Chris Lansdell's Birding & Nature Diary: Flora Flora Flora, 5 May 2020

My lockdown experience has been broken up by some work in the last couple of weeks (only outside painting obviously!) which has limited any local natural history forays.

At the weekend however Belinda needed to do some shopping and delivery to her ill sister in Stowmarket so I negotiated a drop off at Combs Wood on the edge of town. The display of Early Purple Orchids here is the best I know of for variety with loads of interesting pale specimens but sadly still no pure 'alba' for me! The wood also had singing Garden Warbler and my first Wood Sedge before I turned my attentions to a circular walk out of the back of the wood towards Badley church. Passing the small wood of Fir Covert the unmistakeable song of a Nightingale in full cry was really a sound to make the skin tingle. Around the walk on verges and a large patch of arable set-aside revealed plenty of botanical interest with Phacelia, Wild Radish, Crosswort, Wintercress, Yellow Archangel, Prickly Sow Thistle, Smooth Sow Thistle, Meadow Saxifrage, Red Campion, White Campion, Common Sorrel and Scentless Mayweed. 3 Lesser Whitethroats and several Common Whitethroats were also heard/seen on the walk. St Marks Flies were an annoying distraction as ever!

My apocolist has moved on to the heady heights of 46 at the time of writing with:

No.41 - House Martin
No.42 - Lesser Whitethroat
No.43 - Swallow
No.44 - Common Whitethroat
No.45 - Yellowhammer
No.46 - Swift

As an aside it seems that Pulham Market has had a visit from #therebelbotanist (scroll down...) ;-)