A quick pop in to a site on the edge of Norwich revealed several nice Bee Orchids.
Swallowtail
Tree Bumblebee
Bee Orchid
Bee Orchid
Large Skipper
Strumpshaw etc, 16 June 2015
The day started off down near Diss where a singing Turtle Dove at Fersfield was my first of the year. Then up at Strumpshaw I bagged 2 Swallowtails easily in their usual garden and also managed Brimstone, Large White, Small White, Large Skipper, Red Admiral and Speckled Wood. Along the Lackford Run a Cetti's Warbler showed really well and a Cuckoo was singing away to the west. A couple of Norfolk Hawkers and a Broad-bodied Chaser were the pick of the odonata.
A quick pop in to a site on the edge of Norwich revealed several nice Bee Orchids.
A quick pop in to a site on the edge of Norwich revealed several nice Bee Orchids.
Random Suffolk stuff from the weekend
Just a few random photos from the last couple of days. Frog Orchids are out at last at Winks Meadow where a few Common Blues where also whizzing about. And at Southwold a small leaf beetle in the rain on the seafront happened to be Chrysolina banksi looking rather arty with it's raindrops!
Nothing much else to report apart from plenty of singing warblers at Southwold including several Cetti's Warblers and some nice close-up and personal views of a male Marsh Harrier.
Nothing much else to report apart from plenty of singing warblers at Southwold including several Cetti's Warblers and some nice close-up and personal views of a male Marsh Harrier.
A variety of marsh orchids, somewhere in Suffolk, 9 June 2015
I had to visit a house nearby to quote for a job so it saeemed like the ideal opportunity to check out the marsh orchid situation at a fen I visit most years.
I quickly found a flowering 'ochroleuca' Early Marsh Orchid and with a detailed search eventually found 7 spikes out, or partially out. A few Southern Marsh Orchids are poking their heads up and I also found 2 plants that look pretty good for Pugsley's Marsh Orchid. Common Spotted Orchids are well behind this year with a few only just starting to open up.
Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Willow Warbler and Reed Bunting were in full cry despite the chilly evening temperatures!
I quickly found a flowering 'ochroleuca' Early Marsh Orchid and with a detailed search eventually found 7 spikes out, or partially out. A few Southern Marsh Orchids are poking their heads up and I also found 2 plants that look pretty good for Pugsley's Marsh Orchid. Common Spotted Orchids are well behind this year with a few only just starting to open up.
Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Willow Warbler and Reed Bunting were in full cry despite the chilly evening temperatures!
'ochroleuca' Early Marsh Orchid
Pugsley's Marsh Orchid
Pugsley's Marsh Orchid
Southern Marsh Orchid
White Helleborines in Cambs, 6 June 2015
A quick call in to a woodland local nature reserve I'd not been to before.
We were on the way to the Strawberry Fair in Cambridge (seriously don't bother with that!) and called in to Beechwoods as it was only a couple of miles off route. This nice mature beech woodland holds good numbers of White Helleborine which is right at the eastern edge of its range here. We didn't stop long but I quickly found a few plants less than 50 yards into the wood.
The day had started with a welcome if rather unpredicted garden tick - a Reed Warbler singing at 04.45 in the tree outside our bedroom window. It was still going strong at 08.30! We've also had Tree Bumblebee and Common Carder Bumblebee in the garden in recent days.
We were on the way to the Strawberry Fair in Cambridge (seriously don't bother with that!) and called in to Beechwoods as it was only a couple of miles off route. This nice mature beech woodland holds good numbers of White Helleborine which is right at the eastern edge of its range here. We didn't stop long but I quickly found a few plants less than 50 yards into the wood.
The day had started with a welcome if rather unpredicted garden tick - a Reed Warbler singing at 04.45 in the tree outside our bedroom window. It was still going strong at 08.30! We've also had Tree Bumblebee and Common Carder Bumblebee in the garden in recent days.
Variations in Green-winged Orchids
I spent a couple of hours at Winks Meadow, Suffolk this afternoon. Hoping to see Frog Orchid but sadly I was a little early and there are no signs of them yet. Instead I turned my attention to the Green-winged Orchids which literally carpet the whole meadow this year. Despite the lateness of the season there were plenty of good looking specimens about. The species is very variable in colouration so I set about trying to photograph some plants to illustrate the differences. Most pleasing were 4 plants of the variation 'alba' showing no pink or purple pigment in the flower at all.
The typical and most common form with violet-purple flowers and a paler central lip with purple spotting
A close up of the most common form
A specimen showing no whitish area on the central lip
A specimen, not uncommon, showing a very pale lip with very faint spotting but retaining some purple in the sepals
Variation 'alba', scarce in this population and amost always less than 1% of any population. Completely lacking any pink or purple in the sepals or lip but always with those distinctive green veins on the sepals
Variation 'alba' again
The only other bits of interest around the meadow were a singing Lesser Whitethroat, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, my 1st Common Blues of the year plus lingering Orange Tips. I'm still working on identifying the bumblebees!
French bits and bobs, 25 - 30 May 2015
A week in the Paris area doing other stuff but as ever I kept my eye open for what else I could find! A day walking in the Foret de Fountainebleu on 28 May was probably the most productive. The vast rocky woods are lovely and throughout the day we were never far away from the song of Wood Warblers. Also seen/heard were several Nuthatches, Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps, a Melodious Warbler, Tree Pipits, Firecrest, 2 Cuckoos and a Serin singing in the garden of our guesthouse in the village of Barbizon. Best of all though were a pair of Middle Spotted Woodpeckers in the forest, my first ones since 1987!
Insects were good too with 2+ Grizzled Skippers, Brown Argus, Wall Brown, Speckled Woods and c5 Pearl-bordered Fritillaries. An impressive longhorn beetle turned out to be Rhagium sycophanta.
Black Redstarts were seen in bucket loads, every village seeming to have a pair or 2 including some of the abandoned buidlings we were exploring. Melodious Warblers were noted at several locations with Turtle Dove, Nightingale, Corn Bunting, Common Redstart, Common Buzzard, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker and White Wagtails also being seen.
Insects were good too with 2+ Grizzled Skippers, Brown Argus, Wall Brown, Speckled Woods and c5 Pearl-bordered Fritillaries. An impressive longhorn beetle turned out to be Rhagium sycophanta.
Black Redstarts were seen in bucket loads, every village seeming to have a pair or 2 including some of the abandoned buidlings we were exploring. Melodious Warblers were noted at several locations with Turtle Dove, Nightingale, Corn Bunting, Common Redstart, Common Buzzard, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker and White Wagtails also being seen.
Rhagium sycophanta
Forest pool, Foret de Fountainebleu
Grizzled Skipper
A day in the North Downs, Kent, 24 May 2015
On our way down to Folkestone to catch the chunnel to France we engineered an extra day to visit a few sites in the lovely North Downs in Kent. The main aim was to see some orchids I'd not seen for a number of years.
First port of call was Denge Wood which contains the small reserve of Bonsai Bank. Here there were hundreds of superb Lady Orchids (far more than I ever saw here in the past) a few 'going over' Early Purple Orchids, numerous Common Twayblade and probably best of all a small handful of Duke of Burgundys showing very nicely.
Next up was a little woodland reserve of Yocklett's Bank where my target Fly Orchids were surprisingly easily found right by the path. I counted c20 spikes.
Before the rain set in we had time to visit Park Gate Down where despite there being none in the spot I remember from the past we eventually found c40 Monkey Orchid plants, mostly in the 2nd meadow. Plenty of Early Purple Orchids and Common Twayblades here too.
First port of call was Denge Wood which contains the small reserve of Bonsai Bank. Here there were hundreds of superb Lady Orchids (far more than I ever saw here in the past) a few 'going over' Early Purple Orchids, numerous Common Twayblade and probably best of all a small handful of Duke of Burgundys showing very nicely.
Next up was a little woodland reserve of Yocklett's Bank where my target Fly Orchids were surprisingly easily found right by the path. I counted c20 spikes.
Before the rain set in we had time to visit Park Gate Down where despite there being none in the spot I remember from the past we eventually found c40 Monkey Orchid plants, mostly in the 2nd meadow. Plenty of Early Purple Orchids and Common Twayblades here too.
Early orchids and stuff, 13 May 2015
A couple of quick trips out this week to see some local(ish) orchids. The Early Purple Orchids are putting on a fine display amongst the Bluebells in Ashwellthorpe Wood with plenty of colour variation. Try as I might I couldn't find a white one like last year though! While wandering these lovely woods I also encountered a Hairy-footed Flower Bee (a new one for me) while there was also Garden Bumblebee, a few Red-tailed Bumblebees and Green-veined White, Speckled Wood and Orange Tip.
A few days ago I got a tip off about a Suffolk site for Man Orchid so today saw me there. Very pleasingly there were at least 40 spikes and some really robust ones too. I'd not seen this species for a number of years and only once before in East Anglia.
A few days ago I got a tip off about a Suffolk site for Man Orchid so today saw me there. Very pleasingly there were at least 40 spikes and some really robust ones too. I'd not seen this species for a number of years and only once before in East Anglia.
Early Purple Orchid
Early Purple Orchid
Early Purple Orchid
Hairy-footed Flower Bee
Garden Bumblebee
Green-veined White
Man Orchid
Man Orchid
Citril Finch dirty twitch, 10 May 2015
Having spent the majority of the day down at Bawdsey doing 'alternative' things in underground bunkers I got home at 16.30 and was out of the house again at 17.00! Driving like a nutter up to Burnham Overy, I clocked up a Great White Egret flying south over the A1067 just west of Lenwade (toward the Wensum Valley), some feat at c80mph!
I used to walk quite legally along Bone's Drift in the past but it was neds must tonight so I ignored the 'private keep out' signs and legged it as fast as I could to the est end of Holkham Meals. Upon arrival a kind soul offered me his scope and I'd nailed the male Citril Finch within seconds of arrival! It fed unobtrusively on seeds on a sandy patch between brambles and by moving above it I managed to snap off a few records shots. This constitutes Norfolk's 1st and Britains 2nd Citril Finch.
Otherwise it was just plenty of singing Willow Warblers, Garden Warbler plus several Common Buzzards and the first Swifts down at Bawdsey.
I used to walk quite legally along Bone's Drift in the past but it was neds must tonight so I ignored the 'private keep out' signs and legged it as fast as I could to the est end of Holkham Meals. Upon arrival a kind soul offered me his scope and I'd nailed the male Citril Finch within seconds of arrival! It fed unobtrusively on seeds on a sandy patch between brambles and by moving above it I managed to snap off a few records shots. This constitutes Norfolk's 1st and Britains 2nd Citril Finch.
Otherwise it was just plenty of singing Willow Warblers, Garden Warbler plus several Common Buzzards and the first Swifts down at Bawdsey.
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