the roding b i r d s it is likely that a few p a i r s nested annually.

Black-headed Gull. (Larus ridibundus) Has been seen in winter feeding n e a r by o r flying over: the Common Gull (Larus canus) probably occurs also.

B. Wood Piaeon. (Columba palurnbus) Certainly the commonest bird, both nesting andinwinter . No attempt h a s been made to es t imate numbers breeding, but in winter regularly up to 200 o r 300 roost in the wood, although a t some periods numbers may be lower. A poisoned bird was found on Nov. 10th 1964.

Turt le Dove. (Stretopelia tu r tu r ) One on June 1st 1963.

5 . Cuckoo. (Cuculus canorus) A maximum of 3 m a l e s recorded in June 1963 and Apr. -May 1964.

B . Litt le Owl. (Athena noctua)Young heard i n t r e e s a t the Hatley Wilds side of the wood in July 1962; also recorded by Hayley Lane i n Sept. 1964.

B. Tawny Owl. (Strix aluco) one o r two heard o r seen onmos t visits through the year , perhaps involving 3 o r o r even 4 pairs. They have been found in ivy-covered t r e e s .

B. Green Woodpecker. (Picus viridis) Probably one pa i r breeds , since i t i s f a i r ly often recorded.

B. Grea t Spotted Woodpecker. (Dendrocopos major ) Probably one p a i r breeds, but i t i s r ecordedmore often than the l a s t species , so that the re could be two pa i r s .

B . L e s s e r Spotted Woodpecker. (Dendrocopos minor) Singles recorded in May (E. M. Nicholson & P . D. Sell), Sept. and Oct. 1964, so that they may nest.

Skylark. (Alauda arvensis) Regular in a r e a , especially in Oct. when passage birds often fly over the wood.

Swallow. (Hirundo rust ica) Occasionally seen flying over.

B . Car r ion Crow. (Corvus corone corone) 1-5 b i rds often recorded, involving e i ther 1 o r 2 pa i r s that doubtless breed in o r c lose to the wood.

Rook. (Corvus fringilegus) There i s no rookery in the - wood, hut b i r d s feed regularly in the a r e a and come into t h i wood, especially in the winter months. There IS a winter roos t i n a wood t mile towards Long Stowe,

which had a population of 5. 000 o r 10. 000 (including Jackdaws) in Oct. 1964.

B. Jackdaw. (Corvus monedula) Up to 20 p a i r s evid- e.rtly nest in the wood and birds .are regular ly seen a t a l l t imes, especially with Rooks i n winter.

8. (Garrulus glandarius) F a r m o r e often heard than seen, but r ecorded i n two o r th ree part. of the wood on a lmost every visit , perhaps indicating 4 o r 5 pa i r s .

B. Grea t Tit . ( P a r u s major ) 4 o r 5 seen on a lmost every visit.

B. Blue Tit. ( P a r u s caeruleus) 10-20 s e e n on mos t v is i ts , with l a r g e r numbers in the winter. Like the Grea t Tit, probably b reeds in mos t p a r t s of the wood.

Coal Tit . ( P a r u s a t e r ) 1 o r 2 on Nov. 4th 1964 i s my only record, although one member of the International F o r e s t School Camp work par ty thought h e saw one on Sept. 11th.

B. M a r s h Tit . ( P a r u s palust r is ) 1 -5 on m o s t v is i ts through tbe year , with a maximum of 15 on Sept. 9th 1964, when many b i r d s were visiting the pond to drink during a dry spell . Poss ibly slightly m o r e numerous than the Grea t Tit .

B. Willow Ti t . ( P a r u s atricapillus) In 1964 1-2 on Feh. l s t , Oct. 1s t and 5th, and up to 6 on Sept. 9th. F u r t h e r observat ionsmay also show that a p a i r n e s t s in the wood. Very few locali t ies a r e known in Cambs . , par t icular ly i n the south of the county.

B. Long-tailed Tit . (Aegithalos caudatus) Several pa r t i e s regular ly recorded on every visit in the winter months and the few s u m m e r records indicate that i t doubtless b reeds in the wood.

B . T r e e c r e e p e r (Cer thia famil iar is) 1-2 recorded on a lmost every visit throughout the year , with a maxi- m u m of 8 on Sept. 9th 1964.

B. Wren. (Troglodytes troglodytes) 1-2 on almost every visit throughout the year , with a maximum of 6 on Sept. 9th 1964. No evidence of any decrease due to the cold 1963 winter such a s i s recorded e lsewhere in the county. 3 3

B . Mistle Thrush. (Turdus i-iscixorus) Onc pair app- e a r s to nes t in the wood.

Fie ldfare . (Turdus pi lar is) In Oct. -No". 1962 up to 20 in the vicinity of the wood.

B. Song Thrush. (Turdus er icetorum) Afew p a i r s n e s t in the wood, but much l e s s common thanthe Blackbird.

Redwing. (Turdus musicus) 1-2 invicinity in Oct. -Nav. 1962 and 1964.

B. Blackbird. (Turdus meru la ) Nests commonly and present throughout the year .

B. Robin. (Erithacus rubecula)3-4 recorded on every visit throughout the year.

B. Blackcap. (Sylvia atricapilla) 4 singing on June 1st 1963 and 6 on May 18th 1964.

B. Garden Warbler . (Sylvia borin) 1 singing on June 1s t 1963.

B. Whitethroat. (Sylvia communis) 4 singing on June 1st . 1963 and 3 on May 18th 1964.

L e s s e r Whitethroat. (Sylvia curruca) 1 singing on May 18th 1964 in Hayley Lane. B. Willow Warbler. (Phylloscopus trochilus) 10 singing on June 1st 1963 and i n 1964, 1 on Apr. 12th, increasing to 11 on May 18th.

B. Chiffchaff. (Phylloscopus collybita) 1 singing on June 1 s t 1963 and 1 on Apr. 19th 1964, with a la te passage b i r d on Oct. 3rd.

Goldcrest . (Regulus regulus) 1-3 regular ly on every visit f r o m Sept. 30th to Oct. 22nd 1964.

B, Spotted Flycatcher. (Muscicapa s t r ia ta) Apparent- ly nested a t the pond clearing in 1962 and 1963. Otherwise only 2 (passage) b i r d s on Sept. 9th 1964 a t the f i r s t a c r e clearing.

B. Hedge Sparrow. (Prunella modularis) 1-2 p a i r s probably nest; occurs a t other t imes, but not regular ly 8een.

Meadow Pipit. (Anthus ~ r a t e n a i s ) One flew over on Oct. 5th 1964.

Pied Wagtail. (Motacilla alba yarre l l i ) One flew through the f i r s t a c r e clearing on Oct. 3rd 1964.

34

B. Starling. (Sturnus vulgar is) P e r h a p s 15-20 pa i r s nes t in holes in t r e e s . Otherwise a few often seen and l a r g e f locks p a s s over to various nearby roosts in winter.

B. Greenfinch. (Chlor is chlor is) 1-2 i n Sept. -0c t . 1962 and 1964 and a l so in Apr . -May 1964. s o that i t probably nests.

B. Goldfinch. (Carduelis carduel is) One on May 18th 1964 m a y have been nesting; otherwise 1-2 in Sept., Oct. and Nov. months.

B. M. (Carduelis cannabina) 1-2 p a i r s probably n e s t and 1-2 otcasionally seen i n winter.

Redpoll. (Carduelis f lammea) Singles twice in April (? nesting) and Oct. 22nd 1964.

B. Bullfinch. (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) Several p a i r s nest and recorded on a lmost every visit, with a maximum of 26 on Sept. 9th 1964.

B . Chaffinch. (Fr ingi l la coelebs) A maximum of 9 singing males heard during the s u m m e r and a few b i r d s p resen t at m o s t o ther t imes .

B. Yellowhammer. (Ember iza c i t r inel la) A few pa i r s appear to nest along the edges of the wood, where i t may be seen a t any t ime of the year .

Corn Buntina. (Emberiza calandra) 5 flew over the cen t re on Nov. 3rd 1964.

B. House Sparrow. ( p a s s e r domesticus) B i r d s come into roost a t severa l p laces at the edges of the wood, and some of those doing s o i n the breeding season app- e a r to be nesting in the bushes.

B. T r e e Sparrow. ( P a s s e r montanus) 1-2 p a i r s evidently nes t and i t i s occasionally seen a t o ther t imes .

Note: Names according to the Br i t i sh Ornithologists - Union Check Lis t of the B i r d s of G r e a t Br i t a in and Ireland, London. 1942.

PRELIMINARY LIST of

THE MAMMALS O F HAYLEY WOOD

A. E. Vine

The r e m a r k s concerning vis i ts made f o r b i rds apply equally to m a m m a l s and no published references a r e known. Mammals a r e of course m o r e difficult to observe than birds . As ye t no trapping h a s been done, so that nothing i s known of the smal l -mammal population. These notes a r e therefore extremely s p a r s e and the gaps a r e obvious, together with the need f o r m o r e work.

Mole. (Talpa europaea) Their runs have regularly been seen a l l over the wood. During the 1964 d r y spel l they w e r e especially active around the pond, but severa l w e r e l a t e r found dead.

Shrew sp. ? (Sorex)4 heard n e a r entrance onSept. 29th and one n e a r pond on Oct. 1s t and 5th 1964.

Rabbit. (Oryctalagus cuniculus) Mainly confined to the - boundary ditch in the west and some on the boundary i n the eas t , A maximum of 50-60 was seen on Aug.25th 1964, although l a r g e r numbers were sa id to be present . Numbers were thought to be lower in 1962 and 1963 before Mr. Cox had c leared some hedgerows on h i s f ie lds to the west, when they appeared to move to the

wood. M r . Jakes was employed to control them and numbers appear to have been much reduced. Survivors a r e mainly living above ground wherever cover is available and within 50 yds. of the edge of the wood, but odd animals have even been seen a t the centre .

Hare . ( ~ e p u s europaeus) Occasionally seen well into - the wood.

Grey Squirrel . (Sciurus carolinensis) 2-3 seen on every visit f r o m Aug. to Nov, and they evidently completely c l e a r the hazel-nut crop with the aid of Jays etc.

Fox. (Vulpes wipes) A vixen heard on Feb. 5th 1964. - I t i s not known what the Hunt found on their only draw, on Oct. 7th. One was seen by F .H. P e r r i n g on Oct. 24th

Badger. (Meles meles ) Distinct t racks found in Hayley Lane on May 18th 1964. One was found near the gate- house 2 o r 3 y e a r s ago (Mr. Cooper). There used to be a sett i n a n overgrown hedgerow $ mile to the west until 10 years ago, when the hedge was reduced in width, and another mile to the west in the woodlandknown a s the Swamps, but this was reclaimed a few y e a r s ago and i s now arable . The n e a r e s t known se t t s a r e at Long Stowe and Hatley and fo rmer ly a t Arringtan.

Muntjac. (Muntiacus muntjak) S.R. Payne flushed one in the wood in 1961 and I heard one barking at the west edge on July 8th 1962. J .Sturgess and others believe they have seen them in the wood, although there could possibly have been confusion with fawns of the Fallow Deer . One o r two are occasionally seen in Hatley P a r k with the Fallow Deer and one was once seen on fields about a mile to the west. It therefore seems possible that they visit tbe wood occasionally every y e a r .

Fa:low Deer . (Dama dama) The pride of the wood. Est imates of numbers f r o m quite a lot of different ob- s e r v e r s a r e conflicting, varying between 20 and 40, but there i s undoubtedly a herd that wanders between Pott- on Wood, Hatley P a r k andHayley Wood and inthe s u r r - ounding country. These appear to haveoriginated f r o m

Waresley Park , f r o m which they escaped whenthe fen- ces wereneglected during the war . Notmore than 15-20 have been seen together atHayley Wood, and a tany one time there may be none o r only 6 o r 7 present . There a r e numerous t r a i l s a l l over the wood and stamping grounds, r ings and rubbed t r e e s in severa l places. F rayed branches a r e especially noticeable in the Oct. - Nov. rut . During the dry Aug.-Sept. of 1964 the pond was frequently visited. One o r two white animals and one o r two black o r dark brown have often been seen, a s well a s those of the usual fawn colour. The ant lers a r e of course lacking between May and July, and the younger animals do not have them fully developed until their sixth year .

REPTILES

G r a s s Snake. (Natrix natr ix)In 1964 seen bythe wr i t e r nea r entrance on Aug. 25th and by the International F o r e s t School Camp party n e a r the pond on Sept. 1 l t h and 14th, ( three individuals in all).

MORDEN GRANGE PLANTATION

W.H. Fordham

The Wood, formerly called Morden Heath Plant- ation, was planted af ter the Pa r i sh enclosure of 1807.

I t i s a strip of woodland a m i l e long on high ground three quarters of ami l e north-east of Ashwelland Mor- den Station. The highest part, just over 250' 0. D., i s a t the Northern end overlooking the Cam Valley, with the Gatley Springs, 142' 0. D., on Ashwell Street seven hundred yards away.

The soilia ave ry thinbrown loamon Middle Chalk.

Vancouver's account of the southern par t of Steeple Morden Pa r i sh in "The General View of the Agriculture of the County of Cambridge" of 1794 is illuminating. "South of the village, the soil i s of a thin, d ry nature, upon a chalk and gravel, applicable to the culture of barley, oats, rye, peas, tares , cinquefoil, trefoiland

turnips; i t amounts to about fifteen hundred acres , and i s rented at five shillings per ac re . The ploughed land immediately adjoining Odyssey andincludedinthe above i s generally valued at one shilling per ac re . The Heath binding thereon, which l ies a s a sheep walk, contains about three hundred acres, but to which no specific value i s annexed".

Vancouver s eems to have thought that there was a considerable a r eao f gravel a t the south end of the parish. Actually glacial gravel with a little clay only occ- u r e i n small patches on the high ground. One of these patches is at the northern end of the plantation.

The gravel was worked out before the t r e e s were planted and little i s now lef t of the glacial beds except scatteredbouldersof Jurass ic Sandstone, onelarge and severa l small blocks of Basalt, resembling the Whin Sill, apatch of clay at the Western edge of thewood, and many hollows f rom which the gravel was dug.

In the Enclosure Award, of 1807, 893 ac r e s including the Heath were grantedto Lord Hardwick, with the exception of a gravel pit of one ac r e on the high ground and a stone pit of half a n ac re in the chalk pit, which were allotted to the Par i sh .

Baker ' s 1" map of Cambridgeshire, published in 1821, shows t h r e e groups of t r e e s along the ridge, one of them near the gravel pit.

The l " 0 . S. mapof 1834 shows the woodini ts p re - sent fo rm with the name Morden Plantations.

The 25"map of 1877 has a cottage a t the N. E . C o r - n e r of the Wood, cal ls i t the Morden Heath Plantation and gives the ac reage a s 43. 072. On l a t e r maps i t became the Morden Grange Plantation.

The th ree original groups of t r e e s consisted of spruce, which grew remarkably well and were a dom-

inant feature of the wood. The l a te r plantings were Scots pine, beech, ash, sycamore, and birch, with a few chestnut, hornbeam, and maple.

An L-shaped plantatian was added to the original wood,atthe south-east corner , soon a f t e r 1900. It con- s is ted of spruce with a few ash and sycamore.

There was no ground cover within living memory in the"0ld Wood", and by 1939 the "New Wood", where no thinning had been done, consisted of close-grown t r e e s and was rendered impenetrable by hawthorn and brambles .

Ear ly in the war a landing gr0un.l was taken into use North of Ashwell Street, between Steeple Morden and Litlington. The plantation on the high ground to the south was found to be a danger to planes and s o was cut down. The keeper ' s cottage at the nor th-east c o r - ne r was demolished and felling s tar ted in the ear ly winter of 1939 and was completed by 1942, a few beech t r e e s being left nea r the "New Wood". The t imber

and firewood were removed andthe place lef t to i tself . Shoots soon grew up f r o m the stumps of the deciduous ' trees and these produced seeds within a few years . An ae r ia l photograph of June 1947 showed scat tered t r e e s over the nor thern pa r t of the plantation with a cover of vegetation elsewhere. By 1952 many t r e e s were ten feet high.

A li t t le l a t e r the pa r t of the "New Wood" along the road to the f a r m was c leared of stumps and taken back into cultivation.

The positions of the Guilden Morden, Steeple Morden, andLitlington P a r i s h p i t s a r e shown onthe plan. These pi ts a r e under the protection of the Trus t .

There i s a Public Path through the Station Yard to the narrow par t of the Plantation: then i t leads through the Wood tothe site of the KeeperlsCottage. I t i s joined near t hecha lk Workings by a patch f rom the Morden Road.

Springs and Wells a r e shown thus : 0

Rabbits, which were reduced to a lmost nothing in the war years , soon re-appeared and i n the bitterly cold spel l of January and February 1954 barked a l l the hawthorns and many of the saplings s a t h a t open spaces were formed and, on the poorer land, only birch s u r - vived. After the disappearance of the rabbit ear ly in 1955 the \\ood began to take on i t s present form, with

Rose Bay Willow-herb and brambles filling the open spaces and pr ivet flourishing loc~.lly.

Within the l a s t yea r o r two rabbits increased to an alarming extent and in the hope of being able to control them large r ides were cut in the ear ly winter of 1963 with the help of a scrub-clearance grant. The rides in the nor thern half of the \.:ood were bulldozed and then cultivated, while in the southern half the t r e e s w e r e cut a t ground level and g r a s s and suckers flourished. The growth was so exuberant that severalof the r ideswere sprayed in the s u m m e r of 1964.

Some y e a r s ago seven acres ofthe "Old Wood" and about half what was left of the "New Wood" near the Old Beech t r e e s were fenced off, and cattle f r o m the adjoining g r a s s field le t into the wood. The g r a s s field has now been ploughed and cattle no longer r o a m about

among the t r ees . The net resul t seems to he a luxur- iant growth of rough g r a s s and ragwort in the open spaces, and a reduction in the number of orchids .

In 1947 the Melbourne Whiting Company obtained p lann~ng permiss ion to dig chalk over an a r e a of seven ac,res adjoining the existing pxt. A chalk-pulverising planthas been placedinthe oldpit and w o r k i s proceed- ing on aconsiderable scale. Soil and subsoil have been removed over quite a large a r e a and dumped outside the seven a c r e s in i r r egu la r mounds. On these vegetation grows freely, and in one place many mushrooms and fungi were found in September after the wet August of 1963. Mushrooms were again plentiful in the same place in the wet June of 1964.

While the plant i s in use dust escapes continually and covers everything over quite .I large a r e a with a white fi lm. This washes off wr.en i t ra ins , and does not appear to damage vegetation.

Air ~ h o t o g r a p h s ha. e showna number of ploughed- down t u m u l ~ between the plant,tlon and the Ickmeld V'ay, ~ n d w h e n the wood was c leared two sm?l l mounds were

41

not icednear the keeper ' s cottage and two near the south- e r n end. Now that t r e e s have grownup they a r e hard to find, but they may be worth opening some day.

No systematic work h a s been done on the b i rds and mammals of the plantation, and the following notes a r e quite incomplete. The Old Woodwas a winter pigeon roos t fo r many y e a r s and the pigeons a r e beginning to roos t there again. In the New Wood a nesting colony was established soon af ter 1930, and by 1939 a t l eas t f ive hundred pa i r s of pigeons spent the s u m m e r there. Tawny Owls, Kestre ls , and Woodpeckers, used to he common, and Jackdaws and Stockdoves nestedin rabb- i t holes in the chalk pit.

About 1950 smal l b i rds became plentiful and Night- ingales and other warb le r s nested. Goldfinches a lso appeared.

Starlings have roosted i n the wood in enormous numbers f a r a few nights i n the late Autumn on severa l occasions.

Foxes have always been plentiful, with one o r two l i t t e r s each year . H a r e s and rabbits l ike the place. About ten y e a r s ago badgers appeared andmade se t t s in the gravel pit. I t i s doubtful if they will become permanently established, since the depth of t h e soi l above the solid chalk is so small . There was an influx ofGrey s q u i r r e l s just a s the Wood was being felled, and these moved on to Odsey and have not re turned.

Muntjac d e e r w e r e seen onthe outskir tsof the Wood i n 1963, and shrews have been picked up dead on s e v e r a l occasions.

F lo ra : During the pas t th i r ty y e a r s the Plantationhas often been visited by Letchworth naturalists, who have recorded m o r e than 200 species of plants found there . The following notes on the f lo ra have been compiled by Doris and H a r r y Meyer.

Besides the predominantly chalky soil, the smal l patches of clay and sand give a variety of habitats, with many species i n the woodland, scrub and open g r a s s - land which these soils support.

In 1933, when the old t r e e s were still standing and undergrowth was sparse , the following species were seen near the disused chalk pit - Spotted (Dactylorchis

42

fuchsii), Pyramidal (Anacamptis pyramidalis) , White Hclleborine (Cephalanthera damasonium) and F i r Rape (Monotropa hypopithyg). These,except F i r Rape, have a l l been seen in recent years , a s well a s Bee Orchis (Ophrys apifera).and Broad-leaved Helleborine -- actus helleborine). These appear most frequently in wet seasons, and w e r e particularly abundant in 1953 and 1964. Man Orchid (w anthropophorum) was not uncommon some fifty yea rs ago.

Clear-ground lef tby the war- t ime felling has been steadily encroached uponby rapidly developing scrub. Hawthorn and Pr ive t became abundant, and among other shrubs Wayfaring T r e e (Viburnumlantana) and Guelder Rose (V. opulus) a r e noteworthy. However, some down- land species s t i l l remain, especially south of the chalk workings. These include Harebell (Campanula ro tund- Ifolla), Clustered Bel l f loner , (Campanula glomeratal , Milkwort (Polygala vulgaris), Flax catharticum), Stemless and Car l ine Thistles (Cirs ium acaulon and Carl ina vulgaris) , and wild thyme (Thymus drucei, T. pulegioides and T . serpyllum - in 1922 - ) ; bordering the adjacent arable f i e ld i s Candytuft ( Iber is a m a r a ) and in 1953 Ground Pine U c h a m a e p i t y s ) was s t i l l seen. A single plant of Columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris) was notedin 1948 in the na r rowes tpar t of the Plantation. Its progeny flourished, and in the next ten y e a r s produced a large population spreading fo r severa l ya rds around; but a n increasingly dense growth of s c r u b h a s been smothering theplants andin 1964the a r e a was sprayed. A smal l plantaf gorse flowered nearbyin 1961 and p ro- duced severa l seedlings; these a r e now a l so in danger of extinction.

The most interesting find in recent y e a r s was in 1958; a smal l colony of Milkvetch (Astragalus d _ a d was discoveredonanundis turbed slope northof the chalk workings and this may be the rediscovery of Babing- ton's 1860 record - "plantations a t Odsey andsteeple Morden by Henry Fordham". This a r e a h a s since been kept c lea r of encroaching Clematis and P r i v e t and there h a s been some recent indication that this clearing work h a s allowed the colony to spread.

MORDEN GRANGE OR HEATH PLANTATION.

SkeYthPlan. Scale 3"- Imile . 0 yd I/+ Y: J/+ 1m.

I

THE LICHENS O F CAMBRIDGE WALLS

F. H. Brightman

The flowering plants that grow on walls in Cam- bridge have a t t racted attention since the ea r l i e s t days of in teres t in natural history. The bryophytes that gro,.: with themwere desc r ibed in a paper by Rishbeth (1948). The lichens, in spite of the fact that they a r e a s num- e rous in species a s the bryophytes and f r o m the point of view of a r e a covered m o r e abundant than any other plants, have been virtually ignored. In th is survey all the species of lichen that have been observed growing on walls in the city a r e mentioned, and some aspects of thei r ecology discussed. The nomenclature employed follows Watson's Census Catalogue (1953) in the main; where another name h a s been used, that given in the Census Catalogue i s indicated in brackets .

Drought and atmospheric pollution a r e inimical to l ichens. The climate of Cambridge may be said to be continental, a t l eas t by Bri t ish standards; the average annual ra infal l i s 552 m m . , and the Meyer precipit- ation / saturation deficit ra t io i s 105, the loweet in the Bri t ish I s l es . Thisno doubt accounts fo r the absence of the l a r g e r foliose and f rut icose lichens whose distrib- utionin Bri ta in i s r e s t r i c ted tothe north west and west. However, contrary to the consensus of local opinion, atmospheric pollution i n the city i s not negligible. The main source of pollution appears to be domestic heating appliances, which discharge into the a i r considerable quantities of soot and a lso sulphur dioxide. I t proved possible to brush 0.2 g. of soot f rom an a r e a of bark of 85 sq . c m . onthe branchof a y e w t r e e (Taxus baccata) growing near the University Library. The pH of this soot was 4 .0 . The ba rk of other t r e e s in the city had lower pH values than normal, e . g . , Ulmus p rocera 3 . 8 (5.4), Ti l ia platyphyllos 3. 2 (5. 6), Salix alba 3. 9 (5.1) (the f igures in brackets a r e the normal average pH values repor ted by Barkman (1958)).

It i s the sulphur dioxide in the smoke f r o m the coal f i r e s and oil burning hea te r s which i s toxic to plants. Various methods of measurement of the concentration of sulphur dioxide a r e available, but f r o m the present point of view the lead peroxide gauge i s the mos t useful. In th is instrument a specially prepared layer of lead peroxide i s exposed to the atmosphere, and the lead sulphate accumulating in it i s determined a t monthly intervals. Thus a monthly total of sulphur dioxide ab-

45

sorbed by a given a r ea of surface can be calculated, which has ag r ea t e r relevance f o r the effect of pollution o n a lichen than a se r ies of more o r l e s s instantaneous values ofthe concentration of sulphur dioxide inthe atmosphere obtained by the conventional gas analysis type of gauge. For a large conurbation such a s Greater London, where a sufficient number of gauges a r e i n use, i t i s possible to plot on amap a se r ies of isothions, o r l ines of equal pollution (the t e rm isothionwas suggested to me by A. Thorne). The data available a r e inadequate f o r this to be possible f o r Cambridge, but i t can be de- ducedthat the isothions would be closer together (i. e. , the pollution diminishes more rapidly towards the out- sk i r t s of the city) by a factor of about ten. Published f igures (D. S. I . R . , 1963) show that the absorption of sulphur dioxide by a lead peroxide gaugein the centre of the city averages 1.6 mg. SO3 1100 sq. cm. /day. This corresponds to the London isothion about 10 km. f rom the centre (Charing Cross) . One kilometre f rom thecambridge city centre thevalue falls to 0 .9 , cor re - sponding to the London isothion 20 km. f rom Charing Cross . Six kilometres f rom the centre the value i s

0.4, corresponding to some of the lowest values r e - corded anywhere, for instance, i n Torquay (values a s low a s 0 .2 have been measured, e . g . , at Haverford- west). Thus i t can be seenthat both climate and atmospheric pollution can be expected to limit the number of lichen species i n the city.

On the other hand, the many different kinds of building mater ia ls that have been used in Cambridge walls provide a range of substrata that encourages diversity in the lichen flora. Much of the building ha s been carr ied out in limestone, which has a pH of 7. 5. This type of wall in t ime comes to bear a particularly r ich lichen community. The pioneer species have a crustose habit, the plant body o r thallus being very thin and extremely closely applied to the surface of the stone; indeed, i t actually etches itself into the limestone, and appears to the superficial glance a s a me re stain. Verrucar ia viridula (brownish green; c lear green when wet) i s a good example of this; i t i s , for instance, the most abundant species on the parapet of the Silver Street bridge. Here, together with the only other two species - pregent- V. nigrescens (brownish black) and Candelariella vitellina (orange yellow) - i t covers ra ther l e s s than fifty percent ofthe surface a r ea of the stone. Another ear ly coloniser, but one requiring rather rougher surfaces, i s Lecanora dispersa. This

46

plant, which mus t be the commonest l ichen in Britain, h a s a thin inconspicuoun thallus covered with smal l densely crov:ded cup-shaped fruiting bodies (apathecia). It i s abundant in Cambridge on limestone - f o r instance, i t covers considerable areas of the wal ls of the Fi tz- will iam Museum, the re being in th is si tuation between 300 and 400 apothecia p e r sq. cm. It i s a l so abundant onconcrete and cement, where i t i s accompanied by the pale yellow Caloplaca citr ina, the orange yellow w- elarie l lavi te l l ina and C. aurel la (the thallus of the form-. e r consists of conspicuous granules, and apothecia a r e usually s c a r c e ; the la t ter has very smal l granules and always b e a r s many apothecia), and Rinodina demissa whichhas an inconspicuous thallus and black apothecia. Lecanora d i spersa i s even to be foundgrowing onoride scale on an i ron bridge in the grounds of St. John 's .

On older l imestone s t ructures , such a s Cla re br idge and St. John 's bridge, other c rus tose species f o r m a completely closed community. These include Lecanora campestr is (grey; brown apothecia), L a IBiatora) coarctata (greenish grey; apothecia reddish brown), Caloplaca (Placodium) erythrocarpa (bluish g rey ; apothecea orange red), Protoblastenia rupest r is ( thallus inconspicuous; apothecia minute, orange) and Placynthium nigrum (black, with a da rk blue tinge). Rather s c a r c e r a r e Lecanora 9 (grey, rough; apoth- ec ia conspicuous, shining black) and Aspicilia calcarea (grey shoa.ing white growth zones; apothecia greyish black). Various foliose species, in which the thallus i s a thicker, lobed and leaf-like s t ructure attached to the stone by thin threads (rhizoids) and eas i ly removed intact , say, by means of a penknife, overgrow the crust - ose species onlimestone that has remained undisturbed long enough. Examples a r e the orange species Xanthoria pa r ie t inaandx . aureola( the latter distinguished by the crowded outgrowths on the upper surface) , and Physcia ~ d s c e n d e n s (grey, with some e rec t lobes), P. orbicul- a r i s (grey, but green when wet), P. caes ia (ashy grey, with conspicuous powdery patches) and P. g r i s e a (brawn- i shgrey) . Other species which a r e a conspicuous feat - u r e of the climax community a r e squamulose ( o r sub- foliose), the thallus being thick and lobed, but very intimately appliedto the stone andnot removable intact. Examples a r e the orange species Caloplaca aurantia (P lacoo~umcal lop~smum) and C . (P!acod~urn) declplens (the l3:ter d~s r in r?u~shcd b\. thc sellow powclers ~ 3 t c h e s - . - onthe surface) . An additional species of in te res t which occurs on ledges on the walls of King's College Chapel

47

i s Candelariella (P1acodium)medians; this differs f r om other Candelariella species , which a r e granular , i n having an orbicular pale orange thallus which i s quite conspicuous.

At the other extreme, sandstone supports a very poor lichen f lora . In exposed situations i t i s very acid. Evidence ha s been presented elsewhere ( ~ r i ~ h t m a n , 1959) indicating that calcareous substrata ( inpart icular , asbestos roofing t i les) provide comparatively favourable lichen habitats in towns because of the i r power of neutralising sulphur dioxide. In s imilar situations the lowpH ( 3 . 5) of sandstone maybe attributed to i t s feeble buffering powers. As a substratum fo r l ichens it i s correspondingly unfavourable. The sandstone parapet of King's bridge i s colonised by only one lichen, the yellowish green crustose species Lecanora conizaeoides - a striking contrast with the other bridges - a c r o s s the Cam mentioned above. Elsewhere by the r iver , sandstone at soil level, which was thus exposed to the buffering effects of soil water, had a pH of 7. 0. I t was colonised by the crustose species Lecidea (Biatora) coarctata and the greyish green squamulose species Squamaria m u r a l i s .

Walls built o fb r i ck frequently display an interest- ingmosa ic of communities. The top surface, and ledges formed when a s i s frequently the case there i s a prot- ruding 'damp course ' of t i les o r header br icks , d ry ra ther slowly af ter r a i n and also may tend to accum- ulate a scanty humus deposit. Such situations a r e occupied by foliose species . Yellow hand made br icks and sof t red br icks (described fur ther below) support Xanthoria parietina and X. aureola. Sand faced red b r i ck s (see below) a r e colonised by various foliose spec ies and also Cladonia fimbriata, a species which consis ts of grey-green squamules bearing cup-shaped s t ruc tures (scyphi) on s lender stalks. Hypogymnia physodes (Parmel ia physodes)maybe found here . This g r ey species (distinguished f rom true Pa rme l i a species by the possessionof an internal cavity betweeni tsupper and lower surfaces) i s surpr is ingly r a r e i n Cambridge; i n the London a r e a i t is the f i r s t foliose lichen to app- e a r a s one t ravels outwards f rom the so-called 'lichen deser t ' i n the centre of the city. Pa rme l i a sulcata (grey, withanetwork of fine white l ines on the surface) , a lso r a r e in Cambridge (it i s second in the 'order of entry' in London) may be found here a s well. Another s ca r ce species i s Diploschistes scruposus [brownish grey, crustose) , found r a r e ly oversrowmg mosse s on

wall tops. The ba se s of walls, which a r e somewhat damper than the higher par t s , a r e frequently colonised by the bluish grey squamulose species Diploicia cane- scens. This species will tolerate slightly shaded situ- - ations, but on p a r t s of walls which a r e i n permanent shadow the only lichen found i s Leprar ia incana (L. aeruginosa) which consis ts of a loose grey-green pow- de r . It frequently overgrows mosses , and may be the lichen shown in the lower photograph on P l a t e 19 i n the paper by Rishbeth( l948l .The mor t a r community i s diff- e r en t f r o m those of the br icks themselves, andlike that of zoncrete. I t i s usually dominated hy Caloplaca cit- r ina; Caloplaca (Placodium) murorum (simila?, but

ra ther m o r e orange i n colour), Biatorella pruinosa (grey, very inconspicuous), and of course the ubiquitous Lecanora d i spersa a r e a lso typical. However, when the mor t a r i s par t icular ly soft and moist, Caloplaca suran t ia (and i t s var ie ty h-a, distinguished by i t s yellower, more convex lobes) and Caloplaca erythroc- -will grow on it , and spread to adjacent pa r t s of the hr ick which a r e presumably impregnated with l ime. In very wet ra ther shaded situations the gelatinous Coil- e m a c r i spum may r a r e l y be found.

Different kinds of hr ick have their character is t ic species . A yellow, hand made brick, with a smooth surface, supports when wet enough a n abundant growth of Lecidea (Biatora) lucida. This c rus tose species i s a n unmistakable shade of bright green-yellow, and will cover the whole exposed surface of the br ick. However, the water absorbing power of this type of br ick i s low (6%) and the lichen can only develop when due to local conditions the wall is more o r l e s s permanently sa tur - ated. The pH of these br icks i s 6 .6 . Another common type of br ick i s br ight red and very soft i n texture. They normally have a pH of 6.8, and their water ah- sorbing power is high (17-20%). Lecidea luc ida~grows onthem, hut they a r e so porous that they frequently become impregnated with l ime f r o m the mor t a r , and i t i s then replaced by Caloplaca citrina. The mos t favourable b r i ck fo r l ichens i s a sand-faced red br ick with a pH of 5. 8 and a water absorbing power of 12!'0. Calci- cole species a r e excluded, but the water content and surface texture encourage the growth of the l a rge r

spec ies such a s Cladonia f imbriata and the various Physcia species. The crustose spacies Lecanosa sulphurea (greenish grey) and Ochrolechia parel la (grey, ridged, sough and granular) mav a l s o be found he r e . Finally, a dull red stock br ick with a ra ther low

49

pII ( 6 . 0) and a low water absorbing power (9"1) i s ro l - oniscd br Lcc;tnorn conizneoides only. Th i s species h a s been caller1 polcophilous (toucn-loving) by E r i c h s e n (1929); i t i s cer ta inly cs t remely tolerant of a tmospher ic pollution, and in I re land, where i t i s a t the l imit of i t s range, i t s e e m s to be confined to towns (Brightman, 1964). It i s ubiquitous i n Cambridge on sufficiently m o i s t and acid substra ta , on walls, roofs and the b a r k s of t r e e s .

REFERENCES

Barkman, J. J . (1958). Phytosociology and Ecology of Cryptogamic Epiphytes. Assen, Nether lands .

Brightman, F . H . (1959). Some F a c t o r s Affecting Lichen Growtb in Towns: Lichenologist, 1, 104-108.

Brightman, F . H . (1964) The Distribution of Lecanora conizaeoides i n North I re land. I r i s h Na tura l i s t s ' Journal , 14, 258-262.

D. S. I. R . (1963). The Investigation of Atmospher ic Pollution: Tables of Observation. Stevenage.

I7ishbeth.J. (1 948). The F l o r a of Cambridge Walls. J.Ecol., 36, 136.148.

Watson, W. (1953). Census Catalogue of B r i t i s h Lichens . London.

THE BADGER IN CAMBRIDGESHIRE

A. E. Vine

At the beginning of 1964 the T r u s t ' s to ta l knowledge of the distribution of the badger in Cambs . was r e - s t r i c t ed to two o r t h r e e locali t ies i n the Barr ington a r e a and the south-west of the county. The Mammal Society was organis ing a nationwide su rvey and I agreed to do this for the county. Work commenced a t the end of May and a field meeting on June 7th showed that s e v e r a l pe r sons knew m o r e about the badger than had previously been suspected - cer ta inly m o r e thanIknew a t that t ime. M r . A. F. O'Sullivan gave considerable ass i s t ance in the Bar r ing ton a r e a . M r . 0. Rackham completed enquiry f o r m s both for t h r e e se t t s in the s a m e a r e a and f o r t h r e e se t t s which h e had found e l s e - where i n the county, and M r . J. S tu rgess maintained a regu la r watch a t a group of se t t s in the south-west of the county. Init ial information was a l s o given by a number of o the r pe r sons , including G. Crompton. J. C . Faulkner , W . E . H . Fiddian, K. Norman, and

D r . J. Smar t , each of whom knew of a se t t o r o ther r e c o r d . In August and September I t r ave l l ed many hundreds of m i l e s to m o s t p a r t s of the county and r e - ceived invaluable ass i s t ance f r o m numerous landown- e r s , gamekeepers , and o the rs , tocomple te the survey.

The national o r g a n i s e r s var iously define a se t t a s a s e r i e s of interconnected tunnels o r a s being inhabited by a pa r t i cu la r group of animals , but i t i s not always easjr to be p r e c i s e about this. However, in terpret ing the ruling a s careful ly a s possible, the re were 46 se t t s occupied in Cambs . in 1964, including ce r ta in r a t h e r minor subsidary se t t s . A f u r t h e r 7 s e t t s w e r e not in u s e i n 1964, 15 have now been dest royed f o r good, and the s i t e s of 6 w e r e not located, making a to ta l of 74 s e t t s used a t va r ious t i m e s i n the county - r a t h e r m o r e than we expected.

I should l ike to have l is ted each se t t individually, with a g r i d re fe rence e t c . , but unfortunately too many people would s t i l l h a r m them if a t a l l poss ible and so i t w a s thought w i s e r not to give any exact local i t ies . In p rac t i ce i t i s the landowner himself who e i the r l ikes o r d is l ikes h i s badgers , s o that the publishing of th is in- format ion can not do any obvious h a r m . However, in s e v e r a l c a s e s i t was express ly requested that the in- format ion should not be publ ishei , a s the landowner concerned knew that c e r t a i n e lements w e r e host i le to badgers . In any case , no owner could be expectedto put up with the possibil i ty of too numerous v i s i t s by well-intentioned na tu ra l i s t s ; n o r m u s t we f o r g e t t h e h a r m that might befall the badgers themselves f r o m t o o much dis turbance. T o avoid re fe rence even to pa r i shes , a s u m m a r y i s the re fo re given by 10 Km. Squares .

10 Km. Square

23 One s e t t occasionally used. 24 4 se t t s - a group of 3 and one separa te one which

was used i n 1963.

25 10 s e t t s u s e d a t somet ime i n 1964, but 7 of these w e r e not in active u s e i n the autumn, mainly b e - cause of dis turbance of va r ious s o r t s by man. Two o ther s e t t s w e r e unused i n 1964, and two f o r m e r s e t t s n e a r Hayley Wood w e r e dest royed a t l e a s t 5 y e a r s ago. T h e r e is s o m e evidence of i n c r e a s e d prospect ing in Hayley Wood.

One killedonthe A. 14 road may have come f rom a set t near by which was used in 1963 but could not be located. Another sett , which was either in Hunts. o r in Cambs., may have been destroyed some years ago.

3 odd records in the south, one of which may relate to an unknown sett.

12 active setts, including one very extensive group at Barrington. In addition the s i tes of three former setts were examined which had been destroyed in the last few years and one other disused site was found.

8 set tswere found inthis square. One ofthese was known to be very long established. Badgers were found to be prospecting at one place. There was one isolated report which may refer to this o r square 37 but could not be checked.

Some extensive workings on the county boundary appear to exist no more. There i s one oddsight record.

A pair occupied a sett a few years agb but not since, and there i s one isolated sight record.

There a r e 3 established set ts in this square and 4 odd reports of animals seen o r killed on the roads.

One sett within the city limits of Cambridge and another may exist to the north of the town. There i s also an old record of one killed in the north of the area.

4 setts, and holes were excavated but not used a t another locality. One long established sett was not used in 1964, a s the entrances were blocked, and another was also unoccupied. Two long destroyed set ts were visited. Another has recently been de-

stroyed by t r ee felling. Two other sites were not located, and there were severalsightrecords etc. f rom the same area .

Two separately killed in the vicinity of Witchford airfield in 1962 a r e the only recent Isle of Ely r e - cords, although there i s an older record for Wilburton (square 47).

64 One se t t with a n adjacent subs id ia ry and s e v e r a l o the r holes u s e d a t t i m e s i n the vicinity.

65 Records show that one se t t was des t royed many y e a r s ago and that about t en y e a r s ago two p a i r s lived to become es tabl ished in the Devi l ' s Ditch in

success ive y e a r s but w e r e both des t royed by the keeper . T h e r e a r e a l so two recen t sight r e c o r d s .

6 6 One kil led on the A. 11 road many y e a r s ago

The adjacent counties were a l so examined withina few m i l e s of the boundary and i t was found that wel l es tabl ished s e t t s exis ted in quite a number of places within half a m i l e o r l e s s of the boundary. Obviously the an imals f r o m these se t t s m u s t r o a m into Cambs . r egu la r ly and i n any c a s e f r e s h colonisation into the county may occur f r o m these cen t res .

Hunts. 9 se t t s , nea r ly a l l on the greensand and within half a mi le of the county boundary and excavated soi l f r o m some holes l i e s on the Cambs. s ide . One group of Cambs . se t t s tends to become waterlogged i n winter and so they a r e regu la r ly d e s e r t e d f o r s o m e d r i e r se t ta n e a r by i n Hunts.

Beds. One se t t on the B e d s . s ide of a boundary ditch. - T h e r e a r e doubt less m o r e than one se t t on the g reen- sand n e a r Cambs .

=. One s e t t n e a r the b o r d e r

E s s e x . One r e g u l a r s e t t just over the b o r d e r was de- s t royed when awood w a s rec la imed f o r a rab le . Another s e t t w a s used f o r one y e a r only. The s a m e y e a r a se t t w a s used n e a r by i n Cambs . ( square 44). A th i rd w a s dest royed when a g r a v e l pit was fi l led in.

Suffolk. T w o o r t h r e e adjacent s i t e s now appear t o b e d e s e r t e d because of dis turbance. The n e a r e s t r egu la r s e t t locatedwas s e v e r a l m i l e s f r o m the border .

DISTRIBUTION

The m a i n a r e a s p r e a d s out fan-shaped f r o m C a m - br idge wes t to the county boundary with Hunts. o r B e d s . , with a s m a l l e r group n e a r the south-eastern c o r n e r of the county. Most of the main a r e a l i e s in boulder clay country, but a spec ia l concentra t ion ex- i s t s along the chalk r idge extending f r o m t h i s to the Barr ington a r e a . J u s t wes t of Cambridge t h r e e se t t s a r e i n s i m i l a r chalk outcrops, while s e v e r a l of those e v e n i n t h e m a i n boulder-c lay a r e a have selected e i the r chalky o r sandy pockets . In the e x t r e m e wes t the g reen-

5 3

sand i s especially favoured, although most of the setts a re just over the border in Hunts. or Beds. One interesting minor sett was actually on the flat clay land to the west of the greensand scarp - although this was in a shallow ditch due tobe deepened, so that the sett was not likely to survive.

The south-eastern group is entirely in chalky country where it borders the boulder clay. Two setts lie inthe gravel capping to hills and another in a sandy patchonthe edge of the boulder clay. Setts inthe small group in the south-west of the county a re in similar gravel above chalk.

It i s interesting that in boulder-clay country the badgers have preferred either chalk outcrops or sandy o r gravelly patches, such as along the sides of streams, outwash gravels, orhill-top patches. On the other hand in chalk country they have selected hill-top sands and gravels where available, although this may have been because such gravels have often already been dug by man and pits a re especially chosen. Despite thepref- erence for chalk instead of boulder clay, there a re no setts at all along the great sweep of chalk between Royston and Newmarket, except for the Linton area, and there a r e none in the boulder clay to the east of this - i n contrast to the west of the county. The absence from the eastern clay may be due to the fact that themain colonisation of the county i s probably from counties to the west, whereas the badger appears tobe surpr is~ng- ly scarce in Suffolk, particularly in the Breck, where one might expect it to be more numerous. Any spread into the Newmarket area appears to be checked by gamekeepers. There a re no setts in the alluvial valleys of the Cam and tributaries, nor in the wide expanse of Fenland to the north, although there a re 2 or 3 setts in the silt Fenland nearer the Washin Norfolk and Lincs. Apart from an odd record, the badger never appears to have penetrated to the boulder-clay islands of the Isle of Ely.

SITES USED

As many sites could be classed under more than one category (e. g. a chalk pit in a wood would fal l into two classes), it i s difficult to give a precise analysis of all the sites. However, over half the setts were in woods. A hill o r other slope was selected whenever possible and less than a third of all set ts were excavated in flat ground, although more often than not these occurred where there was a sandy patch in a wood, or

54

even in one case a sandy patch out in the centre of the field, which was regularly ploughed over and equally regularly dug out again! The slightly raised mounds formed by earth cleaned out by ditches or the sides of streams were chosen in a number of cases, both in woods and in more open situations. Earthworks were especially favoured - 4 moats, 2 ancient camps, and the slope of a road bridge over a railway, a l l in clay country, and str ip lynchets, the Devil's Ditch, and a railway embankment, all in chalk country. Similar to str ip lynchets a re the hedge banks between fields on

hillsides, chosenin 6 cases. Chalk pits and gravel pits, in roughly equal proportions, represent about a third of a l l sites. The majority of the holes were dug into the outer walls of pits, but inone case the site of some old limekilnsinthe centre of apit were also burrowed into; in another case a large mound of soft material depos- ited in the centre of a chalk pit contained extensive workings and at another site a ser ies of chalk pits and spoil heaps throughout a wood each contained burrows. At one chalk pit there was regularly a hole out in the field above the pit, doubtless connected with holes in- side thepit. Man-made sites were sometimes selected, either field drain pipes or artificial fox earths (5 of each).

Water within a mi leor two i s always an essential, and this may explain the absence of set ts from the chalk. One vegetational item may also be mentioned - that elders (used for claw sharpening) a r e almost always present at setts.

RELATIONS WITH MAN

Though the majority of setts are in fairly secluded or comparatively undisturbed sites, two a re immediately beside main roads and at least four beside other roads. At least three a r e quite close tohouses o r farms and two setts in moats a r e no more than 50 yds. from the respective Halls. The occupants of the Halls sometimes listen to the nocturnal revelry of playful badgers on their lawns! The sett on the outskirts of Cambridge lies alongside three small research establishments, but these a r e not normally used at night.

Obviously these are a l l at setts where the landowners a re happy to have badgers. Most f a rmers app- ea r to be fairly neutral (at one, just in Hunts., where the se t t i s 50 yds. from the farmhouse, the f a rmer said, "they live there and we live here and we don't i n tw-

£ere with each other", which probably sums up the general attitude-, but most seem agreed that the badg- e r s dofarmore good than harm. At over a dozen localities the owners a re strongly in favour of badgers, one landowner even introducing them at three places onhis estate, but at as many other localities there was a distinct anti-badger feeling. Atone sett, where the badger was accused of taking lambs, the farmer arranges an annual badger dig, Another sett was completely destroyed because of an accusation of taking lambs. Gas has certainly been used on four estates, although the keepers said i t was to kill foxes and rabbits a t two of these. The various foxhunts frequently block the holes to prevent foxes f rom going to earth when hunted, although this usually appears to do no undue harm to the badgers, hut at two setts near different kennels the damage appears tohave been more than mere blocking. Game preservation was the reason given for destroying setts inthe Newmarket area and attwo other localities. but in general most landowners do realise that game and lambs can live quite happily with badgers in the vicinity. Atone sett adjacent to a farmonly one case of chicken-killing had occurred in26 years and the farm- e r had no wish to kill off the whole family for this one crime. When I pointed out to a farmworker that the eating of young rabbits was amongst the good work done by badgers, he replied that a s he was the local poacher and had a market for rabbit. at Cambridge hotels he had "better do the badgers in if that was so". However there is no doubt in the minds of those who have really studied them that badgers dofar more good than harm. One example of their value was evident at one of the moated Halls; slugs were almost non-existent in the garden alongside the sett, but the walled kitchen garden, towhich thebadgers had no access, was "full of slugs".

We have no real idea what the status of the badger was previously in Cambs., but allowing for certain destroyed setts and the control on some estates, road casualities, etc., the badger is at least holding its own in the county and may well be increasing in several areas. We must hope that future surveys will show that this i s really so.

DISTRIBUTION O F BADGERS IN CAMBS. AND BORDERS . . . . . . Setts o r groups of se t ts occupied in 1964. Setts l e s s than 500 yds. apar t are shown under one symbol.

? . . . . . Setts not occupied in 1964

0 . . . . . Former set ts which have now been destroyed

f . . . . . Individual records o r groups of records away from setts, usually of animals seen o r killed on roads. A few of these are old records, but most are recent.

r . . . . . Setts reliably reported but not located

'-._ . . . . . County boundaries

\ . . . . . Rivers

The initial l e t t e r s of the following towns a re shown:

St. Ives, Huntingdon, and St. Neots, in Hunts. Biggleswade in Bedfordshire. Roysfon in Hertfordshire. Saffron Walden i n Essex. Haverhill and Newmarket in Suffolk.

OBITUARY P. J . Bourne a n Obituary

Until Philip Bourne began collecting bryophytes in Cambridgeshire in 1959, very l a r g e a r e a s of the county had never been studied bryologically. His contribution was of unique value in the preparat ion of the bryophyte s6ction of the "F lo ra of Cambridgeshire" , because of h i s diligent collecting and identifying of specimens on a ve ry l a rge scale f r o m al l p a r t s of the county, including i t s f a r t h e s t c o r n e r s . He took the utmost c a r e t o r e c o r d p r e c i s e deta i ls of habitat and locali ty f o r everything he collected. T h i s w a s of the g rea tes t valuebecause, when plants of par t icular in teres t w e r e found, i t was always possible t a g o and see them i n t h e i r na tu ra l habitat. He wrote an account of h i s e a r l y bryological exper iences , and th i s was published in "Nature in Cambridr;eshire8' i n 1960.

Phi l ip ' s f i r s t spectacular f inds w e r e m a d e one day in January 1960 when a t West Wickham he found two very r a r e mosses : Rhynchostegie11atenellava.r. l i t a r e a and Tortula papillosa, f i r s t and second records f o r the county, respectively. The Rhynchostegiella find was the m o s t nor ther ly r e c o r d of the plant in the Br i t i sh I s l e s . Phi l ip ' s second addition to the Cambridgeshire m o s s f l o r a was made i n October 1960, when be found Bryum argenteum var . lanatum on a path n e a r Morden Grange Plantation.The following month h e discoverednon- cal - c a r e o u s arable f ie lds at Thorney and a t Papworth St. Agnes containing,several bryophytes newto the county, including Riccia sorocarpa, Di t r ichum cylindricum and Acaulonmuticum. All these new county records were publ ishedinthe Transact ions of the Br i t i sh Bryological Society i n 1961.

I t would be misleading to suggest that Philip only collected r a r e plants. He was directly responsible f o r making over 600 of the 10. k i lometre g r id s q u a r e r e - c o r d s of br+ophytes included in the "Flora of Cam- bridgeshire", and fo r establishing that at l eas t a dozen m o s s e s occur red i n every such square in the county.

PhiIip a lso had a n extensive knowledge of flowering plants and was responsible f o r many r e c o r d s f r o m outlying p a r t s of the county. He had made a par t icular study of Sllphur Clover (Trifolium ochroleucon) which he repor ted in l a s t y e a r ' s "Nature i n Cambridgeshire" . He hadbeen a m e m h e r of the BritishBryologicalSociety since 1961 and of the Council of the Cambridgeshire and I s l e of Ely Natural is ts ' T r u s t since 1960.By h i s death, the loss to the Trus t , to bryology, and to local natural h is tory i s immeasurable .

t ~ i e d 8th March 1965 H. L. K. W . 58

WEATHER NOTES FOR CAMBRIDGESHIRE 1964 J. W. Clarke

The y e a r w a s r e m a r k a b l e f o r i t s v e r y low rainfal l - the lowest s ince 1921. J u s t over 16.6 inches of r a i n fe l l a t Swaffham P r i o r , and other stations in the county r e - por ted tota ls a s low a s 15. 5 inches (Abington Pigot ts) . Comparing these ra in fa l l to ta ls with the average ra in- f a l l a t Orenburg (15. 5 inches ) in cen t ra l R u s s i a o r Cal- g a r y (16.4 inches) on the Canadian p r a i r i e p roves how d r y Cambr idgesh i re can be. The effects of drought w e r e offset by theuneven distribution of r a i n during the y e a r . March and June w e r e wet months and Apr i l had slightly m o r e than average rainfall . T h i s helped the es tabl ishment and growth of c rops . The l a t e s u m m e r and autumn w a s the d r i e s t p a r t of the year . The d r y so i l conditions continuing into December w e r e phenom- ena l - i t w a s possible to find perfect ly d r y so i l a t a depth of only a f e w inches during the f i r s t week of the month.

Cont ra ry to popular opinion, the winter was not m i l d - m e a n maximum tempera tu res i n Jbnuary and

0 M a r c h w e r e 4 F.below average whilst those of F e b r u a r y w e r e just average . T e m p e r a t u r e s r o s e quickly i n e a r l y April, causing a rap id change f r o m winter t o spring, such a s is exper ienced i n continental c l imates . May w a s much w a r m e r than average and July and August t e m p e r a t u r e s w e r e up to average f o r the f i r s t t ime s ince 1959. Hot tes t day of the y e a r was 26th of August

0 when 90 F was recorded a t Burwell . In the autumn t h e r e was a m a r k e d d rop in t empera tu re during ea r ly October, s i m i l a r to the r i s e of the sp r ing . Wintry weather began i n mid-December and continued until 30th, producing snowat C h r i s t m a s and the lowest t em- p e r a t u r e of the y e a r - 1 5 O ~ . on the 29th. I a m grateful to Rev. W. F r a n c i s Hicks f o r the r e c o r d s below.

VASCULAR PLANT RECORDS FOR 1964

F. H. P e r r i n g

Dryopter is b o r r e r i Newm. Specimens which closely approach this species w e r e found in a plantation at Chippenham (66), 0. Vaughan, 28October. This species h a s not been recorded f r o m the county previously. Dryopter is car thusiana (Vill. ) H . P. Fuchs. This spec- i e s was found with the above at Chippenham (66). 0. Vaughan, 28 October. The second new locality fo r t h i s f e r n in the l a s t two years : perhaps spreading in neglected woodland. Polystichum set i ferum (Forsk . ) Woynar. An outstand- ing new county record: a l so found in the plantation a t Chippenham(66). 0. Vaughan, 28 October. T h e r e a r e n o o the r known locali t ies f o r t h i s f e r n within th i r ty miles . Geran ium sanguineum L. T r a c k f r o m Ditton P a r k Wood to Charcoals Wood (65) M.O. Hill, 24 July 1964. The f i r s t r ecord of th i s species f r o m this a r e a f o r over a century. Impat iens glandulifera Royle. Well established along the R . Gran ta a t Hinxton: thousands of plants (44). F . H . Per r ing , 6 June. Juncus acutiflorus Ehrh. ex Hoffm. Old coprolite pits, Hauxton (45). G. Crompton, September . A new locality f o r th i s plant which is r a r e i n th is county. Luzula sylvatica (Huds).)Gaud. Ten Wood, Stetchworth (65), 0. Vaughan, September. Not seen i n the county f o r 132 years , but h a s probably pe rs i s t ed unobserved throughout. The r e c o r d of 1832 i s f r o m Wood Ditton, the next par ish . Epipact is phyllanthes G. E . Sm. Robinson Crusae ' s Island, Cambridge (45). M.O. Hill. 15 July. Las t seen h e r e c. 1946 and before that in 1886. An interesting example of a n orchid pers is t ing underground.

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1 TWO NEW BOOKS TO BE PUBLISHED IN MAY 1 Grasshoppers, Crickets and Cockroaches of the British Isles The first comprehensive text on these insects for over 40 years by Dr. D. R. Ragge a leading authority on the group. Ful l information is given on coilecting, preserving and feeding all the species. Really our- standing illustrations; all species and usually both sexes are shown in colour and for the grasshoppers both top and side views are shown. A sptcial feature of the hook is the song diagrams of thegrasshoppers and crickets. 22 colour illus., line illus. within the text. 256 pp. 42s. net

The Freshwater Life of the British Isles

~~~~~~-~ . ~ . . ~ ~~ I both the sefious student a<d the generayreader. 352 pp. 35,. net I A catalogwe containing these titles and others i n our wide ro.tfge of Naturnl History Books i s available freejrom :-

FREDERICK WARNE 1/4 Bedford Court

London WC2

I u o f ourxrensiue selviee to Biologirtr 11

For inrectr and

Pond & Marine Life.

Interchangeable

Net and framer.

Perfectly rigid when

erected

Nets of rot-prod terylene.

List NT/lC on application.

F L A T T E R S A N D G A R N E T T L T D . 309 Oxford Road, Manchester 13.

Established 1901

Why the Trust has been formed

The countryside is changing rapidly before our eyes. Some change is, of course, inevitable; but nearly all the alteration is tending towards a loss of variety, interest and beauty, and the destruction of areas still in a natural and semi-natural state. There is a very urgent need for a local organisation to take action, before it is too late, to safeguard what remains, and to encourage the intelligent conservation of nature.

A i m of the Trust

To record and w d y the chief places of natural history interest in Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely. This interest is not confined to botany and zoology, but should include geology, archaeology and local history.

To protect these places if they are threatened.

To acquire and administer any such place as a Local Nature Reserve, if this action is the most appropriate method for conservation.

To co-operate with other local and national bodies with interests in natural history and nature conservation.

Ti, encourage interest and understanding for an intelligent policy of nature conservation, which should not run counter to the best interests of agriculture, forestry, sport, and other rural indusaies and occupations.

Membership

Minimum s d s n i p t i a : Ordinary k1 p a , Life k20. Children and Students lo/-. Pull partidms may be obtmned from the H a . Sec., 1 hoks ide , Cmnbridge.

FOR THE ENTOMCIPLOGIST

Apparatus, Books, Cabinets.

Priw lists of the above are issued from time to time, so if you would like to receive regular issues please send me a postcard

stating your interests L. CHRISTIE

137 Gfeneldon Road, Streatham, London, S.W.16, England (Postal business only)

Oficid agent for p u b l i d o w of the Amateur Entomologist's Society

WMMKWE UTW S E R V E S LIMITED

Documents

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