Langdyke volunteer Jackie Robinson’s monthly round-up of happenings she has witnessed on our reserves
Well, it’s been a bit hot, hasn’t it?
The butterflies at least are loving it. At Swaddywell Pit 214 individuals have been counted this week and 208 last week. Marbled Whites have put on an excellent show, with Skippers and Meadow Browns showing equally well.
I think it is less suiting the orchids, although, there are still Pyramidal Orchids popping up in some unusual places. When doing the Butterfly Transect, I’m noticing them fighting for a bit of light among brambles and very tall grass. It is still worth a visit to look at them and over by the Silver Birch trees the Purple Spotted and Pyramidal are still putting on a good show.
Paul Young, The Orchid Hunter on You Tube, found the pale Bee Orchid and some very scary-faced ones, he posted pictures on or around June 14, 2026.
The Cabin Pond is currently renamed as the Crows’ Paddling Pool, going by the number of feathers floating. It is still holding water, with the occasional bubbling in certain areas and, who knows, if we get some rain it may start to fill. It looks like a sandy/clay coloured big puddle at the moment, but it isn’t empty!
Other than a walk along the Maxey Cut and Green Lane, Etton recently, I haven’t visited any of the other reserves. But looking through the group Whatsapp and Facebook they all seem to be doing wonderfully.
Moth trapping attracted a great number of enthusiasts to Swaddywell, Lepidopterists (I think!) came from far and wide, and one attendee said Swaddywell had more lights than the Blackpool Illuminations! They were extremely happy with the results and if you would like to know a bit more or attend one of the Moth Trapping events in the future get in touch either by email or through the Facebook page and you will be directed to the people involved with arranging these events.
Moth trapping was also carried out at Bainton Heath Nature Reserve.
“Despite the less than perfect weather I am sure we found some species which are new to the site which will add to the 871 species of invertebrate found on the reserve previously”. Stuart Irons reported on Facebook.
Malcolm Hillier reported that 46 species were found on the night, with two Nightingales being heard, as you can see from Stuart’s report below, the Nightingales seem to be hanging around.
“In early May I conducted my latest bird monitoring survey at our Bainton Heath reserve. The results included a range of singing warblers; whitethroat, chiff chaff, willow warbler, black cap, garden warbler, cetti’s warbler and two nightingales. Other highlights included a pair of ravens attempting to nest on one of the pylons. In total of 37 different species were recorded, not bad for a 3-hour survey on a relatively small reserve”. Stuart irons
Work parties have managed to get onto the reserve with the newly purchased 4X4 vehicle but there are a lot of gates to open and close! Now that access is easier for Bainton you can expect more news and updates.
At Torpel Field Nature Reserve volunteers have been working on two raised beds, in the cabin paddock, to fill with medieval style medicinal plants. A wildflower meadow was the first thought, but the soil is too nutrient rich from when horses were stabled there in the past. Constructing raised beds in heavy rain was fun – no one complained and we all dripped into the cabin for coffee! One lot of soil has been delivered and the other will be along soon – fingers crossed the plants I am babysitting survive the heatwave.
A Talk and Walk to learn about the history of Torpel Manor and Field was planned for mid June 2026 but was postponed due to the excessive heat and has been re-scheduled for June 30.. Check Facebook for details and timings. There are large clusters of yellow Lady’s Bedstraw on the reserve, they are very delicate and pretty. The footpaths have been strimmed ready for the visit, but please wear suitable footwear for uneven ground
The Christ’s College Reserve is a riot of wildflowers at the moment and was recently one of the John Clare Countryside sites to be visited by the new patrons including the wonderful actor Toby Jones.
The other noticeable thing about Christ’s is the number of blue damselflies, as you walk along the paths, they fly up in front of you and land further up the path to be disturbed again. There were also a good number of Painted Lady butterflies at the end of May and beginning of June.
The last work party on June 8 threatened to be a washout but some hardy volunteers stayed on and cleared up the wood from the tree guards and checked out the life buoys. Well done to those that stayed. (the rain cleared up and some of us felt guilty about being a lightweight! Me!)
Just on the boundary fence line walking from Green Lane, there is an old tree trunk that has a wonderful bees nest in a possible former woodpecker nest hole. It is great to see how busy they are in and out, waiting their turn to get in.
At the Etton Maxey Nature Reserve, Anglian Water have started their work. There will be huge disruptions for quite a while with access limited to just a couple of entrances (see website for details) but the Anglian Water ecologist is monitoring all the interesting wildlife that has been visiting recently and will make sure it is not affected by the works.
Pyramidal Orchids are showing on the reserve at the moment, on the way to the South Hide.
Bailing of hay has been started by David Cowcill using his vintage tractor and with this lovely sunshine, hopefully will continue.
The Etton High Meadow Ponds have been tidied up and are looking very welcoming for wildlife to use and members to watch and relax by.
In my Helpston garden It has all been going on in my pond lately; I had to rescue a newly emerged blue damselfly, twice from drowning, I blew on its wings until they dried out. I then placed it back on to the Iris leaf to finish drying out and a frog jumped at it and knocked it back in. I put it in a safer place then; it was gone the next time I went up the garden. The same thing happened with a Southern Hawker female Dragonfly; I had been watching it pop its head out of the water for a few days and then it started to climb up the Iris leaf. When I went out to look for newts at midnight, it was three quarters emerged, the next morning it was gone. About two hours later I saw it floating in the pond, when I hooked it out, it moved slightly so again – the blowing technique seemed to work. It got stronger and crawled up my finger, so I put it in a safe place (on the Mange-tout canes, where it was well camouflaged) and it seems to have survived. I counted six exuviae of Dragonfly and two Damselfly exuviae. Hopefully they will come back and lay their eggs back in the pond.
It is quieter on the bird front, due to the heat and the lessening of feeding. I have a very harassed Robin who looks a real mess and comes to ask for food that is then taken off at speed to the young ones somewhere in next door’s garden. The Blackbirds still come to the door and ask for suet and worms too.
I was excited to have a couple of Painted Lady butterflies visit, there seemed to have been a lot around this year and there were two brief visits from Hummingbird-Hawk moths, but they didn’t stay long.
Swaddywell was very ‘yellow’ themed a couple of weeks ago and I decided to photograph the plants and do a bit of ID for this column but I got distracted and ‘pink’ is starting to come through, so I will try to put some time into doing a walk round without my butterfly clipboard and get some photos for next month.
The monthly social volunteers’ walk took place on June 19 and it was a hot one! As there was so much to look at down the Green Lane and along the South Drain, the walk had to be cut short, and we didn’t manage to get into Christ’s College Reserve. It was quite tiring walking, even slowly in the heat. The water level, in the working quarry (Pig Jaw Pit), that we could see from the permissible crossing footpath, was so low that islands were beginning to form again, much to the delight of the Black-headed Gulls, but we did spot at least one Avocet mixed in with them. It looks lovely to see the Etton Beach again. See the main picture above
Details of the walks are circulated, if you would lie to join us get in touch, (they are at a very relaxed pace …. especially if there are botanists and photographers!)
For up to date news of the reserves and future events, do look at the website (and Facebook page if you do social media)
Have a good summer and stay safe in the heat.
June July 2026