Notes on birds/wildlife from a nature enthusiast & photographer (copyright Peter Ransome)
Sunday 20 August 2017
"Why does it always cloud over me?"
Sung to the tune of Travis' "Why does it always rain on me?", one of Jenny's favourite songs, I could well ask the question each time I walk the 2 miles to the top of Carlton Marshes it always clouds over! On Sunday 20th August, mid morning, again I was pleasantly distracted along the dykes, where I met an elderly couple who had spotted one Fen Raft Spider this time from the main boarded area where one was sat on a Lily pad, just right of a particularly thick Water Soldier plant sticking out of the water, by the three fronds cut off half way up. The lady also found a second further along past the big bush, in a bowl shaped indentation, along the far side of the dyke, another Fen Raft Spider was facing down onto the water. Walking around past Spratts water, a couple rather annoyingly trailed just behind me, so I was unable to get a shot of a Kestrel on a gate post and a Black- tailed Skimmer on the path ahead of me. I also saw Peacock & Small Tortoiseshell butterfly briefly here too. No birds seen on the Scrape apart from a Mallard! At the top, a female Great Diving Beetle (with finely lined back) was on the path and scurrying to get into cover, she safely negotiated the path into a side area. A slightly tatty Wall Brown butterfly was perched on the bare part of the path and later perched on the wall, it flew and is a very unobtrusive butterfly, but when it perched on the wall it was doing exactly what it says on the tin! Also on the wall, were up to 3 skittish tiny Common Lizards (boding well for the future) and slightly further along was the most obliging Common Lizard I have ever come across. It spent well over an hour on the wall just past a thistle and was an absolute joy to photograph, pity the sun had gone in. A very fine male Migrant Hawker flew in and perched underneath a weed. Nothing along the north die of Scrape. IN the dyke I saw an adult and 2 young Moorhens that just eluded the camera, It was really good to catch up with Alan & Edwina B in the car park afterwards and I hope they got to see some of the Fen Raft Spiders.
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