I've been woken up very early by the heat and the sound of rain so I thought I might as well get working on a new blog!
Over on facebook/twitter/instagram BBC Springwatch have begun a 100 Days of Nature challenge, which is a photo project to take one nature photo a day from now until Autumn (I think it ends on Halloween). So naturally I have decided to do it, there a lot of things like '100 Happy Days' etc things going around on facebook at the moment that I have considered doing but this one was obviously right up my street so I started without hesistation! You can follow this over on my newly set up facebook page Mrs Parrott's Wildlife Watch :)
Obviously I've paid a few visits to Strumpshaw Fen since my last blog, and have been rewarded with lots of swallowtail caterpillars, now looking at these you'd think they'd be very easy to spot...but they aren't. They are actually incredibly well camouflaged, meaning Matthew and I walked right past a huge one when we went to find them and the only reason we saw any at all is because a nice man and his son pointed them out to us!
We also had a very brief view of an otter at Fen Hide, he swam from right to left right in front of the sun so very difficult to see and almost impossible to get a photo of, the only one I managed was a distant one of his back and he disappeared under the water again, but also in the photo was Strumpshaw's black swan and some nice lighting so I did rather like the effect if I'm honest!
The other thing we found was a beautiful blue butterfly, at first we thought it was a purple hairstreak, but the underside was completely wrong (and its proboscis too, according to someone more in the know over on flickr) We now believe it is a female common blue butterfly that looks a bit tatty!
Not forgetting this rather ferocious looking insect that we found on the bridge into the meadow, I am told (again by someone on facebook in the Norfolk Countryside Photos group) that it is a 'black slip wasp' and that 'stinger' doesn't actually sting, phew! 
Out in the garden we've had more regular visits from a squirrel! As I probably said before we have seen them around but it would seem this one is becoming a bit braver and I saw him on the fence on Saturday morning and later in the week Matthew saw him nibbling on the spillage from our bird feeders on the grass.
I spent a lot of time sitting in the garden on Saturday, waiting for the wildlife to arrive, I didn't have as many visitors as I did previously, and was quite frustrated that none of the butterflies or dragonflies that kept flying over ever landed. At one point there were 5 large white butterflies fluttering together against the clear blue sky, it just looked beautiful but I was so mesmerised by it that I didn't manage a photo! Eventually a peacock butterfly landed in next doors' garden and a speckled wood landed on our connecting fence, and I got some beautiful photos of a dunnock. We also have some blackberries growing! I love blackberries but I think I am going to leave these for the wildlife to enjoy!
On Sunday I was due to take a trip to Strumpshaw with a good friend of mine, unfortunately she wasn't very well so we had to cancel, but hopefully we are going to go tomorrow after my birthday picnic so stay tuned for updates on that!
Instead of a trip to Strumpshaw, me and my dad went to Gooderstone Water Gardens near King's Lynn, even without the wildlife this is a beautiful place to go, they have a 'Kingfisher Hide' over looking a lake, I've seen the kingfisher there before but this time we were really treated to wonderful views! The first time we went in we saw it zip past and could see it down a channel diving in and out of the water, although there were a lot of branches in the way obscuring the view! We left and had a walk around (and of course some cake!) Dad was looking for a grass snake that he had seen there previously, we *think* we saw one swimming in the water but it was far away and moving fast so we couldn't be sure, however, we can't think what else it could have been. We went back to the hide and the kingfisher came and sat on the branch right in front so I was able to get some lovely photos! I have seen many kingfishers over the last five years (when Matthew and I first got together it was the one thing he wanted to see and we spent a long time looking for them in various places, including Gooderstone back in 2010, when we saw one fly past but not land) and let me tell you I never thought I would be lucky enough to take a photo like this!
As well as the kingfisher and the cake, the river was FULL of fish! I'm not good on fish but I'm told by a man watching them with us that one was a pike, I will do a bit more research and find out what the others might have been!
As usual there were loads of beautiful butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies around because there are so many beautiful flowers there for them to enjoy! A really lovely day, spoiled only by my binoculars breaking :(
We've also done a bit of badger watching again, on Matthew's birthday (Tuesday) we were treated to views of 2 badgers mating, if you really want to see, he has uploaded a video to flickr. We went again the following evening with 2 of Matthew's colleagues, it was a much longer wait this time but we were treated to a young badger almost running right up to us!
I've been trying to make some wildlifey contacts and in Matthew's job he gets to meet lots of like minded people, so earlier in the week he met a guy who also blogs about his wildlife spots and has a shared love of Strumpshaw Fen, he has been kind enough to put a link to my blog on his own so naturally I am returning the favour. His name is David and you can find his blog here.
Also over on facebook I have got chatting to Alan Sillett who takes lovely wildlife photos!
On flickr I have some wonderful contacts who are always so kind and leave lovely comments on my photos even though by my own admission I am not the best photographer and have very little understanding of all the technical aspects of photography, some of them I have even met in real life without realising, and Matthew has worked with a couple of them as they are RSPB volunteers :) I won't link to them as it would take too long to add them all and I don't want to miss anyone out but if you go to my flickr you will no doubt find them in my contacts and favourites!
This is also reflected in real life when I visit nature reserves, there's often the belief that only old men like bird watching, and they are all grumpy and guarded, but this is really not true. Obviously there are a few exceptions, there are some people who look at you and think 'you're so young, you can't possibly know anything about wildlife' and try to prove how much more they know than you (nothing more satisfying than proving them wrong, I can tell you!) but 99% percent of people I have met and chatted to in hides and on reserves have been lovely, sharing stories and wildlife spots! Don't think you need to sit in a hide and be silent, if there is someone there when you arrive, ask what they have seen, they are usually more than happy to point things out to you.
I'll leave you with this picture of Matthew photographing a swallowtail caterpillar!
xx
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