Knettishall CP and Market Weston Fen, 22 July 2025

A day out walking on the edge of Breckland. We did a long circuit of Knettishall Heath followed by a quick visit to Market Weston Fen on the way home. 

Knettishall produced some very pleasing records. The first was another new plant for me growing in the water of the Little Ouse near the carpark - Unbranched Bur-reed. One I’ve been keeping an eye out for a while. Arrowhead was also much in evidence. Insects provided the main interest with Median Wasp, Rhombic Leatherbug, Beewolf and Common Ectemnius all close to the carpark. Latter on I examined a large area of Ragwort finding 3 Forester Moths and quite a few Black-horned Nomad Bees. A bare sandy area at a coffee stop mid-walk had Red-banded Sand Wasp. 

At Market Weston Fen there were loads of female Pantaloon Bees in the marshy area with Small Longhorn Moth, Furry Dronefly and Ferruginous Bee-grabber. 

An impromptu stop at the pond by the main road near Garboldisham confirmed my hunch with Fringed Waterlily plus Yellow Waterlily, White Waterlily and Flowering Rush. 

                                                                                                                              Unbranched Bur-reed

                                                                                                                                Common Ectemnius

                                                                                                                                   Median Wasp

                                                                                                                                     The Forester

                                                                                                                           Black-horned Nomad Bee

                                                                                                                        Rhombic Leatherbug

                                                                                                                                     Pantaloon Bee

A couple of nights away on the Suffolk coast, 17 & 18 July 2025

We took the motorhome to the Suffolk coast for a couple of nights last week. One night at Slaughden near Aldeburgh and the other at Westleton just inland of Minsmere. Despite it not being specifically wildlife orientated I managed some very pleasing finds. 

Along the seawall just behind the beach at Slaughden I found what is a rare thing for me these days - a new wildflower tick. It was in the form of some Pale Toadflax in full flower and looking rather lovely. Dittander was also everywhere on the grazing marsh. Examination of flowering Hogweed revealed a large fly that turned out to be Saltmarsh Horsefly with Adonis Ladybird, Pied Hoverfly and Orange-legged Darwin Wasp also found. A quick net-sweep on the grazing marsh revealed Wasp Spider and Four Spot Orbweaver. 

                                                                                                                                      Pale Toadflax

                                                                                                                                 Saltmarsh Horsefly

                                                                                                                                   Adonis Ladybirds

                                                                                                                                      Wasp Spider

The following day was a warm and lazy one with several forays onto Westleton Common to look for anything interesting. Those interesting things included many Graylings, Four-banded Flower Bees, Kite-tailed Robberfly, Pied Hoverfly, Forget-me-not Shieldbug, Heather Neb, Long-legged Tabby and Migrant Hawker. Moth Mullien near the carpark was only my 2nd ever. Best of all however was a large fly that got trapped on the inside of the motorhome windscreen that after much reading up has been confirmed as Levels Yellow-horned Horsefly, Hybomitra ciureai a nationally rare insect that inhabits coastal marshes but wanders inland a few miles sometimes. Presumably this one came from the Minsmere area. 

                                                                                                                  Levels Yellow-horned Horsefly

                                                                                                                            Four-banded Flower Bee

                                                                                                                                  Kite-tailed Robberfly

                                                                                                                               Moth Mullein

                                                                                                                            Forget-me-not Shieldbug

                                                                                                                                       Grayling

The following morning a walk at Dunwich Greyfriars where I made yet another great insect find near the priory - the rare Briony Mining Bee - unsurprisingly on White Briony. Into the bargain a Honey Buzzard glided low over the priory and a 1st year Mediterranean Gull flew south along the beach. 

                                                                                                                                 Briony Mining Bee

Wasp twitch, Hethersett, 14 July 2025

After a tip-off from Jeremy I hot-footed it to the edge of Hethersett for a bit of a midweek wasp twitch!

The species in question was European Paper Wasp, Polistes dominula and with perfect directions I found about half a dozen buzzing around some Eryngo on the edge of a small garden. Being quite a large rangy wasp with the habit of flying with legs dangling they were easy to spot and identify. The species is established on the Channel Islands but is rare on mainland UK being subject to the odd bit of wandering from the south. In the same area I also found some nice Beewolfs and what are likely to be Bare-saddled Colettes. 

                                                                                                                                  European Paper Wasp

                                                                                                                                             Beewolf

                                                                                                                             Bare-saddled Colettes

Local catch-up, mid-July 2025

Since returning from our travels it’s been jobs jobs jobs but I have at least managed to see a few local bits and pieces.

Top of the pops has to be the nationally rare Broad-banded Digger Wasp that graced our front garden briefly on the 4th. That same day I had a hot wander around Dickleburgh Moor and found my first Lesser Emperor for the reserve. I even dug my moth trap out for a rare showing catching a few goodies including Elephant Hawkmoths, Poplar Hawkmoths, Willow Ermine, Bird Cherry Ermine, Beautiful Hook-tip, Satin Moth, Dun-bar and Dusky Sallow amongst others. 

Also in the garden I have had Lesser Bulb Fly, the fly Gastrolepta anthracina, Adonis Ladybird and Patchwork Leafcutter Bee, all new for me.

Leaving South Norfolk for a while on Monday 7th I visited Catton Park in Norwich looking (in vain!) for a rare bee James Emerson had seen there. Nevertheless Brassy Longhorn Moth, Large Scabious Mining Bee, the large tachnid fly Nowickia ferox and Pied Hoverfly there were all very welcome. As was a catch up with Jeremy and Vanna there. Following Jeremy’s tip-off a quick detour out to Reepham to see the lovely yellow form of Ivy Broomrape was the order of the day. 

The other trip out this week was to Thornham Walks where I failed with Purple Emperor but did see Purple Hairstreak, massive Common Carp, Painted Lady, Small Copper, Ruddy Darter, Common Darter, Emperor Dragonfly, Brown Hawker, Red-eyed Damselfly and Southern Hawker. Later that day we drove out to Wetherden and in the churchyard there I found another Adonis Ladybird, Elder Aphid and Small Javelin Wasp.

June 2025 - West Coast Scotland, Lake District, Lancashire & North Wales

We left Mull via the short ferry from Tobermory to Kilchoan so we could explore the Ardnamurchan Peninsula before heading right up to Assynt again to pick up the NC500 where we’d left off at the end of April. 

At Ardnamurchan Point (the most westerly point on the UK mainland) c700 Manx Shearwaters were quite a sight along with some surprise Beautiful Demoiselles. 

The long drive towards Inverness and then NW towards Ullapool was broken with an overnighter at the Corrieshalloch Gorge where nearby we had the gruesome sight of a Sexton Beetle on a dead Common Toad and the rather more pretty Chickweed Wintergreen. 

Once on the west coast again orchids were in evidence with Northern Marsh Orchid, Heath Fragrant Orchid and Heath Spotted Orchid at the stunning Achmelvich Beach with Mountain Everlasting another good one to see. The other main highlight of the remainder of the NC500 was a ringtail Hen Harrier at Knockan Crag NNR

A walk to the Ben Eighe NR from our campsite on the edge of Kinlochewe rewarded us with Azure Hawker, c8 Large Heaths of the ssp ‘scotica’, Common (Highland) Darter, Beautiful Yellow Underwings, Crossbill and Tree Pipit. 

Finishing the NC500 I wanted to visit a hillside at Coulags I last visited several years ago. Here I found my target of Pugsley’s Marsh Orchid plus Lesser Butterfly Orchids and a Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary. 2 Whooper Swans on Loch Coultrie quickly followed. 

We then made our way south via Fort William, Loch Lomond and ever-busy Glasgow and out onto the Ayrshire coast. Here I managed to see the only real vagrant of the whole trip - the summering Western Sandpiper in the small tidal harbour at Maidens. This was followed by Osprey and a new plant - Rodgersia at Culzean CP. A quick overnight stop in the Galloway hills at Glen Trool was rather midge-infested but 2 Wood Warblers and Tree Pipit were some recompense. That was it from Scotland as we headed south into Cumbria. 

By

We had booked a cottage at Troutbeck in the Lake District for a week with Hannah and Arlo joining us for a few days. Despite a bit of a trauma getting the motorhome into the very tight drive it was nice to be driven about for a few days (thanks Hannah!) and we had a lovely sunny week. Nature highlights were fairly few and far between but a trio of cranesbills - Dusky, Rock and Wood Cranesbill were nice at Thilrmere with German Scorpionfly, Tree Wasp, Figwort Sawfly, Willowherb Tenthredo and Trivial Plant Bug also livening things up. We left the Lake District via a day out exploring the strange but beautiful Humphrey Head, a limestone headland sticking out into Morecambe Bay. Here there a a few specialist plants and I managed to catch up with Hoary Rock-rose, Bloody Cranesbill, Limerstone Bedstraw, Blue Moor Grass, Portland Spurge and the endemic Lancastrian Whitebeam clinging to the rock face. Along the lane there were several Beautiful Demoiselles which I eventually managed to photograph. Most bizarre were a Grayling on the exceptionally early date of 16 June and Gooseberry growing in a hedge at nearly Cartmel.

Leaving the Lakes via Lancaster and then on to Merseyside the weather turned very hot. In Lancaster some Southern Marsh Orchids at the very north end of their range were unexpected while Crosby Beach had Compass Jellyfish, Sea Spurge, Sea Holly and Hounds tongue of note.

Around the corner and into Wales next preceded by a day exploring the city of Chester. First stop in Wales was a walk at Fairy Glen near Betws-y-coed where I finally managed to see Common Redstart plus Orange-spotted Plant Bug and the curious sight of a Snake Plant growing in a wood nowhere near habitation! A very scenic walk in Cwm Idwal revealed Moorland Ground Beetle, Parsley Fern and Round-leaved Crowfoot while Common Issid Bug at Penrhyn Castle was a new one for me. 

One of the main things I wanted to do in North Wales was to spend some time on the Great Orme to catch up with the distinctive ‘caernensis’ ssp of Silver-studded Blue. Happily I found a couple but not until after many hours searching. They were literally at the last attempt when almost back in Llandudno! Also on the headland that day I saw the Wild Cotoneaster (the only place in the UK truly wild cotoneaster occurs) plus Common Hawker, Slender St John’s Wort, Bloody Cranesbill and 3 lovely Chough. 

Out on the Lynn Peninsular a Mediterranean Gull at Ty Coch and then near Whistling Sands Ray’s Knotgrass, Rock Sea Spurrey, False Slip Wasp, White-tipped Darwin Wasp and Golden-ringed Dragonfly were followed up with Feral Goats at Dinorwic Quarry near Llanberis which wrapped things up nicely.

We then headed back home to bricks and mortar - and reality!