October - Welcome to the wasp spider
After appalling summer weather, an eagerly awaited Indian summer simply did not materialise.
Granted there have been a few fine days to tempt the butterflies and dragonflies to take wing but by and large the weather has been very disappointing.
While not having to contend with trying to get in a wet harvest like other farmers, the charity, nonetheless, has some areas of ungrazed grassland to cut and clear in late summer and autumn in order to encourage wildflowers the following year. Without clearing away the cut material, the flowers would simply disappear and be replaced by rank vegetation.
While the wildflowers benefit a wide range of insects, rank grassland is also a valuable habitat and therefore the key to habitat management is diversity.
In spite of the poor weather, the early autumn night-time temperatures have generally held up well, demonstrating that while global warming may not mean better weather, the temperatures are significantly higher than 40 or so years ago when crisp night frosts in September would have triggered trees to close down for winter. At present the majority are still in their summer finery although two frosts in early October mean that autumn colours will soon be on the way.
It is difficult to comprehend how quickly change is actually happening as a result of global warming but our fauna is giving us a clear indication of what is going on.
A few years ago the continental small red-eyed damselfly arrived on the riverside. Prior to the summer of 1999 it had never been recorded in England. Now it is an extremely common, if easily overlooked, species. Its progress across the country has been phenomenal.
Other invertebrates are also amazingly mobile and while they may already have had a toe-hold in southern England for many years, their territorial expansion is currently nothing short of explosive. Thus, species unheard of in this part of the world are now present and even plentiful in sheltered locations on the Sudbury riverside.
The wasp spider, for example, is a newcomer, feeding on grasshoppers, crickets and other insects. It is perhaps not so surprising that two new species of bush cricket – Roesel's and long-winged conehead are also present to satisfy the spider's demand for food. The female wasp spider also tends to eat her partner after mating.
Although new species to the area are exciting, the general trend is not one that we should be comfortable with.
Yet another grazing season is drawing to a close, continuing Sudbury's centuries' old unbroken tradition of grazing management. This is in spite of calls from some quarters that the cattle should be removed from the riverside. This would lead to the loss of a wonderful landscape and the associated wildlife that is now well established.
It is a fate not to be contemplated, hence the proposed uniformed volunteer rangers that will become a familiar sight next year. They, alone, will not solve all the problems associated with open access by large numbers of people and dogs, but there is a much greater chance that the cattle will be left to graze in peace.
Charity staff recently attended a two-day course in London as part of this scheme which is generously supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Finally, last month's exciting sighting of an otter on the mill race has been added to this month by a keen local birder who saw an osprey whilst canoeing along the Reach on Friars Meadow. This bird would have been moving south on its way to Africa for the winter. As the osprey population continues to increase in England and Scotland such sightings may become a little more frequent.
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Weather for Sudbury
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -2 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light sleet showers
Temperature: 0 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: West
