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.
It was a perfect night for moths and so, on Friday, I went along to another moth session at Mousehold. Though it wasn't as incredible as the session a month ago, it was still a great success with a great turn out with the amount of people showing up. The moths took a short while to visit the light trap we had set up, but once they did, they kept on coming for at least a couple of hours before midnight. There were plenty of species to thumb through the pages of the various ID books and to hand out to the crowd. The youngsters of the group even had there fun in catching some for us. Most of the moths were yellow underwings (at least four species) and species that we've caught in previous moth trap sessions at Mousehold over the years. The best highlight of the night, though, was catching an old lady, which is a large brown moth that apparently resembles an old woman's shawl.
Aug 27thMinsmere
A second heatwave has hit the UK this week and that feeling of melting away in a pool of my own sweat has returned to me. The sun sapped away at my energy at a fast rate. There were better, cooler ways to spend a gruellingly hot day like this than bird watching at Minsmere, but it has felt like forever since I last visited this reserve and Mum fancied a visit there too, so here I was trying my best to keep my mind on the birds and not the heat. It was not an easy task. There were some relief in the form of the odd shade and slight draft coming through the hides, but there was no real way of preventing the heat from making us suffer.
Wasp Spider
At the scrapes, there were plenty of birds from keeping our energy drained minds occupied. There were avocets, black-tailed godwits, ringed plovers, a curlew, ruffs, 2 greenshanks, lapwings and dunlin. It is amazing how they can all get on with life without showing signs of fatigue from this heatwave. At least one of the herons here was behaving the same way as us. It sat there at the centre of the nearest island with its wings drooped and partially pointing outwards at an angle, its neck straight and bill open as it pants in an attempt to cool itself down. It really did look like it was done with the heat as we were.
I also, that day, saw a green woodpecker, heard bearded tits and watched the activities of bee-wolves and jewel wasps at the always fascinating area of sandy path known as Digger Alley. However, my favourite highlight of the day was seeing five wasp spiders along the fence bordering the beach. I had managed to see one of these colourfully striped spiders for the first time last year, and now I was able to show them to Mum. She's not exactly keen on spiders, but even she agreed that these were impressive to look at.
Aug 28thStrumpshaw Fen
Water Rail
After struggling to sleep last night thanks to the heat, I was glad that it was a more cooler day than it was yesterday as I made my way to Strumpshaw for my shift. I was expecting it to still be a nice day and had left my coat and fleece behind, but I should have known better. It was Wednesday after all. I had gotten to the reserve nice and dry, but after a stop for the toilet, I came out of the toilet block minutes later to find that it was raining! It was actually refreshing to walk in it without any waterproofing to protect me after the week we've had. I made a visit to Fen Hide, seeing a young water rail, while the rain began to really pour down.
With my shift looming to start, I had enough time to refill the bird feeders out in the rain. Inside Reception Hide, I watched the rain continue to fall as more and more ducks were flying in on the broad. Watching each duck arrive was like counting sheep. Thanks to the lack of sleep from last night, it was no wonder that they were slowly causing me to nod off. However, I managed to fight the urge off. The weather was improving as the morning went on and sunshine eventually won through, allowing the rest of the day to be rather pleasant. The return of the sun seemed to cue the arrival of a kingfisher that made a few brief visits before I had to leave. I also saw a marsh harrier harassing the ducks, a great crested grebe with its glorious crest bleached of its usual colour, and a great spotted woodpecker making a quick cameo on the kingfisher tree.
It has been a while since my last butterfly survey at Mousehold, hasn't it? Will, Mousehold's warden, has been extremely busy as of late and had been doing them in his limited free time without me. Today, though, I was able to join him. It turned out to be a very successful survey with 61 butterflies counted. This included; 13 gatekeepers, 1 painted lady, 14 small whites, 2 large whites, 3 small coppers, 2 commas, 10 red admirals, 2 common blues, 4 speckled woods, 4 meadow browns and 2 green-veined whites.
The best of the bunch though was seeing 4 brown arguses. A brown argus is a member of the blue butterfly family and looks very similar to a female common blue but has brown upper wings with orange dots. I've not seen them that often at Mousehold, but this year, they seem to be doing exceptionally well at the site. Their cousin, the common blue, on the other hand, are not doing as well. I hate to admit it, but I haven't seen as many of these brilliant blue butterflies as much throughout the last few years. It really is a worrying decline.
Aug 21stStrumpshaw Fen
The sun may have been shining, but it was still a rather quiet morning at Strumpshaw. However, I'm just happy that it wasn't windy or rainy like most Wednesdays. I had heard that a garganey had been seen from Tower Hide, so I decided to check it out before my shift began. Along the way, I spooked a muntjac deer, walked past a basking lizard and had bullfinches follow me from Sandy Wall to halfway down the river trail. At Tower Hide, there were many drab-looking ducks, but with the sun in my eyes and my hot, sweaty face fogging up the lenses of my binoculars, I was unable to spot the garganey, only teal, shovelers, gadwalls and mallards as well as herons and two Chinese water deer.
At Reception Hide, a kingfisher made several visits, perching at the post partially hidden behind reeds at the centre of the reedy islands every now and then. There were also swarms of swallows with the odd house martin swooping over the broad and I had to rescue a dragonfly that had flown inside the hide, flying into the window above the main door like most insects that cannot distinguish the difference between free airspace and glass. I had to use a net to catch it, which was not easy. I've often saved butterflies trapped in this hide, but this was the first time I had to save a dragonfly. It was a big one too! A southern hawker, I think.
Aug 9thAutumn Ladies-tresses?
My final orchid, the autumn ladies-tresses, is only found in two locations in Norfolk (from what I was told). One is at a school, which I expect would be out of bounds to the public (if they are still there of course). The other is at the roadside verges and lawns of a small hamlet on the furthest western edge of Norfolk, a distance much further than any of my other orchid targets that I have seen so far. In fact, it turned out to be much closer to the Cambridgeshire/Lincolnshire border than the Norfolk border. It was a ridiculously long journey to see a small orchid with white flowers that spiral around its stem.
So, after finally convincing my parents that this was the last orchid to find, I was given one and only one chance to travel the long distance to this tiny hamlet to tick off my 20th and final orchid. If I didn't find it here, my orchid hunt was over indefinitely. On Friday the 9th of August, Dad and I arrived at this final orchid destination. We walked an entire loop around the hamlet, searching the grass along a river-like structure, along the roadside verges and even peered into people's front lawns. However, there was a problem. The locals had decided that Friday was the day to mow their lawns and the verges for some stupid reason. If there were autumn ladies-tresses there, they weren't now! I was so angry and disappointed. My orchid hunt had ended on a whimper.
Four orchids have now stopped me in my tracks from seeing every orchid species in Norfolk. The autumn ladies-tresses has now joined the locally extinct lizard and bog orchids as well as the green-flowered helleborine, which I know is out there, but have now given up searching for it. My orchid hunt may have now come to an end, but I have enjoyed finding the other 19 that I did see and understanding more about them. Though I have fallen short of my goal, I can be proud in seeing some of the rarest, fascinating and most challenging orchids this county I live in has to offer. It had been a great effort and I shall never forget it. And who knows, if those four species that I missed ever show up again, I may be tempted in checking them out one day.
Aug 14thStrumpshaw Fen
Kingfisher
The weather seems to always be wet or windy most Wednesdays at Strumpshaw just lately. Today was no exception, though the rain didn't really take hold until I left the reserve this lunchtime. It had just been threatening to rain throughout morning, with the odd drop here and there though never seriously doing that much. It was mostly a dull, grey morning. There were more to see at Fen Hide than at Reception Hide today. The real highlights being a kingfisher making frequent visits and a little ringed plover that had a bit of an eye problem. Both of this poor plover's eyes were defected and it couldn't really see where it was going. It almost flew inside the hide with us, its eyes were that much of a hindrance. There wasn't much we could do, not that we could catch it anyway. Other than these two birds, it was just your usual scruffy-looking ducks and the occasional marsh harrier.
It was a slightly blustery morning at Strumpshaw, but at least it wasn't strong enough to force the wildlife into hiding. Red admirals, painted ladies, small red-eyed damselflies and various other butterfly and dragonfly species were showing well despite the wind. I also saw plenty of birds today, including a bullfinch and a singing willow warbler by Fen Hide, ruffs and a young humbug-plumaged great crested grebe from Tower Hide and marsh harriers and a bearded tit from Reception Hide. While walking along the Sandy Wall path, I encountered a Chinese water deer that was too busy feeding to notice me, that is until it eventually looked up and saw me with my camera before it bolted for it into the dense cover of reeds. And that was about as exciting as it got. I may have seen plenty of other common things as well, but for some reason, it wasn't that memorable to me. There's always next week, I guess.
My Norfolk orchid hunt has taken me to all sorts of places across the county. From bogs to coastal dunes and from woodlands to meadows. Now, it is time to visit the Brecks and to Weeting Heath for my latest target. Broad-leaved helleborines are the commonest of the Epipactis helleborine family in the UK, but here in Norfolk they are a bit local with a few populations dotted here and there. The most reliable site to see them is here at Weeting. I wasn't able to spot them at first when we arrived to the reserve, but then a warden appeared and he showed me where exactly they were fairly quickly.
Broad-leaved helleborines are so called because they have the widest leaves out of the Epipactis family. Their flowers vary in colour from green to bright purple, though they are usually white, pink or soft purple. These orchids are found in woodlands and very shady spots. That is unless you live in Glasgow, where an unusual dense urban population can be found across the city. Here at Weeting, there weren't many that were in flower. Many of them had been eaten by slugs, but I was pleased that a handful had survived. Only 2 more orchids to go (not counting the two extinct ones)!
With the helleborines out of the way, the warden decided to take us to an area that is normally out of bounds to visitors to see a couple of special Breckland wildflowers. First, he showed us the Eastern spiked speedwell (Veronica spicata ssp. spicate), a really pretty and very rare plant in the UK that is mainly found in the Brecks. Then he showed us maiden's pink, another beautiful flower that's largely associated with this corner of East Anglia. I'm not really familiar with either, but it was nice of the warden to show them off to us all the same. As well as plants, we also saw yellowhammers, goldfinches, nuthatches, kestrels and buzzards.
I was looking defeat in the face, but some how hope finds away. After two failed attempts at Holkham, I was starting to believe that I was not going to see a creeping ladies-tresses and that it was going to prevent me from completing my challenge. They were proving to be difficult to find, a real needle in a haystack. So I could not believe my luck that, in the last week or so, news was coming to me that people were seeing them and with photos online as proof. And, a day or two after the news was coming through, I was pleased to hear from a couple of you, my dear readers, contacting me about where and how to find them. You guys really encouraged me and made me want to try again. Today, I finally got that chance.
Creeping Ladies-tresses
I was dropped off at Holkham Pines this morning (as Dad didn't want to pay the expensive prices at the car park there) and I made my way to the spot that I was told the orchids were. Thankfully, it was far more easier to find this time round as a rope marked them out. I guess I was far too early on my previous two visits. I had to dodge a few dogs, but they weren't going to stop me seeing my long awaited creeping ladies-tresses encounter!
These were extremely tiny orchids about half the size of my pinkie finger! How on earth did anyone manage to spot them in the first place? The white flowers are even more miniscule and are hairy. It makes this species not only the smallest orchid I've found so far, but also the hairiest. I had to be extra careful in where I placed myself in order to take a photo of them. The area they were fenced off in may have been small, but it still seemed massive to these orchids. I could see at least ten, but there could be more that I've glanced over. I'm just so relieved to have finally tick them off and I have you guys to thank for that. I like to dedicate this orchid to you. Without you, I would have missed it. Thank you!
Chalkhill Blue
With the creeping ladies-tresses done and dusted, I met up with Dad and we drove to Warham Camp. This place is an old Iron Age fort. All that is left of this fort are two circular, chalk mounds and it is a haven for wildflowers such as wild thyme. In recent years, this place has become very popular for local butterfly enthusiasts as it is now home to the only colony of chalkhill blue butterflies in the county. There's no doubt that they were unofficially released by some keen butterfly breeder, but these beautiful sky blue insects are so popular that I expect that they are now here to stay. I'm actually ok with that as they really add to the enjoyment of the place. Walking along the top of the ancient man-made mounds covered in a variety of colourful wildflowers the whole way round swarming in countless butterflies and other insects, it is an amazing experience, especially in a modern world where most of this is in saddening decline.
After stopping at Cley for a picnic lunch, we started to make our way back home but not before stopping at a couple of places along the way. First up was a quick stop at Buxton Heath. We were trying to find marsh gentians, a type of rare, bright blue flower. Unfortunately, we didn't had too much time to look for them and I had no idea where they were as I've never really looked for them before. However, I did introduce Dad to the pleasant scent of the marsh fragrant orchid and we marvelled at the magnificent display of heather.
Finally, we stopped at a place somewhere in or near Costessey (not telling you where exactly due to collectors) for my third attempt in looking for an orchid that was apparently suppose to be extinct in Norfolk. However, one green-flowered helleborine has been reported somewhere at this site. The thing is, this orchid is proving even harder to find than the creeping ladies-tresses. It may be several times larger than the tresses, but that doesn't help much. This orchid resembles an inconspicuous weed. Its flowers are green and don't open all the way as it tends to self pollinate itself (a fully bloomed green-flowered helleborine is a rare sight indeed). So it is no wonder that I failed to find it for the third time running. I wonder if you guys no where it is?
If anyone has any idea where it is, let me know. My email is seanlocke86@outlook.com if you want to help me in anyway. If I can find this one, then I have four more orchids left to find (though it is technically two as the other two are considered extinct). All that's left to tick off are; broad-leaved helleborine (no help required on this one), autumn ladies-tresses (some assistance maybe needed here), lizard orchid (haven't been seen in Norfolk since 2016) and bog orchid (hasn't been seen in Norfolk for more than 15 years!).
