WHITLINGHAM: Bat workshop & woundwort shieldbugs

17th May 2017

On Wednesday evening I attended a 'using your ears' bat workshop at Whitlingham. This session, organised by Norwich Bat Group and delivered by Lisa Worledge of the Bat Conservation Trust was aimed at helping people using heterodyne bat detectors to identify bat calls, not just based on the call frequency, but also on things like rhythm and repetition. This proved to be a very useful session, using a mixture of bat calls recorded from magenta detectors, along with simulated calls made up of clicks and artificial notes. Afterwards we did go for a quick walk, but it was raining steadily so we gave up after a short while. I have been on quite a few bat walks before, but I found the session very useful, particularly as one of the species we looked at was Serotine, which I am yet to see.

Before the session started I had a quick look over the broad and in the vegetation nearby, seeing a Common Blue Damselfly and several mating pairs of Woundwort Shieldbugs.

WHITLINGHAM: May WeBS count and flies

14th May 2017

After Saturday's bird race a lay in was in order, but I knew that at some point I had to go to Whitlingham to get the May WeBS count done. In the end I headed down in the evening, which was well timed as despite the warm weather it was relatively quiet as I made my way around.

The Little Broad was quiet, but the Mute Swan pair had four young cygnets, my first of the year here. There were only three broods of Greylags visible on the Great Broad, including one fairly recently hatched one, but perhaps the others were out of sight on the island. I got my first view of the new Swift tower in the barn car park. It's unlikely that it will attract any Swifts in its first year, but please let me know if you see any using it.

Further along the broad I saw a large duck flying over, and a quick check revealed it was a Shelduck, my second record of this species here this year. There was little else of note as I made my way to look across to Thorpe with the exception of some Swifts flying high over the broad. Duck numbers had decreased sharply from my last count, a single Gadwall and two Tufted Duck were the only additions to the resident Mallard. Finishing my count from the conservation area I spotted a Green Sandpiper, which flew onto the edge of the main island.

As I was leaving I had a quick look at some sunny Horse Chestnut leaves. I have been keeping an eye out for Brachyopa hoverflies, which are unusual in that they look more like other fly families than typical hoverflies and are associated with sap runs in trees. I saw a fly that superficially had the right features, an orange abdomen and a grey thorax, but a closer look showed that it wasn't a Brachyopa. A second fly nearby looked distinctive, but I've not identified it yet either.

EAST ANGLIA: Virtual Bird Race

13th May 2017

As mentioned in a previous post, this year there was a twist to our annual May bird race, namely that we would be competing against other teams, so it was actually a race. As the teams were not limited to staying in Norfolk (indeed there was a finishline at Halesworth in Suffolk), we decided to shed our self-imposed staying in Norfolk rule. Some other teams had spent the past week carrying out recces to possible locations and organising 'spotters', but our work commitments restricted us to a couple of messages about the route we would take on Facebook. What follows is a description of the highs and lows of our day - it's going to be a long post so perhaps make yourself a drink.

We started off at 1am, much earlier than normal. The reason for this was that we had decided to head to the Nene Washes in Cambridgeshire, aiming to hear Corncrake. This is a species that I'd not seen or heard in the wild before, and as the birds here are descendents from a relatively recent reintroduction scheme, there is a reasonable arguement for saying I still haven't. As it is I like to see a bird before adding it to my life list, so these hae gone onto an appendix, rendering the arguement null and void, however importantly Ian Dearing (one of the organisers of Bird Race Challenge) had confirmed prior to the event that for bird race purposes they were countable.

There was little to see on the journey across Norfolk, a Fox near King's Lynn being the only sighting of note. That all changed as we approached the Nene Washes, when we spotted a Badger at the side of a minor road. Further along we saw two more, including one that trotted sheep-like along the road in front of the car before darting off into the hedge. This was only my third sighting of live Badgers, so was particularly pleasing. Another Fox was also seen nearby. Gary and Alysia in the front of the car saw a Tawny Owl fly up into a tree, but Adam and I in the back missed it. Bird race rules state that all members of a team must see a species for it to count, so it stayed off for now.

Our Tawny Owl stop did result in the first two birds of the day being added to our list. Some Woodpigeons noisily left a tree, and a Little Grebe called from nearby. Carrying on down the road we parked up and set off along a footpath that runs along a large expanse of washland. A Bittern boomed loudly, which is always a pleasing sound - we heard or saw at least four birds during the day. The wetland warblers were in good song, Cetti's and Reed were numerous, whilst Sedge and Grasshopper were also heard. Various other common species called, but finally we heard the 'crex crex' call of Crex crex - the Corncrake. Our main target heard, and a new experience for Alysia and I.

Corncrake was our 17th bird of the day, the 18th was a Barn Owl, and we were endebted to Gary for noticing our 19th bird, the 'whip whip' song of a Spotted Crake! We had two excellent birds on the list, plus things like Bittern and Grasshopper Warbler that can be tricky, but the time it would tkae to get to our first Breckland stop was a slight concern, and as a result we decided against a planned search for calling Long-eared Owls and headed straight for Santon Downham. As we passed Crimplesham I remarked it would be nice to have a bird on the list from here, perhaps a Robin or Blackbird would be singing? We slowed down, a Blackbird was singing from a telegraph pole. Predictive birding wins again. A Rook at Wereham took us to 21.

It was already light when we arrived at Santon, but then we were a fortnight later than our usual visits. Common woodland birds were added at a constant rate, Treecreeper and Cuckoo the best of the birds heard from the roadside. At the bridge Adam pointed out a Kingfisher, another decent bird to see early on. This is now a reliable sight for Mandarin, but there was a bonus in the form of a female with three ducklings. Garden Warbler and Lesser Redpoll were added to the list, but only Gary saw a Water Rail skulking in a dyke, so it joined Tawny Owl on the nearly list.

To dark and fast to get them in focus!

Last year we got great views of Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, but this year we were out of luck, despite spreading out along the path to focus on a section of woodland each. By this point we had seen most of the other likely woodland species (Nuthatch, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Marsh Tit), so eventually we gave up and headed back along the path, seeing Grey Wagtail on the way. Back at the bridge we met Chris, who pointed out two Otters in the river and told us about his sightings nearby. At this point we also bumped into the main Bird Race Challenge team, who seemed very cheery for that early in the morning! After brief introductions we each headed in opposite directions.

Next up we checked a couple of nearby clearings, seeing Woodlark and Tree Pipit, the latter saving us a trip to our usual site for them. It was then on to Lynford, where we first checked out Lynford Water, before heading into the arboretum. One of the first birds we saw was a Spotted Flycatcher, which then perched up with a second bird. We were pleased to see these declining birds, although as it turned out there were several around the county during the day. Some Crossbills and a singing Firecrest meant we reached 71 species by 08:00.

We added a few more birds on some nearby farmland, and also watched four Brown Hares chasing each other around, before heading for a quick look for Golden Pheasants. It was always going to be a long shot and so it proved, although I did get a chance for a quick look for insects, finding a Hornet.

After a short debate, we decided to go to Great Livermere to look for a Black-necked Grebe seen there recently. Unfortunately none of us had been before so we weren't quite sure where to view from. We did pick up Tree Sparrow and Grey Partridge nearby, and a white Peahen that we hoped would be added in the event of a tiebreak. We stopped at Great Livermere church, where thanks mainly down to luck we found a path down to the lake.  We added some gulls amongst other things, but no sign of the grebe. On the way back I remarked that the scrub looked good for Lesser Whitethroat, and before we exited the field Gary found one.

From here we headed to a bridge over the A11 where a White Stork was present in a nearby field. At least that was what we had been told, but we couldn't see it, and took to staring at a white and black thing (probably some rubbish), until another birder showed us a photo he had just taken of the Stork. It turns out it was visible, but only from a short stretch of path just at the edge of the bridge. We noticed a road close behind the Stork, but upon investigation it appeared to be a private Elvedon Estate track so we didn't get any closer views.

Next stop was Lakenheath Fen, where after availing ourselves of the facilities we went up to the washland viewpoint. A Glossy Ibis stood in the middle of the pool, Common Terns flew past and two Black-winged Stilts wandered about to our right. A Barn Owl flew past (we had heard one previously but nice to see nonetheless) and two Hobbies were visible in the distance.

By now we were a bit behind time, so headed off to Welney. Yellow Wagtail and Kestrel were seen on route (near Shippea Hill), the latter bringing up our 100 species at 11:35. In past years we have racked up a good number of additions at Welney, but this year we didn't. There was no sign of any Little Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper or Garganey from the main hide, and we didn't have time to check out the others. Summering Whooper and Bewick's Swans were seen, along with Avocet and a surprise Red-crested Pochard, but moral had dropped a bit as we left.

We headed up to the North Norfolk coast, calling in at Flitcham hoping for Little Owl and Yellow-legged Gull. Both had been seen earlier in the day, and both were missing. Med Gull and Red Kite were some consolation, as we headed to Hunstanton to look for Fulmars. The tide was out, enabling us to add five wader species as well as Fulmar, before carrying on to Holme to look for a Pied Flycatcher reported from the car park. The gate attendant didn't know anything about it, and as we arrived Bob Cobbold told us the only bird currently in the car park trees was a Spotted Flycatcher. He actually used slightly fruitier language than that, but the meaning was the same.

As in the past few years there were Dotterel at Choseley, so we called in, saw them and left, to the slight bemusement of the other birders present. We arrived at Titchwell about 16:00, and knew we needed to add a lot of birds here to post a competitive total. It started well with a singing Wood Warbler in the car park, only my second Norfolk record of this species. We couldn't see or hear the reported Yellow-browed Warbler on the meadow trail, and nobody we spoke to had seen it, so we carried on down to the freshmarsh where Brent Goose became our 120th bird at 16:20. We couldn't find the reported Ruff or Little Stint, so headed down to the beach, where Little Tern, Sandwich Tern and Velvet Scoter were all decent additions.

After leaving Titchwell we headed further along the coast to Holkham, hoping for lingering Pink-footed Geese. We didn't see any, although a flypast Bittern was well worth seeing. Great White Egret was the only addition here, taking us to 129. We were in danger of not reaching last year's total of 140 despite the extra effort, so we had an important decision to make - did we stay in North Norfolk, go to Potter Heigham or keep to our original plan to head to Minsmere. In the end we opted for the latter, which did mean that no new birds were added until we reached Dunwich at 19:20.

From Dunwich Cliffs we saw our 130th bird, long overdue Sand Martins. Dartford Warbler and Stonechat were added on the heath nearby, and Kittiwakes flew offshore towards their nests on a platform near Sizewell. We 'scoped Barnacle Goose over at Minsmere, and a Water Rail called, taking us to 135 and renewing hope of a competitive total.

Back in the car we headed round to Minsmere and scanned for Stone Curlew from the watchpoint. We couldn't find any, but a Short-eared Owl was a bonus. Bearded Tits pinged nearby, and Whimbrel, Common Gull and Caspian Gull from East Hide ensured at least a personal best-equalling tally of 140 at 20:35. Back at the watchpoint and my 'scope was out of action as the quick release plate screw had broken off. Adam was scanning and called a Stone Curlew. We asked if it was one with long ears that hopped about, but a quick look down the 'scope showed he had indeed found one, so we apologised and headed off.

It had just gone dusk, so before leaving Minsmere we went down to Island Mere hide, hoping to hear the Savi's Warbler that had been present for a while there. We didn't, frustratingly, but calling Little Owl and Tawny Owl (it could have been bird #1, it ended up being #143) meant it wasn't a wasted spell. It was now dark, but we still had a few targets, including Nightingale, heard at Westleton Heath. Moving on to Dunwich we heard a distant Nightjar, but concerned that we might be deluding ourselves with the background noise we went back to Westleton where an unequivicol one was churring. A Nightingale sung loudly from beside the car.

It had just gone 22:00 and we had reached a new personal record of 145 species. We had one last bird to try for, Quail, in the fields around Westleton. We stopped and listened to no avail, so headed off to the finish line at the World Land Trust headquarters in Halesworth. When we arrived there was nobody there, so we didn't really know what to do. Just as we were pulling out the World Land Trust team arrived, so we followed them into the car park and asked if we could park there. "We're the Norfolk Loons" I announced, aware that Suffolk birders probably hear this whenever interloping Norfolk birders talk to them. Fortunately Dan was aware of our team name, and invited us in for a welcome hot drink.

The Bird Race Challenge team arrived as we were going in, and we all had a debrief chat with the other team members. John Burton then turned up, ostensibly to present the Bird Race trophy (the Nene egg signed by Peter Scott used as trophy in the original Country Life vs ffPS bird races), but also to give out champagne and tut at the birds we'd missed out on! We were all rather tired by this point, so I suggested we make a move and head back to Norwich. The results of the Virtual Bird Race were announced on Monday evening, and we had been soundly beaten by Jake and Drew, who managed an astonishing 158 species, so well done to them.

Thanks of course to my fellow team members, particularly Gary who did all of the driving, and to the World Land Trust for their hospitality.

Norfolk Loons 2017 - left to right: James Emerson, Gary White, Alysia Schuetzle and Adam Pointer. Photo taken by Andrew Whitelee.

The Virtual Bird Race and Bird Race Challenge aimed to raise money and awareness for a World Land Trust project to save the endangered Blue-throated Macaw, and the fundraising page is still open should anyone who hasn't donated wish to do so: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/NorfolkLoons

More sedate, non-sponsored activity will resume shortly.

NORWICH: A selection of garden insects

7th & 8th May 2017

You don't have to go very far to see some interesting insects, particularly in sunny weather. On Sunday I was making a cup of tea when I noticed a hoverfly outside, and nipping out for a better look I saw that it was Epistrophe eligans, a common species but one I've only seen once before. Whilst outside I also saw Platycheirus albimanus, which Cathy had seen previously here but was the fourth hoverfly onto the garden list.

On Monday evening I took advantage of a brief sunny spell to have a walk around the garden. Three things were of particular interest, a tiny Speckled Bush-cricket on a dandelion flower, a scale insect sp on a Field Maple sapling and three Polydrusus formosus weevils on the same tree. Not bad for a quick garden wander!

BRECKS: Pathside invertebrates and key trouble

6th May 2017

On Saturday Cathy & I went for a walk in the Brecks, and it was immediately apparent from looking into the vegetation along the sides of the path that there were many more invertebrates here than we had seen of late (due in equal parts to the location and time of year I suppose). In particular a nettle full of Red-and-black Froghoppers found by Cathy was particularly spectacular.

Other highlights included several tortrix moths, which I think are Common Roller, Ancylis badiana. Despite the name, this species is scarce in Norfolk (partly gauged by the lack of records on the authoritative Norfolk Moths website, and partly because Dave Appleton who has seen 1000+ moths hasn't seen it!). The hoverfly Leucozona lucorum was also out, a Red-breasted Carrion Beetle was found on a grass stem and a scarce (notable B) longhorn beetle Phytoecia cylindrica was also seen. The latter looks a bit odd because it has no neck - the head is the same width as the pronotum.

I have taken a bit of an interest in sawflies recently, and saw two of them on this trip. The Turnip Sawfly (Athalia rosae) is a distinctive species and was easy to identify. A second, all black species however isn't easy to identify. I got it down to the genus Dolerus, however there is no field guides, and only old keys to sawflies. To give you an illustration of how frustrating I find some of these keys, I will reproduce part of the first couplet below. Remember, I am trying to decided which branch of the key to take for my sawfly, which has a black abdomen and black thorax. The options are:

1a) Abdomen always entirely black or blue-black (though legs and even thorax may be red-marked)

or

1b) Abdomen more or less red-marked, or, if entirely black, then so is the thorax.

Now, to be fair there is much more to each option after that, but in relation to colour we have the choice of always black with a thorax that may have red marks (so by definition may not), or more or less red marked, or entirely black with a black thorax. I don't find that particularly helpful. So, if you are a sawfly expert, then please write a nice, user-friendly field guide for me. Thanks.

YARE VALLEY: White-tailed Eagle!

3rd May 2017

Cathy & I were on the way home from work when we received a call from Justin to say that him & Steve had found a White-tailed Eagle at Buckenham! With no optics on me I had to choose between saving time and heading straight there, or calling in at home for binoculars and 'scope and risking it flying off in the meantime. Justin had said that the eagle looked settled, but I had been told the same thing about a Black Tern at Whitlingham the previous day, which flew off 5 minutes later!

I decided to go home, and after a swift turnaround Cathy & I were heading towards the mid-Yare. Parking up at the station we crossed the railway line and I scanned the marsh on the off-chance that the White-tailed Eagle would be visible. To my surprise it was! The advantage of looking for a very large bird in a fairly flat landscape. After taking a good look we carried on along the track, until Gary & Alysia drove up. After showing them the bird in the scope, they gave us a lift down to the fishermen's car park where we joined a small crowd watching the eagle.

We stayed for around an hour, during most of which it sat serenely on a gatepost whilst hares wandered non-plussed around it. The eagle was less inclined to tolerate a Chinese Water Deer however, which wandered up to the gate. The eagle raised its wings, and whilst the deer appeared to bare its tusks (as much as it could), it soon thought better of it and ran! At about 19:40 it flew off slowly towards Buckenham Carrs, scattering the Greylags off the marsh. An excellent evening, and thanks again to Justin.

NORWICH: Nomada fulvicornis

2nd May 2017

On my way home from work on Wednesday I noticed a Nomada bee on some Spurge. All of the others that I've seen have been the common Nomada goodeniana, but this one looked like it had spots rather than complete bands, so I had high hopes it was a different species. The most obvious alternative species would be Nomada marshamella, but the tegulae (spots at the wing bases) would be orange in that species, whereas the one on this specimen were yellow. Fortunately Tim Strudwick, the county solitary bee recorder, came up with the answer, it was Nomada fulvicornis, so it was a new species, just not the one I thought!

THORPE MARSH: Spring insects & migrants

1st May 2017

There had been a number of migrants seen passing through Whitlingham and Thorpe over the bank holiday weekend, so I was keen to check out both on the Monday before returning to work. I arrived at Thorpe Marsh and immediately noted some small hoverflies on a nearby buttercup. They had a slim waist, and I suspected that they were a species of Neoascia, a genus that I had not recorded before. A selection of photographs from different angles were enough to confirm later that they were Neoascia meticulosa.

I took the riverbank path first, an immediately noticed that Sedge Warblers were particularly in evidence (I heard at least 14 around the site on my visit, but that is an undercount). Turning the corner towards the viewpoint I heard my first Garden Warbler singing from some bramble scrub, although it was very skulking. Tow Common Sandpipers were making their way along the western edge of the broad, and a brood of Greylag goslings were also present. The Great-crested Grebe was still on its nest - two young were seen the following day.

After a quick chat with Mike, who was sat on one of the viewpoint benches, I carried on along the edge of the woods towards Bungalow Lane. Here I heard and saw my first Reed Warbler of the year. Walking down Bungalow Lane I stopped to admire a female Orange-tip nectaring on Garlic Mustard (one of its foodplants, although it tends to mostly use Cuckoo Flower here as the commoner species). A short burst of Grasshopper Warbler reeling came from Griffin Fen to the east, and shortly afterwards I heard more prolonged reeling from a bird on Thorpe Marsh itself. 

My final interesting sighting of the visit was an Andrena haemorrhoa bee sheltering at the edge of the path. Incidentally there was a poster up advertising pond-dipping, which will take place on the final Sunday of each month over the summer if anyone is interested. I think it was 10-12, but best check if you are travelling any distance.

I then headed round to Whitlingham, which was very busy, due in part to a swimming race at the western end. Heading down to the island there were lots of terns flying back and forth. I saw a total of eight Arctic Terns, with a least one Common Tern in the area too. I love watching terns swooping over the water, so spent a while watching them before heading home for lunch.

TRING: Nautral history museum & treehopper

30th April 2017

After our walk at Bison Hill, Cathy & I headed to Tring to visit the Natural History Museum. We arrived a couple of hours before opening, and spent some of it in the memorial garden. As you would expect it was a scenic, peaceful place, and we particularly enjoyed seeing some recently emerged Large Red Damselflies taking their first flight, helicoptering uncertainly up into the nearby vegetation.

After lunch we went to the museum, and were suprised to see there was a queue outside waiting to be let in. Whilst this did mean that the galleries were rather full as we walked round, it was good to see so many people are interested in natural history. There appeared to be some sort of activity packs that encouraged children to go around and draw their favourite animals, which again has to be a positive thing.

The bird galleries were of particular interest, in particular a case of British birds with pigment deficiencies. A temporary exhibit contained a composite skeleton of a Dodo, one of only a handful left in museums. There were more interesting galleries upstairs, and also a feature on the man who begun the collection, Walter Rothschild, and eccentric (he had a carriage pulled by Zebras!) who contributed much to the study of insects in particular.

Upon leaving the museum, seeing a Holly Blue beside the steps, Cathy suggested having a look at the park nearby. This proved to be a good idea, as I found a hopper with distinct flanges on the top of its head. My first thought was Eared Leahopper, but it was the wrong shape. Back at home I was able to find it on the ever-useful British Bugs website - it was a treehopper, Centrotus cornutus, a new species for me and a very interesting-looking one.

Bottom photo taken by Cathy Emerson

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE: Butterflies & a slow-worm

30th April 2017

We stayed the night at the edge of the Chilterns at a place called Chartridge Lodge, and whilst having breakfast we were able to watch a Red Kite soaring low over the garden. We had planned to go to the Natural History Museum in Tring, but it didn't open until 2pm, so we headed to Bison Hill near Whipsnade to look for Duke of Burgundy, which would be a new species for me. When we arrived it was windy, not the best conditions, and moreover we couldn't see any Bison. Not being able to see a 1400lb mammal did not bode well for a small orange butterfly.

We started off by taking a steep chalky path down to the left, noting some Common Rock-rose growing along the side. I then searched an area of Cowslips, paying particular attention to areas that would have a warmer micro-climate. This paid off to a point - I saw Orange-tips, a Green Hairstreak and a Carpet moth sp, but no Dukes.

Back up to the top, and Cathy called me over to see something. When I reached her I saw that she had found a Slow-worm, and not only that, it turned out to have small blue spots, a feature found on some mature males but that I had not noted before.

We took another path along the edge of some grassland, but only saw another two butterflies, both too large to be our quarry. A large red-tailed bee with dark wings appears to be my first Hill Cuckoo Bumblebee, so our time here was productive despite the lack of Dukes and Bison.

LONDON: Hampton Court wildlife

29th April 2017

Over the bank holiday Cathy & I headed south, where we went to Hampton Court to see the Tudor palace and gardens. It was primarily a historical visit, however there were a number of interesting wildlife sightings as we made our way round. 

Before entering the main courtyard Mistletoe was in evidence on several large trees. Throughout the day we saw many Ring-necked Parakeets, which we still see infrequently enough to be a novelty.

On a Pear tree up against a wall I noticed the case of a Coleophora moth. John Langmaid kindly identified it for me as Coleophora hemerobiella, a good record for me as it is scarce/under-recorded in Norfolk so I've not come across it closer to home. Some Red Currant leaves were galled, and underneath them I spotted some aphids. As I suspected, it was the aphids (Cryptomyzus ribis) that had caused the galls.

The architecture, artwork and collections were all very nice too.