On the weekend of 10th July I was privileged to be invited along with a few friends to a private reserve in the Norfolk Broads for a weekend of moth trapping. We were to meet at 4am at the site to then visit several traps that had been left in the fen overnight. Rather than drive through the night I decide to drive up on the Friday afternoon in order to run my moth trap in the dunes at Caistor and try to grab a little sleep in the car. After a fish and chip supper, I set the trap in a quiet area and retired to the car. My Hampshire buddies arrived soon after and we all settled down for a short night. I got up in the dark at 2:30 to give myself time to process the catch before moving on to the broads. I was delighted to find several target species of dune habitats present, notably Lyme Grass, Sand Dart, Shore Wainscot and 34 stunning Archer's Darts. All very exotic for a Surrey moth-er! We took a few poor photos in the dark then packed up and headed to our 4am rendezvous at the reserve. We teamed up with Mick the warden, Nigel Voden, Robert from Bath and Mark and Lynette, our friends from Cley and set off into the fen.
The next few hours were an absolute treat. Each trap was alive with moths and the much hoped for broadland specialities were all present. There were 68 of the bizarre Reed Leopards alone! It was amazing to watch this incredible moth wriggle backwards down a reed stem to settle in tight against a leaf. Also present were several Dotted Fan-foot, Dotted Footman, Small Dotted Footman, Dentated Pug, Water Ermine, Flame Wainscot and Green-bordered Green-pea. Rare micros also put in an appearance with Acleris lorquiniana, Cosmopterix lienigiella, Ancylis paludana, Pseudopostega auritella and Monochroa divisella amongst them. All in all the records showed 1307 individuals of 159 species present!
After lunch we took a short walk out into a wet area of fen to search for orchids. Mick, the warden told us that levels had remained extremely high this summer and were still close to winter levels in July. Swallowtails were everywhere,
Bitterns were booming, Bearded Tits were pinging and Marsh Harriers wafted by as we squelched out into the marsh. After a while, we eventually we managed to find am elusive Fen Orchid in flower which was a first for me and a real treat. We also saw a close perched Norfolk Hawker, several Marsh Helleborine and an intriguing Marsh Orchid that until not very long ago would have been considered a Pugsley's. The Norfolk plants are now regarded as a form of Southern Marsh Orchid 'schoenophila'.
That afternoon we visited a very kind moth-er in Norwich who had caught one of Norfolk's most desired moths in her garden trap the night before, a Marsh Carpet. This rarely seen Geometer is found at very few sites in the UK and we were very grateful to the lady for sharing her excellent catch with us. After that it was back to the digs to catch a little sleep before the nights trapping on the edge of Norwich where that target was ironically Marsh Carpet!
It was a pleasant evening with our crew joined my James Lowen and Mick once again as we set our traps for the night. Unfortunately there was little to add to the previous nights bonanza and no Marsh Carpet so were very lucky indeed to have seen one that afternoon. In the early hours we packed up and retired for some much needed sleep.
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