I just thought I would start this morning with two photos of creatures that I mentioned last week (and very pretty plant!) Here is the female glow-worm that we found while bug hunting last Thursday:
Image credit: David White
....And here is one of the impressive red underwing moths that spent most of last weekend roosting near the visitor centre. They really are as big as they look:
As for the very pretty plant, I went out for a walk near the visitor centre on Saturday afternoon and I found this beauty:
Its large-flowered hemp-nettle, which is a bit of a local specialty. It only grows on disturbed ground in peaty soils so it is rather thinly distributed in Britain. If you would like to see it, it is currently in flower on the approach to the path up to the riverbank near the visitor centre. If you are not sure where I mean, come in and ask! I have event put a little sign next to it, so that as many people as possible can enjoy its pretty flowers which to me resemble yellow bee orchids!
At least one of our pair of cranes are present and they were last seen in "Humphrey's Paddock", an area of grazing marsh near Joist Fen viewpoint on Wednesday. Our local bitterns are still being seen regularly and two were seen chasing each other over the riverbank yesterday which is unusual behavior for this time of year. Small parties of bearded tits keep popping up in various places and I saw three just north of New Fen viewpoint yesterday morning.
There have been several sightings of turtle doves recently which is a great sign. There was a high count of 14 on the wires on the Norfolk side of the river on Sunday (visible from the riverbank) and two flew over Joist Fen viewpoint later on in the day. I saw a male barn owl hunting over the washland on Wednesday and there were two bullfinchs feeding in the bushes near the visitor centre. Surprisingly, these birds are quite scarce here so it was lovely to see them.
Although its not quite as warm as it was, there have still been plenty of insects on the wing, including several unusual species. On Sunday a hummingbird hawkmoth was seen feeding along the riverbank and at least one clouded yellow was seen in the same area. We were having a meeting in the staff car park on Wednesday and I kept getting distracted by insects! At one point a Roesel's bush cricket actually landed on the table! A brown argus was feeding on the ragwort and several migrant hawkers were patrolling the area in pursuit of insects. We hope to see you soon!