The Butterfly Enchanted Foxley Woods

Norfolk is such an enchanting county. With landscapes which range from picture-perfect beaches and spectacular cliffs, to the low-lying Fens and vast wetlands, it is the perfect British holiday choice. Sometimes I forget just how close it is to us but, in reality, at not even an hour’s drive from our house on the west of Cambridge to the outskirts of Norfolk, I think we can arguably describe it as being within our patch.

There are so many places that I could recommend visiting in Norfolk, but one location that is particularly special to us is Foxley Woods. This woodland is thought to be round 6,000 years old and is home to a vast array of exciting wildlife.

If you have read my earlier posts, you will know that I have set myself a butterfly photography challenge. Seeing as Foxley Woods is known for its impressive number of butterfly species, I thought that this would be a great place to hopefully snap some more specimens.

Just like in our local woods, as I described in an earlier post, Foxley Woods contains some perfect butterfly friendly clearings which cut through groves of tall trees and are flanked by a multitude of wildflowers.

The day before our most recent visit we had been at Pensthorpe Natural Park where, in the wildflower meadows, I had stalked a Comma in hope of getting a photograph. I tried for about ten minutes as it flitted from flower to flower, before eventually flying out of sight. Having only walked about ten metres from the car at Foxley, a Comma dipped onto a flower right in front of me. Determined not to be left without a photo again, I mentally readied myself for a long pursuit. However, to my delight and surprise, he fluttered to a nearby twig where he rested patiently for about ten seconds, allowing me to capture my much sought after photo. Commas are so named because of the small white curve on the underside of each wing which resembles the eponymous punctuation mark – it is pretty subtle but that makes it all the more fun to look out for. They are beautiful butterflies to glimpse, with their vibrant flame-hued scallop-edged wings, pigmented with dark flecks.

The next new butterfly we came across was somewhat less perky looking than the comma who had practically danced before me. As we meandered along the verdant dewy path through the thickets, a small brown mottled butterfly settled on a leaf nearby. From the creamy dots and distinctive pattern of eyespots on his back, we could tell instantly that he was a Speckled Wood. Unfortunately, he was a bit of a sorry looking specimen. The backs of his wings were torn in an almost symmetrical fashion, making it look as though he had probably narrowly escaped from a close encounter with a bird. Amazingly, despite his mangled wings, he was still able to fly, and mere moments after he had settled in front of us, he shot up again into the canopy out of sight.

I was pretty happy with photographing these new species alone, but I managed to end the day on a greater high. The White Admiral is considered by many to be Foxley Woods’ star species and it was certainly the star of my day. I noticed it out of the corner of my eye and instantly knew that it was not a butterfly I had seen already. The White Admiral has a distinctive measured and graceful way of gliding that sets it apart from some of the more frantic flutterers. Its rich brown or black dorsal surface is streaked with bold white strips. Foxley Woods is known as a great place to look for this butterfly. Although it is not uncommon in Norfolk, it is said to be declining, so sightings such as these still feel truly special.

On the same day we saw many other butterflies such as Meadow Browns, Ringlets, Gatekeepers, Small Whites and Small Skippers, but seeing as my aim is to photograph all the UK’s butterfly species, these new three were particularly exciting.

The tally now stands at 8 species of photographed butterflies. It’s a start but there’s a long way to go!

Foxley Woods

Comma

Speckled Wood

White Admiral

Local Woods

Gatekeeper

Meadow Brown

Ringlet

Small White

Small Skipper 

Lessons I Learnt Under Canvas

Last week I embarked on an adventure. Okay, maybe adventure is too strong a word. But from the excitement I exhibited you could have believed that I was about the kayak down the Yukon or trek through the Grand Canyon. For the first time ever I went proper camping. By “proper camping” I mean not in a yurt or wigwam, i.e. “glamping”, and not in an easy pop-up tent in my friend’s garden with any mod-con I could possibly wish for within a few metres’ reach. By “proper camping” I mean canvas, guy ropes, tent poles, a camping stove, and a trek to the toilets and showers.

Sometimes if you really big something up in your head, the event itself can be a let-down, but that was certainly not the case when it came to this camping trip. I absolutely loved it. This doesn’t mean, however, that it went without a hitch.

Andrew is an experienced camper and, of course, this helped with the small details such as actually putting up the tent. Practical skills such as these are honed on repeated camping trips, but I feel that, even on my first expedition, camping provided me with some life lessons. So I thought I’d share them with you, just in case there are other camping rookies out there:

1. The tuneful trilling of skylarks is the most beautiful alarm clock in the world. It will make you feel ready for the day at any hour of the morning.

2. With patience, a trusty camping stove and a good supply of methylated spirits you can concoct surprisingly complicated recipes – no need for repeated meals of beans and egg.

3. Although, if you do fancy a meal of beans and egg and aren’t using a non-stick pan on your camping stove, do remember to bring a good scourer – scrambled egg has an amazing ability to take on the properties of cement when cooked in a trangia pan.

4. While on the subject of cooking, be very careful not to spill the meths on the floor under the camping stove – putting out even the smallest, most pathetic of grass fires is a stressful experience (in my case accompanied by flapping and Googling on my phone “how to put out a meths fire” – I could probably have worded that better, I got some pretty weird results).

5. Sunrises in the summer occur earlier than you may be willing to wake up, but sunsets are a must-see. The multiplicity of colours that streak, dapple and wash across the sky on an evening with a particularly show-stopping sunset are breathtaking. There’s no way you can miss your TV when nature is putting on such a spectacular show.

6. Sitting snuggled inside a tent at night when it is pouring down and blowing a gale outside is one of the cosiest experiences (assuming you’ve correctly secured your tent to the ground, of course).

7. However, if you wake up in the middle of the night cold and damp, something has probably gone wrong. In which case, a £2 tarpaulin from B&Q placed inside the tent under all your sleeping equipment is worth every penny as a quick fix.

8. You learn the true capacity of your bladder. When the choice in the middle of the night is either holding it in nestled inside your warm sleeping bag or trudging across a damp field in the wind and rain to the toilet block, you quickly realise where your priorities lie.

9. Seeing as you don’t have the regular distractions of modern life, you will notice nature’s wonderful quirks all the more easily. For example, woodpigeon display rituals. I never realised just how hilarious frisky woodpigeons are until this holiday. We would watch as the soap opera unfurled before us in the evenings. The best episode involved two male pigeons, let’s call them Bob and Esteban, and a female pigeon, let’s call her Betty. Now Bob was doing a pretty great job of wooing Betty, fluffing up his feathers, strutting around, generally showing her that he had some great genes that were worth sharing. That was until Esteban swept onto the scene, glistening with his emerald neck feathers, seducing her with his alluring cooing. I found myself rooting for Bob (I always support the underdog, or you know, underbird). Unfortunately, Esteban’s charisma was just too powerful and following a short tussle between our male leads, the protagonist, Bob, was sent off into the sunset without his leading lady. As you can probably tell, I might have been drawn into this a little bit too much.

There were a couple of mishaps, but they were far outweighed by the sheer magic of sleeping with just a thin sheet of canvas separating us from the stars.

Camping truly allows you to get back in touch with nature by letting its daily cycle dictate your waking and sleeping hours, by listening to its every sound, and by experiencing its every touching and invigorating moment.