Insects on the Ceanothus

Just a quick post to say that it has been lovely to see insects making the most of the pollen on our Ceanothus. Honey bees and others have all been busy, as you can see from the bulging pollen baskets, sometimes known as sacs. I have no idea what the last insect might be...

STOP PRESS: I have only just seen that, serendipitously, the app for counting bees is being launched today, 19 May 2017. Do take a look at the Great British Bee Count site.

• For more on bees, do take a look at these BUZZ pages (and perhaps especially the flip-the-pages book if you scroll down) from Val Littlewood at Pencil and Leaf.

Home Patch, with (SOS Springwatch) Wildflower Trough

It is lovely to see more insects appearing, and this is one of the creatures I saw this morning during a sunny spell before the cloud built up. Judging by the length of the antennae, it must, I think, be a juvenile Cricket (my thanks to Conehead54 for the helpful information that this is a Dark Bush-cricket nymph - just in case you missed this in the Comments below).

This ?ornamental Hawthorn is looking particularly colourful at the moment. It overhangs our garden, adding a splash of crimson and white.

Our Nasturtiums have sprouted and will hopefully produce some more bright colours. I always find myself a bit torn because I love the caterpillars that they attract, but there is a certain sense of sadness if the plants are eaten before they have reached their full potential!

The two photographs immediately above show how my wildflower trough is coming on. It would probably be best to thin the plants a bit, but I may leave them this year and see what happens. I am looking forward to the first flowers in the hope that pollinating insects will be attracted into our garden.

I see from my post here that on 10 April, just over a month ago, tiny green shoots were starting to appear. I wonder what the trough will look like in a month's time. I hope there will be some flowers long before then.

More Butterflies at RSPB Flatford Wildlife Garden

Some days ago we paid a return visit to Flatford RSPB Wildlife Garden, hoping that there would be some butterflies about. A couple of male Orange Tips flitted past us almost immediately, followed by a magnificent male Brimstone. 

We always find the bank to the right of the photo (behind the picnic table) a good place for insects, and once again this proved to be the case. 

A female Orange Tip - these proved easier to photograph than their males counterparts.

Sadly we failed to see any Holly Blues. Blue butterflies are among my favourites...

A Peacock in the Ceanothus

A bee on the Alliums.

There were several Cardinal Beetles about, including this one on one of the log piles.

You can see the small white comma on the outer wing above, giving these butterflies their name.

Before heading home, we wandered down to the bridge at Flatford.

Just as we were leaving we noticed this well camouflaged but iridescent beetle (below). We certainly seem to be on the cusp of 'insect season': there were dancing Mayflies in the Flatford garden and we had a Cockchafer banging on our window at home last night. I saw my first 2017 damselfly in the garden yesterday afternoon. Speaking of firsts, it has been lovely to hear the cuckoo on two occasions, but I have yet to see my first bat...

Capital Wildlife - 24 hours in London

We spent a night in London after the launch of the Stanley Spencer anthology at Cookham Festival last Friday. We really enjoyed the atmosphere of Camden Lock, with its barges coming and going. 

At one point there was a bit of a splash as this Cormorant touched down. It was a good reminder that London boasts so much more wildlife than the proverbial pigeons, which admittedly were certainly showing in good numbers. 

Two Canada Geese swam round the corner towards us while we were watching the barges.

At this point we caught a bus to the Tower, renowned for its ravens, which on this occasion we failed to see.

We joined the queue for the Thames Clipper, and I was interested to note how much wildlife had been crammed onto this board... I expect some of the species live further up river, near the mouth. I'm sure we all associate the Thames with eels, but photos of the seahorse and water vole caught my eye.

We had to wait for a while, but it was not too long before we were heading upstream to Greenwich...

...where we enjoyed a rather damp picnic lunch beside the Cutty Sark.

• The London Wildlife Trust

Suffolk Wildlife Trust's Knettishall Heath Reserve

Having left Thetford behind us (please see previous post), we headed for the wild expanse of Knettishall Heath, which is in the care of Suffolk Wildlife Trust. It is the Trust's largest reserve, and even on a dry Bank Holiday afternoon, we saw very few other people once we left the main car park. We decided to start out on the red rabbit trail...

We passed areas of deciduous trees...

... and areas where there were mainly conifers.

On a cloudy afternoon, a few patches of blue sky were particularly welcome.

There were corrugated iron sheets for reptiles. I wonder who was lurking under this one. Adders are occasionally seen, and there are Grass Snakes, Common Lizards and Slow Worms in the area. We shall have to return on a sunnier day...

This Breckland heath is an ancient landscape: the photos above and below show the bowl barrow tumulus at Hut Hill.

It was too cool for most insects, but there were occasional sheltered spots in dappled sunshine...

... and we noticed this Green-veined White butterfly in just such a spot.

When I was scanning the leaves for ladybirds through my zoom lens, I noticed the creature above (and below). I think it may well be a day-flying Fairy Moth (aka a Green Longhorn).

And yes...

... there was a single ladybird. I am not sure whether it is a Cream-spot or an Orange. The three spots on the wing shown on the right (straddling the top of the elytra) in the photo below could suggest the former, but I have a hunch there is more to it than that! I have yet to log the sighting on the UK Ladybird Survey via iRecord, so watch this space. The ladybird flew up in the air then came back and perched on the leaf.

There is plenty more for us to explore on Knettishall Heath on a future occasion, but by 4 o'clock we felt in need of a cup of tea so we drove to the garden centre at Bressingham. There was plenty of steam in the adjacent gardens.

Wildlife in the Ruins (or a grey Bank Holiday in the Thetford Area)

We had been waiting for some time for the 'right kind of day' on which to revisit the Thetford area. Bank Holiday Monday proved just such a day, with short sunny intervals, even shorter showers and a good deal of fair, if grey, weather.

Our first stop was the site of the Priory, founded 1103 or 4, and belonging to the Cluniac order of monks. The remains are in the care of English Heritage. We made our way to the magnificent Gate House, which dates from the 14th century, and were met by the three avian residents you can see in the photo above. I have been trying to ascertain whether the 'white pigeons' are simply that - white pigeons - or whether, perhaps, they are fantails. According to this thread on the RSPB site, they are descendants of the Rock Dove. Feral pigeons are descendants of what has long been known as the Rock Dove. Does this fact make these white pigeons 'feral' doves? I am not sure. But wait, there is an issue with the name 'Rock Dove': do take a look here in the pigeon and dove section of the IOC World Bird List site. 


Above: the pigeons in situ.

The magnificent flint-faced Gate House

 A close-up of the flint, and you can see where strands of ivy have been removed (or in this case, left). Thetford is not far from Grimes Graves, and is a good location for flint.

You can see that we were under rather a dark cloud at this point, but this photo gives a good impression of the extensive remains of the Priory.

You can read more about the Howard family here.

 

The photo above shows the Priory end of the site and the one below is from the spacious prior's lodging.

I went inside the walls of the prior's residence and noticed a corner of wildflowers growing out of the wall. I don't know whether this suggests that this corner is a damp one or whether, perhaps, it is a favourite haunt of wild birds who deposit seeds.

In any case, I was soon aware that there were two bright Blackbird eyes...

... staring down at me. The bird's bill was stuffed full of insects. I left him to his prize catch, not knowing whether male Blackbirds feed the female while she is nesting, though I never saw or heard a hint of another bird in this area. [After note: I have now been able to look up the habits of breeding Blackbirds, and it appears that while only the female sits on the nest, her mate will assist with food finding. Of course, I have no idea whether this particular bird was feeding himself or a family...].

* * *

By this time it was 1 o'clock, so we moved on to the next site - which was half a mile away, if that. The ruined Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Thetford is currently undergoing some restoration, as you can see from the photo below. The nave dates from the 12th century, and at some point after the nearby priory (see above) was dissolved in 1536, this particular church fell into use as a barn. I have only found three other UK churches with this dedication or foundation, including the Round Church in Cambridge.

According to the English heritage board, the rounded structure below is an added 19th century grotto, built as part of an ornamental garden feature. How unusual. You can read more about the church here on the Historic England site.

I looked about on the ground and noticed an empty snail shell. There was only one, so the adjacent flints may not have been in use as a regular anvil for a Song Thrush, but they would have served a useful purpose on this occasion at any rate. 

We were being watched from above, and it is possible that this bird had dropped the snail from a height. Song thrushes bang away at their 'anvils' on the ground whereas Carrion Crows and some other corvids prefer to drop a mollusc shell from a height.

It was time for a picnic lunch so we drove a few miles out of town on to the heath in the heart of the Brecks. The soil is sandy here and ideal for the families that were using the bike trails through the adjoining forest.

David and I found several caches of overwintering ladybirds, sadly all Harlequins. I shall add these to the UK Ladybird survey. But to end this section on a happier note, I am pleased to report that both my recent North Norfolk ladybird IDs have been assessed on iRecord and confirmed. One of the species was a (small) Kidney-spot and the other a (large) Eyed Ladybird - both UK species.

We moved on to Knettishall Heath after our picnic, a wildife area in the care of the Suffolk Wldlife Trust. This will be the focus of my next post, and it will include - you guessed - the sighting of another UK ladybird species. 

Over-wintering Harlequin Ladybirds (and in the two photos below)