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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