A Day at the Races?

On Sunday, I drove across the county to Newmarket on the western edge of Suffolk by the edge of the Racecourse, to visit the Devil's Dyke nature reserve in the hope of seeing and photographing Lizard Orchids.

After a very pleasant walk, where I noted Pyramidial Orchids just starting to come into flower and singing birds including Blackcap and Lesser Whitethroats giving their distinctive "scoulding" call. I eventually came across 1 Lizard Orchid which was slightly past its best, but then there were a further 4 plants in peak condition. I eventually counted an incredible 79 Lizard Orchids. 

The Lizard Orchid is so named because the long central lobe of the lip resembles the back end and tail of a Lizard and the shorter side lobes also resemble the hind legs of a Lizard giving a very unusual and unique looking flower.

The flowers also have a strong slightly unpleasant smell, which some authors claims smell of billy goats, I couldn't comment on this as I haven't gone round sniffing goats!! 

The tall spikes can grow up to around a foot and a half tall (almost a metre in height) and one particularly tall plant really did stink in the warm sunshine.

This odour was a smell worth enduring as I got to work setting up my camera and tripod to get the range of pictures I wanted. 

Roseates no show

A very welcome call from Rob at 7pm Saturday evening to say that Andrew was watching 2 Roseate Terns which were perched on a yellow buoy off Ness Point, soon found me at Ness Point. But sadly for the 4th year running I was to be thwarted yet again in seeing my first ever Roseate Terns in Lowestoft. They had just flown, and they didn't return, same old story!

Late June and July can often be a good time to check the Terns on the groynes in the hope of a Roseate, especially if they have been sighted at Minsmere & Breydon which they had been seen during this time.

We did enjoy good views of a close Harbour Porpoise just 100 yards out from the Point and a group of 12 Common Scoters and a few Gannets flying North.

Orchid Meadow bites the dust?

Yesterday, I conducted a survey of a small area of land in North Lowestoft of just 1.62 hectares of "waste ground" which last year held incredible numbers of over 3,000 Southern Marsh Orchids and also 20 or so Spotted Orchid for good measure too.

To see these many orchids out in flower with their gorgeous deep purple flowers providing a feast for the eye in the middle of June is truly a sight to behold.

It is one of the many wonders of nature and was recently voted no.17 in a recent BBC poll of top wildlife spectacles.

However, on conducting my survey this year it was immediately apparent that there were far fewer spikes this year, 2/3 less to be precise.

I counted 868 spikes of Southern Marsh orchid with 24 Spotted Orchid and around 30 hybrid Southern Marsh X Spotted Orchid.

Why is this? There are two reasons firstly, the site is rapidly drying out and where there were ponds, puddles and wet patches there is just dry meadow, certainly not prime conditions for a wet loving marsh orchid. Secondly, there has been the rapid encroachment of bramble and scrub covering around a third of the area since last year.

What can be done about it? I have contacted the Suffolk Wildlife Trust in the hope that either the area can be properly managed to the benefit of wildlife and people or in the last resort the plants can be relocated to a protected area nearby.

My advice is to go and see them now why you still can. You may never again get the chance to wander through a meadow covered with Southern Marsh Orchids in North Lowestoft again.

At last, Scarce Chaser!

A fourth visit to the Marsh in the Waveney valley, finally reaped dividends when I was lucky enough to photograph several Norfolk Hawker dragonflies including an oviposting (egg laying) female around the dykes bordering the track. I finally spotted the much sought after Scarce Chaser perched on the sword like leaf of a Yellow Flag Iris, it was a mature male with black tipped blue abdomen brownish tinge on the edge of the wings and the all important black smudge on the base of the wings. Unfortunately it was perched on the middle of the dyke and was partially obscured by foliage but I was able to get some reasonable shots.

Elsewhere. the local cow herd disturbed a young family of Pheasants and a distant Cuckoo called.

Orchid Extravaganza!

June is one of the best months to see many of our Orchid species.

Several hundred enigmatic Bee Orchid plants are currently out in flower at a nearby supermarket. Their sepal flowers look like a Bumblebee and designed to attract male Bees to pollinate the flowers. They are very attractive Orchid but are very nomadic and can disappear from sites where they were previously flowering. This is true of Lowestoft currently and it is very sadly a negative return for several sites I have checked for this species.

At a very local site several hundred and maybe several thousand Southern Marsh Orchids are starting to come into flower at a local field. Also out in flower at this time, in the same field are a few Spotted orchids too. Enjoy them while you can!

Swallowtails!

Saturday 13th June was Butterfly day at the excellent RSPB Strumpshaw Fen near Norwich and there was one particular sought after butterfly which can only be seen in the Norfolk Broads in late May & June. (There is a later flight period in August but fewer are on the wing then.) 

The butterfly is our largest and is of course, the beautiful Swallowtail butterfly.

At reception I was told there were not many about. On the way to reception we were able to see about 5 Bee Orchid plants. On our walk around the fen we managed to see several Norfolk hawker dragonflies which were duly photographed, we heard a Cuckoo and saw 2 very hairy black and brown caterpillars.

We are particularly fortunate that there is a garden bordering the reserve which is superbly managed to attract visiting butterflies and other wildlife including Large Skipper, Painted Ladies and most importantly it regularly attracts visiting Swallowtails. they are particularly attracted to the Sweet William plants. The very genial and accommodating owner allows Swallowtail enthusiasts to enter the garden if they see a Swallowtail and photograph.

On the way back, first one & then 2 Swallowtail butterflies actively fed from the Sweet William plants, with their wings almost constantly flapping. These butterflies are supposed to fed exclusively from the Milk Parsley plant but the Sweet Williams are an exotic aside for them.

Occasionally, the Swallowtails would momentarily relax and a whole plethora of Camera lens simultaneously clicked as the visiting photographers obtained their shots like a crowd of papparazi snapping a visiting celebrity.

All this would not be possible without the very kind and generous permission of the garden owner to allow us to enter his land, I am greatly indebted to you kind sir. 

Extremely Scarce Chasers!

An early evening return visit to the Marshes in the Waveney Valley on Friday 12 June resulted in us not seeing the Chasers again, however the windy conditions were against us and Jenny & I did see a pair of Norfolk Hawker dragonflies chasing after prey items.