July 3rd Strumpshaw Fen and Secret Locations

Marsh Helleborine

I arrived at Strumpshaw like clockwork, but I wasn't there for long. This morning, I was invited to help out with a fen orchid survey out somewhere in Norfolk. But before that, I had just enough time to check on the marsh helleborines that I saw last week in the meadows. This time, they were in full bloom.

Satisfied with the helleborines, I went back to the office and waited for Strumpshaw's site manager, Tim Strudwick and two other volunteers to take me out to the special site to where we were going to do our survey. My reason in joining this survey was to redo my little amateur video that I did the other week as the camera did not focus on the orchid. Fen orchids are not exactly the best subjects for my camera it seems. The fact that they are small, green and blends in with the rest of the vegetation, I should have known that my camera would play up because of them. So I was glad to get this second opportunity to go and film them. However, it did involve walking through a bog to find them and that created some comedy on my behalf.

Even though I had brought my wellies, I still managed to get a wet foot. This was because the mud managed to suck my left welly from my foot and I nearly fell over, getting a soggy sock in the process. Thankfully, we did eventually find about 20 fen orchids and I did eventually get to film one, though it did take a bit of trial and error for the camera to behave itself, which involved getting myself wet by kneeling in the bog in order to steady myself. Walking back out of the bog, the mud almost got me again, this time on my right foot. Luckily, I somehow managed to keep it from coming off completely and my right foot was spared a soaking.

Fen Mason Wasp

It wasn't just orchids today. Tim, being a wasp and bee enthusiast, was continuously stopping the group every time he saw a bee or wasp that caught his interest. He took us to some sandy dirt mounds were a colony of social wasps and bees, plus their parasitic counterparts. These mounds were buzzing with activity and swarming with these insects. There was one species that Tim wanted to show us more than any other. Fen mason wasps are one of the rarest species of wasp, not just in the UK, but also in Europe. Tim showed us the small chimneys that the wasp construct around its nest hole. After a short wait, he managed to catch one to show us. It was black with distinctive white stripes. A wonderful looking creature and one that very few people have probably ever seen, let alone heard of.





After completing the survey, we went to another site, but we didn't really find anything other than a few swallowtail butterflies flying over our heads and hearing a grasshopper warbler. And with that, my day walking through boggy terrain looking for orchids was complete. That is until the next orchid that I have to search for in another bog. I can't wait!