April 24th Mousehold Heath

Thanks to this lockdown, wildlife watching has been restricted to my local park. Catton Park is a nice place, don't get me wrong, but I felt like going somewhere different. So today, I took my 'within walking distance' walk to the limit. That is, I went to Mousehold this afternoon. Ok, it is not that far away, but it is still much further to walk to than Catton Park, which is just a few minutes to get to. Mousehold is just a tad longer, but I'm not complaining.

It is a nice day for a visit with the sun out and there's not a single cloud in the sky. Annoyingly though, despite the lockdown restrictions in effect, it seems that many families are here treating today like a summer holiday at the beach with them lounging around the Vinegar Pond with buckets and spades! I'm here for my daily exercise like the government requested and they are lazing around, allowing their kids to play around the pond. Some people!

Green Hairstreak

Anyway, I was on a bit of a mission. I wanted to find a couple of Mousehold specialties; green hairstreak butterflies and green tiger beetles. I was told via email from Will the Mousehold warden that the first green hairstreak was seen recently. They can be pretty tricky to spot at times as their green wings blend in with the green of the gorse leaves. Of course, the gorse flowers themselves are bright yellow and the heath looks fantastic at the moment, glowing brightly as the sun in their beauty. These flowers are what the butterflies in question love the most and the best place to search. A short search around the bushes was all it took until I found one. And it was rather obliging as I got extremely close to it without it flying away.

These small butterflies emerge around May, so this was one of the early ones. They also rarely perch with their wings open, not that you are missing much anyway. The green underside is more attractive than their boring brown upper side in my opinion. When they perch on a gorse flower to feed on the sweet nectar, they usually point one side of their closed wings upwards in the direction of the sun like a green solar panel. Only hairstreaks seem to do this, other butterflies open their wings in order to sun themselves to absorb the warmth to power their cold-blooded bodies. A strange observation I've heard is that hairstreaks rarely switch sides and, like someone who is either right handed or left handed, the same goes to these butterflies on which side they'd use. If this is true or not, I'm not sure but I bet every amateur butterfly fanatic will be studying their hairstreaks much closely to which side of their wings is facing the sun from now on.

Green Tiger Beetles mating

Not long after seeing my hairstreak fly off, I was quickly on the hunt for green tiger beetles in the bare surrounding ground. A sand wasp caught my attention at first, but then I noticed something fly upwards a few metres from my feet. In just a few minutes after my green hairstreak encounter, here was my green tiger beetle. And it wasn't the only one. I found a good few more. They may be very small, but what they lack in size they sure make up for it in being one of the most fearsome and most attractive insects on the heath. Tiger beetles are one of the fastest beetles in the UK and pounce on their prey with lightning quick speed and devouring them even quicker still within their menacing jaws. A real gem of an insect that many people walking the heath wouldn't even know was just beneath their feet.



Also seen at Mousehold today were willow warblers, holly blue butterflies, large whites, peacock butterflies and a very quick glimpse of a lizard before it darted beneath the undergrowth as soon as I saw it. There were also hundreds of tadpoles in the Vinegar Pond, which the children were trying to catch.

Willow Warbler

A caterpillar I found on a gorse flower

April 21st Catton Park

Bluebells

With lockdown in continuation, I haven't really been doing too much other than staying home and play videogames and heading out to work for the odd shift. So today, as it was a really nice day, I went out to meet up with Mum for a walk around my local park again. A lot has changed since the last time I was here at the start of the month. Bluebells are now in bloom, leaves are now covering the trees, more butterflies are on the wing and the birds are singing in the trees. Together, along with the warm sunshine, there's a sense of peace and happiness. Walking around the park, I could forget about the pandemic and lose myself in the sights, sounds and colours of nature.

Holly Blue

Blackcap

Large Red Damselfly

While I was at the park, I managed to spot a large red damselfly, the first member of the dragonfly family to usually emerge in the UK. It is a fairly common, though often overlooked species, but in these days of isolation, I get to really appreciate its beauty more than I had before. It is the same with a lovely purple flower called honesty. The flowers are really magnificent when you take a closer look. A walk like this really makes you open up your senses to the natural world in times like these. I am just glad the British government is allowing parks to stay open. This is really one of the few places I can still go to right now. I wouldn't know what I'd do if the gates were to close on my local parks.

Honesty

April 1st Catton Park

Cowslip

It has been 2 weeks since I was last at Strumpshaw. With Covid-19 still causing a major threat to life, I have been keeping myself mostly in isolation at home. From time to time, as a 'key worker', I have travelled to work at the Royal Mail sorting depot at Thorpe Road on foot. Walking through the streets of Norwich has been like a ghost town lately. Nearly every business have closed their doors with the same notice message hung in their windows stating the obvious reason why and there are few people around. In some places, public benches have been blocked up and public toilets have been closed.

While the NHS are on the frontline, I have been working with the Royal Mail in the background trying to keep the small businesses, who are forced to work at home, afloat as well as sending valuable medication off to where they needed to go across the country. It has been a rather stressful time with everyone having to work 2 metres away from everyone else and the fact that the amount of mail coming in has doubled than usual, I have been struggling trying to sort it all before the deadline. It has been overwhelming at times. But I do feel a sense of pride that I'm doing my bit to keep this country going during this difficult time.

Dog Violet (I think)

Away from work, I am doing what most people are and should be doing, staying indoors. By isolating ourselves, we can reduce the spread of this virus. However, staying indoors all day every day is not healthy. Covid-19 is one thing, mental health is another problem we have to also keep under control. For that, I went for a walk around one of my local parks. I met up with Mum, keeping our distance the whole time as went to see what we could find. I pointed out a few birds to her that were singing, including chiffchaffs and a blackcap, which have recently returned back from migration. There were also a few plants in flower, such as cowslip, violets and red dead-nettles, adding a splash of colour on this dull, overcast day. Remember, as long as its within walking distance and that you keep your distance from other people, there is no reason why you can't still go outside to connect with nature. Nature is the greatest medicine after all.

March 18th Strumpshaw Fen

It has been a strange day. The welcoming atmosphere at Strumpshaw was not present this morning. And the reason for that is pretty obvious. Covid-19. Everyone seems to be in a panic about it and to prevent it from spreading, a lot of places from pubs to sporting venues are closed to the public. Many nature reserves across the UK have also closed their visitor centres, restaurants and hides. Here, at Strumpshaw, they were still considering to join them or not. I was told not to enter the office and to keep a 2 metre distance from everyone. The Reception Hide was open, though, but only for an hour until the decision was finally made. With most the volunteers being in their 60's and 70's, it was for their protection as they were the most at risk of the virus.

So with the Reception Hide on lockdown, I was left with not much to do.  The Reception Hide may be out of bounds, but the actual reserve, however, is still going to remain open for walks. I'm not sure if the Fen and Tower hides will also close at some point, but if you want a walk around the reserve, feel free.

I felt lost and a bit sad that I couldn't do my shift today. So, after the Reception Hide was being closed, I decided to go for a walk and set my mind on other things. The weather matched the mood, dull and grey. It was eerily quiet with only natural sounds to be heard. Signs of spring was starting to make a firm grip at the reserve with chiffchaffs singing, marsh harriers sky dancing, catkins and blossom on trees and new leaves sprouting. Life was carrying on, virus or no virus.

Coltsfoot

While I was walking along Sandy Wall, a flower caught my eye. Coltsfoot was in bloom. They maybe small, but their bright yellow flowers resonate to me like miniature suns with thin petals radiate like rays of sunlight full of warmth and colour. This plant was once used as a traditional remedy for coughs, though I doubt it would work on Covid-19. At that moment, thoughts of the plant's image and its medical properties gave me a sense of hope. A hope that one day we will overcome this virus and return to more cheerful, sunny days again without the sense of fear and panic. If the poppy is the symbol remembrance, then surely the coltsfoot could be used as a symbol of hope against this pandemic? At least, that's what I believe.

Barn Owl

After admiring the coltsfoot, my eyes was then diverted to another thing of beauty. A barn owl! It was flying over the meadow before stopping to perch on a post. I have no idea when I will return to Strumpshaw, but at least seeing this owl will send me off with a smile and some sense of happiness. Let's hope the world will get back to normal soon and that I can visit the places we love once more.

My Forest of Dean Adventure!

March 13th 

Our Dorset holiday may have been over on Thursday, but the holiday was to continue further north into the Forest of Dean. Just like waiting for a bus, two arrive one after the other. I was to join a Naturetrek group for the weekend and tour the forest for wild boar and other fantastic wildlife that can be found there.

There was some time to kill before I had to meet up the group later that Friday evening though. So, Dad suggested we visit Slimbridge. This was our third visit to Slimbridge and one we spent mainly looking at their wildfowl collection rather than visit their hides.

When we finally arrived at the hotel at the Forest of Dean where my Naturetrek holiday was based, my parents dropped me off and made their way to Cheltenham to see my younger brother. As for me, I met the members that were also in my group and our tour guide and after our evening meal, we were already heading out for our first outing. It was now after dark and we were driving around the forest in a minibus looking for wild boar. I was placed in the front passenger seat and was elected as searchlight operator. In other words, I was given a large torch and was told to point it outside the window and scan for wildlife amongst the trees close to the road as we drove by. I was pretty good at it as I managed to light up many fallow deer, a fox and, best of all, a really large boar! A shame that it didn't hang around for very long and that it was raining.

March 14th

I woke up early on my first morning with the group as we set off at 6:45am for a couple of short walks around Parkland Green and Church. We had plenty of redwings, a treecreeper, a great spotted woodpecker, as well as the other more common woodland birds. But the real stars were hawfinches. These normally shy finches elsewhere turned out to be more common and approachable in the Forest of Dean. Throughout the weekend, we must have seen over 40+ birds. Back at the hotel, we watched two male Mandarin ducks land onto a dead tree with one female adjacent to some of the group members' rooms.

Great Grey Shrike

After breakfast and another short walk around the hotel grounds, our leader took us to a site called Crabtree Hill in the chance of finding an overwintering great grey shrike. It was a muddy slog to get to the hill accompanied with drizzling rain, but once we got there, it brightened up and, after a bit of a wait, the shrike eventually appeared. It was distant to begin with, but thankfully, it was kind enough to give us much closer views. At one point, it had a lizard in its bill, and before we had the chance to witness why it gets the nickname of 'butcherbird' by impaling it on a thorn, it ended up swallowing it whole! This was my first ever encounter with a great grey shrike and it certainly made it quite a memorable one. We also saw ravens, crossbills and siskins here.

The viewpoint of New Fancy was up next and it certainly was a fancy viewing platform with a fancy view! This was also a very popular spot as several other people were here too, most looking for the same thing we were; goshawks! With so many eyes scanning the forest landscape, it wasn't too long until we saw some, albeit incredibly distant. We had better, closer views of crossbills and bullfinches that really challenged outshining the goshawks.

Wild Boar

After New Fancy, we were making our way to a pub for lunch. However, we got a bit distracted along the way as we happened upon a small group of wild boar by the roadside, which included one female with 5 stripy little piglets! We turned around and pulled over for a better look. What a lucky encounter this was!

There were a few other walks and short visits, including one very long and exhausting walk at Brierley, after lunch. We didn't really add too much that I hadn't seen before, except for redpoll, another goshawk, a grey wagtail and a few more Mandarin ducks. By the end of the day, I was extremely tired and was in a lot of pain as my body ached, especially my back and feet. But, I knew I still had one more day of this to endure.

March 15th

The morning of my final day was a complete washout! I woke up to join in on the early morning walk along a river at 7am in the search for dippers. We were successful, but the weather was awful. However, it got even worse after breakfast when we visited RSPB Nagshead. This reserve of ancient woodland was perhaps the lowest point of the trip. It was absolutely throwing it down with rain and the path was just thick, slippery mud and there was no way of avoiding it. There was nothing to see and I was getting soaked to the bone. I almost cried inside. I really wanted to go home.

Crossbill

Most of us decided to return to the hotel, while a few went off for a couple more short walks in the rain. I decided to give the walks a miss. Amazingly though, after lunch, the sun came out and the rain ceased pouring. We were back on the road! It turned out to be quite a pleasant afternoon as we stopped at a field where two little owls lived in an oak tree, then to the viewpoint at Symonds Yat Rock, where we saw three peregrines (two perched on trees, while a third flying high like a dot in the sky), two goosanders and some ravens. Finally, we returned to New Fancy and saw the goshawks and crossbills there again before the rain suddenly returned. And so my holiday came to an end. It was long, it was exhausting and tested my patience at times, but it sure was memorable filled with great wildlife encounters. If only it wasn't so muddy and wet, but then again, it wouldn't be a wild British holiday without it.

My Dorset Holiday

Last week, I was on holiday with my parents to Dorset for a few days before heading to the Forest of Dean for an extra weekend holiday with Naturetrek. Here's what happened while I was out in Dorset...

March 9th   Durdle Door, RSPB Arne & Kimmeridge Bay

Durdle Door

After a long day of travelling on the Sunday (March 8th), we set off to explore on our first proper day in Dorset. We started at the natural coastal landmark of Durdle Door, a large arch carved by the sea. It was one of those places that you just had to take many scenic photographs.

Next up was RSPB Arne, a place I've always wanted to visit as it is the only place in the UK to boast in seeing all 6 species of British reptile (including the very rare smooth snake and sand lizard). Unfortunately, it was a bit chilly for any of them to show up during this visit. However, Arne isn't just famous for its reptiles, it also has Dartford warblers and sika deer that were more possible to look for at this time of year. We had a very long and very muddy walk around the reserve and were lucky enough to see one Dartford warbler briefly posing atop of a gorse bush as well as 2 distant spoonbills, a few red-breasted mergansers out on the sea, redwings in the wood and siskins and great spotted woodpeckers on the feeders by the car park, but no sika deer.

My Fossil collection

We returned to the visitor centre for lunch, but afterwards, the weather suddenly changed dramatically. A nice, yet windy morning became a very miserable, wet afternoon. Our plans for a second walk around Arne were dashed. We decided to move on to Kimmeridge Bay for a bit of fossil hunting instead. The Dorset coastline is famous for its fossils and is often known as the Jurassic coast. Palaeontology was thought to have began here. So, I thought it would be interesting to see what I could find, not that I'm an expert of course. Dad was the only one brave enough to venture down the slippery wet steps down to the beach to unearth what prehistoric marine treasures we could find. As soon as we reached the bottom, we were instantly finding fossils of ammonites. Within a few minutes, we had a small collection, which included one with a fossilised rib cage of some ancient fish. I have discovered the magic of fossils hunting!

March 10th  Lodmore, Radipole & Portland Bill

Our Dorset adventure took us to Weymouth on Tuesday. We were here for two RSPB reserves that happen to be right amongst the urban scenery. Lodmore and Radipole were both small wetland reserves with surprisingly abundant amount of wildlife in them despite busy roads, shops and other buildings surrounding them in every direction. Between these two reserves respectfully, I managed to see; tufted ducks, pochard, gadwall, shovelers, teal, mallards, shelducks, oystercatchers, cormorants, snipe, Canada geese, redshanks, marsh harriers, various gull species including Mediterranean, common and great black-backed, and I also heard bearded tits and Cetti's warblers. Not bad for a pair of urban nature reserves!

Just like the day before, it was a pleasant morning, but the afternoon turned stormy with strong winds and thick fog as we travelled to Portland Bill. Other than the red and white striped lighthouse and a few very brave rock pipits, there wasn't much to see, and with the weather being so bad, we didn't hang around there for very long at all.

March 12th  RSPB Arne

As March 11th was my birthday, we spent it at Paignton Zoo. It was a nice day, despite a slow start due to road closures causing us to detour, though it felt a bit of a long and tiring one. Our wildlife watching tour resumed the next day with a second visit to Arne as we felt we didn't fully explored it due to the weather last time. The weather was certainly better this time around.



Dartford Warbler

First we walked around Coombe Heath, just south of the car park. Other than meadow pipits and blustery conditions, it wasn't really the most memorable walk. That is if it wasn't for encountering a herd of female sika deer near the start of our little walk that gave us a bit of a stare down before making a weary approach towards us! These grey-brown deer with a bright white patch on their rear are not native, but are from Asia. Though they don't belong here, they certainly made this reserve their home and are surprisingly popular with visitors. Me included.








Sika Deer

After lunch, the weather continued to behave and was bright and cheery for the rest of the day, albeit with a small blip of rain before Dad and I set off for our second walk around the other half of the reserve. We visited the only hide on this northern half and saw the 2 spoonbills again as well as a possible Arctic tern, a flock of brent geese, wigeon, curlews, shelducks and little egrets. Then, we sat at the spot we saw the Dartford warbler on Monday, though this time it perched just metres in front of me, posing atop of a gorse bush long enough for many photos to be taken! We then continued our walk onto the beach, seeing red-breasted mergansers and great crested grebes before making our way back to the car, almost stumbling into a group of rather chilled male sika deer! It was quite a more memorable visit to Arne in contrast to Monday.

March 5th North Norfolk

My friend, David, surprised me with a birdwatching outing today. He wanted to find some odds and ends around parts of North Norfolk. However, it wasn't exactly the warmest of days. An icy cold wind was blowing and it was absolutely freezing. A complete opposite to yesterday. It was like the middle of winter again, not early spring.

First up on our birding tour was the lake at Blickling Hall where apparently a ruddy shelduck had been hanging about. It was a brief stop (mainly because the car park ticket machine was requesting £5 for a long stay) and we left empty handed. No ruddy shelduck here.

Turnstone

Next up was Sheringham for a spot of sea watching. We actually sat in the cold inside the shelter much longer than expected, at least an hour, before the cold really got to us. Using our scopes, we scanned up a reasonable haul of gannets, gulls and divers. One of these divers seemed a little bigger than the majority of the several red-throated divers we saw and appeared much more blacker on its upper side and white underneath. We decided that this was a black-throated diver, a bird I've actually never seen before, though it was just too far away and fast to photograph for my bird photo collection.








Purple Sandpiper

When we eventually got too cold to sea watch, we went for a walk along the front. Turnstones were everywhere and we also found a couple of purple sandpipers on the rocks. But the real talking point was my scope. As we were making our way back to the car, the legs of my scope's tripod fell off. The main scope part, the head, had some how unscrewed itself and had remained strapped to my shoulder, while the legs of the tripod fell to the ground. For some reason, the filament that attaches the head to the legs was too short to reattach it again. Tried as we might, we could not get the head back on. All we could do was put the two pieces in the car and sort it out later.

Kelling Heath was our next stop. David wanted to search for Dartford warblers that call this heath home. Unfortunately, the weather conditions weren't exactly favourable for these birds and, despite some time spent searching, we left disappointed again.

After lunch, our final stop was Cley. The main reason of coming here was not just for the reserve, but to sort out my tripod. The Cley Spy shop behind the visitor centre/café is our best bet to fix it as it specializes on optic devices. Thankfully, the guy working there managed to make the filament long enough again to attach the head back on in no time at all. Problem solved!

With the scope functional once more, we drove down to the beach for another spot of sea watching. We were hoping to spot the great northern diver that had been reported. The sea was much rougher than it was at Sheringham and the wind felt colder than before. The birds were being partially covered by the stormy-looking waves and were harder for me to spot, but we did manage to spot plenty of gannets, a few divers, a large raft of scoter ducks, some passing eiders, two oystercatchers and various gull species. No great northern diver, though.

As the chilly wind finally forced us to leave, we made our way to the central hides of the main reserve, seeing flocks of golden plovers, lapwing and greylags on the fields along the way. Inside the hides, it was even colder than it was while we were outside sea watching. Forced to open a flap in order to see out of the hide, the wind was quick to blow right into our faces and suck the heat out of our bodies instantly. It was so cold that we didn't wanted to hang around inside them for very long. We saw avocets, black-tailed godwits, wigeon, shovelers, shelducks, redshanks, a distant marsh and a few gulls and geese. I was glad to leave for the warm comfort of David's car on the drive home. What a strange, yet chilly, day it has been!