"Spider Day" at Redgrave & Lopham Fen

Today was a day with a difference as it was an open day organised by Suffolk Wildlife Trust where the main theme was spiders, of course there were other things to look for if you suffer from arachnophobia as there were guided walks around the reserve that took in wildflowers, butterflies and many species of birds.

At the well stocked visitor centre you were greeted by many of the Trust's dedicated volunteers who kindly gave up their time serving refreshments as well as manning the gazebos where you could taste local produced apple juice, various chutneys etc. The Trust also had a very good educational stand where young and the young at heart could learn more about the Fen and the Trusts activities.

The main part and highlight of the day for me was to be shown where the rare Fen Raft Spider was hiding in the various pools that are located in the fen. On hand was Helen Smith who was the expert and she soon told us where to look for this elusive spider, I was amazed to see this spectacular spider for the first time as I have visited the fen so many times before and this was the first time I had ever seen this wonder of nature and to top it off the spider I saw was a female complete with a large egg sac (see photograph at the top of this blog) apparently once hatched this sac would produce 300 off spring.

Once again I was grateful to my buddy Matt who loaned me his massive 500mm lens and converters to obtain the photograph....

I must also say a big thanks to Bev Blackburn and all the Trusts volunteers for making this day a very enjoyable visit and if you would like to know more about the Trust, its work and its open days please check their website http://www.suffolkwildlifetrust.org/

Spouse's Vale & Arger Fen

Today Matt and I went of to Spouse's Vale & Arger Fen, yet another Suffolk Wildlife Trust Reserve, this reserve holds a SSI status and covers approx 19.75 acres it is situated in between the villages of Bures & Assington. Grid Ref: TL 936363

The Vale & Fen is a fascinating mosaic of ancient woodland alongside fen meadow, during our visit today we came across fresh badger droppings (small berries) these proved that juvenile badgers had been present, also seen were various species of butterfly that included Meadow Brown, Comma and Orange Tip. Because of the strong winds neither of us could not get a good photograph of these once they landed.

There was also evidence that foxes had been in the area, so Matt and I will attempt to get their early one morning and try to photograph these wild elusive creatures as they are far more careful than the urban foxes that we see in our towns.

Several wildflowers were in bloom and the Ragwort had several Cinnabar Caterpillars munching on the foliage.

Whilst walking through the woods I came across a feature of nature that was in the early stages of making, that being "Amber in the making" some of you may know that Amber is fossilised tree sap, the process to turn it into a stone for use in jewelry takes millions of years, during the period of the sap being released small flies, mosquitoes and other small insects get trapped in the sap and in time become fossilised within the Amber.

Both Matt and I were able to photograph the start of this process using a tripod, ring flash and a time release so we could get a sharp photograph(see the image at the top of this post...off course both Matt & I will never live long enough to see the whole process through to the end, however it was a great experience to record the start of it....

Once again a great reserve to visit and walk round....

Market Weston Fen

Today we visited Market Weston Fen a SSSI, Natura 2000 site which is managed by Suffolk Wildlife Trust.

With over 250 flowering plants , 20 species of butterfly including the White Admiral and graying. Birds like Snipe, Sedge Warbler breed in the open fen.

So you can see from the description above we were looking to have a good visit. Like yesterday it was a hot and humid day although more cloud cover made the temperature more bearable.

On arrival we followed a well signed circular walk and it wasn't long before we were photographing various species of plants and flowers, this proved to be a rather wet exercise, dispite a long period of no rain the fen proved to live up to it's name, as soon as I knelt down to take a photograph the water rose and made my trousers wet.

Of course there were the usual rabbits darting in and out of the heath area. Yet again there were several dragonflies darting around the various areas of water and just like yesterday I was unable to photograph these as they were too active.

The highlight of our visit was to spot a White Admiral butterfly, this was the first time I had ever seen one and as per usual I was to slow to photograph it, however my photographic buddy Matt was quick of the mark and he managed to capture a record shot of it (see top of this blog)as Matt politely said the photograph is not a prize winner the main thing was to be there to see and record it....

Both Matt and I shall be visiting this beautiful fen again and I can thoroughly recommend it to you all...Grid reference TL987789

Carlton Marshes

Today we visited Carlton Marshes one of Suffolk Wildlife Trust reserves www.suffolkwildlifetrust.org this reserve is part of the Suffolk Broads and today it was extremely hot in fact when we returned back to the car it was 34c.

There was an abundance of dragonflies flying around the various dyke's and trying to photograph one of the various species was very difficult as soon as one landed i set my tripod down and focused the dam thing took of before I could hit the shutter release. My photographic friend and I have a name for this Nikonitus.

The most funniest part of the day was when I placed my foot in a cow pat that was left there by one of the cattle that graze the marshes, I can assure you my photographic buddy really laughed, never mind his turn will come one day.

During our visit to Carlton Marshes we saw Marsh Harrier, Heron, various species of Dragonflies, Reed Warbler, an abundance of Meadow Brown Butterflies.

All in all a very nice few hours spent at this reserve and off course we will be visiting it again later in the year.