Welcome to my blog. My name is Sean Locke from Norwich and I am autistic. But this does not stop my passion for nature and wildlife. I am a volunteer for RSPB Strumpshaw Fen and I also help out at Mousehold Heath with surveys and I birdwatch whenever I can. Since 2011, i have been writing a wildlife diary filled with my adventures, drawings and photos. Now i have decided to go online to share with you all.
With the last two day being relatively hot (minus the torrential shower yesterday morning), you'd expect today being nice as well? Nope! It has been grey, cold and overcast all day. Thankfully, it didn't rain, but it was still a day to forget for those seeking for swallowtails. There was a chance that it was going to brighten up and the hope that one could show up, but it was not to be (at least during my watch that is). For me though, I was more interested in finding orchids and dull weather conditions wasn't going to stop me finding them.
The orchid count has more than doubled at Strumpshaw in the last couple of weeks and the meadow trail was more passable than the last time I trudged through it. It was still boggy in places, but no where near as bad as it was before. And now, the meadow trail is an orchid paradise, even if it has been a few weeks late compared to elsewhere in Norfolk. The majority were marsh and spotted orchids of one form or another. It was quite a brilliant display. However, I've long since passed the stage of figuring out which was which for the sake of ticking this confusing group of orchids from my list. Instead, my eyes were scanning the grass for something else entirely.
Marsh Helleborine
Marsh helleborines were now starting to flower and I know that they have been seen in this meadow before. Surprisingly though, I had never seen one at Strumpshaw before. It was time to fix that. After 8 years volunteering here, I was determined to seek out my first ever Strumpshaw marsh helleborine. Since failing to find one during my morning walk, I tried again after lunch. This time I succeeded. It was not in full flower yet with just one floweret showing, but who cares! I've finally found one at this reserve at long last!
You can usually tell that the orchid season is nearing its end of its peak season whenever you encounter your first Epipactis helleborine of the year. This family of orchids more than often emerges from July onwards and have a very similar flower structure that is unlike any of the other orchid species that I've seen so far. The flowers are basically little 'buckets' with five petals/sepals surrounding them and are designed so that the pollinator crawls into these buckets with their weight forcing the bucket to shift so that when the pollinator crawls out it is forced to manoeuvre directly into the pollinia. Out of all these Epipactis helleborines, the marsh helleborine is one of the more colourful members and is rather beautiful with its soft pallets of pinks and whites.
Otters
It wasn't all orchids today, there were also otters. During my shift at Reception Hide, a mother otter and her two cubs surprised us all when they appeared from nowhere not far out between the hide and the reedy islands. Though the wildfowl being on high alert was a big clue. Also today, there was another quick kingfisher appearance flying around the broad, a common tern and marsh harriers.
I've been given the heads up that a lesser butterfly orchid was out in flower yesterday in a place that I can not name for protection reasons up in North Norfolk. So today, I took the train up there for a spot of solo orchid hunting. Finding the site was the easy part, but finding the orchid, on the other hand, was a different matter. I had only been to this site once for a rare bird, but as the bird wasn't far from the entrance, I never really had the opportunity to explore this place. It was inevitable then that I got completely lost. I asked a dog walker if she knew where the orchid was. She was kind enough to call someone who was in the know, but the person failed to pick up. After some wandering later, she returned to me and directed me to a warden who could help me.
Lesser Butterfly Orchid
The warden was mowing out paths with a lawnmower, so I ended up following the noise. He was a very nice man and gave me some further directions. However, I went to the landmark of where his directions were telling me to go to only to not find the protective cage it was supposedly under. I detoured down a well trodden path that only ended up leading me into a bog. My feet was getting soaked and I was starting to get really confused and frustrated. Thankfully, the sound of the warden's lawnmower was getting closer and I approached him.
"Did you find it?"
"No" I replied.
"Really?" He said, sounding a tad puzzled to why I haven't found it yet. "Its just over here!"
I couldn't believe it. I felt like such an idiot. I had approached the landmark in the wrong direction. I should had approached it from the front and not from the back of it like I actually did. If I had or had continued on that path instead of making that detour, I would have found it by now. All I could do now was thank the warden. If it wasn't for him, I would still be lost in a bog.
So there it was. A tiny version of the greater butterfly orchid that I had ticked off just weeks before, protected under a small green metal cage that was there to preserve it from hungry deer. It may be similar to its larger cousin, but the lesser butterfly orchid does have slightly wider 'bodies' and their pollinia are straighter with a narrow gap in between them. Here in Norfolk, this species is, as far as I know, reduced to just one site and, as far as I can tell, just this one flowering spike. Though you can find lesser butterflies in small populations across the western and southern parts of the UK, it appears as though they may be close to extinction in this county. I hope I am wrong, but in any case, I am felt so privileged to see this orchid today.
The sound of thunder was loud enough to wake me up in the middle of the night which followed with torrential rain that hammered my roof. It wasn't a good sign for today. So, I asked Mum for a lift to Strumpshaw this morning. Annoyingly though, it had stopped raining as we made our way there. However, it was still far from being a nice day with an ominous feeling that it could rain again sooner or later.
Barn Owl
As I had gotten a lift in this morning, I only had time to count the Highland cattle in the meadow to make sure they were all still there safe and sound. They didn't make it easy for me though as they were all sitting in the long grass of the furthest paddock with their horns poking out enough for me to just about make them out. While the cattle were hard to see, a barn owl hunting over the meadow fields was a lot easier to spot. Its ghostly shape floated over the grass shrouded in a light mist. It was a bit distant but impossible not to miss. I watched it fly this way and that, before it made a short rest on a gate post. Then a marsh harrier mobbed the owl moments later. I was in a trance like state, hooked on the owl's every movement until it finally vanished into the woods and I snapped out of it, remembering that I had to get back for my shift.
Bullfinches
From the Reception Hide, it was a bit of a raptor fest. Not only were the marsh harriers showing well today, but I also saw a hobby that seemed to enjoy sitting on the bare branches poking above the tree line at the far side of the broad. It made a few hunting attempts out over the reeds, but always returning back to its favourite few perching spots. A pair of bullfinches gave a few visitors a pleasant surprise as I spotted a male feeding a female in full view in a tree right beside the left side of the hide. Perhaps they were thinking about making a second brood? I also saw a great crested grebe fish out a young pike, a brief flash of a kingfisher, lots of reed warbler activity and I helped showed a few visitors as many of the orchids I could find nearby, including a new bee orchid by the twayblade area. And then it rained!
As Dad was away for Father's Day, I was left to my own devices. So today, I went orchid hunting with my friend David instead. I had several places in mind with some new targets I wanted to tick off. David, meanwhile, wanted me to find him some of the species I had already ticked off that he hadn't seen himself yet. We ended up going on an epic orchid hunt finding as many species as we could in one day, targets new and old.
First up was a quick visit to Carrow Road to see the bee orchid patch. It has been about two weeks since I visited this small brownfield site and the bee orchids have more than doubled in number. We found at least 20 or so of them as well as plenty of broomrape poking out of the grass. One down, but we had only just begun.
Pyramidal Orchid
Next up, we looked for pyramidal orchids at Whitlingham Broad, well actually it was a small fenced up patch of meadow just a little bit down the road. Pyramidal orchids are small, cheery-looking plants with little three-lobed pink flowers that often form a pyramid-like shape, though they do also develop into cylinders and globes. Each flower is full of nectar that only butterflies and moths with long mouth parts can reach. While the butterfly feeds, it triggers a small spring-like structure called the viscidium to coil around the butterfly's proboscis that is hard to brush off until it delivers the pollinia to another plant.
Moving on, the next species on my list was extremely rare and very special to Norfolk. As fen orchids are only found in a couple of sites in south Wales and a handful more in Norfolk and they are a big target for illegal orchid collectors, I can not reveal where we went next. However, I can tell you that in finding them, you need to put on a pair of wellies. Mum had bought me some last year, but I had never even worn them yet. They had spent the whole time in my shoe closet and today I am finally testing them out. They are so new that they still had the cord attached to them. I was going to give them a real testing session as to find these tiny green orchids I had to wade through boggy, spongy ground. It was like walking on a trampoline that leaks water with every step.
Fen Orchid
Finding a fen orchid is not easy. Being green and very small, they kind of blend in with the rest green matter surrounding them. Once you get your eye in though and after you have found one, you soon find more and more in a relatively small area. Fen orchids have a very different way of pollination than the other species I have ticked off so far. They are not pollinated by insects but instead self-pollinates itself with a little help from the rain. When it rains, a raindrop will knock into the anther at the top of the spidery-like flowers, causing the pollinia to drip down to the stigma below.
While searching for this rare orchid, I happen to find another candidate that matches the description of a Pugsley's marsh orchid. It had that dainty stature, thin, narrow leaves, very few flowers that tend to be more towards one side, but this one also had more pointed lips. I know that DNA tests has proven that Norfolk's population of this species is actually just another variation of southern marsh orchids, but this specimen was the best 'Pugsley's' that I have found so far and I was happy enough to add it to my orchid photo collection anyway.
The Dactylorhiza family (marsh and spotted orchids) have been one of the toughest groups for me to separate. I was glad that I had only one species left to tick off; the heath spotted orchid. And though I had actually seen it at Buxton Heath on my second visit, I had not identified it until I was back home. I wasn't satisfied in simply ticking it off until I had made a video of it. So, cue my third and hopefully last Buxton Heath visit of the month. However, as we got to the reserve's car park, a sudden short shower greeted us. It came out of nowhere and disappeared just as quickly. After taking the opportunity for a lunchbreak, we made our way to the now more than familiar boggy area that was covered in Dactylorhiza orchids. I was glad I had the wellies this time around.
Heath Spotted Orchid
On the way, we found a few metal sheets lying around. We decided to check if any reptile was basking under the warmth of these metal sheets, so we carefully lifted them up. On our final attempt, we discovered a huge grass snake coiled beneath it! Before I could grab my camera for a photo, it saw me and slithered away as quick as lightning!
We finally got to the orchid bog and it wasn't long until I discovered that the same heath spotted orchid that I photographed two weeks ago to ID later was still there as fresh as it was back then. This species can be identified with its more rounder, wider lip that sort of resembles a lady's frock with lots of stripes and spots on it. Just like the common spotted orchid, it too has spotty leaves. As well as heath spotted orchids, we were also surrounded by southern marsh, common spotted, the odd common twayblade and possibly a few early marsh to boost our day's orchid species count to 9.
Painted Lady
Lastly, David wanted me to find him the greater butterfly orchid that I found 2 weeks ago. I can't tell you where the location is for protective reasons, but I was totally surprised to not only find it in the exact same spot but also still in near good condition. David had never seen a butterfly orchid before, so he was happy. This was our 10th and final orchid of the day. I don't think I've seen so many species in one day before! I would like to note that we also encountered many painted lady butterflies today at every location that we've visited. It appears that an invasion of this lovely butterfly has occurred in the last week despite the rubbish weather that we've been having.
The weather this week has been miserable. Rain, rain and more rain! A typical British summer. Thankfully, though, I managed to walk to Strumpshaw this morning without getting wet. The rain had held off for me, at least until my shift began that is. For the mean time, I got myself wet in a different way. By walking a water-logged meadow trail to look for orchids. I only had myself to blame, of course, but I did at least find orchids this time around, though very few of them. There was nothing new to add to my list, but I did come across a few southern marsh orchids, a couple of common spotted orchids, a twayblade (that I've seen for the last couple of weeks before hand) and a single bee orchid that had finally bloomed near the reserve's entrance.
Cuckoo
While trudging through the wet meadow, I disturbed a Chinese water deer and some meadow brown butterflies (which have now emerged despite the bad weather this week). A cuckoo was constantly calling nearby, though it sounded like it was moving around a lot. One minute it was calling from the river and the next from the woods. And then as I was making my way out of the water and grass, it had positioned itself on a bare tree by the Sandy Wall. I could see it clearly, though it still seemed far away to get a really decent photo of it. Walking back towards the Reception Hide, I felt as if the cuckoo was following me as I could hear it repeating its species' name getting closer and closer and heading in same direction, moving onwards with every step I made until I had reached the hide.
Sparrowhawk
And then the weather returned to how it had been doing all this week. More rain! Before the heavens opened, there were some promising reports coming back from visitors that had made their way around the reserve earlier in the morning of butterflies, otters and even a tawny owl at Fen Hide. For a moment, it was looking as if we were going to be lucky with the weather and with a slim chance that a swallowtail making an appearance. But once the rain did start to pour, the opportunism of any swallowtails ended just like that. I had one visitor that had made a long journey from another county of England as part of a birthday holiday in the hope of seeing one. If he had his holiday a week earlier, he would had a smile on his face, but that wasn't going to happen now on a day like this. I felt sorry for him, so I took him to see the foodplant, milk parsley, and somehow found him a tiny, white swallowtail egg as a constellation prize.
Sitting inside Reception Hide, at least there were marsh harriers, a sparrowhawk, common terns, reed warblers and a brief bittern (which I missed!) providing me with at least something that wasn't just rain to stare at. Let's hope this spell of soggy weather disperses soon. I want to see more orchids!!
I went orchid hunting with Dad today. I had a few places and a few species in mind. First up was a place Dad and I had been before back at the start of my quest. This time we were here for greater butterfly orchids. As this was the only site in Norfolk to find them, I'm not going to remind you where that was just in case some collector is reading this. I was given directions to their whereabouts, but we couldn't figure them out and ended up getting lost. Amazingly though, we did manage to find one somehow. It was an impressive specimen too and even Dad was impressed by it. As soon as we found it, he said to me "Best one so far!"
There are two species of butterfly orchids, the lesser and the greater. Both of them are so called because they apparently have flowers that resemble butterflies, though to me, they look more like fairies. Not only are they slightly larger than its lesser cousin, greater butterfly orchids tend to have narrower lips (the butterfly's body) and have a wide gap between the two pollinia that you can see in between the sepals (or wings if you prefer). Butterfly orchids actually targets night flying moths, not butterflies. It produces a sweet scent that lures in the moths to crawl between the orchid's pollinia. The pollinia are sticky on one side, the side that's pointing inwards and as the moth feeds, these pollinia sticks onto them ready to pollenate another flower.
With success with the butterfly orchid, we moved on to Buxton Heath. I was here Monday, but I wanted to come back to do a couple of my amateur-made videos about them. I still need to practice a bit more on these, I think. Anyway, as well as talking about the common spotted and southern marsh orchids to my camera, I also tried to seek out the remaining two Dactylorhiza orchids; the heath spotted and Pugsley's marsh. We found one rather dainty looking plant that had very few flowers that faced one way and thin slender leaves, the closest one that we can find that matches the description of a Pugsley's. However, DNA research has now classed Norfolk's Pugsley's marsh orchids as just a variation of a southern marsh orchid. So, I've decided to tick it off anyway. Close enough for me in my opinion.
Bee Orchid
Finally, we made one more stop. We went to Carrow Road, but not for football. We were here for bee orchids across the opposite side of the road to a small patch of wildflowers. It wasn't long until I spotted a few hidden in the tall grass. This is one of the most fascinating of Norfolk's orchids. It not only pretends to look like a bee, it also produces a pheromone that smells like a female bee which attracts an eager male bee who mates with it only to leave disappointed with just a pair of pollinia attached to his head. Unfortunately, the species of bee the orchid wants no longer exists in the UK anymore. However, the orchid has a trick up its sleeve. It can self pollinate itself. A butterfly and a bee in one day! Not bad!
Walking to Strumpshaw, all I was thinking was how many orchids at the reserve was in flower right now? However, my curiosity turned to disappointment. The bee orchids appear to not be anywhere close to flowering, the common spotted orchids were nowhere to be seen in the usual grassy areas of the first part of the woodland trail, and the meadow trail was completely switched over from how it was last week with the cattle moved to the section where I saw those early marsh orchids, leaving me walking around a different, yet very orchid-less part of the trail. Only the twayblade I saw last Wednesday was the only orchid I saw all day, now in full bloom. What has happened to Strumpshaw's orchids? Are they late this year? I'll have to see if my luck changes next week.
Bittern
Feeling rather deflated from the lack of orchids, I stopped over to the Fen Hide. A pair of mute swans were feeding on the aquatic plants alongside their three tiny, fluffy, grey cygnets. Reed buntings were also feeding their young sitting on reed stems in full view, while reed warblers were churring half hidden nearby. A male marsh harrier soared low over the front of the hide, almost completely diverting my attention from a bittern that decided that that exact moment was the time to make its emergence from the reeds. If it thought I didn't see it, it was wrong. I have photographic proof!
Swallowtail
So far this summer, the swallowtails had been evading me. I have yet to see one this year. That is, until today! I finally got my chance to see one at long last. They had been seen most days when I wasn't on shift. The nectar garden outside the Reception Hide was lacking the crowds of photographers circled around it like they usually do during the swallowtail season in the last two Wednesdays, but not this time. It was all back to normal as visitors from all over England joined me in enjoying the moment as this beautiful and rare butterfly came to drink its share of nectar from the sweet rocket flowers. There was a lengthy gap between its first, early performance of the morning to its next showing around lunchtime, where it stayed a lot longer for everyone to see. Between appearances, during its absence, I was completely mesmerised by the activity of the ruby-tailed wasps on the nectar garden stump that I found it hard to tear myself away.
May 30thMousehold Heath
Moth night at Mousehold. A warm evening but slightly breezy, though it didn't put off the moths. Most of what we caught were treble lines, but we also had buff-tip, brimstones, swallow prominent, red roller, silver-y, flame shoulder, light emerald and a least black arches.
June 3rd Buxton Heath
I was invited by Tricia, my Strumpshaw colleague, to join her and her two friends to Buxton Heath for a spot of nightjar watching. However, before her friends arrived, Tricia and I got to Buxton an hour early to search for orchids.
Common Spotted Orchid
Our search took us into the boggy parts of the site, where it felt much warmer and humid, smelled strongly of mint, and the biting insects were swarming over us. Thankfully, there were plenty of marsh orchids to see. Maybe too many. The more we looked, the more we found and the more confused I got in identifying them. Most of them were a deep purple with plain green leaves. I was confident that these were southern marsh orchids. But then I found some early marsh orchids that have raised sepals and much narrower flowers and then I noticed specimens that appeared to have the description of both species. A hybrid perhaps? Then, there were these orchids that had spotted leaves with some having the wider lip of the heath spotted orchid and others with thinner flowers that had more notable lobes to them. With time and daylight against me and with pools of sweat forming on my face from exploring the boggy terrain, I was none the wiser of which orchid species I was seeing. Marsh orchids are hard!
Southern Marsh Orchid
[Edit: After having someone with a more expert eye take a look at my photos, I was told that most of them were mainly common spotted and southern marsh orchids with a few hybrids in the mix too. Even he admits that he's not 100% sure that he's correct or not though. I shall have to try and visit again so that I can do my little videos.]
It was now nearing the time that nightjars were going to emerge. So we met up with Tricia's two friends and made our way to a spot where I have seen them a couple of times before where the heathland and woodland were divided by a fence. The midges were a constant nuisance, but amongst their buzzing in my ear, I was starting to hear the unmistakable, eerie, churring calls of nightjars in the darkness. We were surrounded, but it took some time to actually see one in the dim, dark light gliding over our heads. This kestrel-sized nocturnal bird feeds on the wing like a swift and as a summer migrant busy establishing a territory, it also does something else on the wing too; wing clapping. The ones here tonight were actively clapping their wings a lot. We also heard a few short whistling peep sounds, which I initially thought were woodcocks until a nightjar flew over our heads making this noise.
I love these strange birds and though I have had many encounters in the past, I have yet to see one in broad daylight posing for a photo. This is because they are extremely hard to spot as their plumage is cryptic and makes extremely good camouflage allowing them to be like part of the leaf litter as they sleep the day away. Maybe one day I hope to get that rare opportunity, but for now, I am satisfied. It is going to be hard to top a churring nightjar wing clapping and flying low over your head like this. It just adds to the wonder and charm of this fascinating, mysterious bird.
