JUNE
First stop Cambridgeshire, where we found both Sulphur Clover and Crested Cow-wheat on a protected road verge
Sulphur Clover - Trifolium ochroleucon
Crested Cow-wheat - Melampyrum cristatum
Then on to North Norfolk where as well as some more nice wild flowers I got to see my first ever Broad-bordered Bee Hawk-moths, one of my highlights of the year, especially as I managed to get some nice photos of them in flight.
Field Mouse-ear - Cerastium arvense
Sand Catchfly - Silene conica
Small Flowered Catchfly - Silene gallica
I've only seen this in Cornwall before and then it was only in white, at this site it grows in many shades of pink.
Yarrow Broomrape - Orobanche purpurea
Definitely the best Broomrape I've seen, such an attractive colour.
Broad-bordered Bee Hawk-moth - Hemaris fuciformis.
The next day was spent in Broadland where I saw many marshland species of wild flower, some of which were new for me and even though it was very late in the season for them a few Swallowtails too! I failed to get any photos of Norfolk Hawker. Do they ever land!! I did get some candid shots of a female Black-tailed Skimmer eating a Notch-horned Cleg Fly. One less of those ******* is fine by me!!
Black-tailed Skimmer - Orthetrum cancellatum
Cowbane - Cicuta virosa
Marsh Cinquefoil - Comarum palustre
Marsh Pea - Lathyrus palustris
Marsh Stitchwort- Stellaria palustris
and Marsh Fern - Thelypteris palustris
Stingless Nettle or Fen Nettle - Urtica dioica subsp. galeopsifolia
Swallowtail - Papilio machaon ssp. britannicus
We spent the next day in the Brecks where we saw ...
Tower Mustard - Arabis glabra
Sickle Medick - Medicago sativa ssp falcata
Sand Lucerne - Medicago sativa subsp. varia
Bur Medick - Medicago minima
Small Nightshade or Cut-leaved Nightshade - Solanum triflorum
Henbit Dead-nettle - Lamium amplexicaule
Fine-leaved Sandwort - Minuartia hybrida
Spring Vetch - Vicia lathyroides
Purple Milk-vetch - Astragalus danicus
Small Cudweed -Filago minima
with Perennial Knawel
Perennial Knawel - Scleranthus perennis
Female Clouded Buff - Diacrisia sannio
Brimstone - Gonepteryx rhamni
The caterpillar hides from predators by mimicking the midrib of the leaf it's feeding on.
Small Tortoiseshell - Aglais urticae
Always worth a photo!
And finally out of my bedroom window of the Barton Mills Travel lodge....
A doe Muntjac - Muntiacus reevesi
The SX50 did quite a good job considering it was almost dark.
SEPTEMBER
In a second visit to the region in September we were mainly looking for fungi but there were still a few wildflowers to be seen with one being exceptionally rare in the UK. The fungi we were looking for was Sandy Stiltball, which we found on a roadside reserve in Norwich and whilst checking likely verges in Suffolk we were really fortunate to find Pepperpot Earthstar too! This can only be found at this one site in the UK outside of the Channel Islands. Photos of both can be seen in a previous post HERE. But I'll put a couple on here too.
Sandy Stiltball - Battarrea phalloides
Pepperpot Earthstar - Myriostoma coliforme
Lesser Calamint - Clinopodium calamintha
And finally in Essex we got to see the extremely rare Annual Sea-purslane or Pedunculate Sea-purslane. We were fortunate to meet the landowner and very fortunate that he agreed to let us see it!
Pedunculate Sea-purslane - Atriplex pedunculata
