Out Bungay Way

Jenny & had a look at one of SWT's roadside wildlife reserves near Bungay yesterdat Wednesday evening and we were delighted to see a fine display of Orchids, 5 fine Bee Orchids, c500 Spotted Orchids (mostly of the White variety a little past their best) and an incredible c2,500 Pyramidial Orchids starting to flower with 1 almost mythical white variety in full flower but slightly past its best.

A Yellowhammer was seen and a Turtle Dove was heard 'purring' sadly an increasingly rarer sound around the local countryside these days.

Whilst visiting Mettingham castle, we went past an area (reachable by taking the second road running south off Mettingham village, by the small postbox and labelled Vicarage Lane drive through and past Grove farm on your right and then park near the gate at the junction.)

Which was labelled a concessionary footpath, looking a little like an old rail track area but has been conceived by the Grove farm owner, which I learned talking to a friendly local, The area had bushes lined on the north side and a small natural scrub/ wood the other.

In the scrubby area, several Yellowhammers were heard singing and one seen on top a small tree. the scrubby are also had several Pyramidial Orchids and Early Marsh Orchids (well past their best).

Looking again today (Thursday 24th June), having first taken pictures of the Orchids at the former site, near the entrance to the track in a Mountain ash tree near the entrance, 3 Willow Warblers were seen with singing Whitethroat and 1 Lesser Whitethroat also heard nearby.

Walking down the track I saw a very elusive Beautiful Demoiselle seen several times but eluded me every time I tried to get a picture of it, a very posey (by contrast) female Broad- bodied Chaser returning to the same bit of bare twig, Small tortoiseshell and Large Skipper butterflies and finally a Norfolk Hawker Dragonfly, proof positive of migrants prospecting well away from water which was seen resting by the hedge and then flew up to rest by a higher area of a tree.