CENTRAL NORFOLK: Gressenhall museum & farm

Early June 2023

I'd not visited the Museum of Rural Life at Gressenhall since I was a child, so a visit seemed long overdue. There was something of interest for everyone, taking in the museum, old workhouse, farm and some of the rewilded land along the river. I was particularly keen to have a look around the orchard, but was a bit underwhelmed at how big it was! I failed to find my main target species, the psyllid Cacopsylla mali that feeds on apple, but did find a Plum  Longhorn beetle and some very nice barkflies, Mesopsocus sp (probably M. immunis).

Along the river I noticed some beetles egg-laying on the lily pads, making them Galerucella nymphaea (there are similar looking ones that feed on other plants). The scarcest sighting of the visit was probably a weevil associated with Bird Cherry, Furcipus rectirostris. Back in the main grounds I just had time to check some Eleagnus and found Cacopsylla fulguralis, new to west Norfolk.

NORTH NORFOLK: A day out in Wells

Early June 2022

Having barely been to the coast in the past few years, I was back for the second time in a week, this time at Wells. I could probably spend several happy days (at least!) recording wildlife amongst all of the different habitats here, but had to make due with a walk up and down the quayside and the nearest part of the dune system. Still plenty of time for some some interesting finds, including some species new to me. The highlight though was a Broad-bordered Bee Hawk-moth found nectaring on Viper's Bugloss. I've seen one before, but they are such amazing moths.

Attulus saltator - a tiny and well camouflaged jumping spider, found amongst Marram whilst looking unsuccessfully for Marram Pseudoscorpions.

Broad-bordered Bee Hawk Moth

Clanoptilus barnevillei - a rare relative of the Malachite Beetle

Coccidula rufa, an inconspicuous ladybird

Cuneopalpus cyanops, a barkfly found on Pine

Gibbaranea gibbosa, a rather large and unusually shaped spider, found on pine

Marram Thatcher, Demetrias monostigma, a small dune-specialist ground beetle

Pine Jelly Fungus, Exidia saccharina

Podagrica fuscicornis - one of two similar flea beetles found on Mallow sp in coastal habitats. They can be separated by leg colour.

Sea Lavender rust fungus

WHITLINGHAM: Woodland fungi and selected invertebrates

Late October 2021

I took the opportunity to make a couple of short visits to Whitlingham near the end of the month. They were unremarkable in terms of birds (I still failed to see or hear the Ring-necked Parakeet that periodically visits from Thorpe St Andrew, but bizarrely did find a Guineafowl feather in the main car park!) but saw lots of fungi and a few invertebrates. Some pictures from the first visit below: Fleecy Shield (Pluteus hispidulus), Velvet Shield (Pluteus umbrosus), Shaggy Scalycap (Pholiota squarrosa) and a new barkfly for me, Stenopsocus immaculatus.

On my second visit of the week it was raining so I focused my attentions on the woods. I checked out the fallen leaves under a small patch of Aspens in the hope of finding the Ectoedemia that mines the leaves, without success. I did however find the equivalent species from Hybrid Black Poplar leaves, Ectoedemia hannerovella, which was new to TG20. Flame Shield (Pluteus aurantiorugosus) was a new site shield fungus for me (although there are a couple of previous records here) and I also saw a new springtail, the bristly Orchesella villosa.

NORTH NORFOLK: Sheringham Park - an insect filled family trip out

Early June 2020

Whilst I had been out locally a few times, we were considering where and when to go out as a family (it can be difficult to make sure a 2 year old socially distances). We settled on Sheringham Park, the recently reopened NT property, partly because we had planned to visit this spring anyway, but also because the National Trust were restricting the numbers of people, so we knew it wouldn't be too busy. 

It was a slightly drizzly day, but we had a good walk through the woods, starting at the bower where a female Blackcap was bathing in the pond and nearby Nuthatch and Firecrest called. It was actually a very productive trip for insects, with a handful of new species for me. Longhorn Beetles are one of my favoured groups, so the pick of them would probably be the Black-clouded Longhorn Beetle (agg) found by Cathy. It has fairly recently been discovered that there are two very similar species, hence the need to record it as an aggregate. Pictures of this, and the other new species are below. We also saw some impressive bracket fungi, Dryad's Saddle and Sulphur Polypore, and even caught a glimpse of the sea from one of the viewpoints.

 Dioctria linearis - a robberfly with pale legs

 Graphopsocus cruciatus - a distinctively patterned barklouse

 Oak Marble (Lobesia reliquana)

 Black-clouded Longhorn Beetle agg.

 Pediacus dermestioides - a flattened beetle usually found underneath bark

 Cottony Camellia Scale (Pulvinaria floccifera)

Tenthredopsis nassata (a sawfly)