A quick whizz around the garden on Sunday to see what I could find. Pleasingly the garden invert list continues to grow with 3 new species found. Along our hawthorn hedge - the micro moth Common Marble and the grey and black fly Voria ruralis. Close examination of our flowering Holyhocks also revealed a few weevils Ceratopion onopordi.
Plantwise our Stone Parsley is having an exceptional year with it having spread to several new areas and incuding some plants 7 feet tall!
My 2nd recent visit to Wheatfen, this time in very hot conditions so I didn't walk far or stay too long!
I concentrated on the '11 Bridges Walk' looking mainly for insects. Highlights were a literally Beautiful China Mark alongside Small China Mark, Yellow Loosestrife Bee, Wall Mason Wasp, the wetland inhabiting fly Terellia tussilaginis and Physocephala rufipes (aka Waisted Beegrabber) which was a fitting species to become my 6000th pan species tick. Southern Hawkers, Brown Hawkers and Ruddy Darters plus a single Silver-washed Fritillary were on the wing with Orange Balsam and Monkeyflower being the best botanical finds.
On the way back one of the reserve volunteers was opening a moth trap so I had a quick gawp at Buff-tip, Drinker and Nut-tree Tussock.
Acting on a tip-off I made my way to Yarmouth on a sultry Thursday evening for some botanical twitching!
The plant in question was the rare Ray's Knotgrass which I duly found growing in the sand in the surreal surroundings of Mr Wobbles playpark just south of Britannia Pier! Another, much larger clump was in a fenced area just north of the pier and has been submitted on iRecord. Sea Rocket and Sea Holly were also in the area as I headed north along the seafront to have a look on North Denes. Just 50 yards from where I parked I was surprised and delighted to find a large bush of the even rarer Shrubby Hare's-ear by the seawall. An exploration of the same rough area also revealed a 2 curious mulleins - which I strongly suspect to be Orange Mullein and White Mullein together with loads of Sheeps-bit, Sand Sedge, Haresfoot Clover, White Stonecrop, Spiny Restharrow and more Sea Holly.
On the way out of town I stopped on Asda carpark for a look on Breydon. Here on The Lumps were 20 Spoonbills, a Glossy Ibis and loads of Mediterranean Gulls. With only bins on me there could well have been more Spoonbills but it was a lovely way to end the evening.
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I've got a little behind with posts recently but last weekend I visited 2 rather different fens both of which provided plenty of interest.
On Saturday I suggested we have a long walk around the great reserve at Wheatfen. I wanted to try and find the rare beetle Galleruca laticollis at it's only UK site but think I may have been a little early for that. Nevertheless I couldn't complain with new insects for me including Black Snipefly, the attractive fly Tetanocera ferruginea and 2 new beetles in the form of Lagria hirta and Plateumaris bracata. Golden-bloomed Grey Longhorn Beetle and Four-banded Longhorn Beetle are always nice to see as were the day-flying moths Brown China Mark and Small China Mark. Norfolk Hawkers were whizzing about and my first Gatekeeper of the year sat nicely for a photo. Plants too were very good with Monkeyflower, Green Figwort, Small Balsam, Marsh Pea and Greater Burnet Saxifrage the highlights.
Fast forward to Sunday and a trip out in the opposite direction - to Redgrave and Lopham Fen. The Fen Raft Spiders here have been on my to do list for some while having only looked half-heartedly a couple of timesin the past. This time I was delighted to find half a dozen and get some photos too. It was fairly quiet otherwise (apart from a cow trying to eat Belinda's top!) but a trio of hoverflies in the form of Furry Dronefly, Tiger Hoverfly and Ferdinandea cuprea were around oaks and brambles. The latter being a new one for me.
With the focus being on work I haven't been out a great deal recently. Sunday called for a break though so we headed up to Felbrigg Hall.
The walled garden there was in full bloom so I spent a little time looking to see what insects were about. To my delight I found my very first Wool Carder Bee nectaring on a patch of Betony. A large chunky bee that was very distinctive. Also in the garden the stripey fly Graphomya maculata was another new one. Speckled Bush Cricket and Ferruginous Bee-grabber were also seen but a walk taking in the church and pond on the estate coincided with a deterioration in the weather so was devoid of anything interesting!
After leaving Felbrigg we opted for a quick walk up Beeston Bump which we timed perfectly between heavy downpours. I quickly found several of the rare and localised Yarrow (Purple) Broomrape plants along the clifftop with plenty of Pyramidal Orchids there too and some naturalised Garden Lady's Mantle. Sand Martins were of course whizzing up and down the clifftop
A warm circular walk from Earsham via Bath Hills, Outney and Bungay Marshes.
A few insects of note were seen including the very small but wonderfully named Fairy-ring Longhorn Beetle, the click beetle Agrypnus murinus and Slender-bodied Digger Wasp, Crabo cribrarius - all nectaring on umbellifers along the lane to Bath Hills. Banded Demoiselles were everywhere together with Black-tailed Skimmers, 2 Norfolk Hawkers on Outney Marshes and my first Emerald Damselfly of the year. A couple of Pyramidal Orchids were beside the path on Bungay Marshes and a cluster of Common Broomrape at Bath Hills
Back at home later in the afternoon the garden list was boosted with the addition of the parasitic wasp Cryptus armator, the flower beetle Deraocoris flavilinia and Yellow-spot Yarrow Moth (aka Common Drill Moth) plus another Thick-legged Hoverfly.
