Warden's Wildlife Report 2003 David Nobbs
The year 2003 will live long in my memory for the long hot days of Summer, for the
96° Fahrenheit on a day in August and for the dry Autumn months. As my diary
shows, the flora and fauna at Wheatfen responded to this as they have done
through all the years.
But first, to go back to the beginning of the year, in early January the reserve was
closed because of high tides - on the 3rd it was the highest recorded for two
years. Snow was on the ground for three days up to the 10th. Woodcock were
seen in the wood and Chinese Water deer were also there feeding on ivy.
Fieldfares were in good number by the cottage on the 11th and on the 17th I had
a good sighting of two male bullfinches by the office. The following day a water rail
was heard on Home Fen. On the 21st kingfishers were on Mack’s Dyke and marsh
harriers were hunting over Smee Loke and Thack’s Marsh on the 22nd. Around
the 30th of the month about 6 inches of snow blanketed the fen; tracks of birds
were clear and fox prints were evident along the paths.
As we went into February, with the snow thawing, again the fen was flooded over
the Boardwalk on the 4th. There was a good number of goldcrests in the wood
and teal and tufted ducks were on Deepwaters on the 5th. I found a male deer
dead on Smee Loke - having succumbed to the cold and damp of the flooding, I
presumed. A few days later it had disappeared, having been dragged off by a fox.
Only the hairs remained to be seen. By the 18th many sedges were showing signs
of growth. On the 20th there were good numbers of teal on the Pool Area (which
had been mud-pumped the previous year). At this time I looked over to the area
where the herons nest, but so far there was not yet any sign of activity. On the
21st there were good sightings of bearded tits on Four Acres by the path. Whilst
walking back to the cottage I saw a little grebe (dabchick) active on Home Dyke.
March arrived with a sighting of a snipe on Old Mill Marsh in one of the grups
(foot drains) and a water rail was also seen. By the 6th coltsfoot was
in flower and showing bright yellow against the dark
background. On the 8th I had a good view of a kingfisher
fishing along a dyke by the wood. On the 14th the first
chiffchaff was
heard singing on
the edge of the
garden and also, on
this warm Spring-like
day, the first brimstone
and peacock butterflies
were in the garden by Wheatfen Cottage. Daffodils were being visited by the
brimstones. On the 19th Spring was in its full force with
comma, peacock, tortoiseshell and brimstone butterflies all
on the wing. On the 21st tussock sedge was in flower
and much growth elsewhere was well under way. At the
end of the month I had an opportunity
to look at the newly reclaimed dyke
on Four Acres which had been dug
out in February. It was an astonishing
sight with millions of empty snail shells
on the spoil heaps. This indicated just how
rich the fauna of the dykes must have been over 40
or 50 years ago.
April started with another sighting of a snipe on
Old Mill Marsh. A blackcap was singing by the
garden and lesser celandines were coming into
flower on the 3rd. The arrival of willow warblers
took place on the 4th with many singing on Four
Acres. On the 5th I had the wonderful opportunity to see
four marsh harriers displaying high up in the sky. I was
somewhat surprised the next morning to see frost on the roofs of the workshop
and office - just a reminder that Spring was yet in its early, unreliable days. On the
11th three Chinese Water deer were seen by Home Dyke. As the volunteers and I
were walking by the river on the 12th, we came across a freshly emerged male
emperor moth. It was a beautiful specimen. On Sunday the 13th we were visited
by the British Bryological Society whose interest is in mosses and liverworts.
There were further findings of our very rare moss, the warrior moss, and several
new finds of other species. On the 15th red admiral and speckled wood butterflies
were about and hornbeam and birch were coming into leaf. The first orange tips
and green-veined whites were active on the 16th. A grasshopper warbler was
heard on Blakes Marsh on the 17th and the first cuckoo was calling across Old
Mill Marsh on the 22nd. On the 27th a Spring Walk was enjoyed by twenty-two
visitors around the fen and large numbers of our rare beetle larvae were evident on
meadow-rue buds - a good sign for the population later in the Summer and
Autumn.
On May 1st St Mark’s fly were seen in good numbers, common spotted orchids
were coming through and the woodland bluebells were in full flower. Twenty-four
members of the Watton Society visited on Sunday the 4th. It was a warm sunny
day and holly blues were active around the garden. Milk parsley was evident in
good numbers and growing actively along with the rest of the fen. A female hairy
dragonfly had emerged on Thack’s Dyke. Whilst walking through the wood I came across a recently fledged group of long-tailed tits. I approached closely and they
showed no evident alarm at my presence. A painted lady butterfly greeted me on
my return to the car park. We held an Early Migrants walk with twenty-two visitors
attending. It was a lovely sunny Sunday morning and many calls of the recently
arrived migrant birds were identified. Flag iris and sanicles were in flower - the
carpet of yellow iris on Old Mill Marsh was the finest display I have witnessed at
Wheatfen. I found tortoiseshell caterpillars on nettles and these proved to be the
first of several generations to appear throughout the hot Summer. By Wheatfen
Broad a heron was being mocked by a couple of crows. Soldier beetles were
everywhere, ragged robin was in flower and starwort was showing in the clear
dykes. Heralds of a wonderful year were two freshly emerged swallowtail
butterflies on Four Acres bridge. Also on Four Acres, a bittern was seen flying
across to Strumpshaw Fen and southern hawker dragonflies were on Middle
Marsh Dyke. At the end of the month ten banded demoiselles were busy on
Wheatfen Broad. That was the start of a remarkable year for this species.
At the beginning of June the first Norfolk hawker dragonflies were flying along
Home Dyke while meadow-rue was coming into flower. On Penguin Dyke three
fluffy new-born cygnets were riding on their
mother’s back - what a lovely camera study that
would have made! Red-eyed damselflies were
active over water lilies at the end of the dyke. On
the 5th four-spotted chaser dragonflies were seen
on the pond by the Thatch and black-tailed
skimmers were busy on Wheatfen Broad. On the 6th,
along Smee Loke, silver Y moths were in good
numbers as were click beetles. Taking the
punt out on the link dyke between the
broads, I counted about 30 banded
demoiselles. This was in line with the
high numbers seen in the Yare Valley
this year. Meadow brown,
swallowtail and painted lady
butterflies were on many parts of
the Reserve on the 13th. Swallowtail
Day was just perfect. In lovely sunny weather,
over 100 people had wonderful views as the
butterflies fed on flag iris within feet of where the
visitors stood on Four Acres. A memorable day for all.
There was also a bonus as we recorded our first
scarce chaser dragonfly on Deepwaters Broad. The
rest of the month continued with warm and sunny
weather. On the 18th longhorn beetles were in good numbers on Smee Loke, as were skippers. A particularly memorable moment for
2003 occurred on the morning of 21st. As I was walking along the edge of Home
Fen, I saw over 50 black-headed gulls swooping silently and gathering up
emerging flies. This continued for about twenty minutes and then suddenly ended.
It was such a privilege to witness. On the 27th the first white admiral butterflies
were seen in the cottage garden. They were heralding in an excellent season for
this butterfly. Also at this time, meadowsweet and meadow vetchling were well in
flower.
July started with some unexpected high tides on the 2nd and 3rd of the month.
Walking on the edge of the wood, I found on the path a damaged purple
hairstreak - a beautiful little butterfly. Brown hawker dragonflies and ruddy darters
were seen over Deepwaters on the 9th. On the 13th July, fourteen visitors
attended the Wildflower Course (Part 2) and enjoyed the many wildflowers on the
fen. White admiral butterflies could also be seen feeding on brambles in the
cleared area at the end of Surlingham Wood. On the 15th, a very hot day at 86°F,
the fen was looking its very best with many peacock butterflies on Smee Loke. By
the 18th common reed was coming into ear and
many insects were about - including mosquitoes! I
found our first rare leaf beetle on meadow-rue and
also good numbers of dark bush-crickets on the
24th. For the first time in some years I came
across a comma caterpillar on nettles on Smee
Loke. In the car park there were good numbers
of migrant hawker dragonflies.
August was a very hot and dry
month. On the 2nd the temperature
was 82°F and the second
generation of swallowtail butterflies
were seen in the garden. A wall
butterfly, a steadily declining species at
Wheatfen, was seen in the car park on
the 6th. On the 7th, as I walked along
Smee Loke, I came within feet of two young
Chinese Water deer fawns. Angelica was
coming into flower on the 8th on an increased
number of plants this year. Swallowtails were
seen feeding on knapweed by the garden on
the 9th. On the following day, with the
temperature at 96°F, we held the Natural
History Day at Wheatfen in conjunction with the
Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists’ Society. Despite the heat and humidity, good numbers of visitors enjoyed their day with
swallowtails and plenty of dragonflies to see. On the 13th new generation
tortoiseshell butterflies were about as were commas. These were in evidence the
next day when twenty members from Lowestoft RSPB visited the Fen. On the
19th there was a commotion as male swans were fighting on Mack’s Dyke and the
female and cygnets had taken shelter in the Thatch. I had a little clearing up to do
afterwards. On the 20th pristine red admiral butterflies were numerous on the fen
while, overhead, there was a lovely sight of a flock of Canada geese. This fly-past
occurred again on the 28th.
The settled warm and dry weather continued at the start of September and
migrant hawkers could be seen hunting over many of the fens. On the 6th I had
my only sighting this year of an osprey. It perched in a tree by Deepwaters, but it
stayed for the morning only. On the 12th at the edge of the wood the tiny sepsis
fly were swarming in their thousands - only the second time I have seen this
impressive sight. Common darter dragonflies, large and small white butterflies
were all in good numbers on the reserve. Walking along the path by Alder Carr I
came across the remains of a dead swan which had been eaten by foxes. I
surmised that its death was probably the result of the fight I had witnessed about
three weeks earlier. On the 21st we held our Fungus Workshop Day. Despite the
very dry weather we turned up a fair number of species, including wax-cap and
oyster fungus in the wood. We were assisted throughout the day by expert advice
from members of the Norfolk Fungus Study Group. On the 23rd high tides caused
the fen to flood. On the next day we had the first frost of Autumn. A kingfisher
seen on Penguin Dyke was one of many sightings since the reed had been
cleared from the middle of the dyke. On Saturday the 27th, a warm day, I was
sitting by the beech tree in the clearing in Surlingham Wood when, to my great
surprise, two white admiral butterflies fluttered by. These in fact were second
generation ones. Because of the hot weather, they had gone through next year’s
life cycle in seven weeks. This phenomenon
was noted in several parts of
the country. A possible
down side to this is that
there could be fewer
white admirals about
in 2004. On the 27th
speckled wood
butterflies were about.
The weather at the
start of October continued to be very dry
and small tortoiseshell, speckled wood, brimstone and red
admiral butterflies were still in
evidence. On the 8th there were high
tides and a kingfisher
was sitting on the new
barrier on one of the
paths on Home Dyke. On the
15th there was an unexpected
sighting of a wall brown butterfly
on Eleven Bridges path. A water
rail was seen by the edge of
Wheatfen Broad on the
22nd. The month finished
with wet weather and heavy
rain and the wildlife in a sheltering
mood.
November started with bearded tits on Thack’s
Marsh and many flocks of geese, in particular
Canada geese, flying overhead. On the 4th common
darter dragonflies were on the handrail of the Boardwalk and by the 15th migrant
hawkers and common darters were still to be seen in good numbers. On the 23rd
the Trees in Winter Walk had to be cancelled because of heavy rain (over two
inches fell that weekend). The fen was flooded for a couple of days. On the 26th
high winds brought down an old alder tree on Alder Carr and led to the discovery
of a vacated hornets’ nest and a spotted woodpecker’s nest.
On the 2nd of December I enjoyed the rare sighting of a flock of redpolls feeding
on alder cones. Early on the 9th I had a glimpse of a long-eared owl across Four
Acres. This was in line with reports of others in the Yare Valley. On several days
we had a beautiful frost covered fen and wood. That seemed to bring out plenty of
Chinese Water deer - this being the rutting season. On the 17th there was a little
grebe on Middle Marsh Dyke and on the 18th two Chinese Water deer on the
Boardwalk by Home Dyke. On the 23rd I saw a mole popping down a mound it
had just thrown up - there have been many mounds on the paths this year! We
had the first snow on the 22nd and the rest of the month remained changeable.
As ever, I look forward to meeting those of you who are able to visit Wheatfen
during 2004, whether as a private visitor or to attend one of our special day
events. Whatever the reason, I know you will appreciate, as I do, what a wonderful
place Wheatfen is.
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