Lisa G Saw • November 13, 2022

Sunset Over The Sea

I headed down to the beach at dusk. It was a sunny autumn afternoon and several people had the same idea as me. I walked down the beach away from most on the esplanade. I recalled one of my last visits to the beach, when the air was warmer and the sea calmer. Today, the sea was noisy. There was no silent moment between the rise and fall of the tide. With the wind behind me, I flipped up my hood and instantly it dulled the sounds around me and provided some warmth.

 

I realised my shoulders were tense. So, I let go and relaxed, standing, facing the sun as it neared towards the horizon. Despite the distraction of the sea and wind, everything else seemed calm and effortless, the way the seabirds were gliding across the darkening sky and how the sun slowly dipped behind the faraway clouds and then appeared to melt into the sea. The sun was such a gorgeous fiery orange. I stood still, watching the light change and the sun set, thinking about how happy I've been the last few weeks.

 

The challenges of this year have been floating away behind me. What’s past is past. The sun has set. I’ve embraced the hard times and delved deep inside to get to where I am now. It’s all been worth it, in ways I never dreamed possible. With a feeling of hope and optimism I can move forward. I’m so happy about all the things on my horizon.

 

I continued to walk along the beach, wondering if the sun would provide that wonderful encore, that last light, before the day was done. It didn't look like it would, so I turned around and started to head home. Thankfully, I cast a glance over my shoulder and I saw it, the last rays of the sun illuminated the underside of a band of clouds. The glow warmed my heart and made me smile. It was beautiful.

Two Heath Fritillaries in East Blean Wood

Heading Home from Yorkshire

By Lisa G Saw • October 3, 2026
After our lovely week away up in Yorkshire , we began our slow journey back home via Norfolk, Suffolk and Kent, stopping at some of our favourite nature reserves. Essentially, we enjoyed a second week away, even though the weather wasn't quite so favourable. On the first day of our route south, we had a lovely couple of stops in Lincolnshire, to visit a friend of mine who'd fairly recently moved to the area, and also to visit Chamber's Farm Wood - a good site for Marsh Fritillaries that Bob had heard about. When we arrived, Bob commented that the little meadow nearby looked good for Black Hairstreak (lots of Blackthorn), and sure enough, he was right. He spotted one before I'd even joined him there. Soon we both spotted a handful flying around, which was lovely to see. On our short walk through the woodland we saw our first White Admiral of the year. It was fleeting, but lovely. Not long after, we reached an open meadow and saw an abundance of Marsh Fritillaries flying around. I've never seen so many! They were well past their best, since it was late in their flight season, but very active. Eventually, we managed to find a fresher looking female who posed really nicely for us.
Brown Hairstreak

August 26

By Lisa G Saw • September 13, 2026
WILDLIFE HIGHLIGHTS It was the insects that were dominating my wildlife sightings again in August, with plenty more dragonfly and damselfly encounters, plus some fabulous moths and butterflies. Early in the month, Bob and I had a call from one of his friends who had a Striped Hawk-moth in his moth trap that morning. So we headed over to see it, having to wait some time for the weather conditions to be just right. Needless to say, I'd never heard of it before, but as ever, I'm learning about all sorts of new species and I certainly enjoyed the opportunity to photograph this fairly large moth species. It was very impressive, especially when we were able to see the flash of pink on the hindwings. I do like to experiment with my photography, and not just take the standard back-of-wing shot, and so got down low to take a photo from the side, so I could see its eye peering at me.

Spring in Yorkshire - Other Wildlife

By Lisa G Saw • September 12, 2026
Our original plan for our trip up to Yorkshire, was to drive direct to Buckton, with rest breaks along the way. It wasn't until we were actually driving north on the A23 that Bob suddenly wondered about the possibility of detouring to Glapthorn Cow Pastures. It's a site in Northamptonshire that is known to be good for Black Hairstreaks - a rare butterfly species in the UK. As I was navigating, I had a quick look on my phone and saw that it would only add about 40 minutes to our journey. Since I'd never seen this butterfly species in its natural woodland habitat - the local colony in East Sussex is of questionable origin, and has most likely been introduced - I was eager to visit this new site. I like being spontaneous and I think Bob was surprised I agreed. In the end, it was the perfect place for us to stop for lunch and enjoy some time in a beautiful quiet woodland. Of the few people there, most were about to leave when we arrived. Bizarrely, I recognised one of them too from back home! It was quite easy to find the ride where the majority of Black Hairstreaks were nectaring. Since it wasn't sunny to begin with, it wasn't too tricky taking some photos as they weren't too flighty. I couldn't believe how many I was seeing. There were several flying around in one small area, and as we ambled up the ride we saw many more - about 30 in total. I saw more in that hour than I had in total prior to that occasion. For the majority of time it was just the two of us in this small stretch of the woodland. It was so peaceful. For the most part, only the sounds of the birds and bees could be heard. It was heavenly!
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