another fishing spot gone.(Childhood Memories of the River Hundred).

The regular pre fishing visits to my local angling shop often produces reports on the local scene. Match weights don’t interest me at all it is the specimen fishing I enjoy. I am an all round angler as much as I am an all round countryside sports writer and Naturalist. My publications are varied as is my angling and planning my next trip is just as exciting as tracking Otters on the upper river Waveney or following the wildfowlers in the middle of a winter storm for those column inches that pay the bills. The information of Chub being caught in the mid reaches of my local river really gets the rods out as does reports of big Pike further downstream. There really is nothing better than your local tackle shop even if you just spend a quid on hooks the chat and the chat is second to none. (you don’t get that from online shops)
Now let’s go back to 1982. Now did my father purposely buy me a fishing set three weeks before the river season opened on June 16th yes readers all! Rivers and still waters, club or private were closed from 15th March to 16th June.
To an almost 13 year old boy the mounting excitement of that magical day was prepared for by reading the angling weeklies and walking the river banks fired with so much enthusiasm for my new sport I would spend hours there. Would the keenness have been there if I went to the river the day I received his lifetime gift. Yes of course but the anticipation of the 16th June was so stimulating I loved it (and still do.) There was nobody to teach me I was alone and as soon as that day arrived I was on my bike, new rod ste up for immediate fishing in hand and straight down to the River Hundred. The Kessingland Angling Club rented that stretch and here I cut my teeth on the fishing. It was my training ground and I landed some nice Rudd, Roach and Tench often by early morning or late evening visits sometimes I would be there all day.
Come the winter months I would fish for Pike catching a 15lb 6oz Pike in the autumn of 1985 with my late best mate Charlie. Soon into adult hood I moved away but the River Hundred never left me. I returned season after season catching a great number of species of many baits often trying out new rigs on the stretch.
Jump to 2010 and while waxing about the River Hundred in the tackle shop I was disappointed to hear that the club stretch has been given up. No more will village kids go down there and fish in safety but may be attracted to those terrible Carp puddles and the commercial angling waters.
These fish may be safe from sporting folk but it was so sad to hear one of my favourite waters was laying fallow for all time.
I have some good news, my nephew, the first in my family has taken up the sport of angling and I hope he will follow in my footsteps as an all rounder. I have witnessed the growth of easy angling in the shape of these holes in the ground and now although another stretch of wild river has been laid low there are still some Rivers and even ponds where monsters lurk.
Although I cannot write about contemporary visits I have enough in the cupboard for anecdotal stories. I hope these will be of interest and remind these Hundred anglers what they are now missing.
Colin.

Cold but bright

A walk around Beccles South produced some fungi that had not really been affected by the cold, These were Lepista inversa seen in two different places. Not much in the flower line has recovered, only the hardy ruderals were present.

a Mahonia aquifolim in flower was a welcome bright addition.

Dark Days afore Christmas

Although the weather is not guaranteed this time of the year my sometimes short field excursions paint a albeit dull picture of our countryside. Even in the Beccles area I have recorded 40 odd plants in flower. last week we had our second frost of the autumn and this Ivy was photographed in our garden.

Determination wins

Since the weather turned bad I was determined to get some of the winter birds that grace our shores. my first challenge was to walk a relatively cold miserable birdless walk to see a flock of wintering Twite. My second trip of the week produced 20 birds crouched below the shingle beach by some old dock plants. Woo hoo! a year tick!

On the way back with the wind behind me i stopped to see and note down Sea Mayweed Tripleospermum maritimum and Purple Glasswort salicornia ramossima

Next stop was Minsmere RSPB to see the Grey Phalarope, which was showing very close to west hide, so another year tick.

Windy Winter

Well I have taken some holiday to do some winter birding, today it has been very windy but I wanted to locate the Sibe Chiffchaff at Sparrow's Nest Lowestoft. On arrival it was sheltered and there was a good flock of Long tailed Tits but the council were blowing leaves around (Unsuccessfully.)and the motor was drowning about any possible Chiffchaff calls. I then moved to Kessingland for the Snow Buntings, No luck I could hardly stand in the wind, but a bonus was c250 per hour southerly passage of Dark bellied Brent Geese and flocks of Wigeon. all flying very close inshore. Looking towards Lowestoft the birds were pushed into the large bowl once the cleared the south Pier. I spent two hours looking out of my mates bedroom window facing the sea in a centrally heated room. The sea was so rough I did see five Duniln too but due to poor vis only the geese and ducks were confirmed.

Dark days afor Christmas

By 11am I was free to walk from Kessingland to the Sluice to collect some flowers and seed of Jasione montana for a biologist in Spain who wanted to extract chromosone numbers from them. I took the binoculars along but other than a single Kestrel over the caravan park and two Skylark on the beach, all was quite. On return I saw a wintering flock of Greenfinches on the beach. Of the flowers the Allium neapolitanum was still flowering in a pavement crack in Church road. Too late now for my WFS diary last day hunt.

Later I saw two adult Mute Swans fly over my parents house and I dipped on the Peregrine at Lowestoft grain silo. Hopefully having three dips the Richards Pipit will remain long enough for me to see on Friday.

Waxwing Joy

Sundays is my day to catch up on all my paperwork, notes and records of the weeks sightings. At 11:40am I was watching birds from my front window, when I said to Eileen. " It will be a while until the Waxwings settle into a feeding pattern." meaning they would be flighty until they found enough berries to feed on all winter making them easy to see. Suddenly I saw a single 1st winter female perched on top of my Rowan tree, Oh what joy!!

Coastal Botany

During the last week of October Eileen and I visited the coastal village of Kessingland to search for and record the flowering plants. We are members of the Wild Flower Society. (WFS) which holds a last day hunt for flowering plants on the 31st of each October. It is not really a competition with prizes but a fun way to look for and add these late flowering plants to our diaries which are submitted annually which lists all flowering plants seen that year.
Our visit was to recce out sites to revisit at the end of the month and to add more to my Kessingland North tetrad. Our first stop was to see a few pink flowers of the Himalayan Giant, Bramble. Rubus armeniacus. That grows on the west side of Green lane in the village.
Once on the beach we started to walk north where we found Blue Fleabane Erigeron acer both in flower and fruit, followed by Shasta Daisy Leucanthemum x silybum. That grows on the cliff side and has been recorded there since 1977. A relatively new plants growing there, well since the 1963 national flora atlas was the Mile a minute or Russian Vine Fallopia Baldschuanica. Most records are in the south east of the UK with a scattering of records in the north. It is a pretty late flowering plants with great swathes of white blooms soon covering hedges and trees by habitation. Due to the nature of beach flora the species are very small and often prostrate. These small plants can confuse the beginner as the books will sometimes give plant heights but this is only plants that are seen under normal circumstances.
Two such flowers we saw were again both in fruit and flower. The first which often needs fruits for confident identification was Annual wall Rocket. Diplotaxis tenuifolia. Growing only a few inches above the sand. Next was a small Mouse-ear Hawkweed Pilosella officinarum. A common enough plant that has these furry white under-leaves. The flowers normally reach 12” but these flowers were only 3” tall. It was a pleasant walk and we found plenty to keep us occupied, even a few continental Blackbirds, Dunnock,s and Robins were seen.

An autumn afternoon

Eileen and I visited the north end of Kessingland Beach to look for any plants we will need for the Wild Flower Societies last day hunt. Although I lived in Kessingland for 23 years I still found a few nooks and crannies that produced common but new plants for my Kessingland north square. On the beach we found Pilosella officianrum. Erigeron acer and Tamarix galica in flower.

Dead Badger

Sadly on Sunday Eileen and I found a Dead Badger near Kessingland

Late Season Botany

The 2010 botany season as I write is almost over. I have found many new plants for my Wild Flower Society Diary this year especially many garden escapes. On the weekend of the 9th and 10th October Eileen and I spent the two days exploring the area between Beccles and Kessingland for late flowers and to recce for the last day and week hunt of 2010.
We had often passed Ellough churchyard just south east of Beccles but it seemed to be bare of flowering plants. Well on the Saturday we decided to have a look round. Immediately as we embarked from our car the locally common Chicory ( Chicorium intybus.) was found and as is typical around here only a single plant was seen. We on entering the churchyard agreed it was rather barren but on reaching the middle of the vast rank grass we found three Harebells. (Campanula rotundifolia.) A real rarity now and sadly decreasing. Oh how often have we passed these “poor” sites only to stop one day and find something as lovely as the Harebell. Finally as we left we flushed a real life Hare!.

Private Foray yields great results

An excellent morning with the lady who owns Geldeston Hall nr Beccles, who invited me to take a group around her land to find Fungi. We found 37 identifiable species which anyone can id in the field but I took fifty species home for microscopic determination.
The list of certain id's is here. I am still getting confirmation of the others.

Auricularia auricula-judae
Clitocybe geotropa
Coprinus plicatilis
Crepidotus variabilis
Ganoderma applanatum
Gymnopilus spectabilis
Gymnopus confluens
Laccaria laccata
Lactarius deterrimus
Lepiota clypeolaria
Lycoperdon perlatum
Macrocystidia cucumis
Macrolepiota procera
Macrolepiota rhacodes
Piptoporus betulinus
Pluteus cervinus
Pluteus luteovirens
Rhodocollybia maculata
Rhodotus palmatus
Rhytisma acerinum
Stereum gausapatum
Suillus granulatus
Tricholoma saponaceum
Trochila craterium
Xerocomus badius

Wild Flower Hunt In Waveney

Wild Flower Twitching.
I recently received communication from a member who lives in North Yorkshire asking to accompany me in the Waveney area of Suffolk where I live and work for a day,s plant twitching. As nature guiding is one side of my Ecology consultancy business I offered him a day on 7th September 2010. Thankfully after the previous evenings rain and strong winds we met in fine weather outside my home. A week before I was sent a letter with a considerable wish list and thought that we could get a few.
First we walked onto Beccles Common to see the abundant Impatiens parviflora (Small Balsam) Still in flower with many fruits, which pleased my guest as he studied the features and took a voucher. Next we looked at the fruits of Rosa pimpinellifolia x R.canina = R. hibernica. (Hybrid Rose) first located in 2001 by The Lowestoft Field Club. Passing a few non flowering Rubus laciniatus. (Cut leaved Bramble) we walked on to the car and off to Weybread Churchyard for the large patch of Aristolochia clematis (Birthwort.) and then to Mettingham Churchyard for several Dipsacus pilosus (Lesser Teasel)
Our next stop was a bit scary as it was a small plant growing in a road train right on the brow of Haddiscoe Road Bridge in Norfolk (just) Our target here was a local rarity Brassica juncea. (Chinese Mustard.) there were both flowers and fruits showing the parents. Which is derived from the hybrid between B. nigra x rapa.
Buddlija globosa (Orange Ball) was on my new friends list and the very big specimen in a Corton hedgerow just North of Lowestoft which sadly produced nothing but vegetative characters for my guest.
Now one thing that the WFS is good at is locating good places for alien plants and garden escapes along with some new arrivals. From my Kessingland meeting I was able to show my fellow member Ulmus x vegata (Huntingdon Elm) Allium neapolitanum (Neaploitan Garlic) Both Conyza canadensis (Canadian Fleabane) and the new arrival in Kessingland C. sumatrensis (Guernsey Fleabane) a surprise not seen on my previous field trip was
Callistephus chinensis (Chinese Aster) growing in a pavement crack along Church Road in Kessingland.
It was not what I normally do on a Nature guiding trip but it was good to travel about and tick off old favourites and even find very new ones.
Colin Jacobs.

early Fungi

A trip to Waveney Forest Fritton for early fungi produced a very early selection including Amanita muscaria, A. fulva and A. rubescens. Even the False Chanterelle Hygrophorus aurantiaca were particularly abundant. I would not suggest anyone eats this latter species as it will give you hallucinations.

I also found some Birch Shield bugs (Elasmostethus interstinctus.) new to me at least

Great Fungal Foray

An slow walk through Beccles Common Wood threw up several species of Fungi including some Ceps (Boletus edulis) But they were well over so no meal for me. Plenty of Blushers (Amanita rubescens) edible but I would not eat any Amanita's too risky.



I love the Sulphur Tuft (Hyphloma fasiculare) seen here in this image.

The Aliens are coming.

Field botany may be slowing down but the pavement crack aliens are beginning to be found in Beccles. The Persicaria capitata in Puddingmoor is well out in flower now. Further south west we found a single Nicandra physalodes. I am sure there will be many more to be found in Beccles I will have to explore further.

Kessingland Flora

Eileen and I with Eleven Wildflower members and one prospective met in the car park at Kessingland to record the beach and dune flora. Typically we spent the first hour in the car park where there was much discussion on the identity of nothing less than a Sonchus. Was it asper or oleraceus? The field characters keyed out as asper but then it was decided upon oleraceus but finally we all decided it was a hybrid and I have sent a sample to the BSBI referee. Other plants were Erigeron glaucous (Seaside Daisy) and Solidago Canadensis. (Canadian Golden Rod) and finally Reseda lutea (Wild Mignonette).

Along the lane behind we saw the garden escape Lamium galeobdolon ssp argentatum (Variegated Yellow Dead Nettle) Next stop was a hybrid Elm that I had already keyed out the week before and set the group a test using Stace 3 and the Poland and Clement vegetative keys. Soon leaves were being measured and looked at through the hand lenses. It came to Steve Clarkson who was able to identify it correctly as Ulmus x vegeta (Huntingdon Elm.) It was a large tree with both smooth and rough leaves, sterile and in very good condition throughout. So onto the beach as planned. The amount of Lathyrus japonicas ssp maritima (Sea Pea) in flower was amazing, the shingle was almost covered in carpets of the plants in places. Next up was a swath of Linaria vulgaris (Toadflax.) followed by a dotting of Rosa rugosa. (Japanese Rose) Amongst the Leontodon saxatilis (Lesser Hawkbit.) we found . autumnalis too. By now we had found a text book S. oleraceus, asper and arvensis (Smooth, Rough and Corn Sowthistles.) We found plenty of Raphanus raphinistrum ssp maritimus. (Sea Radish) and Ononis repens (Rest Harrow) Soon we were by the Denes and the cliff face below the caravan park here we found lots of Lycium barbarum (Duke of Argyll’s Tea Plant) and even found some Goji berries which were rather tart and left a bad taste for some minutes. Fruit are uncommon but we found enough to share around. Next stop was a few Mulleins which were investigated fully using Stace 3 and other books. Soon we were picking at the flowers and investigating the reniform anthers keying out the eight plants as the garden escape Verbascum phlomoides (Orange Mullein.) Soon we were checking out Galium verum (Ladies Bedstraw.) We after checking key characters found bothG. verum and G. Verum ssp maritimum. Lamium amplexicaule (Henbit) was found by the former tip along with a single Petunia x hybrida (Petunia) and several plants of Atriplex prostrata (Spear leaved Orache) and A. patula (Common Orache.) Soon we arrived on the northern bank of the River Hundred recording Calamagrostis canescens (Purple Small Reed,) Carex otrubae (False Fox Sedge) and then we found a nice Erodium to key out, I had already identified it before but I wanted to see how the group would do it with Stace 3 or Poland and Clement. Soon books were opened and discussion ensued and after a while they came to the correct identification of Erodium moshatum (Musk Storksbill.) Soon we saw Althea officinalis (Marsh Mallow) Mentha aquatica. (Water Mint) and Stachys palustris (Marsh Woundwort) with its paler flowers. By the sluice gates we found Spergularia rubra. (Sea Spurrey.) Silybum marianum (Milk Thistle) and Malva moschata. (Musk Mallow).



We did find the time to walk through the gate to Benacre Pits and in a small corner of the lake we found a good number of maritime plants. There was Junucus gerardii ( Salt marsh Rush.) Juncus maritimus (Sea Rush) Samolus valerandi (Brookweed) and Plantago maritima (Sea Plantain) We even stopped to study Verbascum Thapsus (Great Mullein) to compare with our former garden escape before walking back towards Kessingland Village.

In the dunes we found more than 30 plants of Jasione Montana (sheeps bit) which is decling here at an alarming rate. Once back in the village we found some pavement crack plants notably Allium neapolitanum (Neapolitan Garlic) Aethusa cynapium ssp cynapium ( Fool’s Parsley) and finally a single Antirrhinum majus. (Snap Dragon)

This brings the list for Kessingland South TM5284 up to 420 species of plant, so a big thank you to those who attended.

The Naturalists Autumn

The excitement is mounting as the cool clear, but dewy dawns show us that autumn is soon to arrive. The call of the Dunnock, more noticeable now than the spring and summer really gets me going knowing that the change from an abundance of flora and insects will soon make way for bird migration, post breeding flocks and Fungi. Most mycologists have been the first to notice that the fungi season is not from September to October in the past but mid October.

Well this year we have thrown the baby out with the bathwater as the woods, fields and hedgerows have produced and abundance of species in August. Most frequent has been the Weeping Bolete, (Suillus granulatus) found under or near Pines. In the grounds of Beccles Hospital there have been troops of 20 or more.

Field Mushrooms have also been seen in the most unlikely of places such as behind a bin in Peddars Lane (Beccles)

Word soon gets around I am hunting for fungi and a colleague of Eileen's informed her of a good site (a field edge and sandy bank) at Gillingham which coincidentally is the last recorded site of the very rare (extinct?) Pepper pot Fungus.

Here we found several Field Mushrooms and a few rings of Marasmius oreades, The best find and most notable were the large agaricales of Brown Roll Rim (Paxillus involutus)

we found and photographed some with 8" caps and they were in the prime of health,

Deadly poisonous and look it too they are common and similar to the more acid loving Lactarius turpis (Ugky Milk Cap.)

What a great start to the fungi season and this is only the start, I wonder what goodies we will find in the area whilst trying to locate the Pepper pot!

Morning out in the Waveney Valley

Whilst Eileen and I were recording Diptera and Lepidoptera this morning at the Flixton Museum where in the Aidair walk we found an abundance of the flower Small Teasel Dipsacus pilosus.
been a good year so far for my WFS diary 723 species of plant in TM48/49

We have also been visiting black holes in Suffolk near us for Butterflies. Flixton was one and we found eight species today.

First Boletes today Suillus granulatus from South Elmham churchyard.

seen here.

Roesel's Bush Crickets

Searching for Orthoptera at Beccles Marshes I found a colony of Roesel's Crickets I know them from Benacre Broad Aldeburgh and Hen Reedbeds.
They seem as do many other insects, to be under recorded in Suffolk.

Orthoptera

orthoptera is poorly recorded here in the North so I have been out this week searching for them. There were plenty of Dark Bush Crickets, Short winged Coneheads and Speckled Bush Crickets at Waveney Forest today.

Bramble recording

The Genus Rubi Recorded at Barsham TM3990 27/07/2010.
By Alec Bull and Colin A Jacobs.
Series four Discolores.
Rubus ulmifolius Schot. By far the most frequent.
R. armeniacus Focke. Rare. (Bird sown on edge of footpath)
Series Eleven. Glandulosi.
Section B.Corylifolii.
R. hindii. A.L.Bull. Rare.
R. tuberculatus. Babington. Occasional.
R. pruinosus. Arrh. Occasional.
R. conjungens Babbington (Rogers) Rare.
Section C.Caesii.
Rubus caesius. L. Dewberry. Frequent.
Series Two. Rhamnifolii.
Rubus boudiccae. A.L.Bull &E.S.Edees. Next most common species.
Rubus cantabrigiensis. A.L.Bull & A.C.Leslie. Rare
R. babingtonianus. Watson& Newbold. Rare.



This is a photo of R. Boudiccae

Summer Fungi

Considering the dry season I found two Bay Boletes (Boletus badius)under Birch at Belton Common this week.

Also these Sea Hollies were found at Kessingland Beach

Gatekeepers

Found plenty of Gatekeepers on Bramble at Broome Pits and Mettingham Today including plenty of Large Whites which have been migrating westwards this week from the continent.

Chestnut leaf miners in Suffolk and Norfolk

The Horse Chestnut Moth Cameraria ohridella is becoming very prevalant. I visit to Thorpe Abbots Churchyard to see the rare Ilex x altaclerensis Highclere Holly found the Horse Chestnut Aesculus hippocastaneum leaves were covered in the mines of the larval stage. It does seem more common in the Upper Waveney Valley but sadly it is one moth species that is not welcome. First recorded in 2002 in Wimbledon London it has spread all over the UK.
More details here.

http://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/leafminer

Little Owl

Another unsuccessful visit to see the Frog Orchids today produced a nice Little Owl on the access road to the meadow in the Waveney Valley. Yellowhammers and Skylarks were in song despite the area being an arable desert.

Wool Alien Has Become A Pest.

One of the benefits of being in the Wild Flower Society is that Eileen and I vist sites annually to record the more rare plants. On Sunday 4th July we decided to spend the morning at the popular RSPB reserve at Minsmere on the Suffolk coast. Our main reason was to check on the small but troublesome wool alien Acaena novae –zelandia Piri Piri Bur.
It is a small indistinct plant that has these hooks called burs that rely on passing animals to re seed. The staff at the reserve are trying to get rid of it and ask visitors not to brush against the flowers and spread it. I think it should be left alone and just managed so that visiting botanists can at least add it to their diary.

White Orchid

Why do I always assume that a white Common spotted Orchid is a Lesser Butterfly orchid? well my fault is I just look at the plant and cos it is different I assume.
I should read the floras and get down to the nitty gritty before I make a fool of myself which is what I have just done. So the message is dont assume get it right.

Banded Demoiselle

There has not been many of the bigger dragonflies around since the spring started. Today (Now summer) Eileen and I found some nice Banded Demoiselles at Ellingham Churchyard.

Rusty Plants

On a Sunday 6th June Eileen and I decided to visit the Ted Ellis Reserve at Wheatfen on the edge of the Norfolk Broads. Concidentally it was also the annual public Swallowtail butterfly day, so to avoid the crowds we decided to explore Surlingham Wood and the dykes and marsh away from the main event. As soon as we arrived beside the wood Eileen noticed several non flowering Southern Marsh Orchids Dactylorhiza praetermissa covered in a rust fungus, On closer inspection I found the leaves to be covered in tiny orange circles which bordered small pits where the spores would emerge. I immediately knew this to be the Arum rust Puccinia sessilis. This rust I had found on Wild Arum Arum maculatum in 2005 at Ditchingham but this was the first time I had seen it on Marsh Orchids. I then brought a voucher back for microscopic examination and they confirmed my find. My next step was to see how many East Norfolk records there were for P. sessilis through the British Mycological Society web site. There are only 64 records dating from 1866 to 2002 with only ten records for Orchids. The next step was to contact my professional Mycologist friends for more details and one correspondent informed me it was the first record since 1997 where it was recorded in Cambridgeshire. There have as far as I know been no further records published or otherwise. It was quite a find and although recorded in the past from Wheatfen I was pleased to add a 21st century record to Wheatfen where Ted taught me field mycology.

New Flowers

My 26 years of study in Lowestoft and only Lowestoft really produced 635 species of flower. Now moving to Beccles I have 400 plus in one year. Some are very common here such as Fox and Cubs ans Meadow Saxifrage. It is always refreshing to find new species that I never found in Lowestoft too.

Meadowlands

Meadowlands.
Eileen and I decided to visit the Suffolk Wildlife Trust reserve at Metfield Meadow, also known as Wink’s meadow. It is, along with many ancient meadows a true oasis in a desert of monocultured arable crops removed hedges and little if any field edges.
In the days of the Lowestoft Field Club we visited the meadow frequently to observe and record the flora. There are seven species of Orchid to be found there and the club’s visits found most over the years. It has been a late flowering year for many trees shrubs and plants so our visit in mid May was a bit too early for the real rarity there. The majority of the Orchids were the Anacamptis morio. Green winged Orchid. As we stood at one end of the meadow we could see hundreds of flower spikes. A systematic walk through the grassland produced a few small clumps of the uncommon Ophioglossum vulgare Adder’s Tongue. And Primula veris Cowslip. The main Buttercup in flower so far was the Ranunculus bulbosa. Bulbous Buttercup. Easily identified by the downturned sepals the only spring and early summer Buttercup with this feature. The Crateagus monogyna ssp nordica Hawthorn was only just in flower which is late as on the first day of May we found full flowering trees in Newmarket. Many song birds were breeding in the thick hedgerow which is mixed with many shrubs like Euonymous europeus Spindle, although not in flower. We will now plan another summer visit to see the rare orchid and the six other species recorded here.
It may be the most difficult reserve to find but it really is worth the visit.

Green winged Orchids

Visited a meadow north of Lowestoft to find the Green winged Orchids (Orchis morio) I was successful, finding one flowering spike and then we found some Twayblade (Listera ovata) leaves with the flowers just forming. we could not find any Adder's tongue Fern (Ophiglossum vulgatum)

Next we went to the Gunton wood known locally by some as "Gunton Gardens"
Here Eileen and I found the Wavy Bittercress (Cardmine flexuosa)which grows in damp habitats and in this case by a small water-filled ditch.
I know it from North Cove but nowhere else until this great find.
We then saw the Goldilocks Buttercup (Ranuculus auricomus) a native in the wood and there are actually two sites within.

Next stop was to see if we could find any Common spotted Orchids (Dactylorhiza fucshi)and we were lucky enough to find one flowering spike.

Devils dyke

Since joining a national botanical group I have visited many sites for plants all over East Anglia. My favorite is the Devils dyke in Cambridgeshire. on Saturday we found some good numbers of Pasque flower, a very big and pretty flower.

We also saw Dingy Skippers and lots of Brimstones.

Marshes at Beccles

This morning I walked Beccles Marshes, on the River Wall I heard five Cettis Warblers and plenty of Sedge Warblers that were all singing singularly in the middle of leafless Salix Caprea trees. There were four Brimstones along the river bank and more than 10 of Peacocks and Small Tortoiseshells. The first Common Whitethroat of the year (for me ) was heard too. The Tussilago farfara was also in seed heads now.
There was also plenty of Carex riparia along the river banks too.

Forget me Not

Whilst visiting Beccles Common today I found the perennial Myosotis sykvatica but with white flowers! the normal coloured flowers were in bud but the full flowers were pure white

New Norfolk Tetrad record

On Sunday last I led a walk with Branch Y of the Wild flower society to Bath Hills at Ditchingham. Whilst at lunch in the garden with the estate owner she gave me a plant found in her orchard. It was immediatly identified as Ophioglossum vulgatum. Adders Tongue Fern. In the evening whilst checking the Norfolk Flora (Bull etal)I found that the plant is new to this tetrad and is quite distant from any other records.

Another Adder Day

Met up with nine fellow reptile enthusiasts to survey the Adder site in the Suffolk Sandlings. Some of the group were beginners so a few points on finding adders was in order before we began searching. The grand total was 15 including two females.
We also say > 10 Common Lizards but no Grass Snakes or Slowworms.

One new flower for my WFS Diary was Viola canina (Heath Dog Violet)in the rides at this site.

Mining Bees

What a great day on Thursday for Mining Bees. On Beccles Common I saw Tawny Mining bees with full pollen sacks on their legs make new burrows on the sandy edges of the common. soon they attracted the Cuckoo solitary Bee Melecta albifrons as seen here.

It seems a good site for mining bees I wonder how many more I will spot this year here.

Spring arrivals

One of my regular sites is a small reserve in the upper Waveney valley. Today I found three basking Grass Snakes. a Brimstone and a Bloody nosed Beetle.
Willow warblers, Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs were in song too

Field testeing Field Keys

Today Eileen and I visited Gunton and Foxburrow Wood in Lowestoft to try out John Poland and Eric Clements year old key to plants not in flower. We first tried to key one of the Limes (Tilia)by refering to the twigs and buds. It worked but we became stuck on what the author means by hairless or more or less so. Next I have always wanted to correctly identify a Blue Anemone which has been naturalised in Gunton Wood.
It keyed out vegetatively as Blue anemone (Anemone appenina) and flowers were confirmed in the botanists bible "Stace".
next we entered Foxburrow Wood that has several ancient woodland indicators. here we found Wood Anemone (Anemone nemorosa) and Wood Sorrel (oxalis acetosella)
I am looking forward to identifying some Salix species this week and see if the new keys are as easy as the authors say.

Swift Fest

Rather than rush around looking for these birds when reported the weekend. Eileen and I went to Westleton to see the Lesser Kestrel. We had great albeit distant views of the male bird. Afterwards we went to Kessingland Sewage Works where we saw the Pallid Swift high above the beds. had this been May I don't think it would have been identified properly.

Finally we joined a small group of Birders in the rain where we saw two Alpine Swifts, roosting together under the eaves of the flats just north of CEFAS.

A great morning where we got two lifers. and my fourth Lowestoft Alpine Swift.

These Twitchers were seen at Westleton this morning.

White flowers

Having decided not to join the birders at Kessingland for the rare Swifts I walked firstly around Beccles Common then Beccles Marshes. Along George Westwood Way in the town the verges were covered in Cochlearia danica (Danish Scurvy Grass)It is known as an halophyte which means it grows in salty conditions. The seed is mixed in with salt and grit from Russia and is spread by gritting lorries hence the plant can be found like white frost along the edge of the road very near the kerbs and on the outer edge of roundabouts. I am sure it will spread ore as we have just exprienced a long cold winter.

By the entrance to Beccles Tip I found the white flowered form of Viola odorata (Sweet Violet) with the pale lilac spur. These white flowers fascinate me.

Butterflies and Reptiles

Another survey site for Adders produced 14 males and 10 Grass Snakes.
Re found Henry as shown in photograph. his head pattern is distinctive and he has been seen here for four years. Also seen a Brimstone butterfly, three Small Tortoiseshells a Red Admiral and surprisingly two Small Coppers I found a very early single Small Copper at this site in 2006.

Adder Survey

This morning I surveyed three sites in the Suffolk sandlings for Adders in site A,B & C a total of 27. Also found a singing Dartford Warbler, flushed a woodcock and found a single Common Lizard.

Searching for spring flowers

Visited my favorite site for spring flowers today, a small reserve by the River Waveney. The cup fungus Sarcoscypha austriaca (Scarlet Elf Cup)was plentiful and is a common fungus of Alder Carr. Both the Adoxa moschatellina (Town Hall Clock)
and chrysosplenium oppositifolium (Opposite-leaved Golden-Saxifrage)had flower buds but as yet were not fully open for inclusion into the WFS diary. The diary to me is a phenological study and it is so important to record correct flowering dates.
This Sarcoscypha sp is the more common of the two known in the UK although I did find both species in the broads.

Wayland way

Spent a few hours systematically searching for Gagea lutea (Yellow star of Bethleham)
in Wayland Wood Watton Norfolk. I did not find any at all but saw two Brimstones, two Small Tortoiseshells and a Peacock. Lots of Ladybirds too.
Finally a Common Buzzard was heard calling overhead.

The Blyth Valley

The flowers are just not appearing this year. At one site in Blyford Eileen and I were looking for Butterbur but so far not so much as one flower spike. We visited several sites around Halesworth and Holton along with Wenhaston Blackheath. Nothing at all in flower and very bare. Only the churchyards were worth a visit but even after many visits they begin to pall. We found some more Galium eldwesii but we have had nothing new since 1st March. Just a day of sunshine could push a few plants to flower.
These Primroses were at Stoven Churchyard.

Snowdrop Species

The Snowdrops are now in full flower and although later than usual I did find two Snowdrop species in a local churchyard. Along with the common Galathus nivalis I found G.elwesii and the rarer G.woronowii. This was the culmination of lots of churchyard visits in the Waveney Valley and it was this churchyard near Beccles that produced the goods. This photograph shows the green inner sepals of G. elwesii.

Wildflowers and nesting birds

I spent a good few hours in Beccles on Wednesday to look for Long tailed tit nests for the BTO nest recording scheme but I did not find any as yet. Rooks were nest building on Boney's Island and there were plenty of Chaffinches and other common song birds.