Bring me Sunshine

April was cold and very dry with a record number of frosts.  May has been cold and very wet/windy.  Only one day this month has the temperature got in the high teens centigrade compared to twenty last year.  Not the spring I was hoping for when I took early retirement.  But nature is resilient, It has to be to survive.  Given a good day butterflies will appear and eggs will be laid, maybe not as many but just enough to ensure a future generation.

Sunday Stroll

We took a walk with Rose and Mick and chanced the forecast.  Our route, to the west of town, was quite familiar during this pandemic.  Ominous black clouds to the west, cracks of thunder, yet it rolled on by and not a drop fell.  It was a lovely morning.

Comma (Polygonia c-album) on daisies. I really enjoy getting down to ground level and being amongst nature

Say “hello” to an Early Mining Bee (Andrena haemorrhoa)

A female Orange-tip carefully lays an egg under the flower head of Garlic Mustard. Only one egg will be laid per plant as the caterpillars are cannibalistic

Another Andrena Bee. This is a male and several species look similar

Searching for Skippers

Every year in early May I try and get across the County to Breckland.  It is here, at only two sites, that Norfolk’s rarest and smallest butterfly can be found.  As I approached Foulden Common it was obvious there had been a good helping of the wet stuff.  However the sky was clearing, sun appearing and after an hour long drive I was going to make the most of it.  This year I didn’t have my extra pair of eyes, Mrs H was at work, so I had to carefully scan the ground alone.  As it warmed up the butterflies emerged from wherever they had sheltered for the night.  Brimstones, Orange-tips, Small Coppers, Peacocks and Speckled Wood.  Then, suddenly, what I was searching for.  A tiny dark butterfly flew up to chase a smaller, greyer variety, a Dingy Skipper seeing off a Grizzled Skipper, my target.  In all I saw four Grizzles, not many but at least they are still surviving.

Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus malvae) at Foulden Common. With wings open barely an inch across, like a miniature chessboard

Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) form punctata, on a Cow Slip at Foulden

Pond Update

It’s all systems go at the garden pond.  Every time I turn my back it seems another dragonfly has emerged!  I’ve still yet to see the actual breaking free of the exuvia but there’s plenty of time.  The total now is 3 Broad-bodied Chasers, 1 Four-spotted Chaser and 5 Large Red Damselflies.  The rains have left the pond brimful and all the new arrivals have had to bide their time to take flight.

After sitting out strong winds and an overnight downpour this Four-spotted Chaser has a chance to spread it’s wings and dry out

For the weekend and beyond the forecast is for proper spring weather, bring me sunshine!