18/08/2016 – 24/08/2019
Family Holiday to Bacton, Norfolk (part 1).
Our family holiday this year was to Bacton in Norfolk. Bacton is one of the smaller places on the north east coast that is less commercial than Great Yarmouth, Hunstanton or Caister. Our choices are very much dictated to pet friendly accommodation so that we can take the dogs, Dougie and Morris with us.
Leading up to our trip I used our very own UKB to see what sites and species were on offer that I might be able to press gang the famille into taking me to. I found that there were many sites that piqued my interest with a possibility of four first time ever sightings on offer. Two were a long shot: Swallowtail, but only of there was a second brood and Silver Studded Blue, but they would be right at the very, very end of their flight period and very unlikely. The two that I had more of a chance with were the Wall and Grayling. This was all as long as they would take me of course.
We arrived late afternoon on the Saturday to a lovely site that was a two minute walk from a sandy beach. The chalets were situated all round a large communal green and each chalet had a small green in front with plants and flowers lining the paths leading to the outside decking. The sun was blazing so we were very optimistic that it would hold for our stay and spent the first evening exploring the area where I was taking note of places that may require a bit of additional attention, with the camera of course
Our first day dawned nice and sunny and we needed supplies so the chauffeur headed off in search of them and left me with the dogs, sitting outside on the decking enjoying the glorious day. As I sat there a butterfly flew over the top of the chalets and landed on the flowers directly outside our chalet and I absolutely could not believe it but it was a Wall! My first ever, on the first day of the holiday! I ran inside for the camera praying that it didn’t fly off whilst I was gone. And luckily, it didn’t. It stayed with me for about five minutes and all I had to do was lean over the balustrade of the decking and try to get the best pictures I could.
I was overjoyed at being visited at my very own chalet by one of my targets on this trip and very wrongfully thought that there must be more about. This was the only one I saw in the whole week we stayed.
20/08/19
I was lucky enough that the Famille agreed to take me on a mega trip for the day around the north coast to three sites I had earmarked to search for butterflies.
The first stop was Wiveton Down in search of more Wall. We got a little lost trying to find it but luckily bumped into a couple of people riding horses who directed us to the concealed car park entrance. The heath is on a hill and is very scrubby with lots of bare earth and interestingly there are Oaks further down the hill and the path is pretty much running alongside their canopy. This would be an excellent place for observing PHS if they are here but I am a bit late in the year and didn’t see any there. In fact, I didn’t see very much of anything. We saw a few Small Copper on the heather as we entered and the odd Painted Lady and Red Admiral buzzing around but other than that, it was pretty much butterfly-less. No Wall for me today. We followed the path all the way around and across the road into the cow field but there really wasn’t very much about so we decided to head off to site number two.
Our next stop was Cley Marshes Coastal Nature Reserve in search of Grayling which unfortunately we were restricted to only the main paths because of the dogs. The reserve is a large marsh right on the north coast and being very flat, was incredibly windy. I was actually quite cold as we took the main path out to the beach in search of Grayling.
Along the way I encountered a duck and a bird that looked interesting but I have no idea what they are. If any of the birders here can tell from the rather small pictures I managed to get, I would love to know what they are. The only one I could identify was the Small Egret.
One we reached the pebbly beach we headed to the dunes to look for Grayling but there really was nothing there. One butterfly was disturbed and flew off being carried at great speed by the winds but I think it was too dark to be a Grayling but couldn’t say what it was. There was another unknown bird that I have no idea what it is so once again, any help will be greatly appreciated.
After searching in vain for a while it was time to head off to the third and final site, Kelling Heath on the off chance that there may some Silver Studded Blue left.
The heath was a mass of ferns with mud tracks through them which we spent some time going around but it was pretty much empty of butterflies. The signs warned of Adders so the dogs had to be kept short to avoid any accidents but there were no snakes to be seen either. I had missed the SSB, but it was a bit of a long shot anyway. I was quite disappointed and felt bad that the famille had given me a day out of our holiday solely for butterflying and it had been a complete washout.
21/08/19
This morning afforded me some spare time to go to the local spots that I had noted from our first days exploration.
At the back of the chalet was a small tree covered path that had a few resident Speckled Wood. The path leads into a lane that has buddleia brushes brimming with Small Torts, Painted Ladies and Red Admirals swapping between basking on the side of houses and the gravel and feeding on the plants. It was very reminiscent of the Buddleia bushes of my childhood that used to be covered with them. It was great to see so many Small Torts as they have been really lacking in Bedfordshire lately.
It might be worth noting that the Buddleia was growing in someones drive so I couldn't get as close as I would have liked without trespassing
I had been informed of a wildflower field quite a way along the main road that was used by dog walkers which I decided to visit in the late afternoon. Although the flowers would have been past their best by now, I still felt it worth a try.
The field was a corner of a large crop field that had been left wild and had a track leading through the middle. There were a few Common Blue which were a welcome sight due to the lack of them in Bedfordshire, many Small Torts, a few Brown Argus and the odd Brimstone speeding along the brambles at the edge of the field.
To be continued.
Old Wolf.