As well as walking and photographing as much as I could, I also thought for today's 30 Day Wild challenge I would endeavour to identify whatever we saw and find out one fact about each key species. There were a few things we didn't manage to photograph - Reed buntings, Egrets, Buzzard, Grey Heron, Moorhen, Shoveler ducks, Cuckoo, Small Red-Eyed Damselflies, Common Blue Damselflies and a possible Marsh Harrier - and probably loads that we missed or could only hear - it is home to over 9000 species after all!
Marsh Orchid: These could be Southern Marsh or Early Marsh Orchids - both are found here. FACT - apparently notoriously difficult to tell these apart unless you're an expert!
Scarce Chaser Dragonfly: FACT - only 6 main locations in UK - Norfolk/Suffolk, Sussex, Wiltshire/Somerset, Cambridgeshire, Kent and Dorset/Hampshire
Yellow Flag Iris: FACT - chosen as the county flower for Wigtownshire, Scotland
Four-Spotted Chaser Dragonfly: FACT - the males prefer a perch looking away from the sun as their eyes are more sensitive to UV and blue-violet light and therefore suited to detecting pray against the sky.
Ragged Robin: FACT - in Shakespeare's time it was called Crowflower and was featured in Ophilia's garland.
Buff-tailed Bumble bee (I think!): FACT - it is the UK's largest bumblebee species
Thick-Legged Flower Beetle: FACT - often called the Swollen-Thighed Beetle
Garden Tiger Moth Caterpillar: FACT - commonly known as 'Wooly Bears'
Meadow Pipit (I think!): FACT - it flutters like a parachute in display flight
Lapwing: FACT: Lapwings (or Peewits) are a red list species
Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly: FACT - the species was first defined in 1758
Snipe: FACT - the male 'drums' with its tail feathers in his courtship display
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