For the last two weeks, I've taken my amateur plant hunting skills to new locations across Norwich. Since my last post, I've recorded a ton of new plant species to my list. I've been taking long walks and taken many photos for each new plant I expect is different and either posting them on a site to get IDed or figuring them out myself before sticking them into a scrapbook to help me remember what I've encountered so far. I'm hoping that I'm hoping to become a lot more of an expert to what I was before lockdown. Here's what I have been up to until now...
May 13th
Moving away from my local park, I decided to explore the streets and part of the River Wensum near where I live. I ended up doing a big loop, walking down as far as Anglia Square's car park and then along Marriot's Way that follows the river before making my way back home. Most of the plants were already on my list, but there were also plenty of new things too. This included; guelder rose, red valerian, beaked hawksbeard, Oxford ragwort, yellow-juiced and long-headed poppies (I checked the sap inside as both are identical), Mexican fleabane, hop trefoil, ivy-leaved toadflax, purple toadflax, large bittercress and groundsel.
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| Poppy |
May 16th
Just a quick mention that I saw a muntjac deer run pass my flat (twice) from my kitchen window. It seemed to be in quite a panic, clearly spooked by people and cars. Never seen one in broad daylight this close to home before. I expect it was feeling a bit more confident to explore the urban world whilst lockdown was still in effect, but it must have realised that the streets weren't quite as empty as it thought. Not sure what happened to it when I saw it a second time running up the opposite direction.
May 18th
On Monday, I went on another even longer walk. This time, I made my way to Mousehold Heath, then to St James' Hill, then along part of the Wensum that I hadn't explored yet before heading home with sunburn, bramble scratches and nettle stings to remember the walk by. My list included broom, gorse (about 3 species worth), meadow saxifrage, dog rose, sheep's sorrel, field bindweed, ox-eyed daisy, yellow flag iris, common fumitory, red clover and creeping thistle, not to mention a few tree species as well. I also saw small copper and common blue butterflies and a few blue damselfly species. I discovered and explored various habitats, some were temporarily such as patches of meadows on mowed public lawns.
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| Common Fumitory |
May 21st
On Thursday, I visited Thorpe Marshes, which is the furthest place I've visited since lockdown began. It is quite amazing to think that this reserve was still within the city's boundaries for me to include the plants here to my list. In fact, the place made me feel like I was at Strumpshaw than in Norwich. The habitats were quite similar as were some of the wildlife. There were cuckoos, dragonflies, mayflies, common terns, swifts, swallows, reed buntings, whitethroats and reed, sedge and Cetti's warblers. As for plants, I added; ragged robin, bittersweet, water soldier, celery-leaved buttercups, black medic, Japanese rose, common wintercress, cuckoo flower, silverweed, water forget-me-nots and white campion.
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| Female Hairy Dragonfly |
Plant hunting was actually a side mission while I was at Thorpe Marshes. The real reason was to try and locate a corncrake that had been seen in the last two days prior to this visit. After I was dropped off by Mum, I went for a walk around the reserve, lingering more around the cattle grazing fields where it was more likely to be. When I completed the circuit of the reserve, I was unsuccessful. Not giving up, I made a second attempt around the grazing fields. I encountered a cuckoo, but no corncrake. Whilst still watching the cuckoo, I called Mum to arrange a lift. I started to walk back the way I came, down a path beside a ditch, when suddenly I heard it!
"Crex crex! Crex crex!" The loud, distinctive calls of a corncrake that are often described as running a finger across a hair comb. It sounded really close, just the opposite side of the ditch to me. This rare and elusive rail remained hidden and fell silent after its outburst. I called Mum to try and delay her a bit longer. I was now against the clock. The corncrake remained silent and out of sight. A man with a scope, who was just passing by, joined me in my wait. Another phone call later, this time it was Mum calling me, and the bird called again. It had followed me as I slowly shuffled away from its original spot as I attempted to partially walk away in order to head to the pick up spot while also trying to locate it. In the end I had to leave empty handed, but at least I got to hear it before I went.
May 23rd
Another trip to the southern side of the city, this time it was Dad who took me to Rosary Cemetery, Lion Wood and Kett's Heights. A few new plants to my list, but not that many. They include foxgloves, yellow corydalis and couple others I'm still figuring out. My scrapbook is filling out nicely with at least 80 species in it, though I've more than likely have seen way more than I've added to it.
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