NORWICH: Early April at Mousehold Heath

Early April 2021

A family walk at Mousehold Heath was notable for the large number of Green Tiger Beetles seen - at least 20, probably quite a few more than that. They were very active, often first seen flying past and landing on a sandy bank. I kept an eye out for bees in the hope of finding my first Ashy Mining Bee, but only found a handful of species, including Orange-tailed Mining Bee. We also saw a couple of False Puffballs (Entiridium lycoperdon), slime moulds that form whitish half-spheres on tree trunks. Judging from social media it is having a good year. On our way back Cathy noticed a Treecreeper on a tree trunk close to the path, which showed very well.

YARE VALLEY: Strumpshaw Clarke's Mining Bees

15th March 2020

With an inkling that freely moving around the county might not be possible soon, we called in at Strumpshaw Fen for an afternoon walk. Close views of a Marsh Tit were had near the reception hide, with a Marsh Harrier and a calling Chiffchaff also of note. On the insect front there was little seen, but we did stop to watch the Andrena clarkella bee colony by the side of the path.

CENTRAL NORFOLK: Buxton gentians and bees

Late August 2018

Last year I visited Buxton Heath twice looking for Marsh Gentians, and despite being told what area to look in I failed both times. Having seen that Chris Lansdell had seen some in flower recently, I asked him for directions and took a long lunch break to pop down and have a look.

Partway along the path a local dogwalker stopped to talk to me, and it was soon evident that she was a rather knowledgeable botanist. After discussing some of the nearby plants (Eyebright, Marsh Lousewort, Common Centaury, Devil's Bit Scabious) I mentioned the Gentians, and she took me to an area nearby. She said that it wasn't sunny enough for the flowers to be open, and sure enough they were tightly closed - almost certainly why I missed them last year.

Parting company I carried on, as this wasn't the area that Chris had told me about. I found the right area, and to my delight found several Marsh Gentians that did have open flowers, hurrah! Checking in a small enclosure nearby I also found Marsh Clubmoss, another rare plant I'd never seen before.

With this double plant success I started paying a bit more attention to the insects, and soon noticed that there were two different stripy solitary bees taking pollen from the heather. These were Heather Mining Bee (Andrena fuscipes) and Heather Colletes (Colletes succinctus). Further round I found Nomada rufipes, a cleptoparasite of the Andrena, and also several Bee-wolves. It could have been even better, as I had largely ignored the bumblebees but Phil Saunders saw Heath Bumblebee here a few days later, a species I've not seen before.

Walking back to the car along the edge of the site I noted the leaves of Lily of the Valley and Aulagromyza tremulae mines on Aspen. I then found a beetle that depsite my Gentian success became my species of the day. The tiny, bird-dropping camouflaged longhorn beetle Pogonocherus hispidus (Lesser Thorn-tipped Longhorn Beetle) has been something I've wanted to see for a while, and despite the small size it is a really cool beetle.

There was time for one more species to be recorded. There is a common plant, related to Redshank (the flowering plant, not the bird or the moss of the same name) and Pale Persicaria called Water-pepper. Unfortunately, there is also one called Tasteless Water-pepper, which I haven't seen. This means that everytime I see a Water-pepper sp, I feel obliged to taste a small piece. It's always the peppery one.

NORWICH: Earlham Cemetery insect walk

10th June 2018

On Sunday the monthly Earlham Cemetery walk was focussed on hoverflies. We managed at least 12 species, with Epistrophe grossulariae and Melangyna labiatarum both new for me. Neither are particularly scarce, but they do require a close look to eliminate other species. I noticed a Cheilosia impressa on a buttercup flower, apparently a new species for the cemetery although I've seen it at Whitlingham and Thorpe in the past.

It was actually a very productive day for me in terms of new species, with a gall on Bay (known as Bay sucker), the beetle Tillus elongatus and Red-girdled Mining Bee all new. A sawfly on buttercup was identified as far as a Cephus sp - there are two very similar ones and apparently Benson's feature relating to the antennal segments isn't very useful, but at least I know next time to focus on the shape of the claws.

A gall on Holm Oak was also of interest. I keyed it out to genus Plagiotrochus, but it didn't really fit the discriptions of the two final possibilities in Redfern, the FSC galls key. Fortunately several national experts were familiar with them and identified it as Plagiotrochus quercusilicis. The county gall recorder has no previous records for this species in Norfolk, but that should be accompanied by two caveats, firstly that at least one knowledeable gall recorder in the county doesn't submit records at a local level and secondly that ideally new galls would be studied and bred out to provide ultimate confirmation of the identity of the causer.

THORPE MARSHES - Wheatear!

21st April 2018

I'd just returned from Mannington, and with Cathy & Rose out I made myself a cup of tea and sat down to check my emails. A few minutes later I saw a message from Gary on Twitter to say he had just found a Wheatear at Thorpe Marshes. Wheatears are just about annual locally, but typically only one or two a year and staying a few hours. I'd never seen one at Whitlingham or Thorpe, so with a baleful look at my cup of tea I grabbed my bag and headed back out.

Once on site I called Gary to ask whereabouts he had seen it last, and found out that a family was currently walking down the path where the Wheatear had been. I walked over to the middle of the marsh, stopping briefly for a chat with Susan who had just completed a lap. There was no sign initially on the paths or in the dead tree nearby, but turning round I spotted the Wheatear on a gatepost. Hurrah! The first Wheatear of the year is always a bit special, but to see one here was much more so.

I watched the Wheatear for a while before it hopped down and walked off through the rushy grassland. Gary appeared and we heard a Grasshopper Warbler reeling distantly near the railway line. The Wheatear then reappeared on the gate and we got excellent views. It was quite confiding, so in a rare burst of photographical acumen I laid on the gravel path so that I could see a nice blue background behind it instead of the cluttered marsh or trees. 

This sighting brought my patch list up to 149 birds, tantalisingly close to my medium-term target of 150. Possible 150th species that might be possible this spring include Garganey, Osprey, Crane, Black-tailed Godwit, Golden Plover, Ringed Plover, Curlew, Ruff or Yellow Wagtail, but it could just as easily be something completely unexpected. A big thanks to Gary for finding the Wheatear and letting me know about it. This year I have less time to spend birding, so having an excellent network of local birders is much appreciated.

There was a final bonus sighting for the visit, as after crossing the footbridge and walking back towards Thorpe St Andrew I spotted a solitary bee on the road. It was still alive so I picked it up to move it to the side so it didn't get squashed, and noted sime pale grey hairs on the lower parts. At home I managed to identify it as Andrena nitida. At the time I thought it would be a new species for me, but consulting my records I did see one at Whitlingham in 2016, when it became my 998th patch species!

WHITLINGHAM: A few spring migrants and a new moth

4th April 2018

On Wednesday afternoon we went on a brief family trip to Whitlingham. It was raining on our way there, and there was a heavy shower not long after. However, once the rain had passed we had a short period of sunshine, and that is when we got a glimpse of spring. Several Chiffchaffs started singing, and I heard my first Blackcap of the year. Cathy found another four birds, including a pair, all non singing but moving through the trees. Over the broad a Swallow skimmed low, but there was no sign of any House Martins, which would have been a new early record had I seen one.

It wasn't just the birds that were out. I searched a large patch of Coltsfoot that was covered by tiny beetles, and managed to find a single, rather bedraggled solitary bee, probably Andrena bicolor, but depsite being a common species it is quite difficult to ID with certainty (or it is to me at least!). The best sighting of the day was a moth that Cathy noticed fluttering in the undergrowth. It was definitely a carpet moth, but I thought it was too early for Common Carpet or Garden Carpet. Luckily I managed to get a wing shot, enough to confirm it as Water Carpet, a new species for me.

THORPE MARSH: Spring insects & migrants

1st May 2017

There had been a number of migrants seen passing through Whitlingham and Thorpe over the bank holiday weekend, so I was keen to check out both on the Monday before returning to work. I arrived at Thorpe Marsh and immediately noted some small hoverflies on a nearby buttercup. They had a slim waist, and I suspected that they were a species of Neoascia, a genus that I had not recorded before. A selection of photographs from different angles were enough to confirm later that they were Neoascia meticulosa.

I took the riverbank path first, an immediately noticed that Sedge Warblers were particularly in evidence (I heard at least 14 around the site on my visit, but that is an undercount). Turning the corner towards the viewpoint I heard my first Garden Warbler singing from some bramble scrub, although it was very skulking. Tow Common Sandpipers were making their way along the western edge of the broad, and a brood of Greylag goslings were also present. The Great-crested Grebe was still on its nest - two young were seen the following day.

After a quick chat with Mike, who was sat on one of the viewpoint benches, I carried on along the edge of the woods towards Bungalow Lane. Here I heard and saw my first Reed Warbler of the year. Walking down Bungalow Lane I stopped to admire a female Orange-tip nectaring on Garlic Mustard (one of its foodplants, although it tends to mostly use Cuckoo Flower here as the commoner species). A short burst of Grasshopper Warbler reeling came from Griffin Fen to the east, and shortly afterwards I heard more prolonged reeling from a bird on Thorpe Marsh itself. 

My final interesting sighting of the visit was an Andrena haemorrhoa bee sheltering at the edge of the path. Incidentally there was a poster up advertising pond-dipping, which will take place on the final Sunday of each month over the summer if anyone is interested. I think it was 10-12, but best check if you are travelling any distance.

I then headed round to Whitlingham, which was very busy, due in part to a swimming race at the western end. Heading down to the island there were lots of terns flying back and forth. I saw a total of eight Arctic Terns, with a least one Common Tern in the area too. I love watching terns swooping over the water, so spent a while watching them before heading home for lunch.

WHITLINGHAM: No new migrants, more insects

25th March 2017

There had been no sign of any early hirundines at Thorpe, so I decided to go round and try Whitlingham. I had a scan over the broad for Garganey, which were also notable by their absence, before heading up onto the picnic meadow. It is too early for the grassland plants to be out, so I made my way to a large area of Cherry Plum on the edge of the woodland. I got excellent views of two Commas, one of my favourite butterflies, as well as several species of bumblebee. There was also a Bee-fly, my third of the day, and two more solitary bees. The young Holm Oaks nearby were covered in mines of the micro-moth Ectoedemia heringella, a 'Notable B' species, although now common across Norfolk according to local leaf-mine guru Stewart Wright. The highlight of my visit was views of a Chiffchaff only a few feet away, feeding amongst the blossom.

 Dark-edged Bee-fly

 Comma

 Andrena sp.

Andrena sp?

Ectoedemia heringella leaf mines

 Despite seeing me, the Chiffchaff wasn't concerned enough to turn round...

Eventually I moved on and watched it from a different vantage point

THORPE MARSH: Bees, butterflies, bugs and a hoverfly

25th March 2017

I headed to Thorpe Marsh with high hopes for either an early spring migrant, passage wader or an interesting flyover species. As I approached the flood a Little Egret flew up and slowly off over the marsh. There was no sign of the Stonechats in their favoured bramble, although a male Reed Bunting had taken up residence. It was a warm day so I decided to scan the skies to the east to look for raptors, and this paid off with a pair of Sparrowhawks and a Common Buzzard.

Across the marsh there had been few plants in flower, with the exception of one clump of marsh marigolds. Reaching the drier areas there were lots of Lesser Celandines along the path side, with Peacock and Small Tortoiseshells my first patch butterflies of the year. I stopped at a patch of Ivy and saw two solitary bees, probably both Andrena but neither would settle for more than a few seconds so I only managed a less than sharp photo of each.

Two Snipe had flushed up from the broad edge, whilst three Lapwings and two Oystercatchers completed the wader tally. There was a large number of loafing gulls, a mixture of the four usual species, and these included an orange-ringed Herring Gull. This was presumably a bird ringed by the Thames ringing group, but I was unable to even partially read the code.

On my way back along the riverbank I stopped to check some more celandines, and was rewarded with my first new hoverfly species of the year. I recognised the smallish black shape as one of the Cheilosia, but as there are many of them I knew it needed to be looked at more closely. Fortunately I was able to catch the hoverfly without any problems and get a good look at its face. The combination of flattened orange antennae with black tips and hairless eyes identified it as Cheilosia pagana. Other insects nearby included a Pied Shieldbug and another Andrena sp.

NORWICH: Scabious Mining Bees

23rd July 2015

I decided to make the most of the warm weather and head to Earlham Cemetery after work. On the first Buddleia I came to I saw a large hoverfly, the distinctive Volucella inflata, a relative of the hornet-mimic Volucella zonaria that is being seen frequently at the moment. I photographed it and have now got confirmation that it is a new species for the cemetery list. This is no mean feat, as Norfolk's hoverfly recorder lives close by and has recorded quite a few species here!

During the sunny spells I checked some of the uncut areas of the cemetery for butterflies. Two Large Skippers were still flying, and of the smaller skippers that I checked, all four were Essex Skipper. A female Common Blue butterfly was also nice to see.

My main reason for visiting the cemetery was to look for Large Scabious Mining Bees (Andrena hattorfiana). This is quite a rare species, and in Norfolk is at the northern limits of its British range. There are several colonies on the coast, but the main stronghold is the Brecks, making the Norwich colony a bit of an outlier. After a bit of searching I found the main area of Field Scabious, and straight away saw the bees. They have pale yellow hairs on the back legs, but on almost all of the bees they had turned a lovely salmon-pink colour due to the scabious pollen. Despite there also being lots of Black Knapweed nearby, the Scabious Mining Bees kept strictly to the Scabious flowers. This was another interesting species that it was nice to see so close to the city centre.