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.

New website for Peregrine Productions

Finally got round to sorting out a new website for Peregrine Productions. It has gone live, but is a bit sparse at present. I will bulk it up and hope to add a shop. The address is www.peregrine productions.co.uk.

Insects again

Lovely warm day today. Almost spring-like! The cows seemed happy, though they drank their water rather quickly. They have moved to a new field which always keeps them happy for a few days.

I managed to identify the ground beetles from yesterday - 2 Badister bullatus and an Anchomenus dorsalis. Both are pretty common species, but quite nicely marked - a change from the usual black. Also found a 7-spot Ladybird yesterday on Ground Ivy by the edge of a field.

Today had two highlights. Insect-wise, the first butterfly for the fields for 2015. A solitary Small Tortoiseshell Aglais urticae was flying near the pond. In the garden under the feeders was a Reed Bunting. This is our first one at Beech House. It seemed to be a first winter female. Buzzard was quite noisy over the field and the Kestrel was hunting, so presumably there was quite a bit of small mammal acivity.

This is my old painting of A. dorsalis taken from the Peregrine Productions plate BTL4 Garden Ground Beetles

Insects! First Butterfly of the year for me.

A crisp, sunny morning today. Surprisingly warm as well. Went looking for Bumblebees in the garden, but none out yet. However, there was a male Brimstone Gonepteryx rhamni flying in Loddon as I drove through. I have planted 3 Alder Buckthorn and 2 Common Buckthorn around the garden over the last few years. So, you never know, Brimstones may breed here!

Down in Wilkins Wood, I overturned the cherry log and there were a few Ground Beetles. WIll see if I can identify the species.

In Sisland Carr, Bluebells and Dogs Mercury coming through. Surprised a Chinese Water Deer by the stream.

Grey Partridges

This week I have seen a couple of Grey Partridge Perdix perdix in or adjacent to our fields. We regularly get Red-legged Partridge, but I don't really regard them as 'proper' birds. They are probably released for shoots, like all the influx of dozy pheasants we get each year.

I saw a couple of Grey Partridge when we first moved here. These are the first ones since then. Hopefully they will hang around. The species is undergoing serious declines in numbers and distribution. So any birds are good news!

Today we also had a nice male Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula eating the buds in the Blackthorn hedge along our front garden. Always nice to see.

On the insect front, there are a few Harlequin Ladybirds Harmonia axyridis about. Not sure if this is something to celebrate or not!

More anon...