Thursday 14 May 2015

May 14th Mousehold Heath

House Sparrow
Did another bird survey with Will today at Mousehold Heath. Recorded many common birds which includes; wrens, robins, blue tits, great tits, long-tailed tits, blackbirds, greenfinches, chaffinches, chiffchaffs, willow warblers, blackcaps, whitethroats, dunnocks, swifts and house sparrows.

Feral Pigeons
Wildflowers on the side of St James' Hill
The side of St James' Hill is looking amazing with swathes of cow parsley, Alexanders and patches of red campion blowing gently in the wind. I walk through it, admiring the display while listening to song thrushes and other birds singing from the shrubs and gorse at the hill's summit above me. There is something poetical about this scene, but words escape me. Just the visual splendour was enough. This part of Norwich in May has to be one of the most beautiful, yet overlooked wild areas of the city and the view isn't bad either.

Dandelion Clock
Apple Tree Blossom
Flower Bee?
Horse Chestnuts
One of the Horse Chestnut's flower 'candles'
When I got home, I noticed some strange looking caterpillars feeding on the leaves of a lime outside my flat. They were hairy with strange horn-like things on their heads and yellow tufts on their backs. The more I looked, the more I found. They were almost on every leaf. I checked one of my books on British moths and butterflies. I found out that they were the caterpillars of the Vapourer moth, which emerges in July. Only the males have wings, the females are flightless.


1 comment:

  1. The caterpillars of the Vapourer moth look so great, don't they. BMG found one a few years ago and looked after it. It turned into a wingless female (that looked like a furry grey blob). Such an amazing caterpillar really should turn into something more glamorous! We put her outside and 3 males appeared within a few minutes.

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