Willow Emeralds

After a couple of weeks since their discovery, we decided to visit Suffolk yesterday to see some of the newly colonised Willow Emeralds at Staverton Lake. Several other sites were noted down as back ups but this proved unnecessary.

We arrived around 0930, and although sunny there was a strong breeze. However it was not long before several were found around the pump house pool, including a few tenerals. A small group spent quite a bit of time with these individuals before checking out other stretches of water. Along one of the paths, we gradually checked some of the most likely spots and found several more, before bumping into another group watching a large number, including a few males. Photography was difficult as most of the individuals remained perched in the trees, often high up where the wind was causing problems, and the low light conditions in the shade did not help. I reckon we saw a minimum of 30 individuals.

I had obtained a book on Grasshoppers at the bird fair, along with a pocket net, and both proved useful when I ` that there were many Roesel's Bush Crickets singing. Tracking them down on the grass and brambles was very hard until I saw one sitting on my camera bag. This was quickly netted and posed very well for us.

There were many more insects-Colin saw a green bush cricket of some kind, and there were many Brown and Migrant Hawkers, Darters and Large and Small red Eyed Damselflies.

When we left, we decided to visit Boyton Marsh which was only a few miles away where a juvenile Montague's harrier had been present for a while. We obtained very distant views of it hunting over the sea wall looking towards Orford Ness, but a long walk to it's location proved fruitless as it was not seen again.