6th June 2024
I follow several people on social media who have an interest in plant fungi, and one of them had found a downy mildew on hops recently called Pseudoperonospora humuli. I knew there was a big patch of hops in Waterloo Park, so called in and found it there. It looks rather unremarkable in the field, but interesting under the microscope!
Late May 2024
I had set aside a day at the end of the month to go looking for hoverflies, but unfortunately it was raining so this would have been a waste of time. Instead I decided to go to Hockering Woods, a privately owned SSSI ancient woodland that is opened up by the owners over the summer. It is not the easiest place to visit - entrance is via a single gate and the road is used by lorries based nearby so walking from elsewhere is not really an option. There is parking for a couple of cars nearby, and the last time I visited the site was locked despite being within the published opening days. Anyway this time it was open and I managed to park at the second time of trying.
There was plenty to find alongside the paths by scanning the wet vegetation. In particular I was delighted to find my first Four-spotted Carrion Beetle (Dendroxena quadrimaculata) and I found a fly new to Norfolk, Liriomyza pascuum causing leaf mines on Wood Spurge. There were quite a few moths, including a large number of Small Barred Longhorn Moth (Adela croesella), and I also found a Buff-tip.
Late May 2024
A few species of note from my walks around Norwich. On my way home one day I checked a large hybrid Black Poplar and found occupied leaf mines of the sawfly Fenusella hortulana, which appears to be new to Norfolk. In Train Wood I saw the bug Closterotomus trivialis. I thought I had seen this before, but I can't find a record of it so it is presumably a new one for me. Whilst taking my youngest daughter to a local park I found a smut fungus called Ustilago bullata on Bromus hordaceus. It seemed to be new to Norfolk, but I have since been told there are a couple of old records under a different name that hadn't made it into the county database.
18th May 2024
An enjoyable visit to the nature reserve at Dickleburgh Moor with the Norfolk Fungus Study Group, seeing a good mixture of insects and fungi. Invertebrate highlights included the hoverfly Chrysotoxum cautum, the weevil Dorytomus hirtipennis and a psyllid new to Norfolk, Aphalara maculipennis, whilst in terms of fungi the rust Puccinia conii on Hemlock and Woolly Woodwart were both new for me.
11th May 2024
A case of what might have been, with Black Terns present at Colney GPs and both Black and Arctic Terns at Rockland, but not at Whitlingham. A flock of 21 terns did drop in, but after lots of scanning I concluded that they were all Common Terns. I heard Reed Warbler, Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler but not Sedge Warbler or Whitethroat. One brood of Grey Herons had fledged, whilst there were more Cormorants on nests than on my April visit. A Muntjac ran across the field south of Whitlingham Lane, and I found a newly emerged Hairy Dragonfly.
Mid May 2024
Until this year I had only seen three snakeflies, two that I had confirmed as Xanthostigma xanthostigma and one unidentified one. This spring I noticed two together and knowing which bits to look at caught one to photograph. I was delighted to find that it was a different species to my previous sightings (there are four UK snakefly species). This one was Phaeostigma notata, and there seemed to have been a nationwide emergence as there were quite a few other posts about them on social media a few days either side of my find.
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!
Mid April 2024
Over Easter, Adam & I went for a walk at Waxham. There was little in the way of migrant birds, although a random Brent Goose standing in a field, a couple of Swallows and my first singing Willow Warblers of the year were of note. Walking back along the beach we got good views of the seals and I saw my first Sea Gooseberry in many years. On the beach I noticed a groundbug that turned out to be Peritrechus geniculatus, a new one for me. Crossing back a sunny wooden set of steps turned out to be brilliant for insects, including Plane Tree Bug and the beetle Thanatophilus sinuatus. A Common Lizard was basking on one of the bits of fencing and allowed me to take my best ever photos of the species.
7th April 2024
Highlight of this visit to Whitlingham was a very early Cuckoo. It wasn't calling, but I happened to see it in one of the willows on the main island. Once I was happy that I wasn't seeing things I put out news on the Norwich birding Whatsapp group, as it would have been the earliest ever site record. It then transpired that it had actually been first seen (and heard calling) the previous day, but the finder hadn't mentioned the site name! It was heard calling by several people in the next few days afterwards too. For the second year Cormorants are again breeding in the trees on the island.
30th March 2024
Norfolk lichen recorder Rob Yaxley had organised a few informal meet-ups to survey churchyard lichens, and I managed to attend one at Shotesham, a village a few miles south of Norwich. We looked at three churches (two 'proper' ones and a ruin) and as expected racked up a good lichen list. The presence of quite a few experienced naturalists meant that we also turned up various other species across a wide range of groups. The pictures below are a small selection of highlights, but things that spring to mind include a lichenicolous fungus that appears to be new to Norfolk (Spiloma auratum), my long-awaited first Bristly Millipedes, the inconspicuous ladybird Rhyzobius litura, Ashy Mining Bee and smut fungi on aconite and sweet violet and the pseudoscorpion Chthonius isochneles.
19th March 2024
I seldom get down to Whitlingham in the evenings, but on this occasion I had been invited to a celebration evening in the visitor barn to officially open the new cafe and 'changing places' toilet facility. I headed down after work and was treated to some lovely views of a Barn Owl quartering the field south of Whitlingham Lane. It was then into the barn to meet some of the volunteers that help run the CP, listen to a few speeches and sample some canapes. The cafe and decour both looked very impressive, and it was nice to have been invited to have a look.
9th March 2024
Some nice weather for the March WeBS count and I had a good chat with Ed Mackrill part way round. A brief bit of Chiffchaff song from the wood near the pumphouse was my first singing one of the year and on the island two pairs of Cormorants were on nests. There were still good numbers of Tufted Duck, plus a drake Goldeneye and two Pochard. A Reed Bunting called from near the Little Broad and there was still a small flock of Redpolls in the area. The only non-avian species of note was 'Bonfire Moss' Funaria hygrometrica growing on an old burnt area. This is a common species and has been recorded here by the Norfolk & Suffolk Bryological Group, but was a new one for me apparently.
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.
11th Feb 2024
The second WeBS count of the year. The site was still flooded in multiple places, less so than in January but the section of path near the pump house tested my wellies, a Christmas present having had my previous ones for over 20 years. Fortunately there was no leaks, and I walked slowly enough to not slop any water over the tops either. Duck numbers have started to drop, I didn't see any Shoveler at all on the Great Broad although there were a couple visible over the river on St Andrews Broad. There were 188 Tufted Duck and 17 Pochard, plus two Great White Egrets (one on the Little Broad, one on the Great Broad). My first singing Reed Bunting of the year was singing from the river edge, and I got good views of the redpoll flock near the gas works, eventally picking out a Mealy Redpoll amongst them.
I checked last years Grey Heron nests - one was occupied, one was empty and one had been taken over by an Egyptian Goose! In fact there might be two or even three Grey Heron nests close together, it was difficult to see if there were just three adults in close proximity of if they were all on nests.
Before leaving I checked out a bracket fungus growing on a cut wooden post near the visitor barn, that had first been reported to me before Christmas. I'm still not completely sure what it is, but Brownflesh Bracket has been suggested and seems like a reasonable bet.
