New Buckenham Common

Spittle Mere, New Buckenham Common

A brief evening trip to New Buckenham Common. The meadows were in full flower, with lovely displays of Meadow Saxifrage Saxifraga granulata and Green-winged Orchid Anacamptis morio.

Meadow Saxifrage Saxifraga granulata

Green-winged Orchid Anacamptis morio

Green-winged Orchid Anacamptis morio

Green-winged Orchid Anacamptis morio

Green-winged Orchid Anacamptis morio

Most curious of all, I had been working all day on a revision of the conservation status of the large blue Anodorhynchus and Cyanopsitta macaws and had finished the day's work with Blue-and-yellow Macaw Ara ararauna just in time to leave for New Buckenham. For a minute or two after we entered the common, I had been subconsciously hearing the harsh raaak calls of a large Ara macaw, but had been ignoring them, probably because they have for so long been a familiar background sound to me. Suddenly, realising that macaws should not be a usual component of English summer bird song, I raced after the sounds and traced them to a lonely captive bird on a sad little plot of built-up land in the middle of the common.  

The traditional spring evening chorus included resident Blackbirds and Song Thrushes, and conversing Rooks as well as a distant Reed Bunting. Summer visitor vocalists included Swift, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Swallow, House Martin and... the unmistakeable purring of a Turtle Dove. It did not allow us to study it on the perch, but we did have three or four passable views of the dove in display flight. There is certainly nothing to complain about even a glimpse of this species: its population has plummeted by over 90% since I began birding, almost certainly due to herbicide use, and is now below 14,000 territories.

The decline of the Turtle Dove Streptopelia turtur in the UK (BTO - ref. below)

Our final bird was a Barn Owl, lit by the last of the setting sun as it quartered over the grassland.


References

Baillie, S.R., Marchant, J.H., Leech, D.I., Massimino, D., Eglington, S.M., Johnston, A., Noble, D.G., Barimore, C., Kew, A.J., Downie, I.S., Risely, K. & Robinson, R.A. (2014). BirdTrends 2013: trends in numbers, breeding success and survival for UK breeding birds. BTO Research Report No. 652. BTO, Thetford. http://www.bto.org/birdtrends 

Collar, N., Boesman, P. & Sharpe, C.J. (2014). Blue-and-yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.) (2014). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/node/54616 on 14 May 2014).

Knettishall Heath

Quick picnic lunch at Knettishall Heath, just over the border in Suffolk. This is a 175 ha Suffolk Wildlife Trust Reserve (purchased in 2012) and 91.7 ha SSSI. Four long-distanced paths – Angles Way, Icknield Way, Iceni Way and Peddars Way – converge on the site. The Little Ouse runs W-E along the N edge of the heath.

The couple of hours we spent there were surprisingly productive.

The first things that caught our eyes were a dozen or so Green Tiger Beetles Cicindela campestris staking out territories in wheel ruts as we entered the heath.

Green Tiger Beetles Cicindela campestris

Green Tiger Beetles Cicindela campestris

Then, in the same place, the first Small Copper of the year...

Small Copper Lycaena phlaeas

Higher up and further away from the road, the heather is more luxuriant. As we walked through it, we came across two moths that can often be seen in the daytime: Ruby Tiger Phragmatobia fuliginosa  and Double-striped Pug Gymnoscelis rufifasciata.

Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs sang from mixed woodland. Right at the edge of the wood, we came across an egg that I have not been able to identify. 30 mm long. Could it be Red-legged Partridge?

Unidentified egg - Red-legged Partridge?

We had been carefully checking the sunlit border between heath and woodland, but it was not until we let down our guard that we came across what we had been hoping to find: an Adder darting quickly into cover.

Underneath the pines, Climbing Cordyalis...

Climbing Corydalis Ceratocapnos claviculata

During lunch along the Little Ouse, a Great Diving Beetle larva swam by...

 Great Diving Beetle Dytiscus marginalis larva

An impressive beast with a formidable set of jaws...

 Great Diving Beetle Dytiscus marginalis larva

After the Diving Beetle, a leech swam into view. About 3-4 cm long, it looked very much like the Medicinal Leeches I have encountered (!) in the Lake District.

Human Bot Fly Dermatobia hominis myiasis continued

This year my botfly larvae were not so simple to remove, particularly the one in my ankle, which caused enough swelling that my right foot no longer fit into a shoe. By Friday afternoon, after a failed attempt to expel it, I could no longer feel this larva moving about, and my ankle was becoming more swollen and discoloured. Fortunately, a kind doctor solved the problem by taking me to Norwich A&E today and surgically removing all the larvae. I was surprised to find that they were about half the size of those that I had successfully expelled in previous years, because they caused considerably more discomfort and inconvenience.

One of my 2nd instar Dermatobia hominis larvae. The breathing tube is on the left, mouthparts on the extreme right. Note the concentric rows of backward-pointing, decurved spines, which serve to anchor the larva in place.