Northwest Norfolk Naturalists: Friday 30th May

Friday 30 May 2014

Friday 30th May

A superb sunny day. Plants new in flower today included Common Sea Lavender, Water Figwort, (Fragrant or Large-flowered) Evening Primrose, Hemlock, Scented Mayweed, Foxglove, Tufted Forget-me-not and, for me, Spurge Laurel and Common Mallow. Butterflies were numerous with Common Blue, Holly Blue, Brown Argus, Small Copper, Small Heath, Speckled Wood, Small White, Green-veined White, Peacock, Red Admiral, Small Tortoisehell, Wall, Green Hairstreak and the first Large Skipper on the wing, as well as Blue-tailed and Azure Damselflies and Four-spotted Chaser. Migration was little in evidence with fly-over Tree Pipit and Yellow Wagtail and a Greenshank on Lavender Marsh. I found a Common Groundhopper associating with more numerous Slender Groundhoppers and myriads of assorted grassshopper nymphs in the forestry, where a string of fresh Natterjack spawn was neatly woven around the stems of waterweeds in one of the scrapes. A huge eel was lurking in the river below the Hun bridge, alongside numerous Three-spined Sticklebacks. Moth highlights included Saltmarsh Plume, Large Yellow Underwing and 5 Small Elephant Hawkmoths in the NOA traps, 60 Diamondbacks (migranta), Pebble Prominent, White Point, Cabbage, Small Sqaure Spot and Campion in my Hunstanton garden ttrap and at least 3 Yellow-banded Longhorns Nemophora degeerella and several Cinnabars in Ringstead Downs. Also in the Downs were several Volucella bombylans hoverflies, all of the red-tailed morph and several patches of the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha at the foot of the east end quarry face.

White Point, Hunstanton, 30th May 2014