A Momentous Discovery

Just back from a quick jaunt to a local site where I have been looking for Grass of Parnassus for at least a decade – in vain – after finding a few plants there years ago. Had a quick saunter to the spot where I'd seen it then, and been looking ever since - only to find that it's back! Three plants - one flower just going over, one about to bloom, and a third bud. Amazing. Not sure if they will survive the night, as the cattle are now grazing in the area, but how about that, The Power of Nature. And if that were not enough, I heard a purring turtle dove, my first - and probably  last - of the year.

Surely one of the sexiest of late summer flowers? It got its name from the the taste cattle grazing on Mount Parnassus had for it, thereby conferring upon it a status as an honorary grass

A scarce plant in inland Norfolk,  thanks to drainage and unsympathetic management.
Love the groovy petals!

Glowing and Streaking

Warm and sunny these last few days, and with the congenial conditions come glow-worms and butterflies. Lights were shining brightly down Ickburgh way, with a glow-worm spotted by Clive Sheppard late one evening and still there for us to see the following night - low down, almost at ground level, and observed crawling with its dimmer switch on before finding a new post and turning the brightness up for full effect. Clive had even managed a pic the night before:

This is a female of course, flightless and doing her utmost to entice a passing male - who is winged - to drop down and enjoy some time with her. Glow worms are semi colonial, so there are probably more of them along that particular ride if one searched properly. Meanwhile, nightjar and woodcock are in good voice there, and a couple of weeks ago there were three cuckoos calling simultaneously, producing a fabulous echo effect in the clearing.

Butterflies seem to be having their second good year in a row. Yesterday it was off to Glapthorn Cow Pastures near Oundle to try and see one of the UK's rarest butts, black hairstreak. If only every rarity were so obliging: within ten minutes of arrival we had seen three, ranging from an extremely tatty individual to an pristine specimen that had probably only emerged the day before. This is probably the final few days for seeing the adults, as they have been on the wing there since 8 June and the fresh one we saw was probably the last of this year's brood. A beautiful butterfly, exquisitely marked and obligingly busy at the nectar right under our noses. The day before (Sunday) had been heaving with folks wanting to see the streaks, with a two-hour wait (and some fractious behaviour, apparently) for the photography chaps, but mercifully just a handful of us yesterday and all very civilised!

Slightly tatty and the largest of the three we saw, so possibly a female?

Winner of the beauty prize: fresh and shining, with vivid colours

Stunning, and totally preoccupied with the nectar.
Check out the "tails".

Geek paradise.....

Some good birds at this site, including nightingale - several pairs nest here, and we heard one sort-of-singing, very late to hear this in the UK (although they sing perfectly happily into July on the Continent) - and plenty of warblers. Afterwards we headed off to Harry's Park Wood, apparently a Wood White site, but no sign of any there even though the habitat looked good and probably supports a range of good woodland butts, including Purple Emperors - Fermyn Woods is but a wingbeat away, after all. Five minutes before getting back to the car we flushed a fabulous White Admiral off the path, which circled above us for a few seconds before heading off; then had good views of a common lizard. Saw plenty of Large Skippers at both yesterday's sites, Ringlets and Meadow Browns galore and first Essex and Small Skippers of the year, so a great day!

Hebridean Hangover

Bogbean: the smartest of watery plants

The Wild (North) West: central Lewis

Three weeks since the trip to Lewis and Harris, and somehow the memories become more intense with time. The weather did not disappoint - generally dull, cool and, for the last three days, outrageously windy - but when the sun did appear it illuminated some extraordinary scenery. The centre of Lewis is seriously wild country, a tweedy landscape of moorland, mountain and bog; Harris rather softer, with those white beaches and cobalt bays much beloved of the Scottish tourist board. Our base was on Lewis at Marvig, a village that had been largely spared the rash of pebbledash that is the hallmark of almost all other settlements on the islands and was handily located for forays onto the moors and into the Pairc Estate, also known as South Lochs. We came here for eagles, and had an extraordinary sequence of sightings: a starter white-tailed on the day we drove to find our rented cottage, and then nine sightings in one day, involving three goldens (a single plus a pair) and at least two pairs of white-taileds, all soaring low and giving fantastic views. Cavorting otters in a loch and a black-throated diver (its mate unseen, but apparently incubating somewhere on the bank) were the supporting cast on that day. Towards the end of the week, on our last full day, an adult white-tailed sat watching us as we paused for a final feast of drumming snipe on the moors. It then took off, soaring over our heads and then reappearing a short way down the road for a final flypast, pursued by gulls, before we reached Marvig. Magnificent. We saw 76 bird species in total, some highlights below plus other Hebrides stuff....

Our first eagle: an adult white-tailed, sitting on a ridge above
the approach road to Marvig. Note the third eyelid!!

Hebridean wren - still recognised as a distinct sub-species - doing its
thing in the grounds of Lews Castle, Stornoway

Wildflowers were rather disappointing - too early in the season for so far north, with marsh marigolds and violets still in full flower and not a lot else. These Welsh poppies were in the grounds of Lews Castle. Further afield, on the open moor, it was lousewort and milkwort mainly, with a few heath spotted orchids and butterworts. 

Lews Castle grounds - one of the few areas of woodland on Lewis, and with an impressive range of trees and plants, thanks to the extravagant planting of Victorian millionaire James Matheson. This is almost the only place on the island where birds such as blackcap and chiffchaff maintain a presence. The Hebrides only rookery is here too. 

Lews Castle, currently under restoration.

Castle lodge

Stornoway waterfront

Marvig Harbour

The cottage at Marvig - formerly the village post office

Underrated but totally beautiful: genuine wild Rock Dove. There were several pairs around Marvig.

On our first full day we stopped to look over an interesting tract of moorland when a small flock of golden plover and dunlins dropped down right in front of us. Very confiding and busy feeding, so perhaps en route further north.

Dunnocks were regular in the cottage garden - note the midges in the air! Not a problem during our stay, but doubtless increasingly irksome through the summer...

Anther garden regular. A family of young robins were usually in
evidence; also a brood of stonechats.

Harris, looking towards Luskentyre

A Sedge Warbler hard at it in a bed of Rugosa at Northton; amazing to think
he had winged it all the way from Africa to set up his stall on the edge of the North Atlantic....

I'm used to seeing Whooper Swans by the hundred and more in winter in East Anglia,
but a single bird on a Hebridean loch - and the prospect of a mate on a nest nearby – was
somehow infinitely more exciting!

One of our most extraordinary discoveries was a heronry in a
small stand of pines not far from Marvig

We expected to see lots of Twite but only managed a single pair, at Luskentyre

Restored blackhouses at Gearranan

Some former blackhouse inhabitants: loving the housecoats, ladies!

The wild north coast, looking towards Little Bernera

The revelation of the springtime Hebrides: great northern divers in
breeding plumage! We saw plenty, and at close range

The last eagle!






Final sunset with Greta Garbo......

Swallowfest at Strumpshaw

Strumpshaw Fen from the tower hide

 Swallowtails, and an appropriate occasion to relaunch the blog after months of shameful neglect! Having missed them last year, it was time to head to the Broads and enjoy the spectacle of these aristocratic insects powering over the reedbeds. Or, as below, bumbling around in the warden's garden, nectaring on sweet william. Perfect viewing conditions - still, sunny and warm - and up to three were busy strafing the flowerbed there. Luck was with us, as none had been seen the day before apparently. At least one of the individuals we saw was slightly tatty so had clearly been on the wing for a while, but the others were pristine and so presumably freshly emerged. Great views, but we were not alone there - click click click of the man with the mega-zoom - and call me old-fashioned, but it was somehow more rewarding to see them out on the fen, charging around over the reeds, rival males spiralling in flouncing disputes and others seeking out nectaring plants - of which not many on view, hence the appeal of the warden's garden..... We probably saw half a dozen or so different individuals during the day. Other butts included peacock, red admiral, small torts, brimstone, comma, green-veined white, speckled wood and common blue, plus some great dragons and damsels: Norfolk hawkers well in evidence, plus common hawker, banded demoiselle, red-eyed damsel (resting on lily pads), banded demoiselle, common blue damsel.... 44 species of birds recorded, with cuckoo and willow warbs in fine voice - there seem to be more of the latter around this year than for a while - but no bittern, not even a boom.

The star of the day - even the red "eye-spots" were playing ball

The heady sound of summer, thanks to a tiny waif

Summertime Blues

It's not often that one goes out and sees three species of blue butterfly in Norfolk at the same place on the same day, but I've managed it a couple of times recently. It's been an extraordinary year for common blues, plenty of them about and all the more amazing given they had such a dire time last year. Holly blues are much more scarce, but still appearing in ones or twos. The revelation of 2013 has to be the chalkhill blues, so exquisite and I love the way they perch up and pose. The males are fabulously combative, chasing each other up into the air in fast and tight spirals before breaking off and dropping back down to bask or nectar again. 

One Swallowtail Larva Doesn't Make A Summer...

To Hickling today, and the chance - perhaps - of a swallowtail sighting. This year's first brood was very late and so the second brood will presumably be correspondingly later, or possibly non-existent. A coolish and breezy day offered only random glimpses of sunshine, which sufficed for the 100+ peacocks and accompanying red admirals, commas, painted ladies et al, and had tempted out a swallowtail earlier in the day, apparently. Alas, not while I was there, but some compensation came in the form of several swallowtail caterpillars, one of which was well advanced and looking good to go:

Hope for a second swallowtail brood? Indian summer required! Painted lady sitting pretty, meanwhile.

The ButtFest continues!

The incredible summer for butterflies goes on, with fantastic numbers of all the common species and a few rarer ones thrown in for good measure. Peacocks have been especially abundant: 14 seen on the hemp agrimony along our drive by ace spotter Clare HV (her pic below), along with commas, small torts and a few red ads (the latter not having a particularly good season, apparently). Plus, clouded yellows have been zooming about, presumably taking advantage of the southerly winds to move up from their HQ in southern Europe. Sue P saw and photographed two separate individuals at Drymere/Cockley Cley last week and I finally caught up with one at Montgomery on Thursday - my first in the UK for over ten years! I obviously haven't been trying hard enough....

 Peacock frenzy in Oxborough

 My rather weedy shot of the clouded yellow in Wales

Sue P's much more impressive effort!