Chris Lansdell's Birding & Nature Diary: 2024

Benacre and Covehithe, 16 December 2024

A Monday walk - which has now become a nice habit now I’m retired and Belinda doesn’t work on Mondays! After the weekend everywhere is so much quieter too and this suits us just fine.

We ventured along the coast from Covehithe village down to Benacre Broad in one direction and then Covehithe Broad in the other.

Benacre Broad was full of wildfowl with c900 Wigeon and smaller numbers of Teal and Gadwall but best of all were 6 Whooper Swans amongst the Mutes. A single female Marsh Harrier was also there.

Down at Covehithe Broad I had 3 Goldeneye, a few Pochard and c10 Little Grebes but little else of note until another final scan revealed a 1w female Scaup hanging around with a pair of Tufted Duck which made the walk worthwhile.

Near the church back in the village a verge was full of Orange Peel Fungus. The first I’ve seen this year.

Whooper Swans

Orange Peel Fungus

Fungi gold (or rather blue!) in Cambs, 15 December 2024

Sunday saw Belinda and I drive down into Cambridgeshire to visit the National Trust property of Anglesey Abbey and also do some walking.

Walking from the main building towards the Lode Mill I spotted 2 large logs beside the path that were covered in Turkeytail. Looking at one though I immediately saw something far more interesting - the amazingly coloured fungi Cobalt Crust! This was a real ‘wow’ moment because it’s such a unique looking, rare species and also a new one for me that I’ve long wanted to see. To find it myself was also very satisfying!

Other sightings that day were rather less significant but included Red Kite, Smoky Bracket, Velvet Shank, Hen-of-the-Woods and the shrub Butcher’s Broom.

On a final walk along Devil’s Dyke near Newmarket there were several Carline Thistle plants still hanging on.

Cobalt Crust

Smoky Bracket

Velvet Shank

Butcher’s Broom

Carline Thistle

Cattle Egrets reach the Waveney Valley, 12 December 2024

With their continued march to seemingly all corners of the country it was only a matter of time before we got a group of Cattle Egrets locally. Thanks to Ben Potterton putting the news out on our local WhatsApp group I was able to take the short drive out to between Brockdish and Needham to see a group of 6 loosely associating with some cattle. A single Little Egret also joined them.

Woodbridge and The Deben, 9 December 2024

My first long walk following a little health scare was with Belinda along the Deben from Melton to Woodbridge and back. I was a bit out of breath at the end but onwards and upwards!

On the mud of the estuary I counted c75 Avocet, c300 Lapwings, c200 Black-tailed Godwits, 3 Grey Plover and a single Dunlin. Right at the start of the walk a Kingfisher was at close quarters by a footbridge over a dyke - before it saw me (!) and a Grey Wagtail flew over.

There was a rare plant in the town that I wanted to catch up with and when I got to the area near the Co-op in the town centre I found it had taken over the area! The species in question being Tall Nightshade.

Tall Nightshade

Local bits and bobs

A catch up on some local stuff over the weekend before health issues buggered things up!

Friday saw Belinda and I in Diss briefly before a good walk in the sun around Wortham Ling. The reason for the stop in Diss was a curious duck that has taken up residence on the Mere. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions from the photo below but it looks have have either or both White-cheeked Pintail and Yellow-billed Pintail in it. Also on the wooden fencing at the Mere were several Red-belted Bracket specimens bursting out - the most I’ve ever seen there.

Wortham Ling itself was quiet but I did record Clouded Funnel, Trooping Funnel, Tawny Funnel and Wood Blewit.

Then, on Saturday after visiting my Mum we called in to Jeremy’s at his kind invite to see a scarce fungi that was occupying a plant pot he’d bought at Natural Surroundings. These were Wrinkled Conecap, Pholiotina rugosa, only the 5th county record according to the Norfolk Mycota.

Definitely maybe White-cheeked Pintail

Red-belted Bracket

Wood Blewit

Wrinkled Conecap

Fungus Twitch! 18 November 2024

On Sunday evening news broke on our NFSG Facebook page that Trevor Atkins at Ladybelt CP had found the rare Cinnabar Oysterling growing on a rotting log in the country park. Not only just the 2nd county record but an absolute stunner to look at!

Armed with the detailed directions that were shared I snuck off work on Monday morning with a spurious excuse and drove to Ladybelt. Bumping into Jeremy there who had already seen it was handy as I didn’t need to search! It was also nice to meet Trevor there (as well as a lovely Green Elfcup just 2 feet away from the main attraction!)

Fairhaven Garden Trust, 17 November 2024

Despite it only being out at South Walsham I’d never been to Fairhaven before. So a Norfolk Fungus Study Group foray there with the added bonus of free entry was a great chance to put that right.

The site consists of mixed broad leaved woodland with some impressive ancient oaks and loads of rhododendron combined with wet (flooded in some parts) alder carr with a mixture of many non-native plants.

Welcoming some more new members we had a brief introduction to the site from the owner/manager before setting off on our usual slow shuffle around the site. We found plenty of interest despite the site being dry (apart from the wet bit if you get my meaning!) and it now being quite late in the fungi autumn season. For me new species I’ve not encountered before are an obvious highlight and these featured Ochre Bracket, Mollisia amenticola (a small disco that grows on alder cones), Bitter Bracket, Blueleg Brownie, Powderpuff Bracket, Rusty Crust, Jackrogersella cohaerans, Laxitextum bicolor and Tomentella bryophila. Other goodies included Wrinkled Crust, Upright Coral, Birch Mazegill, Woolly Fibrecap, Yellow Shield, Willow Shield, Wrinkled Peach, the cup fungus Peziza micropus, Purplepore Bracket, Redleg Club, Wood Pinkgill, Purple Jellydisc, Alder Bracket, Rhododrendron Bud Blast, Dyer’s Mazegill, Blushing Bracket and the slime mould Diderma hemisphericum.

Good looker of the day was an insect however - the stunning Rhododendron Leafhopper. But that wasn’t the only insect of interest with Orange-spotted Fungus Beetle, Common Snail Hunter Beetle and Woodland Darwin Wasp all adding to a fabulous trip out.

Stewart also brought us some specimens to look at on the car park while we were waiting for others to arrive - these included Botryosporium pulchrum, Tomentella bryophila and Polydesmia fructicola.