NWT Breckland Local Group: A butterfly ramble at East Wretham Heath Reserve

As winter draws in with cold frosty mornings - Carole Herries, Secretary of the NWT Breckland Local Group reflects back on a lovely day out earlier in the year in Breckland where she and the group encountered a host of butterflies and a beautiful moth.
  

'On a fine autumn morning on 14 September 2016, 21 members of the NWT Breckland Local Group set out on a walk at East Wretham Heath Reserve. The walk started at the information board on the reserve, and was led by the Matt Blissett, the Breckland Reserves Manager.

Peacock moth with 'footprints'

On the walk, the group viewed the many Breckland pine trees that are a key feature in the landscape.   Another welcome sight was a beautiful peacock moth with its characteristic footprint-like markings on its wings quite evident. 

Small copper butterfly

 
Later on a small copper provided a colourful display for us.  During our visit we walked through the wooded area of the reserve, the route taking us on a 3 mile walk which took approximately 2 hours. 

 

Speckled wood butterfly

Amongst some of the ferns, we observed a speckled wood butterfly which posed very nicely for the camera. Matt's talk was very informative and enjoyable talk whilst walking around the reserve - refreshments and a chat afterwards completed a really good morning.

 

 

The Breckland Local Group have recently reformed and are hoping to organise several more walks next year.'
www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/support-us/local-groups/breckland-local-group
 
All photographs by Carole Herries 

Churchyards, rabbits, rain and rising water levels

 
Angela Collins, Norfolk Wildlife Trust's Volunteer Coordinator has just met up with some of our committed and hardworking Visitor Centre Volunteers for an end of season get together and update on the year's progress.

"This week I had the pleasure to meet with some of our Visitor Centre volunteers at an end of season event.   The day started in the village hall in Thompson. Nick Morritt, Visitor Services Manager gave a very interesting review of each centre and highlights of the year together with plans for next year.  It was great to hear that visitor numbers have been good across all the visitor centres this year with the majority showing an increase, sales have gone well, particularly our specialist wildlife/nature themed books collection, which rivals any on the high street. The special duck and swan feed being sold at Ranworth this year was a huge success and flew of the shelves, with the double benefit of good for fundraising but also hopefully preventing wildfowl being fed with more harmful white bread and cake.

Then Emily Nobbs, Conservation Officer, told us all about the NWT Churchyard Conservation Scheme.   Churches and their grounds, which have been there for years and experience little change, are important wildlife refuges in the landscape, protecting a huge number of species, including flowers, bats, butterflies, birds, lichens, slow worms, and veteran trees.   Emily explained how the scheme helped churches to survey the church grounds to find what is there, and then give focused management advice and support to help the churchyard to be managed sympathetically for people, remembrance and wildlife. 

Hardy NWT volunteers at NWT East Wretham Heath

By this time the weather didn’t look quite as bad as the forecast, with only light showers, so we checked everyone was still happy to go out, some understandably chose to leave, but the rest of us headed to NWT East Wretham Heath, where we were met by the warden Matthew Blissett.  Matt explained about the history of the heath and the importance of wild rabbits to its management; the way they are able to create the short cropped sward which is so important for the biodiversity of the site, including the rare wildlife found in the Brecks such as stone curlews and many rare plants.   

Unfortunately, rabbits across the UK are being infected with rabbit hemorrhagic disease which is causing a big decline in their numbers in some areas, including the Breckland heaths, this is something we need to continue to monitor to better understand how this will affect our heaths.   

Taking in the view at Langmere

Matt then took us to the Sydney Long memorial alongside Langmere, which is an interesting mere with fluctuating water levels fed by rising ground water, there is a long delay in months of how the mere fills after rainy conditions, it was dry in February this year, but was looking very full now after a dry summer. Matt helped us understand how this might work; imagine an empty bucket with holes in the bottom, being placed in a bath full of water, the bucket would slowly fill but it wouldn’t fill straight away, well that’s how Langmere works.   

The rain continued and got a little heavier but we were not to be deterred and carried on round to the hide with more discussion about the management of the heath and the wildlife found there.

An enjoyable and interesting day for all I think.  Thank you to all of our volunteers for their tremendous support in our visitor centres over the summer, and we look forward to seeing everyone back again when Hickling, Ranworth and Weeting reopen in the Spring, and of course Holme and Cley continue year round with winter opening, with the much appreciated support of so many volunteers there."

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Weeting Warden's Diary: June

By Sophie Harrison and Abi Nell

The end of May was wet and cold, but despite this a new pair of stone curlews arrived and started sitting on eggs at NWT Weeting Heath. After sifting through our records we discovered that the male bird with ring combination (BTO, ORG, RED, RED) was originally ringed back in 2012 not far from Weeting. He had been previously recorded at Weeting in both 2013 and 2014 with a first nesting attempt recorded on neighbouring land in 2015. His partner with ring combination (LBU, -, LGN, DG/BTO) was first ringed in 2012 on Hockwold heath and had her first breeding attempt with another male in 2014. Stone curlews mate for life and only change partners if one passes away. This male is therefore her second partner and more her own age.
 
A heat wave at the beginning of June gave this pair a fighting chance and they were spotted taking turns to incubate the eggs a few days later. We were able to capture this pair on camera on 6 June and hopes were raised that this pair could rescue this year's breeding population at Weeting. However, a few days before hatching these hoped were dashed! Late one night, a hungry passing opportunist in the form of a vixen took quiet a fancy to these eggs… and had herself a tasty midnight snack! She was first seen at 23:19pm when she carried off the first egg. The crafty vixen then returned to gobble the second egg a minute later. The birds were then seen at 23:25pm when they returned to their empty nest. Dismayed, they abandoned the scrape. Their dismay was also shared by the team here at Weeting!

Since this happening on 12 June, this pair has been feeling sorry for themselves and have been seen moping about the heath looking a bit lost! We have been watching this pair very closely to see if they will have one last breeding attempt before the end of the season. However, as June begins to draw to a close, this look less likely as the stonies will require three weeks for egg incubation and six weeks for the chicks to fledge.  Earlier this week the pair were seen displaying and giving each other food parcels. Maybe this is in consolidation over their loss or it may be a positive sign signalling another breeding attempt! Fingers crossed that July's blog will have some hopeful news!

On Saturday 4 June, Weeting Heath held the event ‘Fantastic Night Fall Flyers’. The aim of the evening was to see if we could find bats, moths and nightjars unique to Weeting Heath. The event was a huge success with a great turnout! Many thanks to Matthew Blissett for his fantastic tepee moth trap set up! This trap along with four others running that night produced some fantastic moths!  Highlights included the Breckland specialist Lunar Yellow Underwing, and also fox moth, clouded buff, and elephant hawk moth (heathland specialists).

However it was the Cream Spot Tiger with its striking distinct colouration that stole the show! Cream Spot Tigers  feed on dandelion, dock and plantain. When threatened, they flash their bright red abdomen and yellow and orange underwing to avoid being eaten! (Rumour on the bird grape vine also informs me that they don’t taste very nice either!!) It may be one of the UK’s most beautiful and distinguishable moths with its striking pale spots, but this defence is necessary when they have one of the UK’s smallest population distributions!

We were out in force with bat detectors that evening,  and  picked up Soprano and common pipistrelle. Even the stone curlews were playing ball that night, as right on cue a pair soared over the pine belt during the late night walk in full view calling loudly to each other! The evening was rounded up with hot chocolates (complete with marsh mellows and cream of course!) and home baked cookies from Weeting’s star baker- Abi Nell.

The weather hasn’t made its mind up this month so has greatly confused many of our breeding species here at Weeting. Consequently, spotted flycatchers have not yet been able to breed successfully in the pines and butterfly counts have been low and in-frequent. However, when the sun decided to shine we had Holly Blues emerge and the first generation of Meadow Browns for the season! The only species that has been unaffected by this weather is the treecreepers! Terry and Teresa that decided to nest behind the VC sign last year decided they wanted a change of scenery. They relocated behind a drainpipe on the side of the west hide. This move was clearly a well thought out idea as they successfully fledged all four chicks!

This month was also the relaunch of the Breckland Local Group. The first meeting was a huge success with guest speakers Matthew Blissett and Sam Neal talking about the fantastic wildlife and reserves in the Brecks, and how important it is to get involved with monitoring and conservation work. The next event is a guided walk at Weeting Heath at 10am on Sunday 10 July. Come and discover the great variety of flora and fauna that Weeting Heath has to offer! Entry is £2 for members and £3.75 for non-members. Pop into Weeting Heath Visitor Centre for more information or contact the Breckland Local Group on 01953 548304 for more information.

An easy way to get involved with wildlife monitoring or recording in the Brecks  is to find out what NBIS (Norfolk and Norwich Naturalist Society) has to offer. Sophie and Abi have been taking advantage of the fantastic free courses from NBIS as part of their Little Ouse Wildlife Recording Festival this month. One Tuesday night they attended a freshwater invertebrates identification session with Dan Hoare (Norfolk and Norwich Naturalist Society) and the NBIS team at St Helens picnic site. The sections of the Little Ouse we sampled were full of life, with many keystone species and species that indicate river health. We discovered larvae a plently including this rather smiley beetle larvae and were amazed by the number of tiny stickle-backs, minnows and bullheads that found their way into the net! Follow the link to find out more about the NBIS events programme.

Now live: watch Sophie show YouTuber, Maddie Moate our stone curlews in NWT's 9 for 90 film in celebration of our 90th anniversary.

 

Wild at Weeting

By Abi Nell and Sophie Harrison

At Weeting Heath despite the wind and rain, pair 1 persisted and hatched two fluffy chicks on Sunday 8 May. Earlier that day the female was captured on Sock Cam taking egg shell pieces away from the nest. This important behaviour removes any smells and traces of hatching and lures predators away from the nest site. At 3.15pm the first chick was born, and while one parent brooded the chick, the other went in search for worms and insects to feed it with. The second chick then hatched at 4:23pm and soon both were tumbling about the nest.

When the adult returns with the food parcel, the brooding bird lets one chick out at a time so they get their fair share of the food. This maximises survival of both chicks when food is abundant. This behaviour is different from other birds, as it is usually a scramble for food and survival of the fittest when the adult returns to the nest with food. However, if the weather turns and food availability is limited, the parents will focus on and feed the larger chick. As brutal as this may sound, it is better to rear one healthy chick than lose two chicks to lack of food.

After the excitement of watching the chicks hatch, they were closely monitored every day until day seven, when they were predated by crows. The adult stone curlews are still on the Heath and have been seen displaying but we have had no confirmed sightings of them making a new scrape or laying a second clutch of eggs.

As we finish writing this blog, the weather got worse and we have been treated to torrential rain and strong winds. Not good news for ground or tree nesting birds! Fingers crossed that June will bring kinder more consistent weather to save the breeding season for the stone curlews of Weeting Heath.

In celebration of Norfolk Wildlife Trust's 90th anniversary, we held a family fun day on the May bank holiday called ‘Wild at Weeting’. There was a lot going on from kids activities and a cake stall, to a guided walk and a moth demonstration. With a huge team effort from both staff and volunteers, the event was a great success and raised more than £550 for the Norfolk Wildlife Trust. 

From left to right John Davies, Maddie Moate, and two children enjoying the fayre all taken by Abi Nell

Our next upcoming event is ‘Fantastic Nightfall Flyers’ on Saturday 10 September. We go in search for nightjars, bats and moths across the reserve. The event runs from 8 until 10 pm and includes a walk around the reserve, inspection of the moth traps and hot chocolate in the Visitor Centre afterwards. Open to adults, children and families. To book your place please phone 01603 625540.

May has brought a few more migrants back to the Brecks. The first cuckoo heard was heard calling on 4 May, and the first hobbys were seen on 5 May. Our spotted flycatchers returned on 6 May are have been busy feeding up and establishing territories. We hope June will see them nesting and fledging some spotty chicks.

The weather warmed up enough to bring out the first holly blue of the season on 1 May! In the first butterfly transect of the season we recorded 42 individuals and 11 different species including speckled wood and small skipper.

Moth trapping has also been more slightly more successful this month. Highlights so far include a chocolate tip and a frosted green. While we have been out on butterfly transects we have spotted some rather striking day-flying moths. The cinnabars are now out in force, hunting out ragwort for their caterpillars to devour. We also came across this beautiful Mother Shipton moth, named after a 16th century witch from Yorkshire!

Green veined white, speckled wood and mother Shipton moth all taken by Abi Nell

  
Sophie, Abi and the volunteers have been out surveying the rare Breckland plants on an arable weed reserve. Breckland speedwell, (Veronica praecox) fingered speedwell (Veronica triphyllos) and spring speedwell (Veronica verna) are all rare Breckland specialist plants. They are monitored annually for population size and distribution for reserve records. We spent several rainy days on our hands and knees counting these rare specimens. They are easily confused with other similar common species, germander speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys) and wall speedwell (Veronica arvensis) which is why we had to get so up close and personal with the plants. The three species are very alike in basic structure but there are a few tell tail signs to help identify them.

Spring speedwell stands upright and is renowned for having the tiniest of dark blue flowers. Another telling feature is that its lower leaves have five distinctive lobes. Breckland speedwell has a flattened heart shaped seed pod, and its lower leaves have a deep red colouration underneath. Fingered speedwell is the rarest of the three species, has small blue flowers and leaves that look like three fat fingers. We used coloured sticks to indicate the presence of a species, blue for Breckland speedwell and pink for spring speedwell. Fingered speedwell was so uncommon that we didn’t need many sticks for that! Safe to say we all dreamt of counting speedwells in our sleep.