The heatwave continues to build, not ideal for a drive up to Ipswich in Suffolk for a few days away visiting my family. We headed off from Plymouth on Monday 11th July and the journey was long, hot and beset with delays but we arrived in Ipswich in one piece despite temperatures hitting 32°c and having witnessed some terrible and dangerous driving along the way.
We stayed at The Holiday Inn again and on checking out the grassy verges surrounding the hotel grounds I again found plenty of Essex Skippers flitting about.
My Mum had tested positive for COVID just before our trip which curtailed some of our plans but fortunately she wasn't too poorly with it and towards the end of our visit she was able to come out with us on our days out.
Tuesday 12th July was hot and sunny and we headed out to Bradfield Woods for a walk, a Suffolk Wildlife Trust reserve which has been actively coppiced for over 800 years and has subsequently become a haven for butterflies.
It was our first visit here and we had an enjoyable walk along the woodland rides where it was noticeably cooler in the shade of the trees. There were plenty of butterflies around too and I had lovely views of Silver-washed Fritillary feeding on flowers and flitting along the rides along with Ringlet, Large Skipper, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Peacock, Large White and Comma.
White Admirals were also seen but they were flitty and difficult to get good views of but I managed to get a semi-decent photo of one in the end.
I also had a brief view of a probable Purple Emperor dashing across the top of an oak tree before it disappeared from sight, never to be seen again, while on the bird front a Marsh Tit was a nice find.
Wednesday 13th July and we drove to Trimmingham in Norfolk where a flock of 8 Bee-eaters are nesting in a quarry under the watchful eyes of the RSPB.
The Bee-eaters were on show as soon as we arrived on site, only 3 of the 8 present were seen at any one time and the views were distant and heat hazy but it was a delight to see my first UK Bee-eaters and even better to hear their amazing calls.
We carried on to nearby Cromer where an adult and juvenile Peregrine were noisely flying around the church tower in the town centre.
After some lunch we walked along the sea front and I checked out the Gulls loafing around on the beach. There were Herring Gulls and Black-headed Gulls present and also what at first appeared to be an adult Yellow-legged Gull, it ticked a lot of boxes but it didn't seem quite right so possibly a hybrid bird?
Thursday 14th July was my Minsmere day and I enjoyed a 150 minute visit there, not really long enough for me but I did get to see a lot of wildlife in this relatively short time.
The Scrape was looking very dry as we continue with this hot spell of dry weather and there were corpses of Gulls and Terns dotted about due to the continuing ravages of Avian Flu but as usual there was lots to see. A Hobby dashing back and forth and a male Marsh Harrier quartering back and forth meant the birds were constantly spooked but I did see 2 Little Tern with Common Terns and Sandwich Terns, 2 Green Sandpiper, 7 Spotted Redshank moulting out of summer plumage, 6 Dunlin, an adult and juvenile Ringed Plover, 4 male Ruff moulting out of summer plumage and a juvenile Mediterranean Gull.
A Beewolf burying a Bee in the sand by the footpath was a first sighting for me and Brown Argus and Essex Skipper were also seen along with the usual Butterflies but it was soon time to be picked up by David, a short and sweet visit but a joy as always.
After meeting up with David we headed on to nearby Theberton Woods, somewhere we also haven't visited before. It is a Forestry Commission wood being actively felled and a site where Purple Emperors were illegally released from 2001 onwards but which have now become a self-sustaining population.
As we arrived at the car park it was beginning to cloud over but a couple of butterfliers were present and had seen Purple Emperors down on the ground during the course of the morning. I only had an hour free to look for them but a female was quickly seen flying around the top of a tree before settling out of sight. It was a good 30 minutes later before we saw 2 males flitting about the tree tops but they too settled out of sight and that was it before it was time to leave.
A couple of Purple Hairstreak were also seen fidgeting about up in the tree tops but again they stayed mostly out of sight and a nice and fresh Peacock was seen basking on a log. A Marsh Tit and a Great Spotted Woodpecker were the only birds of note seen.
Friday 15th July and it was time to head home to Plymouth, another hot day and a journey beset again with delays and some rather dodgy driving but we arrived home safely, having had an enjoyable time away.
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