Lowestoft Life - 28th May - 9th June 2026

28^th May:

It was a lovely day to be in the garden and at last I have had some Damselflies emerge and I counted six Azure and two Blue-tailed around the ponds.  There were lots of Bumblebees with five species seen and it was good to have Butterfly action too with three Painted Ladies on the Red Valerian along with Holly Blue, Red Admiral and my first garden Speckled Wood (I think).  

Painted Lady

A Cinnabar Moth was floating around my token Ragwort so hopefully there will soon my some stripy cats to keep it in check.  Merodon equestris seem to be having a good season with several in my garden and likewise in the Wrens patch which I was minding while they were in Lesvos.  I was however very jealous with the two female Broad-bodied Chasers and Large Red Damselflies around their ponds.

Cinnabar Moth

That night I had a good moth haul of nearly 150 moths of 31 species but this Burnished Brass was the winner by a long way.

Burnished Brass

29^th May:

The following night gave me the same number of species but some different ones amongst them with three Pugs, Clancy’s Rustic and a Sharp Angled Peacock amongst others. 

I popped out later and snapped some of the Kittiwakes on Christ Church – the most easterly one in the country.  I feel very privileged to have these in my adopted town.  A sound of the summer.

Kittiwakes

Kittiwakes

I do like a Lesser Black-backed Gull

Yellow-horned Poppy with Flea Beetles and a micro Weevil!

Leathes Ham was too cool and grey for any Dragons but I did see a Little Grebe with stripy humbug babies on its back which took me back forty years to my school days and visiting Valentines Park in my lunch hour to watch the family of grebes that had bred there.

Little Grebes

30^th May:

The Boys came up from Strood for the weekend and we dragged then out into the ‘countryside’ and ended up having lunch at Strumpshaw Fen and while they chatted with Andrea I took myself off for a walk around the trails.  Despite the glorious weather it was actually quite disappointing and although ‘Swallowtails are everywhere at the moment’, the only one I saw was as I got back to the car as it power glided past me, did a celebratory loop and headed back the way it came for which I was very grateful! 

There were in fact very few Butterflies at all (even Painted Ladies) but there were many Green-eyed Hawkers and Four Spotted Chasers and singles of Scarce Chaser and Hairy Dragonfly.

Painted Lady

Helophilus pendulus

Tropidia scita

That night the trap yielded two more new Pugs, lots of migrant Diamondbacks and 58 Heart & Darts!

Green Pug

Foxglove Pug

Freyer's Pug

Turnip

Mottle Rustic

Heart & Dart

Heart & Club

Dark Arches

Common Marbled Carpet

1^st June:

It was a Hummingbird Hawkmoth sort of day with single in both my garden and the Wrens where the Painted Ladies reached double figures.

Palloptera muliebris

Greater Spearwort

Merodon equestris

Large Red Damselfly

Merodon equestris

Toadflax Brocade in Antony's garden

Painted Lady

3^rd June:

A proper morning out at Minsmere with my friends John and Pauline.  I got there just before seven to the bugling of a distant Crane and singing Woodlarks out over the heath and with clearing skies we soon set off on a circuit that began in the woods where Treecreepers and Wrens obliged and Marsh Tits tantalised. 

Bitterns were see flying along from both hides and Marsh Harriers were constantly on views and putting on a fine show.  I am still not quite how this sort of density is manageable.   

Hobbies acrobatically caught aerial insects and we clocked up Sedge and Reed Warblers and the first fledged Blackcap and Chiffchaff broods.  We heard Water Rails and Little Grebes and Bearded Tits pinged as they flew across in front of the Island Mere Hide.

Speckled Wood

The scent of Honeysuckle filled the woods

Sericomyia silentis - a superb Hoverfly

Tachina fera

Foxglove

Early Marsh Orchid I think

It had warmed just enough on the walk back to encourage many Four-spotted Chasers to get up and about and they were busy hunting around the sheltered Bramble clumps but the cloud had already started to bubble up and the dry morning was hanging on by the skin of its teeth.

Four-spotted Chaser

Black-tailed SKimmer

Variable Damselfly

At the South Hide we quickly picked up the pair of Roseate Terns on their island.  Even with the bins they glowed white and through the scope both had a pale pink flush and you could see the wonderful tail streamers and largely black bill.  It is always a treat to be able to watch such a scarce visitor to the southern counties. 

Roseate Terns

Black-headed Gull

We need to get better at picking them up on passage as surely the whole east coast population must pass by twice a year?

There were far more Kittiwakes on the scrapes that I  have seen before with about 50 present and about the same of Sandwich Terns too.  I could not find any waders other than breeding Redshank, Lapwing, Oystercatcher and Avocets so we carried on round to the Sluice and beach passing a showy Sedge Warbler at last on the way.

Four tardy sum plum Sanderlings were on the outfall with a few big gulls and there were terns fishing offshore which included a single Roseate and it was good to watch it fishing at close range.  It seems that this may have been the third bird that has been around.

Back on the scrapes there were Shelduck and Barnacle Geese broods and a pair of Med Gulls with the Black-headed Gull colony.  The reason for the Kitties became apparent as ANS1 – the offshore Kittiwake Hotel had many occupied boxes and the birds were commuting from there to the scrape for nest material and a wash and brush up.   It went up at the same time as the two Lowestoft ones, only one of which has been tentatively investigated so far so perhaps my local birds are still fixated with finding more room in town where I believe over 1000 nests have been counted this year.

Shelducklings

Black-headed Gulls, Sandwich Terns, Kittiwakes and even the Roseate Terns

Black-headed Gulls and a pair of Med Gulls

ANS 1

2cy Kittiwake

English Stonecrop

ex-Cream Spot Tiger

Pill Woodlouse

Drinker moth cat

Antlion pits

We made it back in time for a coffee but the weather was closing in so I opted to head for Track 42 but we stopped on the way out to check the fields for Stone-Curlew and such like.  John found one immediately but it soon walked out of sight and we had to be content with scope views of Woodlarks instead.

Our walk at Track 42 never happened as the heavens opened during lunch and almost did not look back from then on into June.

4^th June:

I took myself off to the Lizard Land local birders drink in town that evening and the rain had let up enough for a brief stop at ASDA where I could see the local Peregrine family enjoying the stiff breeze.  Apparently four young have fledged and from my spot I could see two trying out their new flying skills.  The landing were not quite so good!  One of the parents had recently made a kill and was obviously plucky around the back somewhere as there was a plume of feathers wafting up the side wall of the silo.

juvenile Peregrine - what a beauty - Rob Holmes

A couple of Kittiwakes were being brave and ventured up as far as the supermarket and a pair of Oystercatchers were on the exposed mud.  A pint beckoned.

5^th June:

More rain but a break in the wetness saw my pop up the road to Gorleston where the unmown greensward was covered in a carpet of delightful Small Catchfly - many thanks to Chris Lansdell for the tip off.  Apparently this was a very rare plant but it seems to be doing very well here and I presume the council know not to mow it!  It came in several shades of pink and crimson, some with bands and some without.

Small Catchfly - such a variety of colours

Botanical twitching done, the wind got back up and I headed for home where the next weather system duly arrived.

The rest of this week has been grim with little opportunity to get outside other some occasional garden tinkering.  I planted a new Buddhlia and Bird Cherry out the back and picked up a few inverts in the process including a fat Mullein moth cat although I have none this year growing and could not see any out the back either!

My indoor orchids are looking good

Mullein moth cat

8th June:

Dinner at the Wrens and a look at the garden produced a tiny little moth that turned out to be a new one for Antony's garden and a good north Suffolk record!

Dichrorampha sequana - Antony Wren

9^th June:

This morning I headed south to my parents in Ilford with the intent to bird my way down but it was dire with thrashing squalls of wind and rain but I stopped for lunch at Westleton Common and could even get out of the car although I dared not wander far.  Woodlarks were singing as soon as the rain stopped and there was even a micro burst from a Nightingale before thunder started to roll once more.

Further south a an unexpected Turtle Dove zoomed over the road at Little Glemham.  I was only saying the other night that I do not expect to see one in the UK on an annual basis nowadays so this was a pleasant surprise.

Time to chill now this evening before the journey to Svalbard begins tomorrow…