This account is by Chris Foster, who arranged a visit to NWT Thorpe Marshes for the University of the Third Age (U3A) Hickling Broad group. This is for their monthly newsletter and shared here as a guest blog.
This month we had a guided walk around Thorpe Marshes
with the brilliant and enthusiastic Chris Durdin as our leader. Chris has intimate knowledge of this recently
evolving reserve (established in 2011) and he visits so frequently he knows
which leaf to turn over to reveal a rare bee or a mating damselfly. He can hear a bird, identify it and locate it
in his telescope before you have even established which tree it is in. His knowledge extends to all things wild. On
our visit in August it was the plants that were the main headliners and the
variety of marsh plants was dazzling.
Bee wolf on angelica.
Personally I was especially interested in how the
enthusiastic naturalists of Norfolk are recording the changes in species as a
result of climate change. Chris and
others who explore the marshes have been the first to record some continental
species that are spreading into the county.
One example of this was spotting the bee wolf (a wasp) which is new to
Thorpe Marshes. These meticulous records that have been and are being
collected by specialists and local experts once again illustrated the impacts
of climate change on the natural environment. They also offer undisputed
evidence of these changes.
Migrant hawker.
Chris keeps a constant record of all the happenings at Thorpe Marshes so if you are interested in his work or want to see some great
photographs, need tips on what to look for (most of the plants etc. can be
found in and around Hickling) or are thinking of a visit, do click on the link
above. Entrance to the marshes is free
and Chris offers monthly wildlife walks booked through NWT which I would highly
recommend.
We
also saw four migrant hawkers hanging from a willow, a black-tailed skimmer, red-eyed damselflies, mating common blue damselflies, banded demoiselle, also red bartsia bees were still present.
Birds included whitethroat, chiffchaff, robin in autumn song, great spotted woodpecker, long-tailed tits, juvenile stonechat, cormorant and buzzards.
