Snake in the Undergrowth at Dunwich Heath

Above. Photo credit: David Gill

We took a picnic to Dunwich Heath today, and down in Docwra's Ditch our eyes alighted on a very small slithery thing, a young adder. It was about 9cm in length and (from a respectable distance) reminded me of a fat earthworm. What a beautiful creature!  
 

David at the 'entrance' to the heath

The beach at Dunwich, with a single jogger and a single swimmer in sight

Back on Dunwich Heath at last

 

 

We took a picnic to NT Dunwich Heath last weekend, hoping that perhaps there would be a few breaks in the cloud. 

 

You can see our picnic spot in the photo above. The white building is made up of old coastguard cottages. I took this picture with my back to the sea.

 

 

I love the archway above and have never noticed it before. The weather was overcast initially, but by about 2pm, the sun had broken through and we were able to watch a few damsels and dragons in the sheltered corners. 

  

 

As we peered into the water beneath the decking, our eyes alighted on two Great Diving Beetles. I was reminded of the giant water-beetle in The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher by Beatrix Potter. 

 

David had his measuring card on him, so we were able to see if the beetles were three centimetres in length, the size of a Great Diving Beetle. We reckoned they were pretty well spot on, despite the fact that the remaining beetle's head had dipped down by this time. 

 

There were good numbers of Ruddy Darters; most, but not all (see below), were on the wing. The one in the photograph had rather ragged wings.

The dragons in the next photo were certainly making their presence felt!

 

We saw two Migrant Hawkers during the course of the afternoon (see above, first photo in this post), both hanging from their respective branches of twigs. They both had a blue aura about them, possibly a trick of the low light, but I think they are Migrant Hawkers as both displayed the characteristic yellow golf-tee mark.

 

 

I have seen very few damsels this year, so was delighted to find the Emerald Damselfly (update, 29 Sept. 2021: please see comments where Conehead54 has informed me that this is actually a Willow Emerald) in the photo below).

 

The damselfly in the next two photos was a very obliging subject.

We found the sandy bank home of some Red-banded Sand Wasps. You can just about make out the pockmarks in the exposed part of the ridge. The photos below show one of the wasps entering the nest.

I had not expected the heather to be turning brown so soon, but there were still some small patches where most the flowers were still in bloom. I have always enjoyed seeing heathland, whether in Suffolk or Cornwall, alight with the pink of the heather and the golden glow of gorse.

We were soon back at our starting point by the coastguard cottages, staring out at the ocean. As you can see, there was no need for any social distancing down below on the shore!
 

Since last Saturday when these photographs were taken, the weather has turned much more autumnal, which is perhaps not surprising since we are now several days past the Autumn Equinox. I can hear lashing rain outside my window as I type, and I suspect it may be many months before we see scenes like the one below again. 

 

Dunwich Heath is a favourite haunt. It features in my poem, 'Dunwich in Winter', which can be found on p.14 of my recent poetry collection, Driftwood by Starlight (The Seventh Quarry Press, June 2021) - see here. 

This poem has also been reproduced on the Suffolk Poetry Society 70th Anniversary calendar for 2022.  

 

 

Day 24, #30dayswildcreativity: The Ford

2 March 2020, the road from RSPB Minsmere

This was the world we left behind, a patchwork of flooded meadows, illuminated by the last tinge of a rosy sunset. We had been up on Dunwich Heath earlier that afternoon, enjoying the company of Hebridean sheep and views of a Stonechat on its gorse lookout. I was surprised that the coconut aroma of the gorse was so rich and intoxicating at this point in the season. How wonderful it would have been to have bottled a little of it to counteract the smells of hand gel and disinfectant that were to irritate my nostrils as lockdown took hold. 

But here we were, in the evening light, faced with a flooded road. A couple of cars came up behind us, probably full of hungry birders on their way to the popular Eel's Foot Inn at East Bridge. We have found high water levels in this area before, but this was the most extensive flooding we had encountered in this spot. 

This was the scene that lay before us as we drew closer...

The last glimmer of light was ebbing away. It was time to cross the gulf.

I am glad to report that we reached the other side with the car's brakes in working order. 

The flooding remained, of course, but it would subside in time. We had taken our first metaphorical steps, steps we continue to take in these unusual days and nights, towards horizons that are familiar and yet distinctly altered. 

*  *  *

The path to the sea, Dunwich Heath

This post was written in response to Dr Miriam Darlington's #30dayswildcreativity meme on the theme of 'The Ford', acknowledging, in Miriam's words, that 'sometimes we have to make a crossing we were not expecting, a journey we didn't want to take...'

An Afternoon at Dunwich Heath (and Minsmere)

NT coastguard cottages at Dunwich Heath, Suffolk, UK

Like many others, we have been feeling somewhat confined to base on account of the recent storms and high winds, so it was a joy to see the sunshine over the weekend. We headed for the coast at Dunwich Heath.

It felt quite bracing to start with, but the sun soon helped the temperatures to rise (though I gather some snow is forecast in our region tomorrow).

It didn't take David long to spot a Stonechat, and in fact there were two. They were quite a distance from us, so I apologise for what is barely a record shot.

The National Trust have these beautiful Hebrideans to maintain a healthy heathland ecology.

There was gorse in abundance, along with that warm coconut aroma that it seems to give off in the sunshine.

Suddenly we heard a distinctive call and I spotted a Dartford Warbler.

The photo above has been considerably enlarged (and cropped) from the one above, but it gives an impression of the beady eye and those orange legs.

You get good views of Southwold from Dunwich.

There are few insects about at present, so I was quite pleased to find what I think may be a Yellow Dung Fly. I have only seen one once before, so my ID may or may not be correct.

These are the coastguard cottages. Edward Thomas, the poet, stayed in one of these while he was writing a biography of Richard Jefferies.

The photo below shows the expanse of empty beach...

...and this is the view in the other direction, with RSPB Minsmere down below and Sizewell in the far distance.

After a thermos of Earl Grey, we dragged ourselves away from the waves and drove home via Minsmere. We have seen floods in the network of low-lying roads in the area before, but these were probably the most extensive ones we have encountered here. Our hearts go out to all who have been affected by the floods elsewhere.

Road near Minsmere

Flooded fields

And, yes, twe were on this road...

We came home to a starry night and a pair of Tawny Owls making their respective 'twits' and 'twoos'.