We had the most wonderful trip to Norfolk over the weekend.
Arriving on Friday afternoon, we had a wander around the village of Brundall which was to be our base for the next 4 days.
The first thing that struck me was the clear engagement with nature, not just by the residents (it looked like every house had its own wildlife reserve for a garden) but also the council, minimal verge cutting (they were brimming with flowers) but not a drop of glyphosate to be seen! Other councils should take note.
There was a wonderful local nature reserve by the name of Creamers Meadow which was an absolute delight-small but perfectly formed. The orchids were stunning as was the number of banded demoiselles and our first close encounter with a muntjac deer.
The next morning I went out earlt to Strumpshaw Fen-a wonderful reserve on the banks of the river Yare, managed by the RSPB and probably more famous for its swallowtail butterflies than the birds that also live there.
I didnt expect to see any butterflies first thing so I used the time to navigate my way around the reserve in anticipation of having to move around later in search of the elusive quarry. I headed towards tower hide and on the way there were at least two cuckoos calling, blackcaps galore interspersed with a sprinkle of cettis warbler and reed warbler-a great start.
I also heard the distant boom of a bittern and the first sight that greeted me was 3 marsh harriers hunting over the fen and a common tern hunting fish close to the hide.
After an hour I made a move and headed north. The sun was out and there was a good number pf active dragonflies including my first ever scarce chaser.
I made my way back to the visitor centre to check if any swallowtails were around.On the way back a muntjac deer and single speckled wood were the highlights.
No swallowtails at the VC so I headed to another well known spot-the doctors garden. Again no sign so went on to the boardwalk. On the way I met up with a really knowledgable young lad who apparrently writes blogs for the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, I was mightily impressed by his knowledge of all of the fauna and flora-he very kindly put me on to my first Norfolk Hawker as well as pointing out a very small swallowtail caterpillar (technically my first ever swallowtail) but not in the form I was hoping for. The boardwalk was good for common lizards as well as close views of marsh cinquefoil and marsh pea.
I made my way back to the car park for a spot of early lunch then went back to check out the VC. No sign so this time I headed out around the woodland walk, brown rat and squirrel were added to the mammal list as well as more muntjac. The woodland walk gave way to open fenland that took me part way along the river Yare. Great crested grebe was the highlight with a couple of buzards overhead. A very kind gentleman put me on to my first ever Fen Raft Spider-what a beast but I had to make a hasty retreat as the heavens opened.
A break in the visitor centre withe some very nice ice cream whiled away some time as the rain continued.
After around an hour it eased and the clouds parted-sunshine at last. I hung around the VC for a while and a very smart ruby tailed wasp created photographic interest while all the time I was hoping for the appearance of a swallowtail. In the enxt two hours I commuted between the VC and the Doctors garden with just 3 red admirals for my hard labour. At around 4.15 I realised I was running out of time but ever the optimist I headed back to the VC and news of a sighting filtered out. A swallowtail had settled on the ground just outside the visitor centre long enough for dome photos. There was still hope!
It had moved on by the time I got there but after only 5 minutes a shout went up that one had been seen near the car park-I dashed over and sure enough sat out in all its glory was my first ever swallowtail. The wait of 50 years plus the 9 1/2 hours on site was over! What a magnificent creature. It wasn’t a perfect specimen as it has a tear in its wing but still, wow I was mesmerised.
It stayed for around 10 minutes, wings half closed as the sun was obscured by cloud the opened them fully as the sun came out.
A true bucket list tick was finally accomplished along with a host of other amazing wildlife at a very special place, full of friendly people sharing the same excitement about some of our natural wonders!
