Butterflies, Bugs and Yellow Blooms - Wood Walton/Great Fen

Jans weekly trip to Wood Walton Fen.

There were lots of Butterflies and Bugs at the Fen today, but where were the Dragonflies. Last week saw the sky filled with the acrobatic Brown Hawkers, today I only saw one. In fact hardly any Dragonflies at all but plenty of Damselflies, still that’s how it is sometimes. Possibly the overcast day, although still warm, was something to do with it.

Butterflies were plentiful. The Purple Emperors were floating over the Rothschild’s Bungalow and around the Oak trees but I did not see any land, so unfortunately no images this week of the Emperors.

I saw plenty of Crickets and other bugs, but to be honest I am not good at identifying what is what so I must say Thank You to Danielle at the Great Fen for helping with the identification of the bugs and flowers. I now know that Crickets have really long antennae and Grasshoppers shorter ones.

The moral of this is “Your never too old to learn”, the trouble is I soon forget.

I think this plant could be Bristly Ox Tongue. It likes rough grassy places, and stream sides and is very tall. Whatever it is Hover Flies love it.

I always call this plant Deadly Nightshade but its also known as Woody Nightshade.

Not sure what this is going to be, something big, probably Hogweed. I must go back next week to find out.

One of the few Dragonflies on the wing today, a female Ruddy Darter.

Lots of yellow around today. ‘Rothschild’s Sunflower’. The reserve was once owned by Charles Rothschild and It is thought that Charles Rothchild himself planted these flowers. The plant is actually called Heartleaf Oxeye and it flowers for a couple of weeks bringing a touch of sunshine to the fen. Many insects were loving the yellow colour and flat open flower heads.

A Peacock Butterfly sharing with (or sheltering) a Hover Fly.

A tiny Cricket

Possibly a Carder Bee.

Red Admiral Butterfly, such vibrant colours.

Well, its either a Small Skipper or an Essex Skipper.

Now I know this is a Red Eyed Damselfly.

Dark Bush Cricket

I also know this is a Roesel's Bush Cricket because we had one in the garden once. We think it arrived in Petes fishing bags after a day of fishing.

A Green Veined White Butterfly

Gatekeeper

Small Conehead

As I was walking along the grass paths I disturbed lots of these small, pretty, day flying moths but I have been unable to identify them. Possibly a Latticed Heath moth.

One of the many waterways that criss cross this unique reserve.

Butterfly Hunting - Wood Walton Fen/The Great Fen

While Pete was busy photographing a Golf tournament Jan had a very successful day at Wood Walton fen. Butterflies, Dragonflies and insects. Perfect day weather wise as well.

Purple Emperor Butterfly

A large butterfly of woodlands, it is well known for spending much of its time in the treetops feeding on aphid honeydew, so a pair of binoculars is handy if you want so spot this dazzling insect. They can be seen flying to the ground mid-morning to feed on salts and sugars in damp puddles, on animal droppings or road surfaces, or even on rotting carcases. This one liked the swan poo. I don’t think I have ever seen a Butterfly running. It landed then ran very excitedly towards the poo. Obviously a delicacy if you are a Purple Emperor.

A Tiny Purple Hairstreak This butterfly is widely distributed throughout southern areas wherever there are oak trees; even a solitary tree may support a colony. It is frequently overlooked as adults remain largely in the canopy where the main adult food source is honeydew; they fly more commonly in the evening of a warm summer's day so very lucky to see this down at eye level.

Large Skipper. Adults fly between June and August, when they can often be seen resting in sunny positions ,or feeding on flowers such as bramble or vetch.

Brown Hawker Dragonfly. Brown wings make this species distinct. The Fen was full of these and they were great to watch. This was the only one that landed nearby so had to grab a picture quick before it was off again.

A brilliant red Ruddy Darter - photobombed by a fly.

Scorpion Fly

Yellow and Black Longhorn Beetle

A trip to the fens would not be complete without a sit down in the welcome shade on the seat in memory of our dear friend Don. A lovely spot to sit and watch and just relax.

In memory of Don

Brampton Wood

Jan went for a walk around Brampton Wood this morning in the hope to find some White Admiral Butterflies. There were a few around but not as many as other years and not settling.

Silver Washed Fritillary are normally Orange and brown/black but this is the more uncommon form. A small proportion of females have wings that are bronze-green, known as the form valezina. It was quite beautiful.

Silver Washed Fritillary - valezina form.

A Few Days in Norfolk

What a treat to get away to Norfolk for a few days. We stayed in a lovely caravan on the award winning site at Kelling Heath. Great walks, wildlife and a time to just take everything in.

We were able to see and hear the elusive Nightjars that call the heath home this time of year. The nocturnal nightjar is one of our strangest birds. A summer visitor to heathlands and young conifer plantations, they spend their days sitting on the floor, where they also nest. Cryptically camouflaged in greys and browns, they look just like a fallen log and are almost impossible to spot during the day. But at dusk, a strange sound starts up: a mechanical whirring, almost like a distant engine, and just as the darkness arrives, the nightjar appears. Sadly we were unable to get any photos this time, so a reason to go back again.

Kelling Heath is also home to the very rare Silver Studded Blue Butterfly and we were so lucky to see them. It has declined throughout Britain becoming extinct in northern, central and southeast regions. The main reason for this decline is the loss of suitable heathland on which they depend, in the last century much Heathland has been planted for forestry, ploughed for agriculture or left unmanaged.

Silver-studded Blues became extinct on Kelling Heath by the 1970's mainly due to a lack of management. Following a study of heathlands in Norfolk, by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust and English Nature, Kelling Heath was found to be a suitable place to reintroduce the butterfly.

In 2001 several adult butterflies were translocated from another site in Norfolk to two release sites on Kelling Heath. Since then the butterflies have been increasing in number and have spread into new areas. Management is carried out each year to improve the area for the butterflies and other heathland wildlife and each year has seen an increase in the numbers of Silver-studded Blues on the heath. So well done to everyone involved.

Silver Studded Blue butterfly

A pair of Wrens nested under the Caravan

From the Heath towards Weybourne

Jays were regular visitors around the caravan

Broad-bordered Bee Hawk Moth

Blakeney

Skylark on its singing post

Our first sighting of the year of a Painted Lady Butterfly

Kelling Water Meadows

An abundance of Foxgloves this year

Bees are loving all the foxgloves

Hungry Young Whitethroat

Sea Lavender at Blakeney

Salthouse

Egg laying Female Emperor dragonfly, maybe that makes her an Empress

Wood Walton Fen - The Great Fen

A hot and humid day made us decide to go to Wood Walton Fen in the evening hoping to find it cooler with a bit of a breeze. How wrong we were. It was so hot and humid and the dark clouds kept gathering but did not produce any rain. Still we managed about an hours walk and managed to spot lots of Scarce Chaser Dragonflies that seemed to be loving the humidity.

Woodwalton Fen is owned by the Wildlife Trust BCN and is managed by Natural England and is one of only four remaining fragments of the ancient wild fens that once stretched for 1,350 square miles across the area and is a last haven for many rare fen species.

On the site of an old farmstead and at the heart of the new nature reserve, Charles Rothschild built a bungalow on stilts and used it as a base for his field trips out on the fen. Charles Rothschild was an English banker and Entomologist. He was concerned about the loss of wildlife habitats, and in 1912 set up the Society for the Promotion of Nature Reserves, the forerunner of The Wildlife Trusts partnership.

Rothschild’s Bungalow

Scarce Chaser

Female Scarce Chaser

One of the many walks around the Fen

Two Scarce Chasers

Water Lily and if you look closely you can just make out a Red Eyed Damselfly on the lily pad.

Wild Flowers and Bees

Jan went for walk to the Grafham Water reserve, this morning. This reserve is managed by the BCN Wildlife Trust. The wild flower meadows are quite beautiful this time of year.

A Field of Yellow

Common Spotted Orchid

Yellow Rattle

Bee on a Cranesbill Flower

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

A very enjoyable Sunday afternoon spent at the fishing lake. The Mayflies were hatching but the fish were not biting.

Mayfly

A Female Banded Demoiselle

Superb Sunset

Warm Sunshine at last

A little of what we have seen locally this week.

Orange Tip Butterfly

Starling in the Garden

Yellowhammer enjoying the sunshine

Starling

A hatching of Garden Spiders in the Garden

One of several Hares on farmland at Fen Drayton Lakes RSPB

Young Rabbit. RSPB Fen Drayton lakes

Orange Tip Butterfly.

Graham Water

Jan went for a little walk around the the reserve at Grafham water today and although there were still a lot of showers and cloud around at least the weather was trying to warm up, but the breeze off the water still had a bite to it.

Cormorant

Garden Warbler

The Trout was too big, after a few minutes of struggling he had to drop it.

A pair of Carrion Crows sunning themselves in a sheltered spot.

Mute Swan

Mallard

Woodland Walk

A quick stroll around the local woods today to see what was about and we spotted this little family in the brambles. Just love them.

Long Tailed Tits

A surprise garden visitor.

Its not every day we get a Peacock visiting the garden. This one has been trying out the rooftops around the village for the last few months, and is thought to have come from the grounds of the now empty hospital.

Proud Peacock

His colours are so bright

The Great Fen

We thought we would start to explore The Great Fen as it is a vitally important on going project in our county. The Great Fen is the result of a partnership project by the Wildlife Trust with Natural England, the Environment Agency, Huntingdonshire District Council and the Middle Level Commissioners. The project will ultimately provide a fenland wildlife haven of 3,700 hectares (9,000 acres).

We started off at Ramsey Heights Nature Reserve, which is the main countryside centre for the Great Fen. We met Henry, who is the Great Fen Monitoring and Research Officer. He was monitoring the Great Crested Newts and had a couple that he was able to show us. Beautiful creatures. The spots under their belly are unique and by keeping photographic records the team are able to identify individual Newts, where they are, and how far they travel.

Henry is also interested in the increase of the Polecat. The Polecat is roughly the size of a ferret - its domesticated cousin. Brought to the brink of extinction through persecution, it has been undergoing a recovery recently and can be found in rural Wales and parts of England. They have discovered that Polecats have been spreading around the country using rabbit burrows along motorways. It has been recorded that the countryside around the Caxton Gibbet roundabout is a particular hot spot, so we need to keep a look out and report to the Wildlife Trust should we spot one.

Thank you Henry, hope we didn’t keep you from your work for too long.

After lunch we moved on to Holme Fen. Holme Fen is described by Natural England as the finest example of birch woodland in lowland Britain. Part of it was a mere which was drained in the nineteenth century.

The Great Fen is such a huge area we only scratched the surface, our next visit in the near future will be to Wood Walton Fen .

Information Board Holme Fen

Information Board Holme Fen

Holme Fen Posts . For explanation of these posts showing the shrinkage of the peat go to:
www.greatfen.org.uk/about-great-fen/heritage/holme-fen-posts

Holme Fen

Hoof Fungus can be seen on decaying trunks of Silver Birches.

Holme Fen

Peacock Butterfly - Ramsey Heights

Canada Goose - Burnhams Mere - Holme Fen

A full nest of Cormorants - Burnhams Mere - Holme Fen

Large White Butterfly - Ramsey Heights

Jackdaw - Ramsey Heights

Dandelion “clock”

Brown Argus - Holme Fen

Grizzled Skipper - Holme Fen. This butterfly is on the red list as vulnerable and is in decline.

Small Copper - Holme Fen

Small White - Holme Fen

Grizzled Skipper - Holme Fen

Cavenham Heath, Suffolk

Although in Suffolk this , again, is not that far to travel. Established in 1952, the reserve is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest and is managed by Natural England

The site has habitats of heath and grassland, with smaller areas of woodland and fen, in the flood-plain of the River Lark. Well over 100 bird species are recorded annually, and breeding species include nightjar, woodlark and stonechat on the heath, woodcock in the damp woodland and grey wagtail, kingfisher and nightingale along the river Lark. There is a regular pre-migration roost of stone curlews in August and September, in recent years numbering over 100 birds.

The River Lark

Skylark

Wheatear

Skylark

Small Copper Butterfly

Sedge Warbler

Grey Wagtail

The River Lark

Bluebells and Blossom

May has started cold and the rain has brought forth the flowers. Our local wood is lovely in the spring and the Bluebells this year have finally put on a show, a little later than last year but still just a glorious.

Bluebells

Bluebells

A walk on the wild side

A carpet of Bluebells

Fresh new growth all around the woodland

Spring in an English wood

A young Male Muntjac in the undergrowth, Mum was just behind him.

The Crab Apple blossom survived the frosty nights and cold days.

Blue Tit on look out duty.

Lakenheath Fen RSPB, Suffolk

A quick visit to Lakenheath Fen. It is a large reserve to walk around and the hides were not open when we visited so we stayed in the area around the visitor centre. Always a good place to spot Marsh Harriers, sometimes the Common Cranes and Bitterns and in the summer Hobbies and Dragonflies. A walk along the bank gives good views over the Little Ouse washes.

This Pheasant liked to continually demonstrate that this bit of the reserve was his.

Reed Bunting having a bit of a spruce up.

A Brown Rat cleaning up under the feeders

Collared Dove

Beautiful colours in the evening sun.

Mallard

Reed Bunting

Still at it….

Sculthorpe Moor, Fakenham

Sculthorpe Moor is owned by the Hawk and Owl Trust. It is great place for getting close to wildlife and is very accessible with paths, boardwalks and seats. Most of the Hides have feeders outside and there are many spots with feeders hanging in trees. Worth a visit, especially if you have a painful knee, as there are plenty of resting places. Despite all this the reserve still maintains wildlife first.

A Brambling in Summer plumage. Bramblings are usually winter visitors but on rare occasions they do stay for the summer.

A well fed Bullfinch.

Treecreeper

Female Mallard

A Hare on the edge of the woodland.

Lackford Lakes, Suffolk Wildlife Trust

Lackford Lakes is always worth a visit and has many hides and seating areas, although the Hides were not yet open on our visit. The reserve attracts many migrants including Nightingales and in the summer we have had wonderful sightings of Hobbies catching dragonflies over the lakes.

Dunnock

Nuthatch

Blackbird successfully hunting for food in a patch of recently cleared woodland.

Blackcaps were singing everywhere

A Rabbit enjoying a sunny spot.

Overhall Grove, Knapwell

We decided to have a stroll around Overall Grove as Jan was keen to see if we could find the Oxlips which have been known to grow there. Overhall Grove is the largest elm woodland in Cambridgeshire. The wood also contains several large oak trees which are over 250 years old.

In spring, the wood is full of songbirds such as willow and garden warblers and song thrushes, and scattered in some areas are splendid rosettes of oxlip. The remains of a medieval manor surrounded by a moat can still be seen in the northern end of the wood, which is now home to a family of badgers. Their digging has unearthed shards of pottery, which date the manor back to the 11th to 15th centuries. 

Oxlip is a nationally scarce species and is classed as near threatened in Britain.. Oxlip only grows in some areas of East Anglia and is rarely found outside of Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex. It grows in damp woods and meadows, It is often associated with ancient woodland .Oxlips were traditionally used to treat coughs and rheumatism. Its compounds may have antibacterial properties.

Blossom in the wood

A Coal Tit in the Yew tree in the Churchyard.

A Robin joined us as we sat on a seat in the sun in the churchyard.

Deeping Lakes and RSPB Nene Washes

A new reserve for us today. Deeping Lakes, Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, near the pretty Lincolnshire village of Deeping St James on the banks of the River Welland.
160 acres including part of the Deeping Gravel Pits SSSI and the Welland Bank Pits. There is a main lake (formerly known as "The Lake", dating from 1800) and two areas of smaller lakes and pools (formerly known as Welland Bank Quarry, excavated in the 1990's).

Lots of Chiff Chaffs, Blackcaps and the usual spring migrants. We will go back in the winter as they get an abundance of wild fowl spending the winter months there.

Chiff Chaff

Chiff Chaff

RSPB Nene Washes. Eldernell

A quick look at what we could see. Binoculars or Scope definitely needed at this location as the area is vast and flat but a there is a good vantage point on the bridge. Again despite the sunshine the wind was cutting. We spotted the Common Cranes, which have now started breeding in this area., but they were a long way in the distance. Marsh Harrier, Buzzard and Red Kite. Also a few Hares.

The Red Kite glided over head and its wing span was huge, then, just like that it was gone. A real “wow” moment for us.

Ely

March Winds and April showers bring forth May flowers. Well, not many showers this April, just lots of sunshine but with cold winds that have kept the temperature down and frosts at night. We will see what happens to the May flowers. Jan has been struggling with a painful knee so days out in the latter part of the month have been planned to places with lots of seating or short walks. She is feeling very frustrated with herself.

Last Autumn we made a little access opening in the bottom of the fence joining our garden with next door to create a “hedgehog highway.” And it works ! This spring we have had two hedgehogs in the garden. We put out some food and the Trail Camera to film any happenings. Little did we realise the entertainment we would get from watching the garden nightlife. Not only the Hedgehogs, but a wood mouse and of course a variety of neighbourhood cats.

Our first day out in April and still trying to keep Covid rules of not travelling too far took us to Ely. Somewhere we had not been to for years. We had our wedding reception in the then , newly restored Maltings by the river. A bit of a walk down memory lane, a takeaway coffee and cake in the market square, and of course exciting views of the Peregrines that have now taken up residence and nested in the Cathedral.

A great walk along the riverside at Ely.

Mute Swan

A walk from the riverside through the Jubilee Gardens and across the park gave us splendid views of Ely Cathedral.

A view of the Cathedral from Ely park.

Peregrine on the Cathedral.

Peregrine in font of one of the stained glass windows of the Cathedral.

They rather like using the Gargoyles as viewing places.

On the way home we called in at Burwell Fen. The wind was bitingly cold and we had snow and hail showers, needless to say we did not stay long. The Little owl found a warm place to sit out of the wind.