2nd July 2026
It wasn't meant to be an insect day. It was intended to be a day photographing Bittern food flights but that wasn't to be. Despite there being 17 booming male Bitterns there are considered to only be 7-8 nests and very few food flights. Only the females feed the young and it is possible they they fish near the nest or fly low along ditches. But whereas in previous years it was possible to see up to 10 flights in a day, two weeks ago I only saw two and today none at all, although two were seen earlier in the day.
Unfortunately it was generally quiet all round on the bird front, in fact by far the quietist day since I started coming here in 2011. Apart from no Bitterns I didn't see a single Hobby and only one Marsh Harrier at the far end of Joist Fen. In fact the only birds I photographed were this adult Whitethroat collecting food for its fledged young and this family group of Greylag Geese that had taken over the New Fen Look-out!!!!!
Most of the early flowering plants had gone over now and were replaced by majestic stands of Purple Loosestrife around the ponds and ditches.
But the star of the show on the plant front is always the Large-flowering Hemp Nettle which as far as I am aware is only found at one location at Lakenheath. It is very rare in Suffolk and listed as a vulnerable species. It is restricted to the North-West of the county and has historically been found near Lakenheath and Mildenhall.
The Viper's Bugloss was attracting a number of bees like this Cuckoo Bumblebee.
Also a few hoverflies. These are the Common Drone Fly Eristalis tenax with the female in the first photo and the male below.
No day-flying moths today but I did find evidence of their existence when I came across my first Cinnabar Moth caterpiller of the year feeding on their food plant Ragwort.
And now for the two main groups, the butterflies and dragonflies. Once agian the Viper's Bugloss was a great attraction with Green-veined White, Large White and Brimstone. There were also plenty of Small Whites but far more reluctant to settle.
The only skippers I saw were Large Skippers.
There were plenty of Peacocks and Red Admirals and just a single Painted Lady which was rather surprising after the large influx a few weeks ago.
Dragonflies were also well represented but there was a distinct lack of the blue damselflies which were probably hunkered down due to the strong wind. However, Banded Demoiselles were out in force with the stunning males and the green-winged females.
Here is a Black-tailed Skimmer resting on some vegetation.........................
.......................and here in a more characteristic pose on a warm boardwalk in the sun.
No Common Darters today but many Ruddy Darters with the stunning crimson males and the golden females.
And here a pair producing the next generation.
Here is one of the commonest dragonflies at Lakenheath, the Four-spotted Chaser, but in this case a fairly scarce variant. This individual has all the usual markings but the spots at the wing tips are large dark smudges which makes it the form praenubila.
And finally a teneral male Scarce Chaser.
Well not quite the day I had planned but a great day nevertheless, and of course the highlight of the day was to bumping into the South-East Herts crew comprising Stuart Fox, Chris Gibson, Robert Kitchen, Julie Paice and Caz McArthur.
Now on to Weeting Heath to see how the Stone Curlews are getting on.
