Just back from a glorious week away in one of my favourite palces- Norfolk - love it for the sea and the countryside and also the wonderful access to a wide range of wildlife. Mum and I had a very relaxed week which is what our break was about but it turned out to be surprisingly good for seeing creatures. Mum has a growing love for the damselfly and they seem to love her too. This common blue damsel landed on her hand and she was also visited by others on her blouse. It is thrilling to be so close to these dazzling creatures.
The verges were alive with colourful wildflowers- dazzling red poppies, many different umbellifers, campions, silverweeds, oxeye daisy, purple loosestrife, meadowsweet, brambles and dog roses to name a few. In the wooded shade we saw a number of wild orchids - I am not sure about the name of this one but it was beautiful to look at.
And there were two special treats this week- the first being several days when we saw the Swallowtail butterfly - Papilio machaon britannicus. Norfolk is the only place these can now be seen -they declined greatly last century due to drainage of the fens and marshes but more careful management has led to remaining populations at least holding their own. They are powerful flyers and it was especially stunning to see the spectacular male and female courtship display over one of the broads. A walk at Hickling was also fruitful and we saw 17 in a couple of hours. The other really special thing- at last I have seen the green eyed Norfolk Hawker - 2 good sightings made my week- no photos as they are busy now flying over the dykes - a large brown hawker- one at Horsey Mere and one at Hickling. And this was not even a wildlife trip!
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