July 1st Strumpshaw Fen
A nice day but a little breezy. The Lackford Run was still muddy in places, lucky I had my wellies on. There wasn't too much of note here today other than a few scarce chasers. No sign of the swallowtail caterpillars at the boardwalk, sadly.
At Tower Hide, possibly 100 or so mallards (basically, lots of ducks) and that's about it. At least I had a couple of common terns fly over the river and a grasshopper warbler was singing briefly by the Sandy Wall, so at least the walk wasn't a total waste of time.
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| Hare & Spoonbills (July 8th) Hobby, Grasshopper Warbler, Silver-washed Fritillary & White Admiral (July 8th) |
At Reception Hide, there was a flock of at least 6 bearded tits darting between the reedy islands and reedbeds. I also saw marsh harrier fledglings and a brief kingfisher and another common tern as well as a heron and many mallards on the far side of the broad.
July 7th Cley
Back at Cley for the second weekend in a row, with both parents this time. Nothing out of the ordinary, but I had the chance to be inside the central hides unlike the week before (which had a herd of cattle outside them).Avocets, black-tailed godwits, lapwings, an oystercatcher, a little ringed plover, bearded tits, marsh harriers and, the highlight of the day, a hare that gave us a great view of it in front of one of the hides. From East Bank, 3 spoonbills, sandwich terns and then we got soaked by the rain as soon as we stepped onto the beach! Not a fun way to end the visit!
July 8th Strumpshaw Fen
A much nicer day than the entire weekend and a good day at Strumpshaw. At Fen Hide, a hobby posed from a bush before moving to another bush further away. Then, I went to the meadow trail. I got to the bridge over the ditch and looked down. Scanning the aquatic vegetation, I was taken aback when I discovered something big with many legs resting on a lily pad poking upwards. It was a fen raft spider! My first encounter at Strumpshaw! This endangered arachnid was much darker than your average fen raft spider and lacking the yellow stripes. When I saw it, I thought I was looking at the Spider-Man logo. These spiders were reintroduced to a secret location in 2012 and this is now the 2nd year in a row that they've been seen at Strumpshaw. A huge success!
I then walked to the pumphouse and saw a grasshopper warbler reeling in the tall grass behind the toe-dipping platform. In the woods, two silver-washed fritillaries and two white admirals amongst other butterflies were feeding on the bramble patch.
From Reception Hide, I saw three hobbies having an aerial scrap, a brief fleeting glimpse of a swallowtail, bearded tits, marsh harriers and many dragonflies such as Norfolk hawkers, scarce chasers, small red-eyed damselflies, emperor dragonflies and more (though no lesser emperors).
July 15th Strumpshaw Fen
I was walking to Strumpshaw, when a fellow volunteer, Liz Dack, pulls up and takes me the rest of the way to the reserve. When we got there, Liz immediately points out a pair of cranes flying in the distance outside Reception Hide. I then decided to put my wellies on and check out the meadow trail (which was rather empty and boggy). While trying to search for plants, the pair of cranes flew over me! They ended up at the sluice gates along Fen Trail, where I caught up with Liz who had just seen the chick cross her path, grown to the point of almost being ready to fly. I was to see the cranes a few more times during my shift at the Reception Hide throughout the morning.
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| Cranes & Grass Snake (July 15th), Oystercatcher (July 21st) & Kingfisher (July 29th) |
While heading out from the meadows to see them at the sluices to see the cranes, I was walking up the ramp that connects the meadow trail to the Sandy Wall, when I spooked a large grass snake that was basking on the railway sleeper border. All I saw of it was a tail slithering down into the undergrowth. On my return from the sluices, I walked slowly to keep my footsteps as quiet as possible and scanned the sleepers, hoping it had returned. It did! It was big! A snake of that size means that it was a female. She lounged flat and straight as she basked in the sun to warm up her cold blooded body. I managed a few photos before she eventually noticed me and slithered back into the undergrowth yet again.
At Reception, other than cranes, I had a kingfisher, bearded tits, marsh harriers, swallows, house martins, a heron, many eclipsed-phased mallards and a lot of dragonflies, including my first willow emerald damselfly of the year.
July 21st Titchwell
This weekend has been a scorcher! At least Sunday was a cooler day than yesterday, but only just. As it was Sunday, my parents and I decided to visit Titchwell. The pools had plenty birds on it, mostly avocets, a few plovers (little ringed, common ringed and lapwings), 2 spoonbills, a few common terns and the odd godwit.
It was far cooler on the beach and the tide was out. Oystercatchers, godwits and turnstones were feeding by the shoreline and I watched 2-3 terns plunge into an exposed pool in the mud, successfully catching small fish or shrimps. However, the downside of this visit was a plague of horseflies that kept attacking me on the way back from the beach. They just kept biting my legs despite spraying repellent on them! They were attacking me so badly that I made a dash to the safety of the car.
July 22nd Strumpshaw Fen
An even cooler day. To combat the horseflies, I was wearing trousers and my RSPB fleece. It did the job nicely. No bites! I went down the rather dewy Lackford Run, though there wasn't much about. At least the path wasn't boggy than usual, until the very end that is. I popped into Tower Hide, seeing a load of ducks, a heron and a great white egret.
Leaving Tower Hide, I was navigating around a minor muddy patch of the Fen Trail, when I heard a crash of branches to my left. I turned and in the shade of some trees, an otter was bounding away from me! I've never gotten this close to one on land before! After that, I went to Fen Hide briefly finding 3 flowering rushes in bloom and a lizard along Sandy Wall.
The Reception Hide didn't produce too much other than many mallards, dragonflies, a heron, swallows, house martins and a common tern.
July 29th Strumpshaw Fen
A scorcher! A very hot day and I'm walking in trousers and my fleece. What was protecting me from biting insects was uncomfortable in the scorching heat. Thankfully, once my walk was done, I had a pair of shorts to change into. The walk itself was through the woods, seeing a couple of spotted flycatchers at the far end. I also spotted a green woodpecker, a kestrel, the odd muntjac, many dragonflies and butterflies and a lot of sweat!
From Reception Hide, the highlight was a kingfisher that made a couple of visits, perching right in front of the hide. I also had a heron, 2 swans with 4 grown cygnets, swallows and many, many dragonflies, including emperors, 4-spot chasers, brown hawkers, common darters and black-tailed skimmers. However, try as I might, I could not spot a lesser emperor.
Aug 5th Strumpshaw Fen
Stepping onto the boardwalk, I was instantly greeted by the sight of a large green caterpillar of a swallowtail butterfly clinging to a branch of a milk parsley. Then I found another one! They were really big, close to pupating for the winter and emerging as butterflies next year.
After an uninteresting walk along the Lackford Run, the Tower Hide provided views of a great white egret in a tree, a heron, a few shovelers, gadwall and mallards. I then had a flash of a kingfisher along the river as I made my way to do my shift. From Reception, two more great white egrets, a little egret, swallows, house martins and many dragonflies, but still no lesser emperors.
Aug 12th Strumpshaw Fen
My parents and I had a week off from work this week, but I still wanted to do my Strumpshaw shift. So, they took me to the reserve and went for a walk with me. Mum only went as far as Fen Hide, but Dad and I continued on to Tower Hide. It was the hottest day of the year so far and I guess the wildlife was feeling the heat and was in hiding as there wasn't a lot of activity. From Tower Hide, mallards, a few gadwall, teal and shovelers were looking drab and brown, a marsh harrier was sitting in a tree seeming to be suffering in the rising heat, a heron, a little grebe, Then we popped into Fen Hide, where only a family of swans could be seen. Lizards and dragonflies were the only things enjoying the hot temperatures along the Sandy Wall.
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| Swallowtail Caterpillar & Snail (Aug 5th), Emperor Dragonfly & Chinese Water Deer (Aug 14th), Migrant Hawker & Fen Raft Spider (Aug 19th) |
My parents then left me as I did my shift at Reception Hide. It was fairly quiet, but at least it was cooler inside the hide. Other than great white and little egrets, a heron, swallows, house martins and more plentiful, yet drab looking eclipse-phased ducks and dazzling dragonflies, it was just too hot for anything like kingfishers to turn up and make things more exciting to lift the tiring mood.
Aug 14th Carlton Marshes
Another hot day, though not as hot as at Strumpshaw. My parents decided to take me to Carlton Marshes, a place I've never been before. This was my first ever visit, but my mum has been here before to use the new café as meet up place with her sister. Mum was here today for the same reason, but Dad and I went out onto the reserve to check the place out.
It wasn't to be my favourite reserve, sadly, as I just thought the walk was a bit too long with not a lot to see. However, we did see a pair of kestrels, swallows, house martins, linnets, a willow emerald damselfly, emperor dragonflies, brown hawkers, common darters and a large pool with several little egrets and spoonbills and Canada geese on it. We also had a staring contest with a Chinese water deer. An ok haul, but I felt hot and tired by the time our walk was over.
After a late lunch, I went to a spot where I was told fen raft spiders could be found. I squeezed through a section of reeds to a pond dipping platform where a group of people were looking at something. It was thanks to this group that I was able to find a spider sitting on a frogbit pad. In fact, I then found a couple of smaller ones on my own nearby it after the group left. I was able to get Dad over and see them for himself. He has now seen his first fen raft spider and was impressed.
Aug 19th Strumpshaw Fen
A much cooler day and it started with a kingfisher at Reception Hide. I then went through the meadow trail, up to pumphouse and into the woods with not much of note other than migrant hawkers, enchanter's nightshade and meadow pipits.
Back at Reception, there were plenty of kingfisher action including two having a territorial dispute. There were also a great white egret and 2 herons and a marsh harrier.
Between hours of my shift, I went to check out a fen raft spider at the first sluice gate. After a bit of scanning, I was able to find a female with an egg sac on some reeds dangling over the water. She was beautiful! The fact she had an egg sac filled me with hope for this rare spider at this reserve. Also had a couple of lizards basking along the Sandy Wall.
Aug 26th Strumpshaw Fen
Today was a bank holiday and as my dad had the day off, he took me to Strumpshaw and went on a walk to Tower Hide and Fen Hide with me. Not the most memorable of walks, but we did see 3 kingfishers together on the opposite side of the river, a few lizards along Sandy Wall, a selection of ducks at Tower Hide (though the sun was blinding me to identify any of them as a garganey) and a great white egret on a bush at Fen Hide.
Back at Reception, it was another good kingfisher day. One was darting between perches and posts around the broad throughout the morning. This delighted visitors that came here hoping to see one. A water rail also made an appearance as well as swallows, house martins and marsh harriers.
