Thursday is our regular volunteer work party day and we had various jobs to complete today so we split into two groups. Emma took one group to continue with some of the ragwort, Senecio jacobaea, pulling whilst Darren and I headed down to Botany Bay with chainsaws and brushcutters to clear a fallen tree and open up a section of path in preparation for the long walk on Sunday.
Whilst driving through the reserve we were treated to seeing the crane pair Little and Large plus their chick in one of the grazing marsh fields and many newly fledged marsh harriers, who were loafing around on the tracks, on fence posts and in willow bushes waiting for mum or dad to return with some food for them.
Botany Bay was fabulous for insects as usual at this time of year and I had a little time to grab a few photographs as I finished my chainsawing before Darren completed his brush-cutting. There were numerous damsel and dragonflies including this ruddy darter Sympetrum sanguineum which posed nicely for me, plus butterflies, bees and hoverflies.
I also saw this little beast which I think is the Conopid fly Sicus ferrugineus. Adult Conopid flies are often seen on flowers taking nectar, however the larvae of these flies have much more gruesome diet for they are parasites of bees and wasps . These little flies jump on the bees back in flight and lay an egg on them. The fly larvae then develops inside the bee, feasting on it's internal organs....
After finishing our work, Darren and I got back in the truck and rejoined the main group who were working along the bank in Joist Fen South grazing marsh near the railway line pulling ragwort. Ragwort is a great nectar source and supports a number of interesting insect species. However it is poisonous to some grazing animals, particularly horses. Our grazier takes hay of different fields each year and grazes with ponies as well as cattle and sheep. In addition we have Higher Level Stewardship agreement which helps us financially to manage Lakenheath and our grazier claims the the Single Payment so we need to take appropriate steps to manage the plant within the reserve to comply with the rules of both these schemes. Therefore we control the plant in the grazed and hayed parts of the reserve but leave it for the cinnabar moths and nectar loving insects elsewhere.
Here is the team enjoying a well earned break and some of Emma's lovely lemon drizzle cake.
During the rest of the day we were treated to a fly past by the other pair of cranes with their twins and two more flights from Little and Large plus their youngster. If you want to see the cranes now is the time to come to Lakenheath as from our experience in previous years they will hang around for a couple more weeks and then venture out into the wider Fens to feed in the arable fields.
We hope to see you soon.
Dave Rogers
Senior Site Manager.
David Rogers Senior Site Manager - Lakenheath Fen