NORWICH: Sweet Briar Marsh NWT/NNNS event

5th May 2024

Norfolk & Norwich Naturalists' Society have agreed to run a two-year recording project at the recently acquired Norfolk Wildlife Trust reserve at Sweet Briar Marshes. As this area is within comfortable walking distance of home I wanted to be involved, so I went to the site on 5th May to be shown around by the NWT team along with a group of other active wildlife recorders from NNNS. We had a good look round, the first of many hopefully. My wildlife highlight from Sweet Briar was probably a Weasel that run around the path shortly after we arrived, but I also found a new lacebug for me, Tachycixius pilosus. On the way home I cut across Mile Cross Marsh, the adjacent section of marsh owned by the council and found a new soldier beetle, Cantharis fusca, which was nice as I had only recently mentioned that I seem to find the same handful of species all of the time!

NORWICH: Sweet Briar Marshes cattle and mammal signs

2nd March 2024

The NWT reserve at Sweet Briar Marshes is yet to formally open to the public, but has been running events for the past year or so. I took my eldest daughter along to this one, which was to show young people the British White cattle that are now grazing the site with the aid of GPS collars. Unfortunately they had moved off onto the wetter parts of the site, so we did see them but always from a distance. There were plenty of tracks and signs to look for too, including Fox scat, deer footprints and mole hills.

NORWICH: Sweetbriar Marsh northern edge

25th February 2023

A rainy weekend, but to get out of the house for an hour or so I popped down to Sweetbriar Marshes. As the NWT land hasn't been opened to the public yet I made do with walking along the Marriott's Way edge, hearing a drone overhead presumably taking some pictures or doing some mapping. One patch of the bank up to the new land looked quite interesting, with a big patch of Bank Haircap moss and Bifid Crestwort. I also saw some Broom on sandy ground next to a path leading north away from the site. I had a look at it hoping for some psyllids, which I am now more actively searching for, not finding any but seeing the weevil Andrion regenstienense and the spider Mangora acalypha. I think the latter is a new 10km square record.

NORWICH: Sweetbriar Marsh invertebrates

Early August 2022

One day after work I called in at Sweetbriar Marshes, where Vanna Bartlett had recently seen Andrena denticulata on the Fleabane. I managed to find a few, along with Red Bartsia Bee and a few other bees. On the reedmace I found Chilacis typhae bugs, some half buried in the seedheads, and an adult Orchestes hortorum weevil as on an Oak leaf. The most interesting find was a small micro moth on Skullcap. Unfortunately there are two rather variable species, both rare, so whilst I think this one is likely to be Small Metal-mark, Prochoreutis myllerana, it would require a specimen to confirm it. There are only 11 Norfolk records since 1900 The only previous record from TG20 is from Charles Barrett, the early moth chronicler back in 1874.

NORWICH: Sweetbriar Marsh obscure insects

Late April 2022

I took an early morning walk around Marriot's Way as far as Sweetbriar Marshes, which was very pleasant. I saw quite a few interesting bits and bobs, including a psyllid on Hawthorn (Cacopsylla melanoneura or C. affinis), a new caddisfly Notidobia ciliaris and a leaf-curl gall on Bird Cherry made and occupied by Rhopalosiphum padi aphids.