Calms Between Storms

Aug 13th, 15th & 26th  Norwich

This month had started in extreme heat and was unbearable for me t want to go outside. But, after the first week, all this changed and the plants had a bit of life back into them as the rain arrived. August was to become a very stormy month with thunderstorms, torrential rain and strong winds plaguing the remaining few weeks. With the weather being unpredictable, I haven't been going out much apart from work and family outings.

New plant species have also been few and far between. My list has suddenly come to a crawl. However, I did manage to find the odd new addition to my list on my walks around the city. Along the edge of Anglia Square's car parks were sun spurge, a green flowering plant that everyone seems to take no notice. Growing from a few bollards by another car park next to the A147 bridge were some gallant soldiers, which look like tiny daisies clumped together. I've also found soapwort, perennial wall rocket and corn marigold on walks to work and to my parent's house, not to mention that ivy is now in flower.

Gallant Soldier (left) and Perennial Wall Rocket

Away from plants, I've also enjoyed a night listening to several tawny owls calling from outside my flat. Though it was really dark to see, I believed I heard at least 2 males hooting and a female 'kewicking'. I attempted to call one over and it seemed to have worked as one appeared to be calling much closer than before.

Aug 22nd  Titchwell



Birdwatching with a mask

On Saturday, Mum and I went to visit Titchwell. The reserve was almost back to normal to the way it was before lockdown, but with a few difference. You can no longer leave your membership card on the dashboard like you did before, so if you are thinking of visiting, remember to take it with you. Another change is that only two hides are open again and you need to wear a mask whenever you enter them. Birdwatching with a mask is a bit annoying as it causes your breath to constantly fog up the binoculars. I found a better alternative is to use the benches outside along the main path as you not only don't need to wear a mask, but also have good views of the birds on the pools whilst sitting down. The perfect makeshift hides, that is as long as no one else is sitting on them.

The main highlight of the visit was seeing about 9-10 spoonbills mostly sleeping out on the freshwater pool. We also saw curlews, ruffs, oystercatchers, redshanks, dunlin, common terns, lapwing, godwits, shelducks, hundreds of gulls, a kestrel, a lizard darting in front of us and a few blood-nosed beetles crawling across the path.

Spoonbills and Bloody-nosed Beetle

Aug 1st Cley & Aug 8th Catton Park

Aug 1st  Cley

This was my first visit to the coast since lockdown began. It was kind of a strange feeling to see the sea and walk along shingled beaches once again after many months stuck further inland. Cley was open again and as popular as ever. Just like Hickling and Strumpshaw, there were some restrictions at this reserve that followed Covid-19 guidelines. The hides were closed off, but you could still walk the main looping route of the main reserve (in either direction). The visitor centre was only open for the café for takeaway only, while volunteers were outside greeting people at a makeshift reception area complete with a sightings board and nearby was a mobile toilet block for those who really need to go while the centre's toilets are out of bounds.

Chicory

Mum and I only had time to walk from the main car park to the beach and back via the East Bank this time around. However, this was just enough to satisfy what we've missed about this place. The East Bank and the shingle dunes were covered in plants I couldn't add to my lockdown list as this wasn't Norwich. Chicory, yellow-horned poppies and sticky groundsel were all tempting for me to break my own list rules, but no, I resisted! Other than plants, I saw the usual coastal birds such as avocets, curlews, and other waders, including a common sandpiper. Out over the waves were mainly sandwich terns, but not much else. I had a brief sighting of a bearded tit, but was disappointed to not see a single marsh harrier. I was also unfortunate to not find any grayling butterflies on the dunes despite being told that they were around there.

Aug 8th  Catton Park

It has been an extremely hot week this week. It was so overwhelmingly hot that I didn't really had the energy to want to go anywhere other than to work. But yesterday (Aug 8th) was a lot cooler, so I went for a walk around my local park to see if there was anything to add to my plant list. However, it was rather slim pickings. As there hasn't been much rain in the last couple of weeks, the plants looked dried out and dead. The fields were no longer yellow but purple as knapweed dominated the uncut areas of the park. Wild carrot were the most visible umbellifer poking out amongst all this purple. Some of them have their heads clenched up like a weaver's basket.

Green-veined White on Knapweed

August is often known as the quiet month. The sound of bird song of spring is now replaced by the chirping of grasshoppers and crickets. Common blue butterflies and other butterfly species were still on the wing but were changing their nectar pallets from bird's-foot trefoil to the abundant knapweeds. While most of the other birds have now fall silent, I still managed to hear the yaffle of the green woodpecker before catching a glimpse of it flying into the woods. I also saw its smaller cousin, the great spotted woodpecker searching the bark of a dead ancient oak.


I have a feeling that I might struggle to find new additions to my plant list this month. In July, I was given a list of plant species to look for and where to find them. I had a bit of mixed fortune with that particular list, but now I would like to know if there is anything else I should look out for during August. It can be anything from broad-leaved or green flowered helleborines to autumn hawksbeard, hop or common toadflax, for example. I'll even include invasive species such as knotweed and orange balsam, etc. Don't forget, they must be within Norwich.

Return To Strumpshaw

July 22nd  Norwich

I spent the afternoon plant hunting in parts of Norwich I didn't visit yet. First was Earlham Cemetery where I was told broad-leaved helleborines had been seen up until last year when they were apparently mowed down before they could flower. Did the cemetery owners learned a lesson and left these scarce city orchids to recover? Not that I could tell. I couldn't find them in the whereabouts that I was directed to. So I think these orchids are no more sadly.

 

After walking to the market for lunch, I made my way to a patch of unused grass along Queens Road where I was told that narrow-leaved ragwort grew. I found the plant surprisingly easily. It has ragwort like flowers, but were more loose than growing in a cluster like most ragworts I've seen and the leaves were noticeably thin as the name suggested. However, when it came to looking it up in my plant ID books when I got home, I couldn't find it in any of them. I had to look it up online to learn more about it. Apparently, this is an escapee originating from South Africa that has now colonised across Europe.

 

July 28th  Norwich

 

A walk along the river Wensum. I didn't find too many new things for my plant list. However, I did discover new locations of plants that I found before such as fumitory, hare's-foot clover and flowering rush (that was growing much closer to my side of the river). New additions include upright hedge parsley, rose campion and teasel.

 

July 30th  Strumpshaw Fen

 

It feels like forever since I was last here. The last time I was at Strumpshaw was in March on the day they made the decision to close up half way into my shift due to lockdown. At the start of July, the reserve finally reopened itself to the public albeit with restrictions as the staff had to come up ways to follow regulation rules to keep everyone safe yet allow everyone to enjoy nature. Yesterday, I finally had the opportunity to visit with Dad to see what changes were made.



Reception Hide Post Lockdown

 

First thing I noticed was the Reception Hide area. Picnic benches were placed near the fence of the courtyard, signs were placed everywhere including one telling you that only one family/person was allowed in the toilets at a time and, perhaps the most drastic change, the blind by the hide (currently locked) had the back panel opened up for easy access for one family at a time to view the broad.

 

A one-way system was put in place across the reserve with arrowed signs telling you where and where not to go. At the top of Sandy Wall, you then had the choice to go either towards the pumphouse and the woods or along the river and down the Lackford Run. Either direction led to a long walk to get back to the reserve's entrance without disobeying the arrow system. I encountered only 2 families going back the wrong direction along Sandy Wall, everyone else seemed fine with this system. Another thing I noticed was that as all the hides were closed, the path leading to Fen Hide was now overgrown completely.

 

It was a very hot day on my return to Strumpshaw, a complete contrast to when I was last here in March. I have missed this place. I have missed the wildlife, the familiar faces I see every week and even the hectic chaos of the swallowtail season. Though, I did see a swallowtail at Hickling last month, it didn't have the same fanfare of having hundreds of people from far and wide armed with cameras crowding around one fluttering over the flower bed. The swallowtail season is now over (at least for the first wave) and now the baton is handed over to the next impressive butterfly on the reserve, the silver-washed fritillary. Though my priority was to explore post-lockdown Strumpshaw, seeing one of these butterflies would make my day even better.

 

Exploring the reserve on such a hot day was energy sapping and the wildlife mirrored this feeling. It was very quiet and only insects seemed to be the most visible lifeforms around, everything else appeared to be hiding, sheltering from the heat. Dad and I sat down on the platformed bench at the top of Sandy Wall for a moment. Suddenly, we noticed something cat-sized stroll by like a cat with a crow or something in its mouth, wings being dragged along the ground before disappearing part way down Sandy Wall into a reed bed. What was it? I wasn't sure, but I think possibly a mink, though it could also had been a stoat. All I saw was something brown with slightly fluffy or waterlogged fur and was as big as a cat, perhaps an inch or two smaller. It went by so fast in its leisurely pace that I couldn't grab the camera quick enough.

 

Silver-washed Fritillary

After lunch on the new-ish platform over a ditch after walking by the pumphouse, we continued our walk into the woodland trail. Along the way, our first silver-washed fritillary flew over us. It wasn't to be the last as we encountered a few more along a clearing with plenty of bramble bushes. We found yet another on the buddleia behind Reception Hide when we completed our guided loop around the reserve. We also saw a marsh harrier, a kestrel, orange balsam and a bunch of other plants that I can't include to my Norwich list and heard buzzards, Cetti's warblers, green woodpeckers and a kingfisher. We also made a short visit to Buckenham Marshes after our Strumpshaw walk, seeing a Chinese water deer and a strange swarm of flies flying over my dad's head like a moving black dotted cloud.

Lockdown Lifts, Plant Hunting Continues!

July 9th  Waterloo Park

 

The weather had been playing me around last week. It had been raining most days and last Thursday was no exception. I was making my way to work, opting to walking to the other side of the city and avoiding the bus where it is compulsory to wear a mask. But avoiding the mask isn't the real reason why I walk to work since lockdown began, it also gives me the chance to plant hunt. A good chunk of my plant findings is from these kind of walks.

Dark Mullein

During this particular walk, I made a quick pop in to Waterloo Park where I was told that there was a dark mullein nearby the main gate entrance which I had missed beforehand. It didn't take long until I found it in the spitting rain. Compared to the other mullein surrounding it, this was much smaller and daintier. A mullein on a diet. But what it lacked in size, it gained in attractiveness. The flowers are yellow like the other mulleins, but the anthers are reddish purple. I made a few quick photos with my phone before leaving.

 

July 11th Catton Park

 

I was back at Catton Park hoping to locate the three plants I was looking for during the weekend before. The sand spurrey and the flixweed still eluded me and what's more, the area I was told they were in was mowed down for the most part. However, it wasn't a complete waste of time as I discovered the fig-leaved goosefoot that was the other plant from that trio on my list. It didn't look like it was anything special as it was mostly leaves with barely anything that resembles flowers growing on it.

 

Thankfully, there were a few other more attractive plants in and around the park that I was more than happy to add to my Norwich plant list. First, a couple of stands of centaury with bright pink flowers poking out of the mowed grass in front of the park's lodge building. I was amazed on how they managed to escape the mower. Meanwhile, a walk along the horse paddock outside the park revealed a clump of thyme (I think) and a few fox-and-cubs (a bright orange garden escapee that has now naturalized).

 

July 14th  Cary's Meadow & Whitlingham Broad

 

Dad took me out plant hunting on Tuesday. Our first stop was Cary's Meadow. The orchids from last time were now gone, though I did find one pyramidal orchid. The site may have been lacking in orchids, however, this site was still producing new additions of other kinds of plants. Water mint, apple mint, vervain, ribbed melilot and red bartsia to name a few.

 

We then had a quick walk at some wooded footpath in Trowse, only adding an enchanter's nightshade. After that, we went around Whitlingham Broad. I showed Dad the pyramidal orchid field and the various other plants I found there and the edge of the main broad from my previous visit. On this occasion, I chalked up a few new species such square-stalked St John's-wort, meadow cranesbill, perennial sowthistle (which was like a very tall dandelion type of thing), snowberry and bristly oxtongue (another dandelion like thing but with spiky, hairy leaves). I couldn't find any bur-marigolds or any other things I was told to find, but I guess the car park ticket put pressure on our search as time on it was running out.

 

July 17th  Mousehold Heath

 

I could finally join Will the Mousehold warden to help him with a butterfly survey. During lockdown, he had been doing it by himself due to social distancing regulations. Today, he was confident to have me tag along. The only drawback was that I had to make my own way to and from Mousehold on foot as he couldn't pick me up due to these regulations. I was more used to walking everywhere at this point to really let that bother me.

 

The weather was good and it led to possibly the best survey we've ever recorded at Mousehold. In total, we counted 178 butterflies. This included 35 gatekeepers, 27 meadow browns, 26 large whites, 23 small whites, 10 ringlets, 10 purple hairstreaks, 10 holly blues, 9 small/Essex skippers, 7 speckled woods, 5 green-veined whites, 4 commas, 3 peacocks, 2 red admirals and 2 large skippers.

Purple Hairstreak &Sand Spurrey

I was also delighted to finally tick off sand spurrey off my list. A friend of mine found them a week or so ago nearby a particular oak tree and when I went with him on Saturday, they appeared to have finished flowering. So I completely surprised while doing the butterfly transect with Will that they were in flower once again. Are these extremely tiny flowers always this temperamental?

July 4th & 5th Norwich

July 4th  Marriot's Way

 

After watching Norwich lose without scoring for the umpteenth time, I felt like I just had to get out and plant hunt to remove the thoughts of relegation from my mind. The weather was a bit gloomy, but I guess it matched the feeling I had for my team's performance. My route for this particular walk was to head to the river via Marriot's Way. 

 

A comment from a previous post of mine provided me a list of plants that I had know idea about which were all close to where I lived (thanks James). A couple of these plants were in front of a set of garages literally just around the corner from my flat. I never even heard of either of them let alone knew that they were so close to home. One, the dwarf mallow, was easier to find as it formed a small clump of leaves with tiny purple flowers by the garage door. The other, the common cudweed, was not quite so obvious. It was small and looked like something prehistoric but in miniature like a spiky club with minute flowers that are barely visible. Apparently, this strange plant is listed as Near Threatened though locally common in Norfolk.



Dwarf Mallow & Common Cudweed

 

When I eventually reached Wensum Park where I started to follow the Marriot's Way trail, the river looked picturesque. Lilly pads broke up the reflections of the surface. The water was crystal clear and you could see the bottom and the aquatic plants swaying in the current. Watercress clinged to the river sides with small white circles of flowers showing above their lush green leaves. Banded demoiselles fluttered above these plants in large numbers as if dancing a graceful ballet full of electric blue jewelled bodies with black patched wings doing semaphore-like movements in the air. There was even a Norfolk hawker patrolling part of this river, an insect that was once restricted to the Broadlands region. 

 

I followed the river on its journey under a busy road bridge and to a pumphouse. Once it flowed through this pumphouse, the river became more urbanised, seeming empty with plant life. The stretch of river before the pumphouse though had perhaps the best selection of plants on this city river.

 



Arrowhead, River Water-dropwort & Flowering Rush

Three special plants to note were found here between the road bridge and the pumphouse. The distinctive arrow-shaped leaves of arrowhead were everywhere here and I was pleased that some of them had spikes of white blooms with a blush of pink in the centres that I could easily see popular in someone's garden. Small cow parsley-like plants poking out the middle of the river turn out to be river water-dropwort, a scarce aquatic plant. And lastly, three or four pink bloomed heads of flowering rush could only be seen from one spot along this river. All three of these plants tell you that this river is healthy despite all the traffic polluting nearby and the occasional plastic bottle stuck within the vegetation while fighting the river flow.

 

July 5th  Catton Park and Waterloo Park

 

With success finding all the plants that were listed to me, I was given another list, a much larger list. The locations were a little bit varied too, ranging from nearby to being in another part of Norwich. So today I focused on the ones that were in two of my local parks. First up was Catton Park where I was told I could find fig-leaved goosefoot, flixweed and sand spurrey somewhere in the fenced off picnic area. I wasn't really familiar with any of these plants, so it was no wonder that I couldn't find any of them.

 

Hare's-foot Clover

I had more success at Waterloo Park where I not only found many really large great mulleins, but I also found a plant that was on my list at a different location. Along the sides of the disused bowling green and beneath the towering spikes of the mulleins were clumps of hare's-foot clover. The flowers were smaller than what I imagined and supposedly resemble the foot of a rabbit. I'm not too sure of this but I can't deny that they have this fluffy, cute kind of charm about them. For me, this is another one of those to add to my "I never knew that was in my neighbourhood" list that was growing day by day.

July 1st Whitlingham Broad

I was back at Whitlingham Broad today. I was dropped off at the far end of the road. My aim was to walk back to the top to where the barn café and car park is and to look for plants along the way. There was a hint of rain in the air, but it didn't lead to anything but a minor drizzle. A few hoary mullein stood tall like miniature trees with branches full of yellow flowers by the far car park at the start of my walk. As I continued, these were replaced by the even taller purple flowered stands of rosebay willowherbs and, later still, purple loosestrifes.

 

Crab Spider with hoverfly on a Pyramidal Orchid

The landscape of my walk changed from river and roadside to meadows and woodland to the broad itself. Behind one fenced off area during my journey was a small meadow. Within it, I could see the bright colours of purple and pink dotted within the long grass. They were so bright that you'd have to be blind not to miss them. These were the unmistakable flowers of pyramidal orchids, my 4th orchid species I've found in Norwich so far during lockdown (bee, southern marsh and common spotted were the others). These colourful orchids filled this mini patch of meadow like stars in the sky. Amazingly, despite being a little bit of a distance from the fence, I noticed that one of these pyramidal orchids had a bright white spot on it. Using my binoculars (and my camera), I could see that it was a crab spider. And what's more remarkable and despite standing out like a sore thumb was that this ambush predator had managed to catch a hoverfly!

 

It wasn't all orchids to be found in this small patch of meadow. Growing by the fence were a few new species for my list such as lady's bedstraw, agrimony and Perforate St John's-wort. I also found quite a few burdocks, but they were just a possible few days away from flowering.

 

Amphibious Bistort

Exploring the edge of the broad, there were a few great spots where I kept discovering some flower or another that were only just in bloom. Hemp agrimony (not even related to the agrimony earlier, which was yellow and not fluffy and pink like this species), lesser water parsnip (according to my app), celery-leaved buttercups, musk thistles, purple loosestrifes, meadowsweet and redshank (which I recognised from the black splodged leaves, but was seeing the small pink rods of flowers for the first time) were just some of the things that were displaying well by or near the water's edge. I also found a 'raft' of amphibious bistort floating above the surface of the broad and a few distinctive arrow-shaped leaves of arrowhead that weren't even close to blooming yet.

The Plants Of Summer

 June 14th  Norwich & Whitlingham Broad

On Sunday afternoon last week, I decided to go for a walk along the River Wensum from Wensum Park to the centre of the city before meeting my parents who were going to pick me up so that we could visit Whitlingham Broad. My lockdown city plant list grows every week. I discover something new with every visit I've made at any location and this walk along the river was no different. Some, like buddleia, were as expected to be found in an urban environment, but there are many other things I didn't even know were found within Norwich. I wonder how many people even took any notice that there's biting stonecrop, hedge woundwort or even watercress growing along the built up, concrete banks of this part of the river?

 

Biting Stonecrop

 When I eventually got to Whitlingham, I had just enough energy to walk round the broad. There weren't too many new plants for my list, but I did find my first purple loosestrife of the year as well as musk thistle. The birdlife was pretty decent too with common terns, great crested grebes and so many mute swans to count and we also had an encounter with a tiny froglet hopping across the main path that must have seemed like crossing a couple of miles to this minute amphibian.

 

June 18th  Catton Park

 

After a morning of torrential rain, it was a surprise that the afternoon on Thursday was completely opposite. The sun had came out and I felt I couldn't waste the opportunity to not go outside. My local park beckoned me and I wondered what changes in its plant life was I to find this time. The bird's-foot trefoil, buttercups and cat's-tail were trying hard to make sure that the colour yellow was to dominate the park's fields if it wasn't for the tall seed heads of various grass species partly obscuring them. Small patches of purple were now trying to peek through the vegetation in the form of knapweed and rosebay willowherb, while giant stands of hemlock tower above everything except the trees. I also discovered field pansy and what I believe to be black nightshade growing around the edge of log that is used as a border for a path.

 

Cerceris rybyensis wasp on thistle

 

June 20th  Cary's Meadow & Thorpe Marshes

 

Dad took me out to Cary's Meadow, a small site managed by the Broads Authority on the edge of Norwich. If there was one place I knew for certain that could provide me with more orchids for my city plant list, it was here. I haven't been here for years after my last visit ended with disappointment with a landscape that was way too heavily overgrazed by cattle. I wanted to give this place another go though. Could I find orchids this time or will the cattle beat me to them? Well, thankfully not this time. No cattle in sight and after some searching, I hit the jackpot. Not only did I find several bee orchids (including some that were lighter variations), there were also a few common spotted orchids and a southern marsh orchid, too. As well as orchids, I also chalked up scarlet pimpernel, selfheal and a few other odds and ends too.

Common Spotted Orchid

Southern Marsh Orchid

Bee Orchid

 

Returning to the car, Dad then dropped me off to Thorpe Marshes, just a stones throw away from Cary's Meadow. My plant list was a side project at this point as I was here for birds. This place seems to be attracting a bit of attention amongst local twitchers just recently. First it was the corncrake (which I've heard twice on my previous last two visits) and now there was another scarce and equally secretive migrant paying this reserve a visit. A Savi's warbler has been heard singing throughout the week and occasionally poses for people to see. This is another one of your typical little brown jobs, but has a powerful voice. It sounds similar to a grasshopper warbler, which is described as a reeling fishing reel, but it is far more louder. If I could at least hear it, I'd be happy.

I only had two hours before I had to meet up with Dad, so I spent most of it waiting around staring at the bramble bush that I've been told that it spends most of its time in. Apparently, I learnt that this bird wasn't as active during the day that much, preferring to sing mostly at dawn and dusk. However, it did show well at midday yesterday, so I still had some chance. At least that was what I thought at the time of waiting. In the end it was a no show. I didn't even hear it sing once. The bramble bush attracted sedge warblers, linnets, reed buntings and even a kestrel hovering above it, but no Savi's.

 

On the plant side of things, I had more success. Marsh bedstraw, marsh valerian, common vetchling, meadowsweet and the leaves of what my app is telling me is of a plant called redshank.

 

June 23rd  Catton Park to Mousehold Heath

 

I went back to Catton Park to get a better photo of the black nightshade I found the other day. I had never heard of it before and thanks to my app, it has helped me discover something I never knew existed in my local patch. The plant is so small with dainty white flowers and is quite beautiful. It makes me wonder if anyone has ever noticed it before.

Black Nightshade

Catton Park was just a brief stop on my tour of my local area. My main destination I had in mind was Mousehold. There's a bit of a distance between the park and the heath, but walking to Mousehold made me discover even more plants to my list. Field scabious, reflexed stonecrop, large-flowered evening primrose, hoary mullein and goat's-beard. In fact, when I was at Mousehold, I didn't find too many more new things in comparison, just bell heather and a couple of new tree species. On the way home, I was really hot and tired at this point, but I still managed to locate great willowherb before I could finally put my feet up from a very long morning's walk.