Trimley near Felixstowe: Last of the Summer ... Hops

It was certainly milder today in our part of Suffolk than it has been recently, but the day began with overcast skies and drizzle. By the afternoon it was looking a bit brighter. 

 

We ventured out to Trimley, above the river Orwell, near the port of Felixstowe, and were delighted to find a few decent bursts of autumn sunshine. It was lovely to see the final fling mounted by poppies and other wildflowers along the field margins. I was particularly surprised and delighted to see some hops in the hedgerow as these reminded me of the cultivated hop fields and accompanying oasthouses of my Kentish childhood. Our Harvest Festival baskets were often decorated with strands of hops, and I could never decide whether I liked or hated the distinctive scent!

 

I was quite surprised to find so many blackberries on the bushes

Rose hips ... which remind me of rosehip syrup, again from childhood days

What a large maize field!

You may be able to make out bits of harvested sweetcorn ...

I love to see wildflowers along those field margins ...

Hawthorn berries. It is definitely the season for hips and haws ...

... and hops!

Who can resist peering through a gap in a hedge?

Some creature, a mouse perhaps, has been enjoying this puffball!

 

Bank Holiday: Blackberries and a Holly Blue

Yesterday was a 'typical' Bank Holiday Saturday in our neck of the woods. It was dark and blustery all day. Thankfully the weather brightened up considerably for a while this afternoon, though there was a cool north wind by 5pm. We decided to head for what has become our 'usual' spot as we wanted somewhere we could reach fairly quickly before the clouds returned. The blackberries look very mixed, but the good ones would doubtless make a tasty crumble. 

We saw a few white butterflies, largely at a distance, and a single Holly Blue. There was a Dockbug (below) on one of the blackberry leaves. I had not seen these insects on brambles before, but a quick look at Google Images suggests that this is not unusual.

I wonder if others have noticed how early the season seems to be changing. These Hawthorn berries, along with some Rosehips, certainly brightened up the hedgerow. 

As we reached a particularly scrubby area of the path by the railway bridge, my eyes led me to a few strands of Fumitory, a plant I have not seen for a while.

My photos give the appearance that everyone else was down the road at the beach, and they probably were, but we passed a surprising number of people. We pulled up our masks and stepped aside but I wish social distancing was more the norm...

David on the track by the bridge

Butterflies and bees

Having waited at base all yesterday for a scheduled delivery that never arrived, we were keen to spend some time outdoors this afternoon. We visited our 'usual' lockdown haunt and were pleased to see a couple of bees on the Ragwort. The male Red-tailed Bumblebee above was the first of its kind I had seen for some weeks. 

We looked hard in case there were any Cinnabar larvae, but there was no sign today of the distinctive stripy caterpillars.

We found a new track that ran between swathes of thistles and long grass, and looked ideal for insects.

I came across the name of this yellow daisy-like flower very recently, but find I have forgotten it. Please feel free to leave a comment if you know. (Update: 24 August. My thanks to Conehead54, who tells me it is Common Fleabane). 

All in all David counted the four Holly Blues, four Speckled Wood, forty-six Small Whites, one Red Admiral and one Comma... in addition to the butterfly you see in the photo above. I had thought it was a faded Gatekeeper and that its 'second' white spots had failed to show, but I'm pretty sure it is a Meadow Brown.  

Comma, underside

 You can see the white 'comma' quite clearly on the underwing of the butterfly above.

The same Comma

When we eventually found a Red Admiral, it was perching with its wings closed. I waited and waited, and in my haste to catch the moment when the wings opened, I cut off the antennae in my shot: what a shame. 

I believe I have mentioned before that the footpath passes beside a barley field. As you can see the grain is ripening well. Barley always reminds me of the west wind in the song by Sting.

We are halfway through a fascinating documentary by writer, naturalist and poet, Helen Macdonald, about urban wildlife around the M25. The diversity not only of species but also of habitat is astonishing in this very busy area that circumnavigates London. 

Our current 'exercise spot' here in Suffolk hardly bears any resemblance to the M25 and yet it is a place adjacent to the port of Felixstowe with goods trains, bulging with containers, bustling to and fro at frequent intervals. The port is in fact Britain’s busiest container port, and one of the largest in Europe.

Industry sandwiched between trees and hedges

Given how close the barley field footpath is to such a hub of heavy industry, we have been delighted to discover a healthy diversity of species over the last few weeks. Slightly to our surprise (given how few butterflies are showing in the garden right now), it was satisfying to find good numbers of butterflies on the wing this afternoon, but there are definitely signs that the season is changing...

A Bristly Caterpillar and Two Common Darter Dragonflies

This was really going to be a post about dragonflies, but since I have seen so few, I have decided to write about the quiet corner near the river Orwell where we have been keeping an eye out for wildlife. We saw the rather large Cinnabar moth larva in the photo above a few days ago. It was the only one we could find.

We have watched a few Common Darter dragonflies, largely perching on bare branches above the bramble bushes. 

Is that a bit of twig hanging down in the photo below?

I have missed seeing the odonata we usually enjoy, but despite the lockdown (or perhaps because of it) there have been some surprise wildlife sightings along the way.

In other news: we are excited to report that David saw a (second) Common Lizard in the garden at the weekend. I am about to inform our local Wildlife Trust. I had rather assumed that the first had been deposited by a bird, but now we have two sightings, this seems less likely.

Largely Lepidoptera (on a Very Hot Day!)

We enjoyed views of ripening barley from a very peaceful country lane (I think everyone must have headed for the beach at nearby Felixstowe), and were able to do two Big Butterfly Counts: you can see what we saw in the lists below. We were particularly excited by the numbers of Speckled Wood.

Between the first and the second count I caught sight of the moth in the photo above. It was pretty small but had very distinctive wavy bands. By my reckoning it is a Yellow Shell, but please correct me. I have only seen this species once before, and the last time was on Mull, a very different area to East Anglia! I have posted the photo on iSpot.  

These were the results from out first count...

And our second...

Today has been sweltering at times (the image below bears this out...), and it still feels pretty warm and sticky at 11pm. 

Tomorrow is the last day of this year's Big Butterfly Count, so do keep your eyes open and report your sightings to Butterfly Conservation, using the charts they supply via the website or app...

David on our butterfly count beside the fields of ripening barley