With a few days free this week, I went up to stay with my sister in Cambridgeshire. We usually go out for a trip or two whenever I stay there, and this time I hoped to make a repeat trip to Strumpshaw Fen in Norfolk, a well known habitat for the UK's largest butterfly, the Swallowtail. A few years back, we visited at the end of May but only saw a brief glimpse of one of these butterflies as it flew swiftly over a hedge behind us. We concluded that it was rather early in their flight season and there was a bit too much wind. Leaving our trip until June this year, we hoped for better results, but sadly it was not to be, as very few had emerged on the reserve and despite the forecast, the sun was only out for a short while in the morning we were there. However, Karen did actually manage to see one as it flew past; I only saw a yellow shape disappearing into the distance! I consoled myself with sightings of a few dragonflies and damselflies including a Norfolk hawker, hairy dragonfly, four spotted chaser, large red damselfly, blue tailed damselfly, azure damselfly and banded demoiselle. We also spotted a number of lizards sunbathing on the board walk. We followed our visit with a brief trip to nearby Buckenham marshes but I was unable to add any sightings to any of my year lists.
The following morning we headed over to RSPB Ouse Fen, which is currently being developed into a larger reserve. It was a pleasant walk, and we had good views of a very vocal male blackcap and also a couple of black tailed skimmers which were landing regularly on the ground in front of us.
After lunch, we visited Therfield heath, an area of chalk grassland adjacent to a golf course. I was hoping for a first Adonis blue of the year and Karen wanted to add a common blue to her year list. Within minutes of our arrival on the grassland, both of us spotted our target butterflies amongst the dozens of blues that were fluttering about at our feet. Apart from those two species, however, there was little else. We then took a walk round the RSPB reserve at Fowlmere which was only a few miles away but again it was very quiet.
The following morning I returned home, stopping off for an hour or so at Bucknell Wood to search for wood white butterflies which I have seen there for the past three years. I arrived at 930 and walked hopefully up the track but the only butterflies I saw were a couple of speckled wood. I decided it was rather early in the day and still too cool for the wood whites to fly, so waited around for a while. There were rather more clouds than patches of blue sky so every time the sun shone, I looked hopefully for the rather weak flight of the dainty wood white butterfly. Eventually I saw three on different occasions, but only the last one settled in a place where I could see it, and even then I had to clamber over some large logs to get in a position to photograph it.
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