How well do you know your butterflies?

David Fieldhouse, Seasonal Education Officer

Butterflies are some of the most beautiful and well-loved invertebrates in the UK. Many can reminisce fondly of the sight of peacock butterflies flocking to a lilac or buddleia on a hot day, the vibrant flash of blue as a male blue flies by in search of a female to woo, or the lazy flapping of a dark green fritillary’s wings. Butterflies seem to embody the best of the British summer, as many species will only take wing on hot, windless days with full sun where they will be free to flit from flower to flower in search of nectar.

July is by far the best month of the year to see butterflies. The wonderful thing about these beguiling creatures is that you’re never far away from them. Visit your local woodland and you’ll have a good chance of seeing the ragged outline of a comma or the distinctive spots of a speckled wood. NWT Foxley Wood is a particularly good site to see the white admiral whose elegance of flight is equalled only by the purple emperor. 

If you’re closer to the coast then keep an eye out for the small heath weakly fluttering close to the ground or the large skipper. NWT Holme Dunes is a great site for these butterflies. Why not stop for a cup of tea at our newly refurbished café and visitor centre while you’re there?

Brown argus, photo by Bob Carpenter

We are lucky enough to have a truly diverse network of habitats in Norfolk including chalky heathlands such as those found at NWT Roydon Common. More than thirty different species of butterfly have been seen at this site including the green hairstreak, which is the only UK butterfly with truly green colouration and the neat and smartly coloured brown argus.

No blog about butterflies would be complete without a mention of the jewel in the crown for butterfly enthusiasts and the public alike; the swallowtail butterfly. With a wingspan of 9cm the swallowtail is the largest UK butterfly. To see one flying powerfully over Broadland vegetation is a truly magnificent sight. They seem to be one of the few butterflies which fly with true purpose. If you go down to NWT Hickling Broad there is a high chance of seeing swallowtail caterpillars on milk parsley plants at this time of the year, their bright green colour and rubbery skin lend them an almost alien appearance. Whilst you’re at Hickling it’s also worth taking a trip on one of our boats to climb the tree tower to get a glimpse of the elusive purple hairstreak amongst the tops of the oak trees. 

How good do you think you are at identifying these delicate creatures?

Below are eight pictures, each portraying a small part of the wing of a particular species of butterfly found in the UK, how many can you identify?

Good luck! Here are the answers

Photographs courtesy of; Richard Porter, Bob Carpenter, Davis Rose, Annabelle Tipper, Paul Treloar & Elizabeth Dack.

Damsel delights

Chris Durdin, NWT Thorpe Marshes

I’ve come to dragonflies and damselflies rather late. Many birdwatchers know them well: after all, they fly, there’s a limited range of species, and their best time, in high summer, coincides with when it can be quiet in the bird world. But Odonata – that’s dragonflies and damselflies lumped together – are rather special on Norfolk’s marshes, so on my regular visits to NWT Thorpe Marshes I’ve been catching up.

Thorpe Marshes is rightly getting well-known as an easy place to see Norfolk Hawkers close to the city. But the commonest of the 17 dragons and damsel species we’ve found since the reserve was established in 2011 is easily the Common Blue Damselfly. It’s so common that it rather swamps the others and it’s all too easy to overlook similar species. 

Azure Damselfly close-up, showing Coenagrion spur

When Norfolk expert Pam Taylor told me she found Azure Damselflies here in 2013 that prompted me to search for them myself. They’ve been there in May, June and July this year and the photo is of one I crept up on. The close-up shows the ‘Coenagrion spur’ – the black line that abruptly stops part-way across the broad blue stripe on the thorax of this genus. They also strike me as slightly more delicate than Common Blue Damselflies and just a little less blue, for bright males, at least.

Another trick is to search lily pads on the tidal River Yare. Here there are often Red-eyed Damselflies alongside elegant, dancing Banded Agrions and the ubiquitous Common Blues.

Another recent find was Common Emerald Damselfly, rather green as the name suggests.

Common Emerald Damselfly, female

More wildlife news and details of monthly walks on http://www.honeyguide.co.uk/thorpemarshes.htm

Species of the month July: the Norfolk plover

Ed Parnell, Norfolk Wildlife Trust

The Breckland Living Landscape is home to the stone curlew, one of the county’s most distinctive birds, fittingly also known as the Norfolk plover.

Stone curlew, Jessica Riederer

Stone curlews are a type of wading bird, but they are not (as their name might suggest) related to the Eurasian curlew, which is a familiar bird found mainly around our coasts. In fact, the stone curlew is the only European representative of the Thick-knee family and, yes, it does have rather knobbly knees – though you’ll need a very good view to actually notice this!

Stone curlews are very much an inland bird, finding one of their national strongholds among the grassy heathlands and neighbouring arable fields of the Brecks. They are a migratory species, arriving back in Norfolk in March and April each year, having spent their winter around the Mediterranean and even south of the Sahara. A few birds now do seem to be staying put in Norfolk over the winter, perhaps a trend that will increase with climate change? 

Plumage-wise Norfolk plovers are brown and streaked above, with a pale belly and a noticeable white wing-bar. They have a stubby, strong-looking bill and long yellowish-green legs. However, their most distinctive features are their large yellow eyes, which led to another of their historical Norfolk names – the goggle-eyed plover!

Arguably the best site to see stone curlews in the UK is NWTWeeting Heath, near Brandon. Two special viewing hides have been constructed here which give excellent views over the grassy heath where the birds feed and nest. The turf is kept short by large numbers of rabbits, something which is actively encouraged by Norfolk Wildlife Trust, as they keep the grass at just the right height for these rare birds, as well as numerous scarce Breckland plants and invertebrates.

Despite the shortness of the grass, the stone curlews are not always easy to spot as their brown-streaked plumage can look remarkably like a rabbit from a distance. Often, too, the birds sit motionless for long periods (particularly when they are on the nest) and it is not until they move across the ground in short, running bursts that they become obvious. Towards dusk though their activity levels rise and they start making their rather eerie, wailing calls.

NWT Weeting Heath is located just west of Brandon on the Norfolk-Suffolk border. Leave Brandon on the A1065 towards Mundford. Cross the railway line on the outskirts of the town, then turn left to Weeting village. In the village itself take the left turn to Hockwold cum Wilton. The reserve car park and visitor centre are 2.5km west of Weeting village and well-signed from the road. 

Visitor Centre: 29 March to 31 August, every day, 10am-5pm
Reserve: 29 March to September (Aug on demand due to nesting) every day 7am till dusk
Call the centre: 01842 827615  

A small entrance charge applies for adult non-NWT members.

Cley Catch-up: 18 June 2014

After the warmth and bright sun of recent days it was something of a downer to find Cley shrouded in grey cloud with a keen northerly wind whipping across the marshes today. It was no surprise therefore to find Bishop’s Hide empty, but I needed to have a look at the scrapes to see if there was anything noteworthy to report to the Visitor Centre. 

Was there ever! As soon as I opened the hide flap I was confronted with the sight of a lovely adult spoonbill standing sentinel like just a few yards in front of me. The bird spooked at my clumsy movements and I was too slow to take any snaps, but what a great way to start the day. Closer inspection of Pat’s Pool showed the water level to be much higher than of late and it seemed more water was still flowing onto the scrapes from the catch water drain system. I wondered why this might be and all was revealed when I spoke to the warden a little later in the day. There have been several spoonbills around the reserve lately, but they have mainly been frequenting parts of the reserve that are difficult for visitors to view. So, why not raise the water level on the more accessible parts whilst at the same time flooding the area with sticklebacks and various other tasty morsels that would prove irresistible to these stately birds. And it was obviously beginning to take effect with not only the spoonbill but grey herons and little egrets joining the party. A great example of how intimate knowledge of the reserve and its inhabitants can work in favour of all, allowing visitors to appreciate these nationally rare breeders at close range. 

During the course of the day a quite respectable gathering of 11 spoonbills were using the marsh. Some of these were birds of the year recognised by their smaller pinkish coloured beaks and black edges to their primaries. These youngsters were constantly haranguing their parents, chasing them across the muds and begging to be fed. Others in the group simply loafed around standing motionless on one leg with their spatula bills tucked deeply under their wings. There's nowhere else in the country you can you see this kind of thing happening. We here in Norfolk are really quite privileged to be able to witness these intimate moments of nationally rare birds, and it is no coincidence that things of this nature regularly take place at Cley Marshes; the whole reserve is managed for this very purpose.

Little ringed plovers seem to be doing quite well this year. The pair nesting close to the visitor centre have moved their young further into the field allowing building work to commence on the new education centre. The workmen still regularly catch sight of the now half grown balls of down and it seems have also discovered a second brood nearby. Pat’s Pool is currently playing host to a third pair still sitting on eggs, and there may well be yet another on Whitwell Scrape. The fact that avocet breeding numbers are somewhat down may indirectly benefit the plovers that will be able to raise their chicks without falling foul of over-zealous pied dive bombers every few minutes. 

The pair of marsh harriers are still busily feeding their young with the female of the pair, now affectionately referred to as ‘Blondie’ in recognition of her vivid cream markings, regularly being seen hunting the fields south of the reserve. She seems far more competent a hunter than the male bringing back quite sizeable prey, young rabbits, rats and similar sized offerings for her brood. The male, who may well be relatively young and inexperienced, doesn’t seem quite so able and as far as I have observed often appears in the vicinity of the nest empty-taloned. However I’m sure the young are being well cared for overall and will surely soon fledge adding yet another dimension to the Cley experience.

Wildlife Info Service: top species questions for June

Emily Nobbs, Wildlife Information Service

The species most asked about this month on the Wildlife Information Service is bee orchids followed by bees and bee nests!

Bee orchids

Bee orchid, photo by Lucy Denman

The weather this spring seems to have brought about a boom in bee orchid numbers.

Many of you have been spotting them on the edges of farmland, brownfield or industrial sites, a frequently asked question being are they protected? Unfortunately although protected when growing in the wild under the Section 13 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which makes it illegal to up-root, when they are growing on private land the landowner can do as he or she wishes; and the only thing you can do as somebody passionate about these beautiful orchids is to educate the landowner on their importance, and how the site can be managed to benefit them.

If growing on council land you could contact them and ask them if they could not mow the area until the end of July so that they have a chance to seed, if some small stakes could be put up around it, this will also help to protect them, and make people aware they are there.

Top facts about bee orchids

1. Bee orchids typically grow on dry, grassy slopes where the soil is chalky or sandy and there aren’t many nutrients. You tend to see them in urban areas, predominantly on roadsides and old industrial sites. 
2. Bee orchids take 5-8 years to develop from seed to flower. This development depends on an association between the orchid and fungi in the soil.
3. Bee orchids produce a scent which is similar to the pheromones produce a scent which is similar to the pheromones produced by certain female bees to attract a mate. Male bees attracted by the scent then attempt to mate with the bee orchid flower, transfer pollen and fertise the bee orchids. However in England bee orchids appear to be self-pollinated.
4. Bee orchids are notoriously unprediatble, appearing for a few years at a site in good numbers and then completely vanishing.
5. The best time to look for bee orchids is june and early july. Nature reserves where you can see them include NWT Narborough Railway Line and NWT Holme Dunes reserve. On coastal dunes such as Holkham and Burnham Overy.
6.   Despite their beauty they are often thought of as difficult to spot

Bees and bee nests

Bumblebees are very important pollinators for our crops and flowers, bio-diverse margins of farmlands being an important food source for bees pollinating crop.

Common bumblebees in England:

• ·         Buff-tailed bumblebee  Bombus terrestris
• ·         White- tailed bumblebee  Bombus lucorum
• ·         Garden bumblebee  Bombus hortorum
• ·         Early bumblebee  Bombus pratorum
• ·         Common carder bee  Bombus pascuorum
• ·         Red-tailed bumblebee  Bombus lapidaries
• ·         Tree bumblebee  Bombus hypnorum
• ·         Heath bumblebee  Bombus jonellus

Bees are non-aggressive and will only sting if they are threatened or disturbed, if not they will go about their day doing a great job of pollinating and making honey.

Top facts about bees

Honey bee, photo by Peter Dent

1. Male bees do sting
2.  Tree bumblebee is the newest bee in the Uk, This species was first found in the UK in 2001
3. Sussex university is currently decoding the honey bee waggle dances to determine the movement of honey bees in apple orchards in order to understand apple pollination better. This project is part of Nick Balfour's PhD on "Helping Bees and Agricultural Pollination in Farm Land" which is part of the "Sussex Plan for Honey Bee Health & Well Being"
4. Only honey bees swarm
5.  To raise the temperature of the flight muscles high enough to enable flight the bumblebee shivers, rather the same way we do when we are cold. This can easily be seen in a grounded bee as her abdomen will pump to ventilate the flight muscles.

For more information about bees and bee nests please visit the Bumble Bee Conservation Trust website: http://bumblebeeconservation.org/  

Bee nests

It is important to know that bees rarely nest in the same place, so if you have them in your garden this year, it is unlikely you will have them the following year. We understand that sometimes the positioning of bee’s nests can be awkward and as a last resort you or a local bee expert may have to move the nest to another location. To find out more about how to move a bee nest please check out the Bumble Bee Conservation Trust’s website: http://bumblebeeconservation.org/about-bees/faqs/moving-bumblebee-nests/