Back to The old patch

Well after three years living in Beccles I have decided to go back to Lowestoft where the birding and Nature is much better and richer. I will be the Lowestoft Naturalist from 1st November 2011

Knoppers

A great walk this afternoon with Heather and her kids to Ellough we saw plenty of plant galls including these bright Knopper Galls (Andricus quercuscalis.) on acorns.

Over 100 flowering plants seen including Amaranthus retroflexus. (Common Amaranth.)

The Slugs and Snails

There is nothing more interesting for children this summer holiday to make a pet of the land molluscs namely slugs and snails. Keeping a few in a large jar covered with paper with breating holes and feeding them with lettuce or other succulant plants is a very interesting pastime. Slugs have no shell to speak of and can be tickled and you can see the response as if one was coaching a cat or a dog. By searching under logs and your parents or friends compsot heaps many different slugs and snails may be found to be studied. The large Slug Arion ater has some distinct colour froms and in my garden I find the variety called rufus in good numbers. For our large common garden snail Helix aspersa they too can be collected from garden vegetation and you children may be helping with pest control by taking them and rearing them. Try painting the shell different colours using a felt tip pen and locate them throughout the garden for the rest of the year.
Some Snail connoissuers feed them with lettuce for a few weeks to purge the snail of impurities and boil and eat them just like the french who call then "Escargot."

Bath Hills Norfolk

This morning I enjoyed a walk from Bungay Common to the Bath Hills at Ditchingham.
The dried ground did not produce the very small plants on the common that are unusual.
But the Bath Hills produced many copulating Azure Damselflies (Coenagrion puella.)

several Cardinal Beetles (Pyrochroa serraticornis.) and Banded Demoiselles by the river Waveney. When I got home I saw this micro moth Pyrausta aurata. on our Thyme.

Adder Watching

Saw more Adders today in a North Suffolk Woodland edge along with a few Grass Snakes.

a few Green veined whites too.

at Home Two Waxwings were in trees opposite our garden.

Blackcaps and Snakes

Another foray to my sites for Adders produced about seven but as I was nearing mid day I thought it a good count. After tea a walk around teh patch produced the first Blackcap of the year, a fine male in song. This morning we saw a brimstone at Barnby Bends. Finally this sunset last night was brilliant.

Adder Survey

Travelled to the Suffolk Sandling's to survey the Adders at only 8c and overcast conditions with a cold southerly wind only seven were found, I now have many photographs of Adders and will now start my own dossier on them as you can tell individuals by their head pattern.

Dull day produced Owls

Nest recording this morning for the BTO and found a Tawny Owl Nest and Little Owl. 1st singing Chifffchaff of the year locally too.

Spring moves fast

After a long cold miserable winter and the dullest February in 18 years today I visited Sotterley. Saw six Hawfinches at dawn, the Galanthus nivalis flore pleno (double flowered.) were almost over but the Daffodils more than made up for it.