Newbourne Springs, Suffolk Wildlife Trust Reserve

 

Not the best photograph of a Peacock butterfly, but what a surprise after the last few days of grey skies and chilly temperatures! This afternoon we saw:

• 1 female Brimstone, too quick to photograph
• 5 Peacock butterflies
• 11 Comma butterflies
• 2 Bee-flies 
• In excess of 15 7-spot Ladybirds, including one outside our house

We were not expecting Newbourne Springs to produce such riches in a couple of hours, if that; but how wonderful, at last, to feel that the insect seasons are underway. 

The photos below are a bit of a mixed bag, but I hope they give an impression of the seasonal sights we enjoyed.  

Wild Arum

We watched this bee climb into the undergrowth

Wonderful blossom

Butterbur

Seasonal first: Peacock butterfly

Lesser Celandine

Seasonal First: Comma butterfly

7-spot Ladybird (this top one outside our house)

Robin

Two more 7-spots

I love the feathery reflection!

Another Comma

And another 7-spot ...

... perhaps laying an egg?

Bee fly, one of two seen this afternoon

Peacock

Primroses above the stream

Primroses

Hard to resist a ripple over the sandy stream bed

?Greater Stitchwort

close-up

Wild strawberry flowers

The stream at Newbourne Springs

Back to the house, where our spring bulbs are adding a splash of colour.

2022 A Pair of 'Garden Firsts'

 10th March was a good day for 'garden firsts' of the season:

* a Peacock butterfly (my first butterfly seen anywhere in 2022)

* a 7-spot Ladybird

Garden Butterfly Survey - November 2020

 

Those following this blog will know that I have been taking part in the Butterfly Conservation Garden Butterfly Survey this year. There is one month to go and I am not really expecting to see any butterflies in it, but who knows what December may bring.

As you can see, the only butterfly I noted in November was a Peacock. Like the Holly Blue, the Large White and the Small White, this species showed up here in a total of six different months. For this survey, the number you record refers to the total number seen at a time, rather than the total number per se.
 

UPDATE, 16 January 2021

Not surprisingly, there were no butterfly sightings to report for December 2020.

Day 22, #30DaysWildCreativity: Post-Solstice, 2020

Of Eyes and Iridescence

Monday, 22 June 2020

On this day when the first poppy opened

I sensed the tug of the long haul

towards winter through the amber light

of harvest, the embers of bonfires

and the muted music of freezing fog.

On this day when the first poppy opened

I buried my eyes in the corn marigold’s gold,

immersed myself in the deep sea-blue

of the cornflower, and delighted in the yellow

and white design of an ox-eye daisy.

On this day when the first poppy opened

I committed these flowers to memory,

afraid that fiery petals would soon flutter 

to the ground, fearful that I would miss

the eyespots of the peacock butterfly.

                                         © CG 2020

* * *

This post was composed this afternoon as my response to Dr Miriam Darlington's 'What do you miss, grieve for, as the year tips?' Facebook meme as part of #30DaysWildCreativity.

The Appeal of the Dandelion

Peacock butterfly

Inspired by Crafty Green Poet's post on the Dandelion Appreciation Society roughly three weeks ago, I decided to photograph the insects in our garden that perched on these vibrant flowers. All the images below have been taken since the start of May. I don't know what all the insects are yet; but while I try to discover, I hope to continue to keep an an eye out for more, and will add them when I find them. I am not always good at distinguishing a Dandelion from a similar species, so it would be good to be able to identify at least some of the 240 species we have in the UK.

Small White butterfly

----------------

Yesterday morning's butterfly, a Common Blue, I think. I have placed this photo below the line because I have a hunch the host plant is not a Dandelion. Do enlighten me!

Today's Visitors of the Insect Kind

Two of today's garden visitors: 

the welcome Peacock Butterfly 

and the less welcome European Hornet! ... update below

We also had two more Peacocks and a Small White.

Update (see Comments)... with grateful thanks to Conehead54 who writes,

'I think your Hornet is a queen Dolichovespula media; Hornet shouldn't have those yellow stripes on the "shoulders" & generally a more chestnut thorax.'

Butterflies

We were thrilled to have a Green-veined White in the garden yesterday. 

We also had a male Brimstone (which I failed to photograph), two Holly Blues (ditto) and this beautiful Peacock. I am continuing to record my sightings on the Butterfly Conservation 'Garden Butterfly Survey'. It will be interesting to see how my list develops. I will post a summary soon of my sightings so far. 

Catching Up: Pre-Easter Break in North Norfolk

We spent a wonderful few days in North Norfolk just before Easter. The two Wordles above show some of the wildlife we saw. I wish I could improve my wader ID skills! The weather was mixed: it was fairly dry apart from the Sunday, but pretty chilly.

We spent some time inland, visiting the Broads, and quite a bit of time on the coast. The photo above shows us approaching St Benet's Abbey on a boat from South Walsham Inner Broad.

Men were hard at work harvesting reeds. 

Yes, it was pretty chilly on the water!

We visited Ranworth Broad where you can see Swallowtails a bit later on in the year. The one above was part of a kneeler in St Helen's Church - and the one below was part of a misericord. 

I particularly liked the misericord of St Benet's...

There is a lovely boardwalk through a stretch of Alder carr...

... and reedbeds ...

... to this floating Visitor Centre run by Norfolk Wildlife Trust. The family ahead of us saw an Otter as they approached the building: we looked but weren't so lucky. However it was wonderful to watch the Great Crested Grebes performing their courtship dances ...

 

I will add a few photos of our coastal adventures in another post, but since it wasn't Swallowtail season, here is a Peacock butterfly we saw in Ranworth ...