Chris Lansdell's Birding & Nature Diary

Turner's Oak and a strange Comfrey sp

This weekend has been a quiet one but a walk around Mousehold from Mum and Dad's on Friday had me looking at a rather strange oak growing by the capark at Zaks opposite the Fountain Ground. What caught my eye was that it was in full leaf despite no other trees being any where near that advanced yet. It turns out to be a specimen of the rare Turner's Oak, a hybrid between Common Oak and Holm Oak which explains it's almost evergreen nature. Earlier in the day a singing Chiffchaff in the garden was early and a most welcome sign of spring.

A long walk around the Metfield area on Saturday revealed a flock of c250 Fieldfares with a few intermingled Redwings, singing Song Thrush and Bullfinch. Along the Fressingfield Road south of Metfield my eye was drawn to an attractive comfrey in flower on the verge. It was very low-growing with delicate long pale blue and white flowers. Closer examination revealed that it had 'runners' and was growing as a matt covering the ground. I also had hairy heart-shaped leaves. Being in full flower so early was also a good indicator that this was Creeping Comfrey, a new species for me!

Update - following some Twitter discussions however I have been informed that this comfrey is actually Hidcote Comfrey but my record of Creeping Comfrey has been accepted on iRecord by the county rcorder. I'm confused! Needless to say Creeping Comfrey will be staying off my list for the time being.

Turner's Oak

Hidcote Comfrey

Spring vibes in Norwich, 9 March 2022

A day getting things done in Norwich with the added bonus of some sun, a long walk and some nice plants.

Just outside Earlham Cemetery on Farrow Road there are some fabulous Netted Irises in lovely condition along the central reservation. In the cemetery itself, armed with Rex Hancy's 'Notable Trees of Norwich' book I tracked down the rather spectacular Weeping Beech and also a single Whitebeam. Some of the other trees he mentions will have to wait until the leaves are on the trees! Also seen there amongst the huge displays of Crocuses, Daffodils, Snowdrops and Primroses were a few Glory-of -the-Snow plants, a species closely related to the squills.

Jus had recently found a rather nice looking Silk Tassel tree just off Upper St Giles so I ventured there next to pay it homage, also finding a Small-flowered Gorse next to it. On the walk back through the back streets I found Garden Tree Mallow and Greater Celandine in flower too.

Netted Iris

Weeping Beech

Glory-of-the-Snow

Silk Tassel tree

Small-flowered Gorse

Garden Tree Mallow

Greater Celandine

Dunwich Forest and Westwood Marshes, 6 March 2022

A reasonably bright but cold day on Sunday saw us do a rather long walk taking in large parts of Dunwich Forest and the whole length of Westwood Marshes.

Parking at a site we are familiar with for camping - Frederick's Mount cp I was greeted to the sight of 8 Crossbills flying over as soon as I set foot out of the car. Around the walk I went on to notch up 2 Firecrests (1 singing), Bullfinch, Bearded Tits, Marsh Harrier and 2 Great White Egrets. The latter were on Westwood Marshes from the Dingle Hill track. Through the wet woodland at the western end of the marshes were a nice patch of Leafy Brain and several Blushing Brackets. My first Coltsfoot of the spring was also found.

After a stop at Blythburgh Church (of Black Shuck fame!) we then did a further walk in Reydon Wood where several Smooth Newts were in the pond, one even allowing a quick photo.

Leafy Brain

Blushing Bracket

Coltsfoot

Smooth Newt

A Variety of Violets, 4 March 2022

I've been keeping an eye out for a few variations of Sweet Violets in recent days. Despite the continued lack of var. sulfurea at a site in Norwich a local walk from home produced a rather nice range of varieties. Most pleasing was the reddish form var. rosea plus the expected white var. dumetorum, a blotchy pale pink form possibly var. subcarnea and also a dumetorum with pale purple on the petal tips.

Interestingly I only found a single Early Dog Violet in flower.

A variety of Sweet Violet forms

Early Dog Violet

A stroll 'up city', 3 March 2022

On Thursday I had a few things to do in Norwich so decided to make a day of it 'up city' as we locals say!

It was lovely to catch it just right by the cathedral as both male and female Peregrines were very active, flying around the spire and out over the Close. Nearby, hawking over the river from Fye Bridge in broad daylight was a large pale brown bat, most probably a Noctule that then disappeared under the bridge. I had to do a double-take as my first thought was Sand Martin!

On the walk back along Earlham Road I found Lesser Periwinkle in flower and then loads of Mind-your-own-Business growing along a pavement. In the cemetry a quick check of a few gravestones revealed Orange Ladybird and Cream-spotted Ladybird amongst the many Harlequins.

Peregrine over the cathedral

Lesser Periwinkle

Mind-your-own-Business

Orange, Cream-spot and Harlequin Ladybirds

Sea Radish - probably! California Cliffs, 27 February 2022

Of all the bizarre places Belinda and I had a walk at California on Sunday. I can't understand why anyone would want to spend a holiday there!

It was blowing up a bit of a sandstorm on the beach but the walk wasn't without a bit of interest. In flower I found some Wallflowers in a sheltered spot close to the bottom of the cliffs. Then, further north at the bottom of some steps leading back up I spotted a large bushy plant with a few early yellow flowers. It looked familiar yet strange at the same time. The flowers looked similar to Wild Radish but were bright yellow rather than the pale yellow, white or pale purple of that species. The plant was also tall and very bushy whereas Wild Radish is usually much shorter and rather 'straggly'.

Reading up when I got home it appears that this was very probably Sea Radish (a maritime ssp of Wild Radish and pretty rare locally). In order to be 100% sure I will return later in the year to examine the seed pods which are diagnostic.

Every day is a school day!

Sea Radish - probable

Wallflower

Green Hellebore in a Suffolk wood, 25 February 2022

After success in the Brecks with Mezereon the next of the early flowering plants on my wanted list was the rather enigmatic Green Hellebore.

A Flora of Suffolk records only 9 tetrads in the county where it has been found and I'd been doing some homework for a little while trying to pinpoint where would be the best place to look. It may not be a small plant but some of the ancient woodlands in Suffolk are pretty big! In the end a friend came to the rescue with some further details which enabled me to proceed with a bit of confidence. Ironically it was in an area I know quite well as Belinda used to live, as a child, in a cottage no more than 200 yards from the plants themselves! We've walked in the area several times.

Needless to say I found a fair sized clump of plants nice and easily and set about trying out my camera and mini tripod on them. The results are below - what a lovely looking plant.

Mezereon - the botanic year starts in earnest, 12 February 2022

One of the plants on my 'hit list' for the year is the early flowering Mezereon. This curious shrub flowers before the leaves emerge with the flowers arranged in rows along the twiggy stems. It is nationally scarce and despite having details of the single Suffolk site I was recently alerted to it's presence in the Norfolk part of the Brecks. Here I found it quickly today, indeed I wish all plants were as easy to find! A few snaps later and I went for a local wander - 2 Woodlarks were singing in different clearings and I also managed a pair of Marsh Tits, Redwings and Common Buzzard while 2 Lesser Redpolls buzzed over.

Mezereon

From the sublime to the ridiculous! 11 February 2022

Continuing the twitchy theme from yesterday there is a bird up on the North Norfolk coast of a species I haven't seen for many a long year.

Red-breasted Goose has become very scarce in recent years but 2022 has seen 3 turn up with one amongst the Brent Goose flock wintering in the Cley/Blakeney area. With the bird having been reported on Blakeney Freshes I parked at Cley Sluice only to realise the flock was way off from the bank there and only partly in view. So I relocated to Friary Hills where I was able to get to higher ground. Here I located the flock of c400 Brent Geese and the star attraction nice and easily. I watched it at length before heading back down towards the quay where a captive bird of the same species was on the duck pond! A Cetti's Warbler sang from the edge of the marsh as I sought sustainance in the new 'Two Magpies Bakery'!

After that my plan had been to head west along the coast but news of the wintering Short-toed Lark having been seen again at West Runton I decided to head there. After all I had loads of time and it was another species I'd not seen for yonks. So, I did the whole circuit of the stubble field it favours checking flying Skylarks (c30) and Linnets (c120) because the stubble was too high to see anything on the deck. In 3 hours I managed 2-3 flight views which were better when I'd moved away from the clifftop so I wasn't looking directly in to the low sun. 3 Stock Doves and 2 Common Buzzards were the only other sightings. All rather underwhelming compared to the splendor of the goose!

Red-breasted Goose (poor digiscoped effort!)

Unashamed twitching in East Suffolk! 10 February 2022

With Belinda away for a few days this is an opportunity for me to do some out and out dedicated birding!

There were some bits in coastal Suffolk I've been wanting to see so that was my direction of travel. I headed for Aldringham Walks just north of Thorpeness first. This is an area we know well from numerous walks there but completely unknown to me was a large irrigation 'reservoir' because it is completely invisible being surrounded by a high bank and barbed wire fences. That is unless you climb a tree to see a drake Ring-necked Duck which is what I did! I also availed myself of a large stepladder that another guy had brought and later found an area where the fence was flattened so I was able to sneak a bit closer! It was a smart bird amongst all the Tufted Duck, scattered Pochard and a couple of Little Grebes. A Dartford Warbler also burst into song when I was up the tree.

Ring-necked Duck

After that I headed north a bit to Walberswick where, despite a long muddy walk along the seawall from the carpark I was unable to find the Glossy Ibis. After almost giving up and wandering around the harbour area and finding nothing I went back up onto the seawall for one last scan and found the bloody thing right in front of me! Bearded Tit and Stonechat were also clocked up there together with my first Sweet Violets of the year.

Glossy Ibis

Sweet Violets

My next bit of luck was at Hen Reedbeds where I walked out to the Blyth Estuary to find the 1w Glaucous Gull within seconds! I scoped it nicely and then decided to try and phonescope it - only to find it completely vanished while I was lining up my phone to my eyepiece. It was very strange - I never saw it fly it just disappeared almost ghost-like! I guess you make your own luck as I'd missed it when I looked a few weeks ago.

After a sausage bap and probably the worst 'flat white' I've ever had in the Wrentham cafe I finished my day in the churchyard at Henstead which is renowned for it's Snowdrops. Here I found a lovely variety including Greater Snowdrop and Green Snowdrop.