Wasp Spiders in Landseer Park, Ipswich

In 2019 we found and photographed a wasp spider at RSPB Minsmere. What a fascinating looking spider! So, this year, we thought we would try and find another one and obtain some more photographs. Having recently been alerted to a sighting in Landseer Park in Ipswich, this seemed an obvious starting point, especially as there was a good chance of some butterflies in Piper`s Vale, almost opposite.

The day started a bit dull as we started our walk around Piper`s Way but we were not to be disappointed as we found a patch of blackberry brambles which seemed to be the `patch` of some Holly Blue butterflies.

Two images of this gorgeous Holly Blue

The holly blue is a small blue butterfly that emerges in early spring, from March to May, and then again at the end of the summer between July and September. This is the blue butterfly most likely to be found in gardens, as well as woodlands, parks and churchyards. It tends to fly high around bushes and trees, whereas other grassland blue butterflies fly low to the ground. The foodplants of the caterpillars are mainly Holly (for the spring generation) and Ivy (for the summer generation), although a wide range of other plants are used including spindle, bramble and gorse. This one was flying over a large blackberry bush area.

Comma - Polygonia c-album

The Comma is a fascinating butterfly. The scalloped edges and cryptic colouring of the wings conceal hibernating adults amongst dead leaves, while the larvae, flecked with brown and white markings, bear close resemblance to bird droppings.

The species has a flexible life cycle, which allows it to capitalize on favourable weather conditions. However, the most remarkable feature of the Comma has been its severe decline in the twentieth century and subsequent comeback. It is now widespread in southern Britain and its range is expanding northwards. This one appeared to be in good condition, I thought, as it settled close to us.

Common garden spider

Wasp Spider Argiope bruennichi 

Then to the Wasp spider. We entered Landseer park from the car park, and started searching on the right hand side of the pathway. So not many meters from the gate. Within 15 minutes, Rosey had found three separate webs with Wasp spiders! I think you could say we were pleased!

The underside showing the spinnerets

One of the main thing that distinguishes spiders from the rest of the animal kingdom is their ability to spin silk, an extremely strong fiber. A few insects produce similar material (silkworms, for example), but nothing comes close to the spinning capabilities of spiders. Most species build their entire lives around this unique ability.

Scientists don't know exactly how spiders form silk, but they do have a basic idea of the spinning process. Spiders have special glands that secrete silk proteins (made up of chains of amino acids), which are dissolved in a water-based solution. The spider pushes the liquid solution through long ducts, leading to microscopic spigots on the spider's spinnerets. Spiders typically have two or three spinneret pairs, located at the rear of the abdomen.

Wasp spiders are a very distinctive looking species. They have black and yellow stripes across their bodies, looking like no other species of spider found in the UK. Their colour and pattern mimics the colouration of a wasp, which is where the Wasp spider gets its name from. Their appearance is actually a defence mechanism, as by disguising themselves as wasps, predators leave well alone believing them to be a wasp and not a spider. Clever! Their bright appearance may seem dangerous, but don’t be fooled as these mesmerising little creatures are actually harmless! And in fact are related to the Common garden spider.

To match their unique look, Wasp spiders also have a unique web. They are orb-shaped, like a Common garden spider, but they have a single zig-zag pattern of silk through the centre rather than all over. Their webs aren’t always like this. When Wasp spiders are young, their web is a circular zigzagging design. When the spider grows older, it makes both the circular and straight zigzag pattern through its web, until it eventually only makes the straight zigzag pattern. 

The zigzag design is created to reflect UV light and attract pollinating insects like flies, bees and moths! - so it is now thought. 

As is the case with many spider species, the females rule the roost!-Or web in this case! Female Wasp spiders are much larger than males, measuring in at an impressive 14-17mm, whilst males only reach up to between 4 and 6mm. When it comes to mating, males play a daring and dangerous game. Males will wait at the edge of a web until the female has moulted into a mature form then will dive in to make their move. Females actually eat males whilst they are mating, so doing it at this precise moment is key to the hopeful survival of males as the female’s jaws are still soft. However, luck isn’t on their side much and the females still eat the males alive, soft jaws or not! 

Wasp spiders are mainly found in grasslands but can also be present in coastal areas, farmland, heathland, woodland, towns and gardens. 

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Views of the Dunwich heather

Dunwich heathland is famous for its heather at this time of year, as well as its iconic coastguard cottages. This is an area we never tire of exploring as it changes from season to season. If you have never visited - it's a must!

During this time of uncertainty, the National Trust, who run the site, have introduced a booking system for parking in an effort to control numbers of people. Our slot to arrive was 12:30 to 13:00 pm. So we had some lunch, once parked, and then walked around the site to admire the glorious colours. 

The light was very bright, not the best for photography as the colours look washed out, but the following ones are the best I managed, with a few clouds thrown in.

An image looking toward the coastguard cottages, but taken in 2017. 

From stories of smugglers and shipping routes to a pivotal role in the success of the D-Day landings, the little-known history of one of Suffolk’s coastal beauty spots is set to be revealed. After extensive research, the history of Dunwich Heath and Beach will be told for the first time thanks to a new National Trust project - so says the National Trust. For further details visit the NT site here. 

I look forward with interest to this project!

Back to a couple more images from today. Then back to the tea room (limited opening) for scone and drink, and finished with a visit to the beach. A great afternoon was had by all. 

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A morning in Walberswick with Gill Moon

Walberswick is a Suffolk Coastal town which I had not visited many times, so a morning with my camera wandering the banks of the River Blyth was appealing. Gill Moon pointed us in likely directions, and was on hand for advice and useful tips. A pleasant morning indeed!
Walberswick is on the opposite side of the river Blyth to Southwold and you can be ferried between the two. There are grass covered sand dunes to negotiate before reaching the beach or you can stroll along the riverside past the many boats and shacks that make up many riverside towns. To quote the guide to the town:

"This delightful coastal village is a popular holiday destination for those who wish to experience Walberswick's unspoilt dunes, its beach and its charm.

A wide variety of flora and fauna makes Walberswick popular with ramblers and visitors alike. A major attraction for children in summer is crabbing by the harbour, where bridges and river banks become crammed with buckets, lines – and foul smelling bait! From 1980 to 2010 Walberswick annually hosted the British Open Crabbing Championship. Over the years this annual family event has raised useful funds for various charities and good causes, both local and national, while participants enjoyed the delights of this simple outdoor pleasure.

The name Walberswick is believed to derive from the Saxon Waldbert or Walhbert – probably a landowner - and "wyc", meaning shelter or harbour. From medieval times through to the Twentieth Century the village was a thriving port trading in cheese, bacon, corn, timber and, of course, fish."

The village and surrounding beach and marshland have long attracted residents drawn from the arts, film and media. In the 1890s and 1900s the village became associated with Philip Wilson Steer and his circle of English Impressionists. His painting of the beach is exhibited at the Tate.

Dunes and sky

Glimpse of the sea

Holding back the grass.

Remains of the old pier

Symmetry and waves under the Pier

Holiday let? one of many such structures dotted about.

The box! - just sitting on the riverside.

Nature takes over when man abandons things.

One of many rust covered posts and chains seen on the river side.

Water filled inlet

This is a beautiful area at all times of the year. Over a thousand acres of heath and marshland around Walberswick are protected as an Area of Outstanding National Beauty (AONB). Well worth a visit.

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VJ Day or Victory in Japan

Victory over Japan Day is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end. The following is from Wikipedia and give s a brief summary of the circumstances surrounding this momentous event:

The surrender of Imperial Japan was announced by Japanese Emperor Hirohito on August 15 and formally signed on September 2, 1945, bringing the hostilities of World War II to a close. 

By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was incapable of conducting major operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent. Together with the British Empire and China, the United States called for the unconditional surrender of the Japanese armed forces in the Potsdam Declaration on July 26, 1945—the alternative being "prompt and utter destruction". While publicly stating their intent to fight on to the bitter end, Japan's leaders (the Supreme Council for the Direction of the War, also known as the "Big Six") were privately making entreaties to the publicly neutral Soviet Union to mediate peace on terms more favorable to the Japanese. While maintaining a sufficient level of diplomatic engagement with the Japanese to give them the impression they might be willing to mediate, the Soviets were covertly preparing to attack Japanese forces in Manchuria and Korea (in addition to South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands) in fulfillment of promises they had secretly made to the United States and the United Kingdom at the Tehran and Yalta Conferences.

On August 6, 1945, at 8:15 AM local time, the United States detonated an atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Sixteen hours later, American President Harry S. Truman called again for Japan's surrender, warning them to "expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth." Late in the evening of August 8, 1945, in accordance with the Yalta agreements, but in violation of the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, and soon after midnight on August 9, 1945, the Soviet Union invaded the Imperial Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. Hours later, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb, this time on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. 

Following these events, Emperor Hirohito intervened and ordered the Supreme Council for the Direction of the War to accept the terms the Allies had set down in the Potsdam Declaration for ending the war. After several more days of behind-the-scenes negotiations and a failed coup d'état, Emperor Hirohito gave a recorded radio address across the Empire on August 15. 

On August 28, the occupation of Japan led by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers began. The surrender ceremony was held on September 2, aboard the United States Navy battleship USS Missouri, at which officials from the Japanese government signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, thereby ending the hostilities. Allied civilians and military personnel alike celebrated V-J Day, the end of the war; however, isolated soldiers and personnel from Japan's far-flung forces throughout Asia and the Pacific refused to surrender for months and years afterwards, some even refusing into the 1970s. The role of the atomic bombings in Japan's unconditional surrender, and the ethics of the two attacks, is still debated. The state of war formally ended when the Treaty of San Francisco came into force on April 28, 1952.

The news of the Japanese offer began early celebrations around the world. Allied soldiers in London danced in a conga line on Regent Street. Americans and Frenchmen in Paris paraded on the Champs-Élysées singing "Don't Fence Me In".

Many photographs were taken around the world of the celebration events, but the iconic one which was published by LIFE and subsequently around the world, was taken in Times Square by Alfred Eisenstaedt. a German-born American photographer and photojournalist.
In Hadleigh, my nearest town, the above painting appeared on the wall around the time of this year's 75 year commemoration, and it mirrors that photograph.

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Scarecrow time in Bildeston.

This current Covid-19 pandemic has severely curtailed many village and town activities, so I was pleased to hear that Bildeston was having a Scarecrow Festival, with many people in the vicinity adorning their gardens with their creations. Having spotted just a couple in the main street, we decided to tour the whole village armed with our cameras, and this blog records just a few of the amazing creations. I believe there were about 78 in total but I have about 14 of them posted here, including the three judged top. 

Drunk as a Lord - this creation was in a neighbouring village, but I thought  it deserved a mention!

Obviously a pirate!

Blind as a bat Pat - Specsavers. Very clever.

Tractor Girl - obviously a keen Ipswich Town football fan

Ivor Bean and family

I really thought this was real when I spotted it from the rear!

Not really a scarecrow but clever nevertheless. MInions

This traffic policemen was stationed on the edge of the village.

Not sure what this depicted!!

This, believe it or not, is Sammy.

The `If I only had a brain` from Wizard of Oz came in third place

In second place was this clever take of  the Dominic Cummings story.

And first place went to Ma`m herself.

A huge amount of effort had gone into this event and although we visited a few days after the event, there was still plenty to see. I think a socially distanced event was held in the village square on the Saturday when judging was done.

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Shingle Street with Gill Moon

As its name suggests, Shingle Street consists of a large swathe of shingle - no sand here! Where the tide has ebbed and flowed over the years, there are mounds of shingle and inlets and pools that fill and empty with the tide. It is a photographer's paradise.

It is here that local Professional Photographer, Gill Moon, held a morning coaching session, and to which we attended. I came away with several images (hopefully better than they would have been!) and I will share some in this blog. The morning started cloudless, but soon clouds started to bubble up, which was much to my delight as I love big skies and bubbling clouds. So first, some images at the area near the cottages with piles of shingle and some inlets. I was using, as an experiment, a 10-20mm Sigma lens, and this gave me huge skies.

Curves and mounds 

More Curves and clouds ....

... which are starting to build

Low down view of the Coastguard cottages

Clouds gathering over the Coastguard Cottages and The German Ocean Mansion

Some searching on the internet gave a few clues as to the history of this building - but not a lot! Here is what I have:

German Ocean Mansion is the long and low building on the left, and was built in 1874 as a lodging house. This name was changed during WWI, when anything German was unfashionable. In 1881 it was listed as being four dwellings. Three were unoccupied. 

Living in the fourth were Benjamin and Hannah Curtis and their children Annie aged 10, Amy 8, Kate 6, Alfred 3 and Samuel 10 months. Benjamin Curtis worked for the Fonnereau family, of Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich. He was Master of their ocean-going yacht, while Hannah was listed in the 1871 Census as having been gatekeeper at Christchurch Mansion, where the family lived in the Lodge. 'German Ocean Mansion' was in the latter part of the 19th century the summer residence of the Fonnereau, and it is possible that Benjamin Curtis's presence was connected with converting the building to a single dwelling. Benjamin Curtis is listed in the 1891 Census as 'Caretaker of a house' at Shingle Street, Presumably this was German Ocean Mansion and he had retired from the sea.

After the conversion, if that is what happened, the understanding is that the north end of the house was for the Fonnereau live-in servants. Next came the living/dining area, with the family bedrooms on the south side of the central entrance.
By the late 1890s 'German Ocean Mansion' was owned by the Wellesley Colley family one of whom, Lucy, compiled a book of reminiscences by a variety of people who had lived in or visited it during the time that it was owned by her family.
Richard Clarke, Station Officer at HM Coastguard Station, Shingle Street, has kindly obtained the following information from local residents.
• The building has been known as 'The Long Summer Residence'.
• Coast Guard Officers were stationed there during both world wars.
• The building has been used as a base for exercising racehorses.
• It was known as 'The Battery' at some time, possibly in connection with the large gun which was situated at the rear of the building during WWI
In Ordnance Survey maps dated 1881 and 1889 it is marked 'Coastguard Station', although by that time it belonged to the Fonnereau, so this may have been brought forward.

Another view of the German Ocean Mansion

Now for a `Heartwarming` story:

A long line of white shells on a beach started by two childhood friends while reflecting on their cancer treatment is still going strong after 13 years.

Lida Kindersley and Els Bottema, both 64, began the shell line at Shingle Street in 2005.

It now stretches for more than 275m (300yds) and is made up of 20,000 individual whelk shells. Mrs Kindersley said it was a "symbol of friendship". 

The women, who grew up together in Delft in the Netherlands, were diagnosed with breast cancer within two months of each other.

During a phone call discussing their treatment, Mrs Kindersley - a letter cutter in Cambridge - suggested to Ms Bottema - a ceramicist in Zutphen - that they meet in England, and so they travelled together to the Suffolk coast.

They said the creation of the line, which started after a long walk and chat on the beach, became part of their own, personal, therapy.

Mother-of-three Mrs Kindersley said they made a vow to return to the beach every six months to mend the line - and found others had added to it.

She said: "When we received our cancer diagnoses and the prognosis was not good, I said to Els, 'If we survive this, we will go together to Shingle Street as it is a healing place'.

"It is a symbol of friendship and togetherness, a collaboration we wanted to record before it eventually disperses."

Both women are now cancer-free.

Shingle Street resident Tim Miller said the line had become an important local feature that enhanced the wild landscape.

"Despite fierce weather conditions with strong winds, the line remains clear and powerful and visible throughout the year," he said. "The line for me is a signal of courage and survival."

Looking for odd items on the beach, I came across these three items, which I thought fitted the bill!

For hauling boats up that long shingle beach perhaps?, though not much used recently.

Possible, just rubbish!

Nearby was this table with a multitude of shaped stones and other objects on it.

Finally, some wonderful colour on the shingle

A great place to wander and enjoy the solitude. Lots of things to photograph but a real peaceful haven to enjoy.

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