NORTH NORFOLK: Cley NNNS walk

Mid-July 2019

As part of the NNNS 150th anniversary celebrations some joint walks with the NWT had been organised, mainly at Cley Marshes. These were all focused around a wildlife group that wasn't birds, so that if any birders wanted to develop their ID skills by looking at another group then they could. I had booked on one of these walks with Nick Owens, author of the Bees of Norfolk. The walk was intended to be looking at bees, hoverflies and grasshoppers, but with a knowledgeable group we ended up looking at all manner of invertebrates.

We saw a good range of invertebrates, including some quite scarce beetles, but the highlight for me was probably Flecked General, one of the large soldierflies that I'd never seen before. A handful of photos from the day are included below.

 Yellowtail moth caterpillar

 Coremacera marginata - a snail-killing fly

 Cystiphora sonchi galls on Sow-thistle

Flecked General

BROADLAND: NNNS 150th anniversary celebrations at How Hill

8th June 2019

Some readers will be aware that I am involved with the Norfolk & Norwich Naturalists's Society, and in 2019 the society is 150 years old. We have been organising various things as part of the celebrations, and one of them was a members day and meal at How Hill. It had been organised to coincide with the Swallowtail season (the Swallowtail butterfly being the emblem of the society), so it was rather frustrating when the day arrived and it was raining with 40mph gusty winds. Nevertheless we carried on and those that braved the weather had a good time.

Dan Hoare from the Broads Authority led a couple of walks around the nature reserve, and we managed to find a few bits of interest. An open area of marsh held a lovely display of Meadow Thistles, and further along Tony and I lent over from a bridge and checked some old Frogbit leaves, finding the very rare Frogbit Smut fungus on one of them. A windblown Norfolk Hawker and several Azure Damselflies were found as we walked around.

 Meadow Thistle

 Frogbit Smut

 Water Violet

After lunch we took a walk around the secret garden and I noticed a leaf mine in Sycamore. A closer look and I established that it was definitely a sawfly mine. It turned out to Heterarthrus cuneifrons, a new species to Norfolk, which was a nice end to the day.

NBIS/NNNS Recorders meeting

19th March 2018

On Monday night it was off to Whitlingham ski slope after work for the annual NBIS/NNNS recorders meeting. I arrived a bit before the start time, so went for a walk around Trowse Meadow and Church Common. It was too cold for any insects, but I did notice some tiny shiny black ovals in cracks in a tree bark. Suggestions from Twitter are that these are likely to be Aphids, although a type of mite has also been suggested so I'll need to go back and have a closer look at some point. I also found Phytomyza ranunculi mines in Lesser Celandine.

Despite it nominally being part of my patch, I'd not actually been to the ski slope before. The bar looks quite nice, so perhaps I should have a better look round at some point. This year there were some particularly interesting talks, listed below in case you want to research any of them:

• How land mammals are utlising technology to keep track of marine mammals - Kathy James, Sea watch foundation
• Will DNA make recorders redundant? - Tony Leech, NNNS
• Orchards East: Traditional orchard recording in Norfolk 2018/19 - Howard Jones, Orchards East
• Garden Wildlife Health: reporting disease online - Mike Toms, BTO
• Use of trail cameras in recording - Francis Farrow, NNNS
• Citizen science and technology - Dan Hoare, NNNS
• Nocmig: sound recording birds at night - Nick Moran, BTO

In particular I would recommend checking out the garden wildlife health website, which sounds like an excellent resource.

Introducing the NNNS 150 species project

A few readers might be aware that for the past few years I have been a council member of the Norfolk & Norwich Naturalists Society. In 2019 we will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of the formation of the society, which is a massive milestone (in comparison the Norfolk Wildlife Trust will shortly be 92). We will be doing a range of things to celebrate the 150 years, but one which we are currently planning is a book to be given to members (with some copies made available for sale to non-members) featuring 150 species with Norfolk links.

The 150 species will be a complete mixture of groups, some common and some rare, some spectacular and some overlooked, a few extinct and even one mythical! These have been suggested by our county recorders and whittled down from a larger list. Members can find the list (or 148 of them to be precise) at the back of Natterjack, which you should have just received or be receiving soon. Each species will have text written by a profiler, but we also want a photo, or if not then a drawing or painting of each. Clearly this will be easier for some than for others - we anticipate receiving lots of photos of Swallowtail butterflies, but has anyone photographed Large Dune Leafhopper (Doratura impudica)?

The challenge to anyone reading this is to supply a photo of any of the trickier species on the list - either already taken or by going out and finding them! I cannot guarantee that we will use all of the images, in an ideal world we will have several for each species and can pick from them. Ideally photos would be taken in Norfolk, but again being realistic there are some species that we will be happy to receive a photo from anywhere.

So, the subset of the 150 that I think are the trickiest (either in terms of rarity, location, difficulty in identifcation or obscurity) and therefore most in need of a photo are:

• Marram Grass Chelifer (Dactylochelifer latreillei) - a pseudoscorpion
• Ceutorhynchus querceti   - a weevil
• Bledius filipes - a rove beetle
• Diastictus vulneratus  - a dung beetle
• Agabus striolatus - a water beetle
• Psylliodes sophiae - a leaf beetle
• Dolichopus laticola - a fly
• Hybomitra muehlfeldi - a fly
• Breck Robberfly (Machimus arthriticus)
• Orange-horned Green Colonel (Odontomyia angulata) - a soliderfly
• Banded Golden Hoverfly (Callicera spinolae)
• Levels Duck-Hoverfly (Anasimyia interpuncta)
• Microdon devius - a hoverfly
• Sea Club-Rush Hoverfly (Lejops vittatus)
• Giant Oak Aphid  (Stomaphis quercus)
• Spiny Broom Aphid (Ctenocallis setosa)
• Thyme Aphid (Aphis serpylli)
• Large Dune Leafhopper (Doratura impudica)
• Metalimnus formosus - a leafhopper
• Platymetopius undatus - a leafhopper
• Unciger foetidus - a millipede

You might have noticed the reference to a mythical species in my introduction. That wasn't a joke - famous devil dog Black Shuck has made the list! You'll do well to get a photograph of him, but it's a good opportunity for someone living in north Norfolk to take their big black dog out one night for a photoshoot, or perhaps for an artistic reader to come up with something?!

So what to do if you do have a photo of one of these species that you are happy for the NNNS to use for this project? (I should say at this point that your name will be credited with the image but we cannot offer payment) It might be that you have already been approached by one of the species profilers asking for pictures, in which case please send to them as requested. If you are an NNNS member then contact details for Hans Watson who is collating the pictures are at the bottom of the Natterjack article. If neither of these apply then please send me an email (whitlinghambirds 'at' yahoo.co.uk) and I will pass them on.

Thanks to anyone who can help, and keep an eye on the blog at the start of 2019 when the book will be released and more celebratory activities will be announced.

NORTH NORFOLK: Wildlfowers revealed - heathland

31st July 2017

At the weekend the NNNS and Norfolk Flora Group held another one of their 'Wildflowers Revealed' meetings, this time looking at heathland species. I find these events very handy, as experts are on hand to point out the differences between similar species in the field, which makes the information stick in my mind more than reading about them in books. Despite having seen around 700 flowering plant species, most of them in Norfolk, there are always a few new ones too, particularly grasses which I struggle with. Being a joint NNNS meeting there are also people with wider interests to look at other groups too.

About 25 people met at the start of the walk at Marsham Heath, and after an introduction about the status of heathland and some of the species we were likely to see we headed off through a small area of woodland. We stopped to compare two of the smaller willowherb species (and Ian & I looked at a greenish-grey Russula sp) before heading through a gap onto the heathland. We were shown the differences between Western Gorse and Common Gorse (many people don't realised Norfolk has three species of Gorse), and Bob Ellis showed us an invasive Australian moss, Campylopus introflexus.

 Western Gorse

 Campylopus introflexus

My first new flowering plants of the day were predictably sedges - Pill Sedge and Green-ribbed Sedge, followed by Wood Small-reed. We were able to compare Small Cudweed and Marsh Cudweed, before Robert Maidstone showed us a gall he had found on Gorse. It turned out that it was formed by Weevils, which is a bit unusual, and the fact that Robert hadn't seen it before suggested it was uncommon. When Tim mentioned it to the county beetle recorder it emerged that the weevil responsible (Stenopterapion scutellare) had not been seen in the county in recent times, so the 'beetle people' (Norfolk currently has a good proportion of the country's beetle experts) will be visiting to look for adult weevils.

As we carried on I spotted a couple of Heath Assassin Bugs and Tim found another small plant bug, before Ian found some strands of Dodder on the nearby heather. This is an interesting parasitic plant that coats heather (and sometimes gorse) with red strands, with small clumps of pale pink flowers. Heath-grass was an underwhelming new species.

We left the heathland for a while and walked through an area of woodland. Here we stopped to admire two Skullcap Dapperlings (Leucocoprinus brebisonii), and whilst doing that the rest of the group had gone out of sight. This was a bit surprising, usually naturalists groups move incredibly slowly but this time the rest of them were off like a speeding bullet. We caught up with them having lunch under a large Oak.

A few other interesting species were seen in this area. I found a small hoverfly that Tim was later able to identify as Paragus haemorrhous, whilst Heather Bees (Colletes succinctus) frutstratingly avoided the camera. A Roesel's Bush-cricket was caught, and nearby I found a Bog Bush-cricket, the first I've seen for many years.

After lunch (and with some of the party having left) we had a quick look in the wooded area, seeing Tutsan and Golden Scaly Male Fern (i.e. D. affinis s.s.) before heading onto neighbouring Cawston Heath. Cathy was a bit concerned about me doing this part of the walk do to the high murder rate* but we didn't meet anyone else whilst here. I was wondering what all of the round broken pottery was in aid of when I was told that one day a month clay pigeon shooting goes on over the heath. Our main quarry here was Petty Whin, a rare plant and one that I don't remember seeing before, although I do have an undated and unlabelled record of it from my less conscientious younger days. We found it, but only leaves and seedpods, so again not too spectacular looking!

Finally we headed over to the reversion field, an old arable field that is being converted to heathland. Narrow-leaved Hawkweed and Hairy St John's Wort were seen here, along with Blue Fleabane and Eyebright. Mike found a very large Parasol and I found a Dor Beetle. A Beautiful Yellow Undering moth flew past, but flew off before I could photograph it. On the way back to the cars Mat Grass was my final new species of the day, whilst a couple of Stonechats were good to see.

Thanks to Bob, Bob and Jo for organising the meeting.

* The main town in Midsummer Murders is Causton (pronounced the same as Cawston) and the programme is famed for the high murder toll. It hasn't been as good since John Nettles left though.

NORTH NORFOLK: Burnham Overy flora & fauna

7th August 2016

On Sunday I joined a group of botanists at Burnham Overy for a 'Wildflowers Revealed' walk. These sessions, of which there are usually one or two a year, are an opportunity for naturalists with an interest in plants to accompany experienced members of the Norfolk Flora Group to survey a particular habitat. The Flora Group are a well-oiled recording machine, with GPS units for checking grid references, tables of previously recorded species and years of experience, but these combined sessions tend to strike a good balance between recording, seeing scarce plants and helping less experienced botanists to learn how to separate similar species.

Upon arrival at Burnham Overy the tide was at its highest, which was fortunate because it was a big tide and had flooded most of the car park. Having parked up and been treated to some almond puddings made by Jo, we headed off along the sea wall towards the dunes. As well as the botanists we were also firtunate to have Sarah, Holkham's conservation manager, accompanying us and she told us a bit about the site as we went along. The landward half of the path was coloured pink and yellow by a mixture of Common Mallow and Black Mustard, with lots of Sea Beet adding greenery. As we neared the dunes the mallow and mustard were replaced by large areas of Bristly Oxtongue and Creeping Thistle. Other plants pointed out along the sea wall included Sea Wormwood, Upright Hedge Parsley and Tall Melilot.

At the start of the dunes we looked at a few plants that I was familiar with like Common Centaury, Lady's Bedstraw and Common Storksbill. A bit further along we saw Wild Cotoneaster, which was a new one for me. We also had a good look at a sweet pea, although my photos came out blurry due to the strong wind. It was identified as Lathyrus heterophyllus, sometimes called Norfolk Everlasting Pea. Mike made a strong case for not using this name, as it is a non-native species with no real connection with Norfolk other than first being recorded here as an introduction. Whilst looking at the pea I spotted a small Natterjack Toad heading for the vegetation - my first 'adult' having only seen large tadpoles before.

Continuing across the dunes we stopped to look at some dainty Fairy Flax before heading down into some damper dune slacks. I stopped to watch a Wall butterfly, and retraced my steps to watch a Hummingbird Hawk Moth that some of the group had found. A Grayling butterfly nearby was also of interest. Walking eastwards there was lots of Sea Spurge, some seedheads of Marsh Helleborine, Distant Sedge (Carex distans) and Sand Cats-tail (Phleum arenarium). The latter two were unsurprisngly new species for me as I know very little about sedges and grasses. Some flowering Sea Holly was nice to see, and we walked through a swathe of flowering Rosebay Willowherb before stopping for lunch.

 Fairy Flax

 Sea Holly

 Hummingbird Hawk Moth

Our lunch spot, a sheltered area on the edge of the pines proved to be very good for insects. Before sitting down I found my first Tachina grossa, a large black tachinid fly. Whilst eating we were surrounded by Ruddy Darters, and in a sunny area of bramble we could see Common Blue, Small Copper and Brown Argus butterflies. At least one Dark Green Fritillary flew past too. After lunch we continued along the dune/pine interface, finding some Blue Fleabane. We then headed into the woods to see the Creeping Lady's Tresses, which have had a good year here. I hadn't seen this species since I was in my teens and regular at Holt CP, so it was good to get reacquainted with it.

 Blue Fleabane

 Creeping Lady's Tresses

We walked south through the pines to join up with the main path, where Mary pointed out pale patches of White Cushion Moss (Leucopbryum glaucum). Three Red Longhorn Beetles were observed on a fallen log. Walking back towards the dunes we stopped at a sunny glade, where Hemp Agrimony was attracting lots of insects. A fritillary flew past, and it turned out to be Silver-washed, a recent arrival at Holkham. Whilst waiting in case it settled nearby, I noticed a Purple Hairstreak fly down and briefly settle in front of us.

Emerging back out onto the dunes we had a quick and unsuccessful look for Ant-lion pits, before heading westwards to look for Jersey Cudweed, a rare species found at only two sites in Norfolk. We found several flowering spikes on a private part of reserve, and also saw Strawberry Clover and Creeping Willow nearby. On our way back we saw some gone-over Autumn Gentians, unusual for the site, and also the unusual 'string of sausages' lichen Usnea articulata.

 Jersey Cudweed

 Strawberry Clover

 Usnea articulata

Thanks to Sarah for guiding us, and to the members of the Norfolk Flora Group and NNNS for their expertise.