WHITLINGHAM: Last visit of the year

Late December 2022

My last patch visit of the year. The single remaining Scaup was apparently present in the morning, but I couldn't see it in the afternoon. The bird highlight was therefore the pink-billed Tufted Duck that has been present recently. I walked along the river as far as Whitlingham Marsh, seeing a Kingfisher shoot across the river. The fungal highlight was Henningsomyces candidus on an old log, and I also noticed an interesting grey and pink mite. And that, having finally caught up, was 2022. Lets see what 2023 brings...

NORWICH: Earlham cemetery beetles

Late December 2022

It had been a while since I'd visited Earlham Cemetery, so I called in on the way to Whitlingham for a quick look around. I failed to find any barkflies, which was the main thing I was looking for, but I did find some beetles including one of the inconspicuous ladybirds, Rhyzobius lophanthae, and a new species for me the tiny Cartodere bifasciata.

THORPE MARSHES: Gull rings and birds of prey

Mid December 2022

Whilst the rest of the family were in the city I popped to Thorpe for an hour or so. I started at the river green to look for ringed Black-headed Gulls. Rather disappointingly I didn't see any foreign ringed birds (in previous years two yellow ringed Polish birds have been easy to see here plus occasional others) but I did see at least six locally ringed birds, successfully reading the codes of four of them (remember you can report UEA ringed gulls here for an instant life history: Seen one of our birds? – Waterbird Colour-marking Group (waterbirdcolourmarking.org))

I then had a quick look around Thorpe Marshes. A Buzzard flew in and landed in a dead tree, whilst further round I also got good views of a Kestrel perched up along the edge of the path. A Green Woodpecker also flew onto a nearby tree, although unfortunately a walker came past shortly afterwards and it flew off towards the railway line.

WHITLINGHAM: December WeBS count

11th December 2022

I delayed going to Whitlingham for the final WeBS count of the year because of the early morning fog, but by the time I did get to Whitlingham this had gone and it was a bright but cold day. Whilst the cold conditions hadn't brought anything new in, there was a decent range of ducks, including:

• Scaup 2
• Goldeneye 3
• Pochard 3
• Shoveler 4
• Tufted Duck 185
• Gadwall 112
• Teal 13
• Mallard 74
• Coot 140

WHITLINGHAM: Harvestmen and fungi

Late November 2022

Earlier in the month Vanna Bartlett had found some interesting harvestmen at Whitlingham, and she kindly offered to help me look for them. It was raining steadily as I picked her and Jeremy up, but by the end of our visit the rain had almost stopped. Despite the damp conditions we did see fout species of harvestman, including two that were new for me - Oligolophus tridens and Lophopilio palpinalis. We saw a nice selection of fungi too, including Goldleaf Shield and Olive Salver (Catinella olivacea). Striped Millipede was another new one for me.

Oligolophus tridens 

Lophopilio palpinalis

Striped Millipede

Pluteus romelii

Catinella olivacea

Wrinkled Peach

WHITLINGHAM: Scoter and Scaup

Mid November 2022

A brief visit to Whitlingham, where the Slavonian Grebe was once again absent (this time not being seen again) but there was consolation in the form of a Common Scoter and two Scaup, both of which had been found earlier in the week. Three Goldeneye were also present.

EAST NORFOLK: Great Yarmouth dune fungi

19th November 2022

The penultimate Norfolk Fungus Study Group foray was at Great Yarmouth North Denes, and upon arrival I soon regretted not bringing my gloves as there was a biting cold wind. Our initial searches found quite a bit of fungi but mostly of a handful of species, but as we spread out there were quite a few interesting things. My highlight was all set to be Dune Cup, a scarce cup fungus usually only found in early winter along the seaward side of young Marram dunes, and previously the only Norfolk records were the stretch of coast between Holme and Wells. That was usurped somewhat by Andy Beaumont's excellent find of Feather Stalkball growing on decomposing Razorbill feathers. I had never heard of it before, but was aware of its close relative the Horn Stalkball, which grows on the horns of old sheep skulls in the north. Close views of Red-throated Diver and Med Gull were also appreciated given the lack of time I spend at the coast.

Deconica pratensis

Octospora rutlians

Bryoscyphus dicrani

Sphaerobolus stellatus

Dune Cup

Horn Stalkball

Field Bird's-nest

Rutstroemia maritima

WHITLINGHAM: November count Goosander

12th November 2022

The November WeBS count should have been well timed to record the Slavonian Grebe, but there was no sign of it (it appeared again sporadically until the next weekend). The highlight therefore was a female Goosander, whilst a Skylark flying over was also of note. Whilst chatting to Anne Crotty we noticed two Willow Emerald damselflies, almost certainly my latest record of this species. 

NORWICH: Hospital fungi and misc observations

Early November 2022

The silver lining to several hospital visits at the start of the month was noticing quite a bit of fungi between the wards and the car parks, and also Henbit Dead-nettle, which was apparently a new species for me. The most frustrating of the fungi were some cracked Paxillus species associated with Oak and Hornbeam. By rights these should not be Paxillus involutus, which is apparently found in woodland, usually with birch, but I was unable to get these to fit any of the alternative species.

Bearded Milkcap

Shaggy Inkcap

Ectoedemia occultella on birch

Henbit Dead-nettle

Paxillus sp.

NORTH-WEST NORFOLK: Thornham NWT Bioblitz

Early November 2022 

This year the NWT and partners have run several bioblitzes in coastal communities. I'd not managed to attend the earlier ones, but did get to one at Thornham. It ran 10-3, so I spent a few hours wandering the parish before looking around a field that is going to be rewilded. The time of year and the weather (it was raining for most of the morning) meant there weren't many insects about, but I managed to record about 150 species (including everything, so birds, plants, galls etc), contributing to a group total of 380 species which I think was very respectable.

Highlights included Conifer Mazegill (Gloeophyllum sepiarum), Orange Cup (Melastiza cornubiensis), a leaf mine in Sea Aster (Calycomyza humeralis), leaf mine of the sawfly Heterarthrus vagans on Alder and the leaf mine of the moth Stigmella viscerella on Elm.

WHITLINGHAM: Trowse Whooper Swans

Early November 2022

There was an unexpected patch tick for me when two Whooper Swans spent the day on the flooded Trowse Meadow, visible from Whitlingham Lane. I'd not seen either wild swan at Whitlingham before, although there was a Bewick's Swan on the river near Bishopgate for a while a few years back and I've seen a couple of flocks over the south of the city too.

NORTH NORFOLK: Bayfield sculpture trail

Late October 2022

If you visit Natural Surroundings from the direction of Holt, you will be familiar with the Bayfield Estate on the right hand side of the road. There is a permissive footpath along one edge of the lake, but the other side with the hall and a ruined church is private. During October the grounds had been opened up for a sculpture trail, so we decided to go and have a look. The hall drive way had some rather unforgiving speedbumps (and nowhere to pull off the road to let cars coming towards you past!) but we eventually made our way up to the hall and picked up a trail map. The weather was drizzly, but not too bad. As is often the case the sculptures appealed to a wide range of tastes, which is the polite way of saying some of it looked really good and must have taken ages, whilst some of it was less impressive. There were also a few nice bits of permanent art, including something that looked like a Harpy Eagle or something similar.