Chris Lansdell's Birding & Nature Diary: Surprise, surprise, it's more local stuff! 10 April 2020

Today, the boredom has reached critical levels!

So here's a quick blog post as an update on the last few days. Local walks continue and I've now done 10,000+ steps every day since lockdown started 16 days ago. The recent highlight on these walks was the discovery of a new plant for me - the easily overlooked Cut-leaved Dead Nettle. I've also had a curious white Wood Forget-me-not and the first Bluebells.

I did a couple of bits of work in Harleston this past week so took a sneaky 5 minute look at Weybread on my way home. The female Red-crested Pochard was present on no.1 pit and a Common Tern was on Ocean Pit. And they were without getting out of my van!

Yesterday I mixed things up a little with a bike ride out to Tyrrel's Wood where things got very interesting indeed. After the delight of my first orchids of the year with c12 Early Purple Orchids in various stages of flowering (plus loads more yet to emerge) I was walking back when I got onto a butterfly sat on the ground beside the path in a slightly more open area at the edge of the wood - unfortunately it was a 2 second view before it was chased off by a Brimstone but I am 99% sure it was a Large Tortoiseshell! Despite much searching I couldn't find it again though. Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Green Woodpecker were all very vocal in the wood.

Other butterflies have started to emerge with Orange Tip, Small White, Large White, Green-veined White and Red Admiral having joined the yearlist.

I had a small surge (well trickle really!) of new records for the apocolist with 4 new ones yesterday. The up to date scores on the doors are:

No.35 - Blackcap (singing for the last few days now)
No.36 - Kestrel (low over the house)
No.37 - Oystercatcher (calling over the house)
No.38 - Greylag Goose (over calling after dark as I checked the moth trap)
No.39 - Tawny Owl (calling at 10.30 last night)

Moth trapping has produced just one new species for the year - Small Quaker but 3 each of Early Thorn and Brindled Beauty last night were nice.