It has been a bit hot recently, hasn't it? A heatwave hit the UK this month with temperatures reaching around 40°C! Strumpshaw was sweltering! Thankfully, no wildfires occurred. However, water levels have dropped and parts of the reserve had dried up. The views from our Fen and Tower hides were more dried mud than water. Don't worry, this is as expected for this time of year. But, if you are hoping to do some pond dipping this summer, please check with reception as to which pond is open as water levels are extremely low.
Did somebody pull the plug? The view from Tower Hide
As we prayed for rain, it hasn't been a bad month wildlife-wise. Though July has been a quieter month in terms of rare migratory birds and at times, the extreme heat and the horseflies may have been too much to bear, it still managed to produce some memorable encounters and there were definitely plenty of things to go out to look for.
In swallowtail news, it appears that the heatwave has certainly helped in speeding up metamorphism as a second wave has emerged. A few were on the wing, some looking rather fresh as well as a few tatty ones, which were likely to be the remainder from the previous main wave. The buddleia bushes dotted around the reserve are your best bet in seeing one. These 'butterfly bushes' were also attracting other species that are equally impressive including silver-washed fritillaries and white admirals and maybe a hummingbird hawkmoth, which have had several sightings on the reserve since June.
If you weren't lucky enough to find a swallowtail butterfly this month, then their caterpillars were certainly the next best thing. If you know where to look and don't mind scanning milk parsley leaves (their main food plant), you will find them easier to track down. There are several out right now looking large, green and stripey.
I was quite surprised when one was discovered on the leaves of a hogweed plant beside the reception building. This is a highly toxic plant, but the caterpillar seemed to be happy munching on it and was growing bigger and greener by the day. It eventually disappeared, most likely pupated somewhere, but as I mentioned, we still have several others elsewhere feeding on milk parsley that you can still able to go see for yourselves.
Dragonflies are as abundant as ever. The larger species are dominating over the waterways, including the bright blue and enormous emperor dragonfly, the southern hawker with an intricate black pattern over their blue and green bodies, and the brown hawker, which is easy to pick out with their brown bodies and bronze-tinged wings.
Another member of the Odenata family to look out for are willow emerald damselflies. These are large, glistening green damselflies that are still relatively recent newcomers, on record on the reserve for more than over a decade now. You can find them where willow branches drape over the water. They are unusual for the fact that they lay their eggs not in the water, but into the trees themselves. The female makes an incision into the bark (which creates little bumpy scars called galls all over the tree) and lays an egg inside. A fascinating creature if you've never seen one before.
While there hasn't been anything out of the ordinary in the form of rare migrants across the Yare valley, Buckenham did provide us with a few surprises. This included a wood sandpiper (July 18 - July 21st), a single pink-footed goose (very unusual for this time of year), a greenshank (July 23rd) and 12 Mediterranean gulls (July 8th). While, at Strumpshaw, a juvenile garganey has appeared outside the reception since July 22nd. Garganeys at this time of year will appear as drab as the other ducks and can be easily overlooked. However, if you see a really small duck with a pale stripe above the eye, then you will have the duck you are looking for.
We may not have had anything rare that could draw in a crowd, but we did have our barn owls, which have been extremely busy in these last couple of months and have been a crowd pleaser in their own right. They tend to hunt over the meadows during the cooler parts of the day (early morning and before dusk), bringing their catches back to feed their three chicks. You can view the owls from the toe-dipping platform near the pumphouse.
Not far from the owl viewing spot, as you come out of the woodland trail, is a good place to see spotted flycatchers. They have been successful in rearing their young and are now feeding a second brood. They've been regularly posing on bare branched trees along the path leading to the platform.
If you want to see a bittern, one has been flying around the reserve quite regularly and consistent. It also tends to have a routine, visible from reception, of preening itself in full view or poking its head from the reedbed at the back of the broad.
Otters and kingfishers are about too. Since the broad outside the reception has the most water on the reserve (other than the river of course), a mother otter with a cub or two have been regularly visiting to hunt in more recent days. Keep an eye on the movements of the ducks which will alert you of their presence. Meanwhile, marsh harrier chicks have now fledged and can be seen perched on bushes or flying around begging to be fed.
The bearded tits have also had success in rearing young and have been very actively pinging and flying back and forth between the reedbeds. These wonderful birds can be seen from all three hides. They've been a lot more vocal and visible lately and can be seen hopping around the base of the reeds or darting between reedbeds.
With low water levels, it is a great opportunity to seek out water rails. They tend to come out into the open a lot more to feed in the mud. So now is a good time to see these elusive birds.
Crane sightings have been less regular than in previous months, but are still seen occasionally. Great white egret sightings, on the other hand, are growing in number with about 6 seen at one time from the Fen Hide on July 18th.
Our team of staff and volunteers have been busy working away during this month's heatwave to make sure our three reserves are in tip top condition for your enjoyment. They have done a great job despite the hot weather conditions and were rewarded with possibly one of the best encounter stories of the month as the team had a stoat come fearlessly investigate them at close quarters along one of the path borders. One of the team was even sitting beside it without spooking it! Stoat and weasel sightings have been on the rise this month and you too may have the chance of having a similar encounter.
Let's hope August will be a lot cooler and hope for rain as drought conditions are about to be declared for Norfolk. By the end of next month, we should hopefully get some migratory movement as the urge to prepare for the trip south begins to stir. We may get an osprey or two passing through or maybe even something even more unexpected.
With the summer school holidays underway we have lots of activities and events running daily to keep your family entertained including an activity trail, find out more here: https://events.rspb.org.uk/events/20882. In addition we have organised 4 Really Wild Family days on Wednesdays throughout the summer details can be found here: https://events.rspb.org.uk/browse?filter[schedule]=1197