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....