We decided to explore a section of the sea-wall at Hollesley Marshes, a small section of the Suffolk coast that was new to us. It was a very blustery afternoon, but dry and not very cold. To our surprise we found a good range of lepidoptera, a dragonfly and quite a few blue damselflies (which I have yet to check).
Butterflies seen:
- Speckled Wood (above)
- Painted Lady
- Red Admiral
- Large Skipper (our first of the season)
- Green Hairstreak
- Small Tortoiseshell
- Green-veined White
- Speckled Wood
Moth:
- (A rather tatty) Yellow Shell
Dragonfly:
- Hairy Dragonfly
The area contains an inland RSPB reserve and also the coastal and estuarine reserve of Simpson's Saltings, run by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. The next two photos show a couple of meres in the RSPB part of the site.
The photo below shows a larger wetland area on the landward side of the sea-wall. We saw a range of waterbirds here; Shoveler, Shelduck, Avocet, Mute Swan, Redshank, Lapwing and more.
I was very taken with this secluded bay in the Simpson's Saltings area. The wide estuary beyond is part of the river; the shore is reserved for wildlife so we admired it from the bank.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixkhAGgBbenFWpUxiC7pBslp2-RsXd5TS0aJ_E4Kx7tpTLjaSCLgR08yVt47DrHgN1IZGMzUBbeXQRBfwh4Mo8QjQFzyoA4RHhGS6ffKsZ7xD_yysmChExMHcMy6NiMshi_GgydXz_8Kt9-1_f3gQJcHt0iKv0UEToXqAKaCen6lAKFBpJGcm-JdXM_Q/w400-h343/P1016750-shoveler%20hollesley.jpg) |
Shoveler on one of the landward meres
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The next photo shows David on the sea-wall. The strong wind was responsible for all those white horses beyond.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoTtvsMJllwHHtxg9_7QDrK5Vs4v77I_6wiy0yVo3OSXFzi4VaX9Db1_B_W4yZbtMtWrdpfR-PqSzijEoYkDuTCYVkt0NIRr5wrZMg9j5mp5w9WMBXE2FbOjb7ZuRhHn3YeJsInQ_eMd3CnCNacb2jLiQubPJBqWbaP7N93CGy4p5SyC6sf5XuhW_wJA/w578-h640/green%20hairstreak%20hollesley%20saltings.png) |
Green Hairstreak
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4yZXv-S0snakRRGHsJB2c88nicAvVttDaQBh6GGo_zq9LoW04NcEf4GZqyzOjOTOkXQZrfDSmQT-yE94j1mCioxXpE0xXOK0Zrw2SUWmjzdVoVPTf_WN4yAIekN6LXfphPkRElVeVowbPSh4L6z2aZnEw2bUUz8zr3GVV1ipopo5PRAvWcszxhveeKQ/w366-h400/hollesley%20red%20admiral2.png) |
Red Admiral (and below)
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj688dCuVy9HZsXohTxEOLa0JpHritZieMucnsswqdXic0Jy7ckorNblCri5AGxDq9XpLgAApE8s7A0mL65XCUiDKaMG0kD2Ec6ZuFTLEnrbX6k4chw59NDtSOPTCCrnwJUsx4t3ULHIZqcsNV2ab4HvElfKxNJAnNctnnyd7sHNCynqOxyxenxuOng_Q/w640-h440/P1016754-simpson's%20saltings.jpg) |
The red arrow shows the saltings on the Alde-Ore estuary site
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWQL-b4WcuVgz_AldwMRuRoIcl04lRrWdaMaS3f7tLQs1C0u8du2fY7ofieJ-8ePHv74tyVVhhBj8_xEoZisiyu7qY3jHOooWest4xYYxMCqtfQis0xFMtpzrAofF7Ddzciav1q4VQrrv4RxJjwbiA5lirAhbYWbXrr-mGBFPXqdV9Ta95DXeiTQNmUw/w640-h554/P1016768-moth%20unknown.jpg) |
A very tattered Yellow Shell moth
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTOAAVOafDJtuZ_73q97-NU-IhnBy9m5VcWmeCpVK2tDDJPccvIg_Dq4SEIIf8ZGz5MbpjOsmpQxtF_fHFZUb3nvtLg5qKnqMWTqMf4ZAvGyWO6jo2MXXIlmKMfWtlwrIoElDVuJtGnhIiRWUWM9iHXsSn9I4h5hq2u-ccP8qtnaNlwzdnC8vSVxbIug/w640-h460/P1016779-largeskipper.jpg) |
Large Skipper butterfly
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZIitPc5u6-LcvILdAuywx9KWO2PFmnyBQxIRhtnynLenv751AM1PEeO_HJhauNpGMJ2w0guSESfXZdjze3p2lvOm8PvmUecX3QTftfA2U_Fz-pviBXG6yW4l-e964Hf9jZ9bNFto1USXnsBcczOjePShtB0k_GhUnO6_XFKo-Ru0U_W-zao3vXkh6oQ/w640-h630/P1016789%3FHairyDragonfly.jpg) |
Hairy Dragonfly
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3lEVWNee2GvT72SAp7nSw3PPQsX-UcieLmfwUJXUL9NqIeoGqAoxt1Gsy8P9AoFvxdDcMX8rNongGVBe6cLVHBCEJ5P7RyTCNHWzfjhepGtPIrJd7_uiXri_ifNKcvTWueUGkHPkw4N0D4ll00SWsM7vLIswT3jIjveplXlJEF9ZtBGr8NeX-9q0S_A/w640-h480/P1016794%3FHairyDragonfly.jpg) |
You can see the hairy thorax below the eyes
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtwr_CyM4V0d8G10KQnEMgz0bDwo-ZE9_XXArbFRSk5WVqiZbgk5cqM3Ms2vguWwDu1CTz0wHWBUWk4c49MSsPbPUQj_PCaX-fi6Jxs1Ng_4yo4IfIny8BYtei8ZMhXdD5PfeNebX9o1WcCCmKXZR4opV6ClxH6Av7hxgZ5u5SmSinXJtYR4u-_co7Sw/w640-h628/poppy%20hollesley.png) |
wildflowers; the poppies were stunning
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-MFp451svAth1qu6kb6u_g-YKIYv-xfsu8Anv1FEm9xMkqyY-8X4_4EpRolC5EFySGEzOhcIEVFL92oR5Feliv2qstej9lfc7Euww_PqSSQym1ULJgnO1BSB_7cKSHgn4KWhw3sxqfVml4v7L5o9rKXRHp7lCKVKCDNFrjlBEdEwO3ITCU_sljH6tsw/w640-h614/small%20tortoiseshell%20hollesley.png) |
Small Toroiseshell
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSn_8ZpmFo0AtwVhgsRdVZL8qHGNiyZ7_7tA3R2PyDp5fQd0M1IDACKflTC-Qv3RwEQlpkYPaM-t_Ly_CTh9yugRgqH31YGYrut1MpjN35B7yBs2Z9NDSIj_xIzhUqPnIooYQGQBQ6GBCX4IWzkQpDrg7-4hZc9yEknNWXhXWs0y8V50OUUfa8lu0Z4g/w620-h640/thrift%20hollesley.png) |
A drift of Thrift
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibiirTM0x0Nva2pDGyPo-uH1zkp3EIwA4RR7RAgvEjwXI_JbkufVezeyazttgEueHVJjG5rlsrCRW4PcNy12HL8B0rYpfHQ2eSW4d8bSPxHZfzUrX4YYGm5TJsFSXV1etyEEPiBhpauzA7f-FMo7b_HrDVyMAuo_Ar2q9Xac1AlueWaQXyar8kTHKrgw/w400-h393/wasp%20hollesley%20bay.png) |
A wasp, as yet unidentified, probably collecting slivers of wood
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifvJzcKieOFg-ayM0bT1n8WvxdABZca_YcLUi_Up09oS97DabbIkY9XrIKcRd2p1Jb3BRhRbMv20iq5Ow2XpZf1Di1LPaEvVt-tNKmYWMbvdClCoSgVZD4KQ2TzTst6wJZi_oxlDd-lcumEZYqcxONNf1M331eGu7KRME6gBsdryY5hqt2fDv4F8_UuA/w586-h640/butterfly%20Hollesley.png) |
Green-veined White
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEZgX3n6nFSHA7JZ4gTmGNRRV79G7Eb2KOKUlzcQP87jdzGQCc6ivgjnyiId_n8oMLSW69-HhpYMp7konNqJjGKZ7MfKSr75EG2rwnxAtma10p8Oyd6utxpaRThkcUQxcqt_SgQ_bx0FF5AMUEyZDJLV1oW-DKPRSKESsG02obgOUZ60eNpLh09aHtxQ/w640-h410/damselflies%20hollesley.png) |
Damselfly season kicking off apace!
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2 comments:
Such a nice selection of photographs from your visit.
All the best Jan
Beautiful photos Caroline and a lovely selection of insects!
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