A quick morning visit to the patch at Dickleburgh Moor with Belinda.
Things were fairly quiet but we did manage to winkle out 3 Ruff, 2 Greenshank, c8 Green Sandpipers, 1 Common Sandpiper and c6 Yellow Wagtails. Best of all however was a young male Marsh Harrier that flew in from the south and landed out of view on the east side of the reserve. A new patch tick for me.
Yesterday was a day when I needed to get out to help take my mind off other things - even in the sweltering heat!
I had kindly been given some directions to a single Corn Marigold plant (vulnerable and declining) in central Suffolk so Belinda and I headed off to the site for a short walk. I found the plant with no bother, growing in the middle of an overgrown gravel farm track just off a public footpath. And luckily it had one nice flower still in situ! In a large area of set-aside beside the path on the walk I was pleased to find loads of Sun Spurge and quite a few delicate Flax plants looking rather lovely. In an adjacent hedge was some Old Man's Beard and along the path 2 Small Heaths and several Gatekeepers.
We celebrated with a visit to the highly recommended cafe/deli in Earl Soham for coffee and scones!
Corn Marigold
Flax
An early start this morning and I was down at Alton Water the other side of Ipswich in double quick time. Initially I went to the main carpark but realising my error (it's a long walk from there to the outfall near the NE corner). I drove around and parking in a lane it was a much quicker stroll coming in from the north and gave direct access to the outfall 'jetty'. And upon arrival the adult Gull-billed Tern showed immediately in flight. In the following 45 minutes it did several fly-bys and also sat preening on the railings on the end of the jetty with the local Common Terns.
I quit the scene once I'd had my fill and headed for Lower Holbrook where a look at the saltmarsh in the bay failed to locate any Lax-flowered Sea Lavender or Golden Samphire but did give me loads of Sea Purslane, Common Sea Lavender, Sea Aster and Common Cord-grass. The latter being a saltmarsh specialist.
Back at home in the afternoon another botanic tick materialised in the form of garden 'weed' - Pale Persicaria.
I popped out to Dickleburgh Moor with my morning coffee today, mainly to beat the heat of the day.
As I think I've mentioned before the site is looking amazing at the moment and is a lovely relaxing spot to spend a little time leisurely scanning. Today I managed Greenshank, Snipe, Black-tailed Godwit, 5 Green Sandpipers, 4 Common Sandpipers, a juv Little Ringed Plover, a family party of Oystercatchers, many Lapwings and 34 Little Egrets. Passerines included c10 Yellow Wagtails and a Grey Wagtail which was a news site record for me.
Readers of this blog will know that on 25 May this year (my birthday!) I managed to track down and photograph Chequered Skipper in the Rockingham Forest area of Northants.
It took me some time of internet research, examining satellite images and then hours of tramping the woodland rides to find one but boy was it worth it. Butterfly Conservation have told me in writing that they now intend to make the location public as the 2020 flight period is well and truly over. So, as I haven't seen anything from them yet the following map should give you all you need to know to get you to the spot in Westhay Wood. Bear in mind that in hours of searching in perfect warm and sunny weather conditions in late May I only managed to find one individual (an an official BC transect the same day found none) so they are not easy. The low numbers might be because they are not doing well but could equally be because the unusually hot May weather brought them out early and I caught them right at the end of their 2020 flight period.
Good luck to anyone who tries in 2021...
