WWT Welney – Thursday 25th June 2015
One Deceased Heron
We left home at 9.35am. It was hazy sunshine with a light breeze and the temperature was 20˚C. On the way to Welney we saw two road casualties, a dead Fox and a Badger. I always feel very sad when I see these poor creatures, life is very tough in the wild even without adding the dangers of crossing busy roads.
After arriving at WWT (Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust) Welney at 10.40am we picked up the mobility scooter and had a coffee on the veranda overlooking Lady Fen. There was a lot of activity there and while we were sitting there a Marsh Harrier came over and then very shortly afterwards a Red Kite was mobbed by Lapwings as it tried to snaffle a chick.
View From The Visitor Centre Across Lady Fen
Pied Wagtail Fledglings
As we entered the reserve on the bridge over the New Bedford River something caught my eye in the river it was a large wake going upstream but I couldn’t see a head, whatever was causing it was submerged. After a little while it disappeared and I assumed that whatever it was had got out of the river out of our sight. After about 5 minutes or so the wake re-appeared but nearer the further bridge. Jan also saw it and we assumed it was either an Otter swimming just beneath the surface or a large Pike swimming near the surface but more about that later.
House Martin Nest
On the bridge we saw several Pied Wagtail fledglings which didn’t fly off as we approached them. We made our way into the right hide of the main observatory and we noticed three things quite quickly. The first that there were Swallows flying up and down the hide. The second was a House Martin’s nest right in front of us where the parents were still busily building up the entrance to the nest even though we could see there were chicks inside. The third was a mystery, it was dead Heron on the far bank of the pool. At first sight there didn’t appear any injuries on the bird and it looked intact only lying flat on it’s back. That started us thinking what may have caused it but without having a close look at the bird we would never know for sure. Our best theory was that it may have died from old age, choking or after hitting something but it was just pure speculation.
Family Of Gadwall
We also saw a Greenshank from this hide. We quickly found out why the Swallows were coming in and out of the hide, there were two nests in the hide, one at each end. The one near the entrance to the main observatory was being filmed by a CCTV camera but Jan also got some footage of it but as usual I am way behind with my editing duties. The other nest was at the other end of the hide and I actually saw one of the chicks fledge. It didn’t go very far just from the nest to the other side of the hide and it quickly went back again.
Swallow Nest & Chicks (Above)
Dragonfly Ponds
Emerald Damselfly
Zebra Spider
By the time we got to the Dragonfly Ponds the temperature had risen a few degrees. There was very little activity so we decided to have our picnic lunch there. As we sat there having our lunch we did see a few interesting insects; an Emerald Damselfly, a Zebra Spider and, as yet, unidentified Hoverfly or Horsefly. The flies were particularly interesting because they seemed to be doing some sort of mating dance which was a mixture of a circular waggle and buzzing their wings.
It was here that we met one of the volunteer workers who may have thrown a bit of light on the wake we saw as he told us that over the last few weeks a Seal had been seen up at Welney. Immediately I remembered the wake we had seen caused by the Grey Seal on the Isle of Mull in November and then it made more sense. Another topic of conversation was the lack of Butterflies and Dragonflies we had seen and put this down to the recent chilly nights which have been most unseasonable.
Snout Moth
After leaving the Dragonfly ponds the heat was now getting a bit oppressive and I could see Jan was beginning to suffer. It was actually quite nice to get in the hides and once the windows were open a nice cooling breeze could be felt.
As we made our way to the other end of the reserve we did begin to see Butterflies and Dragonflies. We saw a Red Admiral taking sustenance from a leaf, Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell, Wood White and a Painted Lady who after coming all the way from North Africa was pursued and eaten by a Chaffinch, it’s a tough world! We also saw 4 Spotted Chaser Dragonflies and 2 Emperor Dragonflies from the last hide we visited, the Lyle Hide.
Four Spotted Chasers
Unidentified Day Flying Moth
Again we saw plenty of Funnel webs and Jan did see one of the Spiders. These are not made by Funnel Web Spiders which, thankfully live on the other side of the world in Australia but by Labyrinth Spiders which are in no way dangerous to people.
4 Spotted Chaser
Sedge Warbler
In this particular Hide we also got some good views of a Sedge and Reed Warbler. There was a Pied Wagtail nest in this hide as well. Of course we had dawdled all the way to the hide but “what is life if you can’t stop and stare.” We had to dash back to the Visitor Centre to get the mobility scooter back before it closed at 5pm.
4 Spotted Chaser
In the pool by the entrance to the Visitor Centre we saw 3 tiny ducklings that were apparently unattended although I’m sure their mother was around somewhere and although they looked cute one wondered what the future held for them.
Mute Swan
Unidentified Day Flying Moth
Common Blue Damselfly
Spiderlings Waiting To Leave The Nest
Although we were relatively early away from Welney we did make a few stops on our way home. We stopped on the way to Swaffham at a ride on the Brandon Road where we saw some Butterflies at the top of the trees but unfortunately they were moving far too fast for us to identify them and also a Crab Spider.
Crab Spider
We made another stop on the cut through road between The Brandon and Watton Road where we saw some Swallow fledglings being fed on the wing. Our last stop was by the Range Gates in Smuggler’s Road where we saw 2 Hares, a Jay, 3 Linnets, Wren, Curlew and several Skylarks.
Making our way home through Little Cressingham and Threxton in the hope of seeing an Owl we saw a Hare and several Red Legged Partridges but no Owls. It had been a lovely day and it is always nice with the aid of the mobility scooter to get to parts of the reserve that I normally can’t get to although I think Jan felt the heat a bit.
What we saw:
Black-headed
Gulls*
Seal
Red Admiral
* = Too
mant to count
** = Several
Keep your
eyes peeled and good spotting.
After arriving at WWT (Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust) Welney at 10.40am we picked up the mobility scooter and had a coffee on the veranda overlooking Lady Fen. There was a lot of activity there and while we were sitting there a Marsh Harrier came over and then very shortly afterwards a Red Kite was mobbed by Lapwings as it tried to snaffle a chick.
As we entered the reserve on the bridge over the New Bedford River something caught my eye in the river it was a large wake going upstream but I couldn’t see a head, whatever was causing it was submerged. After a little while it disappeared and I assumed that whatever it was had got out of the river out of our sight. After about 5 minutes or so the wake re-appeared but nearer the further bridge. Jan also saw it and we assumed it was either an Otter swimming just beneath the surface or a large Pike swimming near the surface but more about that later.
On the bridge we saw several Pied Wagtail fledglings which didn’t fly off as we approached them. We made our way into the right hide of the main observatory and we noticed three things quite quickly. The first that there were Swallows flying up and down the hide. The second was a House Martin’s nest right in front of us where the parents were still busily building up the entrance to the nest even though we could see there were chicks inside. The third was a mystery, it was dead Heron on the far bank of the pool. At first sight there didn’t appear any injuries on the bird and it looked intact only lying flat on it’s back. That started us thinking what may have caused it but without having a close look at the bird we would never know for sure. Our best theory was that it may have died from old age, choking or after hitting something but it was just pure speculation.
We also saw a Greenshank from this hide. We quickly found out why the Swallows were coming in and out of the hide, there were two nests in the hide, one at each end. The one near the entrance to the main observatory was being filmed by a CCTV camera but Jan also got some footage of it but as usual I am way behind with my editing duties. The other nest was at the other end of the hide and I actually saw one of the chicks fledge. It didn’t go very far just from the nest to the other side of the hide and it quickly went back again.
By the time we got to the Dragonfly Ponds the temperature had risen a few degrees. There was very little activity so we decided to have our picnic lunch there. As we sat there having our lunch we did see a few interesting insects; an Emerald Damselfly, a Zebra Spider and, as yet, unidentified Hoverfly or Horsefly. The flies were particularly interesting because they seemed to be doing some sort of mating dance which was a mixture of a circular waggle and buzzing their wings.
It was here that we met one of the volunteer workers who may have thrown a bit of light on the wake we saw as he told us that over the last few weeks a Seal had been seen up at Welney. Immediately I remembered the wake we had seen caused by the Grey Seal on the Isle of Mull in November and then it made more sense. Another topic of conversation was the lack of Butterflies and Dragonflies we had seen and put this down to the recent chilly nights which have been most unseasonable.
In this particular Hide we also got some good views of a Sedge and Reed Warbler. There was a Pied Wagtail nest in this hide as well. Of course we had dawdled all the way to the hide but “what is life if you can’t stop and stare.” We had to dash back to the Visitor Centre to get the mobility scooter back before it closed at 5pm. 
What we saw:
Black-headed
Gulls*
Little
Egret**
7 Heron
Moorhen
& 2 chicks
Marsh
Harrier
Mallard
& ducklings
Goldfinch**
Reed Bunting
Redshank**
Starling*
Red Kite
Lapwing**
Greenshank
Swallow*
House
Martin*
Gadwall**
Mute Swan**
Whooper
Swan**
Avocet**
Lesser
Black-backed Gull**
Magpie**
Wood Pigeon*
Common Tern
Sparrowhawk
Jackdaw*
Crow*
Pied
Wagtail** & fledglings
Teal**
2 Reed
Warbler
Sedge
Warbler
Kestrel
Whitethroat
Jay
3 Linnet
Wren
2 Curlew
Skylarks**
Red Legged
Partridge**
Pheasant**
Seal
2 Hares
Red Admiral
Brimstone
Painted Lady
Small
Tortoiseshell
Snout Moth
2 unidentified
Moths
Common Crab
Spider
Labyyrinth
Spider Webs (Funnel webs)
Emerald
Damselfly
4 Spotted
Chaser**
2 Emperor
Dragonfly
Zebra Spider
1
unidentified Hoverfly/Horsefly
* = Too
mant to count
** = Several
Keep your
eyes peeled and good spotting.
Hi
ReplyDeleteJust found this page. Your Emerald damselfly is actually a female blue-tailed damselfly of the colour form infuscans. Your fly is probably Melieria crassipennis, a picture-winged fly. You mention Wood White but that doesn't occur in Norfolk, did you mean Green-veined White? Your Unidentified Day Flying Moth is a Clouded Border. Your 4 spotted chasers are actually female Broad-bodied Chasers. The second unidentified moth might be a Mother of Pearl? Your Common Blue damselfly is actually an Azure damselfly. The butterflies at the top of trees might well be Purple Hairstreaks.
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