Visit to Wheatfen, Surlingham

Saturday (28th May) was sunny and warm. So I decided to take a trip to Wheatfen. This is a broadland reserve run by the Ted Ellis Trust. It has good quality fen, reedbeds, a broad, wet carr woodland and some dry woodland.
No Swallowtails about (the reserve's specialty butterfly) but lots of Brimstones and Orange-tips as well as at least five other butterfly species. Quite a few hoverfly species including good numbers of Tropidia scita - a new one for me.
Good numbers of early dragonflies, including some female Banded Demoiselles and quite a few Hairy Hawkers and Scarce Chasers.

Teneral Scarce Chaser Libellula fulva

Not a lot of bird activity, but nice to hear a Cuckoo. Also a surprise to see an Osprey flying through. It had apparently been around the broad prior to this. I presume it may have been feeding on Rockland Broad.

Bumble Bee Nestbox

I am not a great fan of Bumble Bee Nestboxes on the whole. Bird Nestboxes seem to be occupied fairly regularly - even if sloppily put together like our Barn Owl box! But Bumble Bee nestboxes, well...

They seem a great idea, but never used.

However, earlier this spring there was a queen Bombus hortorum in our box. This was promising, but I still remained unconvinced. At the weekend I had a quick look inside and about four Bombus hortorum workers crept out to defend the nest. So it looks like they are using the box!

I will have to wait and see how effective the nest is, but it does make a difference from the usual earwigs, millipedes and spiders that are in there.

Warm Bank Holiday Sunday

Today was a nice warm sunny 1st May. Spent some of the day clearing Alexanders - we have rather a lot of this. I blame the neighbouring arable fields and all the sprays the farmers put on them!
We also moved the cows to a new field. It was nice to see how the botany of these fields has diversified since we got the cows.
The hedges are also looking good and Wilkins Wood starts to look like a wood! Also nice to see some of the wildflowers we have planted becoming more established and coming up for successive years!
Some of our House Martins are back and quite a few Swallows around, so it almost felt springlike. This year we seem to have 2 singing Blackcaps and a singing Chiffchaff, so hopefully we are doing something right.
Increasing numbers of Bumble Bees - hopefully they will pollinate the orchard. Also a few solitary bees including Andrena bicolor, Anthrophora plumipes (including a splendid male demonstrating the 'hairy feet' - see Peregrine Productions plate HYM6 Solitary Bees for a picture).
Several butterflies flying - Peacocks, Speckled Wood, Large White, Small Tortoiseshell.

A Peacock, Inachis io.

In the pond, there were a few Whirligigs.Also plenty of Smooth Newts courting and mating - nice to see through the clear water.
We are keeping a close eye on the Barn Owl nest-box. A female Barn Owl flew out of it the other evening. Though I am not too optimistic, as the Stock Doves still seem to be using it.